Very Veggie Lasagna

I love lasagna, but the reality is that it is filled with low value carbs and fat.  I've been cutting the fat content for years using part skim dairy products, but I wanted to up the nutritional value of this favorite to make it a guilt free option on our menu.  So I decided an increase in veggie count would be the way to go.

I started by breaking down the elements of my regular lasagna, first on the list was the sauce.  I usually use some sort of meat in my sauce, so to cut calories and fat I decided to go with a straight tomato sauce.  This does not need to be boring, there is something really fabulous about a sauce of tomatoes, garlic and fresh basil.  These ingredients served as the base.

The next element is the cheese. Usually I go with a mix of ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan and egg. I also saw some room to cut calories here.  I like the cheese, but I wanted a lighter feel to the lasagna and envisioned a thin creamy layer instead of a thicker heavy layer. To accomplish this, I cut the amount of ricotta in half, skipped the egg and added milk to make it more of a sauce, allowing a little to go a long way.

The last item, and star of this lasagna was the addition of lots of veggies.  I used a mandolin to make the most delicate paper thin slices.  I knew that these slices would not only add great flavor and bulk, but that they could also replace some of the noodles. In fact, my daughter thought they were noodles and actually ate them! SCORE!

Here is the recipe, remember this is a guideline, next time I make it I am sure some of the veggies will change.  Use what you like, what is in season, or just what needs to be used in your refrigerator.

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Very Veggie Lasagna

Sauce

5 cloves garlic crushed
2 T olive oil
Bunch of basil chopped
2 -28 cans crushed tomatoes
¼ cup red wine
salt and pepper
2 T. Honey

12 lasagna noodles

salt

Cheese

1 small container part skim ricotta
½ cup 2% milk
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 oz thinly shredded mozzarella part skim

Veggies

1 eggplant sliced very thin, salted
1 yellow squash
1 grey squash or zucchini
1 pack portabella mushrooms, thinly sliced

 6 oz thinly shredded mozzarella part skim

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare large pan with Pam spray.  Start with the red sauce.  Heat oil in sauté pan over medium heat and add garlic, stir for a minute or two.  Add the remaining sauce ingredients and allow it to simmer while preparing the ingredients for the other layers.

Cook pasta in salted water according to the directions on the package. Drain and set aside in cool water until needed.

In medium bowl, mix the cheese sauce ingredients.

Prepare the veggies by slicing them thinly using a mandolin slicer. Do the eggplant slices first so you can remove some of the bitterness they hold.  Spread them out on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and then another paper towel.  Slice the remaining veggies on the mandolin and then slice the portabellas by hand.

Assemble lasagna:  pour about 1 cup of sauce in the bottom the pan.  Then line the bottom with 4 noodles.  Top with the eggplants slices, then half of the cheese sauce. Add a thin layer of the red sauce then layer on the yellow squash.  Add another thin layer of the red sauce and a layer of 4 noodles.  Next put the layer of grey squash or zucchini and then the other half of the cheese sauce.  Top with the portabella mushrooms, the last 4 noodles and a layer of red sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 1 to 1 ¼ hours or until bubbly.  The pan I use is a huge polish stoneware pan and it takes longer to bake in this pan than others, so start checking at 45 minutes if using a glass or aluminum pan.  Once the lasagna is nice and bubbly remove foil and sprinkle 6 oz of mozzarella on top.  Return to the oven for a few minutes for the cheese to melt.  Allow the lasagna to set for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

I popped the ingredients for this recipe into Mastercook.  I estimated 12 servings for this recipe, which are very nice hearty servings, and the nutritional analysis was quite pleasing.  Per serving:

316 calories

10 grams of fat (5 saturated fat)

17 grams of protein

41 grams of carbohydrates

5 grams fiber

Seconds anyone?

Ziti Rigate Alfredo with Shrimp and Broccoli

My new addiction is Pinterest. It is a visual feast.  I love the gardening pictures and the decorating ideas, but most of all I love the food pictures and recipes.  Although, I have to be careful not get to too caught up with exact recipes because there are many items that are very calorie heavy.  I came across a pin the other day for a Shrimp Alfredo dish by Cooking Light, but one ingredient, half and half, caught my eye.  I don't feel like I need to use half and half for an Alfredo sauce.  I've been making a mock Alfredo sauce for years for my daughter who refuses to eat any sort of red sauce.  It is quick, just a little Olivio, 2% milk and Parmesan cheese.  The starch from the pasta helps bind it.  We have gotten so used to the light version that a real Alfredo sauce is just too much. I did like the idea of using a bit light cream cheese though, so I incorporated that in my redo. This recipe was presented with asparagus on the side but I thought it would be a great one dish meal if I added the veggie to the recipe.  I had a head of broccoli in the fridge so that was what I decided to use.

