Tuesday, March 30, 2010

I am such a doofus

I am so annoyed with myself right now.  I was supposed to go to a seminar tonight for continuing education points and because I didn't bother to read the RSVP properly, I not only went to the wrong place, I got the wrong time too. By the time I realised I was in the wrong place by the time I could get to the right place I was going to be an hour late. GAH!!

My ankle is still sore, from what I don't know. I was having dreams last night about my ankle being sore because it hurts at night while I'm sleeping. What a pain (pun intended, kinda). I missed my step class yesterday because it would have been a horrible idea to go to step class with a sore ankle. I should have gone to the gym tonight but I just felt kinda lazy. I might squeeze it in after work on Thursday but we'll see.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Photos of the day

Can I please have my cookies?

PLEASE?

She looks so damn cute when she does this. Pitiful and cute.  She does it whenever she wants her food or wants to come out and play.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Zucchini Pie

This was really nice and filling.  I used wholemeal flour instead of all-purpose flour. Recipe taken from myrecipes.com

3  cups  grated zucchini
1  small onion, chopped
1  cup  all-purpose flour
1  low fat cheese
3  eggs, beaten
1/4  cup  vegetable oil
4  tablespoons  grated Parmesan
2  teaspoons  chopped fresh basil
1  teaspoon  baking powder
1  teaspoon  salt
teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, reserving 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan. Spoon the zucchini mixture into a 10-inch round glass pie plate or metal pie pan that has been coated with vegetable cooking spray. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with the reserved Parmesan. Cool 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.
 
Voila:

Monday, March 22, 2010

Low Carb Lasagne

I love this recipe.  I originally got it off a fitness forum a couple of years ago and when I used to contest prep  for bodybuilding I must have eaten this at least once if not twice a week.  I like it best with zucchini but you can also make it with eggplant.  The method is the same for either vegetable.

Take 2-3 large zucchini and slice them lengthwise. Place on an oven tray. Grill zucchini in batches and set aside.


Chop up one small onion and in a non-stick skillet, cook in a little olive oil for 1-2 minutes. Add 400-500g of lean ground beef and cook until browned. Add 1 can of chopped tomatoes.  You can also use pasta sauce if you wish; I used "Italian Tomatoes" which is just canned chopped tomatoes with italian herbs (basil, oregano etc.)  Cook beef/tomato mixture until sauce is thick and bubbling.


Take 250g of low fat cottage cheese or ricotta cheese and blend until smooth.  You can also make a batch of Bechamel sauce if you wish instead.

In a greased pan layer zucchini, beef then cottage cheese.


Finish with a layer of zucchini and then add 100g of a mix of low fat cheese and parmesan.


Place in an oven at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until cheese has browned.

Voila!


Sunday, March 21, 2010

Z is for Zucchini

I picked up quite a bit of zucchini at the store recently so over the next week I am going to post quite a few recipes using zucchini. It's funny, I remember HATING zucchini as a kid.  My mum used to add it to stews, stir frys etc. and I hated it!  It used to make my stomach feel nauseous but I'm pretty sure that was all in my head.  Now I really like eating it and cooking with it.  It's not a particularly nutritionally dense food; it's quite low in calories (21 calories per 100g) and contains decent amounts of Vit A, Vit C, Potassium and Manganese.  It's like eggplant; because it doesn't have much flavour itself, it takes on the flavour of whatever you cook it with.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Easy and Frugal Gift Idea

Here's a great gift idea for someone who likes spending time in the kitchen.  In my case, I had already planted a bunch of seeds a while back for my own use so had some young plants already grown.  I also put in a few extra seeds so there will be some new growth in a few weeks.


Terracotta pot and saucer $4.48
Potting Mix $2.50
Basil Seeds $2.99
Gift Ribbon - $0, recycled from old gift

Total $9.97


The seeds and potting mix can also be used again for personal use, so in fact it's a lot less than $10 for a lot, more like $5!  Nice!

My gift recipient was thrilled with her gift.