Tomato Pepper Stuffed Eggplant

I am not a fan of eggplant...well, I wasn't until recently.  Leroy has been grilling it and I have fallen in love.  I found a recipe for Baked Stuffed Eggplant and made a few changes to make it a little healthier.  I hope you enjoy - I sure did!

Tomato-Pepper Stuffed Eggplant

Ingredients:

2 medium eggplants, about 6-8 inches long

2-3 tbsp EVOO

Dash of salt

1 large onion, sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large green pepper, dice ½ and thinly slice the other ½

3 Roma tomatoes, 2 diced and 1 sliced into wedges

½ cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 tsp sugar

2 bay leaves

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise, then, with a paring knife, make a fairly deep slit into the eggplant along the sides near the skin, but do not cut through the skin (you are creating a place to stuff the veggies), stop about 1 inch from the top and bottom. Brush eggplant lightly with EVOO, sprinkle a little salt and place eggplant face down on a cooking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat about 1 tbsp of EVOO in a sauté pan.  Sauté the onions, garlic, diced peppers, diced tomatoes, parsley, sugar, bay leaves, and another dash of salt.  Cook until vegetables are tender and remove from heat.  Take the bay leaves out and discard.

After eggplants have cooked for 15 minutes, turn them over and use a spoon to spread the slits open.  Stuff slits with the sautéed vegetable mixture.  Place 2 wedges of tomato and thinly sliced green pepper on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place in a dish with about ¼ inch of water in the bottom and bake for 30 more minutes.  Let cool for 15 minutes. 

**This can be served, hot, warm, or cold.  I found it delicious no matter the temperature!

Picture 1: First 15 minutes of baking eggplant

Picture 2: Vegetable Saute

Picture 3: Bake for 30 more minutes and enjoy(not sure why the pic flipped)

Ole Almond Butter Banana Wrap Breakfast

Thought I'd post this wrap since I eat it pretty much DAILY for breakfast.  It goes without saying that I LOVE IT!  Pretty low in calories and it has a good amount of protein, fiber, fats, carbs...you get the point. 

1 Ole Extreme Wellness High Fiber Low Carb wrap (71 calories)
1/2 Banana sliced in half (~53 calories)
1/2 Tbsp Earth Balance Almond Butter (~43 calories)
1 tsp Organic Wildflower Honey (20 calories)

I lay the wrap on a piece of paper towel and pop it in the toaster oven for maybe two minutes just to warm it up.  Smear the Almond butter and honey on the wrap, lay the banana slices down the center, roll it up, cut it in half and eat.  Its delicious and goes great with coffee(look below).

In my coffee I take PureAlmond Vanilla milk and stevia. Just a touch of each. 

Great Breakfast!

Pride in my Man...

I just wanna take a minute and brag on my Man! Most of you know that Leroy started a business called Concrete By Design, LLC about 6 years ago; not a franchise or a segment of another business, he started this from NOTHING!  Well he has been successful thus far and recently he began networking with a group of pretty prominent business/construction guys and landed a job at the Atlanta Airport.  Yes, that's correct, one of the busiest in the world...and he's resurfacing the entrances to ticketing/check-in and baggage claim on the North AND South terminals.  I am SO proud of him and I have a HUGE amount of respect for him.  It is not often you meet someone with the motivation to work SO hard EVERY day.  His shifts at the airport are from 9pm-5am; it's a grueling schedule and then he still has all the normal goings on of the business during the day. (I'm trying to help, but Lord knows, I'm a long way from being SUPER helpful...)  Well, here is a picture of Leroy and part of his crew before they left last night.  Kudos Babe!!  I love you

Rocky, John, Leroy, Cody, Dustin (From left to right)

