Stuffed Eggplant

I don't know about you but I LOVE Eggplant!

On my recent trip to Trader Joe's a picked one up thinking I could make something yummy with it.. Something yummy? Yes indeed!!

I've been enjoying reading through this cookbook and I found a delicious looking recipe for an Braciole-inspired Stuffed Eggplant. In true Sherice fashion I changed a few things and had a delicious dinner!

Stuffed Eggplant

Start by cutting off the top and bottom of your eggplant. Then peel it or if you don't mind the peeling you can leave it on. I peel mine. Then cut the eggplant in 1/2 lengthwise.
scoop out the inside of the eggplant making a "boat" or shell like this..

First I sauteed...
1 onion chopped
1/2 Sm Zucchini cubed
1/2 Portabella Mushroom or 4-5 Sm Mushrooms
2 garlic cloves minced..
the inside of the eggplant cubed
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and some Italian seasoning.  I just eyeballed it.

Then add in..

a handful of chopped fresh Spinach
a handful of chopped fresh Basil
a handful of chopped fresh Italian Parsley
let that saute a few mins and then remove pan from heat add in
1/3 cup Nutritional Yeast
1 cup Panko flakes

Now time to stuff your eggplant boats...
I sprayed my baking dish with a little pam then set my boats in and filled them. As you can see I had a bit of the mixture left over so I just added it around the eggplant boats.

 Next I added about 1 1/2 cups Marinara sauce on top of the stuffing and sprinkled a little leftover Mozzarella Daiya cheese and some Vegan Parmesan on top..

Cover with foil and put into a preheated 350 degree oven.. let cook about 1/2 an hr and remove foil. continue cooking until the top browns up

In my haste to scarf down this incredibly delicious meal I forgot to take a photo of the finished product before I dished it up.. Sorry!

But as you can see the top is melted and the middle is cooked and delish..

I paired my eggplant with steamed french green beans and made some garlic bread using Earth balance original spread

This dish is entirely Vegan.. Hooray!!

If you make this dish let me know what you think!

Sherice oxoxo

Peanut Butter Cups!!

Hi ~

I hope every ones weekend was great. It was 60 degrees here on Sunday and we bbq of course. Here's a few recipes that I made.

 I looked at other recipes for Peanut butter cups but wasn't happy with what I found. I didn't want a bunch of sugar and shortening which to my surprise was in a lot of the recipes I found. So I put on my thinking cap and came up with these.. I know that there is a lot of hype with Agave now. But I would rather have a little agave over real white processed sugar. You can replace it with what ever you like. I thought about using honey but it would have changed the flavor of the filling so I didn't. But that might be a nice twist!

Peanut Butter Cups

about 2 good scoops of Organic Peanut Butter
7-8 oz dark chocolate
2 tsp of agave
sea salt


Mix the agave and the peanut butter. Melt the chocolate using a dbl boiler or in microwave start with 30 secs and stir then continue with 30 secs at a time stirring every time for microwave.
line your mini muffin tin with  mini cupcake wrappers put a small spoonful of choc in bottom of ea cupcake wrapper.

 place in freezer for about 10 mins, then put a small dollop of peanut butter mixture into each wrapper, spray your finger with a little pam and push down the peanut butter just a little. Then put a large spoonful of choc. on the tops of each. put back into freezer for 5 mins, remove and sprinkle a little bit of sea salt on each peanut butter cup and put back into freezer for 15-20 mins. The combination of the sweet and salty take these from good to GREAT!!

these are rich and delicious and so much better than any store bought!!

I also made some delicious twice baked sweet potatoes

 I used 2 med size sweet potatoes
2 small scoops of 0% plain greek yogurt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp tumeric powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ginger powder

First I oiled them on the outside with just a little EVOO then baked them until done in a 400 degree oven, let them cool and carefully cut them length wise. Gently scoop out inside leaving a small border inside skins. then I mashed them with the greek yogurt and added all but about 1/2 tsp of the spice mixture. this made enough filling for about 3 of the skins.. I like my skins to be bursting otherwise you could make it stretch and fill all 4 skins. place bake in 350 oven until warmed through and crispy!! These were so good. I will be making them again!!

Last but not least.. I LOVE Tarragon.. I have a great recipe for Tarragon Turkey Sliders and found these perfect little buns to go with them..

1 pkg ground turkey breast
1/2 cup bread crumbs or ground oats would be great and a bit healthier too
1/2 cup finely grated zucchini
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 tbls chopped fresh tarragon or 2 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

mix everything together and make into 12 small slider sized burgers. spray your bbq with pam and cook these little delights for about 3 mins on each side... here's my hardworking man cooking up some delicious grub!!

that about sums up our delicious Sunday Bbq.. great company, being my sister and niece and nephew, and great healthy food with a side of Stella Artois!

