I napped today. Napped!! Nothing feels as good as a Monday late afternoon nap. Nothing. I don't know about you, but I'm a sleeper. I need to sleep. Maybe this is one clue that I'm not yet a mother. However, if I could, I would sleep all day. I don't even really have to be tired. Unfortunately, that never gets to happen. Nonetheless, I have never ever laid my head down on a pillow and had a hard time falling to sleep. Even when I'm stressed or worried.
I feel for those who have trouble sleeping. And those whose minds wont let them.
A full belly always puts me to sleep. For physiological reasons of course. It has everything to do with your parasympathetic nervous system and insulins enzymatic pathway (and little to do with that well known amino acid culprit known as tryptophan. In fact, turkey contains the same amount of tryptophan as most meats). Scientists and the likes often refer to the parasympathetic nervous system as the rest and digest branch of your peripheral nervous system or autonomic nervous system. It's called this because it signals your body to rest and restore energy. It can cause the pupils of your eyes to contract, promote digestion of food and slow your heart rate, breathing rate and lower blood pressure. The mass of food in your stomach signals the parasympathetic nervous system and your body to slow down. And it's all involuntary so you can't even be like "hey, stop it, I'm not tired!"
Really, you should actually probably blame the copious amounts of mashed potatoes and rolls the next time you eat thanksgiving dinner or any meal high in carbohydrates. It has been shown that meals high in carbohydrates signal the release of insulin. Insulin then signals for certain amino acids (protein building blocks) to be taken up and turned into muscle. But tryptophan is not used for muscle building, so it's levels become elevated compared to the other amino acids present. So, the body says hey, I have an increased level of tryptophan and nothing competing against those levels or fighting against it to get to the brain. (Your body is a battle field of concentration/pressure/electrical gradients...and they duke it out using different types of diffusion). So, tryptophan glides right through to the fluid in the brain. And there it is converted into serotonin (Richard J Wurtman and Judith J Wurtman, et al. 2003. Effects of normal meals rich in carbohydrates or proteins on plasma tryptophan and tyrosine ratios. Am J Clin Nutr vol. 77 no. 1 128-132). Ha, and from there you don't have a chance of fighting the tired feeling. Serotonin is further converted into melatonin and bam! Full blown food coma.
THANK YOU mashed potatoes and gravy, I totally wanted to be unresponsive for the rest of the day.
Lucky for you I have the perfect food coma meal to share with you. French Bread Pizza. I promise, if you eat enough it's coma inducing. Thank me later.
I saw this recipe over at the Cozy Apron. It looked rather good, so I thought I'd give it a try with what I had on hand.
Artichoke French Bread Pizza
1 loaf french bread, sliced in half
1 c mozzarella and brick cheese (just mix the two)
1/4 c black olives, halved
6 slices salami (I had genoa)
1 15 oz jar quartered artichoke hearts, drained and patted dry
6 large basil leaves, chopped
1 15 oz jar fire roasted tomatoes
1 15 oz jar crushed tomatoes
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 jalapeno, minced
4 garlic gloves, minced
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper
2 tblsp olive oil and some to drizzle
I made the tomato sauce first. It's the logical thing to do. Heat the 2 tblsp of olive oil on medium heat. Throw in the garlic, red pepper flakes and jalapeno. You want to be sure that the olive oil is not too hot or that you do not over cook the garlic (It is really easy to burn garlic if you ask me and then it tastes super bitter and well....gross). You just want to infuse the oil with the flavors, so cook until the garlic just starts to turn golden in color. Then mix in the fire roasted tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer on low while you make the pizza.
Drizzle the french bread with olive oil and toast in oven for 5-10 minutes on 350 degrees F. You just want the pizza to start to get crusty. Once golden brown remove it from the oven and take a clove of garlic and scrape it against the toasted french bread. While the bread is toasting you can fry the artichokes and salami. I threw the salami in the skillet first on med to high heat, and then fried the artichokes in the fat from the salami. The salami will bubble up a little when finished and the artichokes will turn a nice brown color.
Now you're ready to assemble your pizza. Add a layer of your tomato sauce, the cheese, the salami, the artichokes and olives. Cover with foil and bake in oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted at 350 degrees F. I covered the pizza because I did not want the bread to toast any more, it was crusty enough. However, if you like it extra crusty leave it uncovered. Finish it with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and the basil.
Of course there are some of those in my family that are astonished by the fact that I would put artichokes on pizza. So, the traditional french bread pizza, with just some cheese and pepperoni is shown on the left. You can see that this recipe is easily interchangeable and the topping possibilities are endless.
I, consequently, loved the artichokes. I'm sure you will too. Enjoy!
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