New recipes!

For lunch yesterday I decided to make my own version of Johnnies new Strawberry Spinach Salad. It was just me for lunch, no way I could get the little guy to eat a salad!

Strawberry Spinach Salad
Spinach
1 cup-ish Strawberries
1T Feta Cheese
1T Pecans
10 sprays of salad spritzer raspberry balsamic dressing

WW PointsPlus = 5 points (check me on this, I'm still not 100% how this new program stuff works)

This was VERY easy to throw together and it was DELISH! I will definitely be making this again. 

For dinner I decided to try out WW's Vegetable Lasagna recipe. It was a little more complicated. (Well, not actually complicated, but chopping and roasting vegetables = complicated to this girl)

Vegetable Lasagna 

1 medium, raw eggplant (peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick)

1 medium zucchini (sliced 1/4-inch thick)

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 clove garlic

28 oz canned tomatoes, whole, chopped, in their own juice

10 oz mushrooms (bleh, we hate mushrooms so we omitted this)

1 large green pepper, chopped

1/2 cup parsley, flat leaf, chopped

5 pieces no cook lasagna noodles 

2 oz Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Spray 2 baking sheets and an 8-inch-square baking dish with nonstick spray. Arrange the eggplant and zucchini slices on the baking sheets, overlapping a few slices, if necessary. Spray the tops with nonstick spray, sprinkle with the salt and pepper, and bake until tender, 15 minutes. Set aside (leave the oven on).

Heat a large nonstick skillet. Swirl in the oil, then add the garlic. Sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, frying peppers, parsley, and another grinding of the pepper; cook over medium-low heat until the sauce is bubbling but not yet thickened. Remove from the heat. (The sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead at this point; just transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate.)

I've never purchased lasagna noodles in my adult life..... so this is what the kind I bought looked like :) You're supposed to get the "no bake" kind. 

Spread 1⁄2 cup of the sauce evenly over the bottom of the baking dish. Cover with 1 or 2 lasagna noodles (depending on the size you are using); top with one-fourth of the eggplant and zucchini slices, then top with another 1⁄2 cup of the sauce. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan cheese. Repeat the procedure to make 4 more layers, ending with a layer of noodles topped with sauce. If any sauce remains, pour it on the top and around the edges of the lasagna. Be sure to use all the sauce (it’s needed to cook the noodles). Press down gently on the lasagna with a spatula to help the noodles absorb the sauce; the lasagna will compact as it cooks.

Ok, 1/2 cup of sauce was NOTHING. I think next time I'll use an 8x8 pan instead of 9x13.

I used more noodles than it said because of the size of my pan

I will also likely make more eggplant and zucchini than it said for next time. There was almost nothing left and I only did 3 layers, not 4.

All done before going into the oven!

Cooked and ready to eat!

Even the little guy liked it! (Although it was messy, so we had to lose the shirt :-) )

This afternoon for lunch I decided carbs sounded good. Potatoes aren't the healthiest of all choices, but it was simple to make and very filling! 

Broccoli Cheddar Potatoes 

Pretty self explanatory.... 

Bake 2 potatoes at 400 degrees for an hour, slice open and put in cheddar cheese and steamed broccoli (I added a little garlic). Cook for another 5-10 minutes and serve! 

Me and the little guy CHOWED on these today for lunch. Very, very good! 

I need a moment.

I just made a huge beautiful blog post. Filled with recipe info, pictures and fun. 


Somehow, it disappeared and there is no way to recover it. 


Instead of getting mad and throwing my lovely new iMac through the window, I'm going to *breathe* and take a short break. I'll be back in a moment.... 


*sigh* 

Quick Update....

For the first time, in too long, I'm sitting down to meal plan for the week. It's sucked up most of my evening, but probably because I'm out of the habit of doing it.

Here is how I roll:

Lunch

Soup

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Bean Burrito with fruit

Black Bean Burger with fruit

Tomato Mozzarella Salad

Eat Clean Egg Salad

Dinner

Vegetable Lasagna

Southwest Spaghetti Squash 

Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli 

Cheese and Broccoli Potato with salad

Crispy Chicken Bites with Sweet Potato Fries

Breakfast will likely be a Green Monster every morning. 

My monster grocery list for my shopping trip tomorrow:

Bananas

Tomato

Potatoes

Apples

Oranges

Onion

Green Onion, small

Celery

Eggplant

Zucchini

Strawberries

Broccoli – Fresh, 3cups

Green Pepper

2 Sweet Potatoes

Spinach

Mixed Greens

Silk

Fresh Mozzarella

Feta Cheese

Cheddar Cheese – Reduced Fat 

Parmesan Cheese, Reduced Fat, Grated

Cottage Cheese, Fat Free

Pecans

Almonds

Canned Tomato, whole, chopped in juice

14.5oz Mexican-style tomatoes

1 can black beans 

Lasagna noodles, no cook, 5- 6.5x7-inch or 10- 3.5x6.5inch

Tortillas 

8oz brown rice pasta shapes 

Broccoli - Frozen

Frozen Mixed Vegetables

Buns 

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

Yogurt

Plain low fat yogurt

Eggs

Chicken Seasoning

Curry Powder 

Oat Bran

Wheat Germ

Sea Salt

White Pepper

I will definitely be posting pictures and recipes for these yummy dishes as I make them :) 

Also - check out this blog, where I got several of these recipes: Clean Eating Machine

She references this book many times in her blog, so I'm definitely adding it to my Christmas list! 

Hey Weight Watcher people! What do you think of the new "PointsPlus" plan? I am jumping on the bandwagon! I was catching up on all the new info about it this evening. It seems to be much healthier than the previous version of WW "points." And - hello 0 point fruit!! Yessssss..... 

My first 5k! Recap

My first 5k was yesterday, October 9th. It was Race for the Cure. I was running in honor of my grandma who died at 36 in 1980 of breast cancer. I was also running in celebration of my best friend's mom, Patrece, who has been battling breast cancer for years.

My goal was to run the entire 5k, without walking. Even if I was running really slowly, I wanted to run. I paced myself in the beginning. Many people told me how easy it would be to bolt out of the starting line and lose momentum about halfway through. I kept my pace really well. It was fun because there were lots of little bands set up along the run and people cheering as we ran by.

As I neared the finish line, I was exhausted. I was fighting a mental battle with myself. I kept telling myself my legs weren't tired, to regulate my breathing and think of something other than what I was doing. My body was physically able to run... but mentally I was tired! I couldn't believe I had been running for so long without stopping! I had to remind myself I could finish this race without walking.

I passed the "4k" sign and knew I was almost finished. My chest started burning, but I was trying to ignore it. The air was cold and I was breathing in very deep breaths. Right when I wanted to start walking, I passed a group of cheerleaders (literally, they had pom poms) and a huge group of people cheering and clapping. So I tackled the mental battle and kept running. Then I topped a hill and saw the finish line. I saw all the balloons and started hearing people cheering as they crossed the finish line. I knew I would see my family and they could NOT see me walking. I tackled that mental battle and kept running. As I got closer to the finish line I started running faster.... and faster... tackling those mental battles telling me I was tired and needed to walk. I crossed the finish line at 37 minutes. I finished the entire 5k without walking! I overcame that battle!

I can't wait for my next race!

Parker Family | Sneak Peak

I met up with Ami, Davey and little Maddi on Saturday at OU. I loooove the OU campus, so many beautiful buildings and trees. We just had fun and took some pics :) Maddi did a great job! She was a trooper. I hope you like your pictures!

BOOMER SOONER!