Sushi

I was browsing through my "Clean Eating" magazine yesterday and decided I was going to give Spring Rolls a try.  Leroy and I went to the store to get the ingredients and it turns out Publix didn't have Spring Roll Wraps.  I was kind of surprised, they usually carry almost anything I'm looking for.  Instead, I got the Sushi Seaweed and decided to give that a whirl.  Before I tell you how I did it, I have to tell you a funny story:  I asked a customer service person if they had the Spring Roll Wraps, she then said "hang on, let me call someone", I gladly let her and I could not help but laugh a little when she called the grocery manager and said "Do we carry spring roll wrapping paper?" with a pretty thick accent.  :-) 

I guess the best way to describe what I made was kind of a mix between a sushi roll and a spring roll.  Here are the ingredients I used:
Sushi Seaweed (as pictured below)
Sauteed shrimp - 2 per roll sliced in half
Thinly sliced avacado - 2 slices per roll
Shredded Carrot - ~1/4 cup per roll
Asparagus(steamed and cooled) - 1 large piece per roll
Herb and saffron infused Basmati rice - about 1/4 cup per roll

I laid out the piece of seaweed on a cutting board and placed the ingredient on it.  First I put in the rice, and then followed with the veggies, and finally the shrimp.  I rolled it up and sliced it into about 1" thick pieces.  I was amazed at how delicious it turned out and I will absolutely be making it again!  I did find Spring roll wrappers at Kroger today though, so I may be making them tonight!!  Here are the pics

I'll have to get more creative, but Leroy and I loved it!


Ta ta for now, C

Dear Ted's

We went out to eat at Ted's Montana Grill on Saturday.  This is a email I sent to their corporate headquarters today. 

To Whom It May Concern:
I visited your Peachtree City, GA location on Saturday night with 4 other guests.  We had a great server named CJ.  I am writing to you because I am a personal trainer in Peachtree City and I try VERY hard to watch what I eat.  I ordered the pecan crusted trout, and while I realize pecans are high in calories, I thought surely there wouldnt be more than a 1/4 cup, mixed with the panko bread crumbs. I also ordered the sweet potato with no butter or sugar, and the asparagus, and I asked for that plain as well.  When I ordered, I apologized in advance to CJ, but I made it EXTREMELY clear that I wanted no added fats, oils, sugars, etc. and I told him I count calories.  I understand it is my responsibility to do research ahead of time, but my Husband changed from Smokey Bones(where I know the calorie content) to Ted's and I thought I would be "safe" by ordering the trout.  I am still not sure how 122 fat grams were in that entree, or 1224 calories.  I am EXTREMELY disappointed.  I know this may seem crazy, but I once weighed 220lbs and I am now 130.  It is the hardest battle of my life, and I feel like restaurants like yours are sabotaging this country.  By the time my meal added up, it was somewhere in the 2000 calorie range.  I worked out that day and STILL exceeded my calorie goal by 800.  I feel that you all should better educate your servers so that they can make suggestions for healthier options.  I mean, really, I thought I was choosing wisely and what I chose was one of the HIGHEST calorie items on your menu.  I am praying that this is a mistake, but I'm afraid its not.  I will be letting all my clients, friends, family, etc know that Ted's is not a great option if they're trying to be healthy.  My husband is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and we both agree that you don't have to add SO much "junk" to make something taste good.  Frankly, if I was going to go over my calories by that much, I would NOT have chosen to do it on TROUT.  I appreciate the good server, but again, I am very upset by this.

Needless to say, if you want healthy - DONT GO TO Ted's!  I am still fuming!

It is OUR blog, right?

Since I decided to make our blog more of a food blog, I have avoided pretty much anything else.  It recently dawned on me that this is, after all, OUR BLOG, and I can say whatever I want.  SHOCKER!  So, I may be a little slow in some areas. 

Well, I can't keep this in. 