I find that lately I have been trying many new recipes and some are great and some are just so-so.  On the ones that are just so-so I sometimes kick myself.  This is because as I am making it I can feel that something isn't right, but since it is new to me I stick to the recipe.  Big mistake.  I find that using my instincts and the recipe as a general guideline works much better, this is why I remade the Cooking Light recipe.  In my recipe you'll see some approximate amounts, this is because in a dish like this I don't measure out my ingredients I just add them and add a little more if needed.  Do your own thing with it.

Ziti Rigate Alfredo with Shrimp and Broccoli

1 lb. ziti rigate

salt

1 T virgin coconut oil

¼ red onion sliced thin
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 lb. shrimp
1 small head of broccoli, stems sliced, and florets in bite size pieces
1-2 T olive oil

2 T olivio

3 T reduced fat cream cheese
1 ½ - 2 cups reduced fat milk
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 t chopped fresh Italian parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
 

Cook ziti rigate in salted water as directed on the package.  Meanwhile heat the coconut oil in a wok on medium heat, add the onion and cook for a few minutes.  Raise the heat to medium high and add the shrimp and crushed garlic, stir fry for a minute to regain the heat in the pan and then add the broccoli, add a bit of olive oil as needed.  Set aside when the shrimp is cooked through.
 
Drain the ziti and set aside.  Heat the pan used for the ziti on low and add the olivio, cream cheese, milk and Parmesan. Stir to melt and mix in the cheeses.  Add the parsley, salt and pepper. Then stir in the ziti.  If needed add a bit more milk to desired consistency.  Stir the shrimp and broccoli mixture into the ziti mixture and serve.

Making The Most of The Roast

The makings of my beef and veggie stir-fry

At the start of the new year, I vowed to reinstate the practice of better meal planning.  This process has been great.  It saves us money because there is a plan instead of buying ingredients on a whim or craving.  It saves me time because even though it takes a chunk of time to plan the menu based on my pantry and freezer stock, what is on sale and of course what recipes I want to try; once it's done, it frees me up the rest of the week from having to think about it.  Lastly, we make better use of the ingredients we have, so there is less waste to toss out on trash night, ka-ching!

This week's menu was based around a New York strip roast that I bought last month when they were on sale for half the amount you would normally pay.  That's when I stock up and put them in the freezer.  I try to use them within a few months of the original purchase.  In the past I would thaw one, cook it and then have leftovers, but it is a lot of meat so it wasn't unusual for the last bit to go to waste.  This week's menu has taken this quantity of meat into account.  The first night it was a roast with au jus, baked potatoes and broccoli.  A good steakhouse kind of meal. 

As yummy as that was we also want to keep in mind that we are working to base many of our meals around less meat and more veggies.  That is where night two comes in.  I used a chunk of the leftover roast to make a great beef and veggie stir fry (recipe to follow) which I served over rice.  A little meat goes a long way.  This is great basic recipe that you can use with a variety of meats, tofu and veggies.  Whatever you have on hand.

Before I move to night three which will be spaced a few nights out from the original meal with the roast so we don't overdose on beef, I need to mention that there were also two lunches utilizing this same roast.  The first was the day after the original meal.  There was a baked potato leftover so it served as the basis for the lunch.  I sauteed some mushrooms and asparagus spears along with a few slices of beef.  I heated up the potato, topped it with reduced fat sour cream, and then topped it all with the beef mixture.  The second lunch was a leftover portion from Monday night's beef and veggie stir fry. 

Last but not least, the final portion of the roast will be used to make one of my favorite meals, beef stroganoff. It will be a busy day with two volunteer gigs at school as well as soccer practice during the time I would normally cook dinner, so I will employ my crock pot.  I'll saute some onions and add them to the crock pot with the leftover au jus, slices of the remaining beef, canned mushrooms and a splash of red wine.  I'll let that slow cook for a few hours. Once we get home from soccer practice, I'll stir in some reduced fat sour cream, cook some egg noodles, throw a bag of steam fresh veggies in the microwave and dinner will be ready.  Plus leftovers for lunch the next day!

