Hello, Bloggin’ World

First post! Yay!

Today was also the first day of class for my holistic nutrition consultant program! This is something I have been wanting to do for a while now and it feels so great to finally start a new chapter in life with something that I feel passionate about. I probably smiled through the entire class today, it just felt like I was meant to be there. I love that the class is small, there are only 10 students. It makes for a comfortable environment and allows time for comments and conversation. We were greeted today with some materials for the class as well as this awesome reusable bag:

I think it will make a great book bag. Today was mostly introduction and overview but I’ll keep you posted! For now I have a little grilled pizza recipe for ya that I made the other night. It’s important that you start off with a seasonally appropriate beer while relaxing on the patio:

(for the record, not my legs 🙂 )

Roasted Squash & Caramelized Onion Grilled Pizza

adapted from BevCooks

Ingredients:

Sauce:

1 medium butternut squash (peeled, seeded, & chopped)

1/2 tsp cayenne

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

salt & pepper to taste

1-2 T olive oil

1/4 c almond milk, or more to blend

Pizza:

dough (I bought mine fresh from the Nugget)

1-2 onions, sliced

2-3 leaves kale, torn or chopped into small pieces

1 c shredded manchego cheese

honey goat cheese (optional)

red pepper flakes

fresh thyme (sage or rosemary would be great too)

olive oil

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400° Also set your BBQ to medium heat.

Spray a foil-lined baking sheet with olive oil and add your chopped butternut squash. Season with cayenne, cumin, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes.

While the squash is baking go ahead and caramelize your onions. Add a little olive oil to your pan on medium-low heat. Add the sliced onions and cook slowly for about 10-15 minutes, stirring often.

When your squash is done (or when you realize you didn’t set a timer and run to the kitchen, just in time) puree it in a blender with just enough almond milk to get it smooth and saucy.

Now prepare your pizza dough. I like to sing “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amoooorrreeee” while trying to flip my pizza dough in the air. But that’s me. Roll it out, stretch it out, whatever you gotta do. Spray one side with olive oil. Time for the grill.  Place your dough on the grill with the olive oil-spritzed side down. Keep an eye on your crust, it should only take about 5-7 minutes for it to look like this:

Next, spread your butternut squash sauce on the side that HAS already been grilled. Sprinkle with some red pepper flakes if you like a little heat:

Now add your toppings: caramelized onions, kale, cheese, fresh thyme, and more red pepper flakes. Add a drizzle of olive oil.

Now is when you triumphantly bring your delicious pizza out to the BBQ to grill the other side of the crust and get the cheese all nice and melty. This should take maybe 10 minutes. Slice it up and enjoy.

However, if you’re like me, you’ll realize you added the toppings to the UN-grilled side of the crust.  Proceed to have a mini melt down on your kitchen floor because you decided to use this recipe for your first blog post ever and you now have a half-grilled pizza.  Get up, recover, and pour yourself a glass of wine. Ok. Moving on. Bake the pizza at 400° for about 15 minutes until it’s all gooey and browned. Problem solved. Now you have two pizza recipes: baked and/or grilled!

I served the pizza with roasted brussel sprouts: sliced in half, drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, roasted at 400° for 30 minutes. Trust me, these are super easy and not yo’ mamas brussel sprouts (not you, Mom. I’ve always loved your brussel sprouts). They were even boyfriend-approved. Enjoy!