the beginning

SO!

this is my last semester of undergrad, and i'm starting medical school in august. and even though i have a pretty relaxed semester, i know that when i get stressed out, i can't think about anything but school work. stress, coupled with lack of sleep and an overload of information, will make what i'm eating be pretty much my last priority. getting bogged down with that much work always makes me just grab the fastest thing to eat, which usually ends up being something deep-fried from a drive-through, or lots and lots of carbs.

my parents are pretty big health nuts, so when i come home from school, it's like a whole other world: we eat organic, home-made, low carb low fat allaroundgoodforyou stuff, but that's just it. my mom has lots of time to make these things, and honestly, most of the ingredients are too expensive for someone that makes minimum wage at a part-time job (and spends most of that money on other things anyway).

so here's my idea:

at least once a week, come up with a recipe that is healthy, not too expensive, and doesn't take too much time. i'll try to get as many different types of food as i can up --appetizers, snacks, actual meals, and dessert (obv). hopefully it works out!

---------------------

#1:Tomato halves

(i actually made these about a week ago, but it just feels wrong not starting with a recipe)

3 large tomatoes, cut in half

~2 tbsp pesto

Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)

Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of tomato flesh from each tomato half. Pack in pesto into each tomato "pocket", and then sprinkle cheese on top. Place the tomatoes in a baking pan that is oiled, and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 min, or until the cheese starts to bubble.

This is a recipe I found from allrecipes.com, more or less. When I did it, I added about 1 cup spinach to the pesto (which isn't a lot...when you add it, chopped, to pesto, it seems to condense), and put cheese at the bottom of the pocket and at the top, so it was a little cheesier. You could also use mozzarella cheese to put on top instead of parmesan. This could be a snack/appetizer, but if you're not really hungry, having two halves is a good light meal.

Prep time: 5 min without the spinach, maybe 10 with it (you really have to wash spinach well).

Overall time (including cleanup!): about 30 min.

Nutritional facts

Serving size: 2 halves

Calories: 106                        from fat: 77

Total fat: 9g

Cholesterol: 10 mg

Sodium: 186mg

Carbs: 8g                          sugars: 3.5g

Protein: 14.5g

Pesto is a little high in sodium and fat, but that plus the parmesan cheese is a good source of calcium, and the tomato gives you vitamin C and A. Adding spinach doesn't change a lot, but it's also a good source of vitamin A, plus adds some iron.