So from one $24 roast, I will create three family dinners plus three lunches.  The plan is working. No wasted food. Now for the stir fry recipe.  The measurements are always approximate for this dish and the ingredients constantly change.  I think the most important thing is make sure you add the items that need to cook the longest to the wok first and then move to items that need the least cooking time.  In this recipe beef is almost last, because I really only want to heat it through.  If you use raw meat or fresh tofu, I would add it first to give it the most cooking time.  Also, have everything ready to roll, this process is fast and you don't want to over cook anything.

Beef and Veggie Stir-Fry Over Rice

Cooked rice, brown, jasmine, white...whatever you want
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 - 1 red onion thinly sliced
1/2 - 1 zucchini, sliced in large strips
1/2 - 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
4 -8 oz mushrooms sliced
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 - 1 inch ginger paste ( or freshly grated ginger)
1/4 - 1 inch red pepper paste, depending on your heat preference
1-2 cups sliced leftover beef
4-8 oz shredded purple cabbage
a few splashes of soy sauce

As discussed above have everything ready to go in the pot.  Have the rice cooked and set aside.  Heat the wok on med-high to high and add the olive oil.  Add the ingredients in the order listed, stirring each item for a minute or so, once the ingredient is hot, add the next.  Try not add too much to the wok at any one time to keep the heat level up.  Once the last item is hot, in this case the purple cabbage, remove the wok from the heat, add the soy sauce to taste and serve over rice.

New Year, New Goals

I always think it's a bit silly of us all to make New Year's resolutions. Of course I recognize the value of using the start of a new year to mark your own fresh start, but the truth of the matter is that usually our resolutions only last for about a week or so. Not always true, but many times it is.  I know when I want to make a change I go BIG and crazy and it gets to be overwhelming and time consuming.  This past year, not on Jan 1st, somewhere like Aug 28th, I made a goal to halt the weight gain that seemed to be taking hold of my body.  I knew from past experiences that going BIG was not going to work.  So I decided on small tweaks.  The small tweaks worked, I now weigh less than I have for at least 10-12 years.  It is nice to start the year not saying this will be the year I will lose weight, but now I have a new goal.  After shaving about 10 percent of my body weight off, I want to do the same for my spending.

This is a tough one.  Since converting to a stay at home mom in 2008, I have been shaving off expenses and certainly all the low hanging fruit has been picked. Combine that with the cost of food, gas and every other necessity going up and you have a challenge on your hands.  Like the weight loss goal, I already have the tools; I think I just need to make a few tweaks.  I like to use coupons but I don't always bother because I am busy. CouponMom has a great philosophy, buy when the price is right not when you need it. This requires planning, so just as I have put mandatory gym visits in my weekly schedule, I need to put shopping planning sessions into my schedule too.  This of course requires meal planning, something I used to do, but somehow stopped.  I saw a great Tweet this morning about meal planning by the author of 3 Boys and a Dog.  She had some great common sense suggestions, things I had been thinking about, but put into a laid out plan.  I think this will be helpful for tweak number one.  I will set aside time to figure what I have in stock, what is on sale and use that info to plan a menu for the week.

So while my normal plan action is to go BIG and crazy with a new goal, I think instead I will reel myself in and start with this simple tweak.  Maybe this New Year's resolution thing isn't so silly, although I may change my mind tomorrow when the gym is overcrowded with people going BIG.

Pantry Pasta

I made this pasta last night for the teachers potluck at my daughter's school.  It's yummy and easy to make, which is always good when you are providing a dish for a pot luck.  I created the recipe a while back when I had nothing planned for dinner, but of course still need to make Something. So I looked in the pantry to see what goodies were hiding in there and came up with this creation.  Since then it's been a good, easy, go-to meal, and I almost always have all the ingredients on hand. I wish I had taken a picture for you, but alas I was not planning on blogging about it until I promised to pass on the recipe.

