The Power of Purple...

Today was day 2 of boot camp. My legs were DYING going into boot camp this morning, and were not necessarily DYING but more of a long term care type situation when I left. You know when you have worked out so hard going up and down stairs is painful or the thought of strolling from your office to the restroom 50 feet away makes you rethink whether hydration is really all that important? I dropped my power cord for my phone when I was trying to plug it in. I contemplating letting the battery die rather than do the squat necessary to pick it up. Seriously.

Once I got moving this morning in boot camp, they were better but it was one of those things where you knew you had worked your legs and worked them hard. Boot Camp Herb says it because I do too much running and not enough strength. Clearly. If ever I doubted the need to balance running (or any cardio really) with strength exercises, this confirmed how many muscles aren't being worked by running alone.

Today's boot camp was a hodge podge of everything which is why I love it!

Lunges down one side of the basketball court and back (x3)
Jumping jacks (60 seconds x 3)
Wall jumps (60 seconds x 3)
Running side squats (down and back on the basketball court x 3)
Wide squats up 2 flights of stairs (x 3)
Tricep dips (20 x 3)
Bicycles (25 per leg x 3)
Shoulder presses (30 seconds each arm x 3)
Jumps on the bosu ball (60 seconds x 3)
Cable Standing Row (60 seconds x 3)
A variety of partnered pulling and twisting exercises with exercise bands

I actually burned 100 some odd more calories today than day one, we seemed to have more exercises that got my heart rate going than we did on Monday. All in all a good day and I think my legs will survive!





Today's food offering is brought to you by the color PURPLE (just the color purple, not THE COLOR PURPLE as in the movie, book or broadway musical). Did you know the power of purple? Purple fruits and vegetables contain a variety of phytochemicals important to health that are lacking in the greens, oranges and reds that you normally see on your plate. The benefit to eating purple (and blue) fruits and vegetables are:

Increased Memory Function
Lower LDL Cholesterol
Improved Urinary Tract Health
Reduced Cancer Risk
Encourages Healthful Aging

Next time you are stocking up, don't pass by the blackberries, blueberries, purple grapes, plums, eggplant, or purple cabbage so quickly! This past weekend, as I was whirling up spinach shakes, I decided maybe I should try some other things that I previously thought might not taste too good. In honor of my new food attitude, I had some eggplant.

My first experiment with eggplant was not great. Not bad, I just wasn't impressed. I will say, I forgot to spray the pan with Pam when I roasted eggplant on Sunday so there was a lot of scraping eggplant pieces off the pan and I am sure that didn't help the curb appeal of roasted eggplant. I ending up tossing them on a salad for lunch on Monday.

In light of my less than stellar attempt, I decided to give eggplant another try. Last night was Baked Eggplant Parmesan. I know this is kind of a "been there done that" dish. For someone whose only experience to date was some eggplant remnants scrpaed off a pan and tossed on a salad like yesterday's trash, I thought I would go with something a little more universal. I am so glad I did.

Easy Baked Eggplant Parmesan
(recipe borrowed from Whole Foods)

1 Large Eggplant cut in 1/2 inch slices
2 egg whites (the original recipe called for whole eggs, I just used the whites)
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
2 T olive oil (I omitted this and just sprayed the pan with Pam)
1 jar pasta sauce
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c Parmesan cheese (I just realized I forgot that last night... ha.. guess I had Eggplant Mozzarella instead of Eggplant Parmesan).

Preheat oven with baking sheet inside to 375. Coat eggplant slices in egg white and dip into the panko crumbs.



Spread oil (or Pam) on the hot baking sheet and place eggplant slices in a single layer.



Bake 15 minutes, flip the slices and bake 10 minutes.



Increase oven temp to 475. In a 8 x 10 pan (I used 9 x 9 and it seemed too big - I am a perfectionist and it didn't seem like they really layered well enough even in the smaller pan I used), layer sauce, then eggplant, then cheese. Repeat, finishing with the cheese.




Bake until cheese melts and is golden in spots, about 15 minutes. (Mine was a little too golden so maybe more like 10 to 12 minutes)





The recipe serves 4 and is about 400 calories per serving. Next time, I will probably use a smaller pan. I went a little light on the sauce and did not nearly use a full jar (maybe a half jar). It was incredibly good. I cannot believe I have not had this before! Please try it...

In other news... One step forward, two steps back. I guess if you could control everything in your life, how would that be interesting? I have grown to hate calls from CR's friends. Granted, I really only have had two. The first was to tell me he had a dirt bike accident and I needed to meet them at the hospital. The second was yesterday.

It was the usual, "Rick is OK but...". Turns out he had some sort of motorcycle accident yesterday in Daytona Beach. It required staples in his head and an ambulance ride. He has a bruise on his brain and four broken ribs. Ouch. I am kind of in limbo right now trying to find out when they will release him. Tonight will be night two in the hospital. He is supposed to have some kind of physical therapy tomorrow mostly because he cannot move without a lot of pain. I am told it took three people to get him to the restroom. I guess my achy quads are nothing to complain about. He always has to "one up" me... :) I guess that is to be expected when you are married to Evel Knievel's long lost brother. Now to figure out how to get him home as Daytona is about an 8 hour drive from here ... Keep him in your thoughts for a quick recovery!

Given the current state of affairs and stress level, I did what any self respecting girl would do... I got my toes done. Welcome Spring! It will be 60ish this weekend. Flip flops, here I come.