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: Eggplant "Meat"balls and Healthy Shepherd's Pie for Two

Good Morning!  Or afternoon...or night.  Whenever you are reading this ;)
I tell ya, I am loving this Fall weather!  It's my happ-happiest time of the yeaaarrr.  I know that is supposed to be Christmas, but there is something magical about Fall.

So, anyways.  Here's some stuff I've been eating.

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Breakfast: Egg, Bagel, Berries

For breakfast I cooked up some liquid egg whites (sounds appetizing, huh?) and put them on half of an everything bagel.  Sliced strawberries and coffee on the side.

Morning Snack: Yogurt

I enjoyed this yummy yogurt around 10:30 to hold me over until lunch.

Lunch: "Meat"ball Sandwich & Veggies

For lunch I had some leftover eggplant "meat"balls on a wheat ciabatta roll with some leftover roasted veggies.  My recipe is here for the "meat"balls.  The only difference is this time I added one shredded zucchini and a clove of garlic and used egg whites instead of whole eggs.  So tasty!

Since it was rainy, my guy and I decided to skip walking the dogs and head to Starbucks for a coffee date of overpriced lattes!

It was super fun, of course!

I had a tall, soy pumpkin spice latte with half the amount of syrup.  I find that the full amount of syrup is just too sweet for me.  A salted caramel cake pop on the side!  Such a treat :)

I was so full from lunch!  It wasn't until I got home at 5 that I started to hear the siren call of the peanut butter toast.

Late Afternoon Snack: PB Toast

Oh, peanut butter toast.  I just can't quit you.

This is Sarah Lee Delightful 45 calorie wheat toast with Skippy natural chunky peanut butter.

Since I got home a little early, I decided to take my sweet puppy girl, Bizzy, on a walk in the neighborhood.

She had a blast!

If you'll notice in the picture she is not pulling me as much.  She's doing great at her training!

After our walk, I headed out to boot camp and holy sprints, it was difficult!

Dinner: Healthy Shepherds Pie for Two

We had 2 leftover hamburgers from Sunday that I wanted to use in some way, so since we had just watched Cutthroat Kitchen on Food Network and they made shepherd's pie...I was inspired.

So, let me see if I can remember everything I put in this "pie," shall we?

Healthy Shepherd's Pie for Two

2 leftover hamburgers (or like 1/3 lb ground meat, cooked), chopped
1/4 yellow onion, diced
1 cup chopped carrots
1 small zucchini, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
chicken broth
4 mini red potatoes, microwaved until fork tender
salt, pepper, cumin, curry, paprika
Parmesan cheese
olive oil for cooking veggies

Heat some olive oil in a medium skillet (enough to cover the pan to prevent sticking) on medium heat.  Throw in the onions and carrots and cooked until softened (about 6 minutes), add in garlic and zucchini and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
While the veggies are cooking smash your potatoes and add chicken broth and salt (to taste).  You can either mash them by hand or use an immersion blender.  I used the blender to whip them.  I probably added 1/2-3/4 cup chicken broth.  Just add a little at a time while blending until you get the consistency you like.
In the skillet with the veggies, throw in the meat and about 1/3 cup chicken broth.  Add in the spices (to taste) and reduce the sauce by cooking for an additional 5 minutes or so.
Spray 2 oven safe bowls with non-stick spray and add half of the filling to each, topping with half of the potato mixture.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese and paprika on the top of the potatoes and cook in 425 degree oven for 25 minutes.

*note-you could totally leave the meat out of this recipe and it would be just as tasty!



These were really yummy!  Next time I will double the recipe and bake it in a larger dish, probably.

After dinner, I measured out a measly serving of vanilla fro yo (1/2 cup).  Meh.  It did the trick.

Have a great rest of the week!
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Be sure to check out my healthy taco roll ups on Endless Simmer!

WIAW: Eggplant Veggie Burgers

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Healthy holiday recipes is the new theme for What I Ate Wednesday.  I'm kind of unprepared for this.  I usually am on the first WIAW of the month, because we don't really get advanced warning...so, bear with me ;)

Onward to the food stuff!

Breakfast: Egg Muffin

Confession time: I did NOT go to boot camp this morning.  I really had no excuse, except that I just didn't feel like getting up at 4:40 a.m.  So...yeah.  I made a yummy breakfast of a whole wheat English muffin topped with Canadian bacon and an egg.  Target's Christmas blend coffee on the side.

Morning Snack: Berries

I enjoyed the last half cup of my blueberries (those suckers lasted a while-score!) with some fresh whipped cream for morning snack.

Lunch: Sandwich & Veggies

Lunch was pretty simple today: an open faced roast beef and turkey sandwich (on honey oat bread), veggies & hummus with a teeny wheel of cheese.  Yum!

For dessert, I resisted the urge to buy a Starbucks and had one of these instead:

Saving money & calories #winning

Afternoon Snack: Kind Bar

I ate this bar to hold me over til dinner.  It was really good.  I enjoyed the taste of apricots.

