South of the Border Personal Pizza

I keep getting my days messed up this week, but does it seem like Friday to anyone else?!

Before I get to this yumminess…

There’s something that’s been weighing on my heart since last night that I need to vent about.

In the past, I’ve expressed my love for volunteering at the Humane Society. Normally I’m able to ignore any feelings of sadness, and leave just feeling good knowing that I spent a few hours helping out an organization whose purpose is to give animals the best lives possible. But every once in awhile, I can’t help but leave feeling a little brokenhearted about the ways some of the animals have been treated. This was the case last night. Meet Duke, a now blind 10-year old sweetie pie:

He recently had surgery to have his eyes sewn shut.

Reading the story of Duke’s known history as he sat there letting me pet him, a feeling of sadness washed over me. The main gist of his background is that he’s been bounced around from home to home, given to a friend when someone didn’t want to take care of him, “stolen” from the person who his microchip is registered with, and then eventually relinquished to the Humane Society for no specific reason.

At some point, he developed eye and ear infections. His owners never bothered to take him to the vet to get it checked out. Medically speaking, I don’t know what the situation was. But what I do know is that it was bad enough that when he finally did get medical attention at the Humane Society, they determined that the best course of action was to leave him blind. His hearing doesn’t seem too great either – possibly another consequence of not being properly cared for.

I consider myself to be a sympathetic person, but one thing I just cannot understand is animal neglect and cruelty. I know that not everyone is fortunate enough to grow up in a home where people are loved and cared for, let alone pets. I get that adult abusers are typically a product of the less than ideal environments they grew up in, but I just can’t fathom neglecting my dog like that. Pets are not possessions. Anyone who thinks they are should not own one, point blank period.  

I was already hung up thinking about all of this when I came home to a magazine in my mailbox that the Humane Society published. In it they talk about their law enforcement department being a voice for the voiceless. In a year, the officers responded to 1,900+ reports of animal cruelty and neglect in San Diego. A few of the cases they noted included a dog dying from blunt force trauma to the head by his owner, a man attempting to poison his neighbor’s four dogs, and a guy who burned a 6 month old puppy with scalding water. Oh my heart. I can’t even begin to think about all of the animals currently being abused under the radar..

I’m someone who likes to focus on the positive things in life. But I have to admit, I do find myself asking, “What is wrong with people?” pretty often, especially with stuff like this. I suppose the only way to think about animal abuse in a positive light is to say that at least laws are now in place so that people are forced to pay the price for their horrific actions. I feel better in knowing that organizations like the place I volunteer at exist to help these types of situations and do the best they can to rectify the damage that has been done. On a good note, the SD Humane Society just had its annual fundraiser walk for animals, and they raised over $425,000!

Moving onto a more happy subject, my dinner tonight was delish. When I realized that the dinner I planned to make wasn’t doable (don’t you hate forgetting things at the store that you need for a recipe?), I stared into my cabinets and fridge for at least 10 minutes before decided on making a Mexican mini pizza. Holy yum, it was so good! The following recipe is great if you’re cooking for just you, and are in the mood for pizza but want to be healthy. If you’re making dinner for more than 2 people, I’d quadruple the recipe and make it on a regular-sized whole wheat pizza crust.

South of the Border Personal Pizza

What you need:

• 1 whole wheat pita/pocket bread
• 1 oz avocado
• 1 TBSP light sour cream
• 2 TBSP salsa
• 1/4 c cherry tomatoes, sliced
• 1 serving Mexican shredded cheese
• 1 green onion, sliced
• a slice of white/yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 TSP lime juice
• 1/4 c canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• salt & pepper

In a bowl, mash avocado. Add white onion, lime juice, salt, pepper, sour cream, and salsa, and mix together.

Spread avocado “pizza sauce” onto pita. Add tomatoes, beans, and green onion on top. Sprinkle cheese evenly onto the pita, then put your pizza in the toaster or oven until cheese is melted and pizza is crispy.

Nutrition stats: 380 calories, 12 g fat, 20 g protein, 54 g carbs