Eggplant & Spaghetti

Today I am thankful for mornings. The funny part is that it took me sleeping through one this morning to realize this. I'm normally an early riser, sleeping in means that its approaching 9 on the clock before I get out of bed. Today though, pretty much broke a record. It felt like any other morning. Expecting to see something like, 8:27 on the clock. Nope. Try 10:36. Really self?! No idea why I was/am so tired today. Getting back on track. I'm thankful for mornings because they are like this fresh start every 24 hours. Ya get to step out of bed and have all your firsts for the day. First good stretch. First glass of water. First pet of the puppy. First bite of breakfast. First chance to start everything off right and spend time with the Lord. First thoughts of all the things you can do that day. And when you miss a morning...it all just gets thrown off.

Life around the Reich household has been out of whack lately. Al is gone all the time and it just throws me off my game. Which has a ripple affect that works its way to our dinner time. AKA it doesn't really happen like to used to. So this is a meal from a few weeks back. The spaghetti, just boiled pasta and sauce from a jar. I've recently fallen in love with this sauce...more specifically the Chunky Garden, Garden Combo sauce. Its jam packed with veggies and has stellar flavor. Not to mention they go on sale all the time at the grocery store and sometimes there are coupons and you can pick up a jar for only $.99 which makes my day. The eggplant I made to add a bit to the spaghetti was a fairly simple breaded deal. We loved it. Here's the specs on this dish.

INGREDIENTS:
1 eggplant, peeled and sliced about 1/3 inch thick
(the breading is all based on the size
of your eggplant, so these are the things
I used, play around with the portions)
cooking spray
salt
pepper
basil
thyme
parsley
garlic powder
breadcrumbs
1/2 cup water
3 teas garbonzo bean flour
whole wheat spaghetti
marinara sauce

*Heat oven to 400.
*Place eggplant on a cooling rack on a baking sheet in a single layer. Spray with the cooking spray and season with s&p and basil. Turn over and repeat.
*Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes, eggplant needs to be done.
*Dissolve the bean flour in water in a bowl big enough to dredge the eggplant.
*In another bowl big enough to dredge, combine the thyme, parsley, garlic powder, and breadcrumbs. Set bowls next to each other.
*Dredge the eggplant in the flour water mix on both sides and then the breadcrumbs making sure it is well covered in crumbs. Put back on the rack in a single layer.
*Put back in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
*Serve with spaghetti and sauce.

Spinach Eggplant Lasagna

Today is the first day of November. You know that time of year that men stop shaving? I mean, that time where we are more than ever reminded to be thankful for the blessings in our life. And I'm all for this! We go through life to fast and really need to stop and be thankful. I'm joining in on this because of an old friend and the blog she has with her sister. So, I'll be starting off every post this month with something I am thankful for!

Today...today I am oh so thankful for being able to run! Its a new love of mine and I really am thankful that I can do it. For a good handful of years I wasn't able to and had to stick to biking or using an elliptical to get a good cardio going. But this spring, after trying out a new technique I was able to start running with my knee brace. Working up to my first race! Which was actually a 12 person relay where we ran 196 miles(my portion was 13.5 miles)...Ragnar Relay its pretty epic. Long story short, we are doing another race and I'm now running without my brace!! I am thankful that I can run because its a blast!


This my friends is a wonderfully easy lasagna!! Yes this is straying far away from being vegan, with four kinds of cheese and a couple eggs...I mean come on. But alas a vegetarian delight! As winter is upon us, sometime soon at least, I am constantly looking for affordable meals that will go the distance. Heating bills are going up and my grocery bill needs to go down. This week, combining some of my coupons with a sale or two, and I made this hearty dinner for about $12. All things considered and the fact that it was dinner for myself and a friend last night(2), a late night snack for all last night(2+1=3)left over lunch for Al today(3+1=4), I will dine on it for lunch or dinner today(4+1=5), and that well over half of it is left....that makes this lady pretty happy. Whenever I make lasagna, I never precook the noodles. I have never had issues with doing it this way. Love saving an extra step too, don't we all.

INGREDIENTS:
olive oil
1 eggplant, peeled and cubed
1 16 oz bag frozen spinach
1 24 oz jar of marinara sauce
whole wheat lasagna noodles
2 cups ricotta cheese
3 cups cottage cheese
1 cup & 1/2 cup(for topping) mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup & 1/4 cup(for topping) parmesan cheese
1 teas nutmeg
1 teas black pepper
2 eggs

*Heat oil in large sauce pan. Add eggplant, and cook for about 8 mins, cooking all sides. Add in the spinach and cook until heated and no longer frozen.
*Combine, in a large bowl, ricotta, cottage, mozzarella, parmesan, nutmeg, pepper, and eggs. Reserve some of the mozza and parm for topping the lasagna.
*Pour half the sauce in the bottom of the pan. Place first layer of noodles and then top with half of the spinach mix. Spread half of the cheese mix over it all. Layer noodles and repeat with second half of the spinach and then cheese. Layer your final noodles and then top with the second half of the sauce.
*Cook in a preheated oven, at 375 for 25 mins. Pull out, sprinkle with the remaining mozza and parm. Place back in the oven for 30-35 mins. Remove, let set for at least 10 mins until serving.

Note: the reason I did the cooking the way I did...I didn't have any tin foil. If you wanted, you could fully assemble the lasagna, top with foil and after the 25 remove and cook for the remaining time without removing from oven. I did it the way I did and it worked just fine.