Ratatouille with Parmesan Toast

Last night for dinner I made ratatouille. I came across the recipe while planning our meals for the week and thought "what the heck, let's find out what this dish tastes like." It came out of a Healthy Slow Cooker recipe book.

Well, both Chris and I were pleasantly surprised as to HOW GOOD it was!! It is basically a vegetable stew. I made it when I got home from work, around 10am and cooked it in the crock-pot until dinner time. There is nothing fattening about it! It's all veggies! Ok, the Parmesan Toast is probably not that good for you...but that was such a minor thing. Anyway, I know that most of you are either on a diet or trying to eat healthy...so, here's a new recipe for you.

it kind of looked like this, but ended up a just a little bit more "soupy"

Makes 2 Servings

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup peeled eggplant, cubed
1/2 cup coarsely chopped zucchini
1/2 cup coarsely chopped tomato
1 8oz can no-salt-added tomato sauce
1/3 cup green bell peppers, coarsely chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
4 1/2-inch slices baguette-style French Bread
1 tsp olive oil
3 TBSP shredded Parmesan Cheese
1 TBSP fresh basil

Preparation:

1. In a 1 1/2 quart slow cooker combine eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, tomato sauce, bell pepper, onion, salt, black pepper, and garlic.
2. Cover and cook on low-heat for about 5 hours.
3. For Parmesan Toast: brush one side of bread with olive oil. Place bread, oil side up, on baking sheet and broil until toasted, about 15 seconds. Sprinkle bread slices with Parmesan Cheese and broil again for another 15 seconds until cheese is melted.
4. Before Serving: Stir basil into cooker. Serve vegetable mixture in shallow bowls with Parmesan Toast and sprinkle remaining cheese onto the top of the serving.

• 248 Calories/serving
• 6g fat/serving
• 33% of your daily Vitamin A
• 112% of your daily Vitamin C
• 17% of your daily Calcium
• 14% of your daily Iron

You should totally try this recipe! It's healthy and it's good! Oh, and it has a pretty cool name that inspired a Disney Movie about a Rat!

Emily's 1st "REAL" Birthday

Hi Everyone!! I know these are somewhat late...but here is the BIG DAY! Emily turned ONE on Sept 14th and we had a small party for some local friends and my family who were in town for the occasion. Enjoy!

Tracy Moore in the Mornings

Tracy Moore in the Morning!
(ya, that's not the best picture of me, but hey...I took it myself!)

So, yes...as you all know, I got a job as Morning Radio Show Host. I've been at the new job for over 3 weeks now and it has been one hell of an adjustment!!

My day, Monday thru Friday, starts at 4am and goes till about 10pm every night. Getting up in the morning isn't as hard as I expected it to be...but, it is DEFINITELY the toughest part of the job!! It's just like any other job; whether you get up at 8am or 4am...you're still getting up in the morning to go to work. Yes, I hit the snooze a few times in the morning, but I'm the only one in the office in the morning; and if I sleep in, the whole island will know about it!!!!

Since this is a COMPLETELY NEW FIELD for me, I've been focusing on just doing the basics of the job and haven't branched out too much into making the Show my own just yet...but I have some pretty fun ideas for the future. I get in and start off with recording all of our daily shows and the updated weather forecasts for both the country station and the local Jack FM. Then I play country music all morning, provide local information to the listeners, read the news, do a few commercials, provide some commentary about news...life...music...kind of whatever comes to mind.

It's been a lot of fun!!!! Oh, and the best part is that my day ends at 10am...and I already had a day of work in. Well, I guess my day doesn't end there. Emily is in daycare full time now, and after the Show I go home and work on website design for the other company I work for. It's been a big adjustment for me and I have been just exhausted!!!

Now, I know what you're wondering.........

Yes, there is a way for YOU to tune into the Show every morning.

And, hey, if you can figure it out yourself More Power To You!

But, if you can't...I'm not sharing. :0P

(At least not just yet.)

Frost on the Car!!!

So, I know all of you are dying to hear about the new job, how Emily is doing, Emily's day care, the recent visit we had with my family...well, sorry to disappoint you - but I'm making this one quick. Needless to say, the life adjustment has consumed a lot of our time and I haven't even had a second to think about blogging...but, I think we're getting back into the swing of things so you can expect an update in the near future!

Today we're talking about the Frost. Ya...the tonneau cover on the truck bed was covered in FROST!! It was chilly this morning when I left for work and there it was...covering the back of the truck. It was like a sign of things to come. I am so afraid of the coming winter, only because I HAVE NO IDEA what I'm in store for...and that's scary. So, seeing the frost this morning was like a "sign"...Welcome to Winter in Alaska. I'm scared!!

Climbing Up Old Woman

We hiked up the Old Woman Mountain...I guess they call it that because it looks like an old woman laying in her back. It was ONE HELL of a hike!!! NO JOKE!! It was worth it when we got to the top and I'm sure we'll be doing it again soon!

At the top of the hike is the old foundation of an Army Fort that was prepared for an invasion from Russia in World War II, which of course, didn't happen. So, the foundation and an old flag pole are the only things left up there.

Oh, and bears...ya, those are up there too. We didn't see any, but the key is to make your presence known - so you talk to the "bears" as you are hiking up just so they can hear your voice - the last thing you want to do is surprise them!!

Kodiak State Fair

The WHOLE town showed up!!

Over the long Holiday Weekend the Kodiak State Fair came to town. All of the townsfolk were there to see all of the happenings of the Fair. Yes, we were expecting it to be drastically different then the LA County Fair, and expected your "typical" small-town fair that you'd see in the movies.


Well, we were sadly disappointed. No rides, no games, about 20 TOTAL entries that were judged...everything from knitting, to baking, to photography. No, we did not see any livestock to be judged. There were 2 "stores" represented at the fair whose space consisted of a 10x10 EZ-Up...and about 5 roach coaches for food. We got nachos from the famous Martha's Taco Truck, and waited about 30 minutes in line just to order...and then another 30 minutes before our name was called to get the food. We were only at the fair for about an hour & a half total.


There was a petting zoo where Emily got to pet some farm animals...but they closed about an hour after the fair opened, so we just made it in time before they packed it up. There was a rodeo, but the sound was bad and as we watched with a bored baby for about 10 minutes, we couldn't decipher if they were actually performing or just messing around with the horses.
Anyway, here are some pics so you can share in our small town adventure.

Martha's Taco Truck - 1 of the 2 Mexican Restaurants in Town.

Her exact address is...um...well, let's just say she moves often. =)
The ENTIRE fair pictured above!