Meatless Mondays: Baked Eggplant, Zucchini & Spaghetti Squash

Note: This post is now more than a week late (err...whoops. I'm going to go ahead and play the "I'm still new to blogging and don't know what I'm doing" card here). Still - I figured better late than never... right? :)

I was MIA for a few days while attending some photography classes at the awesome Imaging USA convention in New Orleans. Three days in the Big Easy had me eating my weight in crab cakes, muffulettas (the real deal from Central Grocery), sushi so good I almost wept, and a brisket po' boy so enormous I could have made a whole other sandwich just from the meat that fell out of it. Did I mention the corn and shrimp bisque? It literally changed my life after one creamy, spicy spoonful.

Needless to say, I came home with a little extra "baggage" in addition to all my newfound photography knowledge. Meatless Monday was a welcome sight after my binge-fest in NOLA, so I whipped up one of my favorites: Baked Eggplant, Zucchini and Spaghetti Squash.  

Since I'm still a n00b at this blogging business, I'm not yet in the habit of documenting my recipes as I'm cooking them. It's only as I was sitting down to this vegetarian Italian feast that I even remembered to snap a pic. But, since it's relatively easy (albeit a little time consuming) I think you'll get the idea just from the instructions.

Spaghetti Squash ingredients:

1 Jar of your favorite spaghetti/marinara sauce
1 medium-sized Spaghetti Squash, cooked according to this fantastic tutorial (with step-by-step pictures!)
*Note: This step takes an hour, so do this first and begin prepping zucchini/eggplant about 30 minutes after the squash went into the oven. 

• (A little spaghetti squash background: I discovered this miracle of nature about six months ago. If you've never had it or don't even know what it looks like, check out that tutorial link I posted above. I usually find this squash in the produce section near the potatoes. It's a winter squash, so this is a great time to try it. Even a small squash produces a LOT of 'spaghetti' since nearly the entire thing is edible except for a few pumpkin-like seeds on the inside and the very outer skin. When cooked properly, the flesh comes out looking just like spaghetti strands and has a slightly al-dente crunch and a very mild, sweet flavor that pairs perfectly with marinara sauce. I use this in place of pasta now and I actually prefer it to regular pasta, if you can believe that.  Bonus: It has a mere 42 calories for one cup! Compare that to a carb-laden 220 calories in regular cooked spaghetti. A miracle of nature indeed! Try it. Seriously.)

Eggplant/Zucchini Bake ingredients:

1 Eggplant, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch rounds and sweated to remove bitterness
1 cup regular Italian breadcrumbs
1 cup Italian-seasoned Panko breadcrumbs (I like the kind by Progresso)
1 medium zucchini cut into 1/4 inch rounds
2 Eggs (I use one whole egg and one egg white) beaten lightly in a bowl


Instructions:
-Preheat oven to 400
-Mix breadcrumbs together in a bowl and set aside.
-Prepare a large baking sheet with foil and lightly coated with non-stick spray
-Dip each eggplant round in the egg mixture, then dredge in breadcrumbs to coat evenly. Transfer to baking sheet. Repeat with all the eggplant and zucchini slices. *Note: Depending on the size of your eggplant/zucchini, you may need more egg mixture or breadcrumbs.
 -Spray the top of all the slices lightly with non-stick spray.
-Bake for 10 minutes, flip, then continue baking for another 10-15 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. (I like to broil them for a minute or so at the end for extra crunch)

Serve eggplant and zucchini slices with spaghetti squash, marinara and a sprinkle of Italian-blend cheese. Enjoy!

Meatless Mondays: Cheesy Zucchini Enchiladas

In my post last week about some of the goals I have for 2012, I outlined my desire to go meatless at least one day a week. I'm no vegetarian/vegan wannabe by any means (I've got a love affair with chicken wings that I could never forsake); I just want to incorporate a diet that includes more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. And so I've decided to hop on the "Meatless Monday" wagon, with the aim to eat try cooking a new meat-free dinner every week. This week's meal was one that I'd made once before, but liked it so much I thought it deserved another round and its own blog post: Skinnytaste's Cheesy Zucchini Enchiladas.

If you've never visited Skinnytaste.com, I highly suggest you do so. The blog's creator, Gina, has an impressive array of delicious and healthy recipes. Her site includes wonderful step-by-step instructions and pictures that will have you drooling on your keyboard.

