Recipe: A Summer Quiche

Hello! Yes, yes - been some time again since my last post. But I promise this post will surely make up for my lack of posting. Last weekend I was blessed and fortunate enough to go away with my friend to her family's home on Shelter Island in New York. It was the second year in a row I've been invited and it's just a rejuvenating and wonderful experience. The home is beautiful and just amazing to be there. Truly.

A view I captured from Sunset Beach on Shelter Island, NY

While we were there, my friend Tracy made us breakfast each morning and she came up with this amazing quiche that I replicated last week (minus a few ingredients). It's got a fresh take and an ingredient you just may not ever think to include in a quiche but I assure you it's deeeeelish!

And fortunately two ingredients now are in full swing this summer season and you can likely grab them at your local farm stand or farmers market: zucchini and tomatoes.

Yep. That's right zucchini and squash.

What?!?! you say?  Yes.  So did I. Until I tried it and it was the best tasting quiche I think I've ever had. So run to the market and grab some squash, zucchini and tomatoes and whip this up.  I promise you it does not disappoint.

Oh, and for my fellow THM-ers this recipe would be an S.

Ingredients

1-2 medium sized zucchini or summer squash chopped (last week I used both yellow and green squashes but this week I only had green)

1 medium tomato chopped 

1 or 1/2 large yellow onion chopped 

Fresh basil (if possible) chopped

Dried oregano to taste 

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon of butter or coconut oil

Non stick spray or butter for pan

5-6 large eggs 

1/2 cup of heavy cream or 1/2 and 1/2

1 cup of shredded cheese - I used a Mexican blend but mozzarella or any of your choosing will do

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet place butter or coconut oil and heat onion and zucchini until softened. Add tomatoes half way through just to soften.

2. Add herbs, salt and pepper to veggies.

3. In a large mixing bowl scramble eggs and combine cream. Then, add shredded cheese.

4. Spray or coat round baking pan or dish with nonstick coat.

5. With a slotted spoon, transfer veggies to the large mixing bowl - the tomatoes and veggies can leave liquid which you do not want in quiche! Mix well.

6. Pour all ingredients into baking pan/dish and bake for about 30-40 minutes depending on your oven and baking dish.

Softening the veggies 

Add the tomatoes last to soften - drain with slotted spoon

All mixed up and ready to bake

Ready to cook!  I can't hardly wait to eat this

Ta-dahhh! Done.  Oh and I made my husband a ham and cheese quiche too :)

So, what do you think?  So easy and fresh and a fantastic way to get in some additional veggies.  You could add anything else to this also - bacon or any other veggies you have laying around. 

I hope you have a great Sunday!  Now, onto laundry and cleaning.  

~Carly

Recipe: Roasted Eggplant and Red Pepper Spread/Dip

Wow - two months off and then two blog posts in one day?!?! Who am I?

Well, this recipe has been on my mind since my lovely friend Tracy made it and brought it to share one day at the pool club.  It is so yum. Then yesterday she dropped off a lovely eggplant for me and some red ripe tomatoes from her family's garden and I knew I needed to make this dip.

And, you already know I love eggplant so this was a no-brainier for me to make.

I found this recipe from Ina Gartner and I omitted the tomato paste.  However, next time I'd probably add it as it would give a little more substance to the dip itself.

A food blogger I am NOT but here are some pics regardless. Humor me  :)

All chopped and ready for olive oil, salt and pepper

My mom bought me these awesome grinders from Traders Joes

Ready to roast

Amazing how much it shrinks when it cooks

Into the food processor

All blended

Taste testing with a Wasa for all my fellow THM-ers!

I'd say this recipe is a win. I plan to make it quite a bit.  This is also THM friendly - I'd say it may even be used in an S or E setting depending on how much olive oil you use and how many servings you eat.  I bet it would be heavenly with Lavash Crackers or even as a spread on some of Gwen's Bread.

Oh boy...now I need to whip up some of that this weekend.  Happy Friday!

