Spicy sundried tomato pasta

This is one of those recipes you can dress up or down. I've cut out a ton of fat from the original recipe from Cook's Illustrated. It called for prosciutto to be cooked with the onion but if you can stand to save 6 bucks, I don't think the splurge is as necessary as the sun-dried tomatoes.

2 T butter, 1 onion, 1 bay leaf, pinch (or more) of red pepper flakes. Cook until onion is clear. Add salt and 1 t garlic, cook for 30 seconds. Stir in 2 T tomato paste and 2 oz. sundried tomatoes. Cook and stir for 2 min, then add 1/4 cup water mixed with 1 T balsamic vinegar. Also dump in a can of crushed tomatoes (14 oz). Simmer partially covered 25 min, or until spoon leaves a trail. So this would be the time to start the pasta water and relax.

Once you are happy with the consistency, you have a few options: 1. add 1/2 cup cream and 1 T basil or 2. add 1 T basil, remove bay leaf and blend it into a smooth kid-friendly sauce that clings to all kinds of pasta. Plus, the sundried tomatoes can be kinda fugly looking, so pulverizing them in a blender brings us back to our happy Disney-like dinner.

Now, if you're like me, you're looking at those opened jars of sundried tomatoes and tomato paste like "now what?" Well, this may not be the most creative way to use up resources, but you could always quadruple the ingredients and it would use up a whole can of tomato paste and the 8-oz can of sundried tomatoes I buy. If you don't put cream in this, I would imagine it would freeze beautifully. It would probably make 3-4 pounds of sauce!

Body For Life

This is not me, it's a woman named Amy Young who transformed herself from a similar starting point as mine.
So I would post a picture of myself but I'd prefer you just looked at the cute kids below that have had a helping hand in the interesting shape I'm currently wearing. But there is hope! Since April 7, I've been picking up habits from the Body for Life plan. Basically you eat 6 small meals a day so you're never hungry, and it's a balance of lean protein and whole grains/vegetables/fruits. Basic common-sense stuff. I walked into the hospital 3 months ago at 223 pounds to have my 7-pound baby by C-section. On April 7 I was a very flabby 200 pounds. My waist measured 39 inches, and hips were 59. I think I would wear size 20 pants if I had the time/money/inclination to buy a pair. Now, 10 weeks later I am 182 and I know I've gained muscle. My waist is 36 inches and my hips are 45. I'm comfortable in a size 16. My goal by July 24 is to be at a 31 inch waist and be a size 12 pant. I have no idea how much I will weigh because I hope to be adding muscle. Anyway, I'll be updating weekly if you want to follow all the gory details.

If you haven't heard of the book or the competition yet, check it out at http://bodyforlife.com/ I think it's a cheesy name, but hey, it works.