Ok, back to these enchiladas. First of all, anything with the word "cheesy" in the title has my initial vote by default. But beyond that, I also love Mexican food and I thought the idea of a zucchini-filled enchilada was fascinating. The first time I made them, I cheated and used store-bought enchilada sauce to save on time/effort. This time, I attempted to make my own sauce per the recipe, but ran into a snafu when I realized I only had tomato paste and not tomato sauce. I compensated by adding double the vegetable broth to the sauce mix, which worked pretty well.  I also left out the green onions for a certain picky husband, and served the enchiladas with a side of yellow rice and black beans.

Behold the power of cheese and zucchini:

I'm already researching meat-free dishes for next week's culinary adventure. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

One step at a time

After months (yes, there - I admit it - months) of not running, I was at a dead end. A six-week stint with bronchitis was a pretty good excuse for a while... I couldn't even laugh without launching myself into a full-blown coughing attack, so running was out of the question. Then I had a massive deadline at work, complete with late hours and sleepless nights. Running was not exactly a priority, since I was too busy trying to maintain my sanity (a full-time job in itself). Then the holidays - which included traveling to the snow-covered mountains of Colorado. My return flight apparently included a complimentary sinus infection, which meant yet another week of misery and several boxes of tissues. I spent New Year's eve cuddled up with my good friend NyQuil while my other pals were sipping champagne and setting off fireworks.

Even though I might have been in a medicine-induced fog when I made my 2012 resolutions, I was still determined to get the year off on the right foot (literally) as soon as I felt up to it. "Sunday," I said. "Sunday is THE DAY." No more excuses, no more reading Runner's World cover-to-cover and hoping by some kind of osmosis it makes me become a runner. It was time to take it to the street. After all, last year I successfully completed the C25K plan AND ran in a 5K. I was on a running high - I was going to train for a 10K! Then a half! And at some point, maybe even a full marathon.  But somewhere around June my enthusiasm sputtered out and the oppressive summer heat gave me the first of many excuses to skip my jogs.

No longer, friends. This weekend I finally took the most important step to getting back into a routine; the FIRST step. And then another, and another. Pretty soon I had finished off 3.39 miles. It was a tough, slow run, but I finally did it.

And you know what? It was worth the wait.

The 2012 Bucket List

I guess my resolution #1 should be: Stop procrastinating (as much?). But seeing as how these resolutions are already 5 days late, I guess I already blew that one. Still, I feel like I owe it to myself to at least outline some sort of "goals" for 2012 since, you know, it's the last year before the world ends and all that. Make it count right?

Goal 1: Beat my previous 5K time. Unfortunately, this requires actually getting back into a running routine. My husband got me a sport armband for my iPhone for Christmas, so now I am completely out of excuses for not running. I've got the shoes, the gear, the desire...but not so much of the actual motivation. Seeing as how I am running in the Five Points of Life 5K on February 18th, I should probably start pounding some pavement sooner than later. So - the goal is to run at least 2 miles, three days a week.

Sprinting to the finish line of the 2011 Five Points of Life 5K. I did it once, I can do it again - right?

Goal 2: Eat meat-free at least once a week. As it is, we typically don't eat a lot of red meat in our house; mostly just chicken, turkey, fish and pork. Even so, I'd like to make it regular practice to eat meat-free more often. Recently I've started experimenting with vegetarian options, like this awesome Baked Eggplant Parmesan (I make it slightly modified: I only follow the first two steps, and then serve it topped with some marinara and a side of spaghetti squash, which is one of the most magical things I've ever discovered. More on that in a future post.) That eggplant parm is so good and hearty that you don't miss the meat one bit. I've also made these crazy-easy, delicious Cheesy Zucchini Enchiladas that just so happen to combine some of my favorite things ever: Zucchini, CHEESE, and Mexican food. Brilliant!

