Ti Amo, Roma: Life Changing Pizza

There is something about Rome, about the Italian people, really, that truly opens your eyes. Every culture has contributed and continues to contribute positively to the world, and it feels like I never really understood the joy of eating until I came here.

I will be here until May, and during this time I’ve broken down my goals to certain days of the week. While CK is off teaching, I’m at home job searching, learning chemistry, practicing Italian and Irish, working on my drawing technique, light housework and, of course, cooking.

The way Italians think about food is contagious. They know how to eat and how to enjoy it with others. There is such pride in their food. It is fresh, wholesome, simple, and traceable (I mean, how would you not be able to visit the place of your favorite cheese if they didn’t). But the simplicity of their dishes brings out the complexity of flavor. You can taste and name every ingredient, and all the while feeling daring.

Having CK as a partner has encouraged me to try new things, mostly because his willingness to participate, and has been wonderfully supportive of me facing my fears about food. Over Valentine’s Day weekend, we made donuts. They were delicious flops, completely oil-filled and cakey, but for the first time in years I had a deep fried, sugary food.

Another weird thing about me is that I struggle with the idea of more than one carbohydrate being on a plate. That would mean no bread to soak up the remaining red sauce from a pasta dish at dinner (if I could), or have waffles and hash browns as part of the same breakfast, or rice and potatoes in the same stew. It wasn’t to the point of me squealing in disgust, but the concept just didn’t make sense to me. It was weird and oddly frightening.

In Italy there is a type of pizza called pizza patate: a white pizza with, you guessed it, potatoes on top. When CK first described the dish to me, I was appalled. Why on Earth would you do that? What was the appeal? Did it even taste good? To which CK replied yes, indeed it does.

I’ve experienced a lot of healing moments since 2014. Despite the hardship of living alone in Malta, I came to really feel connected to my body and honoring its needs for the first time. Food was no longer something to be afraid of, but embraced and shared. And I fully admit that Italian cheeses have ruined it for me: I’ve yet to taste better than my first Mozzarella di Bufala Compana ball, or the sacred moment of placing a melty forkful of smoked Scamorza straight from the hot oven and into my mouth.

Since having the donut, and seeing that the world did not, in fact, end, I wanted to see what else my fears of food deprived me off. And for over a year, CK and I would talk about pizza patate in passing, and for the first time since then, I wasn’t squicked by the idea, but rather intrigued.

Last weekend, as we were recovering from Week 1 of Shaun T’s Insanity workout (yep, we’re both doing it!), we wanted to celebrate with a thin pizza. Surprisingly, I think I said I wanted to see what pizza patate was all about, and so that is what we did.

We think we can improve the toppings a bit, but the crust… the crust was a game changer.

Both CK and I believe it is the best we’ve ever made, and most certainly the best that I’ve ever had. It held together beautifully, and the taste reminded me of a good, thin pizza crust. We do want to play around with the rise, perhaps using sparkling water instead of still (this trick is wonderful for bagels, by the way), but we’ll keep you updated. We also used this dough to make a huge, albiet bursting, calzona. 

Thin Pizza Crust (recipe ratio and technique adapted from this recipe)

1 package Active dry or fresh yeast
1 tsp. Honey (use coconut sugar for a vegan option)
240 ml warm water, 105-115°F (40-46°C)
120 g Teff flour
120 g Glutinous rice flour
120 g Chickpea flour
1 tsp. Sea salt
1 tbsp. Extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for brushing

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and honey in 60 ml warm water.
In a large bowl, combine the flour and the salt, then add the oil, the yeast mixture, and the remaining 180 ml of water.
Mix until the entire mixture forms a ball.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
Knead by hand until the dough is smooth and firm.
Cover the dough with a clean, damp towel and let it rise in a cool spot for about 2 hours.
Divide the dough into 2 balls.
Work each ball by pulling down the sides and tucking under the bottom of the ball.
Repeat 4 or 5 times, and then on a smooth, clean surface (not floured), roll the ball under the palm of your hand until the top of the dough is smooth and firm.
Cover the dough with a damp towel and let rest 1 hour. (At this point, the balls can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
Preheat oven to 500°F (260°C) or highest temp.
Lightly oil a medium-large cookie sheet with extra-virgin olive oil on parchment paper.
Roll out one of the dough ball, on a lightly floured surface (I typically use a roller for this part), to the shape of your cookie sheet.
Carefully transfer dough to cookie sheet, lightly press and stretch out to the edges of sheet.
Add your favorite sauce (not too much) and toppings (again, not too much).
Cook for 10 - 12 minutes or more depending on the thickness of crust due to size of pan you used.

