Eggplant fritters with yoghurt topping

Workout today
This mornings 12WBT workout consisted of legs and arm exercises. At the end was two x 4 minute Tabata rounds of 20 sec on/10 sec off. One of them was push ups and last week I skipped doing it because I knew I would struggle. This week I was determined to push myself to do it even though I didn't want to.

I was able to stay on my toes to about halfway through and then had to alternate between doing them on my knees and toes. At the end I felt like I wished I could have gotten through them all on my toes but I was glad I forced myself to do it this time as the only way to get better is with practice.

Dinner tonight
For dinner tonight I'm making Kasey's recipe for Lentil Sloppy Joes. Ever since I saw the recipe a few weeks ago I've been meaning to make it and tonight is finally the night. I'm planning on adding lots of extra vegies to mine in the form of capsicum and mushrooms as I will probably serve it with some bread not salad as she did.

Here's what my prep looks like so far:

Right now onto Eggplant Fritters. I am really into making vegetable fritters at the moment and wanted to experiment with different vegetables apart from corn and zucchini so decided to give them a go with eggplants. This recipe takes some prep at the start but that can be done in advance.

Eggplant fritters
Servings: 2, Serving size: 3.5 Fritters, Calories: 186 Calories per serve

Ingredients:
2 Large Eggplants
30g Wholemeal flour
1 Egg
2 tsp Garlic
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Bragg's Herbs & Spices Seasoning (or any general herb mix).
1/4 Cup Water
Salt
Pepper

1. Pierce whole eggplants with a knife.
2. Place whole eggplants on a tray to roast in a moderate to hot oven for about 45 minutes or until soft in the middle (should feel squishy):

3. Let eggplants cool and then peel the skin off and discard and then chop up the insides finely. (This is what could be done ahead of time)
4. Add the eggplant insides (I feel there should be a better way to say this!) to a bowl along with flour, egg, garlic, cumin, spices, water and salt and pepper. Mix well:

5. Put a frying pan on a medium heat and spray with cooking spray.
6. Add 1/4 cup of the mixture at a time to form about 7 fritters. You don't have to measure but I just find it easier when I do.
7. Fry each fritter until golden brown on each side be careful when you turn them over.

Yoghurt topping
Servings: 1, Serving size: All of it, Calories: 56 Calories per serve

Ingredients:
75g Low Fat Greek Yoghurt
1 tsp Garlic
1 tsp Cumin
Salt
Pepper
Squeeze of Lemon if you have it

1. Mix together yoghurt, cumin, garlic, lemon and salt and pepper.
3. Adjust the garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

I served my fritters and topped with the yoghurt sauce with a side salad and all up it was 285 Calories and it was yummy:

Do you have to push yourself to do certain exercises you don't want to do? What's on the menu for dinner tonight?

Sweet and Sour Tofu

My boyfriend absolutely cannot stand tofu so I'm always trying to come up with new ways to cook it to try and entice him to eat it. This recipe I'm hoping will do that but I'm yet to try it out to confirm whether it will get his seal of approval. Even if it doesn't I'm definitely going to keep making it just for me on nights when he is out or has to work back.

Sweet and Sour Tofu
Servings: 1, Serving size: All of it, Calories: 123 Calories per serve

Ingredients:
125g Firm Tofu chopped into cubes
1 tsp Garlic
2 Tbs Tamari (or soy sauce would work too)
2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 Cup Water
2 Drops of Stevia or other sweetener (You could also substitute some honey)
Spray oil


1. Spray a small pan with oil and cook Tofu until golden brown on each side.
2. Whilst Tofu is cooking combine garlic, tamari, apple cider, water and stevia in a small bowl. Mix well.
3. Add the mixture to the pan and make sure the tofu is coated thoroughly.
4. Turn the Tofu over once it has started to soak up the mixture.
5. Once the sauce has cooked down, enjoy! I served mine up with some Quinoa, alfalfa, grated carrot, coriander and mushrooms with a drizzle of sweet chilli:

 
Simple but delicious!

Is there anything you absolutely refuse to eat?

What I ate Wednesday

This is my first ever What-I-Ate-Wednesday post.The concept comes from the blog Peas and Crayon linked below:

Inspired by other blogs who do it on a regular basis I want to expand my regular posts to include more than just recipes and I thought this was a great way to start.

So here it is:

 To start the day I needed a berocca to get me going. I don't have them everyday and I usually have the tablets ready to go but this morning I woke up super tired so needed a kick start.

I had a slice of homemade Sultana/Apple Bread that I made which uses a similar recipe base for my Healthy Banana Bread. I had it with a cup of tea and some Mixed Berry Chia Jam using the recipe from Powercakes blog which can be found here.

I had a much needed Chai latte to keep me going mid morning.

For lunch I had a salad made with spinach, pomegranate seeds, cherry tomatoes, sprouts, seeds and sweet-n-sour tofu that I will post the recipe for soon.

