Eggplant & Tomato gratin

It's getting to be end of the semester time, which means 2 projects due, last tests in 3 classes followed by 3 finals, and GRE! Last time I took it I couldn't sleep for a week I was so nervous. My score wasn't where it needed to be, so I'm retaking it - only this time for some reason I can't stop sleeping! I have been taking naps every day I'm home, missing valuable study time. Maybe it's the getting up at 5am. Perhaps I should rethink that? Although I will say, it has been much easier to get up at that time! No weight loss to report yet. Unfortunately and discouragingly.

Here was my dinner tonight, ringing in at a nicely low 300 calories, whoop whoop whoop! I found it in the most unlikely place too - Family Circle magazine! From June 2007 -- I've made it several times and love it every time. I'm the only one in the house who likes eggplant though so I don't make it as often as I'd like.

Eggplant and Tomato gratin

2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggplants, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

3/4 tsp oregano

3/4 tsp basil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup fat free half and half

1.5 cups shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1. Place tomato slices on paper towels; sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt. Place more paper towels on top. Let stand 30 minutes. Pat top of tomatoes to remove as much liquid as possible.

2. Coat both sides of eggplant with nonstick cooking spray. Heat broiler.

3. Broil eggplant slices on baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray for 5 minutes on each side or until tender.

4. Reduce oven to 350. Coat a 2.5 quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the bottom. Arrange eggplant and tomato slices, alternating, around baking dish and down center in a single layer if possible. (This wasn't possible for me - no big deal!)

5. Sprinkle casserole with oregano, basil, garlic and remaining 1/4 tsp salt. Drizzle with half-and-half. Top with both cheeses. Cover with foil.

6. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Remove foil; bake 10 minutes or until cheese is golden.

Insanity

They say it takes 28 days to develop a habit? If this is true - 7 days down, 21 to go! This week I woke up by 6am every day, and either going to work or to work out. I'm not going to lie, it killed me! It was pure sweet torture.

The working out bit was fabulous, I felt really good and kicked some booty. Then I was sore and exhausted for the rest of the day! I had to drink more coffee than usual. Even then I was dragging. I just hope this gets easier.

I mean, I hate life when my alarm goes off at 5:05 am. I hit snooze, but my faithful pup jumps out of bed. Oh, to have the energy of a 2 year old lab. Then the alarm goes off again 10 minutes later and I give it the angriest look I can muster. Still, it doesn't care, continuing to blare into the depths of my sleep. I reach over, pound it off and let out a big sigh. And lay there for another 5 minutes, angry at the insanity of rising before the sun. Then comes the thumping, good old lab energy. His tail starts thumping the floor, the wall, the dresser, faster and faster and I can't make it stop so I blindly reach for my glasses, knocking everything on the nightstand over in the process. And the thumping continues.

I haul da booty from bed, sometimes my body will get off the bed but my head refuses to leave the pillow. With a final pathetic groan I lift up and drag my poor sleepy body to the bathroom. And the thumping continues.

These are my mornings. Every morning. I went to work 3 days and worked out the other 3.

My husband, helpful man is he, went to the gym with me and also reminded me that I would lose weight much quicker if I changed my diet.

True indeed, true indeed.

If only I didn't love food. If only eating was a chore. If only I hated to cook. If only I didn't have the metabolism of an elephant.

I believe I am cursed. All I have to do is THINK about losing weight and I gain 10 pounds, just like that. I can maintain my weight for months and months, then decide to lose weight, and on it comes. Oh why, oh why do I love food so much?

Just 21 more days! I hope to report back that I bound out of bed at 5:05am, no more snooze button, rush over to the gym, come home and have endless energy. Stand by for that! But don't hold your breath. I still think getting up before the sun is inhuman. Why won't someone bring back the siesta? Please?

This week I made Peppered Shrimp Alfredo and it was gloriously good! I used whole wheat pasta, roasted red pepper alfredo, and low fat half and half instead of cream. This recipe is a keeper!

Peppered Shrimp Alfredo

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com (click above link)

8 oz whole wheat linguine

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 pound portobello mushrooms, diced

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 (16 oz) jar roasted red pepper alfredo sauce

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup low fat half and half

cayenne pepper to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, melt butter and olive oil together and cook onion until tender. Add garlic and mushroom and cook for 2 minutes, until soft. Add shrimp and cook until pink and firm. Pour in alfredo sauce, half and half, and parmesan. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in cayenne, salt, and pepper. Stir drained pasta into the sauce.

