My Baby Car is creating bad Juju in the driveway

I didn’t want to ruin yesterday’s positive post with this news, but as I was driving home yesterday my Flat Tire light came one AGAIN. You may be asking, “Didn’t you just get your car back from the service center on Thursday?”  and my answer to that is “Yes, yes I did!”.  Ugh I am so frustrated.  I called Erik on my drive home and he told me to meet him at the service center.  The scene I was playing out in my head was not pretty, thank goodness I had to go to the bathroom and Erik talked to the service guy.  His name was Mike and he is the first service guy I have dealt with that actually offered up other reasons why my senor was going off all the time.  He re-set the sensor and told me that if it went off again to call him and they would change out the senor.  Thank goodness my car is still under warranty. 

After we got home I got out of the car and Erik turns to me and says, “so guess what, my check engine light is on!”... Really?! BAD JUJU. 

He took his car into the dealership this morning and they told him it was the egr valve.  He says apparently it needs to be cleaned out every so often but the dealership doesn’t perform that service regularly.. I don’t really understand why...  Anyway long story short, because my husband is brilliant and got the extended warranty for this car it cost us $37 instead of $800. Whew!

Lunch today was leftover taco stuff I made into a Taco Salad! It was really good, I used the salsa and the light sour cream as a dressing:

My mom and sister came over for dinner tonight, in honor of what would have been my dad’s 55th birthday.  I miss him so much *sadface*, but I know he is in a better place.  Tonight I made Clean Eating’s Eggplant Parmesan, I didn’t have Bulgur or cous cous so I just used some Uncle Ben’s rice.

Eggplant Parmesan with Bulgur and Pine Nuts

Source: Clean Eating Magazine, Sept/Oct 2009

Serves 6

Olive oil cooking spray

3 large egg whites, lightly beaten

3/4 cup whole wheat panko or bread crumbs

6 tbsp low-fat parmesan cheese, grated

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 globe eggplants (about 2 1/4 pounds total)

1 1/3 cup low sodium chicken broth

1 cup bulgur (or cous cous)

2 medium tomatoes (about 14 ounces), cut into large chunks

1 tbsp no-salt-added tomato paste

2 cloves garlic

12 large basil leaves, divided

1 cup part-skim, low-moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Coat 2 rimmed baking sheets with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Place egg whites in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine panko, parmesan, oregano, garlic powder and salt. Trim ends off eggplants and cut each eggplant crosswise into six 3/4-inch slices. One at a time, dip eggplant slices in egg whites, then panko mixture, arranging coated slices on prepared baking sheets. Bake until eggplant is tender and golden brown, about 25 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over high heat, bring chicken broth to a boil. Stir in bulgur, cover, turn off heat and set aside for 30 minutes. (For cous cous: Add cous cous to a bowl, pour in boiled chicken broth. Cover with a cloth or large plate, let sit for 10 minutes then fluff with a fork.)

4. While eggplant is cooking and bulgur is softening, combine tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic and 8 basil leaves in a food processor and pulse to make a chunky sauce. Transfer to a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened slightly, 8 to 10 minutes.

5. Remove eggplant from oven and preheat boiler. Arrange an oven rack about 8 inches from heating element.

6. Spoon tomato sauce over eggplant slices, dividing it evenly. Sprinkle mozzarella over tomato sauce, dividing it evenly. Use a spatula to place 6 eggplant slices on top of 6 others, making six 2-slice stacks on 1 baking sheet. Broil until mozzarella is browning on top and melted in the middle, about 3 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, chop or thinly slice remaining 4 basil leaves. Stir basil and pine nuts into bulgur. Serve alongside eggplant parmesan.

Oh this one was also delish! This is a picture of me and my mommy while we were waiting for dinner to cook.

Well we are going to watch “The Kids are All Right”, have a nice night!