Each pizza ball makes 1 pizza, or two servings.

Locally Known. Virginia Grown.

I get this rush when I go to farmers markets, especially when it’s a market I’ve never been to before. My heart races as I remove the lens cap from my camera and I ask if I can photograph their beautiful displays, fingers itching to pick up business cards so I remember what I’ve bought and from whom. 

(source)

It’s like a mission. A Meals with Morri mission.

Getting back into the blogging groove has proven itself more difficult than I expected. But going on excursions such as these may help in easing my way back into producing recipes and product reviews. After all, I’d been looking forward to May specifically because it was the start of the farmers market season.

What's in season, you might be wondering? I'm so glad you asked.

The scent of strawberries was heavy and intoxicating at the Wakefield Farmers Market. On Wednesdays from two to six, two rows of vendors lay out their fruits, flowers, vegetables, baked goods, meats, dairy products, and honey in loving fashions. It’s a quieter, smaller farmers market, but the people are happy to strike up a meaningful conversation with you. There’s even a booth run by the Fairfax County Master Gardeners for green thumb enthusiasts.

You can find up to thirteen vendors in the Wakefield Farmers Market:

Produce
Kuhn Orchards*
J & W Family Farm
Level Green Farm
Lois’s Produce & Herbs
F.J. Medina & Son Farm

Meat
Stallard Road Farm – grass finished beef, herbs, and jams
What’s for Dinner Now – corn and grain finished pork, beef, sausages, soups, and entrees*

Baked Goods (alas, not the gluten-free kind)
Cenan’s Bakery – breads, croissants, et al.
Sue’s Pies & More – pies, cookies, and other baked goods

Other Products
Red Fox Creamery – homemade ice cream
Massanutten Mountain Apiaries – honey*
Salsa Las Glorias – salsa
Fields of Grace Farm – all natural farmstead cheese

My first stop was at the What’s for Dinner Now booth run by the Stifler family. Their beef and pork are raised in the Shenandoah Valley, and all cuts are individually vacuum packaged. They were a little confused by my request to take a photo of their meat freezer, but were kind enough to lift open the door for me to do so. Many of their sausages as I could see are gluten free and soy free, but some do contain sugar. 

My next stop was the Massanutten Mountain Apiaries booth. I have a sweet spot for honey, especially since it is used in much of my baking, desserts, fermenting, and brewing. While they didn’t have bee pollen, they did have honey sticks, small jars jam-packed with sliced almonds and other nuts in honey, jars with honeycomb just asking to be chewed on like nature’s chewing gum, and even gallon-sized containers should you want to make five gallons of mead. Most of their honey comes from wildflowers, but they also mentioned to have tulip poplar honey from time to time.

We talked about their bees, and I asked how their hives were doing. They said that Virginia was one of those places where the bees aren’t dying off as they are in some places. A silver lining, that, but we seriously need to do something for nature's pollinators.

I finished my farmers market excursion at the Kuhn Orchards booth. I gravitated towards the absolutely stunning apple display. There was an apple called Gold Rush, and if you could imagine the combining of a Golden Delicious with a Honeycrisp, it was an explosion of sunshine on the tongue. There were greens and rhubarb and other delights, but really, any booth with apples will become my favorite.

With a camera full of pictures and a bag full of goodies, I came home content and excited to write this post. I have a lineup of farmers markets to explore now, and I can’t wait to get to know the people behind the products they sell.

For more information regarding farmers markets or CSAs by region, go to VirginiaGrown.com

Self-Realization and Without a Plan

I have been wondering almost to an obsession why I have suddenly come to a standstill. Over a week had gone by and there wasn’t a recipe made, a photo taken, or a witty post written. I came back from my long weekend in Florida and discovered something daunting and rather terrifying: I lost my plan.

It didn’t occur to me until a few days ago what my breakup would mean in the long run. Here I was at twenty-two (a month shy of turning twenty-three), in a relationship with a man I thought was the forever kind, and poof! All the plans and dreams that involved "us" were gone, completely thrown out the window as if it never existed. I was feeling, for lack of better words, lost, because for 2.5 years I didn’t have a plan without him in it.

