"I'd eat this everyday!"

9:43 PM Remy Maguire - Manifest the Best 0 Comments

Im not sure I could get a better review for my first Eggplant Parm!

Here's what I did....

Slice a medium eggplant into 1/4 inch rounds. Dredge the eggplant in a bowl with 3 egg whites. Dip the coated slices in a light mixture of breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese.

Bake at 325 until golden, flip, bake until both sides are golden.

Coat a baking dish with marinara sauce and leaves of basil. Layer the eggplant slices on top of the sauce. Sprinkle a layer of shredded mozzerrella over the eggplant and cover with more sauce and basil.

Bake until bubbly!

So good! Tender and crusty. Delicious. I served this with a garden salad and some garlic bread for Andrew.

He said, "I'd eat this everyday!"

Perfect Patty Melts

10:00 AM Remy Maguire - Manifest the Best 1 Comments

One of my all-time favorite meals. One of those things I crave after a long bike ride or heck, even a day at the beach! A good ol'fashioned patty melt. My Mom and I used to treat ourselves to one at Denny's occasionally when I was younger. The melty, meaty meal doesn't seem particularly nutritionally stellar. But, with a few modifications it sure can be!

Saute one large sweet onion and as many mushroom as you can handle in a hot skillet with a splash of chicken broth.

Season the turkey with garlic and onion powder, oregano, a dash of worchester and soy sauces and some salt and pepper.

I made 2-4oz squooshed flat burgers and cooked them in a lightly oiled skillet.

Mix up a bit of ketchup, light mayo, worchester and soy with a tiny bit of honey. Toast one or two pieces of whole grain bread for each serving (enjoy openfaced for less cals and carbs). Smear one of the toasts with sauce. Smear the other with one wedge of Laughing Cow Light Swiss. (if only using one slice put both sauce and cheese on one.)

Put your patty-melt together, cut it in half and serve with roasted butternut squash or cauilflower and a side salad.

Yum.

Dear Readers,

8:39 PM Remy Maguire - Manifest the Best 0 Comments

Forgive me for not writing since the Super Bowl. I have hit a bump in the road. Writers Block! I've started and stopped several entries. I want to tell you about my new bike team. I want to describe my slow but rewarding return to training. The amazing women in this season's Healthy Living (Fat Loss) class have sent lots of good article. I want to post them. Last weekend I made banana bread from scratch, no recipe! and it tastes GOOD. If I can remember all the ingredients I put in the bowl I'd love to share it - I think you'll like it!
This year, so far, proves to be as unexpected as all the others. What can we expect, really? Too much and we are disappointed, not enough and we can miss out on the spectacular. The key word I think isn't expectation but rather, intention.

I intend to blog more. I intend to write and share my thoughts and experiences hoping to inspire as many people as possible live beyond their wildest dreams.

Yup. The Winter seems to be slowly fading and I can sense the excitement of Spring. Mountain bike races, triathlon training, golf conditioning clinics and more! Cold weather laziness must be tossed aside with the thick fleecy blankets.

I think it's about time.

When one kiss turns into...

9:34 PM Remy Maguire - Manifest the Best 0 Comments

At the hospital all day while Andrew had his ACL repaired. I woke up to my usual Friday early morning alarm to check him in for surgery at 5:30 am. I sipped coffee and nibbled a contraband protein bar in a waiting room surrounded by tired fasting patients. The Dr.s took A. away sometime before 8am and sent me off with a pager and a vague idea of when I was expected to return. What to do!? I reschedule all my clients for the day and didn't want to go back home. I had no idea how the day would unfold. Prepared with my sneakers in the car and already dressed in sweats I hesitated only a moment before bolting out of the sliding doors and out into the chilly early day. Checking my watch and phone every five minutes I jogged for 15 minutes to a buzzing Starbucks and decided it was a perfect day to treat myself to a coffee with whip cream! (this is my idea of cafe indulgence...a grande drip with a dollup of whip! yum!) Reinvigorated by caffine, sugar and a brightening sky I took a longer route back to the waiting room. I felt pretty good by the time I made it back to the hospital lobby when I realized I had another three or four hours to wait. Not in the mindset to get much work done, loaded on morning sweets I settled in with the paper and a pen to do the days crossword. It wasn't long until I wondered into the gift shop looking for something...what is it?! Chocolate, candy, something! Here we go. I coughed up 65 cents for a tootsie roll, two Andes candies, a dark chocolate kiss and a Godiva truffle. Ah. Somehow it seemed justified. I mean I had squeezed in an impromptu run!

Even though I've been here before I am still amazed by the control sugar and sweets have over my mind and my mood!



PS> I'm having a harder time justifying the cup of hot cocoa, peanut butter cookie, and cocktail I just finished.

Super Bowl Supper

5:02 PM Remy Maguire - Manifest the Best 0 Comments

Chili is fun to make because you can really experiment! Instead of going with the usual, greasy football game nachos I decided to try my hand at making a slow-cooker turkey chili.

Here's what I did...

Saute one onion and one green pepper with garlic and a little canola oil. To keep it moist and use less oil I added chicken broth to create some steam. Season with chili powder, onion power, cayenne, and pepper. I transferred the veggies to the slow-cooker and browned about one pound of very lean turkey in the same pan with more spices, cumin, tumeric, garlic and sea-salt. Add the meat to the crock pot.

I wanted a colorful chili so I decided to use tomatoes for a base and white beans for variety.

I used one can of big white beans and one can of small white beans. I squished up the contents of one can tomato chucks with mexican seasoning and tossed this in with a can of low-sodium tomato sauce.

By now it's smelling good and looks like chili!!! I don't usually like corn in soups but I wanted to add some flair so I added a can of no-sugar added corn kernels.

At first I wasn't sure the flavors worked but it just needed to cook awhile. After four hours on high I had a bubbly delicious concoction!

There's one or two secret ingredients I can't reveal yet! I'm serving the chili at half-time to three of my guy friends who I'm going have take a guess! (Hint - I got the suggestion from Loren S. owner and chef of Milo's City Cafe! - Thanks, Loren!)