Pizza that's good for you?

Ok, So a few weeks back Jim and I ran into Myra at the grocery store and she was looking for "Almond Meal" and told us she was going to make a paleo pizza! I was like "What the heck is that, I want some...!" So, last Friday night I set out to make my own pizza.

Ingredients:
Crust:
2 Cups Almond Meal/Flour
2 Eggs
2 Tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tsp salt

Instructions:
Crust:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. This should give you a ball of “dough”. If your dough is too “mushy” continue to add almond flour until you get a good consistency.
3. Make a pizza sheet or baking tray non-stick. This is VERY important if you want your pizza slices to come off in one piece. (I even put oil on my stoneware!)
4. Press your dough on the sheet nice and even about 1/4 inch in the middle and 1/2 inch at the edges.
5. Put crust in the oven for 15 minutes. It should look slightly golden brown when you take it out.

Toppings:
You will want to pre-cook any meat going on your pizza. Veggies can go on fresh and raw, or cooked depending on your preference. Your favorite cheese will do, we used Feta but would have been nice to have a little bit of melted cheese on top.

Sauce:
1 Small Can Tomato Paste
1/2 - 3/4 Cups Water (To desired thickness)
1 Tsp Dried Oregano
1 Tsp Garlic

Sauce:
1. In a saucepan, combine all ingredients. Use water to desired thickness. We like ours pretty thick. Feel free to add more spice if you want it, too.
2. Simmer on stove for approximately 15 minutes.

Toppings:
Whatever you want!
We used fresh organic baby spinach, turkey pepperoni, grilled chicken, and feta cheese!

Put it all together:
1. After crust comes out of the oven, spread sauce evenly over crust.
2. Add your cheese and toppings evenly on top of sauce.
3. Put back in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15 more minutes. Cheese should be evenly melted.
4. Slice and enjoy!

To say I was excited is an understatement. I was on cloud 9, I could hold the pizza in my hand to eat it, the crust was nice and crunchy which I like. This was delicious.

Try it and let me know what you think:

Last but certainly not least ...... Myra DeCraene

I have but one athlete left to spotlight and the shining light goes to Myra DeCraene today. Myra has been a CrossFitter for some time now and was an athlete that make big changes in our nutrition challenge back in June of 2009. Back in June, Myra realized that there is more than one component to fitness - she changed her nutrition drastically (via the paleo diet) and noticed that the inches and pounds were falling off of her.

In joining the I AM CrossFit Challenge her goal was to take it to the next level on the workout side of the "Fitness Spectrum" since her nutrition was well on it's way...... Well, SHE HAS!! She is doing wonderful and making great strides towards her goals for the challenge, here are her words:

since joining the i am crossfit challenge a month ago i have felt great and have been performing better. the compliments i have received are seriously overwhelming. it has bordered on embarassing, but still, i am receptive. teehee. i have set a p.r. or two. one was that i wanted to do a whole workout doing box jumps rather than box steps, check!! another one was that i do a WOD as Rx'd, that too i have accomplished. check! woohoo! i have a few things to still work on in both the gym and at home with nutrition. i also began to use a lot more organic foods and have stepped out of my box to try new meats, buffalo to be specific. i feel like i have made great strides and continue to press on to the next goal. i am putting my best foot forward to round up this last 4 weeks of the challenge. after all, vacation starts the day the challenge ends. but my lifestyle of crossfit and paleo will remain, in this i have found the right amount of everything. thanks to my coaches and friends at cfm this is all possible.

Congratulations Myra and GO TEAM CAROLE!

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I AM CrossFit - Lena You Rock

Today I am featuring a "new CrossFitter" but not new to what we do! Lena started in our bend and stretch program at Elkhart General Hospital. She was a quick learner and was constantly told she needed to move "up" to bootcamp. Eventually she took that step forward and ended up in our bootcamp program. Lena joined the gym specifically to compete in the "I Am CrossFit" challenge. In the four short weeks we have been running I Am CrossFit I have seen several things from this athlete....persistence, perseverance, dedication, willingness to make changes necessary for growth.

I will let Lena tell you in her own words what CrossFit has done for her:

I have to begin by saying the #1 thing I have noticed is my increase in energy and a change in my attitude! I used to look at the workout and think "There is no way and I am going to die!" Now I working out 5 days a week and every time I see the workout the first phrase that comes to mind is "Lets do this!!"

My arms and legs are beginning to tone and I have been told by EGH boot campers that they can notice a significant change, which feels amazing! Burpees and pull-ups continue to be my biggest struggle, but instead of fearing them, I have learned to appreciate them and use them as a performance tool.

My diet (other than a few sweets) has proven a success, in my mind. Learning how to increase my protein and get rid of my daily carb overdose feels good. It isn't that I didn't want to before I started Cross Fit, I just didn't know how or alternatives to what I was eating.

On a personal note, when I got divorced 3 years ago, I was 152 lbs, a size 10 and miserable. My mornings consisted of getting up early just to watch the Today Show and finish 1/2 of an Entenmanns's cheese coffee cake. My cholesterol was 240 and I was slowly depleting every bit of life I had left in me. Then I got off the couch, stopped my pity party and stepped up the person I knew I could be. That is where boot camp happened. To be where I am now and see the changes in my life and what I am accomplishing is incredible. When you learn to love yourself again, everything can change and I cannot thank you enough for believing in me. I know I have a long way to go, but I would rather be on this path with Cross Fit than alone :)

I am 110% committed to being a success story and beating these teams in 6 weeks! I am ALWAYS open to criticism and advice when it comes to my nutrition or the gym. So please, continue to let me know ways I can continue to improve. I want to be the best I can be!!