Dinner: Eggplant Veggie Burger

I dunno if you guys remember my Eggplant "Meat"balls from a while back, but my brother has been asking me to make them again ever since.  He suggested I make them into burgers.  He is a genius.  I added even more vegetables to make it a veggie burger.  I also made sweet potato fries and veggies (more veggies!!! eeeee!!!) as sides.

Here's the recipe:

Eggplant Veggie "Burgers"
serves 6

2 medium eggplants (or 1 large)
salt, pepper
olive oil spray
1 egg
2/3 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed/drained

1 carrot, shredded
1/4 onion, finely diced
handful of mushrooms, finely diced

garlic clove, minced

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and slice your eggplant (about 1/4" thickness).  Spray the slices with oil and sprinkle with salt.  Roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.

Sautee onion, carrot and garlic in a skillet for 5 minutes.
Dump the roasted eggplant into a food processor with other ingredients and combine.  

Divide the dough into 6 patties.  Cook in a skillet coated with olive oil until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.

The night was rounded off with a rousing 4 hour game of Monopoly.

I made a martini, also...

The game was so good, we had to play while eating ;)

Links I feel like sharing today:

Taylor Swift performs Begin Again on Ellen

I love this handmade gift of 5 bean soup from Back to Her Roots

Joy the Baker made some red velvet black & white cookies (awesome)

I feel like I could make these popsicle stick angels--how cute would they be on the tree?!

I made some shortcut gingerbread beignets over on Endless Simmer...go look at them and I'll be your best friend forever.

Ok, have a super fabulous rest of the week!!

WIAW: Eggplant "Meat"ball Sandwich

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Well, hello there.

It's time to look at all the foods I ate today (Really, it was yesterday.  I can't lie to you.).

I hope everyone had a lovely Labor Day weekend.  I did.  I can say with all certainty that I avoided all forms of labor & had a relaxing long weekend.

On to the good stuff!

B-Fast, Take 1: Fiber One Bar

I think I need to start taking more pictures in the laundry room at 5 a.m., because this was super bright and clear (unlike last week's blurry pic).  Anywho..I had this new (?) Fiber One bar as I headed out the door to boot camp this morning.  It was just okay, not the most fantastic bar out there.

B-fast, Numero Dos: PB English Muffin, Fruit Smoothie

Some time later, I enjoyed my full-on breakfast of a whole grain English muffin smeared with natural peanut butter and a protein/fruit smoothie (containing a frozen banana, frozen berry mix, almond milk and vanilla protein powder).  I also had some gas station coffee (blech) because I ran out of my favorite Target coffee (blergh).

 A.M. Snack: Cereal & Cheese

This snack was a little random, but delicious nonetheless.  I had a light Sargento cheese stick and some Special K chocolatey delight cereal.

How do you guys eat your cheese sticks?  I prefer the peel with the teeth method.

Probably the best picture of me.  Ever.  It looks like I'm nervously watching a horror movie or something.

My nephew bites into the cheese stick and does not peel it.  I'm pretty sure I'm doing it the right way.

 Lunch: Soup & Pretzel Crisps

I had some grotesque looking Amy's low fat split pea soup for lunch, because it's totally normal to eat hot soup when it is 90 degrees outside.  I also munched on a few pretzel crisps on the side.

After eating, I headed out to get my favorite Target coffee, and stumbled upon my inanimate soul mate.

Sugar free, zero calorie pumpkin spice coffee syrup.  Heck yes.  I see many delicious lattes and iced coffees in my near future.  Did you know I'm a little psychic?

When there's a Target trip, it usually is coupled with a Starbucks trip.  I got an unsweetened black tea with 1/4 cup lemonade and 3 Splendas.  Perfection.

I enjoyed my beverage with one of those sort of brownie like Kashi bars while I did very important tasks (ok, not really).

Dinner was sort of late-ish tonight, because I had to wait for my dad to fix my dishwasher.  So I hung around and ate a piece of toast while I waited.  I did not take a picture though.  Oops!

Dinner: Egglplant "Meat"ball Sandwich & Sweet Potato Fries

 These "meat" balls were made of no meat at all.  They were mostly eggplant.  I actually do not like eggplant.  The texture is weird.  So grinding it up and adding breadcrumbs and cheese seemed like a good way to get to like it.  Hooray for eggplant!

Eggplant "Meat"ball Sandwich
serves 4

2 medium eggplants
salt
olive oil spray
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1 egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
lite rolls or buns
lite provolone cheese
veggie tomato sauce (I used Prego)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and slice your eggplant (about 1/4" thickness).  Spray the slices with oil and sprinkle with salt.  Roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.
Dump the roasted eggplant into a food processor with garlic salt, egg, breadcrumbs and cheese & grind it all up.  Use a cookie scoop to scoop meatballs out onto sprayed pan (or in a casserole dish).  Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes.  Top with veggie sauce while still hot.

Toast your bun on an oiled griddle and top with 3 meatballs and a slice of cheese.  Yum yum!

It actually tasted alot like meat.  For realz.

Have a great week!!!

Worth a look-see:

• Benefits of Breakfast
• A funny look at gender stereotypes
• My healthy Lobster Mac & Cheese recipe on Endless Simmer
• Daily Grace's hilarious morning routine video