Pantry Pasta

2 T olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 cup red wine
2 cans diced tomatoes
1/4 t oregano
1/2 t basil
1/8 t crushed red pepper
1/4 t salt
1/8 t black pepper
1 can roman beans( or any other type of canned beans), drained and rinsed
9-10 oz coconut milk
1 lb box of pasta

Saute the onion in olive oil until soft, add garlic and saute another minute.  Add red wine, stir then add tomatoes, and spices (the measurements are approximate, so season to taste).  Simmer for about 15-20 minutes.  Meanwhile, prepare the pasta.  Add the beans to the sauce and cook for about 5 minutes, then stir in the coconut oil.  Cook for another 5 minutes.  Mix sauce over pasta.

It’s Almost Lettuce Season!

I hate winter. I don’t like the cold, I really dislike the snow (after the first thrill of watching it fall), and I hate not having items to harvest from the garden. As soon as the weather starts showing signs of spring, I get really ramped up to go outside and work in the garden. Our temps will hit the 60’s today and 70’s tomorrow. WhooHoo!

Okay, it’s not time to put anything in the ground yet, or even disturb any protections offered to the garden by doing a clean up. The temps are warm now, but next week it is expected to feel like mid-February again. But it is time to start thinking about when, where and what type of lettuces I want to plant. Last year was my first experience with growing lettuce and it was wonderful.

Growing lettuce is very easy and trouble free. Put the seeds in the ground, keep an eye on watering needs and let it go. Forty-five days later you can start harvesting. The harvested lettuces can’t be beat. They are so much fresher than store bought and hold up much longer. I find it very frustrating to spend $4 on a container of baby lettuces only to find they have started to disintegrate after only a day or two. The harvest season can last from mid-spring up until it gets really hot. I think it is also important to stagger the plantings a bit to extend the harvest as long as possible, before the lettuces start going to seed.

This is my chosen site, last year’s veggie garden. This year I plan to scale it back a bit and leave more space to work. I’ll put in lettuces early on, then beets (another garden treasure), tomatoes, herbs and cucumbers. I would love to give zucchini another try, but last year's disaster with squash vine borers has left me feeling like it’s not worth the trouble. Right now I have few herbs that are hanging on, some parsley, catnip, thyme and rosemary. Well see if they strengthen up when the real spring weather hits. Until then I’ll sit inside dreaming…

Building a Better Cake

This year my daughter wanted a kitty cat themed birthday party, so I decided that I would make a cat cake.  I feel that I am a pretty good cook, but only a mediocre baker.  Cakes are really not my strong point.  I decided I wanted my cake to look pretty good, so with only week to improve my cake building skills, I started my research.  My favorite bit of info came from a site called 5 min.  There were multiple videos from a master cake decorator.  So Gigi and I watched each video to pick up some important tips.  I also found a pattern for a cake cat made from two 8 inch rounds on the Betty Crocker site.

I decided a test cake using my new found knowledge would give me some practice.  I didn't want to make a cat because it would take some of the bang out the final cake.  I baked two 8 inch round cakes and quickly realized that these cakes were way too thin; they did not meet my vision of a nice thick cake.  That was fine I got to practice shaving off the uneven parts (which made it even thinner) and then put the layers together.  This cake ended up being a butterfly.

I bought two new 8 inch rounds that were much deeper than my other pans and decided to use two boxes of cake mix.  I know, all this trouble and I am making cake from the box!?  Well, I figured I had enough of a challenge on my plate without having to test cake recipes. 

The new rounds worked great although they did give me a bit a muffin top, so the top side needed to be shaved off.  Once I had my nice flat rounds, I used the pattern from Betty Crocker to cut out the tail, ears and head.  So far so good.

The next BIG thing I learned about cake decorating, is to do a crumb coat.  This is a thin layer of icing over the whole cake that seals in the crumbs.  This is the best tip ever.  Another tip I learned from some site, is to use Wilton Meringue Powder in your icing to help it harden just a bit.  I like this addition to the crumb coat icing, which was homemade, because it gave that crumb coat extra toughness.  I did have one small issue during this step.  The tip of one ear broke off.  I put some icing on it and "glued" it back on.

I put the cake in the refrigerator to set.  Once I felt it was firm, I mixed up some more Wilton Meringue Powder in some store bought chocolate frosting, and liberally frosted the whole thing.  This was going way better than I had expected.  I put it in the box and chilled it overnight.

 The next morning, I mixed up some pink icing.  Again store bought, but white.  I added some pink cake icing coloring and Wilton Meringue Powder.  I piped it on, put in some gum drops, added a bit of sugar glitter and I was finished! 

A lot of work went into the cake and I invested in some new tools, but I am glad I spent the time to study up and practice.  Now I no longer fear making a special cake.

