Pasta-less Lasagna

The good news--I lost another six pounds since my dreadful last appointment with my doctor. 27 pounds to go to respectable weight. Trent of course has flattened his stomach completely, feels great, looks great, and sleeps like a champ. Men.

With Trent and I both eating healthy, we have been scouring for recipes to try that fit our new lifestyle. Tonight we had lasagna without noodles and very little cheese. We both really liked it, but agreed we would modify it a bit to add a little something extra to it. If anyone is interested, her is the recipe, with what I would add as mods:

PASTA-LESS LASAGNA

• 2 tbsp EVOO
• 1 large onion
• 3 cloves garlic
  
• 2 28-oz cans whole plum tomatoes
• 9 – 10 basil leaves, torn (or more, up to you!)
• 2 small to medium eggplants, thinly sliced
• 1-2 cup sliced mushrooms
• 2-3 cups fresh leafy spinach
  
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 2 1/2 cups ricotta cheese, skim milk
• 1/2 cup (about a handful) chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 egg yolk
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375.

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat with about 2 tbsp EVOO. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, and sauté until tender, 5-6 minutes. Add in the tomatoes, basil, some salt and pepper. Using a wooden spoon or a potato masher, crush the tomatoes up to make a chunky sauce. Bring up to a simmer and reserve the sauce warm. The sauce will remain wet, but add a mixture of one T corn starch mixed with 1/4 water and add to sauce to thicken if necessary.

(I would add this) In a separate pan, quickly saute mushrooms and spinach until just tender, and reserve.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the ricotta, parsley, egg yolk, parmesan cheese, some salt and pepper.

Ladle about ¼ of the sauce into the bottom of the lasagna pan. Lay down enough eggplant slices to cover the bottom in a single layer. Add about half of the mushroom and spinach mixture. Top about ¼ of the ricotta mixture and repeat another layer of eggplant. Continue assembling the lasagna in that order until you’ve used up all the fillings, ending with red sauce. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over the top of the dish and cover with foil. (I could only do one layer of cheese mixture, but it worked out fine to do sauce-eggplant-cheese-eggplant-sauce-mozzarella).

Bake the lasagna for 30 minutes with the foil on, then remove it and continue baking for another 15 minutes until the eggplant is tender and the cheese is browned.

Monday, 3/29 Meals:

Breakfast: Flax waffle, almond butter, honey (the usual); decaf coffee

Lunch: Salmon fillet with herbs, broccoli raab, water

Dinner: Lara bar

All About White

One of my favorite colors for clothing is white. In fact, many times I will show Trent a shirt, and he will ask me, "Doesn't that kind of look like every other top you have?"

I have a lot of white tops, blouses, and t-shirts. I probably have six white tunics.

I have one white dress that I bought at Scoop in Vegas, and it remains one of my favorite dresses I have ever purchased. It's starting to get a bit gnarly, but I'm pushing it as long as I can on that one.

In the spirit of spring, clean fabrics, and everything I love about white, here they are with a guide to who and where.1 Strapless corset-bodice cocktail dress
Monique Lhuillier

2 Spaghetti-strap chiffon tank dress
J. Mendel

3 Floral-Embroidered Lace Dress
Dolce & Gabbana

4 Flare Minidress
Alexander McQueen

5 Clipped Corolla Heels
Klub Nico for BHLDN

6 Brocade D'Orsay Heels
Bettye Muller for BHLDN

7 Burnished Organza Gown
BHLDN

8 Shirt-tail-back jacket and Sleeveless U-neck gathered gown
Rick Owens

9 Voluminous Silk Headband
BHLD

10 Filigree Cupcake Dress
BHLDN

11 On-A-Wing Heels
Katia Lombardo for BHLDN

12 Diamond Dust Sandals
Schultz for BHLDN

Sunday, 3/27 Meals:

Breakfast: Egg omelet with spinach and mushrooms
Coffee, soy creamer, stevia

Lunch: Five pieces of beef cubes leftover from beef stew the other day
Three carrots
16 ox. water

Snack: Almonds

Dinner: Steamed veggies (squash, mushrooms, zucchini) and lemon-pepper chicken
Fresca (I had to have a change from water!)

