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The Shopping List for Vegi Sandwich:

4 slices of Sourdough bread
1 red bell pepper
vegetable oil
olive oil
2 big portobello
1 eggplant
4 basil leaves
fresh mozzarella
White Onion cut 1/4
1 tbsp of unsalted butter
1 tsp paprika
Salt
Pepper

The Shopping List for Garlic Mayo:

1/4 cup Low fat Mayonaise
Half a lemon
1 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
Dash of Salt & Pepper

How to make it:

Pre-Heat the Oven on Broil at 350 degrees f.

Take the Red pepper and with a pastry brush, brush vegetable oil all over the red pepper, make sure that the creases are also covered in the vegetable oil. Place the red pepper on the top rack of the oven on a backing sheet, 5-8 minutes on each side. When you see that the red pepper is turning a little black on top grab a pair of tongs and flip the red pepper on the other side for another 5-8 minutes or until it starts turning black. Once the pepper is ready place it in a bowl and cover it with saran wrap (plastic wrap) for 15-20 minutes.

While the pepper is cooling off in its bowl, take the white onion and cut it in 1/4 cut. Rough chop it, you want big pieces of the onion to put into your sandwich. Take a non-stick pan and place the butter and onions on medium-low heat, season with a little salt and pepper and add paprika. Leave cooking until you see the onions soften, then place covered and leave on warm stove. While the onions are cooking, begin to heat up an indoor grill, while the grill starts warming up take the eggplant and cut off the skin. Cut both ends off so that the eggplant stands up, then cut about 1/2 inch each straight down. Cut 3 pieces and wrap and refrigerate the remainder of the eggplant for dinner tomorrow or another day. Once you cut the eggplant dribble a little bit of olive oil on top of each piece and season with salt and pepper. Place the eggplant on the grill about 5-6 minutes on each side or until you start seeing the grill marks. Take the portobello and rub with a little bit of olive oil, season with salt and pepper on both sides. Once you have room for the portobellos place them on the grill about 7-8 minutes on each side or until the portobello begins to soften.

While that is cooking you can now take the red pepper out of the bowl. It will be soft so you can just pull the stem right off, cut the red pepper in half and scrap out all the seeds. The skin of the pepper will peal right off. (You now have a roasted red pepper, remember you can always buy them in a jar, but I think this way is so much better).

How to make the Garlic Mayo:

While the vegis are grilling you can make the mayo. Take 1/4 cup of Mayo, mix with half a lemon wedge and add a dash of salt and pepper and 1 1/2 tsp of garlic powder. Stir good and refrigerate until ready.

Finish the sandwich:

First cut 4 good slices of the mozzarella cheese and have the basil leaves ready for the sandwich and cut the portobello in half so that you have 4 slices. Once all the vegi’s are cooked, sprinkle a little bit of olive oil on both sides of the bread, place two slices of the bread on the grill, while one side is cooking grab your garlic mayo, once one side of the bread has a few grill marks flip over. Take a butter knife and spread some of the garlic mayo on both slices, place 1/2 of the roasted red pepper on one side with 1 1/2 slices of the eggplant on top, on the other bread place 2 basil leaves, 2 slices of the mozzarella cheese and 2 pieces of the portobello that were cut in half and place both slices side to side, take some of your onions and put on top of the eggplants. Take the sandwich off the grill, cut in half and serve. Do the same with the other sandwich. Bon appetit =)

My thoughts:

Well of course I’m going to say it’s good, I made it, but in all honesty, I have to admit, it really was just simply Delish! My boyfriend loved it, not only is it healthy, it’s delish. The sweet pepper, with the eggplant and portobello, and onions ohhh and that garlic mayo it’s all just so good. The mozzarella cheese just melts in your mouth and you get that little kick from the basil leaves. You have to try this recipe. If you do let me know how it comes out.

