Hey There Friends! How’s it goin?
just getting back into the swing of things here in Waterloo today. My first class this morning was a toughie cuz I was still super tired from travelling yesterday ๐ Hopefully I’ll be in top form by next week ๐
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you’d have seen all the clean eating meals I made over the holidays. Before I share the recipe for these surprisingly (to me & my family) delicious eggplant pizza ‘subs’ I just want to tell you about what prompted this recent burst of cooking.
7 Day Clean Eating Challenge
A couple weeks ago I was approached by Niki of Overwhelmed Heartย to join a 7 Day Clean Eating Challenge group that would run from Jan 2nd to Jan 8th (yesterday).ย
I was a little skeptical at first because I figured it’d be hard enough to try staying and eating healthy over the holidays. Clean Eating is a whole other story!
But I eventually decided that I was up for the challenge and signed up…and boy am I glad that I did! Not only did I get to ‘meet’ some awesome people in our facebook group, but I had sooo much fun trying to find yummy ways to eat clean!ย
The challenge also had an exercise portion which I didn’t do as well on ๐ Apparently it’s easier to carry clean foods when visiting relatives than it is to sneak in a workout during the party! I did rock 4 awesome at home workouts though ๐
Instead of tracking my weight before and after the challenge, I too someย body measurements and I managed to lose a couple inches around my waist in only 6 days ๐ <- YAY ME!! lol
Overall, I found the challenge was an amazing experience and I’m considering doing another one later on in the year ๐ย
Now onto the yummy-ness
Eggplant Pizza Subs
Let me start off by saying that I am not a huge lover of eggplant but I loved these and will DEFINITELY be making them again!ย
Last week a friend of mine messaged me asking for healthy, but tasty, ways to make eggplant and I immediately thought of eggplant pizzas.
The first time I made eggplant pizzas was wayyy back at the beginning of this journey. I found the recipe on Peanut Butter Fingers and decided to give them a try.ย They were okay, but I never made them again because I usually like my pizzas (yes, even fake eggplant ones) with more toppings.
But then I had the crazy idea to slice the eggplant the long way and my ‘revolutionary’ eggplant pizza ‘subs’ were born ๐
After washing and slicing the eggplant, I realised it would still be hard to pile a bunch on toppings on there, so I decided to scoop carve out the gunk from inside, chop it up and add it as a topping on the eggplant pizza instead.
All I did after that was add the pasta sauce, the filling and top with cheese! I popped it into the oven for about 30 minutes and voila instant, healthy eggplant pizza.ย
ย One problem I had with this recipe was that I had A LOT of extra filling! At first I wasn’t sure what to do with it, but the next day I roasted it and used is as the filling for a pita. Gotta love a recipe that keeps on giving ๐
- One large eggplant
- 1 tsp olive oil
- ¾ cup pasta sauce (I used one with mushrooms)
- 1 can whole kernel corn
- 2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 cup olives, diced
- 1 cup cheese, grated (I used extra old cheddar)
- Preheat oven to 350
- Leaving the skin intact, carve out the insides and chop into small pieces
- In a bowl, mix the chopped eggplant and other 'toppings' with olive oil
- Pour pasta sauce into each eggplant half, add the filling mixture and top with cheese
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the chopped eggplant pieces
are cooked all the way through
ย What more Healthy Pizza Recipes? Try this one:
What about you?
Have you ever done a clean eating challenge?
Do you like eggplant pizzas? What your favourite way to eat eggplant?
Share in the comments below!
LOL! I’m just the opposite..it’s easier for me to sneak in workouts at the relatives than good, clean food.
I have to be honest, I’m not sure that I’ve even had eggplant before. This sounds pretty good though and a nice way to introduce eggplant into my diet.
Carla recently posted…1/11/14: The Skinny
Good for you! It seems that my workout is the first thing to go when I’m visiting ๐
Also, I honestly don’t eat eggplant either but I bought it on a whim and was so glad I did when I tried this ๐
GiselleR recently posted…Stay Healthy {Mentally & Physically} in University
What a fantastic idea! Eggplant is something I’ve never tried before but am wanting to. I’m SO pinning this so I can come back to it when I do my month of Eggplant experimentation! Thanks for sharing!!
Ashleigh @ Passion for Life, Love, and Health recently posted…Scale Saturday – Week 6
You’re doing an entire MONTH of eggplant experimentation?!?! Let me know how it goes and if you find any awesome eggplant recipes…this is pretty much my only one LOL
GiselleR recently posted…Stay Healthy {Mentally & Physically} in University
Haha well it might take 2 months, but my goal is for each new freggie I want to try, to make it 4 different ways to really give me a chance to see if I like it. No worries, I’ll post on the blog once it happens!
Ashleigh @ Passion for Life, Love, and Health recently posted…Scale Saturday – Week 6
Awesome! I generally stick to what I know but I’ve recently started going out of my comfort zone when it comes to freggies and I do not regret it! So far I’ve done pomegranate and eggplant and both were a success. Beets are up next I think.
GiselleR recently posted…2014 POWER circuit workout & Goodbye 2013
Ooh pomegranate is one that I love the juice but am not super fond of the fruit…yet. So far the only freggie I’ve really tried (in more than one form, anyway) is avocado. I just can’t get myself to like it, which makes me really sad because I know how healthy it is!
Ashleigh @ Passion for Life, Love, and Health recently posted…Scale Saturday – Week 6
Really! I’m an avocado freak when I can get good ones…I’m really terrible at choosing them lol
It is pretty hard to get used to though because the texture is kind of strange. Did you try putting it in smoothies or baking with it? It masks the taste but you still get the benefits ๐
I love your creativity on these Eggplant Pizza subs! I’ve never seen them before, but they look delicious!
Look forward to reading more of your blog! Glad we connected through our SITS tribe
Amber @ Mamas Blissful Bites recently posted…Tracking Miles Calendar #10k #running
Thanks Amber! They were really delicious so you should definitely try them ๐
p.s. I was over at ur blog earlier and it’s pretty awesome! Loveee ur header ๐
Just pinned this! YUM! I am not a huge eggplant fan, but I have put it in lasagna to sub for noodles. I need to do that again.
Kayla Hoffman recently posted…Weekend Brag & Bitch
Asian food is fresh and very packed with flavor. I love trying out the different dishes that they have to offer! This is a pretty cool.
Regards:
Asian Foods Near Me