Gym and Food

Went to the gym yesterday. It was weights day (boo!) and I really hate lifting weights. So I warmed up for 35 minutes on an elliptical then did my circuits of upper body weight machines. After I was done, I came home and prepared myself to cook this new recipe I found in The South Beach Diet Cookbook.


Before I start to type up the recipe, I just want you to know it is a tad bit bland. It's up to you whether you want to add to it or not.


Chicken and Eggplant Casserole

1 eggplant, peeled and cut into 12 slices
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 lb boneless chicken breast chopped
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
3/4 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup shredded reduced fat mozzerella cheese

Preheat broiler.
Arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer on a nonstick baking sheet. Mist the slices with cooking spray. Broil 4 inches from the heat for 2 minutes, or until golden. Turn the eggplant over and mist again. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and garlic. Broil for 1 minute, or until golden. Set aside.
Heat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray over med-high heat for 1 minute. Add the chicken cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes, or until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes (with juice), onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, Italian seasoning and black pepper, stirring to break up the tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375.
Coat an 8" baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange 6 eggplant slices in the bottom of the dish. Top with the chicken mixture. Arrange the remaining 6 eggplant slices over the chicken. Sprinkle with the mozerella cheese. Cover with foil and finish cooking, or refridgerate until the next day. Or wrap with foil, label, and freeze up to 3 weeks.
Bake, covered, for 30 minutes or until heated through. To cook frozen casserole, bake, covered, at 375 F for 50 minutes, or until heated through.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving:
205 cal
3g fat
1g sat fat
26g protein
19g carbs
6g dietary fiber
55mg cholesterol
395mg sodium

Dear Readers:

As you all know, when you get a little older than 18, gravity starts taking hold and your boobies start to hang a little lower.

Well guess what? It happens to your butt too!

That is all.

Wonderful Weekend

WWII plane from the airshow

The new motorcyle

All dressed up to go out.

Last weekend my husband and I bought a new motorcycle. He has always ridden motorcycles, since he was 14 but I am not the biggest fan of them. So we bought this really nice Kawasaki Vulcan and this weekend we decided to ride it over to the airshow which is like 2 miles from our house.

It was such a beautiful day that we decided afterwards to go ride for awhile north of Houston. I am hooked! We spent Sunday riding around too. It was great.

We also went "out" for the first time in years. We went to a comedy club then a country bar. A+ on the comedy.......country club, not so much. I am not a fan of country music to start with and just being in a smoky bar was like, ugh! I wasn't even home for 2 minutes before I stripped down and showered. Can't take the nasty smell. I guess I am getting old b/c bars are just not my thing anymore.

Oh, one more thing before I go. We found the most beautiful park! 320 acres and a huge lake. Can't wait to go back.

Hate be gone

Did anything ever happen to you that you just could not let go? I mean, did someone really stick it to you, stab you in the back or completely destroy your trust in mankind? Yeah, I figured as much.

So, that happened to me about 13-14 years ago. A person that I trusted the most just completely and utterly ruined my life. I have hated that person for such a long time. Laughed when I found out ill things happened to them shortly after and felt little vindication.

I really wanted that person's world to be shit. I wanted that person to live a long and miserable life. Well, I got my wish and it does not feel good.

That person got in touch with me this week after many, many years. Their life is completely destroyed, and they just came back from Iraq. Now, I am a veteran and I feel that no soldier should ever, EVER have to have their spouse destroy their relationship and life they built together over a 10 yr period, while the are DEPLOYED! Isn't it enough to just survive the day without worrying about your spouse cheating on you and going to jail and what will happen to your kid and why is there no money in the account?

So, that person got in touch with me because they feel that after all these years they are being punished for what they had done to me. I imagined a million times in my head what I would say to this person given the chance and this is what I said instead:

It's ok. I forgive you. As a matter of fact, somewhere deep down inside, I think I forgave you a really long time ago. People are not punished in life for their past deeds. Sometimes people just make really bad decisions and you get caught up in it. It's not karma, it's not fate, it's just life. I'm sorry too. Remember this conversation because one day, you'll probably be on the same end of it that I am today.