Grilled Chicken Over Brown Rice Sauteed with Spinach

Over the past 7 weeks I have written 7 papers, and am working on the 8th.  I am completely burnt-out on writing.  So as much as I've wanted to keep this blog regular, school work has dominated most of my time.  I've put together some creative and healthy meals during this time but haven't had the time or energy to post the details.  Today I needed a break; so I decided to put a quick post together.

Season chicken fillet with salt, pepper, garlic powder and rub with touch of balsamic vinaigrette.  Grill.

Serve over cooked brown rice and fresh spinach sauteed in touch of olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

Garnish with fresh cucumber slices and and avocado.  Drizzle a bit of balsamic vinaigrette over the cucumber slices.

It's 90 Degrees Outside, So It Must Be Time For Soup!

I don't know why, but sometimes in the summer I get on a soup kick.  This year I am crazy about these cool noodles soup dishes that I found in the refrigerated section of my local Asian market.  They come with fresh noodles, a soup base sauce and flakes.  I am actually not a fan of the flakes.  They have things like dried cuttlefish and dried mini shrimp with the shells still on them which have a crunch that I am not into. So I don't use it.

Today's soup is spicy noodles by a Korean company named Pulmuone.  I sauteed a few strips of tofu to add a bit of protein.  Some green onions and mushrooms would also be a good addition.  This is deliciously spicy stuff and goes wonderfully with a nice glass of jasmine iced tea.

Getting Ahead of The Game

Okay, I am supposed to be revising a paper that is due tomorrow for my writing class, as well as researching info for another paper (this one for my humanities class) that is due on Monday.  But whatever, I feel like I am ahead of the game today.

I got up at 6:30am and cleaned the shower, I still need to get the rest of the bathroom clean, but that is the messiest part.  Plus, on the way back from dropping Gigi at camp, I picked up some ingredients for dinner.  This is the best part.  Right now dinner is slowly cooking in my slow cooker.  All I will need to do later when I am dead tired, is make some brown rice to complete the meal. 

If you don't have a slow cooker, a.k.a. a crock pot, or haven't used yours in while (like me), I urge to pull it out of the cabinet.  This is like the 11th day of 90 plus temps in the DC Metro region, cooking your dinner in the slow cooker is a great way to have a nice hot meal without creating excess heat in the kitchen.  It is also a fabulous way to make a healthy meal.  Last night Gigi and I had Lean Cuisine for dinner and my mom guilt was fluttering out of control.  At least I made pudding for dessert.  Tonight we will have slow simmered chicken with veggies over brown rice.

Slow Cooked Deviled Chicken

1/2 onion thinly sliced
3 carrots, peeled and cut in half
4 stalks of celery, cut in 3 inch pieces
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 chicken, cut up
1/8 cup olive oil
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T Dijon mustard
1 T honey
1/4 t dried tarragon
1/4 t sea salt
1/8 t ground black pepper
1 bay leaf

Prepare veggies and layer in the bottom of the crock pot (always put veggies in first).  Arrange chicken pieces on top of veggies.  Mix the remaining ingredients except the bay leaf, and drizzle on top of the chicken.  Tuck the bay leaf in and put on the lid.  Cook on low for about 8-10 hours.  Serve with brown rice.

Got to go work on that paper or I will no longer remain ahead of the game. :)

Writing for School, But Not for The Blog

I started the summer semester on June 1st.  Note to self, next summer, only take one class.  I didn't think the schedule was that condensed, but it is condensed enough to take up most of my free time.  Anyway, that means I have not spent as much time here on my blog writing for pleasure.  I have also abandoned my search for new healthy recipes.  Drag, this school thing is all consuming right now.  I am going to have to see if I can squeeze in a few other things.

I went out the other day and took some pictures in the garden.  Most of them turned out well.  All the gardens are doing great and love this super awful hot weather.  The top shot is of one of the Dahlias in the cutting garden.

This is Ms. Gigi modeling the hydrangeas that are trying to take over our front walk.  I had the cut a chunk out of each side so we could get to our front door.

These white echinacea are one of my garden favorites right now.

This is shot of Ms. Gigi and the driveway garden.

And here is shot of the veggie garden.  I took this on Thursday last week and the tomato plants are already about a foot taller!

Well, gotta get back to school work, but it was nice saying hello.

Passiflora Passion!