Hope you enjoy!

xo,
kristin nicole

The Shopping List:

4 egg whites
1 whole egg
1 cup of Spinach leaves roughly chopped
White onion cut in 1/4 — then roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 cup of baby portobello
2 tbsp butter
splash of 1% or fat free milk
3 basil leaves
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Salt
Pepper

How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Take the 2 garlic cloves and finely chop, then place 2 tbsp of butter and the garlic in a 9-inch ovenproof saute pan over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until the garlic starts turning brown. While the garlic is cooking cut the Onion 1/4 and rough chop it, lower the stove to Medium-low heat and place the onions in the pan, saute for 2-3 minutes. While the Onions are cooking take one cup of baby portobello and rough chop it along with the 1 cup of spinach leaves. Add the spinach leaves and the baby portobello’s in the pan (cover), until the onions and mushrooms are tender and spinach leaves have wilted. Don’t forget to sprinkle the onions , spinach and portobello with a dash of salt and pepper for taste.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together with a fork. When the onions and mushrooms are cooked, pour over the egg mixture. Place the pan in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the omelet puffs and the eggs are almost cooked in the center. Sprinkle with a handful of grated Mozzarella Cheese (fat free if you can) and bake for another minute. Stack the basil leaves on top of each other, roll it like you would a cigar and rough chop them, then remove the eggs from the stove (be careful, the pan’s handle will be hot), cut a piece how ever big you want, I usually just cut it in half like a pizza pie and serve on a plate, then sprinkle basil leaves to garnish and Bon Appetit.

My thoughts:

This plate was light and healthy, you can add more eggs to your mixture if you want a fluffier portion, but we were trying to eat light that day because I was going to make lunch and we didn’t want to over stuff ourselves. (I will post what I made for lunch tomorrow). I also think if you are trying to eat healthy that portion control is a good thing, and this size was just perfect for us. You can taste the spinach leaves with the mixture of the portobello mushrooms and onions, this plate was just Delish! I got the idea from Ina Garten (Barefoot Contesta) from the dish I cooked a few weeks ago, but I wanted to do a healthier version, make it my own, so I did. I still haven’t done her recipe but hopefully I’ll get to do it soon. This was my inspired by Ina — Healthy version Breakfast for Two!

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

xo,
kristin nicole

Saturday night I decided to try a few recipes from my oh so favorite, foodnetwork.com

Shopping:

For the appetizer I decided to go for the Spinach and Artichoke Dip. First let me start off by saying Frozen Artichokes are hard to come by. I first started my shopping at Whole Foods, and they didn’t have any, so we headed to WinnDixie where I didn’t find them there either, so off to Publix, because Publix has to have them right? Ehhhh WRONG! They didn’t have them either, so as I ask people no one tells me that they come in a can, and I didn’t find this out until later when my boyfriends mom told us about it. So I bought baby artichokes because I couldn’t even find just one regular sized artichoke at Publix. I get home and find out that cooking this thing is going to take about 25-45 minutes. So we opted to return it and try buying the artichokes in a can at another Publix. While I was there, I decided to try and see if they had the frozen ones, and to my surprise, they did! YEAH for me, I can do the recipe as follows. So off to my house to start my first course.

BTW:

My other recipes included my Main Dish – Rib-Eye Steak with Black Olive Vinaigrette and for my side dish, Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic, Gorgonzola and Herbs. They ask for Roma Tomatoes but I couldn’t find those either in Whole Foods, so thanks to the help of one of their employee’s I found out that Roma Tomatoes is the same as a Plum Tomato which they did have. Don’t worry folks, I didn’t just take his word, my boyfriend looked it up on the iPhone and found the same thing. And just in case you are ever wondering, Red Pepper Flakes is the same as Chili Pepper Flakes. (Another item I couldn’t find). So on to the recipes…

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip:

Ingredients

* 1 cup thawed, chopped frozen spinach
* 11/2 cups thawed, chopped frozen artichoke hearts
* 6 ounces cream cheese
* 1/4 cup sour cream
* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
* 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

Boil spinach and artichokes in 1 cup of water until tender and drain. Discard liquid. Heat cream cheese in microwave for 1 minute or until hot and soft. Stir in rest of ingredients and serve hot. — Recipe courtesy Alton Brown (if you want to see the recipe click on link foodnetwork.com )

I followed the directions to a tee, and it did come out a little creamier then I thought, so if you don’t like too much cream cut the portions I say a 1/4 or 1/2 of what they ask. However, at first I wasn’t sure because it looked so creamy, but I have to admit, it came out DELISH! I added a few pitta chips on the side and get ready to dig in.