“We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” (J. Campbell)

Flash forward to today, with hormones and emotions flaring up, and I have been looking into new plans, short and long-term goals for what I want to do in life. My friend in Florida and our mutual friend in Italy have shown me from their past heartbreaks that the heart does heal and the world will not implode in on itself while being single. By no longer having a plan that includes another person at this point in my life, I can focus on my studies, my health, my passions in conflict resolution/food justice/sustainable development, and learn the beauty of solitude and inner quiet.

 "By creating a strong body and emanating good health, we attract more of the same in our lives." (R. Mars)

The world seems so vast and new, raw and intimidating. I have started to see how much of ourselves we give to others, intentionally or not, and the positive and negative effects it can have on you as a whole. You start to question yourself: Did I make this decision for me or because it was expected? The scary part is wondering whether or not you would know the difference.

You think you know everything in your early twenties. You think you can handle whatever trials the world decides to throw at you, because it is what is expected. I can’t believe how much self-inflicted stress I endured because I felt I didn’t have the plan that suited the expectations of everyone else  (Rosenberg and Gandhi’s (2003) Nonviolent Communication has really helped in this department). Once my old plan literally fell to pieces, the one that consisted of pleasing everyone along with unrealistic goals and expectations I had put upon myself, self-realization and an inner calm overtook me.
 
In a lifetime of gasping for air, in asking for the right to breathe, I could feel my entire lungs utilized and I breathed deeply. I’m sleeping throughout the night and eating healthily. I’m finally acting my age and having fun doing it.

So what’s my plan? To keep doing what I’m doing, and learning all I can along the way. I’m going to continue being inspired by the people life puts on my path, love them and honor them for the lessons they bring. I’m going to give generously, receive fully, and pay it forward whenever I can.

And naturally, with an assortment of recipes coming your way. 

Updates, News, and Cool New Features

If you told me in April of last year how much Meals of Morri would grow, I would have been wide-eyed and incredulous. I look back at my old posts fondly and see so many wonderful things: how my photos have improved (although I am still learning); how my understanding of hypothyroidism has broadened; how rock climbing and yoga have changed my life; and finally, how my recipes have been seen all over the world.

It’s amazing and mind boggling and absolutely fantastic.

There are a couple of things I want my readers to be aware of in the next few weeks/months that I’m particularly excited about:

1. Why my Fitness Page is m.i.a. (coming soon!): It is currently being updated to look a lot like my Health & Hypothyroidism page. I wasn’t really happy about my fitness log idea, because I would get so down on myself for not doing it exactly as I’d written. So what’s going in place of it, you’re asking? Rock climbing, yoga, and other fantastic activities I fall in love with along the way.
2. A FAQ page (coming soon!): This is going to be your go-to page for any questions you may have in regards to my recipes, cookbook and product reviews, my blog, my health, and my photography. And if you find I don’t have an answer to a particular question, feel free to write me an email.
3. Post variety: Besides recipes, I plan on doing more product reviews, video posts, organic gardening, foodie adventures, discussing what I find concerning thyroid function, fitness fun (how-to’s, places, and helpful hints), and non-recipe recipes (i.e., hair care, skin care, gluten free arts and crafts, etc.).

In the meantime, you can enjoy…

1. Meals With Morri has a Facebook page: Yes! Finally, a place where you can be notified of recent posts, ask questions (and answer them), provide solid feedback for when I’m stumped on recipes, or write about what recipes you want to see on the site.
2. Drinks, Smoothies, and Shakes: Remember when I said to enjoy those muffins while I was buying Vega One in bulk? Well, I meant it and it is due this week. As I fall more in love with rock climbing and yoga (that, and the hot summer months are just around the corner), I want to make sure that people remain hydrated with nutrient-dense drinks.

In fact, here is a smoothie recipe to get you started. It’s a green smoothie… with kombucha.

Ah, kombucha… a most refreshing fermented delight. What? You’ve never heard of kombucha? Well, let me enlighten you: it’s fermented tea. Pure and simple.

