Happy Monday! 
I hope everyone had wonderful weekends & enjoyed honoring all the mothers in your life. Lily’s wiggly butt and kisses were enough to make me the happiest mom in the world 
It was a wonderful weekend which makes starting a work week more than a drag. Oh well, it was a 3-day weekend…I shouldn’t be complaining Any weekend with friends, family, wine, and home cooking…with some exercise thrown in for good measures, is bound to be a good one. I have to get the name of this wine from my mom…it was SO good.
This meal was the healthy entree my mom whipped up to follow-up her show-stopping antipasto appetizer. My mom LOVES Taste of Home recipes. We are both subscribed to their daily email list serve — some recipes catch my eye more than others. While I don’t remember this one coming into my inbox, it was one my mom saved to make while I was home. Not surprising seeing as it’s really, really healthy. And luckily, it was also really, really good 
Eggplant Zucchini Bolognese slightly adapted from Taste of Home
1 lb whole wheat penne pasta
1 small eggplant, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 medium yellow summer squash, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 lb lean ground beef (90% lean)
28 oz tomato puree
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp brown sugar
8 tsp grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the eggplant, zucchini, squash, onion, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Transfer to two 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425 F for 20-25 minutes or until tender.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.
In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomato puree, Italian seasoning and brown sugar. Drain pasta; stir in tomato mixture and roasted vegetables. Sprinkle with cheese. Yield: 8 servings (1 1/2 cups each).
Nutrition Information (per serving): 425 calories, 12.4 g. fat (3.5 g. saturated fat), 51 mg. cholesterol, 400 mg. sodium, 56.6 g. carbohydrate, 10.6 g. fiber, 27.4 g.protein
Result: A hearty, delicious meal! My brother even rewarmed this for a late dinner after getting off work and he loved it, too. And uh, he’s a picky eater I love all the fiber and the fact that this is a low-sodium meal! It’s also plentiful in protein and good fats — a great, balanced meal! Enjoy!
And a late, but fun, weekly menu!
Weekly Menu: May 9th-12th
- Monday: Whole Wheat Buttermilk Waffles
- Tuesday: Mango-Habanero Glazed Salmon
- Wednesday: leftovers
- Thursday: Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing and grilled shrimp
In completely unrelated news, Mr. Prevention and I booked a trip to Singapore and Thailand this weekend! We will be going for 10 days over my birthday and the 4th of July weekend. I’m very excited! We have a friend, Lena, who is currently working in Singapore so it will be wonderful to visit her and have a “local” tour guide Thailand was my honeymoon dream destination….we went to Puerto Vallarta instead. But since we’re making the 20+ hour flight to Singapore, I figured a short flight to Thailand only made sense…right? I’m very excited! We’ve been talking about planning this trip for the last year, so it’s great to see it come to fruition!
Question: What’s your dream travel destination?
Have a great week!
A trip over the date of our party?! WHAT?!?! haha, no, it’s ok, Singapore sounds fantastic and after reading Sophia’s blog I would LOVE to go there!! I can’t wait to read some posts from Singapore, and hear all about it.
I’m glad you had a nice weekend in Chicago, with the family. This recipe sounds fabulous.
Yay!!
We will find lots of good food here….won’t promise that it will be healthy but we can walk it off 
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I will save up all my calories! I can’t wait!!!!!!!!!!!
What a great trip you have planned!! Can’t wait to read about it
Singapore! That’s amazing! You’ll have so much fun…
My dream destination is Greece I think… I’ve heard it’s just gorgeous and the history in that place is amazing…
Greece is…stunning. You will love it!
That sounds like an amazing trip.
I would love to go to Australia or the Great Wall of China…those are two of my trip fantasies.
I love the idea of that pasta – I think it would be great subbing the ground beef for lentils like you did the other day.
Thanks for sharing.
I totally agree! Lentils in a red sauce are delicious as I now know
Sounds like a really amazing trip!!! My dream vacation is to Namibia, where my husband’s parents helped start an orphange.
That is the sweetest thing…it sounds like your in-laws have hearts of gold
OMG that sounds like one heck of an amazing trip! I’m so excited for you!
wow! How exciting and amazing for you! I have always wanted to get to Australia for as long as I can remember. Maybe some day!
i saw the pic of your mom’s anitpasto salad on fb…and omg, i was droooooooling! lol
It was seriously amazing…I’m craving it now!!
OH MY GOSH, THAT LOOKS AMAZING! Have to add this to my “my try” recipes!
I hope you like it
How exciting!! I cant wait to hear all about it.
My dream trip would be to Ireland. Or Italy, but Im part Irish, so I’ve always wanted to go there.
I am SOOOOO excited for you!!!! What a great trip you have to look forward to! THAT must make coming back to work after the weekend a bit easier too! My dream trip? Tuscany. One day I’ll get there. Have a great day Nicole!
That is so exciting Nicole! I’ll be lucky if we go to Wisconsin this year
Glad you had fun at home and we had good weather for you – even if Saturday was a bit on the chilly side.
I want to go to Italy with my husband! It was going to be a 10th anniversary trip, but health issues got in the way – maybe we’ll make it for our 15th!
I hope so! You guys deserve it
I’m so jealous! That trip is no doubt going to be amazing.
That is so exciting about your upcoming vacation with your hubby!! I hope you two have a fabulous time, Nicole!
The eggplant zucchini bolognese looks amazing…your mom is quite a cook!
Thank you! And yes! She is
Sounds like a great trip..can’t wait to hear all about it…
Pasta looks yum!
I have signed up for the Healthy Cooking daily email from Taste of Home. They send out some great recipes every day. I’ve seen this one but haven’t gotten a chance to try it yet – I love the pasta recipes that really use veggies to help bulk up the serving size!
Love the eggplant pasta dish, it looks delicious! And what an amazing dream destination. I would love to go to Hawaii
That looks delicious and super comforting
I love a good pasta dish.
Dream honeymoon? That’s a toughy! I guess Australia. I really want to go there some day.
Singapore and Thailand!! What a lucky girl! There are so many places I would love to travel it’s hard to narrow it down. But I think Brazil is on the top of my list!
The pasta looks super yummy! I love hearty tomato sauces!
Saving this one! I have eggplant, zucchini, and squash growing in my garden right now!