Cooking With(out) Lia

Okay, so this post will literally only feature a smidgen of Lia Sophia as I do not have pictures of myself making dinner with my LS jewelry.  I was faaar to lazy to shower/change out of my sweats/do my hair/put makeup on/style myself.  You win some you lose some.  HOWEVER, I did want to tell ya about our dinner tonight because it was yummy.
Since about November, Patrick and I have been trying to be more cognizant (like that vocab?) of the things that we choose to eat.  I refuse to say I'm on a diet, because I'm not.  "It's a lifestyle change."  I also do not want you to think that I'm on a health kick and the next time you see me take a bite of cake you should knock the fork out of my hand.  We still eat whatever the heck we want, we're just trying to be more mindful when we're at home.  What that means is we (try to) eat breakfast every morning, we choose to eat a healthier lunch, we have a small snack in the afternoon and I make a dinner featuring more vegetables and eat according to provided proportions.
This evening I decided to try out a new "skinny" recipe.  "Parmesan Baked Penne," which does not sound "skinny" at all.  If you're trying to be a little more mindful of what you're eating but want something a little more indulgent this is a good option.  The dish features whole wheat pasta, reduced fat cream cheese, pesto, more cheese and chicken.  I loooooove pesto so I had to try it.  
I've provided some shots of the process, along with the recipe, but didn't include everything as I was a little more concerned with making dinner than taking pictures.

You start by chopping some veggies 

Saute for a bit and then make a sauce using skim milk that I did not include pictures of because I just didn't...

You add your veggie, cream and cheese sauce to some penne and chicken and layer half on the bottom of a baking dish.

Blluuuurrryyy.  On top of the pasta add a bit of pesto...

and then some cheese.  I put the remainder of the pasta on and then topped with more cheese and threw in the oven.

And then it comes out all hot and bubbly and yummy.  

You can find the recipe here.  Amber does a MUCH better job of taking step by step pictures.  I should mention that I used store bought pesto.  Didn't spend time making my own.  I also now realize I forgot to add the fresh basil...sad.

And now for the Lia portion of this program...

I do not have all of my jewels in yet, therefore, I don't have much to feature.  However, I did want to show you guys this bangle.  This is one of those simple pieces that just feels special.  It's a bit better than your regular 'ol gold bangle.  Throw this baby on with any bracelet or 2 or 3 and you make a statement.  You can find it here on my Lia Sophia website that is now up and running (www.liasophia.com/laurafairchild)