Manicotti with Italian Sausage and Cream Cheese Sauce

I have been on a roll with recipes. I don't remember if I posted about the Mac and Cheese I made on Saturday. Completely different recipe that I've never tried before. I will have to check that out. Anywho.. I wanted something cheesy and pasta-y and meaty. This was exactly what I wanted. We made two separate batches. One with regular cream cheese and one with Jalapeño Cheddar cream cheese. They both turned out amazing.

Ingredients

• 1 package (8 ounces) Manicotti pasta, uncooked
• 1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 32 ounces spaghetti sauce, divided
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions. Add salt to the water for more added flavor and to reduce stickiness. Also, do NOT overcook the pasta. By doing so they will go flat and crack in half. I usually cook them no longer than 7 minutes once the water reaches a rapid boil. Drain well. Lay out the Manicotti noodles on a sheet of tin foil to keep the noodles from sticking together.
3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the sausage, beef, and onion until browned and no longer pink. Add garlic and continue to cook one minute longer. Drain. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. In large bowl, stir together the cream cheese, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, salt, oregano, and parsley. Stir in the cooked meat. Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish. With your fingers, fill the cooled pasta tubes with the beef mixture and arrange the filled pasta in single layer over the sauce in the baking dish.
5. Pour remaining sauce over pasta.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and remaining mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 5-10 minutes longer or until bubbly and heated through.

My Tips: Get another jar of sauce. You will need it. I am glad I got three intend of two. Also you will need more manicotti noodles than they said you do. So buy extra.

Week 7

This week I only made it to the gym twice. I was planning on going yesterday and today but I got a tattoo yesterday and I was told not to step foot into the gym until Monday. So 2 days this week is better than nothing right. No measurements this week because.... well.... I didn't take any. Ha.

Abs only. 400 crunches

Arms and Abs. 200 tricep presses, 200 crunches

Ina Garten's Lemon Chicken Breast with Southern Style Green Beans

So I know I have been slacking on making recipes. It means my New Years resolution isn't going as planned but its better than not cooking at all. So here is tonight's dinner.

Lemon Chicken Breast

Ingredients:

1/4 cup good olive oil

3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)

1/3 cup dry white wine (I used a Chardonnay)

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme eaves

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on (6 to 8 ounces each)

1 lemon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don't allow the garlic to brown. Remove pan from stove, and off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish.

Pat the chicken breast dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn't browned enough, put it under the broiler for about 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve hot with the pan juices.

Southern Style Green Beans

Ingredients
1 1/4 pounds green beans, trimmed and chopped into 1-inch pieces
2 slices bacon, chopped
1 small onion, minced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar

Directions

Cook green beans in 1-inch simmering water, covered, for 6 minutes. Drain and set aside. Return skillet to stove and set burner to medium high. Add bacon and brown. When fat begins to render, add chopped onions to the pan and cook until tender with the bacon. Add cooked green beans to the pan and turn to coat in bacon drippings and onions. When the beans are hot and bacon crisp at edges and onions translucent add vinegar to the pan and season with beans with sugar. Allow the vinegar to evaporate and the sugar to combine with pan drippings, 1 to 2 minutes, then serve.

My Tips: 

The chicken I cooked by the directions but the green beans I didn't really follow the amount of anything. I have made them many times before. This recipe is my go to green bean recipe. It's amazing. 

Week 6

So this week was another week of having to push myself to go to the gym. I went 3 times this week. 1 day I literally walked in, did 10 minutes on the treadmill and walked out cause there is way too many people. So technically I went twice with actual workouts. But 10 minutes is better than not going at all.

Leg and Abs Day: 200 crunches, 100 leg presses

Just Cardio... too many people at the gym

Everything Day! 100 Tricep presses, 100 chest presses 200 crunches, 100 leg presses, 100 hip adductions

Waist: 38in. 

Thigh: 24.5in.

Bust: 37in

Slowly but surely I am losing the weight. Don't have the urge to stand on the scale but sure why not... hold on a moment.... 177.0lbs.  This does not freak me out that I weigh more now then when I weighed myself a few weeks back. Muscles weigh more than fat so I know with my losing inches around my waist and thighs that it's muscle weight and not fat. So I am ok with this.

Week 5 Update

So as the 5th week has come and gone, I made it to the gym 3 days this week. I had to push myself to go every time which is new for me. I've never been the one to push. If I didn't feel like going I didn't go. But I did and I am proud of myself. There is no measurements this week because 1) its not Saturday and 2) I am going out of town this weekend so next week is going to be a crazy workout week.

Arms and Abs Day: 100 tricep presses, 50 chest presses, 200 crunches

Leg and Abs Day: 100 leg presses, 20 Glutes, 200 crunches

Abs and Arms Day: 150 tricep presses, 100 chest presses, 200 crunches Oh and I ran on the treadmill for the first time!

Week 4 ~ Month 1

So I am a month into this journey of losing weight and toning up my body. I am proud of myself for sticking to it. I never thought in myself that I would rather be in a gym than at home. That's a miracle right there. Ha. Here was the weeks workout.

Leg Day: 100 leg presses, 100 hip adductions

Abs and Arms DayL 200 crunches, 50 chest presses, 100 tricep presses

Leg and Abs Day: 100 leg presses, 250 crunches, 100 hip adductions

Abs and Arms Day: 100 Chest Presses, 100 tricep presses, 300 crunches

Month one final check in:

Waist: 40in.

Thigh: 25in

Bust: 37.5in  

Bullshit

I have a feeling that I will be taking biology over next semester. I can't seem to jump on to the train of learning how this teacher teaches his crap. 

Just A Sunday Update

Well we are reaching the half way point of the semester. It seems to be going ok, besides biology because well.... my teacher still sucks. He is getting observed this week. Thank god because someone needs to see how shitty of a teacher he is. English is going good though. I really enjoy this teacher and if I have to take an English at UC Merced I will be searching for his class. He makes it fun which helps out a lot considering its a 930AM class.

I have been posting about my gym excursions for the last 3 weeks so I don't really need to touch on that subject. I am determined to keep up with it. Have been doing it for almost a month. I am actually starting to see results which makes me happy and makes me even more motivated. I don't want to weigh 100 lbs. like someone I know but I would like to get myself toned and fit. I'm guessing about 140 lbs. or so. We will see.

I am getting a tattoo next Sunday by my really good friend Mike. I am super excited. Only a few people know what I am going to get so I am going to keep it that way until I get it. I know it will turn out good because Mike doesn't do anything less than perfect work.

Week 3

This week was a rough one. I had a bunch of school work to do and a paper to write but I still managed to get to the gym 3 times. I proud of myself for pushing myself to keep going. Not much to report other than I started doing abs everyday and alternating legs and arms. I also did one day of yoga. I am hoping to up this to a couple of days a week in the future. It really seems to help.

Only did a little bit of cardio today but it was also a heavy leg and abs day

Cardio, Arms and Abs

Didn't go as heavy on legs as I wanted too but I still did legs and abs

Waist: 40in (lost an a inch and a half)

Thigh: 25in (I seem to lose a lot in the thigh area fast)

Bust: 38in (now that I learned how to accurately take a bust measurement, it now matches my bra size) 

Next week is the first weigh in I think. Pounds lost aren't that big of a deal to me but it would be nice just to see if I have lost anything and I think doing it on a monthly basis is the best way to go. Then I don't begin to live on the scale.