Leather's Not Just for Bondage Any More

For those of you not familiar with Mary Kate and Ashley's clothing line, it's called The Row. It's amazing. And, of course, very pricey. It has an elegant simplicity that I adore, and one day, I will buy something from the line. I saw this boxy leather top on the Bergdorf Goodman site and fell in love. I do want it very badly. I wish I could pair it with these black pants, but I cannot, because I could never pull it off, but with straight leg jeans for a dressed down look and loafers or brogues would be divine.

Saturday, 3/26 Meals:

Breakfast
Lara Bar

Lunch
Cobb salad from Panera Bread with bacon, tomato, and cheese removed (leaving lettuce, egg, and chicken).
No dressing from Panera, added olive oil at Tracey's house.

Dinner
Lamb chop with salt and pepper pan seared
Artichoke heart and asparagus medley
One glass of Pinot Noir (If I'm going to be miserable trying to lose all of this weight, I at least need to allow myself to drink to cope with it!)

By the way, tonight, I was standing in front of Lyla, not wearing anything tight at all, and she poked me a few times in my stomach. She then asked, "Mom, why is your belly so big?" The innocent question that stung so much led me to simply reply, "Because Mommy needs to lose some weight." That seemed to satisfy her. Thankfully.

Dreaming in Black

Unfortunately, we did not win the $311 million lottery on Friday, and therefore my spending must again be minimized. If that were not the case, I would be buying this amazing Chloe dress for Rob and Vale's wedding. Although, my hesitation would be exposing this front piece of belly. Is that in bad taste at a wedding? Is this dress more cocktails in New York, and less wedding in Italy? Might be. At a price tag of $2,750.00 it seems it would have to be more special occasion than cocktails at the Gansevoort, even though everyone there is probably wearing dresses that are more than three grand. Alas, I am no spoiled socialite looking to get laid and high on the roof of a hotel, and therefore cannot afford to spend this on a dress. Funny thing...I showed it to Trent, and he loved it, and asked what the hesitation was. Oh sweet man that you are, you know not the price tag of an off the runway Chloe dress. I wish I didn't either. So, the hunt continues.

Friday, 3/25 Meals

Breakfast
My new usual...flax seed waffle with almond butter and three drops of honey.
One apple

Lunch
Lara Bar in the car to NJ
A bunch of almonds in the car
Two bites of Lyla's chicken tender with the skin pulled off. The chicken was from Royal Farms, so I didn't feel awful about it, since their chicken is actually real, and this tender wasn't gross like most. I got really hungry and a little shaky, so I felt like I needed something a bit more substantial in this pinch.

Dinner
Steamed chicken and veggies
Brown Rice
The sauce for the chicken and veggies (Chinese) which I have officially nixed off my add-back-in list. It made me very sick to my stomach and bloated.

Reading and Painting

I have been teaching Lyla letter sounds, and got flash cards that have missing letters that we have been filling in. She has been having fun and doing well. However, the card sets are a real rip off at "Learning How" at the mall. I don't mind spending money on learning tools, but I hate paying for things that just aren't worth it. So, I am going to make my own cards. I was reading The Snail's Trail blog, and got this idea. I'm totally going to do this. I just need to bust over to Home Depot and pocket some samples since I have very few at present.

With only three weeks left with my girls, I am going to try to plan some really fun activities to do in the house and outside. I wish I had more inspiration on the fly, but I think if I plan ahead I can do some fun activities with Lyla over the next couple of weeks. I also found another amazing blog called Pink and Green Mama that has tons of good and pretty simple idea. This lady is crazy. It makes me feel bad about making Valentines and Easter Egg cut-outs five times a week!