Some people may roll their eyes at my love for this stuff, because it’s become this “trend” in the alternative health world. But it has been around for a lot longer than hippies and New Age dippies. From the Qin Dynasty (221 – 206 BCE) in China who referred it as “a beverage with magical powers enabling people to live forever” to 19th century Russia’s “tea mushroom” (чайный гриб) and “tea kvass” (чайный квас), it is said to aid digestion and promote other awesome things for your overall well-being. I personally just love the stuff, and have two cultures on the kitchen counter living and fermenting green and black teas as we speak.

But until I can drink my own, I treat myself to a bottle of GT’s Kombucha. I’ve tried many of the flavors, and like every single one I’ve had. The one I have the most often, however, is the multi-green. I enjoy the “green” taste of it, and it is a perfect base for a green smoothie.  

Greener than Green Kombucha Smoothie

240 - 350 ml Kombucha* (I used G.T.’s multi-green)
1 Frozen banana
85 g Frozen spinach
1/4 Avocado

Place the ingredients in the blender and blend until thoroughly combined.
Pour in a large glass and serve cold.

Makes 1 serving.

Honesty

Honesty. Let us reflect upon the word together and discuss its meaning. The word is often overlooked or taken for granted as a virtue, because the truth can be a hard thing to face. But as they say, the truth will set you free, and I hope my being honest does the same.

Writing about hypothyroidism has been a fun learning experience, including the feedback I’ve received from people telling me their stories. I’ve written about my frustrations and my experimenting with food lifestyles and thyroid medicine doses. I did a little research on what foods may affect the thyroid in a negative way, and started looking into what forms of exercise can be beneficial to those with thyroid disease. But there was a symptom of hypothyroidism I kept close to my heart, something that I felt was slowly ruining my life and all I held dear.

Three little words, my dear readers: sleep maintenance insomnia (SMI).

A good cat nap is apparently hard to come by.

This post was originally going to portray a "Why me?!" diary entry, filled with ranting, less than positive language, and feeling sorry for myself. But after two days of fully slept nights, with the exception of getting up to use the bathroom and drink a glass of water by my bed, I hold my head high and wish to tell you this story honestly and completely.

There’s that word again. Honest.

 Now, I have told people of my less than awesome sleeping habits, about how not days, not weeks, but months passed by with my SMI waking me up between 2:30 and 4:00 most mornings on less than five hours of REM sleep.  I woke up starving, so I would fill my clawing hunger with an early breakfast and attempt to go back to sleep. But the damage was already done. Over six months of this terrible secret of mine kept me from being social after hours and rekindling my orthorexic tendencies and anorexic habits. I was so terrified that I was gaining weight I upped my workout habits to such a degree that it made matters worse.

Thus the vicious cycle repeated itself, day after day and night after night: lack of sleep leads to eating more leads to working out. I looked myself in the mirror and saw distortion. I found myself bringing out my worst inner critic, the one that screamed “Not Good Enough” and “How are you not losing weight? You must be doing it wrong.” I tried, dear readers, I really did. I did eat. I did exercise. And I did try certain remedies for a complete REM cycle: yoga, hot baths, a light snack right before bed, no caffeine after three in the afternoon…  

Herbal tea? Been there... done that.

But every morning I looked out to see streetlights glaring against the pitch black night, and felt my stomach growl like a predator that demands an easy meal.

I became so obsessed with controlling things like when and what I ate, how many times I exercised per week and for how long, because I felt that my life was spiraling out of control. No matter how busy I was or how many posts I published on Meals with Morri, my fatigue pushed me to work harder, to see more people, and to exercise more often.

And I could see the looks of disappointment in my friends’ faces when I couldn’t stay out long or not go out at all. It broke my heart that my lack of sleep only gave me certain hours of the day open to see people, and that was filled with exercise, work, and blogging. I could feel the concern and the confusion when I didn’t accept how they saw me: busy, in shape, and helping others. Finally, on Tuesday, it all came crashing down.

I was on my parents’ bed, my body heaving with uncontrollable sobbing. I was so tired it hurt, my mind restless and always thinking despite its exhaustion. I was frustrated that my fitness regimen wasn’t doing what I thought it would be by the end of May (i.e., firm tummy, toned arms, happy Morri…), and I was beyond angry how I looked at myself.

I just wanted eight hours of continuous sleep each night. Is that so much to ask?

