Meatless Monday: Open Faced Eggplant Parm Sandwiches

I'm a huge fan of meatless meals.  They are good for the environment, good for the wallet, and a great way to make a vegetable the center of the meal.

This Monday, the focus was Eggplant.  What a freaky looking vegetable.  With the Eggplant, I made open-faced Eggplant Parm Sandwiches.

This meal is great because it's really quick and easy to make, and super tasty!

Ingredients:
1 Eggplant
Marinara sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Bread crumbs
1 Egg
really good bread


Instructions:
Chop up the eggplant into 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch slices

 Whisk the egg in a bowl, and spread some breadcrumbs on a plate.

  Dip the eggplant in the egg and then place it on the plate of breadcrumbs to coat each side.

Fry them up in a little bit of olive oil.

Once they are cooked through (a few minutes on each side) top with shredded mozzarella cheese.  Let the cheese melt on top for a minutes or two, then top with marinara sauce.
Toast your bread.  When the bread is toasted, top it with the eggplant, and sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese and Voila!

 I ate mine with a side of baby spinach and some Italian salad dressing.

This Meatless Monday meal was approved by CJ.

Sunday Brunch and a 6 Mile Hike

This morning we decided to make an awesomely huge breakfast to fuel up before our hike.

While CJ shredded the potato for the hash browns, I worked on making the appetizer.

I made sliced bananas topped with a peanut butter and yogurt concoction.  I've made this before, but this time I added honey and cinnamon to the mix, yum!

I got some Tuscan Pane bread from TJ's so we toasted that and topped it with a fried egg and some cheese.  Delicious pre-hike fuel!

After we ate, we drove over to the Lynn Fells reservation called Sheepfold.  It's really close to our apartment so hopefully we can go often!  I really enjoyed the hike.

Apparently this park is a hot spot for people to bring their dogs! We saw so many different types of dogs, and it really made me want one!  But CJ said no, he's such a party pooper.

We decided to follow the Reservoir trail which is 6 miles long.  There is also a trail that goes 9 miles, and a shorter trail that is maybe around 3 miles.

CJ looks good, but I look bald.

 Along the way, we saw this cool tree house, and I was super jealous of the kid that gets to play in there!

The trail surrounded the Winchester public drinking water reservoir.  It was really pretty.  I wanted to dive in (but that's not allowed, and I don't really know how to dive).

It took us a little less than 3 hours to do the hike, which was slower than I anticipated, but we did stop to eat lunch, and accidentally got off the trail a few times.

It was such a beautiful day, and I'm glad I got to spend it outdoors!

Hope you had a nice Sunday as well!

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

What is it about stuffed foods that is so delicious and fun? 
Stuffed mushrooms, stuffed peppers, stuffed clams......double stuff oreos..

I originally planned to make good old traditional stuffed peppers with ground beef and rice, but then I spotted the Quinoa (KEEN-wha) in my pantry and a lightbulb went off in my head, so I used the Quinoa in place of the rice.

Quinoa is like a miracle grain.  It's high in iron, phosphorus, magnesium, and fiber.  It's gluten-free, and it's a good source of protein as well. 

According to my bag of Arrowhead Mills Quinoa, this grain was a staple of the ancient Inca's diet, and literally means "the mother grain."

Also, after some googling, I found out that Quinoa is actually a seed! Who knew.

makes 3-4 depending on pepper size

3 Green Bell Peppers
3/4 lbs lean ground beef
1 cup Quinoa
1 chopped white onion
10 ounces tomato sauce
1/8 teaspoon Garlic Salt
1/8 teaspoon Black pepper

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Cook the Quinoa in a rice cooker if you have one, if not, cook in a pan on the stove.
Cut the tops off the pepper and place in pan of boiling water for three minutes
After three minutes, run them under cold water, and place upside down on paper towel to dry
Cook the ground beef and onions in a skillet, add in the seasonings
After meat in done cooking, add half of the tomato sauce
Add in the cooked quinoa and cook for a few more minutes
Place the peppers in a roasting pan, and fill them with the mixture
Top the peppers with the rest of the tomato sauce
Bake for 25-30 minutes

and Enjoy!

How I Learned to Food Shop

I knew living on my own was going to come with new responsibilities.  The thing I was dreading the most was food shopping.  Who has time to spend a few hours each week at the grocery store? Not me!
I had to devise a plan to streamline my food shopping, and to do it under a budget.

CJ and I both love to cook, and eating healthy is important to us.  I did some research to figure out how to buy and make healthy, affordable meals. 

