A Saucy Night

Hey everyone! Hope your day has been fan-tas-tic!

Lunch

For lunch I ate the rest of my leftover Tuscan White Bean Soup with a deli chicken, romaine, mustard, whole wheat English muffin sandwich. It was to die… soup and sandwich is my favorite lunch – hands down. It’s just so comforting for me.

I headed back to campus for my 1:00  lab that ended up being only an hour! We had to do different taste testing, seeing if we could distinguish differences. We tasted 3 Oreos, 2 sodas, and 3 different yogurts. One of the Oroes was reduced fat… I picked that one out – go me! The soda was 2 different colors but they ended up being both Sprite. I thought one was sweeter than the other! Isn’t it funny how your different senses affect each other? As far as the yogurt, they were all nas-tayyyyy – Great Value brand, baby. I don’t roll like that… call me a yog-snob, go ahead.

On a belly full of Oreos and Sprite, I met Taylor at the gym! My knee has been bothering me the past two days so I decided to hop on the bike, something I never do. The bike was no joke but by the time it was over with I really wanted to get on the stair master but they were full.. so I moved onto abs and planned on going back to the stair master but that didn’t happen. I like to do cardio first and I just can’t break my routine.

When I came home I had a little snack before venturing to the park with G-man.

The above picture is some wonderful strawberries and Blueberry Kefir.

I also got a package today. When I was home for Winter break, I forgot a pair of heels, sunglasses, and a few other items. My parents sent them down to me. When I opened my shoe box, besides there being my heels I’ve been missing, there were 3 Aciphex bottles from my dad. He’s the best – he knows I have a funky stomach like him.

Gunner ran around like a deer at the park and I walked the 2 1/4 mile trail with Lady Antebellum all up in my ears. It was relaxing.

I came home to prepare an epic meal… Eggplant Rollatini! I’ve had this idea in my head for a while and decided to finally make it tonight since I have some leftover homemade Marinara sauce.

I baked the eggplant as opposed to breading and frying it. I also subbed cottage cheese for the traditional Ricotta to make it a little lighter. I love Ricotta, don’t get me wrong but in dishes like this and lasagna, I like the cottage cheese better – it’s not as dense.

Here’s how it went down:

I spy a grey ghost!

I ate three of those bad boys! So yummy.

Eggplant Rollatini

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant, peeled and cut 1/4 inch wide, lengthwise

salt and pepper, to taste (x2)

24 ounces cottage cheese

10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed free of water

2 eggs

pinch of fresh nutmeg, grated

8 ounces (2 cups) mozzarella cheese, divided

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, divided

2 cups marinara sauce, divided

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place the sliced eggplant onto a baking sheet that has been coated with cooking spray. Lightly spray the surface of the eggplant and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes and immediately lower the oven to 375 degrees F.. In a large bowl combine the cottage cheese, spinach, eggs, nutmeg, salt, pepper, 1 cup of cheese, and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Mix until combined. Coat the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ casserole dish with 1/2 cup of the sauce. Place Cover the surface of each eggplant with the cheese mixture. Roll up the eggplant, lengthwise and place into the casserole dish, seam side down. Repeat this process for all eggplant slices. Top the rollatini with remaining sauce and cheese. Bake for 40-45 minutes (on 375 degrees F).

The eggplant slices will be fragile when they are baked so just do your best with them. Its okay if they rip, just mend them together!

My belly is full and I love that. Although, I do want to snack on some more banana bread and a cup of tea. I think I will do that. I am going to watch Revenge tonight as I do my homework. Do you like that show? I was never able to catch it last semester but everyone raves over it. And, anything that’s supposed to be in the Hamptons… count me in!

Tea, banana bread, homework and an episode of Revenge are in the works for me tonight.

Have a wonderful night!