Easy Healthy Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan

I made my first attempt at making eggplant:

Peel and thinly slice an eggplant
Dip eggplant slices in either beaten egg or beaten egg white
Dip in breadcrumbs - I useWASA crisp'n light 7 grain crackers. I crush them. It is 60 calories for 3 crackers. 2 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber.
Bake slices for 5 minutes each side in  oven at 350 degrees.

Use baking pan - coat bottom with your favorite spaghetti sauce - I used my sauce  (full of vegetables)
Put eggplant slice, then on top of slice put a nice heap of ricotta cheese, then top with a little shredded mozzarella cheese, top with another eggplant slice, when finished making all of your eggplant slices, top everything with spaghetti sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. It was very tasty and I will make it again.

Homemade Healthy Granola Bars

I've been wanting to try and make a granola bar that is made of healthy items with no preservatives. Here is my first try:

Add all these dry ingredients and mix together :

1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup shredded coconut
2  Tbsp ground flax seed
1/8 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/8 cup slivered almonds.
Optional - dried fruit - including chopped dates, apricots, raisins - I used dried tart cherries. I found the sweetness of the cherries made it so I could use less sweetener.

Then add:

1/2 cup applesauce
2 Tbsp cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix well, if it is too dry add a little honey or a little applesauce until it is slightly sticky

     Preheat oven to 325 F. Spray Pam on bottom of 9x13 inch pan. Press mixture into pan. Bake at 325 F for about 20 minutes.  Let bars cool completely in pan before removing or serving.
Makes 12 bars.

They were so yummy!

Macaroni and Cheese - Healthier Version

We all loved Macaroni and Cheese growing up. Here is a version to make it a little healthier.

Cook 1 Cup of whole wheat elbow macaroni per directions on box
Melt 1 Tbsp of butter (I'd rather use the butter, than margarine) in pan, then add 1 Tbsp of whole wheat flour, once mixed
Add 1 cup of skim or 1% milk, stir constantly under med. heat until it thickens. Add 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese (mozzarella cheese has less calories than cheddar but I love the cheddar taste) ( I tried vanilla almond milk as that was all I had, but don't recommend it unless you use the unsweetened kind.)

Spray the bottom of a cooking dish with cooking spray, then add cooked macaroni and cheese mixture. Then add fresh spinach, a little at a time - as you stir the spinach in it will shrink a little. I added about 1 cup of spinach to this dish.

Then cook at 350 for 20 minutes. For extra cheesy mac and cheese you can sprinkle a little cheese on the top when you cook it, to save calories I didn't do that this time.

Spinach Lasagna - No Noodles

This is an easy recipe to make:

1 box of frozen chopped spinach
1 8oz container of low fat ricotta cheese

Defrost the spinach and squeeze out the water,
Add the ricotta cheese
Add one egg or 2 egg whites
Mix together

Addition - You can add 1/4 to 1/2 cup low fat mozzarella cheese and mix together. For variety, I will put 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese on top of mixture instead of in the mix.

Spray 8 by 8 pan or bread sized cooking with olive oil pam

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Top with warm spaghetti sauce.

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

I make my own sauce full of lots of veggies.

Five Bean Chili

I love this recipe because of the different types of beans. Again this is my own creation. Michael and I love to make a big pot of chili and freeze most of it to use on days when we don't have time to cook.. He is not giving out his secret recipe so here is mine.

Chop 2 onions
Chop 2 red peppers,
Dice 6 cloves of garlic
Dice 2 hot peppers
Cook in 2 Tbsp olive oil
Add one big can of tomatoes 102 oz (I get a great deal on this size can at Rulli Brothers Grocery

Add :
1 can of Pinto Beans
1 can of Kidney Beans
1 can of Navy Beans
1 can of Great Northern Beans
1 can of Canneloni Beans

Seasoning - chili powder, garlic powder, pepper, cumin 1 tablespoon each, then cook for 30 minutes, taste and season as needed. I usually cook my chili on low for at least an hour to absorb all of the flavors.

If I add meat I will use ground chicken from Rulli Bros as they grind up the chicken at the store. No pink slime for me. Right now we are in a vegetarian mode so no meat. Cook up your meat of choice, turkey, chicken or hamburger, drain and add when adding the beans.

Susan's Pinto Bean Tostados

Here is my favorite recipe so far. It reminds me of the "Stufies" I used to eat in Colorado.

Take a cookie sheet and spray with cooking spray, then take 2 whole wheat flour tortillas, spray them on both sides lightly with cooking spray. Cook in 375 degree oven for 7 1/2 minutes then turn over and cook for another 7 1/2 minutes. This will give you a nice crispy tostado. You can do this while cooking the bean mixture.

Chop one medium sized onion
Chop one medium sized red pepper (red are my favorite, you can use any color you want)
Dice 2 cloves of garlic
Cook in 2 tsp of olive oil
Add one can of green chilis
Add one can of Pinto beans

Cook for about 5 minutes. Pour mixture over the tostado. or  break up pieces and then put mixture on it. I use a knife to cut my tostado up and then pick up the pieces to eat.

In this picture, I also steamed fresh asparagus to eat with this meal. Delicious!

My Favorite 20 Minute Workout

I love to watch the Biggest Loser on TV and saw Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred. It has 3 levels. The biggest incentive to try it was each level is only 20 minutes and she works several muscle groups at once. It took me more than 30 days to reach level 3, but what a workout! It took me 2-3 weeks to graduate from level 1 to level 2, however, each day I could do a little more and last a little longer before I had to stop for a few seconds rest. I now have more energy, my mucles have toned up and are stronger. I use 5 pound weights for exercising as those were the only ones I have. You can start with smaller weights. I'm down 12 pounds so far. Of course, eating right is a big part of losing weight. Exercise alone for me will not get rid of the extra pounds.