Squash, Pear, and Onion au Gratin

I've often been intimidated by the butternut squash. What the heck do I do with that thing? But I love squash, so here's what I've always done. I'll buy a butternut squash, get all excited and bring it home and sit it on the counter and stare at it.

That's it.

Because what the heck do you do?

I imagine back to the days of the neanderthals. How did they know to crack it open and what to do with it? I often wonder about how many foods were discovered, like the coconut. Who first looked at that thing and thought to crack it open? Well, ok, a coconut probably fell from a tree, bonked some neanderthal on the noggin, cracked open, and while all his buddy nomads bust a gut laughing at him, he scooped it up and...licked it? I don't know?!

They must have gotten to where they saw something, anything, and cracked it open. Everything was edible on the inside. Even the hunters, kill the animal, crack it open and eat.

It makes you wonder how many mistakes or mishaps there were with cracking and eating. Maybe there was a designated taster, the village idiot. Sent to be the first taster, and as long as he didn't die, it was safe to eat.

These are the things I wonder about.

Well, this time I finally bought a butternut squash and figured out what to do with it and oh what I've been missing out on! Soooooo good. I mean real good! Give it a go!

Squash, Pear, and Onion au Gratin

Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

1 1/2 lb butternut, buttercup, or banana squash (banana squash? Never heard of it!)

1 large onion, sliced and separated into rings

1 tbsp butter or margarine

1 medium pear, peeled and thinly sliced

3 tbsp fine dry bread crumbs

1 tbsp parmesan cheese

1 tbsp melted butter or margarine

Peel the squash (!) and slice crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Remove and discard seeds. Set squash aside. (I love when recipes tell you to set something aside)

Cook onion rings in the 1 tbsp hot butter for 5-10 minutes until tender.

Arrange half the squash slices in the bottom of an 8x8x2 inch baking dish. Top with half the pear slices. Repeat layers. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Cover with cooked onions. Bake, covered, in a 350 degree oven about 45 minutes or until nearly tender.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and 1 tbsp melted butter, sprinkle over vegetables. Bake, uncovered, about 15 minutes more or until tender.

The original recipe calls for also putting in 2 tbsp walnuts with the bread crumbs which is probably really tasty but I didn't have any so I left that bit out. Served with slow cooker parmesan chicken and mashed cauliflower.

A Canadian Thanksgiving

Last week my family was in town, in between work and school I spent as much time with them as I could. Which quite frankly was exhausting - but nice!

They arrived Monday, which, lucky for all of us, just happened to be Canadian Thanksgiving! So I cooked..

Veggies and Turkey recipes from Food and Wine Magazine

Macaroni and Cheese!!!! YUM!!!

Recipe from Pioneer Woman. Thank you for that!

And the PUMPKIN - well that was just a small bit of fabulousless that I can't wait to make again and again and heed these words, you. MAKE THIS FOR THANKSGIVING!! You won't be sorry! It's soo simple to make, get a 2-3 pound pumpkin, clean out the stringies and seeds, but keep the meat. Is it called meat? I think so. Keep the sides that are squash like.

THEN! Cut up some bread cubes and mix together with some of your favorite cheese and 2 cloves of garlic. Put them in the pumpkin. THEN! Stir nutmeg, salt, and pepper (to taste) into about a cup of heavy cream and pour it over the bread. Stick it in the oven when the turkey has about an hour left to it, bake it until you can pierce the pumpkin with a knife. I wasn't paying much attention to it to be perfectly honest with you, I just let it go ... I think it was about 45 min- 1 hour. Serve it straight from the pumpkin. Num Num Num.

Photos above courtesy Jackie Arthur. And no, we're not Canadian, eh!

The week quite unfortunately was cold and rainy, so we did what any family who sees each other twice a year at best does when it's cold and rainy. We decided to visit a haunted* cemetary.

* allegedly

SPOOKY!! MWAHAHAHAA

Not really.

Really - the whole visit centered around FOOD and my Mommala got several not so flattering better not be shared with anyone pictures of moi. Now, I am back to being by my lonesome, me and my faithful treadmill loving pup, Onyx. Who lets me blog but somehow knows when I switch to homework and whines like a weiner when I start. No I didn't get my homework done, no no, I had a whining O punching me like a boxer whenever I started. Yes, I tried. Yes, I know who got kicked out of Project Runway last night. My dog lets me watch that. He dictates what I do. Unless I let him on the treadmill for a go.

