With my life in chaos for the past month or so, I have managed to pack on a few extra stress pounds. Now, as I am working on getting my life in order, I am getting my life and diet back on track. I am back to wearing my Bodymedia armband again and using the Myfitnesspal app to track what I eat (and it works with Bodymedia). I am doing my best to reach my daily exercise goals–riding my bike to the grocery store daily helps. I don’t do the fad diets–like Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, Atkins, Paleo, etc. I just watch what I eat and exercise–the Bodymedia and Myfitnesspal are excellent tools to help me with my daily goals. It is always hard at first to switch back to eating better and exercising but once you start, it becomes a way of life, in my humble opinion. Plus, it helps my pocketbook, my stress levels, and my endometriosis.
My best friend and I are both on the same diet/exercise plan. Actually, she is the one who introduced me to Bodymedia (makers of the Bodybugg). We also started doing “Hungry Girl” nights where we would pick a recipe from one of the Hungry Girl cookbooks and cook it together, and we used to blog about it. We have gotten away from that, she now has two kids, but I am making it one of my goals to bring it back into our lives. Plus, an added bonus is it helps me with my personal challenge to try something new every day.
So last night, I pulled out one of my Hungry Girl books (a gift from my best friend), 300 under 300, and started putting post-its on recipes that I wanted to try. since I am staying with friends, I knew I would have to find something that they would also enjoy. I chose “Rockin’ Chicken Ratatouille” (pg. 154). It seemed like an easy recipe and I love all the ingredients so I hopped on my bike and rode over to Vons.
Here is my analysis of the recipe:
First of all, the prep time of 20 minutes is a lie. I am not quite sure how long it took (I didn’t time myself) but I know it took a lot longer than 20 minutes to cut everything up for the recipe. Granted, I made double the recipe since I was feeding three people and the original recipe is just 2 servings so that added time to the recipe as well.
I also deviated from the recipe. Instead of chopping up the veggies and measuring it all out, I just cut up the entire item (eggplant, zucchini, onion and red bell pepper) and mixed it all in. I also used Himalayan Pink Salt to season instead of regular table salt. I increased the cooking time by 20 minutes, since I doubled the recipe. And I cooked Barilla Veggie pasta to go with the Ratatouille.
Overall, it was an easy recipe (once everything is chopped up) and absolutely delicious. My friends would agree, it was very tasty. I would highly recommend this recipe, just remember that the prep time is longer.
(Nutritional info for recipe per serving: 299 calories, 2g fat, 660mg of sodium, 32.5g carbs, 9.75g fiber, 18g sugar, 37.5g protein)
Define Normal 