Pizza! and a good weekend

It was a good eventful weekend, but I think the biggest new is that I found amazing pizza crust that fits into my real food guidelines ;-)  I <3 pizza!

I am very fortunate to live near a real food shopping gem - The West Side Market in Cleveland, OH.  A large indoor/outdoor market filled with amazing produce, cheeses, meats and prepared foods.  It's also probably the most tempting place in the world to break my challenge - pastas, bakery, candy, made to order nutella filled crepes.  Just so much goodness of the forbidden variety!

At Stand 8A in the indoor section, you will find Frickaccio's Pizza Market and their delicious whole wheat pizza dough.  For $10.95, I purchased a pizza kit that included the dough, homemade sauce and cheese.  I added some fresh mushrooms and had an amazing lunch!

Now the bad news is that the sauce was most certainly an unintentional cheat as it was sweet, and I'm sure there was sugar added.  Damn!  But the dough was perfect (can purchase dough alone for $5.50 - and making dough is just something I like to avoid dealing with when possible).  I've got all sorts of ideas for for pizzas in the coming week.  The kids also loved the whole wheat crust which is a big win.

I was over my crappy virus by Saturday afternoon, and had a wonderful weekend with the family.  We went to a great Christmas street fair/tree lighting ceremony on Saturday night, and enjoyed perfect weather, lots of goofing off and good activities.  I really cherish outings like this, especially as my kids are getting older and I know there are fewer times like this in the future.  I am blessed that both of our sons- at 14 and 11 - seem to enjoy spending time with us, and going on little family outings and adventures.

Oh, there was food at this festival! Funnel cake, sugared pecans, kettle corn, hot chocolate to name a few.  The kids had funnel cake and kettle corn, but I didn't feel tempted at all.  I feel like I'm hitting my groove with my lifestyle change.  For the first two weeks, I felt tempted a lot and dealt with that temptation by eating FAR too much of the foods I'm allowed.  Translation:  I haven't lost AN OUNCE in the first two weeks of this challenge, but I believe that it is about to change.   In the last few days, I have settled in.  I am not having many cravings, I'm eating reasonable portions, and I don't feel too snacky.

I've also discovered Chipotle!  I've only been to Chipotle a handful of times in my life, but was very happy to learn that you CAN eat real food at this fast food restaurant.  All of the meat and cheese used at Chipotle is 100% antibiotic and growth hormone free. 65% of the meat and dairy used is pasture raised.  Local ingredients are used when possible.  The salsa is GMO-free, and the restaurant now offer a brown rice version of their cilantro-lime rice.  On Saturday night, I had a perfectly lovely burrito bowl that met the guidelines I established for myself at the beginning of this challenge.  I don't plan to eat out a lot from now until this challenge ends on February 27 but it's great to know that there is a quick, inexpensive and yummy place I can go in a pinch.

So now it's Monday and I'm home with two sick kids :(  Pretty sure they have what I had though it's manifesting in slightly different ways for them. Today we will be chilling/napping,  playing some board games, making soup, and watching TV.   Hopefully a little TLC will have them good as new in no time!