WIAW: Healthy Eggplant Falafel "Burgers"

Hello, hello!
It's time again for another What I Ate Wednesday!  Yay!

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Breakfast: Egg White Sandwich

For breakfast I cooked up 2 egg whites and topped them with colby jack cheese.  A whole wheat English muffin makes it a yummy sandwich!  I put the berries on my plate, but totally did not feel like eating them, so I saved them for later.

No time for a morning snack today!  The office where I work is very busy this time of year.  Sometimes I lose track of time when buried in paperwork.

Lunch: Salmon on Salad

For lunch I brought out some leftover Pesto Baked Salmon (<--click for recipe by GZ on The Kitchen!  Love that show!) and a little leftover spinach brown rice and broccoli.  I put it on a bed of romaine lettuce and baby spinach with a little lite caesar dressing.  Very fresh and delish.
Oh--I totally forgot to take a picture of my dessert, which was a chai latte powder mix.  It was a nice, sweet finish to the meal.

After lunch, I started snacking on candy--dangerous!

Lemonheads are my absolute favorite candy (and have been for years).  Although I could go nuts on them and eat a million, I portioned out exactly 20 pieces for 100 calories.  #treatyoself

Afternoon Snack: Yogurt & Berries

Around 4 p.m., my tummy told me I needed a snack.  Out came the berries from breakfast and a yogurt I had stashed in the work fridge.

Looks gross, but it did the trick.

Dinner: Eggplant Falafel Burger, Sweet Potato & Roasted Veggies

Sometimes I want something a bit different for dinner.  We had some wheat buns that we didn't end up using last week, so I was trying to think of an easy veggie burger to make.  So, I made this delicious greek inspired "burger" along with a microwaved sweet potato and roasted cauliflower & broccoli.  Winner winner, veggie dinner!!

Healthy Eggplant Falafel "Burgers" 
makes 4 patties

1 medium-large eggplant, peeled & sliced into circles
1 can chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup diced red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
handful of fresh herbs (I used parsley and cilantro)
1/2 tsp greek seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
1 egg
1/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs
olive oil, for cooking

Brush the eggplant circles with olive oil on both sides and salt and pepper lightly.  Cook the eggplant until done.  You can roast it in the oven if you want.  I used my stove top grill pan and just grilled it on both sides until it was done (maybe 5 minutes on each side).
Throw cooked eggplant and all other ingredients in food processor and blend until combined.  Split the mixture into 4 and patty it out.  It would be ideal to chill this for a little while in the fridge..but ain't nobody got time for that.
Cook your patties on an oiled griddle and be very careful when flipping them.  Cook for about 8 minutes on each side.
Serve with lettuce, tomato and tzatziki sauce on a wheat bun!

tzatziki sauce
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/4 cup cucumber innards (split the cucumber longways and scoop out the middle with a spoon)
pinch greek seasoning
salt & pepper

Mix it all up with a spoon and you're done!

These veggie burgers were super simple, yet full of flavor and very satisfying.  Try them!!! :)

After dinner, I enjoyed one of these tasty beverages.

So good!
Then I had one of these ice cream sandwiches.
I love ice cream sandwiches, because they are preportioned treats.  Sometimes I might go overboard portioning out my own desserts ;)
So for 180 calories, these babies are worth it!

Well, have a great rest of the week!  Here's a Bizzy picture...just because.

WIAW: Curry Chicken with Coconut Rice & Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Bake {2 Recipes!}

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I'm back!  I haven't fallen off the face of the planet or anything.  I just sometimes need a little bloggy break (said the girl who blogs once a week--ha ha!).

Back with daily eats.  This day has 2 really good recipes I will share with you!

Breakfast: Egg Toast & Berries

This is basically how my breakfasts have looked for a week now.  Over easy egg, wheat toast, strawberries & coffee.  It's a no brainer!

Snack: Cereal

Back to my cereal snack after a hiatus of about 2 weeks.  I love, love, love chocolate toast crunch!
Everybody keeps their froyo spoons for cereal, right?
Nope, just me?  Okay...

Lunch: Curry Chicken w/ Coconut Rice & Veggie Medley

Today we had the BEST lunch leftovers ever!!!  Got this recipe from Bev Cooks and totally didn't even look at the recipe while cooking.  Typical of me, really.  Here's how I made my version:

Curry Chicken w/ Coconut Rice & Veggie Medley
serves 4

3 big, frozen chicken breasts, thawed and diced.
curry powder, paprika, salt & pepper
1 cup jasmine rice
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (plus more for garnish)
1 zucchini, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 ear of corn, cooked, then cut off the cob
1 cup baby kale, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp coconut oil (maybe more)
salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 lime

Get your jasmine rice, cilantro and coconut milk in a rice cooker.  For some reason, mine did not cook it completely in the 20 minute run time, so I turned the cooker back on and added 1/2 cup of chicken broth (so it would not run out of liquid).  Season the rice, once it's cooked, with some salt (to taste).
Heat a large skillet on medium heat, add oil to coat, throw in the zucchini, squash, onion and peppers to cook for about 7 minutes, then throw in the kale and corn.  Remove from the pan and set aside.
In the same skillet, add more oil if needed and throw your chicken in to cook.  Season liberally with curry powder, paprika, salt & pepper.
Serve it up, squeeze some lime over the top and garnish with cilantro.
Soooo goooooodd!!!!

Snack: Orange Veggie Puffs

I brought an orange to work, but was too lazy to peel it.  I snacked on some of these when I got home.  Because...veggies, am I right?

Dinner: Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Bake 

This was a really good meal!  It is pretty healthy and meatless.
Plus it made a ton, which I promptly packed up for lunches for the week!
I served it up alongside some roasted brussels sprouts.

Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Bake 
serves 6-8

1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb frozen spinach, cooked per package directions

1 can artichoke hearts, chopped

2 tbsp lite butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup reduced fat milk

1/2 cup plain, fat free Greek yogurt

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup reduced fat feta cheese

Salt and black pepper, to taste

For the Parmesan Panko Topping:

3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

canola oil spray

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Cook quinoa in rice cooker. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Set aside.

In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic. Sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and artichoke hearts. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove from the pan.

In the same skillet, add 2 tablespoons of lite butter and flour and heat over medium heat. Whisk continuously until a paste forms. Whisk in milk. Increase heat to medium/high and bring to a boil whisking the whole time. 

In a large bowl, combine quinoa, spinach and artichoke mixture, flour/milk mixture and greek yogurt. Stir well. Stir in the shredded mozzarella and feta cheese. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.To make the topping, combine Panko bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the quinoa bake and spray with canola oil.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. 

Recipe adapted from two peas & their pod

We had this for lunch today and it's really good as leftovers!

After dinner, I made a quick little mug cake by combining 2 tbsp dry sugar free devils food cake mix with 2 tbsp almond milk and microwaved for 45 seconds.

Topped with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream, it was not a bad end to the day.

Have a great rest of the week!!!