Ultra Cheesy "Meat"-Lovers Pizza, Choco PB+J Granola, New Exercise Class

I've got a 2-fer for you tonight! I love the weekends because I get a lot of time to do my 3 favorite things: sleep, cook, and exercise :-).

Last night we were craving pizza- which means two entirely different things for me and my husband. He wanted "peps, and sausage, and bacon... ", whereas I wanted plain old cheese. We decided to compromise, and this treat was born...

Ultra Cheesy "Meat" Lovers Pizza!

Ingredients:
1 Boboli Whole Wheat Thin Pizza Crust (to save time)
Canola oil (to brush on crust)
1/2 cup TJ's Pizza Sauce
1/2 cup diced tomatoes in heavy basil
1/4 cup Yves Meatless Ground (or any other meatless sausage)
1/4 cup Yves Meatless "Pepperoni"
~1/4-1/2 cup each: Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds, TJs light Mexican Blend, Grated Parmesan Cheese, crumbled goat cheese (or whatever cheese you have on hand!)
1/2 tsp each: basil, rosemary, oregano

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Place Boboli crust (or whatever pizza crust you have- or try homemade!) on a non-stick sprayed baking sheet.
3. Brush crust w/oil (canola, EVOO, etc)
4. To make sauce- blend (I used my ninja master) 1/2 cup pizza sauce w/ 1/2 cup diced tomatoes and spices (oregano, basil, rosemary). Spread mix onto crust to desired thickness.
5. Sprinkle cheese(s) on top of crust+sauce.
6. Add sausage and pepperoni to half (or whole) pizza. Add any other toppings you like (pineapple, ham, bacon, veggies).
7. Bake in oven at 350F for 10 minutes.
8. Remove, let cool, enjoy! Pair w/ Get Him to The Greek and laugh your butt off while satisfying your pizza craving.

And of course, today's craving was the pretty standard chocolate variation, so I decided to design my own chocolate granola (the pumpkin granola is almost gone!) I played around with ingredients and came up with:

Chocolate PB+J Granola

Ingredients:
3 cups thick cut rolled oats
1/2 cup unsalted cashew pieces
1/2 cup unsalted almonds
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup unsalted roasted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup quinoa
1/4 cup coconut flakes
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup pumpkin
1 t vanilla stevia (or pure vanilla)
1 TBSP blackstrap molasses
1 t pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup
1/4 cup strawberry agave nectar
2 TBSP four fruits jam (or any other berry fruit spread)
1/4 cup peanut flour
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325°.
In a large bowl, toss the oats, nuts, seeds, quinoa, coconut, cocoa powder, peanut flour, and wheat germ.
In a small bowl mix the pumpkin spice, cinnamon, vanilla (or vanilla stevia), maple syrup, agave, molasses, jam, and oil.
Stir wet into dry and mix through, then spread on a large rimmed baking sheet.
Bake the granola in the center of the oven for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until nearly dry.
Let the granola cool and mix in raisins and chocolate chips.
GOBBLE it up and satiate that chocolate craving ;-).

For exercise this weekend I got in a great 5-miler yesterday (the first good run I've had since the 10K!) and tried a new fitness class today- "Triple Fit"- a combo of step work, barbells, and fitness bands that made for a decent change in my exercise routine. The class involved lots of squats and lunges with the barbells, some standard pushups, tricep dips, bicep curls, mixed with some step jumping and cardio. I've been looking to mix it up a little bit so I can see myself taking this class every once in awhile for a change.

Hope everyone had a fantastic fall weekend:-)

Allie