Disclaimer.

I have yet to learn how to photoshop that mess in the background out. But it's not there right now, I swear. Stop looking at my mess and look at my silly dog anyway.

Going to switch to the homework now. GRE in one week, please everyone and anyone, send good luck my way!!

Confessions and Turkey Meatball Soup

A bit of a confession: I try to update my quote of the day from Invisionaria every day, but I couldn't bring myself to do it today. My last facebook status was: "The early bird gets the worm. The late bird gets 3 extra hours of sleep in a nice comfy bed with 1000 thread count sheets and a big fluffy pillow." And I have to admit, I really prefer to be the late bird. What is so good about mornings? When tortured to get up that early, I spend the whole time in a bit of a daze, probably still in stage 1 sleep which you can be while awake, drinking coffee to try to rid myself from the groggies. Finally afternoon comes and I feel normal. Dare I say, peppy even at times. The only only thing I do like to do in the mornings is shop, because then it's not so crowded. But then I can come home and nap. :o) Aren't naps glorious! So back to the quote of the day, this is it. I'm sorry for not updating it today. "If you want your dreams to come true, you must not oversleep." — Unknown

Clearly written by a morning person. If that's true, oh dear, I'm in trouble.

I pushed back my GRE date so now I have no excuses, it's time to get fit. I signed myself up for a 5K which is going to be January 16th. Some people may be wondering to themselves aloud why there are no cupcake recipes in my blog with cupcakes in the title. Well my new friend that's because I'm trying to get fit, which means cupcakes have to sit in waiting to be made for the moment. Tonight I made soup, here's the recipe! Courtesy of Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine.

Turkey Meatball Soup

2 egg whites, beaten

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
4 tsp Italian seasoning, divided

1 lb lean ground turkey

3 medium carrots, sliced

3 celery ribs, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp olive oil

3 cans reduced sodium chicken broth

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cup small pasta

1. In a small bowl, combine the egg whites, bread crumbs, cheese, and 2 tsp Italian seasoning. Add turkey and mix well. Shape into 3/4 in. balls. Place on a baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 15 minutes or until no longer pink.

2. Meanwhile, saute the carrots, celery, and garlic in oil until tender. Add the broth, pepper, and remaining Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in pasta and cook 10-12 minutes longer, or until vegetables and pasta are tender. Stir in meatballs and heat through.

1 cup is 258 calories

Here I was carrying a bowl over to the window to take a picture. One recommendation I have for you, don't sneeze while carrying a bowl of soup. It was quite acrobatic as I first tried to hold it in and then realized nope, it's coming! And attempted to cover my mouth while trying not to jerk the bowl and send soup sailing across the kitchen. Luckily, mouth got covered and no soup lost to my hopeful dog. Then wouldn't you know it! I went to sample, while soup was half way to my waiting mouth, my dog barked. He doesn't do that often so of course I was startled and my hand jerked. Soup didn't make it to said waiting mouth but once again, by some miracle, no soup lost! Amazing indeed! Next time I'm going to make something that is going to be plated because I noticed everything I've made so far has been in a bowl.

Pot of Yumminess

I'm getting mentally ready to start Body for Life in 2 weeks. 2 weeks and not now because I have the GRE coming up and don't need to focus on both! But that doesn't mean I can't start a light version. That's the iphone user in me -- there's Body for Life and Body for Life Light version. If you've ever downloaded an app you know what I mean, if not get with it! Geez. I love my iphone!

Tonight's dinner was adapted from a recipe Aunt o' Mine (AoM) sent me a few years ago. I've made this different every time and every single time it turns out soo yummy and is incredibly easy to make.

Start out cutting up and sauteeing your favorite veggies. I used broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, yellow and green squash, and a red onion.




Saute for about 8 minutes or until it's to your liking. Season it up with your favorite seasonings. I used McCormick All Purpose Salt Free Seasoning, garlic powder, and a little sea salt. Then throw in a cup of cooked brown rice, a can of pinto beans, and about a half cup of salsa. I had some premade turkey breast in the fridge so I threw that in too.




Simplest dinner you'll ever make and believe me, sooo good!



And good for you makes it even better! Hope you try it out and love it as much as we do!