I've decided to become a collector.  I love passion flowers and I am hoping to collect a new variety each year.  I found a great site called Passiflora Online. I will be using this site quite a bit. There is information on varieties, tips on care, and places to purchase vines and seeds.  I just purchased two more varieties while writing this entry!  OK, so more than one new variety this year, although my guess is that the plants I ordered today may not produce anything this year.

This first picture is of Passiflora Passion Red Lady Margaret and is the second addition to my collection. I purchased it about a week or so ago at Behnkes Nursery.  I am trying to decide if I will re-pot it and keep it on the deck or put it in the ground like my other passion flower vine.

This is the first of my collection and I believe the variety is Passiflora Alatocaerulea.  I grew this on a fence last year and it was spectacular.  I dug it up in the fall and put it in a pot. I kept in a sunny window over the winter and now it is back in the garden in the same spot.  No flowers yet, but lots of buds!

My Crazy Edibles Garden

This is my crazy edibles garden.  I call it crazy because it is incredibly informal.  I was very eager to get things growing this season and would plant some seeds and buy a few plants every week or so, and as I kept adding things I just put them wherever they would fit. 

We had a few nights with frost warnings and temps in the mid 30's, it seems to have caused issues with some things but others are fine.  Just this morning, I saw that the ambrosia plant I thought I might need to replace, has all of the sudden started growing.

The first things I seeded were lettuces, broccoli and beets.  We have harvested most of the lettuces and they were fantastic.  I will always grow lettuce in my garden for now on.  Although I hear it's hard to grow in the height of the summer, so I will try and seed some more in September for a fall harvest.  The broccoli and beets look good, but I don't really know what to expect of them, this is also a first for me this year.

Mr. Max the Garden Cat waiting for a few snips of catnip 

One of my garden favorites is the tomato.  I have 5 plants this year, each a different variety.  I love the taste of homegrown tomatoes, so I can't wait until these start producing!  I am hoping for an abundance so I can put some away in the freezer for pasta sauce this winter.  I also have a two pepper plants, one bell and one jalapeno.  I put these in before the two frost warning nights and they are still very small.  I am not sure if they suffered damage from the low temperatures or if they aren't in dry enough soil.  The jalapeno plant has one little pepper on it, so maybe it just hasn't been hot enough, long enough for them to really start growing.

Ariel view of the tomatoes

This is a new garden and I need to figure out how it works.  I can tell that the area where I put the herbs, which is very close to the peppers, holds water.  Of course, where I need it dry, it's wet. Some of the herbs may need replacing. I moved a few second year parsley plants from other areas in the yard and they just want to go to seed, no real growth happening.  The basil is also not doing so well.  I need an abundance of both of these herbs for cooking this summer.  I'll put a few new ones in in another section and see how they do.

This is how the garden started earlier this year.  I tilled out an area around the deck.  I had some old edging stones from the garden that used to be where the deck is now, so I used them them to map out the edibles garden area.  The long area on the side of the garden is what I call the cutting garden, I'll talk about that garden on another day.

The beginnings of a new garden plot!

 

Stones and border in place, ready for planting!

This shot was taken a few weeks ago.

This shot was taken today - lots of growth!

Mr. Max walking in the garden with the broccoli, beets, yellow squash, cucumber, tomatoes and sunflowers.

Back From The Beach

I resurrected this blog with the intent to write most days about something.  Things have been very busy the last week or so.  The good news is that my husband found a new job and starts work next week.  We have vacation plans at the end of the summer to rent a house in North Carolina with some friends of ours, but had no other travel plans.  We decided to take a trip to the beach for a few days before my husband starts his job.

It was a good trip.  We went during the week and left just as Memorial Day weekend crowds were expected to roll in.  We stayed at the Hilton on 32nd street so we could have access to a great kid's pool as well as a nice indoor pool, in case the weather refused to cooperate.  Fortunately the weather was great; we got in plenty of time at the beach and the pools.  Also Paul purchased a bike rack for my car so we could bring our bikes down with us.  I think this was my favorite part.  There are no restrictions for bikes on the boardwalk prior to Memorial Day so we could ride anytime of the day.

