Boot Camp and Pizza

This morning’s boot camp class felt much easier than usual. I usually fatigue near the end but today I was full of energy throughout the entire workout. I attribute the extra stamina to last night’s decadent yet nutrient dense meal. Banitsa = the new power food? Here’s what we did in boot camp this week (as usual, each combination is repeated three times and each exercise lasts between sixty and ninety seconds): 

Warm up: dynamic stretching, jumping jacks, planks and lunges

Combination 1:
Skaters
Alternating side planks
Jumping jacks

Combination 2:
Clean and press
Bicep curls
Side kicks

Combination 3:
Tricep dips
Plank to squat jumps (from last week)
Running up and down on the step

Combination 4:
High knee runs
Push ups
Jump squats

After boot camp, I re-fuelled with two whole wheat tortillas filled with scrambled eggs, spinach, cheese and avocado. To make the tortillas nice and crispy, I popped them in the broiler for two minutes each side. The avocado-egg combination was heavenly!

For dinner, I revisited my Italian roots and decided to make pizza from scratch. This was my first attempt at making anything involving dough so I was a little nervous. I used this recipe from the Dairy Farmers of Canada and it was surprisingly simple. Begin by pre-heating your oven to 425° and placing a baking sheet upside down on the middle rack (I have no idea why you have to do this but being a rookie I deferred to the wisdom of the Dairy Farmers).

To make the dough, you mix 1 cup of whole wheat flour, 1.25 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of oregano, 1 cup of milk and 1/4 cup of melted butter in a large bowl.

Spread the dough out on a flour dusted surface. Shape into six mini pizzas:

Place the pizzas on a lightly buttered baking pan. Top with 2/3 cup of pizza sauce, 1.5 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese and toppings of your choice. I used green peppers and mushrooms. Pretty boring but I figured this could all end in disaster and I didn’t want to try any really cool toppings that could potentially go to waste.

Place baking sheet with pizzas on top of the upside down baking sheet in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes.

Success! Hmm, so I can bake now… this opens up a whole new world of possibilities! Home made cookies, anyone?