Busy in the Kitchen

I have certainly been busy in the kitchen this week.
I've come a long way from the first trimester when the thought of preparing food nauseated me!

Monday:

Arugula pesto with grilled chicken:

A guacamole snack while I cooked dinner

Not the most attractive meal, due to the brown whole wheat pasta. But so yummy!

Tuesday:

I found this recipe for Cheesy Brown Rice Gratin with Zucchini and Eggplant in the March issue of Cooking Light.

I sauteed all the veggies and used pine nuts (instead of walnuts) and feta (instead of Parmesan).

The recipe looked a little bland, so I thought the feta might give it a little more flavor.

Upon first bite I thought that it was bland.
But the more I ate, the more I liked it.
The toasted pine nuts on top were delicious.

Although it took a lot of prep time, I would make this again as a side dish.

Wednesday:
I wasn't feeling so great. I think I am having some issues with pregnancy related rhinitis, which is causing post nasal drip and a sore throat.

Jerry came to the rescue with this yummy dinner:

Salmon with a side of super garlicky lemon green beans and some leftover gratin.

The salmon was cooked perfectly. And I could have eaten a pound of green beans. One of my favorite vegetables.

Last night we whipped up a quick frittata for dinner.

Broccoli, cheddar, onion, and bacon:

I'm not sure if its because we didn't eat until 8:30 and I was starving, but this tasted amazing. I went back for another wedge.

I've also been snacking on these all week:

Whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip.
I will admit, I even had these for breakfast a couple of times. I am a sucker for an oatmeal cookie!
I also tested out the convection bake on my oven, and was happy with the "brown on the outside/chewy in the middle" texture. Will have to test it out on cookies again.

Whew, I apologize for the food overload!
I should blog more regularly and then wouldn't have to bombard you all with a week's worth of meals.

Tonight Jerry and I are headed to the Utica Roadrunner's awards dinner. Rumor has it that someone has been nominated for an award!
Time to dress up the bump and put on my dancing shoes!

Clumsy

I've never been the most graceful person in the world.
As a 9 year old dance student I ran into a metal ballet barre and knocked myself out cold.
And I wasn't even taking ballet.

Yesterday, as I was getting into my car after lunch, I banged my knee HARD. I can't even tell you on what. The dashboard?
But it is bruised and swollen and hurts to stand on.

So that brings me to a grand total of one workout in the past 8 days.
I really felt my body needed some rest after the half marathon, but this is more than enough! I'm hoping my knee feels good enough to get back to Body Pump on Friday.

After doing some baking (that involved pumpkin, of course) I wanted to make a quick dinner.

My basil plants were looking a little yellow, so I wanted to put them to good use before a frost comes. We've had lots of pasta lately, so I thought they might go good in grilled cheese.

I used the same basic recipe as my Arugula Pesto, but used all basil.

I slathered the pesto on one side of some multigrain bread and the cheese and tomato on the other side.

A panini press makes for a gooey, crispy grilled cheese sandwich.

You could also put a heavy pan on the sandwich and then put some canned goods on top to weigh it down.

I dipped mine in a puddle of pesto. Jerry had good ol' Campbell's Tomato Soup.

I meant to serve a salad with dinner, but forgot to get lettuce yesterday.
Then I meant to put an acorn squash in the oven, but it completely slipped my mind.
Basil counts as a vegetable, right?