Riding was a good way to work off the food.  I found it hard to stick to my usual eating rules.  When I was a kid, and later when Paul I and would take Gigi to the beach, The Captain's Table at  the Santa Maria was a must for breakfast.  They had a dish called Eggs Chesapeake which consisted of an English muffin topped with poached eggs, jumbo lump crab meat and hollandaise sauce.  So yummy!  Well, they closed a few years ago and demolished the whole property.  This year when we arrived we found that they built a new Marriott Courtyard there and that the Captain's Table was back!  And so was my favorite breakfast dish (aside from Huevos Rancheros at Chilly Billy's In St. John USVI).

Other favorite stops included lunch at Fager's Island, the rides at Trumpers and dinner at Mackey's where you can eat on the beach (bayside).

The Hillside Garden

All my gardens have names, mostly because I keep a notebook with plant names, planting dates and other notes on each of them and need to keep them straight.  This is the hillside garden.  It is in my front yard on a slope that borders my neighbor's yard.  It gets really great sun exposure which is good and bad.  Plants that love the sun and some dryness do well there, but some plants find it too harsh.

Over the years this garden has changed quite a bit.  When we moved in it was not a garden but a hillside covered in weeds.  I put a black tarp over it for about year and then seeded it with Zinnias.  It was nice at first, but got of hand and weedy, so much for a year of putting up with that black tarp.  In retrospect, it would have been better just to dig the weeds out and add some new soil.  That's how I have handled each section as it has grown over the years.

For a while I didn't consider it a garden, we just planted grass and forgot about it.  There was the crepe myrtle down at the end, and two holly bushes that we just couldn't get rid of after several attempts so I finally gave up and let them stay.  I put two butterfly bushes in between the crepe myrtle and the hollies and decided a new garden had been started.

Since then I have added quite a few plants including lambs ears, tall phlox, several varieties of peonies, forget-me-nots, russian sage, echinacea, roses, saliva, yarrow, lavender, maiden grass, hibiscus and more..

Right now things are starting to happen and by the end of the summer this garden will be crazy.  I love this time of year, it's great to go out each day and see what new developments have taken place.

 

Dont Forget The Beef

Many times when people are trying to watch their weight or eat healthy in general, they skip the beef.  I'm not that kind of girl.  Even though I was a strict vegetarian for a few years (nothing with a face, not sure what the appropriate term is), it was the beef that ended it for me.  I love a good steak or a great slice of prime rib.  Although I have to admit that prime rib isn't a good or even a better choice, it's the one that when you choose it, you make sure you don't over indulge and don't choose it very often.  Anyway, I'm not here to talk about prime rib but a very different, much leaner cut of beef, the filet.  This a nice way to get your beef and remain true to a vow to eat healthy.

This dish was another quick and easy creation.  I sprinkled the filets with some salt and pepper and a splash of worcestershire sauce, and then let them sit for an hour at room temperature prior to grilling.  The rice is brown basmati, no special preparation.  The mushrooms and asparagus were sauteed in olivio and olive oil with fresh thyme and pepper.  Once the beef was grilled and let set for 5 minutes, I sliced it and put it together with the veggies and rice.  Easy and good. :)

A Tortellini Compromise

Last night it was just the girls, me and Gigi.  Being that it was just us, I did not see myself making a creative dinner worthy of blogging about. But when it was all finished I thought I should because it was good, and it was a good example of eating healthy while putting together a kid friendly meal. 

Our plan was to have a simple dinner and watch a movie.  So I started to think about the limited menu of things Gigi likes to eat.  To complicate matters, she came home talking about a loose tooth and that she only wanted to eat soft foods. In comes my old standby, cheese tortellini.  It's easy and Gigi is guaranteed to eat it.  But of course I know this is one of things ruining my waistline.

Well, as it turns out, her desire for tortellini and my weekly shopping ritual would collide to make a perfect salad.  What shopping ritual am I talking about?  Most weeks I log onto Couponmom.com to check out the perfect storm deals.  On this site they will match up sale items from your local grocery store with coupons to point out big savings.  Plus, they put all the Sunday coupons in a searchable database.  This makes life easier because you don't have to clip coupons until you are actually going to use them.  Using this site before a shopping trip usually saves me 25 - 35% off my grocery bill.  The thing is you buy when stuff is on sale (and with a coupon), not when you need it.  So it works best for items that can be stored for a while until you need them.  This week there were a few fresh items on sale that I wanted to take advantage of,  shrimp for $7.99/lb, grapes for $.99/lb and red leaf leaf lettuce 2 for the price of 1.  Also while I was cutting out the coupons needed for other items on my list, I saw one for $1 off Wholly Guacamole.  So these are items I decided to buy out of opportunity, there was no master plan.  Btw, my grocery bill was $119, but by using coupon mom I saved $33, so I only paid $86.

