Add all ingredients to a food processor and turn on (as opposed to pulse) until mixture is smooth or to your texture preference.

Enjoy with fresh veggies or crackers… I used Rosemary Triscuits.

Dried herbs 1 Tablespoon of:
Dried Basil
Dried Oregano
Dried Majoram
About 5 good shakes of:
Garlic Powder & Onion Powder
*Couple of shakes of Chilli flakes if you like it spicy*
Ground Black Pepper to taste
2 good dashes of Kosher salt

Directions:
Boil Pasta for 10 minutes or follow directions on box
Set aside in baking dish

In a large bowl:
Add (about 1/4 cup) chopped parsley all dried herbs, and seasoning powders
eggs, 1/2 the bag of Parm, (Remainder reserved)
and 1/2 the bag of mozzarella (Remainder reserved)
to the half tub of Ricotta
(if you like the ziti extra cheesy (wet) add more Ricotta)

Mix well until the egg is fully incorperated
Add to pasta & mix well

*I always taste the cheese mixture to be sure there is enough taste. If you taste it, do so when the mixture is extra cold as there are raw eggs*

Recipe for sauce:
1 28 Oz & one 14oz can of Cento tomato sauce
1 can of Publix’s diced tomatoes
1 whole chopped white onion
about 3 tablespoons (3 pours around the inside of a large pot) Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I use all of the herbs and spices from the list above to season the sauce the only additional herb I add is Rosemary. If you add Rosemary, allow the sauce to cook for at least an hour on medium low as the herb takes a while to cook down to a soft texture.

Directions for Sauce:
Coat pot with Oil
add in Chopped Onion and Rosemary along with spices and dried herbs from the list above
allow to sautee for about 10 minutes until the onions are translucent.

*You may choose to deglaze with a splash your favorite Pino Grigio or a spicy red wine, if you do… allow the wine to reduce by at least half before adding the sauces and diced tomatoes. I skipped this ingrdient in your ziti.

Add in the sauce and the tomatoes mix well with veggies and herbs, and let simmer for about an hour, stirring about every 20 minutes or so.

When sauce is done, serve with a large ladle over each corner of the ziti spreading it towards the middle

I used about 5 ladles of sauce in your ziti. (Curt likes lots of sauce, so I always add more) Once sauce is on top of Ziti mixtire, add the remainder of the cheeses and 2 tablespoons of chopped parsely along with a couple of grinds of black pepper over top. Refridgerate if you’re not serving immediately. The longer the ziti sets in the fridge, the better it will taste when served. It will probally take about 30-45 minutes to heat up in a 350 degree oven if baked from cold.

Enjoy!!

Veggies
1 large onion cut in half and sliced
3 celery stalks cut into large pieces
4 carrots ( I LOVE CARROTS) cut into large pieces

Spices (added to a ziploc bag of 1/2 cup of AP flour)
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
Chilli powder
Onion powder
dried mustard (about 2 tablespoons)
Paprika
Emeril’s seasonsing
Ground Thyme (about a tablespoon)
Cumin (about 2+ tablespoons)

Cut Brisket in half and add each half to bag one at a time to coat in flour/spice mixture)

Heat a large wide bottomed pot with Canola oil. about a half inch of oil should work, but stand by incase you need more. Once oil is hot, sear the brisket on all sides until browned and set in slowcooker. I seared mine a half at a time.

Add veggies to slowcooker and brisket to top them, now add the apricots to top the brisket and the soup mix to top the apricots. Finally, while the Slowcooker is still OFF… add the beer and chicken broth. I cooked mine for 6 hours on high.

Set oven to 400. Quarter about a half bag of yukon gold potatoes, place them on a baking sheet and liberally salted and pepper them, and coat with extra virgin olive oil. Add about a tablepoon or more of dried Rosemary and cover the potatoes in ground Thyme, which I poured into my hands first and then spread on the potatoes. Before serving the Brisket, add the potatoes to the slowcooker.

I also served a heaping bowl of peas with this dinner. We needed some green, but did not want to cook the vitamins out of them in the slowcooker!

ENJOY!!

