What if you threw a party and nobody came?

Or for a health nut, an even greater fear might be what if you planted a garden AND NOTHING CAME UP!

That's what I'm going through right now, and I'm pretty perturbed about it.

It's been about a month since we planted our most ambitious garden yet. We did kale and spinach and broccoli and cauliflower...and none of it has come up. Ack! Did I mention that we got a line on an online seed company that was supposed to have great seeds, and I spent almost double the amount I normally spend? AND NOTHING HAS COME UP? Oh, man...this is frustrating.

All my usual stars are doing fine...potatoes, onions, all the squash. Our tomato plants are typically slow-growing but look strong. But all the new stuff? Squat.

See that gaping hole on the left? It was supposed to be jam-packed by now!

Well, there is one tiny pathetic spinach plant and an equally tiny kale plant. But they make me even more annoyed, because why are THEY coming up when all the rest of their little friends seem to be dormant? Makes no sense. Apparently the soil is good enough to sprout that one little plant, but none of the others?

WHERE ARE YOUR FRIENDS?

I've fertilized, watered, worried...zilch. I guess this just isn't my gardening year! I've had to replant a poor basil plant that was absolutely ravaged by bugs that I could never catch in the act, and of my eight cilantro plants, only one survived. It has a few little leaves right now.

Poor little basil plant...the bugs are still trying to get it. HOLD ON, basil plant, HOLD ON!

Maybe all isn't lost. We did plant a few weeks late, so maybe there's still time for it to come up and thrive? Only time will tell.

At least I can grow a mean squash plant.

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Workout of the Day

Les Mills Pump: Pump Extreme

We're two weeks away from a 21-day break from rigorous exercise during the Ultimate Reset. We're going to use those two weeks to destroy ourselves with a Les Mills Pump/Asylum hybrid. Up tomorrow is Speed and Agility. Yikes.

Purposeful blog neglect

When I signed up to be a Beachbody Coach, one of the main questions in my head was how I might differentiate myself from other coaches. What service could I provide that others could not? How could I attract people to my website instead of just going to Beachbody.com?

One of the things I came up with was this blog. I have always liked to write, and a blog could serve as both a creative outlet and service to my customers who needed advice about fitness, nutrition, etc. 

In the early months I blogged on a hyper-consistent basis with no problems coming up with topics or time to write. I made it a priority, because in my mind it was "my service."

At the beginning of this year I sat down and made some serious goals for myself and this business, with my main objective being the creation of an entity lucrative enough to allow me to work from home even after my kids are in school.

Like good goals should be, I included several that were designed to push me out of my comfort zone just a bit.

For example, number nine on my 10-goal list is to "Call, visit, or interact one-on-one with at least two customers or coaches each week." I made that a goal because I found that I was increasingly spending time at the keyboard instead of actually talking to people. It had become a habit to simply send a message out via the Internet instead of connecting one on one.

Were my messages even connecting with the people who need them most? Who knows? And that's the problem. Because Beachbody Coaching is a one on one business. You've got to connect with people. You've got to listen. You've got to care.

Instead of doing all those things, I was hiding behind my blog because I luxuriate in the ability to think about word choice. It's just so much more poetic to get the words e-x-a-c-t-l-y right than to call someone on the phone and possibly say something dumb or embarrassing.

But perfect prose doesn't give assurance to someone who is super sore after their first time doing Chest & Back. Perfect prose doesn't invite someone to come work out with you early in the morning. Sometimes people don't have time to read your perfect (or heck, sometimes your imperfect) prose.

When I stepped away from the keyboard and picked up the phone, good things started happening in my business. When I met goal number nine, then number five -- my financial goal -- started being met, too. And my number one goal, which was to be a "Diamond" coach by June 21, came true a few months early on April 26.

There is a saying that says "don't make perfect the enemy of the good." I'm not a perfect "people person," but if I waited until I was perfect before I started getting out there to make personal contact, then I would never even approach "good."

This business has taught me so much about myself, about goals, and about people in general. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year will bring.

So while I'm far from abandoning my blog, posting may not be as consistent as it has been in the past. Because I have some calls to make.

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Workout of the Day

P90X2 Base and Back  

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

A few months back I read about cauliflower pizza crust on TheGraciousPantry.com, and thought it was something I definitely wanted to try. But the idea got lost somewhere between searching for a lost polka dot jacket and cleaning out that sink clogged with hair. Such is life.

Luckily my cousin-in-law (that's a correct term, right?) posted rave reviews of a recipe for cauliflower crust that she fixed. It jogged my memory, and her pizza looked so good I thought I'd give it a try, too.

This is not a crust you can pick up and eat like a Chicago-style thick-crust pizza. It's something you eat with a fork. But it is flavorful and delicious, and yes, even my kids ate it! (Although they were puzzled when they asked what was for dinner and I answered with a distinct question in my voice: "Um, pizza? Sort of?"

This recipe is from Eat. Drink. Smile.com. It's faster than whipping up your own pizza dough (which is what I usually do), but the verdict is out on whether or not it's technically "healthier" since it's got quite a bit of cheese in it. I guess it just depends on what evil you're trying to avoid: wheat? gluten? Go with the cauliflower. Trying to avoid dairy and/or saturated fat? Stick with the traditional crust.

I doubled the recipe below and made two pizzas -- a cheese and turkey pepperoni one for the kids and a veggie one for Zach and me. Saute any veggies you want on the pizza beforehand since the toppings aren't in the oven for long. I did peppers, onions, spinach, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes.

This pizza was fun to make and tasty to eat. It's worth trying just to say you made pizza with a cauliflower crust!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza
  
Ingredients:
1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp garlic salt
olive oil (optional)
pizza sauce, shredded cheese and your choice of toppings*

Directions:

To "Rice" the Cauliflower:
Take 1 large head of fresh cauliflower, remove stems and leaves, and chop the florets into chunks. Add to food processor and pulse until it looks like grain. Do not over-do pulse or you will puree it. (If you don't have a food processor, you can grate the whole head with a cheese grater).

Place the riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 8 minutes (some microwaves are more powerful than others, so you may need to reduce this cooking time). There is no need to add water, as the natural moisture in the cauliflower is enough to cook itself.
One large head should produce approximately 3 cups of riced cauliflower. The remainder can be used to make additional pizza crusts immediately, or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

To Make the Pizza Crust:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. Add oregano, crushed garlic and garlic salt, stir. Transfer to the cookie sheet, and using your hands, pat out into a 9" round. Optional: Brush olive oil over top of mixture to help with browning.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven. To the crust, add sauce, toppings and cheese. Place under a broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted (approximately 3-4 minutes).
Enjoy!
*Note that toppings need to be precooked since you are only broiling for a few minutes.

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The date is set.

We have a few brave souls who are set to start the 21-day Ultimate Reset cleanse with us on Monday, May 14. If you'd like to join us (and will pinky swear not to cheat), send me a message to learn how you can join us. It's going to be...I don't know what it's going to be yet, but it will definitely be interesting. 

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Workout of the Day

Les Mills Pump Revolution