Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Eggplant Casserole Redux

This past Friday night I made my first ever Eggplant Casserole. It turned out okay, but could have been better. I gave it another go on Sunday and it came out much better. In fact, this is how I'll make it with meat from now on:

2 eggplants
1 lb ground meat (I use the extra lean)
onions
green onions
garlic
bellpepper
seasoning (I use Tony Chachere's)
plain breadcrumbs

Bring large pot of water to boil. Cut eggplant in half, then in slices. Peel eggplant. Place in boiling water for 10-15 min or until tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from water reserving 1 cup of the liquid.

Brown ground meat in a skillet with onions, green onions, bellpepper, and seasoning. Drain.

Combine eggplant, ground meat, and bread crumbs in a 9 x 13 pan until you reach your desired consistency. You may need to add more seasoning to taste. Add some of the liquid from the boiling of eggplant as needed to add some moisture to the dish. Top with a thin layer of breadcrumbs.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until you feel it is set.

Enjoy!

At some point, I'm going to add some mushrooms to this dish. I think I'll cook the mushrooms with the meat when I do.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

No Comparison

The walking/running I do is a means of staying healthy for me. Personally, I'm not trying to win a 5K, 10K, or any other race. Therefore, I don't compare myself to what others do. I'm not interested in competing with what others are doing. Leading a healthy lifestyle is my aim.

I only make one comparison, to an earlier, unhealthier me.

I think about what I couldn't do in 2002:
  • walk a mile
  • run a mile
  • walk up 5 flights of stairs without stopping
  • complete a 5K
  • complete a 10K
  • spend 40 min on the stairmaster
  • zero push-ups
To what I can do in 2010:
  • walk a mile
  • run a mile
  • walk up 5+ flights of stairs without stopping
  • 5K done
  • 10K done
  • 40+ min on the stairmaster
  • 10 push-ups (though I don't like doing them!)
  • and many other things....
Overall, I'm really happy with what I have accomplished and what I continue to do regarding leading a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, I don't need to compare myself to others. I know what I did and I'm doing is working. That is all that matters.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Eggplant Casserole

Over the last few years, I've been obsessed with all things eggplant.

Fried eggplant.
Eggplant parmigiana.
Baked eggplant.
Eggplant chips.

You name it! If I'm at a restaurant and eggplant is on the menu, that's what I'm having. Over a year ago one of my colleagues brought an eggplant dish to work, eggplant casserole. Yum! I had to know how to make it. Her mom sent me her recipe, and I'm just now trying it out. I was always intimidated by the sheer idea of picking out an eggplant. From what I've been told, you just pick one up. There's no rhyme or reason to selecting one. So that's what I did. Here's the recipe as I prepared it tonight:

Ingredients
Eggplant
1 lb ground meat
breadcrumbs

Cut eggplant in half, then cube. Peel.



Bring a pot of water to boil. Place eggplant cubes in water. Boil until tender, about 10 min.



Brown ground meat with onions, green onions, & garlic. Season meat to taste. Drain.

Drain eggplant in colander.



Combine eggplant, ground meat, & breadcrumbs in a casserole dish. Add more seasoning to taste.



Top with a thin layer of breadcrumbs.



Bake 30-45 minutes or until top and sides have browned.



Here's the recipe without images:

Eggplant Casserole
1 eggplant
1 lb ground meat (I use extra lean)
breadcrumbs

Boil a pot of water.
Cut eggplant in half, then into slices. Peel and cube.
Place cubes of eggplant in boiling water.
Boil until tender when pierced with a fork. Approximately 10 minutes. Drain.

Brown ground meat. Season with onions, green onions, garlic, and seasoning (I use Tony Chachere's). Drain.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine eggplant, ground meat, and bread crumbs in a casserole dish. Add additional seasoning to taste. Top with thin layer of breadcrumbs.

Bake for 30-45 min or until top & sides are done.

Changes I will make next time:
  • use 2 eggplants for 1 lb of ground meat, I wanted more eggplant in it
  • add more seasoning (onion, garlic, green onion, and bellpepper)
I wonder how good this would be with mushroom instead of ground meat. I think I'll try it with 1/2 pound of meat and add mushrooms to fill it out. Just a thought...

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

15 more minutes

My clock chimes at 4:30 am. Yesterday morning I turned it off and went right back to sleep. I awakened again at 4:45. I emerged from the bed, dressed, and headed to the gym. I got in a good workout, and felt fine the remainder of the day.

Clearly, I needed those 15 additional minutes. Sometimes you just have to listen to your body.

I listened to my body again this morning and decided it needed a rest from the gym. Yes, I was packed for the gym and ready to go when I headed to dreamland, but I knew at that point I was going. My body was tired and needed the rest.

Right now I feel refreshed.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

500 Miles!

Okay, I had no idea I was close logging 500 miles total since I began using Nike +. Well, I crossed that threshold with the run on Monday evening. Go me! Here's my congratulatory video from Nike +:







Sunday, September 12, 2010

Planning

I'm already packed for my gym workout in the morning, and my lunch and snacks are packed for the day. My plan was to also get in, at least 2 miles, of running after work. Unfortunately, my car decided it wanted some attention so I need to take it in for some service after work. Then it hit me! Run while the car is being serviced.

So I packed another bag of clothes to change into at the end of the workday. I'll change at the office then head to the car place, which happens to be at the mall. I'll run the outskirts of the parking area while they work on the car. Score! I'll also take some water so I have some when I'm done.

Planning. Yay!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Mileage update

Last year I logged 239.17 miles for the entire year. By the end of August I had 170.77 miles. Not to bad as I logged some miles each month from January to August. Wasn't a lot of miles for June & July, but some miles nonetheless.



Looking at the chart for 2010 and I should surpass the total mileage for 2009 by early October, perhaps in later this month. We'll see. I'm at 207.58 (well ahead of the total at the end of August, 2009!) and I'm going to aim for 30-40 miles for each of the next 4 months.