Veggie Bake

I decided to throw together a little veggie bake when I had a few different kinds of vegetables on hand and a jar of pasta sauce open.

Veggie Bake

Ingredients:
- Roasted eggplant
- Sliced tomato
- Sliced zucchini
- Spices like basil, oregano, crushed red pepper, smoked paprika
- Pasta sauce
- Nutritional yeast

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly oil a casserole dish - I used a small one since I wasn't using that many vegetables.  First add the eggplant.

Then the tomatoes.

Then the zucchini.

Woops, blurry picture.

Then sprinkle on each of the spices.

And then pour pasta sauce over the top.

Followed by a very liberal topping of nutritional yeast.  You could definitely use cheese here instead, if you prefer.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until the sauce looks set around the edges and the vegetables are tender.

I enjoyed a portion with some delicious figs on the side.

I think it would also be great served with some noodles or rice, or with some crusty bread to soak up any extra sauce!

It reheats well, too.  This recipe is extremely adaptable - just use whatever vegetables you have on hand and as many or as few spices as you prefer.

I hope you're having a good weekend!  Here's some pictures from mine.

On Friday I had a rare day with no set obligations, so I decided to spend some time at the mall.  I had a coupon for free underwear (gotta love Victoria's Secret) and a coupon for a free tea from Teavana.  Other than that I just browsed and got in some mall cardio.  Oh and I treated myself to my favorite lunch - a chicken pesto crepe and some Perrier!  So good.

Last night I went out to dinner with some friends to a great place called Happy Dog.  It's pretty incredible - you choose whether you want a beef or vegan hot dog, and then you can choose AS MANY toppings as you want, and it all costs $5.  And you can also get French fries or tater tots with unlimited sauces for $3.  Um, yes please.  I got a beef hot dog with marinated cremini mushrooms, caramelized onions, sun dried tomato tapenade, and applewood smoked bacon.  I also got an order of delicious tots with homemade ketchup.  And an extremely delicious beer per my friend Laura's enthusiastic recommendation - Willoughby Brewing Co. peanut butter cup coffee porter.  Yes, you read that right - peanut butter cup coffee!!  Tasty.

In addition to delicious and affordable food, Happy Dog has live music, so it's basically my idea of a perfect hangout spot.

I got to hang out with some great friends, too - pretty good weekend in my book.

And here's a sunset picture because I can't resist.  Especially these days when anything other than a gray sky is a rarity!

Song of the day:

"Heartbeat" by Kopecky Family Band.  I'm going to see their concert next week and I'm so excited!

Salads Galore

I'll be the first one to admit that I really like routines.  It's pretty easy for me to get set on something and stick with it.  That is definitely the case with a lot of my meals lately, but I'm okay with that.  For the most part, I've been having yogurt + fresh fruit for breakfast and big salads for lunch.

I've stuck with Angela's salad-a-day challenge so far... but I haven't been as good with Amanda Russell's 4-minute morning workout routine.  I did it for 4 days, but didn't do it yesterday or today :/  Gotta get back on that!  I've found that knowing I have to do push-ups immediately doesn't make me want to hop right out of bed and get the day started, so I linger and push snooze, and then run out of time before I have to start getting dressed and ready for the day.  But I did feel awesome on the days when I did it, so I've got to focus on that feeling instead of the imminent push-ups!

Anywho, back to my meals.  Let's start with my lunches.  Sunday I took a break from helping my Dad wash 4 cars (inside and out - mine was one of them, yay for clean cars!) to re-fuel.  I had a salad with spinach, sugar snap peas, carrots, lentils, white bean and basil hummus, balsamic vinegar, and walnuts.

With an apple + almond butter on the side, and a medjool date for dessert.  My dad was really excited when he saw my medjool date and asked where I'd been hiding them (in the fridge!).  Then he said my mom never buys food he likes (not true, haha) so next time we were at the store she picked up a container for him to have all to himself... which is almost gone :)

One night my mom was making white rice as a side for our dinner, and I decided I wanted something a little more nutritious to go with my meal, so I made some sweet potato fries for myself.  My mom had one and said she thought they were better than some she had a restaurant recently - yay!

I made them again the next night and my dad said he'd like some, too, so I made enough for everyone to share.  I think I baked them a little too long the second time I made them, but it's still fun to share some healthier alternatives with my family.

Packed lunches up next.  Monday I had a salad with spinach, grape tomatoes, orange bell pepper, carrots, sugar snap peas, walnuts, lentils, white bean and basil hummus, and red wine vinegar (I meant to grab balsamic but accidentally took red wine vinegar with me instead - it was still tasty, though).

Apple on the side and a medjool date to satisfy my ever-present sweet tooth.

I had a pretty similar lunch on Tuesday - the same salad as the day before, but with balsamic vinegar this time, plus some marinated artichoke hearts from Trader Joe's - SO good!

Apple + almond butter on the side, and another medjool date.  All crammed in to that Lululemon bag (along with a travel mug for my morning coffee plus a water bottle - I don't exactly travel light.  Ever).