Main Dish – Rib-Eye Steak with Black Olive Vinaigrette:

Ingredients
Rib-eye Steak:

* 1 2-inch rib-eye steak, boneless
* 1 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Black Olive Vinaigrette:

* 1/2 cup black olives, pitted
* 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
* 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
* 1 garlic clove
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

For the Rib-eye: Preheat your grill pan on medium high heat. Coat the beef with olive oil and sprinkle with the Herbs de Provence, salt, and pepper. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes a side until the meat is medium-rare, remove from heat, and allow to rest.

For the Black Olive Vinaigrette: Combine the olives, red wine vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper in a blender and blend until mixed. In a small pitcher combine the olive oil and vegetable oil. Drizzle the oil into the blender with the machine running. Transfer the vinaigrette to a serving dish. Stir in the parsley and serve with the rib-eye. — Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis (for the recipe go to foodnetwork-everday-italian.com )

At first I wasn’t sure I would like the Black Olive Vinaigrette because I am not a huge fan of black olives, although I don’t mind a few in my salad or on my pizza, I am not one to just pick them out and eat them. So I didn’t add as many olives as she required, just a few less, not much a difference and instead of 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil (btw vegetable oil is very similar to canola oil) I only added 5, but boy was it good. I just wanted more on top of my Medium Rare steak which by the way also came out DELISH! The Rib-Eye is simple to make and depending how you like it cooked that’s the only thing time consuming. If you like it like my boyfriend and I do, Medium Rare, then the dish only takes about 6-8 minutes on each side, depending on how thick you bought your Rib-Eye.

My Side Dish – Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic, Gorgonzola and Herbs:

Ingredients

* 12 Roma tomatoes, sliced in 1/2 lengthwise
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 3/4 cup plain bread crumbs
* 3/4 cup finely crumbled Gorgonzola or grated Parmesan cheese
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using a teaspoon or grapefruit spoon, remove the seeds from the tomatoes. Place the tomato halves, cut side down, on paper towels to drain, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Using clean hands, gently toss the drained tomato halves in the oil mixture until coated. Marinate the tomatoes for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and Gorgonzola cheese.

Place the marinated tomato halves, cut side up, on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Fill each tomato half with the bread crumb filling. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until slightly softened and the underside of the tomatoes are brown.

Arrange the cooked tomatoes on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve immediately. –Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis (For recipe click on link Foodnetwork.com-everyday-italian )

Okay so my only problem was finding the Roma Tomatoes, also if you are only cooking for 4 people, 12 is way too many, 5 tomatoes are plenty. So I followed the directions and I used Gorgonzola NOT Parmesan as my cheese. It’s your choice but if you have never tried Gorgonzola I say try it, but make sure to get one that is not too strong if you don’t like a strong cheese, and if you do, go for it. But we opted for the creamer Gorgonzola. So because I used less tomatoes don’t use as many bread crumbs in your recipe. This plate came out good, but my boyfriend and I weren’t too in love with the bread crumbs, however the idea inspired me and next time I might use the garlic to season the tomatoes and the Gorgonzola cheese for the filling but I might add a few different items and leave out the bread crumbs. However, all in all the dishes came out DELISH!

I love trying new recipes and next Saturday I’ll probably try another.

xo,
kristin nicole

I got inspired by a recipe in Barefoot Contessa’s cook book. It’s called Omelet for two.

