Oven Smackdown

Hi friends!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday. I made good use of myself this afternoon while the boy was still gone and FINALLY cracked my first thai coconut!!!!

I really had no idea how to do it or what to expect, so I just went at it with the trusty Chef knife. It took awhile to cut into, but once I did, SO much fresh coconut water came out! I was seriously astounded! I drained it all into tupperware….

And then took a big, fresh gulp of pure coconut goodness! I honestly don’t know if I could ever buy the stuff in the carton again after this…..it is cheaper, too!

After I drained all the coconut water, I set to whacking the bad boy totally open so I could scoop out the soft meat inside. Again, this took several tries…..

But it finally happened!

SO COOL! The “meat” was super soft and creamy and very easy to scoop out with a spoon. Here’s everything that I got out of this one baby thai coconut—-

I divided the meat in half, put each portion into little plastic baggies, and stuck the baggies in the freezer so I can make a smoothie at some point this next week! I’m so excited!!! Crazy that when you buy the coconut water in the cartons at Whole Foods, it costs about $4.50….yet this coconut was only $2.50 and I got meat AND water from it! Score!

Shortly after my last post I had some major hunger pains. I really did not eat much lunch and then I meant to make something more at home but was too excited about the juicer! So, I had a tasty and substantial snack of a toasted Ezekiel sprouted grains english muffin with raw almond butter and raspberry preserves—

Ugh….and then R and I had a minor disaster when it came to dinner. I had planned to make us homemade pizza and I even made the crust and everything—

We were having SO much fun. Ryan bought a nice bottle of wine and poured us each a glass…….

I covered my half with fresh mozzarella from the market, along with summer squash and onion…and R got pepperoni and cheese—

Ugh yeah. The oven door completely FELL OFF and, basically, the entire oven fell apart after that. Let’s just say that it is duck taped together right now……………..

Needless to say, WE WENT OUT. We tried a brand new pizzaria downtown, which was known for authentic wood fired Italian pizzas

It was incredibly authentic and not only was the entire menu in Italian, but all the pizzas were baked at 900 degrees in this huge wood stove!

I immediately ordered a much needed glass of Italian red wine since my last glass of wine at home was disrupted due to the oven meltdown.

The pizzas were individually sized at 12″ and I chose the Margherita pizza, which featured buffalo mozzarella, homemade tomato sauce and fresh basil—-

And Ryan chose the only meat pizza on the menu, the Carne, which featured Italian salami and black olives:

I think we were both a little shocked at the obvious lack of cheese on the pizza!!! Seriously, the cheese is VERY minimally sprinkled on. I LOVED this because it meant that I could eat more and not feel the effects of waaaay too much dairy. Ryan, on the other hand……….let’s just say it ain’t no pizza hut

And, for the first time, I actually ate my entire pizza!!! It was SO good….and very light and thin. The crust was the absolute BEST I’ve ever had. SUPER chewy and soft. I asked the server about this and she said that the flour they used is special Italian flour that is flown in from Napoli and they use wild yeast. I thought I had died and gone to heaven!

I hated it. Obviously.

I ended my meal in typical Italian fashion with an espresso —- (decaf, that is!)

After dinner we were both still a little hungry. I know, can you even believe it after I ate an entire pizza?! But, yes, it was NOT your typical pizza and I guess I have a hollow leg. Anyways, we decided to go out for dessert at another little Italian cafe. Just so happened that their special this evening was tiramisu…our favorite!!!!

We each ordered this mini dessert and each cleaned our plates. It was major yum! I haven’t ordered a fun dessert like this in forever and it made me feel like I was on vacation or something

Now I am about to pass out after the wine, the whole pizza, the dessert…………I’m exhausted!!!

See you in the morning!