Yesterday I was out of spinach, so I stopped by Earth Fare (a local health food store) to put together a salad for myself.  That baby had mixed greens, spinach, shredded carrots, sliced kalamata olives, red/ green/ yellow bell peppers, cucumbers, black-eyed peas (must remember to pick some up to add to my homemade salads!), chickpea salad, artichoke hearts, olive oil, Italian white wine vinegar, and sunflower seeds.

And the stars of the show:  3 stuffed grape leaves.  So unbelievably delicious.  I'm pretty sure I could eat these every day and not get sick of them.

While I was at the store, I picked up this new-to-me bar which was on sale.  It was pretty good, but I still prefer Larabars and their extremely short ingredient list.

I only remembered to take a picture after I had already torn into it - oops!

I also picked up lots of fresh fruit yesterday and had a very summer-y breakfast this morning:  a bowl of plain yogurt with a sliced banana, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries.  So delicious and decadent, and filled with antioxidants.

And for lunch I packed a salad with mixed spinach greens, grape tomatoes, orange bell pepper, artichoke hearts, and a last-minute addition of grapes.  I topped it with hummus and lentils (and brought a bottle of balsamic to work with me to add right before eating), but I took the picture before adding the last couple of things to showcase all of the colorful ingredients!  I don't usually add fruit to my salads, but I figured I could use a little variety so I took a chance with those grapes.  I love sweet + savory, so this was right up my alley.

Nature shot of the day:

I found some forget-me-nots growing in the woods so I picked a few to make myself a little bouquet.  I photographed them downstairs, but in reality they're sitting on my very messy childhood dresser, haha.

PS That trophy is for a contest my friends and I entered and DIDN'T win, haha.  So proud.

Hope you're having a great week so far.  Until next time!

Song of the day:

"Ho Hey" by The Lumineers.  Obsessed with this song lately.  It's so sweet and fun to sing along with (fun for me, not for anyone else who might happen to hear me, haha).

Eat Them Beans

Any Cool Hand Luke fans out there?  It's a family favorite, and "eat them beans" is often quoted at our family meals :)

Do you like green beans?  I LOVE them, thanks to a cooking technique I learned from my family.  When I've had green beans from restaurants, usually they're pretty crunchy and can be rather bitter.  I prefer them to be soft and falling apart, and today I'll share my "secret" for making them that way.

You just have to remember 2 important things:  use very little water, and cook them for a long time.

First, rinse your fresh green beans and cut off the ends (I think it's easiest to use scissors to snip off the ends).

Next, put them into a pot with just a little water, about 1/2 inch to 1 inch.

Turn heat on high and cover.

Let the water come to a boil (this won't take long since there's not a lot of water in there).

Once the water comes to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer.  Leave the lid cracked open slightly to allow steam to escape.

Now you just let the beans simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring every once in awhile and checking on their progress.  This is VERY important:  make sure to add water if necessary to ensure that the pan doesn't go dry - this will burn your beans.  And no one wants burned beans.  Simmer until they're very tender and starting to all apart.

When they look like the beans in the picture above, they're done!  Remove from heat and season.  (Seasoning after the food is cooked means you don't have to use as much!)  I used some smoked sea salt on these and they tasted wonderful.  I actually could have eaten the entire pot.  But I resisted so that I would have some leftovers!

I ate mine with roasted sweet potato wedges.

Really, really delicious.

If you think you don't like green beans, you should really give this cooking method a try.  And if you already like green beans, here's a way to switch it up!

My family always makes them with bacon (cut the bacon in small pieces, fry them in the bottom of the pan, then add the beans and water), which is also delicious, but I wanted to make this recipe a little healthier and vegetarian-friendly.

I can't wait to dig into my leftovers tonight.  Let's eat them beans!

I meant to go to the gym this morning since I didn't have class, but then I decided to sleep in instead :)  So I went after my classes, per usual.  I did the same strength training routine I've been doing lately (really time to switch it up) and then did a 15-minute treadmill workout after that.  It's funny, some days I feel like I'm rocking it out on the treadmill (at least for me), and other days it just kicks my butt.  Today was one of those days when it kicked my butt, even though it was only 15 minutes long.  I was a sweaty Betty (I just made that phrase up, but it kinda works, right?).

Post-workout protein smoothie:

1 cup almond milk, 1 T ground flax seeds, 1 scoop vanilla Sun Warrior protein powder, 1 T natural peanut butter, 1 frozen banana, a heaping 3/4 cup of frozen mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries), and 2 ice cubes.  Verrrrrrrry tasty.  It's all in the peanut butter, I tell ya!

Time to shower and scrounge up something for dinner.  Later!

If the weather insists on being chilly again, at least I still get some fantastic sunsets.

Song of the day:

"The Lonely" by Christina Perri.  Heartbreakingly pretty.  You've probably heard her song "A Thousand Years" a lot on the radio recently (it was in the most recent Twilight movie).  I like that song, too, and her entire album, Lovestrong.