~Carly

THM Fuel Cycle Experience & Recap

As you may know, I've been successfully implementing a diet and lifestyle plan called Trim Healthy Mama for the last three months now. I am loving this way of eating! However, after losing some initial weight I plateaued a bit. Fortunately, since THM is so thorough the authors give you a way to really shake up your metabolism with something called "The One Week Fuel Cycle." It's recommended for those who have stubborn weight and for those who have been following the plan for at least three months.

Well, that sounded like me so I decided after being true to the plan if I wasn't seeing results "free styling" - meaning just doing my own combination of on plan foods - then I would try it. 

I started Monday, March 17th and here's my experience:

Deep S day 1

Starting weight 159.6

Breakfast: scrambled eggs in coconut oil, sausage and coffee with a little cream

Lunch: large salad with romaine, spinach, celery, cucumbers and green peppers with deli chicken on top with extra virgin olive oil. Water and then a Fizzy GGMS

Snack: Chocolate cake in a mug and coffee

Dinner: baked salmon with butter on top with sautéed spinach and artichokes in coconut oil and some steamed cauliflower with a tiny sprinkle of cheese. Water to drink.

Dessert: Skinny chocolate
Exercise: 50 Minute Spinning Class and a 20 minute walk on the treadmill prior to class

Day one dinner - salmon, sauteed spinach and artichokes
and some cauliflower with a smidge of cheese.

Deep S day 2

Weight: 158.8 

Breakfast: same as day before

Lunch: left over Salmon with huge green salad with olive oil.
Snack: Chocolate Cake in a mug 

Dinner: Hamburger with roasted red peppers and a side salad and water to drink.

Dessert: Skinny Chocolate
Exercise: None

Deep S day 3
Weight: 158.6
Breakfast: same as days 1 and 2
Lunch: Thin Mint Protein Shake and left over hamburger and salad
Dinner: Veggie omelette and bacon
Exercise: Running 3 miles

Fuel Pull day 4
Weight: 158.4
Breakfast: Coffee with swirl of cream and Cottage Berry Whip
Lunch: Low carb wrap with deli chicken and veggies and cucumbers sliced on the side
Snack: Wasa crackers, celery and Laughing Cow wedge cheese
Dinner: FP Pizza and salad
Exercise: None

Fuel Pull day 5
Weight: 159.6
Breakfast: Coffee with swirl of cream, egg white scrambled and Fage 0% greek yogurt with polaner fruit swirled in
Lunch: Same wrap as day 4 with Fizzy GGMS
Snack: Big Boy Smoothie
Dinner: Buffalo Chicken Salad (made without any flour breading) and a blob of blue cheese dressing to keep fat grams in check for Fuel Pull
Exercise: Walking 3 miles brisk pace

Note: Typical Fuel Cycle calls for 2 full days of E eating.  I found early on that I am carb sensitive and chose to not do completely full E days.  This is NOT recommended in the book - it is what I chose to do for my own personal preference.

E day 6
No weigh in
Breakfast: Coffee with swirl of cream, old fashioned oatmeal with cinnamon, 1/3 of a banana sliced, sprinkle of chia seeds
Snack: Cashews
Lunch: Tossed salad with grilled chicken, fresh mozzarella balls and balsamic vinaigrette
Dinner: Trim Healthy Mama pancakes with greek yogurt and polaner fruit spread
Exercise: None

E day 7
Weight 159.6
Breakfast: Coffee, scrambled eggs in coconut oil and bacon
Lunch: Quinoa, sweet potato and black bean chili
Snack: Cake in a mug
Dinner: Low carb taco wrap
Exercise: None

So, there you have it - my first Fuel Cycle Week that I completed.  I felt really great on my Deep S days - I think I've been relying too much on Heavy S rather than true S meals.  I felt very hungry on my first Fuel Pull day and think I over did eating the low carb items - I wouldn't recommend doing a wrap, wasa and pita on the same day after doing Deep S.  Then as I mentioned, due to some pre-planned events, I chose not to do full E days but did choose wise carbs to refuel my body after this week of the Fuel Cycle.

I'm now back to free styling and feel I've learned a TON from this week.  It is recommended to do another week of Fuel Cycle or even three total weeks but I feel that Deep S is now my "trick" to get my body back into a true weight loss mode short-term and adding in E meals as a breakfast or lunch is best for me and keeping snacks as Fuel Pull also.