This weekend, Sunday, in fact, Leroy is going to make a public confession of his Faith.  I can't even type it without big fat alligator tears welling up in my eyes.  About a month and a half ago, we were sitting on the couch when he asked me what would have to change about him before he could ask God into his heart.  I was kind of shocked that he thought HE had to change...I told him, "you don't have to change, God wants us to let him do life with us, so HE can work on us because we CAN NOT do it on our own.  We need him, and he wants us to acknowledge that".  We talked for a little while longer and he decided he was OFFICIALLY ready to lay his life down and let God be the head of it.  My Dad was the one who walked through the prayer with him, and now, this Easter, Leroy will be baptized.  (more tears...)  I have prayed for this for YEARS, and while we have gone to church TOGETHER and he has made HUGE strides in his thoughts, words, and actions; he still hadn't decided to REALLY lay his life down and let the Lord take over.  Elation does not even begin to describe the feeling I have in my heart.  My HUSBAND, my LIFE PARTNER, my LOVE FOREVER is "joining the Kingdom" and my heart is happy. 
I love this man more than anyone on earth, and to know that I will spend eternity with him makes me even more joyous.  God is OUR Father, and WE will be able to grow closer to each other as we grow closer to Him.  Thank you Lord!  Thank you for answering this prayer.  Hallelujah! 
This Sunday, we will celebrate what God our Father did. He sent his Son to DIE on the cross for us.  We will also celebrate that the man I love more than anything will be in COMPLETE recognition of this sacrifice. 
I have to admit that Sunday is not usually my favorite day, but I CAN'T WAIT TO CELEBRATE THIS EASTER!

They Call It Clean Eating

As you all know, or maybe you don't, but I've been working on this whole "clean eating" thing lately.  Basically, the principal is to eat things that are as close to their natural state as possible.  ie.  no preservatives, less than 5-6 items in the ingredient list, fresh, raw, etc.  It's been interesting and a bit funny at times.  Oh, PS.  I have re-introduced raw sugar, honey, and agave nectar into my diet.  I haven't had a single "diet" drink or food, so I'm kind of proud of that. 
SO....the other day I decided to take the advice of the makers of "Fage" yogurt and use it as a substitution for mayo.  I was making tuna salad - yes, I am one of "those" people...the ones who eat tuna out of a can and dress it up with mayo and relish. Judge me if you will.  I drained my tuna, put it in a bowl with some chopped onion and celery, put a dollop of non-fat plain "Fage" greek yogurt, and then I realized that I would also have to find a sub for the relish because after looking at the label, there were all the red flags - 1. Things I can't pronouce(well, actually, I can because I have a degree in Chemistry) 2.More than six ingredients 3. Items like "natural flavor", which means... - that being realized, I decided to make my own relish.  I've seen Leroy do it before, so I thought "hey, no big deal, I got this"  then I remembered that I never paid attention to what he put in it, I just remembered he did a good job.  Let's just say, I attempted my own relish...a little chopped cucumber, a little red wine vinegar, a little turbinado sugar, a little salt and pepper.  Um, NO CELIA, actually that is NOT relish.  Ha, but I used it anyways.  LOL.  I mixed it in with my tuna mixture and called it "Clean Tuna Salad"  I slapped it on my whole wheat, clean wrap, and I ate it.  I think it was pretty good, NOW, it wasn't your Grandma's southern made tuna salad, but I enjoyed it.  SIDENOTE: If you eat enough of this type of stuff, your tastebuds learn to enjoy it.  Well; here's the funny part...Leroy walked in about 30 minutes later and as he walked through the front door, he said "Babe, what's up? Our house smells like farts...a million of them"  HAHAHA, I laughed really hard and then told him it was probably my new rendition of tuna.  He then proceeded to ask me to please air out the house if I ever decided to make it again.  I pretty much died. 
Here are a few pictures of my tuna, and oh yeah, I had a side of steamed veggies. Just steamed, no craziness there ;-)

I LOVE this yogurt! I use it all the time!

My homemade relish

"Clean" tuna

My lunch, clean, delicious, and low in cals!

One last disclaimer.  When the house smelled like farts, it was not the effect that the tuna had on me.  It was actually the tuna, and I don't think that's how it smelled.  I think Leroy's ole factory nerves are shot.  ;-)