Made Eggplant Parm last night.

Pretty easy, really good, and since I usually bake it really healthy for you.

This will serve at least 4 people.

Easy Baked Eggplant Parm:

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant (if you just want to make one service get one of the smaller italian eggplants instead)

2 eggs, beaten - put in a bowl

some flour - put in a second bowl

italian seasoned breadcrumbs - put in a third bowl. If you just have plain breadcrumbs, no problem, just add oregano and basil flakes.

add about 1tsp of salt and 1 tsp ground pepper to bread crumbs.

Some fresh basil

Fresh Mozzarella cheese

Tomato Sauce (get something without a ton of oil- the more natural the better)

Some Olive oil

Steps:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Skin Eggplant using vegtable peeler.

Cut Eggplant into round slices - about a half inch -> 3/4" thick

Dip coat each piece in flour (you need to do this so the egg has something to stick to), shake off excess.

Dip each coated piece in egg wash, let excess drip off

Dip each piece in bread crumbs - coat well, shake off excess.

Let sit for 5 mins or so on a baking sheet or wire rack, then stick to oven for about 30-35 mins or until nice and brown.

Once brown, add a spoonful of tomato sauce to each piece, a piece of fresh basil, and top with a slice of the fresh mozzarella. Drizzle a few drops of Olive Oil on each piece.

Let bake until cheese is melted and starts to brown (about 5-10mins)

Thats it!

Really easy to make, healthy, and cheap! What can be better?

Not much to write about today- but man am I bored at work and I need something to do...

Had the pork I made the other day for lunch- still great, and I am not sick of it yet even though this was my 6th or so pork sandwich...

Having some green tea now- I think tea is something that maybe a good number of us don't appreciate fully. Maybe it's because all we think of when we talk about Starbucks is coffee (though i just had a great apple cider and caramel drink there yesterday...). I also think that because many of us just buy the generic tea bags (Lipton comes to mind), we are generally turned off by tea as something a little bland (this green tea I am drinking is pretty god awful in fact- picture chewing on a stick, thats what it tastes like..).

I really started getting into tea (though I am by no means an expert, just someone who appreciates it) when I took a kung fu class back in college. The instructor had us have a tea break after stretching and before we started training. I had never been much into tea before, but after a while (of trying not to grimace while sipping) I started to really get it! The smell, the various flavors of tea (I love the strange roots and herbs you can drink), and the relaxing feeling you get while sipping- allowing the steam to waft into your nostrils, and clearing your head..

I started drinking tea while studying, and found that it really helps you to concentrate- giving you a nice caffiene boost without making you jittery like coffee does, and calming and relaxing you instead of giving you tons of restless energy. Maybe it's more of a mental thing, but it works for me!

Find a local tea shop if you can- one near me has hundreds of various blends, from classics like green tea, oolong tea, etc. to more exotic flavors like blueberry, rose petal, mango, and hundreds of great tasting great smelling teas I have never heard of before.

You'll need a tea ball to hold the loose tea in while steeping it - I try and find one that is large enough for a large cup of tea, but isn't too hard to open/close. Also you don't want to have large holes where tea might escape!

My favorite now is a really dark black tea, with pieces of red fruit mixed in. The tea is a deep red color and has a nice flavor that isn't too sweet and fruity- but has a nice sweet flavor and a great aroma!

By the way I never add sugar or milk to my teas- I feel it takes away from the natural flavor, rather than complementing it like in coffee. Honey would be OK though if you feel the need to have something.

----------------------------------------------------------

By the way, I found this great site about honey: http://www.beeraw.com/

I never really realized how much variation there is between different varieties of honey! This site reminds me more of a site that sells fine wines- from the way they describe the honey to they way they package and ship it. I have really wanted to sample some of their stuff for a while now- I just haven't gotten around to actually ordering any (and they are on the pricey side- not great when I can't afford rent...)

Went out last night for dinner (no I cannot afford dinner- my parents were in the city...)

So I didn't make anything, but I will tell you a little about what I do for breakfast each day.

I might not be a health nut, but since I sit at my desk all day doing nothing I figure I might as well eat healthy - otherwise I will be able to add 'fat' to young and broke in NYC...

I figure I eat for less than $1 a day for breakfast - though on fridays I do get an egg and cheese on a roll from the deli..

I buy 'egg beaters' at the store - they are basically egg whites in a box. Sounds gross but they really aren't too bad - I add some 2& reduced fat shredded cheddar to it when I cook it, some pepper and hot sauce, and it's pretty good! A box is like $2.95 and will give me at least 4 normal sized servings.