I had a Pink Lady apple in the afternoon for a snack along with multiple Vitawheat and cups of tea and a few rice crackers.

Dinner was one of my favourites - Pita Pizza. I made it with mushrooms, olives, artichokes and topped it all with Nutritional Yeast Cheese Sauce.

I finished the day with Mango/Banana Yonanas ice cream topped with coconut flakes, delicious!!!

Sweet Potato and Lentil Casserole

It was a surprisingly cold day yesterday after a string of very hot days. The change of weather really put me in the mood for something hearty. I had lentils and lots of vegetables in my fridge so I decided to put together this casserole which turned out very well.

Sweet Potato and Lentil Casserole
Servings: 4, Serving size: 2 Ladels / serve, Calories: 171 Calories per serve

Ingredients:
1 Onion chopped finely
375g Sweet Potato
300g Mushrooms chopped
100g Dry Green Lentils
2 x Stock Pots (Vegetable) - You could also use stock cubes
2 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Garlic
1L Boiled Water
Salt
Pepper
Oil Spray

1. Spray a pan with cooking spray and fry onion and garlic on medium-high until soft.
2. Add sweet potato and stir, let it cook for about 5 minutes
3. Add mushrooms to the pan with cumin, paprika, onion powder and pepper only. Do not add salt as salt makes lentils tough if cooked with it.
4. Add a dash of water if the pan starts to cook the vegetables too quickly.
5. Make up your stock by adding stock cubes to 1L of boiling water
6. Add dry lentils to pan and let toast in the pan for about 30 seconds. This gives them a nuttier flavour.
7. Add stock to pan.
8. Bring to the boil. Once boiled turn the heat down to low and let cook for 30-40 minutes until some of the stock has evaporated and the lentils are cooked.
9. Enjoy and add salt once served. I served mine with sprouted grain bread but it also worked well today for lunch with brown rice.

Microwave Nutrional Yeast Cheese Sauce for Pizza

I discovered nutrional yeast recently from reading many blogs talking about how it could be used as a healthy alternative to cheese. So when I was in the US recently I brought some home with me. You can also buy it in health stores here in Australia too.

So far I'd only used it to make salad dressing but when I had a pizza craving on the way home I had a brain wave to use nutrional yeast instead. I was initially going to just sprinkle the flakes on top until I came across two 'cheese sauce' recipes using the yeast. The original recipes are here and here. I had no corn starch on hand and didn't want to mess up a saucepan with it and also only wanted to make a small low calorie amount so I made a few adjustments and the results were pure delicious!

Microwave Nutrional Yeast Cheese Sauce
Servings: 1, Serving size: the whole batch, Calories: 40 Calories

Ingredients:
5g Nutritional Yeast
5g Wholemeal Flour
1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
Water (approx 1/4 cup)
Salt
Pepper

1. Add yeast, flour, mustard and salt and pepper to a cup or small microwave safe bowl.
2. Add water to mixture, around a 1/4 cup but just enough to cover the ingredients.
3. Mix together well with a fork to get rid of any lumps.
4. Microwave for 1 minute (may need to adjust depending on your microwave).
5. When the sauce comes out it should be nice and thick, give it a stir when it comes out if it isn't thick enough it needs a bit more time in the microwave.
6. Drizzle over the top of your pizza.

Here was my veggie topped pizza with the sauce:

Yumm! It felt so naughty but was vegie packed and protein packed thanks to the nutritional yeast. The whole pizza was 315 calories.

My top 5 low calorie (processed foods)

Now I know you are supposed to eat all natural foods but I certainly don't do that 100% of the time, so here are my top 5 low calorie processed foods:

#1 Helga's Sandwich Thins

 At 116 calories per sandwich thin these are my favourite new product to come out in Australia. They come pre cut and can be used to make a sandwich. I used to use wrap bread to take lunch to work with me but always found it would break by the time lunch came so these are perfect and nice and dense.

#2 Chocolatte

This is an all time favourite product of mine, it is a hot chocolate drink. At 47 calories it is a great way to get a chocolate treat in without all the extra calories and it is nice and creamy and frothy.

#3 Wholemeal Pita Bread

 Wholemeal pita bread is something that I use all the time for a quick pizza dinner without all the extra calories. Calories range from 160-200 calories depending on the diameter. I always keep some in the freezer so that I know when I'm not in the mood to cook I have something very easy to put in the oven with some low calorie toppings.

#4 Birdseye Microwave Steamed Fish

This Birdseye steamed fish is delicious and a very quick go to meal when I have limited time or energy. At 145 calories per serving it is also good when you have used a lot of your calories for the day. My favourite is that Thai Coconut curry flavour which I usually serve with broccoli or peas and corn and the sauce included acts as a delicious sauce for the vegetables.

#5 Laughing Cow Light Cheese

This cheese is a great small snack and only has 28 calories. I use it to spread on my sandwich thins but more often than not I will have it as a quick afternoon snack and I find as it has protein that it keeps me going even on its own.