Goal 3:  Get organized. I've been out of college for going on 5 years now (wow, really?) yet in a lot of ways, I'm still living like a college kid. I've got all kinds of who-knows-what stored in plastic drawers and bins, papers and notebooks from freshman year stashed in my bookshelves, and a hodge-podge of furniture hand-me-downs from both my family and my husband's. It wasn't until last year that we got a new couch, after my parents' 16-year-old sofa ceased to be attractive or comfortable for more than 1.5 people (see the problem?).  I think it's well past the appropriate time for a massive overhaul of our house to get rid of the useless, the junky and the Holy Crap I Didn't Even Know I Had This. No real game plan for exactly how I envision all this taking place, but I think it's going to require a couple hours each weekend for the next, oh, century or so.

Goal 4: Stop procrastinating. (Haha...good one, right?)

Recipe Rundown: Zucchini "Fries"

So I mentioned yesterday about my awesome California Chicken Melt success. Well, by popular demand (and by "popular" I mean "my husband") I made them yet again tonight for dinner. This time I paired them with my famous Zucchini "Fries" recipe. (And actually documented it! With pictures!)

Oven-baked Zucchini "Fries"

Ingredients:
-2 medium zucchinis, peeled
-2 egg whites
-1 C seasoned Panko breadcrumbs
-1/2 C seasoned Italian breadcrumbs
-2 T all-purpose flour


1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Slice zucchini into evenly sized wedges:

 2. Place wedges in a large sealable bag. Add 2 T flour, seal, and shake to evenly coat zucchini pieces:

3. Meanwhile, beat two egg whites in a bowl until frothy. In a separate bowl, combine the two types of breadcrumbs:

4. Dip each fry in egg whites until coated, then dredge in breadcrumbs:

5. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping the fries halfway through cooking. (I like to put them under the broiler for the last minute or two just to get them extra crispy.) Serve immediately.

Get saucy: This fries are delicious with just about any kind of dipping sauce. Personally, I like them with honey mustard dressing or my 'special' buffalo ranch sauce (which is just 2 T ranch dressing mixed with 1 T buffalo sauce. I exclusively use Crystal Wing Sauce. If you're not a fan of spice, might want to cut back the buffalo sauce to 1/2 T or less.)

I promise, once you try these oven-baked wonders, you'll never want another greasy, deep-fried potato again. Enjoy!

New find: Flatout Foldits

So this is what happens ALL THE TIME. I make something new and tasty and completely forget that it could potentially be blog fodder. As in the case of dinner tonight, when I made an awesome California Chicken melt using leftover grilled chicken, avocado, bacon, cheese and honey mustard. I bought these new Foldit Artisan Flatbreads at the store yesterday mainly because they were on sale, but also because I've seen them hyped by Hungry Girl and have been curious to see why this particular product is different than, say, pita pockets or Arnold Sandwich Thins. The result? Delicious. The rosemary and olive oil flavored flatbread was really tasty and was a good size for just 100 calories. I stacked grilled chicken slices, bacon and cheese on half of the bread, and put it in the oven with some sweet potato fries. Once everything was toasty warm, I took it out and added avocado, lettuce, tomato and some honey mustard.

Clearly it disappeared so quickly that my brain didn't even have time to tell me to take a photo first. Yeah... that good.

New Year, New Blog

Over the years, I've started up many a blog. I tend to get wrapped up in trying to figure out what my "theme" is going to be, or what the heck I'm even going to write about. So after hours spent scouring a thesaurus for clever title words or testing out every possibly template and background combination, I ended up with a home page, a welcome post and little else. And so it remained. A lonely, deserted island in the vast interwebs. Well, I've come back to my little island - which, although it never had any actual posts, has had several identities: The Jog Log (a foolhardy attempt to set goals, track and blog about my journey to becoming a runner. That lasted about 4 hours), Misc. Mash, Allison's Wonderland, and a brief stint as WTF Is This Blog?. I still think that last one might be the most appropos title, but we'll try out For the Love of Cheese and see what happens.

What you may or may not read about in this blog, should I actually keep up with it regularly: Food and Recipes (the Good, the Bad, and the Catastrophic), My Feeble Attempts to Become a Runner, Crafty Crap I Made, and my favorite topic: Whatever I Feel Like Posting About.

A few things you should know about me first. I am 99% certain I am actually addicted to cheese. I love a good pun, and I'm a little obsessed with bird-themed decor. I love to read, cook and avoid doing housework as often as possible. Pretty good at that, actually.

And with that... I give you my B-L-O-G. Enjoy!