Mama Dazz, who also has hypothyroidism (but in the form of Hashimoto’s), consoled me the best she could. From what came of the conversation, all my problems were the cause of my insomnia. It is improbable, highly unlikely, and extremely difficult to lead a healthy lifestyle while suffering from insomnia. As one of the symptoms of hypothyroidism, it is a leading cause to weight gain (or in my case, my body was always “on”, so it couldn’t keep up with my lifestyle and held onto my "plush" for dear life). I had restricted myself and controlled everything in my life to such an extent that, when I couldn’t complete a basic state of being, I felt so broken.

So there I was, curled up in a ball, crying my eyes out that shook my entire body, feeling like I was crazy, stupid, and the most useless sentient being in the world. If my SMI had gone on for another month, it is highly likely I would have been hospitalized until I was considered “normal” again. Between a rock and a hard place, I chose another option, one I wasn’t thrilled about but I did it anyway out of desperation.

I took medicine to sleep.

In the name of my holistic beliefs and philosophies, taking medication was something I’d refused for months. At the time, I felt like I would be a complete hypocrite to take over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. I’m personally not a fan of antidepressants, and as such I do not take them. I don’t take diets pills for weight loss, and instead eat healthily to the best of my ability and exercise when I can. I felt like taking medicine to sleep was, well, cheating. And if I was a hypocritical cheater, what made me think I could run Meals with Morri with a clear conscience?  

Bangin' bread on little sleep.

At the moment, sleeping well for two nights in a row is quite an achievement, and my body is following suit. It’s starting to understand how exhausted it truly is, and what it means to slow down and turn “off”. I’m not pushing myself to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to prove how happy I am. I’m calmer and quieter, with a “sparkle” in my voice that I was told has been missing for quite some time.

There are quite a few theories why SMI has reared its grumpy head: too low a dose of thyroid medicine, boredom, restlessness, etc. And because the medicine to help me sleep seems to be working, I’m going to continue taking it for a few weeks and see how it goes. Mama Dazz has also put curtains in my bedroom to keep it dark and cool, which has also helped enormously. I’ve started seeing progress in my eating and not being ravenous all the time. Oh, and my climbing seemed to improve overnight, so I’m rather happy with that in particular .

My sincerest hope is that I’ll continue sleeping, and that we can continue to share our stories honestly with each other. I end this post with an interesting read I found on sleep:

“People say, 'I'm going to sleep now,' as if it were nothing. But it's really a bizarre activity. 'For the next several hours, while the sun is gone, I'm going to become unconscious, temporarily losing command over everything I know and understand. When the sun returns, I will resume my life.'

If you didn't know what sleep was, and you had only seen it in a science fiction movie, you would think it was weird and tell all your friends about the movie you'd seen.

They had these people, you know? And they would walk around all day and be OK? And then, once a day, usually after dark, they would lie down on these special platforms and become unconscious. They would stop functioning almost completely, except deep in their minds they would have adventures and experiences that were completely impossible in real life. As they lay there, completely vulnerable to their enemies, their only movements were to occasionally shift from one position to another; or, if one of the 'mind adventures' got too real, they would sit up and scream and be glad they weren't unconscious anymore. Then they would drink a lot of coffee.'

So, next time you see someone sleeping, make believe you're in a science fiction movie. And whisper, 'The creature is regenerating itself.”

(George Carlin, Brain Droppings)

Pleasant dreams, my dear readers. Here’s to finally sleeping in on a Saturday morning.

Almost Apple Pie

Sometimes there are foods I cannot eat, foods I desire to enjoy and incorporate into my recipes. These are foods that should be naturally gluten free and refined sugar free, foods that I should be able to enjoy within the boundaries of my amazing lifestyle. For me, the most frustrating thing is knowing I should be able to eat something but I am hindered from doing so because unnecessary additives are put into the product.

Take cottage cheese, for example. I was once skeptical of this cheese curd product, simply because my palate was fussy. Plus, it looked just plain weird to me.

When I was abroad, I learned of this Swedish dessert called ostkaka, literally translated as “cheese (or curd) cake” in English. As the national day for celebrating this oddly textured cake was two days before my 21st birthday (Since 2004, it has been celebrated on November 14th), I decided to have it as my birthday cake. Truthfully, I think the texture would have been better if it was put through the blender before baked in the oven, but it was still a cool thing to make with my other international exchange student friends.