Ingredients

* 1/4 pound good thick-cut bacon
* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
* 1 cup medium-diced Yukon gold potato
* 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
* 1 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper
* 5 extra-large eggs
* 2 tablespoons milk or cream
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts
* 4 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, diced, plus extra grated cheese, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut the bacon crosswise in 1-inch slices. Cook the bacon in an 8-inch ovenproof saute pan over medium-low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned. Drain the bacon on paper towels and discard the fat from the pan. Add the butter to the pan, and then add the potato and yellow onion. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the onion starts to brown and the potato is tender but firm. Add the jalapeno pepper and cook for 30 seconds.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together with a fork. Stir in the scallions and diced Cheddar. When the potato is cooked, add the bacon to the pan and pour over the egg mixture. Place the pan in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the omelet puffs and the eggs are almost cooked in the center. Sprinkle with a handful of grated Cheddar and bake for another minute. Serve hot directly from the pan. (to see her recipe click on link foodnetwork.com-ina-garten )

My recipe:

Ingredients:

* 1/4 pound good thick-cut turkey bacon
* 1/2 cup of chorizo
* 1 tablespoon salted butter
* 1 cup medium-diced Red potato
* 1/2 cup chopped Red onion
* 6 large eggs
* 2 tablespoons fat free milk
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup chopped curly parsley, & 1 twig of Rosemary
* 2 to 3 handfuls of mozzarella cheese, plus extra mozzarella and one palm full of Mexican mixed cheese, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut the bacon in 1-inch slices. Cook the bacon in an 8-inch ovenproof saute pan over medium-low heat (If you use Turkey Bacon like I do, spray the pan with Pam first because the turkey bacon tends to stick to the bottom of the pan) for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned. Drain the bacon on paper towels and discard the fat from the pan. Add the butter to the pan, and then add the potato and red onion. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the onion starts to brown and the potato is tender but firm. Add the Chorizo for about 2-4 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together with a fork. Stir in the parsley and rosemary along with the mozzarella cheese. When the potato is cooked, add the bacon to the pan and pour over the egg mixture. Place the pan in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the omelet puffs and the eggs are almost cooked in the center. Sprinkle with a handful of grated Mexican mixed cheese and mozzarella cheese and bake for another minute.(Depending how much cheese you like). Serve hot directly from the pan.

Yummmm

Boy was this dish DELISH! I couldn’t believe how my inspiration for cooking this dish came from stuff I had at home mixed with Barefoot Contessa’s recipe. I definitely want to try Ida’s recipe, but I wouldn’t mind doing mine again either. I might even try a healthier version next weekend. Hope you enjoy, it’s a must try recipe. By the way, it says Omelet for Two but this is more for about 3 people. I only ate half of my slice.

xo,
kristin nicole

VS.

Okay so I know this is a strange topic, but what can I say I love to cook, and well I always see the Prego commercial that states they had a blind fold test and the majority picked Prego over Bertolli. My response: REALLY?!?

Prego vs Bertolli

First is it true that PREGO really did do this test? And second, did they really choose Prego? Personally my favorite store bought sauce is from Bretolli. They have viarities of tomato and basil, four cheese, vodka sauce and more. I know the others have the same viarities but the flavors, oh the flavors are oh so Delish! Now of course people have their own taste buds and their own opinions, some prefer Ragu, personally Ragu to me is just bland and just tomato thrown together with out seasoning, but that’s just me. My question however, is what do you prefer?

Do you prefer Prego or Bertolli? Or is there another brand you think will throw these two out of the water? I would like to know, maybe I haven’t tried it yet and I’m missing out. Leave a comment and let me know. I promise I’ll taste them and I’ll let you know what I think. Pasta is my weakness, I love pasta so I’ll try different sauces to see what is really and truly the best ones.