I also buy turkey bacon - again, its not so bad, much healthier than regular bacon, and gives you something to eat other than the 'eggs'.

Since I hate mornings and try to sleep as late as possible, I usually cook these at night and put them in a tupperware container- try NOT to overcook things since you will be microwaving them when you get to work!

If I'm not in the mood to make that at night, I usually eat a bowl of oatmeal. I used to buy the 'kids' kind of oatmeal (you know, strawberries n' cream, etc) but realized that they had a disgusting amount of sugar in them! Now I buy McCann's Instant Irish Oatmeal - it has some brown sugar in it, but not too much - and has pretty good flavors like Apple Cinnamon, etc.

By the way, when I do splurge (my god do I need to make money...) on a $2.74 egg and cheese on a roll, I usually get two eggs, and ask for ONE slice of american cheese. You won't miss the extra 2 or 3 slices of cheese that they will slap on there, but you will save like 30% of your daily fat intake!

I figure that the healthier I eat during the week, the less I have to worry about it on the weekends- and I do NOT worry about what I eat then... I find that I am never 'craving' anything and I have stayed in relatively the same shape since college just by cutting calories during the week when I can, and eating well balanced meals - and then not caring at all on the weekends (or god forbid thanksgiving or christmas dinner). I get sick when I see magazines showing ways to 'cut down on calories during your thanksgiving meal!' - my god you shouldn't have to do that people! Just have some common sense when you eat 90% of the time and you will NEVER have any problems (well medical issues aside of course...)!

Last night made a pretty cool chicken pot pie. I make this once in a while and I got the idea from the Man a Can and a Plan book I listed in the previous posts.

This time I tried this w/ Cream of Corn soup instead of the Cream of Mushroom I usually use - it was still really good! You can substitute any number of creamy soups for this receipe - I recommend the cambells concentrated soups like Cream of Mushroom, Cream of Chicken, etc. - though the Cream of Corn I used last night was not concentrated (but I did use less so it didn't turn my pie into soup!).

To save on fat and calories use the reduced fat healthy choice brand - you really won't notice the difference in taste, and you will get less sodium and fat in your meal! I also use reduced fat Pillsbury biscuits for the crust - same deal here as with the soups...

OK, here it goes:

Easy Chicken Pot Pie:
2 large cans of chicken (you can get these cans from Costco- they are big cans of chicken breast - looks like canned Tuna).

1 Can Cream Of Mushroom condensed soup (or substitute)

1 small can of sliced mushrooms (optional - I only use if I use cream of mushroom soup)

1 Package Pilsbury biscuit dough (use any kind, it doesn't matter)

Few oz of Shredded Cheddar cheese (I use Kraft 2% Reduced Fat - optional again)

1 package frozen mixed vegtables

Salt, pepper, Paprika and cumin to taste

Steps:

1) Preheat oven to 375.
2) Put chicken in a medium size baking dish.
3) add vegtables
4) add soup
5) I add a sprinkle of salt, pepper, paprika, and cumin now.
6) mix together
7) Press down into pan evenly
8) Add Cheese evenly to top
7) Add crust - I like to take half of the dough and roll it out a little to make a nice flat square, then lay it over the top of the chicken mix. You can also lay full bicuits on top evenly without rolling them out. The bottom of these will not be fully cooked, so if you don't like yours a little doughy I would bake them separately on the side, then place them on top near the end.
8) Place in oven for 20 mins or until crust is golden and done.

For a tastier meal use two chicken breasts in lieu of the canned chicken. I like to pan boil my chicken in an inch or two of either water or chicken broth (better), with some dry white wine (optional), and some pepper and a bayleaf - for about 10 mins, flipping once. Shred chicken before using.

To make a nice golden crust, take one egg and mix it up, then use a brush and brush it over the crust!

If you use full biscuits as the crust you can also stuff them with the cheese instead- making them nice to bite into!

Thats it! Cheap, easy, and will feed two people for at least 2 dinners if not 3!

------------------------------------------
Low fat Tuna Sandwiches:

I also love Tuna sandwiches, but using real mayo in them can really turn them into a heart clogging meal - not bad once in a while, but if you eat them too often you will start to show it!

Instead I just use a fat free mayo substitute (which don't tast that bad, trust me)!

I then add relish, some pepper, and sometimes some lemon juice and hot cayanne pepper.

Add a slice of American Cheese, put on some toast- and you have a very healthy and very good Tunafish Sandwich!