I hope you try some of these recipes and let me know what you think of them!! You won't be sorry!! :)

Sherice ox

Got a cold?? I have the perfect remedy....

Hey ~

How are you all today? Things here are going.. I'm super excited because I FINALLY got a job!!
I'm thinking about all the things I will be able to do/get now...
1. back to Taekwondo and my black belt.... oh yeah!!!
2. Trainers certification
3. new workout shoes
4. dog neutered
5. bosu and sandbag!!
and bills of course!

I know when my family is sick all they want is chicken noodle soup and sprite.. no one is sick around here but I make this often because it's just so quick and easy..

Mock Chicken Noodle Soup ~

1 onion chopped
2-3 carrots chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 bay leaf
handful of mushrooms chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
a couple Tbls of dried basil
a couple tsp of herbs d province
I usually use 8 cups of chx broth (the noodles will absorb some liquid)
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 - 3/4 bag of no yolk wide egg noodles

Saute onions & celery for about 7 -10 mins add in garlic saute a few more mins. then add in rest of ingredients except noodles.. simmer with lid on for 20 mins add in noodles simmer for another 10 mins or until noodles are done. As you can see there is not chicken in this soup but feel free to add it if you'd like.. we like it better without!

You can serve this with what ever you like but I made mine with biscuits.. heart shaped, just for my sweet daughter Jess..

every time I use store bought Bisquick mix I remember this recipe. http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-biscuits/ I'm determined to remember it next time..

Yesterday the day got away from me and I didn't get to them gym until about 8 pm which is late for me but I was determined to get a workout in! This is what I did....

 1. 20 Reps Kettlebell swings w/a 15 lb kb 
         1 min skipping rope
 2. 10 Reps KB squat w/ shoulder press w/ 15 lb (L)
 3. 10 Reps KB squat w/ shoulder press w/ 15 lb (R)
         1 min skipping rope
 4. 20 Reps Hanging Knee Raises
         1 min skipping rope
 5. 15 Reps Reverse pushups
         1 min skipping rope

do 3 sets and your done.. don't forget to drink your water and do your stretching!!

Lets all believe in ourselves.. imagine what we could accomplish!!
sherice ox

French Toast Recipe :)

Hey!

I love to have breakfast for dinner. I don't know why it's just kinda naughty. So I have a delicious Healthy French toast recipe for you.

When Making french toast I never measure anything. You can't really screw it up. This recipe made about 4 pcs of toast.
4 slices Ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread
1 egg
1/2 cup or about milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
a dash nutmeg
a splash vanilla

set bread aside and mix other ingredients well with a fork, dip bread 1 pc at a time into mixture on both sides, put on your griddle. cook for about 3-5 mins then flip, cook another 3-5 mins and serve with your favorite toppings!!

I also made another batch of those healthy oatmeal cookies I posted on my blog.. here's the link http://foodieluvsfitness.blogspot.com/2012/01/healthy-chocolate-chip-oatmeal-cookies.html

I highly recommend that you purchase a 15 dollar coffee bean grinder. It's well worth the money. I've use mine to grind not only coffee beans, when my husband forgets to grind them at the store :) flax seed for flax meal and also almonds for almond meal. This last time around I was being lazy and thought I'll just buy some almond meal from Bob Redmill's. I love his stuff. any how.. It was 11.99 a bag. I couldn't believe it. So I went to the bulk section and got a couple scoops of almonds and came home and put a couple handfuls in my coffee grinder and waaalllaaa.......you've got almond meal. Another bonus of doing it this way is you can kind of pick the texture you like. I love the nutty flavor this adds to these cookies! But I think next time I'm going to add a couple of scoops of peanut butter. :)

This is my next workout. I haven't done it yet but when I do, I will post my scores!

15/40/21rds/3 x thru

1. 1 leg toe touch. touching opposite toe from hand 12 lb (R)

2. 1 leg toe touch, 12 lb (L)

3. Mt Climbers

4. Rollouts using the Stability Ball ~ on knees put forearms on the ball and rollout on it. engage your core to protect your back

I'd love this on a t-shirt!

5. Leg lift with a donkey kick alternating legs

6. Mt. Climbers

7. Planks w/ knee tucks

Cardio session
10/20/8 rds Tabata interval = 4 mins

alternate  between

1. toe taps

2. jump tucks

Hopefully this workout will give you a good sweat!
Sherice ox