Cottage cheese is one of those foods that is hard to find without any additives or preservatives stirred in. Yogurt is typically the same way when it is sweetened or has fruits in the mix. There are some days I want some probiotic goodness, but have to go without because modified food starch is in it. Even some organic brands do this, but why they do it I don’t understand. In Sweden, after searching the cottage cheese shelves in the dairy section, not only did I find cottage cheese in its purest form but with different curd sizes and fat ratios.

Why is it that we are adding unnecessary things into our foods? Why are we adding modified food starch when it is naturally thick and creamy? Why are we dumping sugar into foods where fruits are present? Why the additives? Why the redundancy? Just… why? By doing this, various brands are limiting their products’ availability to people with food intolerances and allergies. Often times I am unable to because soy was added, or sugar, or unknown food starches. It can be frustrating at times, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a brand out there that caters to my needs. Finding those Morri-friendly brands, however, is a different matter.

The way my household saves money on food is by going to multiple stores. In fact, we are able to feed a family of three (including multiple visitors on weekends) for under $200 a week. For produce and foods hard to find, we go to our local international food market. For our meat, dairy, coffee, and other food needs, we go to Trader Joe’s. On rare occasions we visit Wegmans or Whole Foods, usually to window shop or indulge in gluten free products or something we don’t usually see at the other stores. But for our miscellaneous necessities, such as paper towels, toilet paper, and the latest issue of Glamour magazine, we go to Harris Teeter.

The Harris Teeter we frequent has the So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk brand and agave sweetened coconut ice cream, things that are hard to find or very expensive in other stores. We go there for wild caught wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri) as often as once a week, and it is at their pharmacy that I get my hypothyroid medication. It also carries a brand of cottage cheese the way it’s supposed to be, with three ingredients that make cottage cheese… well, cottage cheese.

Daisy® pulled through for me where many brands did not. Cultured skim milk, cream, and salt are this cottage cheese brand’s only ingredients. They have multiple cottage cheeses with different milk fat percentages, but the ingredients remain the same. Truly this company remains true to their “Pure & Natural” philosophy, of which I am thankful. In fact, I was so ecstatic to find cottage cheese I could enjoy without care that I bought two tubs of the stuff. That, and the Burt-man has a tendency to eat an entire tub in one sitting (this goes for tapioca pudding, vanilla ice cream, and a box of cereal also).

With cottage cheese now officially in my repertoire, I wanted to make something simple, delicious, and nutritious. I then remembered a post from a fellow gluten free blogger and hastily looked to her for inspiration. Amy Green of Simply Sugar and Gluten Free was one of the first bloggers I started following. When I became refined sugar free, she and Elana Amsterdam from Elana’s Pantry showed me the art of cooking with healthier alternatives to white sugar and artificial sweeteners (which I never used anyway). I learned to bake with agave nectar, maple syrup, stevia, and honey, ending up with similar – if not tastier – results than when I cooked with cane sugar. I started finding other bloggers who followed the same lifestyle, but Amy truly put it into perspective for me, showing me that wholesome ingredients could also be indulgent, decadent, and satisfying. She truly lives and eats by her motto “fabulous food made better”, and my respect for her knows no bounds.

Her "Almost Pumpkin Pie" recipe was the inspiration of this dish. Her “tastes almost like a dessert but it’s really a meal” concept really tickled me pink, but I didn’t have a can of pumpkin puree in the cabinet or a butternut squash on the counter to use. But with that tub of cottage cheese tempting me from the bottom shelf of the refrigerator door, I decided to incorporate some creative license.

I had a plethora of fruits to choose from, both in type and form (fresh, frozen, dried, and preserved), but soon it occurred to me that I hadn’t had my daily Granny Smith apple yet. My choice was soon clear, and the result was a delicious and filling dessert-like meal.

Almost Apple Pie

1 Granny Smith Apple, finely chopped
1 tbsp. Flaxseed meal
1 tbsp. Unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c. Cottage cheese, small curd and 4% milkfat minimum
1/4 tsp, Cinnamon
2 dashes Nutmeg

In a soup bowl or large drinking mug, thoroughly combine the chopped apple, flaxseed meal, and applesauce.
Top the apple mixture with the cottage cheese.
Garnish with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Serves 1.