So, good news! I went to the doctor this past Monday. Not only was my blood pressure healthy, but I was finally brave enough to ask my favorite nurse how much weight I’ve put on in these 24 weeks, and the news eased my ever stressing mind. She told me that I’m right on target! I’ve gained 15 pounds. When the number first left her lips I felt my heart sink. Then the angel of good news told me that by this point in my pregnancy, I could expect to have gained one pound for every week pregnant! Oh, GOSH! 24 pounds! That’s a lot of pounds… I’m so glad that 15 was my number. I also learned on Monday that I should not gain more than 35 pounds. More than 35 would then be considered over gaining, baby and I do not need to gain any more than that! I am finally getting some good weight news!

When I first asked my doctor about calorie intake and weight she told me that I shouldn’t be counting calories. I was disappointed, as I was mildly obsessed with it. I’m pretty sure she’s aware of that too, as I lost 50 pounds essentially with the goal of getting pregnant. Curt was with me as that was our first appointment and he has been such huge help reminding me over and over that this is not permanent and that it’s healthy. It took me almost 20 whole weeks to get past the idea that my body was changing. It was probably the hardest pill I’ve yet to swallow with this whole pregnancy. Now, don’t get me wrong, the idea that I have to give birth has been a very hard pill to swallow too, but I’m getting more comfortable with that… haha. So, I’m thinking about my number again, with a goal of staying within that 35 pounds, and eating as healthfully as possible. You know, with the exception of that almost nightly bowl of ice-cream or frozen yogurt. Like my doctor told me on that initial baby visit…. “eat smart”. Hey, I’m smart enough to know that I deserve some sweet treats!!

Well, summer is very much upon us here in South Florida and around the rest of the nation. While the northeastern US deals with Florida like heat, we too are experiencing the same, plus our steamy humidity… all of this leading up to the brilliant move the soon to be Mom & Dad made yesterday, July 24th. What were we thinking?

One of our best friends plays on a baseball team and they were playing at the park right near our place. I was so excited, I’d bicycled to one of his games during fall ball and it was really great fun. We are baseball lovers, so this was a no-brainer for us. Well, at least for me. I awoke early enough to get a few glasses of water in before leaving for the park with the hubster. We got there and the sun was certainly out in full force. We sat on the bleachers and got ready for the show, by the time we got there (only 30 minutes late) Steve’s (our good friend) team was already up by 5 runs. We settled in. After about 30 minutes, I started seeing little black shadowy like spots in my eyes. Not good, I assumed. I thought… I’ll get up and sit in the shade if this persists, but I had no other symptoms of anything. I was just a little sweaty. We all were. I came to the game prepared with a rather large insulated cup of ice water filled to the brim. I wore a visor and a sundress fit for the beach.

Shortly after the spots began, I started feeling my heart race. Now, I’ve spoken to the doctor about my racing, pounding heart recently and she assured me that this was all part of pregnancy and to try to just relax through it and focus on breathing. I followed her orders at the park and simply just tried to calm myself. The fun was not about to end here, friends. The racing heart and spots I was seeing quickly gave way to a tingly & cold feeling in my head. Then the cramps began… my whole body was cramping, and I wanted to throw up. I leaned over to Curt and told him, I need help. I could barely get the words out before I began to lose consciousness. I was passing out. I couldn’t walk. Curt got me into a safe position and ran for help. In short order there were men all around me trying to lift me. I became stubborn and irritated, I tried my very best to walk on my own. They followed closely behind with Curt holding me up. Before I knew it, I was in a beachy chair with freezing cold, wet towels covering my head and neck. I was pretty incoherent. I couldn’t really communicate. I shook my head to concur that I was feeling better after a while, and that fire rescue was not necessary. I was embarrassed, on the verge of tears out of sheer embarrassment, but the people at the park were great. We understand that the people helping us were parents from a little league team playing nearby. They brought me water and gatorade. They spilled out their cold cooler water on our towel so that I could remain cool, and our awesome friend Steve shared ice from his cooler with us to keep my wrists and arms cool. The strangers spoke to me to keep me awake, and they got help from the grounds keeper at the park so that Curt could drive up to the field being that my legs were still not with me.

People are remarkable. The way strangers come together to help one another was heartwarming. I’m thinking about that more today than anything. Yesterday I was unsure of what was really going on, I was just frightened. The baby kicked though, almost during the whole time at the park. I remember that clearly. Curt says she was trying to tell us to turn on the a/c. The recovery continued at home for about 2 more hours. I began walking on my own about 1.5 hours after the episode began, and I ate shortly after that. I’m still recovering, but feeling so much better. I’m also seeing the doctor in about an hour or so. Being that I decided to not go to the hospital, she wants to check me out…. my sugars and all that fun stuff. I’m expecting everything to be fine, I’m feeling great today!

