Eggplant Parmesan, Lightened Up!

We had an abundance of eggplants to use so I decided to try Eggplant Parmesan. I love it, but not all the calories and fat that come with it. So I played around and tried to make a tasty, lighter version.

First of all, I made my own bread crumbs. I went to the store but they were all pricey and contained hydrogenated oils! I couldn't find a brand without them. Sad! So I just busted out my food processor and made whole wheat bread crumbs from stale bread we had. They turned out great.

I also used egg whites to dip the eggplants in to save on calories and cholesterol. I used less cheese and broiled the veggies too. My homemade sauce is pretty healthy so I just made a small batch and smothered the eggplant in that. The outcome was delicious and nutritious!













Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients

2 eggplants (about 2 pounds total)
3 egg whites
3 tablespoons water
1 cup fine dry breadcrumbs ( I used homemade whole wheat crumbs)
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 ½ cups marinara sauce ( I used my homemade sauce)
¾ cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese

EatingWell's Eggplant Parmesan

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat two baking sheets and an 8-by-11 1/2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Cut eggplants crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Whisk egg whites and water in a shallow dish until frothy. Combine breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, salt and pepper in another shallow dish. Dip the eggplant slices into the egg-white mixture, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture. (Discard any leftover breadcrumbs and egg white.) Arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, turn the eggplant slices over, and bake until crisp and golden, about 15 minutes longer.
3. Make a homemade sauce or use store bought. For my sauce, I sauted onion, garlic, red pepper, fennel seeds in olive oil. I then added 2 cans of diced tomatoes and a tablespoon of tomato paste. Next, I added in fresh basil and Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Let simmer for a bit. Pour some a little of the sauce into the baking dish. Arrange half of the eggplant slices over the sauce, overlapping slightly. Spoon 1 cup of the remaining sauce over the eggplant and sprinkle with half of the mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of the parmesan. Add a layer of the remaining eggplant slices and top with the remaining sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, until the sauce bubbles and the top is golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

We went hiking this weekend and saw a moose! He was stopped in the middle of the trail and he was not moving. We waited for awhile, but he was being stubborn so we had to find another path out. It was a beautiful day to be out and about!

The Never Ending Hike

On Sunday we wanted to do a low key hike...a nice family hike that Matt's dogs would enjoy. So Josh suggested Grandeur Peak in Millcreek Canyon. He told us it was only one mile each way. Sounded great to us!! So we packed up the cars and headed towards the mountains.

We parked at Church Fork and started climbing up the trail.



There's a waterfall right at the trail head. It was gushing with water.


It was a warm day, but luckily there was plenty of shade and little streams for the dogs to get water. Short Dog and Gwen had to be in the lead! They were keeping us on task.


The mountains were so green! This is rare for Utah in July.


The wildflowers were also out in full force. They were beautiful!










We were having a good time hiking along the trail...but after awhile we started to wonder if we were ever going to reach the peak? We had been hiking for a long time, it was only a ONE mile trail, right Josh???



Well, once we got a little higher and could actually see the peak, we knew it was NOT a mile trail. Josh kept saying we were almost there, but he was WRONG! It turns out the trail is actually 6.4 miles. That is a BIG difference than a mile trail. We were all planning on a leisurely Sunday hike, but Nope!! We were doing a 10K hike!!

The poor dogs couldn't take it anymore. It got really steep and they were worn out. Their two inch legs couldn't go any further up the mountain. I don't blame them:) So Matt took Gwen and Short Dog back.


We were determined to climb to the peak since we were over half way there. So me, Josh, Ben, and Whit kept climbing!








We kept hiking and I kept asking, "Are we there yet?, How many more minutes?" Josh kept answering, "15 more minutes." He said that about ten times:)

Well, we FINALLY made it to the top!! It was worth it! The view was gorgeous! You could see all of Salt Lake City...and then some!



We conquered the mountain!!




It was thundering and Matt was waiting on us so me and Josh decided to run down! It was pretty steep but I didn't care, I just wanted to be done with this hike:) We were about half way down and I biffed it big time! I slid on some lose rock and scraped the whole left side of my body. One word, ouch!!! It did not feel good! But, again, I just wanted to be done so we kept running and finally made it to the parking lot. We found Matt and the dogs...and waited on Ben and Whit.

Some of my battle wounds. The worst bruise is my upper thigh...but I am sure you don't want to see that:) It's black and blue and swollen to the size of a softball! No pain, No Gain:)


We were all starving after our adventure on the mountain. We made paninis for dinner. They were extra tasty!



All said and done we had a great time...but next time I am reading the hiking book. We looked at it when we got home and it does say it is a 6.4 mile hike. Josh just read it wrong...completely wrong:) Good times, Good times though!!!

SPLITBOARDING

A Splitboard is a snow board that basically turns into Telemark ski's. You put "skins" on the bottom of the ski's and they let you climb up pretty steep hills with out sliding backwards. They get their name because people used to use seal skins. They are smooth if going one direction and grab the other direction. It is pretty awesome to access a ton of back country! This day the hike was great the snowboarding was terrible. It was like snowboarding on cardboard then we had about 50-70 MPH winds with blowing snow so the North face which would have been the faces to snowboard were very wind loaded and sluffing so they were high danger areas so we just boarded back to our car. I put a video above showing me hiking with the board split. When it is together it looks like a normal board. We saw a couple of Moose and about five mountain goats. The backcountry is beautiful and even more serene in the winter. We were in between Big Cottonwood Canyon and Millcreek Canyon. Near the Wasatch Crest trail.

Yup, That's me entering an expert only area on ski's for the first time in 9 years.



I have been snowboarding for the past 8 years plus minus a couple of seasons due to a stupid door locking device falling and basically breaking my neck. I decided to try the skis out again this year. I had a blast I still love the board but Alta is a skier only resort and it was fun to see some new terrain. While I did make a few passes down some black diamond runs I spent most of the time catching up on lost skills from years ago. No matter what way you do it on one or two planks it is very worth while to be up in this country.

Maria's Dad, Parry, has been in town for the past 10 days or so. We had a good time, I took him and Kevin, Maria's Brother-in-law, Skiing/Snowboarding last Saturday we had a great time! Only one little miss-hap all day, boarding the lift. At least I didn't injure Parry. We were at the Ski resort, Solitude.

This is a real picture even though it looks like it is superimposed. Me, Sara, and Camille.



Fall colors up Little Cottonwood Canyon. It was a beautiful day.







The peak above our heads is called Pfiferhorn. I have now unsuccessfully tried to summit this twice. Maybe with ski's this winter or next summer.

This is Red pine lake and it is totally frozen in Early October. Hopefully this means a great ski season!

Sara and Camille! Funny picture

Sara, Me!, and Camille.