Today, I weighed in and the scale was 158.2 so I'm down to a new lowest weight ever!  Over the weekend I also tried on some clothes I've had tucked away and I'm still losing inches too because things are fitting again.  So thrilled and thankful for Trim Healthy Mama!

Have you tried a Fuel Cycle?  If so, what was your experience?
~Carly

Recipe: Eggplant Parmigiana - THM style (S)

Hello! Sorry, I fell off the blogging bandwagon. But I'm back with a yummy recipe! That makes it all better, right?

I love Italian food. Well, I love all food, actually - but last night I made a pasta dish for my family using regular pasta. Pre-Trim Healthy Mama I would have easily had a bowl full and maybe more. So in keeping with the Italian theme for the evening I made myself some eggplant parmigiana. 

I didn't actually measure all the ingredients and just kind of winged it.  There's no exact science - as your using the "breading" mixture and find you're running low, just throw some more ingredients in the bowl.  Scroll down for the pictures I briefly snapped as I cooked.

Ingredients:

One large eggplant (or more depending on family size)

Almond meal or flour

Flax meal

2 eggs whisked

Oil for frying - coconut or olive oil - your choice!

Italian seasoning

Garlic powder

Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Tomato sauce of choice (if on THM make sure it's a no-added sugar sauce)

Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1.  Wash, dry and then slice eggplant into 1 inch wide (or less) sliced pieces.  I usually don't use pieces towards the very top or very bottom of the eggplant - but that's just me.

2.  In a larger bowl combine about one cup of flax meal and a half cup of almond meal or flour.  Add Italian seasoning such as oregano, basil and parsley flakes to your mix and garlic powder to taste.  You may also add grated Parmesan cheese also for more flavor.  Be sure to combine well.

3.  Pour choice of oil in pan and begin to heat. Use enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan and give a good amount of liquid for the eggplant pieces to fry in.

4.  At this time you should pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

5.  In another wide opening bowl, whisk the two eggs together. Check to see if oil is heating up nicely.

6.  Submerge each piece of eggplant in the egg and flip to get both sides covered and then coat in the flax, almond meal, seasonings mix.

7.  Place in oil for about 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Transfer to a plate with paper towel to absorb excess oils.

8.  Repeat egg and "breading mix" and frying until all pieces of eggplant are done.

9.  Take a large baking dish and place a small amount of sauce on bottom of it.  Begin layering the eggplant on top of the sauce.  Cover each piece of eggplant with some sauce on top.

10.  Cover with foil and bake in oven for 25-30 minutes to further soften the eggplant.

11.  Remove briefly to top with shredded mozzarella cheese to your liking and place back in oven to melt.

Sliced eggplant

Mixing up the "breading"

Fried to perfection!

Add a bit of sauce

Topped with cheese and voila!

Serve with Dreamfields pasta, a large side salad or any other veggies you'd like.  This recipe is a keeper for sure!

I plan on posting an update on my personal weight loss journey shortly.  No really, I promise! Soon!
~Carly

Recipe: Veggie Bean-Quinoa Soup - THM E

Good morning!  After yet another snow day yesterday during this colder-than-normal winter here in Connecticut, I can help but continue to crave warm, hearty soups.

I didn't see this recipe made anywhere and I kind of just made it up on my own. It's definitely not genius or anything. 

But it is so good.  

There's nothing fancy in it and you can really add anything you have in the pantry or fridge that needs to be used up. Substitute or leave out ingredients based on your dietary needs or tastes.  For THM-ers this soup would be an E.

I call it Veggie Bean Quinoa Soup.  This recipe makes about 2-3 quarts of soup.

Ingredients:
1 Cup of purified water
1-2 box containers of veggie stock 

1 box Pomi diced tomatoes 

1 can of kidney beans

1 can of white beans (Canellini are my favorite but use whatever)

2-3 stalks celery chopped (I include the greens in the inside of the celery for more flavor)

1 carrot chopped 

1/2 of an onion chopped

1-2 green zucchini chopped

1-2 yellow squash chopped 

1/2 cup quinoa (cooked separately and add at end of soup cooking) 

Directions:
1. Rinse and chop all veggies.
2. Rinse and drain beans.
3. Pour cup of water, veggie stock, tomatoes and add all chopped ingredients and beans into a big stock pot.
4. In a separate smaller saucepan, cook quinoa according to the directions on your package. I use water to cook my quinoa but feel free to use any broth of flavoring you like.
5. Cook soup on medium-high heat until you achieve a rolling boil.  Turn down to low and simmer until veggies are tender - approximately 25-30 minutes.
6. Add cooked quinoa to rest of the soup.  Stir, add extra spices to taste and serve.

