Friday, August 28, 2009

Low Fat Eggplant Parm!

Hey Everyone!

I found this recipe on Zesty Cook and thought I would share it. I can't wait to try it out!!


Eggplant Parmesan

This recipe is rich and decadent… it makes 8 huge servings for under 300 calories each! I paired this recipe with a simple salad, and even my meat-obsessed husband thought he had died and gone to heaven…

Ingredients


2 (1-pound) eggplants
1/4 cup water
3 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Vegetable cooking spray
2.5 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
1 jar of your favorite pasta/marinara sauce


Directions


Slice eggplant crosswise into 1/4-inch slices
Place eggplant slices in a large bowl and add water to cover. Let stand 30 minutes.
Drain well, and blot eggplant dry with paper towels.
Combine 1/4 cup water and egg whites in a shallow bowl.
Combine breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese; stir well.
Dip eggplant in the egg white mixture, and then dredge it in the breadcrumb mixture.
Place the eggplant on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Broil 5 minutes on each side (or until browned).
Spread marinara sauce in the bottom of a 13X9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Arrange eggplant over sauce; top with mozzarella and cheddar cheese.
Bake at 350° for 30 minutes (or until bubbly). Serves 8.

Next time you’re tempted to go out for Italian, try making this dish at home instead! The average restaurant dishes up eggplant parmesan with a calorie count of 1270 and 69 grams of fat! Ouch! This version of the Italian staple clocks in at under 300 calories and 8.5 grams of fat – that’s a savings of almost 1000 calories!

(recipe adapted from www.cookinglight.com)

Enjoy....

Happy Friday!

Last night we had dinner as planned, individual pizzas on whole wheat pita bread. Finding a good bread is hard to do these days. If you look at the ingredient lists they are pretty scary. Who knows what all that stuff is right? The pitas we went with only had 4 ingredients, and I was able to pronounce all 4. I ended up putting turkey pepperoni and chopped green peppers on my pizza. Chris had all pepperoni of course. We didn't plan on having dessert (never do) but Chris was in the mood to make cupcakes for a co-workers birthday. So he pulled out his Martha Stewart cupcake book and our Kitchen Aide mixer and got to work on some Buttermilk Cupcakes with homemade chocolate frosting. I am married to a regular Rachel Ray here. I was able to sample the dough before bed and it was great! Not to sweet......... I was sleeping by the time they were done.

This morning I woke refreshed (went to bed at 9:00pm) and headed downstairs for pre-workout breakfast. I ate a hard boiled egg and 1/2 of a cupcake. The cupcakes were staring at me, I couldn't help it..........

My workout today was lower body weights to keep my legs in good running shape. The PT must be doing some good because I am feeling very strong and no pain. I did 10 mins warm up on the eliptical and 50 mins weights, and 10 mins abs. I really need to get a good ab workout in soon. When you leave abs to the end you tend to skimp on them. There is a 5:00 shadow of a 6 pack on my stomache. Almost there. I have to remember though, abs are made in the kitchen. There is your tidbit for the day. LOL!

Post breakfast today was the rest of my cupcake, 1/2 cup rolled oats with strawberrys and blueberrys and 1 egg + 2 egg whites. Oh and of course some hot sauce.

Snack today will be sea salted mixed nuts. I also have more vanilla Greek yougurt but I think I have had enough sugar for the day. One cup has 20 grams. I may nuke some crab dumplings later for my 3:30pm snack. I am playing it by ear. I brought the remaining cupcakes to work so I won't be tempted later.

Lunch today will be more leftover chicken fajitas with low fat sour cream and hot sauce. It's Friday and our kitchen is empty. I am trying to eat all the leftovers.

I am thinking Greek food for dinner. Possibly a Greek salad with chicken.

TGIF!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Good Start Thursday

This moring I was able to wake easy and head out to the park for some running. Pre-workout breakfast was 1/2 an Ezekiel cinnamon rasin english muffin topped with reduced sugar Jiff.

The temperature out this morning was very pleasant so I enjoyed my 5 mile run this morning. I planned on meeting up with two friends from my running group but I did not see them when I arrived. I needed to get moving so I could get home on time to eat and get to work so I missed them. My legs are really feeling good today, I am so surprised. The stretching must have really helped last night. Tomorrow I am planning on going to the gym for some weights.

Post workout breakfast was 2 eggs fried in Pam + one homemade whole wheat banana blueberry muffin. I am down to the last two! Ohhh they are good.

Snack today will be the vanilla Okios Greek yougurt I didn't eat yesterday topped with my Moja Mix. Lunch will be leftover chicken fajitas, Mexican brown rice and reduced fat sour cream + hot sauce.

Dinner tonight will be personal pizzas made on whole wheat pitas and turkey pepperoni. I am going to stop at the grocery store on lunch today since we are totally out of fruit and veggies. I will get some peppers to add to my pizza. I prefer veggie pizza to meat pizzas.....

Hump Day Dinner

Last night for dinner Chris made chicken fajitas and Mexican brown rice. We skipped the tortillas since I had 4 tortillas with my taco lunch. I have noticed that when you are at a resturant and order corn tortillas they tend to double them up. I suppose corn tortillas break apart easier so it makes sense.