Thank you again!! It means the world to me :)

Lena

I was going to edit this but I couldn't leave a single thing out- what happened when I read this for the first time can be described with one word "GOOSEBUMPS"....she has not only changed physically but emotionally and mentally as well.

Let's kick butt Team Carole!

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I AM CrossFit - Team Mate Robert Battalio

My next feature athlete is Robert Battalio. I have A LOT to say about Robert. When Robert came to CrossFit for the first time it was Thanksgiving Day 2010. Well, we all know that the WORST time to start CrossFit is during our annual Blow Your Turkey WOD but we did have a few new brave souls that not only survived the workout but came back and joined CFM knowing that Jim Turnbo sometimes thinks he is Richard Simmons. Robert started his essentials classes with me in December (when it took him 3 days to recover from one workout being an active runner he knew he had been missing as essential part of his training).

Robert, like so many of us who first start out in CrossFit lacked one if not many of the ten components of CrossFit. In his case, I noticed that he was lacking balance, coordination, and flexibility to perform a simple air squat. I witnessed Robert doing the Team Jackie WOD on Friday February 26th and he was doing 45# thrusters like a pro. His squat was below parallel, his elbows were raised so that his back held the lumbar curve, when he drove through his heels from deep in the squat and pressed the bar over his head to a locked out position, popping his head through "the window!", I nearly cried! I saw his successes with my own two eyes.

Robert is a man with very few words, when I asked him for a testimonial of how he was feeling I got something like this: "I am running better....am feeling stronger...am eating better..." but he said it best when he was walking out of the gym on Friday. He said, "isn't the fact that I show up here every day for my assigned classes and you to torture me proof enough that I am getting results!" Well put!

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Spotlight Athlete Brenda Hunsberger

Every once in awhile you have one of those days where you wonder if what you are doing is all worth it? Did you make the right choices? Are you happy with the path you have chosen? I'm not gonna lie, I DID NOT WANT TO GET OUT OF BED THIS MORNING! I was tired and sore and then the phone rings and reminds you why you do what you do.

My phone rang this morning at 9:13, I was at the Chiropractor so Brenda left a message. It went something like this, "Carole, I have good news, call me back so I can tell someone who cares!" So, I called back and got her voice mail. Minutes later we connected. Carole, I went to the doctor today and was told that lung function has improved and he is taking me off one of my asthma medications!" I literally had goosebumps running down my arms and legs. This is why I get up every morning in the dark of night and do what I do. This is why Brenda Hunsberger is my spotlight today for the I AM CrossFit Challenge.

Thank you Brenda, for bringing me "back to life!'' I know, that is what you are thanking me for....but Brenda, I think it works both ways. Here is Brenda's testimonial....I was going to cut pieces of it but I think you all deserve to see the entire thing:

"As my 40^th birthday approached a few years ago, I wanted to improve my fitness and decrease my weight. I have had asthma following lung trauma in 1996 – this sometimes makes it difficult for aerobic type activities. I have been one of those on and off exercisers. I do not like the monotony of it…so I usually don’t stick with it. CrossFit is different – every day! I do like to run (sick I know) so I been doing a few 5K’s each summer and one ½ marathon annually since 2007.

I have been doing CrossFit for about three weeks. I have more energy than I thought possible (for a young lady of my years). I am on four medications for my asthma. After a visit to my pulmonologist today, I was told my lung function has improved about 10% since my appointment in August. He is taking me off of one of my medications! I have been told it isn’t all about the scale, but I also lost 9 pounds since that appointment. I am beginning to notice small physical changes! My biceps and waist are beginning to look sculpted and it appears that someone has taken a bite out of my "bagel". Performance in the gym has improved, and I have also noticed improvement on my long run times and endurance. I have a 10k scheduled for March 6^th and I am going to try to RUN the whole way…stay tuned.

Has it really only been three weeks? GO TEAM CAROLE!"

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I AM CrossFit - Team Carole

Pictured above is Kent Dead Lifting during CrossFit Total week at the gym, Kent is one of my athletes in TEAM CAROLE!

Well the I AM CrossFit challenge is off to a good start. Team Carole consists of Robert Battalio, Lena Tisten, Myra DeCraene, Kent Riffell, and Brenda Hunsberger. We are just starting our third week of the eight week challenge. April 2nd will be here before we know it!

I just wanted to give a little update on one of my athletes: Kent Riffell is kicking butt and taking names....he has lost 2 inches in his waist so far and almost 7 pounds in 2 weeks. Kent, it's time to kick it into HIGH GEAR! No more snickers and reese's for your late night cravings.

Everyone on my team is heading down the right path. We are all working on remembering to eat our daily dosage of protein. Keep it up and "Go Team Carole!"

I'm not MIA

For those of you wondering what has happened to my blog and where I have been, I am here to tell you that I am not MIA. I am just "frazzled!" Is that a word? I am so busy right now I can't see straight.....but fear not I have words of wisdom coming your way!

For now I wanted to share a picture of my new puppy hanging out at the gym. He is so cute...and I love him very much!