I knew it was only going to be the two of us, so I got about 3/4 of shrimp, this is something Gigi usually likes.  I peeled and then marinated the shrimp in the juice of one lime, some olive oil, fresh cilantro and ground pepper.  When I was ready, I sauteed it quickly in a pan.

For Gigi's plate she had a good portion of cheese tortellini with a bit of olivio, milk and Parmesan cheese to make a light alfredo sauce and 5 shrimp.  This was good kids meal.  For me, I put together a salad with the red leaf lettuce, purple cabbage, cucumber, and tomato.  I tossed this with a red wine vinaigrette and used a 100 calorie snack pack of Wholly Guacamole to add a few dollops of guacamole on top, then the warm shrimp and a few warm tortellini.  It was delicious.

Gigi and I enjoyed our meals while watching Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix.

Chicken, Potatoes and Salad

Today I am a bit tired.  My workout was a little on the lazy side and mostly it was a low energy, clean off the desk, pay the bills kind of day.  Also, Paul and I went out to lunch where I over indulged, which means I broke one of my rules, but that is how life is.  The biggest thing about breaking a rule is not to let it snowball.  So I got back on track at dinner.

Anyway, lunch was really good.  We went to a place in Rockville called First Watch.  It's a chain, but different than most places around here.  I left feeling very full.

As for creating dinner, I had some baby red potatoes I needed to use, and some chicken tenderloins that were thawed.  As already stated, I was feeling a bit lazy so it all needed to be basic.  I marinated the chicken tenderloins in maple balsamic vinaigrette and grilled them indoors.  The potatoes were cut in half, boiled until tender, and then tossed with salt, pepper, olive oil, Olivio, and fresh dill and parsley from the garden.  The salad was made from fresh lettuces from the garden, purple cabbage, cucumbers, pecans, dried cranberries and feta with a balsamic vinaigrette.  All very simple, but quite tasty.  And of course paired with a lovey Cabernet.

Two New Recipes a Week

In an effort to pump up our menu with new, exciting, and healthy choices, I am making a vow to work in two new recipes per week, if not more.  Last week I created a new tofu stir fry, I then made that same stir fry a few days later.  This is a common problem, I try something, I like it, and then I burn it out.  I am going to try and allow time to pass before making it again, so I don't make everyone sick of it.  Not that Gigi ate it anyway.

Not only do I want new ideas that are healthy, I want to incorporate new foods.  We eat healthy dishes most of the time but it's the same old stuff.  It's going to be hard getting the child and the hubby on board.  Paul likes to eat healthy foods, but is not very big on branching out to try new foods.  Gigi doesn't like most foods, but we will keep on pushing.

Today we were in downtown Silver Spring, so I stopped to pick up a few items at Whole Foods.  Wheat berries, canned lentils, a variety of brown rices, coconut oil, avocado oil, etc...  I think tonight we will have the fresh halibut that I purchased with either wheat berry or lentil salad.  And maybe some roasted pineapple...

Halibut Broiled with Olive Oil and Fresh Herbs
This is just new herbs on an old recipe, but the new flavors are refreshing.

Halibut fillet

Fresh Dill, Thyme and Chives from the garden (I cannot tell you how much I love going out and snipping fresh herbs to use in my recipes)

Olive oil
Fresh lemon juice
Salt and Pepper

Rinse halibut and place on broiler pan sprayed with Pam.  Drizzle the fish with olive oil and lemon juice then sprinkle the herbs on top.  Broil as close to heat as possible (I have a an electric oven, ugh).  When fish is done, sprinkle with a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper to finish.

Roasted/Broiled Pineapple
I had some fresh pineapple that needed to be used...This was Gigi's favorite part of the meal.

Toss a few pineapple slices with a little olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette and salt and pepper. Place on a foil lined pan sprayed with Pam. Broil or roast until slightly browned.

Wheat Berry Salad

This is new recipe #1 for the week.  I am using a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa that I modified a bit after reading a post on The Amateur Gourmet.  I liked this a lot, but thought the scallions were a bit much, I would cut way back on those next time.  Instead, I would add some cilantro or basil from the garden.