Now that's a long title, but it sums up this post perfectly.
I started this blog as a "raw blog" being that my eating habits at the time were nearly 100 percent raw. With a name like "Rawdorable," what else would you expect?The duration between posts began to dwindle when I became pregnant with my daughter Hayden in November/December of 2008. I was preoccupied with the whole pregnancy thing, but I also was experimenting with some dietary changes.
In my first trimester, I had so much trouble stomaching anything raw, although I tried my best to stick to it. Eventually, I started cooking some things just to keep them in my diet.
Lucky for me, my taste buds came around as the pregnancy progressed, allowing me to eat more of the foods that made me cringe in the beginning. To my surprise, I found that a balance between raw and cooked worked great for me.Once Hayden was born in August 2009, I went back to my very high raw lifestyle. In fact, I still eat high raw, just not as raw as I had been. Over the last so many months (starting around the time I went on vacation and the colder months), I've been experimenting again with that balancing act.
Which brings me to today's post. It might not be raw, but it (last night's dinner) is a good example of what I eat when I opt to cook. It's a simple sweet potato (I don't enjoy sweet potatoes raw) "crust" pizza that's naturally gluten- and dairy-free.
When I crave pizza, it is more about the structure and flavors than the traditional bread and cheese (which explains why I am a big fan of Brendan Brazier's Thrive pizzas). I like the concept of having a base with toppings, usually some Italian seasonings, and it's always a plus if you can hold it in your hands.When the boys (Matthew and Jacob) are having pizza (yes, they eat the real deal), I like to feel like I'm having something similar. I simply slice a huge sweet potato lengthwise into thick slabs, poke some holes in them with a fork, brush them with olive oil, season them with garlic and sea salt, and pop them into the oven for about 20 minutes.
Then, I top them with greens (usually spinach), sliced tomato (from what I understand, the heat brings out the lycopene), chopped artichoke hearts (my favorite), more olive oil and seasonings, garlic and hemp seeds (sometimes I put pureed cannellini beans on top like "cheese;" Hayden prefers to eat the whole beans like jelly beans). They go back in the oven, along with the boys' pizzas until the potato is cooked through (about another 20 minutes at 400 degrees).The sweet potato "pizzas" are finished off with some fresh basil. Once cooled enough to handle, I can pick them up and eat 'em like mini French bread pizzas. Now that's good stuff :-)
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Speaking of good stuff, I was nominated again for the One Lovely Blog Award by the also very lovely, Nelly. Thanks Nelly! Click here to revisit the post where I listed 7 things about me.
My stylin' friend HiHoRosie nominated me for the Stylish Blogger Award, as well. Thank you Heidi!
I'm starting to feel like a Girl Scout with all of these badges. I hate to say that I'm not the best at following through on my duties after receiving my awards (it's hard to keep coming up with new things to share and bloggers that have yet to be nominated to pass the awards to, which is why I always extend the invitation to my readers), but I am still very grateful. Thanks again :-)
