5 Years + Vegetable Lasagna

The first week of our diet has been difficult. We decided to start with a phase 1 of limited carbs, no alcohol and no sugars. Inevitably once we were no longer allowed to have these things we wanted them. I was craving chocolate. Ian was craving everything else; pasta, french fries, hamburgers, ice-cream, beer... the list could go on. Some of us were getting more and more cranky as the diet continued. Our weight loss results were immediate. I lost 5 pounds in the first 5 days and Ian lost even more. It is the kick start we need for the competition.

Friday August 13th was our 5 year anniversary. Ian said it was appropriate to be Friday the 13th since it was the scariest day of his life. I'm assuming he was joking (mostly!). We have had a good five years. Our relationship is not perfect but we have fun, learn from each other and love each other. I appreciate Ian and could not imagine a life without him. He is my better half.

I wanted to plan a nice evening for us while sticking to our diet and our budget. Without any wine, I had to make sure the food was even more memorable. Since I could not fill most of his cravings, I decided to try and work toward the "pasta" one. I made a Vegetable Lasagna and a low-carb Chicken Parmesan. It actually turned out even better than I expected. It was a nice way to celebrate our anniversary and Ian did allow me to have a small bowl of ice-cream for desert which broke all my diet rules, but was much enjoyed and appreciated.

Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients
4 T olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 t dried oregano
1 t dried basil
1 t dried parsley
24 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
4 sun dried tomatoes, diced
1/4 t salt
1 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices
2 roasted Red Peppers, diced
3 cups fresh Spinach
1/2 C low-fat Ricotta cheese
1 C reduced-shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 C low-frat grated Parmesan

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare tomato sauce: Heat 2 T olive oil in non-stick sauce pan over medium heat. Add chopped onion and saute until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add 4 cloves minced garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add dried oregano, basil, and parsley and stir. Add crushed tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes and salt. Simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes.

Brush sliced zucchini with olive oil and salt. Place zucchini on a sheet pan and bake until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. Saute Spinach in olive oil and garlic and set aside.

Line bottom of a casserole dish (I used a glass 8inch square) with the baked zucchini slices. Add half of the spinach mixture. Top with 1/3 of the tomato sauce and then spread all the ricotta cheese over. Top with the roasted red peppers and sprinkled with 1/2 the mozzarella cheese. Add the remaining spinach mixture. Line another row with the zucchini slices. Spread 1/3 of the tomato sauce over top. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and all the Parmesan. Bake until the cheese is melted and brown, about 40 minutes. Let stand at least 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

I found a similar recipe for this vegetable lasagna that called for yellow squash, eggplant and mushrooms. I only had the zucchini, spinach and roasted red peppers so I made it work. I think as long as you have a squash to use as the "noodle" layers you could use any veggie fillings that are in the house.

Healthy Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients
1 C tomato sauce (from vegetable lasagna recipe)
1/2 C almonds, finely chopped
1/4 C grated parmesan cheese
1/2 t Italian Dressing seasoning
1 chicken breast
2 T olive oil
1/2 C low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions
Mix Parmesan, chopped nuts, and Italian seasoning in small bowl. Pound chicken breast into thinner piece and cut into 4 cutlets. Coat both sides of each cutlet with cheese/nut mixture.

Heat olive oil in non-stick pan over medium heat. Cook cutlets until golden brown and juices run clear, about 4 minutes on each side.

Place cutlets on a baking pan. Pour 1 T of sauce on each cutlet and top with mozzarella cheese. Broil until cheese melts, about 30-60 seconds. Serve with additional sauce on plates.

The original recipe I found called for pine nuts which I didn't have. I thought the almonds added a more rich flavor to the chicken. I would definitely make both these recipes again. Although the preparation did take some time, the end result was definitely worth it. It was the perfect meal to enjoy with my loving husband and celebrate our five year anniversary. As Ian would say, 5 years down only 45 more years to go!

Healthy 4 Life Contest

My friends and family have started a bit of a contest to motivate each other toward a healthier lifestyle.

Healthy 4 Life Competition - 2 month weight loss competition
Entry Fee: $20
Start Date: Monday, August 9th
End Date: Monday October 4th

Rules: Winner will be the person who loses the most percentage of body weight. Calculation will be Starting weight divided by weight loss. Weight must be measured on the same scale and same time of day for starting and ending weight.
1st place Prize: 75% of entry fees
2nd place Price: 25% of entry fees

Ian and I will be implementing a healthier diet and exercising more. We are following a bit of the Sonoma Diet which encourages portion control and healthy eating. The first 10 days will include no alcohol which should drastically decrease our calorie intake.