Veggie Bean Quinoa Soup.  Deelish.

This soup could not be easier.  Again, it makes quite a bit of soup so feel free to share with family, friends, neighbors or co-workers!  I gave a quart of soup to my neighbor the other day when her kids weren't feeling well and she raved about it.  

Let me know you like it if you try it and any variations you did!

~Carly

Recipe: Noodles and Peanut Sauce - THM S

Hello!

The other day, my mom and I were talking about food (as we often do) and we both suddenly remembered a favorite dish at a restaurant that no longer is open. It was a Chinese food restaurant and we went there all the time.  Specifically, we loved the cold noodles with peanut sauce. They were so good! 

Now that I'm on my Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle, I was determined to make this one day again using on-plan ingredients. 

Well, that "one day" was this past weekend.  I found this recipe and pinned it on Pinterest and used that as my guidance and just adapted it to my current dietary needs for THM.

So, really quick a little note about the use of Dream fields pasta - you can only retain the low glycemic impact of the carbs if you cook it according to the box AND you can never reheat it. Otherwise, it turns into regular pasta and the whole point of using it is gone. To be safe I always under cook mine to be extra safe :)  And, the great news about this recipe is you can eat these again the next day as cold noodles!  So go ahead and make a double recipe and have lunch for the next day!

Onto the recipe!  Again, this is not my recipe but I've adapted it for Trim Healthy Mama.  

This recipe would be an S - Satisfying dish.

Ingredients:

Dreamfields pasta - make as many servings of this as you need for your meal

1/2 Cup natural creamy peanut butter 

1-3 TBSP Braggs Liquid Aminos (you can also use soy sauce if you'd like)

1-2 packets of Truvia or on-plan sweetener of choice

2-3 cloves of garlic 

1-2 TSP of lime juice

1/2 TSP of red pepper flakes or more to your taste plus extra for topping

1/2 cup water 

1-2 TBSP of chopped peanuts to garnish 
Veggies - Note:  Add any veggies you have laying around. Tonight I only had carrots and green pepper in the house since this recipe was a last minute choice to make it - but green scallions, mushrooms or broccoli would be wonderful additions for next time! 

Directions:

1. Cook pasta per directions.

2. In blender or food processor combine all ingredients except water and the peanuts for topping and extra red pepper flakes. As you blend, slowly add water as it mixes or else it clumps a bit.

3. Steam or lightly sautée the veggie you'd like to use - I just sliced the carrots and pepper thin and left them raw for this recipe.

4. Drain pasta and scoop in mixed sauce and add veggies back into the pasta pot and mix and re-heat if desired.

5. Serve and garnish with peanuts, red pepper flakes and enjoy.

My THM-approved ingredients I chose to use for this recipe.

The only veggies I had - limit carrots for S meals!

Mixing it all up in the pot.

All the ingredients into the food processor.

Voila!  Dinner is served.  

It was sweet, crunchy, spicy and just delicious peanut-buttery goodness.  Yum! Oh yes,
I'm sooo making this again.

I'm also linked up at Gwen's Nest for THM Tuesday's!

~Carly

A Recipe of Lies

I can hardly believe it's almost the end of 2012.  With a new year comes a sense of starting fresh and renewal.  I don't know about you, but I personally have started to get away from the whole "resolutions" since they are usually over-zealous, over the top at times and tend to be hard to maintain - or at least the ones I've tried to keep up in the past.

My goal for most of last year and will be into 2013 is to be healthier.   As I mentioned, I'm a diet whore junkie and I've recently been following the Eat To Live plan by Dr. Fuhrman.  It's been going really, really great.  Aside from currently having a cold, I feel really good.  The weight is still not coming off as I'd hoped but I haven't weighed in again hoping for a bigger loss (fingers crossed!).  I'm also currently reading his books Super Immunity and Disease-Proof Your Child.  They're quite eye opening and informative.