4/23 Meals

Breakfast: One flax seed waffle with almond butter and two drops of honey

Lunch: I got super busy and skipped lunch a bit, but I did have a Lara bar on the run
Decaf Americano with soy milk and one stevia

Dinner: Beef stew (this may have been cheat, but I haven't have red meat on over a month and a half, so I thought I would add it) with lean beef for stewing, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and brown rice. Luckily, this was probably the lowest fat version of beef stew, so I'm not beating myself up on the meat.

Half glass of Pinot Noir (not approved on any diets, but heck, I can't be completely unhappy).

Preg Pics of Others

While I am reeling from my weight gain, I envy the lightweight appearance of other woman who are pregnant and still apparently wearing normal clothes.

I think I only appeared in one photo during my whole pregnancy, and it was obstructed by the frame of my mirror.

This is the author of a blog I read, and she is so cute, as is her daughter. Here is a pic of her at 38 weeks! This is the link to her blog if you are interested.

3/22 Meals

Breakfast: One flax seed waffle with almond butter and two drops of honey.

Lunch: One Amy's Light frozen lasagna (on the Dr. Oz diet, and not too gross).
Romaine, mushrooms, two grape tomatoes, black olive salad with EVOO.
16 oz. water
One liter of FIJI water at the gym

Late Afternoon Snack: Lara Bar

Pre-Dinner Snack: Almonds and half of med. apple

Dinner: Grilled butterflied chicken, spanish rice (which I have since eliminated from my diet because of the bloating and sickness), ~3T of guacamole
16 oz. water

Peace out homies.

New Leaf

As many of you know, I have taken losing weight after pregnancy seriously considering I allowed my self to gain..are you ready...50 pounds. I went to the OB the other day for my check-up and thankfully everything but my weight is in check. I had not allowed the nurses to tell me what my weight was the last two months, so I had no idea. When she said the weight aloud, I almost died. She said to me, "You've already lost 22 pounds!" This meant nothing to me. All I knew was that I was still 27 pounds heavier than my start weight. 27 pounds. Wow. So, the detox was just the start. 27 pounds calls for a complete lifestyle change not just cutting down what you eat. The other sad thing is when I got pregnant, I was religiously going to the gym at 5:30 a.m., and had eliminated all carbs. I lost about eight pounds, but this was after weighing in at my highest ever. So, I was about 10 pounds heavier than I would have liked even when I got pregs. So, I really have 37 pounds to lose. However, for the sake of keeping me sane in any way, I'm going to just use 27 pounds as a goal. I mean, how crazy can it get?

I have been adhering pretty religiously to the CLEAN diet's approved list of foods, but I just can't go raw or take a bunch of pills every day, so I've added modifications to help with that. I also happened to read an article by Dr. Oz in Good Housekeeping this month about keeping a Mediterranean diet which many people have praised over the years. It had a lot of similar tips and foods as CLEAN without the major restrictions, so I've added some of those foods in. CLEAN wants you to avoid all refined sugars, glutens, alcohol, simple carbs, and dairy. This is hard. The Oz plan includes lots of whole wheat options, and alternatives to traditional sweets.

So, I am going to try to blog what I eat every day to keep me on track. This place is going to be my chubby checker. I have often tried to keep a food log, and two days I will forget and that is the end of it forever. I'm sure I will do the same here, but maybe knowing I have a public audience reading what I put into my body will help me both stay on track and log. Aren't you excited? I will also try to post something fun with my meal logs so you can keep entertained. You know, it's all about you.

I will also attempt to find a scale to weigh myself every week to see if I have lost anything. My target loss date is June 21st. This is the day we leave for Italy for our dear friends Rob and Valentina's wedding. They have graciously asked us to stand up for them at their wedding, and I can't be up on the alter of a beautiful Italian castle with a big ass belly and thunder thighs. What would the Italians think of me? If there is a designer dress in my future, I better not be trying to fit my heifer shape into it.