Hope all is well with all of you! Happy Summer!! Stay hydrated and be safe out there!!

Prep:
Rinse Rabe.
Trim the very end off the rabe, it doesn’t need too much trimming really. But if the ends look a little old, give a teeensy trim.

Fill a large pan with high sides with water and bring to a boil. Allow the rabe to blanche in the pan (before removing it SAVE about a cup of the green water) for about 4 minutes and then strain. Let sit off the heat while browning the sausage.

Sausage Prep:
In a large skillet, heat about 3 tablespoons of EVOO
Remove sausage from their casings into skillet when the oil begins to ripple. Season the sausage with any of the Italian seasonings. Smush the sausage down in the pan to brown it nicely. Drop minced garlic cloves over sausage. Periodically check for browning so as not to burn.

When sausage is browned, remove from pan and return rabe & about 2 to 3 more tablespoons of EVOO to the SAUSAGE PAN. Pour in green water, and rabe, when the water evaporates, add sausage back in for 2 minutes or so just to incorporate. Remove to a large plate or platter. Enjoy with Italian bread and possibly fresh sliced tomatoes!

ENJOY!!!!

1.25 lbs of  thinly sliced boneless skinless chicken breast

Juice of 1 Lemon

Canola oil

Cooking spray

Chicken broth

Capers

Whole Wheat Flour

Rinse and pat dry the chicken

Pour flour with your favorite dry seasonings into a large zippy bag

Place chicken in bag with flour and shake until chicken is covered evenly

Heat a pan over medium heat and heat about a tablespoon of the oil

Add chicken to pan- cook on both sides until the chicken is firm to the touch

I sprayed my chicken with cooking spray while the opposite sides were cooking, this just helped it cook without having to add too much more fat to the pan. I did also need to add more oil as I changed out the batches.

Remove chicken to a deep dish or corning-ware bowl

Deglaze pan with about 2 cups of chicken broth and toss in about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the leftover flour

Cook and stir lightly until no lumpies

Add in lemon and capers — I also add about 2 teaspoons of the brine from the capers

Mix in the lemon into the pan sauce and pour over top of chicken

ENJOY!

B-fast- 3

Raisin Bran with Almond Milk 3

Lunch- 4

Bread thin- 1

Mayo- 0

deli slices-1

dry coleslaw -0

Black Bean Soup – 2

Snack- 2

Fiber One Bar

Dinner- 17

Egg Noodles- 7

Fennel (Raw)

Red Peppers (raw)

0 point salad dressing

Chicken Piccata -10

WW ice cream bar -2

______28

B-fast- 3

Rasinbran-2

Almond Milk- 1

Lunch- 6

Bread thin-1

Deli slices-1

mayo -1

banana-2

fruit cup -1

popcorn- 1

snack- 2

Fiber One Bar- 2

Iced coffee with Almond Milk- 1

Dinner- 11

Tilapia- 6

Steamed Fennel, Onions, Tomatoes, Lemons, Rosemary and Lemon Thyme= 0

Black Bean Soup -4

Bread thin- 1

24

Black Bean Soup

98 CALORIES A CUP!!

Take out the FF Sour Cream and it’s 58!!!

2 cans of drained and rinsed black beans

about 6 canned, no salt added tomatoes diced (or one can of diced, no salt added tomatoes)

1 can of corn (or frozen corn would have less sodium)

1 box of 50% less sodium beef broth

1 beefy onion soup packet

Couple of shakes of  Worcestershire

Couple of shakes of hot sauce to taste

4 cups of water

3/4 bag of pre chopped cabbage for coleslaw

about a cup in total of chopped carrots, onions, and celery

I’ll serve this with fat free sour cream and fresh Italian parsley from my herb pot

Add all ingredients besides the sour cream and parsley into the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours.

I usually add some kind of meat when I make this. Today I used the cabbage to substitute. We’ll see how this all works out. It smells good!

Raisin Bran

1 cup of Almond Milk

Lunch- 5

Bread thin- 1

Deli slices- 1

plain cole slaw- 0

2/3 cup of peas- 0

FF may0 -1

Banana-2

4 glasses water