Ok, back to the post and my recipe of lies.

So, for 2013 my goal is be healthier.  Not skinnier or fitter or anything like that.  I'm just striving for health.  Just this past weekend I actually got my husband on board with the whole cutting out processed foods and eating healthier idea also which is awe.some.  I've been on Pinterest for quite some time and I've come across some awesome blogs and resources for recipe, inspiration and so much more.  So as 2012 went on, I had already incorporated green smoothies and had been eating a more vegetarian diet.  Now, I'm almost borderline vegan (but not exactly) due to the Eat To Live plan.  And now with the hubby aboard the healthy train we should be in even better shape to achieve health in 2013.

Me eating healthier. Check.  Husband on board and agreeing to eat healthier, unprocessed foods.  Check.

Kiddos - Yeah.  Not quite a check there yet.

It's just going to be tricking the kiddos to eating healthier that I have to work on.  I started that plan today by making Zucchini Banana Muffins (recipe found on Pinterest on this blog) which I made without the glaze.  No offense, but the "glaze" in the pictures looks like ketchup and is so unappealing - but I altered the recipe a bit to make it a little more palatable for our taste.  So I turned the Zucchini Banana muffins into Zucchini Banana Applesauce muffins and they are yummy!  (Note:  I think they are but I can't taste anything really due to this darn cold!)

Without further adieu, I present the recipe of lies!

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1  teaspoon cinnamon(I added more since I like cinnamon!)

1 egg

2/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce (the original recipe called for butter but I didn't use any)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4  cup of white sugar

1/3 cup milk – plus another splash as the mix was a little too dry after mixing

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups freshly grated zucchini

1/3 cup mashed banana (about 1 small banana)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and then get the muffin pan ready with either liners or non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine together flour, baking soda, salt,and cinnamon.  Mix well.

In a larger separate bowl, whisk the egg and brown sugar until smooth and until there are no lumps. Add in white sugar and continue to mix.  Add vanilla extract, applesauce and 1/3 cup milk. Add more later if you find the mix is too dry.  Whisk again until smooth and stir in the previously grated zucchini and mashed banana. Once combined, slowly add the dry ingredients a little at a time, folding the batter until just combined.  Divide batter into muffin cups.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. 

The finished muffin

Oh whoops, I forgot to put in the key ingredient.

THE LIE!

So, in the whole tricking the kiddos theme, my 4 year old daughter helped me bake these muffins.  I should note that she is a fairly picky eater and does not really enjoy trying new things. Or eating vegetables.  Or trying new foods.  Or - well, you get the idea. My 3 year old son is a bit more adventurous with trying foods and his overall taste for diverse foods.  So, when my daughter saw the green zucchini, she asked me what it was.

So, I sort of lied and called it a green banana.

Well, she totally bought it!  I was shocked.  This coming from a child who would shy away from parsley and green flecks in anything that was on her plate.

Then once the muffins were baked and cooled, she proceeded to eat it - green bits and flecks of zucchini and all.  (See image)

Am I proud that I lied?  No.  I mean, she saw with her own eyes that it was green - a color of food she normally is repulsed by.  Maybe because I quickly called it a green banana, it made it okay by her standards?  But for the sake of her long-term health and getting her to eat more green vegetables I guess I'd have to say it is a lie I'd tell over and over again.

And I just may.

While I consider myself an honest person, I'm kind of a huge fan of trying to sneak more veggies into foods that kids prefer to eat - such as chicken nuggets, cookies, muffins, chili's  soups and stews.  I really love Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook which I need to go back through and try more of the recipes again now that my kids are older.

Now tell me, do you struggle with the same "picky-ness" with your kids?  How do you or did you overcome it.  Did you ever tell lies to get your kids to eat new things?  I'd love to hear it?
~Carly

Eat Fresh

And, no. I do not mean Subway!

I luckily live in a very nice area in Connecticut with access to tons of local farms and farm stands right in my town.

This is what I picked up today for about $5.

Yum!