Wow, My Day Is Made!

Bethenny Frankel is such an inspiration to me and I am a huge fan.  Seeing her reply to one of my tweets is amazing to me.  Thank you to her!  Having famous chef Fabio and Foodie Nick reply to tweets and even do an interview with me is one thing, but this is a dream.  So happy today, life is good.  Keeping positive thoughts.

Spaghetti (Squash) Arrabbiata

The recipe calls for:
2 tbsp olive oil
fresh basil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
4 cups spaghetti squash
1 cup Giada's Spicy Arrabbiata sauce
grated parmesan cheese (optional)

-- Heat the olive oil and chopped garlic cloves in a big pan.  Once the garlic is a little brown add the sauce.  Heat the sauce for awhile then add the fresh basil leaves.  Lastly add the spaghetti squash and mix.

This recipe is abosolutely delicious!  One of my favorite recipes I have created.  It's like you are eating at an italian restaurant when you enjoy this dish, but without all the extra calories and fat, but still with the great taste!  Pasta doesn't have a lot of flavor, neither does spaghetti squash.  It is all about the flavors that you add to them to make the dish special.

Only about 3 Weight Watchers Points for half of this.  The only thing that is points is 2 points for a cup of sauce, the olive oil is a probably a couple and if you add cheese.  The grated cheese I have is 1 point for a tablespoon.

ENJOY!!!

Healthy Baked "Eggplant Parm"

This recipe came from one of Gordon Ramsay's cookbooks.  I changed it a little bit based on preference & a couple healthy alternatives.  No breading or frying in oil required to still keep this classic dish delicious.  It obviously looks like a very different dish then the classic version you see in restaurants.  The taste & texture are also different, but it's just as flavorful.  It's a great unique version of eggplant parmesan.  I think it would make a great side dish as well as a full meal maybe paired with some homemade garlic bread.  I have never eaten eggplant without it being fried or topped with lots of marinara sauce & cheese on it because of course it's so good that way, but this recipe really came out great.  I highly recommend it for vegetarians or lovers of eggplant.

The recipe calls for:

2 medium eggplants

10-12 oz container cherry tomatoes

fresh basil

4 cloves of garlic

spray oil

spray butter

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

-- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
-- Peel then cut the eggplant into thin slices & place them on a baking pan sprayed with oil.  Bake them for 5-8 minutes.
-- Spray a medium sized saute pan with oil.
-- Cut the cherry tomatoes in half & mince the garlic cloves.
-- Add the tomatoes, garlic & butter to the pan.  You can use about a tablespoon of regular butter if preferred, but I used "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spray butter. Saute in the pan until the tomatoes start to make some liquid & the garlic brown a little bit.
-- Once this is cooked, rip the fresh basil into pieces & add it to the pan. Mix!
-- Put wax paper into two round 8 inch baking pans & add a layer of baked eggplant until it covers the bottoms.
-- Then add 1/4 of the tomato, basil & garlic mixture onto the top of the baked eggplant in each pan.
-- Sprinkle the layer with some grated parmesan cheese & then continue adding another layer of eggplant & the mixture.
--The last layer should be baked eggplant with some parmesan cheese on top.
-- Bake for another 10 minutes then let it sit for a few minutes before serving.

ENJOY!

An Exciting Friday Night

I have to share that yesterday I tweeted to Fabio Viviani, a well known chef who appeared on the show Top Chef on Bravo, about his pasta carbonara recipe.  He replied back to me.  For fans of the show or any chef you love, you can know how excited I was! :)

Amazing Spaghetti Squash

This is a Bethenny Frankel healthy recipe with a couple changes to what I preferred.

The recipe calls for:

1 spaghetti squash

3 tbs pesto

1 tbs fresh basil

3 tbs parmesan cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Bethenny also added pine nuts, but the pesto I bought had some in it already so extra are not needed.  I used grated cheese because that's what I had, but her recipe called for shredded.  I added salt and pepper before tasting, but I think the pesto has enough taste in it to do without.  The less salt the healthier.  The pesto flavor was a good amount, 1 less tbs I think it would taste just as good if you want to save some calories though.

I didn't prepare it the same way as her.  Here are the easy steps I did...

-- Microwave the squash for a minute, this makes it softer and easier to cut.  Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds.  Then place the squash (the inside faced down) in a microwaveable dish with about an inch of water for 10 minutes.  Optional: Put a little extra virgin olive oil on the inside of the squash.

-- Let the squash sit for a few minutes then scrap the spaghetti squash out.

-- Mix the squash, pesto, cheese and salt/pepper in a large bowl.

-- Add the mixed ingredients to a pan, add basil and heat for a few minutes.

-- Serve! Enjoy!

Do What You Can

I finally realized New Year Resolutions are just too stressful to worry about and keep up with.  Most people don't even follow through with them.  I DVRed Good Morning America this morning because I knew Bethenny Frankel was going to be on for a segment. She is just very inspiring to me and I figured any new knowledge learned from her is a good thing.  She has always shared health, food and exercise tips in her career, but it's how she incorporates these things in her life in a normal way just like you and I would have to that is the special part.  She has taught me a lot and today showed me why only make changes come the new year, why not make small changes throughout the whole year.  Do what you can when you can, there's always tomorrow.

"Everyday is a fresh start." - Bethenny Frankel

One small thing I am going to try my best to add to my everyday is keeping hydrated. Besides coffee, water is what I mainly drink with an occasional soda here and there.  I have noticed that I don't drink very often though.  Usually I have a 16.9 oz water bottle at work and one later one at night with dinner, but I am changing that to three bottles at work and one bottle at night which completes the 8 glasses of 8oz of water a day that "they" say to have.  I must say, after the first day doing this I was down a pound. I'm sure it's just water weight, but I'll take it.  Are you drinking enough?




- - Don't waste food by throwing out the holiday leftovers, just have some control and watch your portions.
- - A little exercise is better then none! I took Zumba today after months of doing nothing.
- - Try not to sweat the small stuff. This is what I struggle with.
- - Put yourself first sometimes even if you're someone who puts everyone else first.
-- Check out: www.bethenny.com/

Crab Deviled Eggs For Easter

The recipe calls for:

4 oz lump crab meat

6 hard boiled eggs

1/2 stick chopped celery

2 tbs mascarpone cheese

1 tbs mayo

1 tbs sour cream

1 tbs dijon mustard

1 tbs lemon juice

3 tbs chopped fresh chives

salt & pepper

-- Add & mix the crab meat, celery, cheese, mayo, sour cream, mustard, lemon juice & chives together in a medium mixing bowl. Add some salt & pepper to your likely.

-- Cut the hard boiled eggs into halves. Remove the yolk & discard.

-- Spoon the crab mixture into the egg halves & serve.

Never made deviled eggs before so when I was looking at recipes I came across this one with crab & had to make it. I like the traditional deviled eggs so I made some of those too for tomorrow, but these are much tastier! I suggest maybe using only 1 tbs of the cheese if you want it less calories. The good thing about this recipe is the yolk (the "bad" part of the egg) is not added to the mixture so it cuts out some fat.

Self Admitted Wine-o

A Helpful Giada Tip

"When you're baking, always use room temperature ingredients." -- Giada