Eggplant

I can't remember ever having eaten eggplant before.  But it was on sale, so we picked one up.  I was shocked at how light it was.  So I was slightly surprised when I found the inside to be solid.  We had it for dinner tonight though and it was very good.  Did pretty well this weekend in terms of getting more produce and staying within budget.  Looking forward to a variety of foods this week as well.  Soup for tomorrow is already to go.  I also weighed myself yesterday and found I am down 3lbs from when I started this.  Not spectacular, but considering I ate a fair amount of junk for Valentine's Day, it's good.  And for me, 3lbs in 5 weeks is better than I've had for a while.  Might even make it under 190 this weekend!

Tried 2 new things for dinner tonight...
Eggplant Involtini - A LOT of prepwork, but VERY yummy.  Used all mozarella since it's a cheaper cheese, italian seasoning because we're apparently out of basil (oops), used coconut oil instead of butter, and no parchment paper.  But turned out great and the kids were eating it up.
Zuchinni "Pasta" - Not being sure if the kids would eat the eggplant, I cut up some zuchinni into real thin strips.  Drop them into boiling water, bring back to a boil and boil for 1 minute.  Then take them out and rinse with cold water.  If I had cut these real thin, I think it would have felt more like spaghetti.  But I was cooking a bunch of stuff and didn't have the patience.  Topped with a quick homemade marinara - tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and some spices.  Kids gobbled this up too.
Overall, a good night for dinner and definitely filling.  Leftovers for lunch tomorrow too!

Also tried Kale chips today.  Ended up throwing them away as no one like them.  Oh well, can't win them all I guess.

I'm in the middle of reading "Why We Get Fat" by Gary Taubes.  Combined with "Wheat Belly" by Dr William Davis, so much about food and weight is starting to make sense!  They both tout limiting carbs, increasing fats and protein intake.  And they back up everything they say with history and research.  I'm looking forward to being able to go super low carb for a few weeks this summer to really get my body into fat burning mode.  Just don't want to do it while I'm still nursing, so waiting until after James' 2nd birthday.  Plus then we'll have our garden so it won't be as expensive.  Off to the doctor tomorrow to get my ankle looked at.  I should be able to at least walk normally by now and not be in pain when sitting.  Hopefully we can figure out what's up so I can get back to normal life!