Eggplant Pizza's - Healthy & TO DIE FOR

OK - I bought an Eggplant for the first time the other day.  Not sure what came over me but I figured it was time.  I knew as soon as I bought it, I'd leave it to one of it's last days before I'd go on Pinterest and find an eggplant recipe I'd be craving.  Well it happened.  Tonight I made Eggplant Pizza's with intentions to put half of it in the fridge for my fiance to try the next day.

After tasting the first one, I had to eat them all; and you know what? I don't feel guilty in the slightest!

EGGPLANT PIZZA'S

YIELD: 10 PIZZAS

TOTAL TIME:20 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large eggplant, sliced 1 inch thick
• Jar of tomato sauce (I used Classico garlic & onion)
• Cheese
  Sliced mushrooms (optional)
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 10-20 baby spinach leaves
• Pinch of salt
• 
  
• DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 425 F. In a baking tray arrange the sliced eggplants. Sprinkle salt on each slice (yes, no oil) and bake for 15-20 minutes. While this bakes, you can fry your mushrooms in a tiny amount of butter.

Remove the baked eggplants from the oven and turn your broiler on high. Spread 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce over each eggplant round and add your cheese on top.  Top with mushrooms, fresh spinach and sliced cherry tomatoes over the cheese and broil for 3-5 minutes. Make sure you keep a close look while the eggplant is under the broiler as they can burn quickly.

Serve while still hot and ENJOY!

I guarantee after eating these, you will buy more Eggplants just to have this meal again!!!

Let me know if you made some & comment below!!

xx

Becoming Vegetarian - COLD TURKEY (pun intended)

Becoming a vegetarian was something that weighed on my mind a lot these past couple of years.  I would go off on rants how terrible it was and then continue eating meat as if I didn't care.

It all happened when I saw a video of men abusing cows at a Dairy Farm.  I thought wow what a bunch of terrible people and said "that would never happen in Canada."  I soon found out that that video not only was shot in Canada, but was shot in my hometown.  I couldn't believe that happened and thought for sure these men are going to jail. Since then I started following Mercy for Animals.

The more information I learned from following them the worse I felt. I soon realized that the amount of humane farms in the world are pretty slim unless you do your research and visit the local farms to make sure, but I was past that.  It suddenly became obvious - why the hell am I so upset with all of these farm animals getting abused and getting killed - but ok with eating them?  Why is the life of all of these animals only worth a meal for me?

On New Years Eve I decided I'd get myself a meat lovers pizza as a farewell.  I figured I'd try being a vegetarian out for a month no strings attached - this was a huge deal for me!  It wasn't like I was a massive meat eater but I just had no idea what it was going to be like...

That month was hilarious.  I thought I was adventurous with food but I literally ate the same things I would have with meat - but with the meat taken out.  If you think vegetarians are always healthy think again!  I don't think I ate a vegetable for the first 2 weeks! There was a lot of cheese pizza's and kraft dinner. (NSFVegans) After the two weeks of vegetarian crap I started eating real vegetables, rice, fruit and a lot of peanut butter.🍍🍌

Well it's November 28th and I'm still meat-free!  After the month I had no urge to consume chicken or meat and actually got quite turned off of it.  I slowly started enjoying natural foods more.  Tomatoes, basil, broccoli, carrots, beets etc started tasting better.  I didn't need bacon or chicken to add to something- I just filled my meals with more flavourful items. I also quickly noticed that I had NO MORE STOMACH ACHES!  Since I was born I've always had stomach aches, I've been through hundreds of tests and doctors could never find out what's wrong. All I had to do was stop eating meat!

After the month of being a vegetarian I decided to be a Pescetarian which means I don't eat meat or chicken but I do eat seafood.  I only want to eat things that I could get on my own.  I would never ever kill a pig because I love pigs - so why would I eat them? I would and have fished before.

I respect other peoples decision to eat whatever they want and in this year I haven't got into any arguments about it. My fiance still eats meat and that's totally up to him.  I would never push anyone to do anything unless they wanted to.

There is however some things that still bug me - like the milk industry.  I try my best to limit the amount of milk I consume - almond milk, soy lattes and sometimes even vegan cheese.  That part of it is the hard part for me but I'm so glad I made the decision to become a vegetarian and I couldn't be happier!

If anyone reading this suffers from IBS or any kind of stomach issues - I urge you to try either limiting your meat/chicken intake or try the month challenge of being a vegetarian.  Anyone can try a month no strings attached - it's also a fun challenge to switch up your meals and make it more interesting.

A new month is just around the corner - Do you think you could do it?

BRAZILIAN BUTT WORKOUT (BBW) **My claim to fame**

 NOW: I'm not saying this is an easy one move-once a week-and you'll get this butt-workout. THIS BUTT, does a lot more than this 5 step move.  I do heavy squats among numerous other Booty and Leg workouts as you can find in any one of my workouts listed on this blog.  BUT (pun intended) This particular workout, is my favourite.  This Brazilian Butt Workout makes my butt ACHE and I love it!! It strengthens and builds the muscle in three key areas - This targets the Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius and Gluteus Minimus.


When you target these three areas you are shaping your whole butt into a delicious round rump!
REMINDER:  If you have extra fat on the body, you will not be able to see changes as quickly.  This workout does help you lose weight but not as effective as High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) So please include at least one or two HIIT sessions into your workouts per week if your goal is to lose weight.  If you are happy with your current weight and want to build muscle in certain areas (Easily confused with the mythical toning word) then stick to weight training and mat work.  BBW is a perfect workout for after every workout.
You will feel the burn and down the road you will see the benefits, do not expect them right away! This is a workout that if you keep up, you will be pleasantly surprised :)

NOW............THE BRAZILIAN BUTT WORKOUT EXPLAINED!
Go on all fours on a mat, arms and knees shoulder width, this is the Home Position.

Lets start with your right leg:
Now lift your leg, keeping a bent knee - as if you were peeing on a fire hydrant, down to home x 5
Now donkey kick , keeping a bent knee - as if you were kicking the ceiling, bring your knee down x 5
Now kick to the right - as if someone was beside you and you want to kick them down, back to home x 5
Now donkey kick, keeping a bent knee but pulse - as if you were tapping the ceiling x 5
Now kick your leg out tap the floor then up as high as you can  x 5

FEEL THE BURN?? Now Left leg!

After you're done the left leg, that is one set.  You need to do this workout in 3 sets.
Two more sets to go!!

Try not to rest in between sets, for the burn is stronger and the muscles are benefiting more! The goal is to do the three sets all in a row, then you can fall on the mat and scream in agony like I do ;)
Remember to stretch it out afterwards!

Hope you enjoyed my favourite workout tutorial,
Leave a comment and tell me what you think!!

-Auntie Ana xx