Change it up

If you want a change though, I also recommend trying to make your own sauce. I tried a recipe over the weekend that was very simple. I used a Mascarpone with Parmesan cheese, I didn’t have heavy cream so I substituted it with 2% milk and it worked just the same, just not as thick but still oh so creamy. I then seasoned it with a little salt and paper, and in less then 10 minutes your sauce was ready to go. I then placed the light crusted lime flavored Tilapia I made in the oven. Oh what a dinner. This weekend I want to try a new recipe, if you have any favorites I would love to give it a try.

I look forward to any comments. — Until next time…

xo,
kristin nicole

Another year is close to an end and we are only 3 days away from Thanksgiving 2009.

Everyone has their own traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I want to know what you do for Thanksgiving?

My family each bring a plate and someone in the family hosts the Thanksgiving dinner at their house, this person cooks the Turkey. This year my mom is taking the day off and we are doing Thanksgiving at my cousins house. So this year I was told to bring a green-bean casserole, wine and a fruit platter. TOLD? Yes TOLD, I didn’t get to choose, I left early when they decided this and so I was told to bring these things. Mind you, I like cooking but I don’t really eat green-bean casserole and I’ve never made it. So…. Wine, Check. Fruit platter, Check. Green-bean Casserole….hmmmm, my sister in law was so kind not to only give me coupons but a nice recipe to go with it. I hope it comes out good, does anyone have any other recipes they would like to share other then the Campbell Recipe? Well if you are interested here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
- 2 cabs (10 3/4 oz each) Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom Sup (regular or 98% Fat Free or Healthy Request)
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tsp. soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
- 8 cups cooked cut green beans
- 1 can (6oz) French’s French Fried Onions (2 2/3 cups)

Directions:
1. Stir soup, milk, soy suace, black pepper, beans and 1 1/3 cups onion in 3-qt casserole.
2. Bake at 350F for 25 min. or unit hot. Stir
3. Top with remaining onions, Bake for 5 min. more

And there you go, Green-bean casserole. Not that hard huh?!?

Every year my brother, sister in law and group of friends do a Friends Thanksgiving the Friday after Thanksgiving. So this year I chose to bring a Baked Mashed Potato with Parmesan Cheese and Bread Crumbs, Thanks to Giada De Laurentiis (Everyday Italian from the Foodnetwork channel).

Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cups grated mozzerella
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of butter and set aside.

Cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until they are very tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; return the potatoes to the same pot and mash well. Mix in the milk and melted butter. Mix i the mozzarella and 3/4 cup of Parmesan. Season, to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer the potatoes to the prepared baking dish. Stir the bread crumbs and remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the mashed potatoes. Recipe can be prepared up to this point 6 hours ahead of time; cover and chill.

Bake, uncovered, until the topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Of course I will let you know how each dish comes out. Wish me luck.

Other ideas are to decorate with pumpkins and turkeys. Colors are fall, so bring out the oranges, and browns. If you have small kids, cupcakes are always fun to make with the kids and you can use orange dye for the frosting.

Have a wonderful Holiday and Please share your recipe’s and ideas with me.

xo,
kristin nicole

I don’t know if you have ever been to R.J. Gator’s, I’m not a huge fan who goes there, but I did go there once or twice with my cousin. I know my cousin liked this place a lot and it was close to her house. Well I just found out they had to go bankrupt. Thats not the worst part, not only did they keep this from their employees until literally last night, the employees are now left with out a job and they don’t know if they will get their last paycheck.

I just don’t understand how this is even allowed. And the way the economy is now we just have to hope these people find other jobs soon. I truly can’t believe all the restaurants that are closing due to the economy it’s shocking to tell you the truth.

My co-workers and I were walking back from lunch yesterday and saw that Beverly Hills Cafe is also closed due to the economy. They supposedly have some other branches open but we were shocked that this specific branch was closed. They always looked fairly busy for lunch in this area. As a matter a fact not that long ago we had even noticed how packed they were for lunch. I wonder if they did the same thing to there employees as they did to R.J. Gator’s employees?!

If you want to read more about R.J. Gator’s click on the Link HERE

We have to do something to help this economy but what??

XO,
Kristin Nicole