Here's what I did:

1. Get organized.  I'm a huge nerd, so I created a "Meal Planning" Binder.  I found a meal planning template online (I just searched, "meal planners") and printed it out.  The one I found has a space for every meal of every weekday.  It also has a grocery list space at the bottom.  I plan to sit down each week with the binder and plan out all of our meals.  I showed this to a friend of mine and she said, "Wow, I don't know anyone who cares about what they eat as much as you do."  I was thinking to myself, "well, I certainly do, and I can show you their blogs"

source

2.  Look up recipes: About a month before we moved out, I started printing out recipes for the meal planning binder.  To find them, I searched through some on my favorite food blogs, and I also checked Eating Well for healthy recipes.  Eating Well is great, they have lots of articles like "quick chicken dinners" or "dinners for less than $10."  It's really helpful for finding dinner recipes. 

Also, I brainstormed some basic meals and searched for healthy versions online.  For example, I knew we would want to make Fettuccine Alfredo, so I looked for a healthy recipe.

My Favorite food blogs for Dinner Inspiration:
Carrots n Cake
Joy the baker
Bev Cooks
How Sweet it Is

3.  Get a Cook Book:  I bought the cookbook "Poor Girl Gourmet"  by Amy McCoy.  It has tons of yummy and fancy recipes to try.  She also has a lot of advice like "buy meat with skin, and on the bone, it's cheaper" and "buy seasonal vegetables" and she even tells you how to make your own vegetable stock for soups from leftover veggie scraps.  All of her meals cost between $5 and $10 for 4 servings.

4.  Read Some Advice.  Many food blogs have a food shopping section.  I read every one I could find for ideas and tips.  Here are some that I found helpful:

Carrots 'n Cake: Grocery Shopping 101
Yes, I want Cake: Grocery Shopping 101
Peanut Butter Fingers:  Healthy Grocery Shopping on a Budget
Food Enthusiasm: Eating Healthy on a Budget
Trading Up Downtown: Saving at the Grocery Store


5.  Look at flyers and clip coupons.  Figure out what grocery store/s you want to shop at and get their flyer/s.  I look at the website for my grocery store to see the flyer before it even comes out.  This way I can start my meal planning in advance, and do my shopping on Sunday. 

Cinco de Mayo Burritos

Let's make burritos for Cinco de Mayo!  These are quick, easy, and tasty!

This will not be a drinko de mayo for me since I have a 5 mile race tomorrow.  (FYI: doing races really curbs your drinking, remember St. Paddy's Day?)


I was originally going to make black bean burritos, but CJ whines if I feed him dinners without meat so we picked up some ground beef (86/14) and taco seasoning on the way home.

Ingredients:
Wheat Tortillas
Salsa
Sour cream
Ground Beef
Bell pepper
Cheddar
White onion
Black Beans
Brown rice
Taco Seasoning

We combined the beef, onion, seasoning, bell pepper, and black beans in a pan.  Then we heated up some leftover brown rice.  We put the tortillas in the oven to soften up for about 10 minutes.

 Then, we assembled!

After we ate, CJ asked, "Did you plan burritos for dinner since it's Cinco de Mayo?" (He's a clever one)
You better believe I did!

Not Inclined to Incline

Today after work, I had planned to go take a class at my gym.  Instead, I decided to stay home and go for a run on my treadmill.  Even though it was sunny outside, I whimped out and went for a run on the old hamster wheel.  After a long winter of many outdoor runs, I just can't handle any more.  Where is the warm spring weather?  I'm getting impatient!

I ran 3 miles, 5 min warm-up, usual pace(9:30-9:03), and 1.0 incline.

I haven't been running much lately so this was tougher than I expected, especially since you know I never do an incline.  I got to get back into the swing of things!

This is my scenery while running.  What, you didn't think people my age read Woman's Day?  It has good recipes, and I like to read about Valerie Bertinelli's attempts to stay relevant, and how she named her son Wolfie.  Poor Kid.

After my run, I cooled down, stretched, did a few planks, and headed upstairs for dinner.

On the menu:  Chicken Caesar Salads:

Weekly Workouts:
Mon- 3 mile run (Check!)
Tuesday:  Pump or Cardio Kick Boxing
Wednesday:  Yoga or possibly off
Thursday: 3 mile run
Friday: Off
Sat: Pump
Sunday:  Elliptical Workout + Abs

In Other News....
A friend of mine is designing a logo for Mac&Cheese&Peas, so you can expect to see that soon! I'm really excited about it.

As promised, here are some photos of the completed table.  I love how it came out.  I picked up the hardware from Anthropologie for $6, making the total cost of this project only $6.  I used leftover paint and brushes.  How's that for design on a dime??

 Are you working on any DIY projects at home? I'd love to hear!

A Baking Story in Photos

All photos taken by CJ, who really missed his calling as a food photographer. :)