My sister Sheena explained to me that losing weight is a simple math equation. Calculate number of calories for your ideal body weight. Track what you eat and the exercise to determine total calories of each day. Ian would never track the calories per day, so our portion control menus should work in a similar way. Hopefully we will see the results.

Tips to Lose Weight and encourage a healthy lifestyle:

1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day: cut out calorie rich drinks, such as soda and fancy coffees.
2. Downsize your dinner plates: Studies find that the less food put in front of you, the less food you'll eat
3. Snack on vegetables during the day rather than chips or pretzels
4. Join the "walk far" program. When running errands, park your car farther away from the entrance. Park on the 5th floor of the parking garage and walk down the stairs, rather than using the elevator.

Garage Sale Preparation

My sister Heather and I are having a garage sale. I love garage sales and I love preparing for one. It gives you an opportunity to clean house and maybe make a little bit of cash. Last night rather than having our typical Tuesday Night Dinner we held a Garage Sale Preparation Party. We combined all our "junk" to prepare for this Saturday. We have a lot of good items, but invited my mother over to comb through all our sale-ables to make sure we were not selling any family heirlooms.

Our family has a tendency to keep a lot of things, which was great for us as we were growing up and starting our own homes. When we first bought our house, after just one weekend of gathering things from my mom, grandparents, aunts and uncles we had almost enough furniture to fill our three bedroom house.

Now that we our more settled we are starting to replace some of the furniture, but noone wants to get rid of it just yet, because someone else might need to fill another house one day... so the attics start filling up with chairs, coffee tables and lamps. Every sale there are inevitably a few pieces that we decide our ready to go that our mom thinks there may be another purpose for. (normally she is right!)

Dave was our chef for the evening. While the girls were busy going through boxes in the garage Dave was at the grill preparing twice baked potatoes and chicken kabobs. Quite a gourmet meal for a garage sale party! I will have to get his recipes to post.

Mother's Day

All our prepartion for mother's day paid off. The meal came together seamlessly. I will need to get the recipe for the Salmon, Quiche and Soup from Sheena. Heather and Dave provided the drinks and created a champagne one that was the perfect way to start the event. It was a wonderful day to celebrate our mom and spend time with the family.

The weekend became even better as Sheena and Jon welcomed the newest member of our family, Elly. Although our mother would love to have grandbabies, for now she is content with three beautiful grand-puppies. Heather's dog is Lily, a white bichon frise. Our dog is Penny Lane, a cavachon. Elly is a blue great dane and is the smallest (for now). Elly is 8 weeks old and will grow very quickly. Penny and Lily were very hesitant playing with her this weekend, but as they spend more time together we hope that all three become best friends.

Mother's Day Prepration

This Sunday is a very important day. I don't think the celebration of our mother's should be left for only one day a year, but I do appreciate planning something special for our mom. This year we are coordinating a luncheon feast hosted at my younger sister, Sheena's house. The menu has already been planned and sounds amazing. Appetizers: Grapes with oil and salt First Course: quiche on top of a field green salad and a side of butternut squash soup Second Course: Broiled Salmon, noodles, and a side of snowpeas and carrots Dessert: balsamic glazed strawberries with sugar cookies For Ian's mom we are hosting a late dinner at our house around 6pm. I still need to plan the menu for this, but am thinking of my fall-back recipe for country style chicken kiev. It is super-simple to make and tastes amazing.

Why Tuesday Night Dinner?

It all started when I graduated college in 2003. My older sister and I decided to rent an apartment together close to the city of Pittsburgh. Although we lived together we quickly found out that our lives were very busy and we didn’t seem to see each other. We decided to make official plans to spend time at the apartment. Every Tuesday we would have dinner together. As most sibling relationships go, this turned into a bit of a competition; who could plan and cook the best dinner. We made 4 course meals, tried new recipes and experimented with different cuisines. It was exciting and gave us something to look forward to each week. We began to invite more family and friends and turned it into an event.

Although I’m now married and living happily with my husband, I do miss these weekly dinners and spending time with my sisters. We have started the tradition again on a monthly basis and included our younger sister and her husband who are living back in the area.

The Tuesday Night Dinner is still a bit of a competition amongst us siblings, although it is more about spending time with family and creating new memories together.