By Request- Eggplant Parm

This past weekend, we hosted some of our nearest and dearest friends who we've walked with since our pre-dating days...such amazing memories with this group of friends and it was so refreshing to my soul to get to spend some time with them. All in all, we fed 8 adults and 4 babies between the ages of 12-18 months- and my leftover Eggplant Parmesan kind of snuck in and stole the show for best recipe of the weekend.

So, by request of a few of my favorite mama's, I thought I would post the recipe.

I did not actually find this one on pinterest, but I'm sure it's there somewhere. I came across this recipe while flipping through my most recent Real Simple Magazine. I haven't ever made eggplant before but have always liked it at restaurants and thought a meatless dish might be good for our highly carnivorous family :)

Here's the basics:
Ingredients:

• 2 medium eggplants (cut into 1/4-inch slices)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 3 cups marinara sauce
• 12 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan (about 2 ounces)
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 
  

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. On 2 rimmed baking sheets, brush the eggplants with ¼ cup of the oil; season with ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Bake until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Spread 1 cup of the marinara in the bottom of an 8-inch baking dish. Top with half the eggplant, half the mozzarella, and half the Parmesan. Repeat, ending with the last cup of marinara. Top with the bread crumbs.
3. Bake until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes.

Here's a link to the recipe on the Real Simple website. They served it with a mixed greens salad (as did I, just not this one).
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/eggplant-parmesan-00100000106384/index.html

This was delicious, even though it was not really on the healthy side considering the abundance of cheese...but who doesn't love cheese??!!!

PINTEREST FAIL

I know I'm supposed to stick to recipes since this blog is called Pinterest test KITCHEN....but this fail was too big not to post.

It all started when a young, west Texas girl moved east to the central Texas town of Waco and discovered that when introduced to humidity, her very thick, long hair suddenly kinked up into something between a curl and beachy wave... but let's skip ahead a few years.

I have a 16 month old and hair that takes 40 minutes to blow dry, therefore, I am constantly looking for a fast fix that doesn't require me to juggle entertaining a very active little boy by allowing roll after roll of toilet paper to be shredded and strewn across my bathroom while simultaneously attempting to properly use a round brush and blow dryer to de-curl and smooth hair that clearly just wants to be free.

This brings me to the false hope that is this pin:
http://pinterest.com/pin/103793966383506879/

Go to Bed with Wet Hair - 3 Ways to Wake Up to Gorgeous Hair-

 for crazy early mornings; Pin now, read later. Doing this.

SO- I went to this link

http://shine.yahoo.com/beauty/3-ways-wake-gorgeous-hair-144100463.html

Followed these steps:

"wake up to less frizz

Giving your hair a break from heat can actually be beneficial-especially for those with natural waves. "The less you do to curls the better," says Gibson. 

1. Apply a light leave-in conditioner (try Ted Gibson Tame It Shine Lotion, $20) and use a wide-tooth comb to distribute it to your ends. A brush or a fine-tooth comb can destroy your curl pattern and create kinks. 
2. Part your hair down the middle. Divide each side into three smaller sections. 
3. Starting at the bottom of one of the smaller sections, create a pin curl by wrapping the ends up and over two fingers as you would a foam roller and continue winding up toward your roots. (This prevents curls from tangling or catching on your pillow at night.) 
4. Slip your fingers out and secure the pin curl to your scalp using a clip. (Try these no-crease versions from Ricky's, $6.) Then repeat steps three and four on the other five sections. 
5. Remove the clips in the a.m. and lightly spritz your hair with water to soften curls and eliminate static. "

AND GOT THIS....

UMMMMM.....thanks Yahoo Beauty- total fail...and clearly, still plenty of frizz.

Obviously, I cling to the hope that the blow dry bar trend sticks around for a long, long time.