Smoothies and Sandwiches and Pizza, Oh My!

Yesterday, I said that I was going to make one of our favorite raw soups for dinner. But then...life happened. More specifically, I was verrrrrrrry tired yesterday afternoon. So tired, in fact, that I couldn't be bothered to even make a raw soup - one which is nothing more than juicing some carrots and throwing the juice (and a bunch of other raw ingredients) into the Vita-Mix and blending it. No, I couldn't be bothered. All I wanted to do was open a Kombucha and drink my dinner (too tired to chew). Fortunately, my hubby is awesome and came to the rescue. He cooked up one of his favorite easy meals for himself and our son - some whole wheat pasta tossed with some navy beans, fresh spinach, olive oil, and nutritional yeast (aka "nooch," to us vegan folk). It's actually the perfect easy dinner - you only need one pot (well, two, if you count the strainer), you have your nutritional bases covered (carbs, protein, fiber, veggie, fat, B-vitamins), and it only takes about 10 minutes to make. Plus, it has nooch - yummy, yummy nooch. My son is a nooch-aholic and wants it sprinkled on everything. It's kind of funny to hear a 2-year-old say "nooch! nooch!"and see him gesture with his hands as if he's sprinkling something on his food. I love it. He had his nooch and I had my "booch!"

Why was I so tired? Well, my son hasn't been sleeping well at all the last few days. He's been waking up 3-4 times every night, for no apparent reason. Last night was the worst - he must have woken up 5 times :( Ugh! So we're all pretty tired again today. Since I was already tired, I figured I may as well go for a short run this morning. I mean, my rationale was that I was going to be tired whether I ran or not, so I may as well go, since I was too zombie-like to do any kind of exercise yesterday (unless vacuuming and dusting counts :) Even though I was tired, it was nice to get out and enjoy the beautiful spring morning.

After my run, I had - you guessed it - a Chocolate Cherry Smoothie. I threw some spinach in there for good measure. My hubby and my son shared a pot of 7-grain hot cereal mixed with frozen blueberries, Craisins, and walnuts. My son is also a "boo-berry"-aholic so he was thrilled with his breakfast ;)

Since my hubby is a sweetheart, he decided to vacuum and wash my car for Mother's Day. To say thank you, I decided to make a special lunch for him - avocado sandwiches. Yummmmmm. We love these sandwiches! And they couldn't be easier to make.

First, slice up a ripe avocado, a large tomato, and some green olives.

Next, toast some bread:

Drizzle the toast with some olive oil, then top with half a sliced avocado, six sliced green olives...

...some sliced tomato and sea salt....

...a big handful of baby lettuce....

...and the other slice of toast.

Take a big bite and say mmmmmmm....

Hubby was happy to see his sandwich waiting for him :) My son loves it, too. Then again, he loves just about anything with avocado!

Dinner tonight was something we all love and eagerly anticipate - Mexican pizza! This is another really easy dinner to make, even when you're tired :) It's also great because my hubby can make the dough while I'm prepping the other ingredients. With teamwork, this pizza is ready to be eaten in less than half an hour.

To start, I take the flours out of the freezer during the afternoon so they can come to room temperature. I like to use half white whole wheat flour and half whole wheat pastry flour. Depending on what kind of pizza I'm making, I'll also add various herbs to the dough batter. For Mexican pizza, I'll add some dried oregano, coriander, and cumin. Then I turn the rest of the dough making over to my hubby, who can coax and stretch a pizza dough way better than I ever can.

While he's working the dough, I'm chopping up the cilantro and scallions:

Once the crust is stretched, we coat it with some cornmeal and then bake it for 5 minutes before we add the toppings. I told you this was an easy pizza to make - here's why. After you prebake the crust, you take it out of the oven and top it with some sour cream and salsa:

Some canned black beans:

The cilantro and scallions:

And, finally, the cheese:

Then you bake it for 10 more minutes and drool when you take this out of the oven:

This pizza is so ridiculously delicious.

Now...go make this yourself!

Mexican Pizza
Serves 2 hungry adults & 1 toddler

Place pizza stone in oven and preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Dough:
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup water
seasonings to taste (oregano, coriander, and cumin are great)
Cornmeal for dusting the dough

Mix flours, baking powder, sea salt, and seasonings in large bowl. Make a well in the center, then add the olive oil and water. Stir well with a spoon, then mix and knead with your hands on some waxed paper. Cover with another piece of waxed paper and roll to desired thickness with a rolling pin. Sprinkle both sides with cornmeal. Place dough on an oiled pizza pan, then place pan on the pizza stone and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and add toppings, in this order:

1/2 to 3/4 cup sour cream, to taste (I use Tofutti Sour Supreme)
1/2 to 3/4 cup salsa, to taste (I use Chi-Chi's Mild Thick and Chunky)
1 15-oz can black beans (organic, if possible)
1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese (I use Daiya Vegan Cheddar Style Shreds)

Bake an additional 10 minutes. Slice and enjoy!

Well, I'm off to watch the Celtics game. I hope you have a Happy Mother's Day tomorrow!