Chris cut boneless/skinless chicken breasts into strips then satued them in a bit of olive oil on a non-stick pan. He threw in 2 sliced green peppers, 1 red pepper,1 jalepeno and 1 onion along with a McCormick seasoning packet. I am not a fan of the pre-marinated faijta meat, something in the marinade makes me sick........ I rather we do the extra work and create our own.

The Mexican rice was quite tasty for brown rice, you could not tell the difference. Chris adds 1/2 a bottle of Pace salsa and chopped peppers and jalepenos to the rice. I added some spark to my fajitas with reduced fat sour cream (gotta have it) and some hot sauce of course.

I was able to get in some good stretching and a epsom salt bath last night too.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Poor Planning Leads to Off Day....

This morning I was feeling super tired (and sore from yesterday) so I decided to take my "off day" really early this week. I have worked out 4 days in a row so I should not feel guilty but, I DO! I have been going to bed way to late all week, 10:30pm or so. Not good for early morning workouts.

I am off of PT for the week because I am short on cash right now. I have to come up with $40 out of pocket every visit and that has gotten expensive. I really thought I would be done with therapy by now.

Breakfast today was a 1 cup of Multi-grain Cheereos with light vanilla soymilk topped with a banana and one egg fried in Pam. I try not to eat cereal but it sounded good today.

I missed my usual snack time today do to a work commitment but I managed to eat an apple on the way out the door to lunch at 1pm.

Lunch today was 2 grilled fish tacos from Berry Hill. I also munched on some chips with salsa and a white creamy dip. I should have skipped the creamy dip but my willpower is weak today. :)

I don't think I will have another snack today since I ate lunch late and I am feeling pretty full. If I do decide to snack it will be Okios Vanilla Greek yogurt topped with my custom Mojo Mix.

Dinner tonight? Who knows, I will have to ask Mr. Foodie. LOL!!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Well it's Tuesday!!???!

Sorry I have been out of pocket for a few meals. There has been a bit of a shake-up at work and I have not been able to get to the business of blogging!

Pre-workout breakfast was the usual, a hard boiled egg with Lawreys seasoning salt.

Today I woke at 5:15 am and headed out to the gym. I did a quick 10 min warm up on the elpitical then it was off to the weight room for upper body moves. I am discovering that my right side (dominate side) is stronger than the left. I am not quite sure what to do about it...... I did 50 mins of free weights then a quick 10 mins of abs.

After workout breakfast was an egg fried in Pam + 2 strips of turkey bacon. I also munched on a few blueberrys as I made my lunch to take with me. When I got to work I scarfed down a whole wheat banana blueberry muffin (homemade). Not so much that I was hungry but they taste so much better when they are really fresh. I just made them on Sunday.

Snack today at 10:30 am was a pink lady apple with almond butter. Lunch was a mixed greens salad with seeds trail mix (pumpkin, sunflower, almonds and dried fruits), cucumbers, 2 strips of shreaded turkey bacon and watermelon vinegrette. I was super excited about the vinegrette at the store when I sampled it. When I actually ate it today it was tasting super sweet to me. The dressing is fat free but has 20 grams of sugar in 2T. So I think I will save the rest for when we have company over. I also warmed up two Quorn veggie chicken cutlets. Pick some of these up if you see them in your grocery store freezer. They are soy and meat free and have a chicken-like texture. Pretty tasty with sweet and sour dip or BBQ sauce.

Late day snack today was 1/2 of an Ezekiel english muffin (cinnamon rasin) topped with almond butter and a banana. Our toaster at work stinks so I won't be bringing any more english muffins to toast!

Dinner tonight (the plan anyways) is whole wheat spaggetti mixed with regular spaggetti topped with grain fed ground beef and organic tomatoe sauce. I love this organic sauce from HEB/Central Market. The tomatoe basil is so fresh tasting..... I like it so much I don't want to try any other flavors.

Monday, August 24, 2009

The Hills are Alive!!

This morning I got off to a slow start since I was sleeping so well and did not want to get up. I don't have anymore bagels handy so I had a banana for pre-run breakfast. I started getting a sour stomache yesterday afternoon and I was feeling queezy when I woke up this morning.

I ran to base as part of my warmup (0.80 mile) and then did some running drills for about 15 mins. Our hills training today was again broken into groups according to how fast we run. I am pretty slow so I went with the 26-29 min group (5K time) which was hill #1. We did 800 meters at a medium effort then walked down a hill, an easy jog for another 800 meters then back to the starting cone. Repeat that over and over for 20 mins and that was hills today. We of course did stretches and abs then it was a walk back to the house. I didn't dare run it. My stomache was really bothering me and I thought I might puke. No such luck.......

After-run breakfast was a handful of blueberrys, 1/2 of a cinnamon rasin Ezekeil english muffin with almond butter and 1 egg fried in Pam. Tasty! My stomache felt slightly better.

Snack today will be 1/2 of a Trio bar. I am trying to save my appetite for lunch plus I still don't feel that great. We will be taste testing at Vargos for our annual kickoff meeting in January. The food is supposed to be great so hopefully I will be feeling better by then. Today of all days to have a stomache ache!

Taste testing results later..........