So I have quit hating my ex husband. I worry more now for his sanity and how he will raise his little girl. I am encouraging him to get counseling because he is a war vet and now soon to be a divorcee again. Good luck to him and thank him so much more for forgiving me because I really needed to be forgiven for my own ill will towards him.

Early Morning Ramblings

So I woke up at 3 a.m. this morning and wonder why is it, when I hit the bed around 8 p.m., I always wake up at 3 a.m.?

My dog has serious issues. She likes to "play" this game where if I look at her, she growls or barks and runs up to me, then runs to her food bowl and eats her food as fast as she can. Can dogs have eating disorders?

I wanted to go to my new gym this morning. I figured they'd probably open up around 5 a.m. or so. Nope, they open at 8 a.m. on Saturdays and at 2 p.m. on Sundays.... I can see that I probably won't go to the gym on Sundays, as 2 p.m. is kind of late in the day for me.

People tell me to take temptation (ie: chips, candy, etc) out of the house. But I find that when I keep them in the house, I don't CRAVE them and I mostly do not eat them either. But if I don't keep them in the house I eat like 3 sandwiches which cannot be healthy!

I had a dream that I was sitting in a church with my friend Chris who is currently in Iraq. In my dream he grabbed my hand for comfort. I hope that he is doing well in Iraq and that I hear from him soon because I know it's hard being away from friends and family for so long.

Well, that is all of my crazy early morning ramblings for now.

Monday Night Lasagna

I tried out this recipe for lasagna last night and it was great. It was straight out of the South Beach Diet cookbook.

The tomato sauce takes an hour to cook so if you are going to make this, make sure you start about 2 hours before you are going to serve your meal.

South Beach Tomato Sauce

1/4 cup extra virgin oil

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 can (28 oz) peeled italian tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic, minced

4 leaves fresh basil, chopped

2 tbsp chopped parsley leaves

1/2 tsp sugar substitute ( I used Splenda)

pinch of ground red pepper

1/4 cup canned ripe olives, chopped

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes, or until soft. Add the tomatoes w/ juice, garlic, basil, parsley, sugar substitute and pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Add the olives and simmer for 3 minutes longer.

Makes about 2 cups.

Nutrition per 1/4 cup: 100 calories, 7 g fat, 1 g sat fat, 1 g protein, 5 g carbs, 1g dietary fiber, 0 mg cholesterol, 220 mg sodium.

Whole Wheat Veggie Lasagna

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 zucchini, sliced ( I used two, didn't find that one was enough)

2 cups (16 oz) reduced fat ricotta cheese

1 egg

1 tbsp dried basil

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

2 cups South Beach Tomato Sauce

9 whole wheat lasagna noodles, cooked

1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed

1/4 cup (1 oz) grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup (1 oz) shredded reduced fat mozzerella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the zucchini and cook for 5 minutes, or until crisp tender. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, egg, basil, salt and pepper. Set aside 1/2 cup of the spaghetti sauce.

Place 3 lasagna noodles in the prepared baking dish. Evenly sppon half of the spaghetti sauce over the noodles. Top with half of the ricotta mixture, half of the spinach, half of the zucchini and half of the Parmesan. Repeat layering with 3 more noodles and remaining ingredients. End with the remaining 3 noodles. Spoon the remaining sace over the top and sprinkle with the mozzarella.

Cover with the foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for 20 minutes longer or until hot and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 12 servings.

Nutrition per serving: 217 calories, 7 g fat, 4 g sat fat, 12 g protein, 29 g carbs, 4 g dietary fiber, 44 mg cholesterol and 36 mg sodium.

I found this to be a fantastic meal even for my husband who is a MEAT LOVER. He loved this and brought some with him to work this morning. The sauce has a really great taste and would probably be good by itself over pasta.