Next on the agenda, water. I like it very much, but I have a hard time fitting it in. Some days, I go without drinking anything at all. That ain't good. More water, more water, more water.

The last thing I have to do is buy a few pairs of jeans in my fat size. I simply cannot continue to wear maternity jeans. I hate them, and I literally wear the same thing every day. I've actually become one of those women who you see on Regis or Rachael Ray that they made over for wearing yoga pants and pulling her hair back in a ponytail every day.

Enough already Jen. Now, I will post my meals from yesterday.

Breakfast: One slice of thousand grain bread with 1T of organic/all natural peanut butter (which is super gross by the way. I bought almond butter last night and had it today with a bit of honey and it is so much better)
1C of decaf coffee (this is one thing I cannot give up) with one packet of Stevia, and Silk Soy milk creamer

Lunch: Filed green salad of butter lettuce, slivered almonds, 2T of goat cheese (which I picked off half), and 1T of olive oil
Not sure measurement of soup I had, but it was a delish Vegan artichoke, brussel sprout, and portobello mushroom number
16 oz. water

Dinner: Home made salad of romaine with mushrooms, artichoke hearts, string beans, grape tomatoes--all raw.
One hard boiled egg.
One San Pellegrino water

Clean and Sober

I have been on the CLEAN diet for 15 days now. Shake for breakfast and dinner, and lunch within guidelines of the diet. Let's just say I've gone through 3 pounds of salmon! Lyla has truly been enjoying the "smoothie" making. She loves to add the ice, and especially the gross, gritty powder I have to put into it. She even licks the spoon with the powdery dirt on it, and loves it. I cringe with every scoop. Things have gotten better on the shake front. The first day, I didn't realize I was supposed to blend it into a shake and mix fruit into it. So, I just added the powder to water. I gagged and dry heaved into the sink straight away. It was completely repulsive. I immediately posted to the online community, and everyone wrote back that I was cracked for not adding fruit and blending it. So, that quickly got me in check. Otherwise, it's been pretty good thus far. I do it for 21 days to detox my disgusting post-pregnancy body, and perhaps shock me into eating well for longer. Like most diets for me, I will lose weight, be happy I lost a little weight, then gain it all back and look for a new diet. I am the heaviest I've ever been, obviously, and it's alarming, so I am also considering hypnotherapy. More on that later.

I can't drink on the detox, which is fine since I've abstained for nearly ten months already. Although, Trent opened a bottle of wine last night, and could have gone for a glass. Whatevs, I live.

I suppose being ashamed of my body has been positive for my spending. I haven't bought any clothes in a long, long time since nothing will look good or fit. But, as usual I fantasize about how cute I would look in clothes made for thin people, and these are my newest picks.

Suvi Ruched Tank Bathing Suit
J. Crew $225
I see me wearing this through Europe with one of those Esther Williams bathing caps and big glasses. While, I'm still dreaming, I might throw a pair of sky high wedges in the mix for good measure. In this dream, I also look great in red lipstick. Yes, I'm wearing that too.





Fete Sequined Mini and Nautical Others
J. Crew
I have a skirt just like this that I have never worn because it's too short and I would be stared at in Baltimore. I also own about 15 shirts that look like this. I lastly own a pair of silver brogues, also worn only once since my feet grew again during pregnancy. I'm really so lucky. So, I could technically put this outfit together easily. Would it look effortless like this? Absolutely not. I would for sure look like a complete dork with a look that seems forced and a bod that can't carry it. Woe is me.













Tomboy Sweatshirt Tee and Others
Madwell
I love this kind of look. Relaxed denim shorts with a boy-style vest and feminine blouse. It's true, I haven't worn denim shorts since my freshman year of college, but they looked just like this, and I adored them. Why didn't I save them?

Those are my week's faves. Now...I have a lot of cleansing to do ladies and gents. Lotta cleansing.

prd_id" type="hidden">prd_id" value="845524441809557" type="hidden">