Angel Hair Pasta with Eggplant-Tomato Sauce

Last night's meal was quite a learning experience for me. I don't know if I was tired or what, but I just wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. I don't ever cook with eggplant so I just did what the recipe said to do. Looking back, I should have peeled the eggplant. The recipe doesn't say to do it, but it was kind of chewy and I didn't like it. Our grill is also still inopperable, so I cooked the eggplant and red peppers in the oven. I did not however read the instructions on how to do that until I was done with every thing else. So, if you don't plan on grilling the veggies (which I think will make this taste even better) read the NOTE at the bottom. :)

Other than me being totally not in my head, the meal was good. The flavors were good and my husband said he really liked it. Oh, I also just used a can of diced tomatoes which saved a lot of time. The meal was quick and easy to make.

Pasta with Eggplant-Tomato Sauce

* 1 medium raw eggplant, baby-variety, sliced into 1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick rounds

* 1 medium sweet red pepper(s), cut into 8 strips

* 1 sprays olive oil cooking spray

* 3/4 tsp table salt, divided

* 1 medium garlic clove(s), minced

* 2 large tomato(es), coarsely chopped

* 1/4 small tsp crushed red pepper flakes

* 1/8 tsp black pepper

* 2 Tbsp basil, fresh, minced

* 2 Tbsp chives, fresh, minced

* 1/2 cup fat-free chicken broth

* 8 oz uncooked angel hair pasta, cooked according to package directions, drained

* 4 oz reduced-fat feta cheese, crumbled (I used mixed cheeses, since my kids won't eat feta)

1. Preheat grill to medium.*See Note at Bottom*
Place eggplant slices and pepper strips in a grill basket (or place vegetables on a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil with holes poked in it to allow smoke through). Off heat, coat vegetables with cooking spray; season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Place on grill and cook until lightly browned and tender, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Cut vegetables into bite-size pieces; set aside.

2. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over low-medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and cook until slightly pulpy, about 1 minute more(if using canned you don't have to wait before adding the veggies).

3. Stir in vegetables, remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt, red pepper flakes, black pepper, basil, chives and broth; increase heat to medium-high. Cook until broth is slightly reduced and mixture has a sauce consistency, about 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Add pasta and toss to coat. (We just placed it on top of the pasta on our plates). Stir in cheese just before serving.

Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.
Notes * You can roast the vegetables if you prefer. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place vegetables on prepared baking sheet and coat with cooking spray; season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Roast, until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.Let your garden dictate the vegetables for this recipe: sliced zucchini, yellow squash or red onion can be substituted for the eggplant.

This recipe came from the Weight Watchers online site.

Balsamic Chicken with mushrooms

This recipe was super easy and only took 10 minutes to make! It smells wonderful and my husband thought it was really good. I couldn't get the kids to try it though. We will have to work on that. The sides were just opening cans of vegetables, so everything was quick. I have to figure out why the pictures look so bad. Any tips from the photographers out there? I also had to laugh when I saw this picture because none of the food is touching each other. Can you tell I have many picky eaters in my house? That is always rule #1 for them, "don't let it touch my (fill in the blank)!"

Balsamic chicken with Mushrooms

• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 large garlic clove(s), crushed
• 1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, four 4-oz pieces
• 2 cup mushroom(s), small, halved
• 1/3 cup canned chicken broth
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme, crumbled

1. In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of oil.
2. In a medium bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of vinegar, the mustard and garlic. Add chicken and turn to coat. Transfer chicken and marinade to skillet. Sauté chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken to a platter and keep warm.
3. Heat remaining teaspoon of oil in skillet. Sauté mushrooms for 1 minute. Add broth, thyme and remaining tablespoon of vinegar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are deep brown, about 2 minutes longer.
4. Serve chicken topped with mushrooms.

This also came from the Weight Watchers website, so I do not know the nutrition information for it. It had a 3pt value.

Baked Ziti and another 5K

What a great way to start the week! This morning my whole family woke up and headed to a local park for our annual church Labor Day Breakfast. It is always lots of fun getting to visit with our friends, have breakfast and then play various sports afterward. This year we tried something new. We met an hour earlier than normal and had a 5K walk/run. There was a great turnout! I was very excited to see so many people ready to go. Kids, strollers, teens, adults, it was great! It felt good to be running with so many friends and neighbors.

Last night I tried a new recipe and I think it was a hit! I got this one from the Weight Watchers website. The only change I made was using ground turkey instead of ground beef. It was really good and my husband even said he would eat it as left overs. That is almost a miracle! I supplemented with wheat yeast rolls from the freezer. *wink, wink* It took about 20 minutes to cook the noodles and ground turkey and then it cooked in the oven for 30 minutes.

Baked Ziti

• 12 oz uncooked ziti
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
• 1/3 pound raw lean ground beef (I used ground turkey)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat; add garlic and sauté 2 minutes. Add beef and cook until browned, breaking up meat with a spoon as it cooks, about 3 to 5 minutes; drain off any fat and set pan back over medium heat.
3. Add oregano, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper; stir to coat beef. Cook until herbs become fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Spoon a small amount of beef-tomato mixture into bottom of a 4-quart casserole dish (just enough to cover surface); top with half of cooked ziti. Next, layer with half of remaining beef-tomato sauce and half of mozzarella cheese. Layer with remaining ziti and then top with remaining beef-tomato sauce; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake until cheese is golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes.
5. Slice into 8 pieces and serve. Yields 1 piece per serving.

I don't know the nutrition info, but it is 5 points on Weight Watchers, whatever that means.

Chicken Capri

I tried another new recipe on Monday night. I just haven't had a chance to post it yet. So, I'm getting to it today. I'm not 100% sure what I thought of the recipe. I liked it enough to try it again, but will probably play with it a little bit. The meal looked pretty and smelled good, but I didn't think it had enough flavor. I got this recipe from the South Beach Diet Cookbook, page 214. You can see in the photo that I made bread to go with it. French bread really is my favorite bread to make next to Cinnamon rolls.

Chicken Capri

• 1 cup reduced-fat ricotta cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes
• 4 slices reduced-fat mozzarella cheese

1. In a blender or food processor, combine the ricotta with the oregano, salt and pepper. Process to blend.
2. Rub the chicken with the garlic powder (maybe this is where I missed out on flavor. I didn't have garlic powder--surprise! so I just chopped up some fresh garlic and added it to the skillet in the next step.) Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 12 minutes per side.
3. Place the chicken breasts, side by side, in a large baking dish and allow to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
5. Spoon 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture and 1/4 cup tomatoes onto each chicken breast. Top each with 1 slice mozzarella. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest portion of a breast registers 170 degrees F and the juices run clear.

340 calories, 15g fat, 44g protein, 6g carbs, 115mg cholesterol, 470mg sodium