Delux Grilled Cheese & Tomato Basil Soup

Quick, Easy and Perfect on a cool fall day!

Colby, Muenster, Gorganzola and fresh Mozzarella cheese melted between wheat bread and then dipped in a bowl of Tomato Basil soup!

Comfort food with a little pizzaz!!

And again.......

I'm totally addicted!

Jamie Oliver is on Iron Chef.....

enough said!

Sweet Neighborly Love still exists....

A sweet little neighbor lady brought me Apple Butter Bars tonight! They were perfect desert with my cherry wine!!!

Scotch Egg @ Trotters in BG

I crave Scotch Eggs ever since I had them at Swig in Perrysburg. I heard that a restaurant in BG served them also so I had the try them, of course! It was good but I'm giving Swig the EGGstrordinarily Delicous trophy! The sauce, side of veggies and texture were all EGGstra special contest winning components!!! I will be attempting to make these at home!!!

Soft Poached Eggs w/ Mozzarella Pita Toast

I am not a breakfast food person most of the time. 

But, OH MY GOODNESS.....this was the most delicious breakfast I have ever made. 

It was so simple!  Poach 2 eggs in a pot of boiling water seasoned with salt and red wine vinegar.  Serve with wheat pita wedges broiled with fresh mozzarella. 

Season with S&P and fresh basil. 

I could eat this meal any time of day, and I probably will be doing just that quite often!!!

Tom Yum Paste

This is my new addiction. 

This hot, spicy and sour paste makes a great sauce for asian noodles. 

I just got this last week and have already used it for 3 meals. 

It can be added to any meat or veggie stir fry for an extra kick. 

 I have found that it also makes a great noodle soup base. 

Chop and saute any veggies or meat in a little olive and sesame oil with garlic, ginger and soy sauce.  Add some of the rice noodle water to deglase the pan and add in the Tom Yum Paste. 

It is very strong and only a small amount is needed to add huge flavor to any dish. 

I used about 1 T that made enough for 2 servings. 

Let the sauce simmer, add in the rice noodles and seve with fresh chopped cilantro and green onions.

Today I made it with chicken, mushrooms, snow peas, onion, garlic, ginger and rice noodles. 

 I made it extra saucy, almost like a soup.....SO good!!! 

Roasted Roma Tomato & Mushroom Pasta w/ Grilled Chicken

Sometimes it's the simplest ingredients that make the best dishes!! 

::Roast::

 Roma Tomatoes

 Mushrooms

Onions

Garlic

Fresh Basil

in a little olive oil seasoned with S&P

@ 350 for 25 min.

Remove from pan, place in a bowl and cover with foil. 

As it sits the juices from the vegetables will combine to make an amazing sauce. 

Toss with pasta and top with grilled chicken, basil and parmesan cheese! 

YUM!!!!

Fish Tacos

This was a quick, easy, light lunch.  I used left over Cracker Crusted Walleye.

On steamed corn tortillas with lettuce, green onions, homemade salsa, cilantro and

chipotle-lime sour cream, it was a perfect lunch!!!



Cracker Crusted Walleye

Although this dish is not incredibly appealing to the eye, it was to my taste buds and very simple preparation.  Any mild white fish would work perfect for this dish.  I inherited a jackpot of fish from my brother Patrick when he moved to Colorado.  This was the last of the walleye that he caught this summer.  Next I will be experimenting with Hallabit that he caught this summer in Alaska. 

::Simple Prep::

Clean and dry fish fillets

Season with Salt and Pepper

Press fillets into finely crushed Saltine crackers

Cook in frying pan coated with cooking spray until crackers are toasted and fish is cooked through. (about 5 min. on each side)

I served it with tartar sauce and gnocchi w/ mushrooms and onions.



My perfect cup of coffee!

Simple, plain-old coffee with a small dash of cinnamon added to the grounds in the coffee maker. 

Mixed with some hazelnut creamer, it's the perfect cup of coffee.

Oh.....don't forget the chocolate chips on the side!



The cutest PB&J ever!!!

I love packing Bailey's lunch!  I'm not really sure why, I just love it.  She found this cute little butterfly sandwich crust remover at the dollar store and forgot all about it.  SO....when I packed her lunch the other day I used it and didn't tell her.  She told me how excited she was when she opened her lunch box at school that day.  What 6 year old little girl wouldn't love a butterfly shaped sandwich! 

 It's all about the little things!!!

Chicken Tawook w/ Hummus and Tabouli Pita

A local Mediterranian restaurant has me hooked on this sandwich.  For only $3.95 it is my go-to carry out dinner on my way to school on Tuesday nights.  This weekend I decided to make my own.  Not to bad of a job, if I do say so myself.

1. Marinate chicken, grill and slice (chicken marinade was Miracle blend, fresh lemon juice and worchesteshire sauce!) 

2. Top with homemade taboulli and hummus. 

3. All wrapped up in a wheat pita! 

YUM!



New, good, cheap wine!!

Shopping on a tight budget has me on the search for good, cheap wine.  This one was a huge find! $3.39 at the local Aldi store. 

Can't beat it!!!!

Diners, drive-ins and dives...

I love this show! It gives me so many food ideas! I wonder how I could get myself in the passenger seat of Guy's convertible?!?! Hmmmmm???

Louisiana Shrimp & Scallop Pasta

If I haven't said it before, I could live on pasta! I love it!!! Any shape, style, flavor....love it! Seafood and spicy are also at the top of my food obsession list, so this dish is borderline perfect in my book!!

~~THE RECIPE~~

~Raw, peeled and deveined shrimp &
Scallops cleaned and dried, (as many as you want) season with S&P

~Brown in a large frying pan in a little butter and olive oil combo just until about medium doneness. Remove from pan, place in bowl, cover with foil and set aside.

~Add a little more olive oil, minced garlic, onion and grape tomatoes. Sauté until tender. (Mushrooms would be a great addition but I used all of mine on my pizza last night)

~Add 1 bottle of clam juice (more depending on how many your cooking for. I was only cooking for 2)

~Let simmer and reduce a little, add in about 1/2 C milk or heavy cream ( I used milk because it's all I had and it was good but heavy cream would make it much richer) Simmer again.

~Thicken with corn starch and water slurry.

~Add parmesan cheese, S&P to taste and then cayenne pepper and blackened seasoning to your desired Cajun heat level.

~Return shrimp and scallops to the pan, coat with sauce and serve over you favorite pasta.

~Top with chopped green onion or chives.

ENJOY!!!

Mushroom & Chicken Pizza

No sauce needed on this one! The mushrooms are the base and release their delicious juices under the other toppings! Mmmmmmmm!!!

::How to do it::

•Use your favorite crust! I am hooked on the frozen dough pizza crust balls from Meijer. I've never had better crust at home!
•Layer sliced Baby Bella Shrooms
•Thinly sliced onion
•Drizzle with olive oil
•Sprinkle with S&P (I used miracle blend)
•Diced grilled chicken breast
•Dried basil
•Shredded mozzarella

Bake as crust directs!

ENJOY!!!

Veggie Flatbread

SO GOOD!!!

Sauté Onion, Baby Bellas, Garlic and Grape Tomatoes in a little olive oil!

Brush a wheat pita with olive oil and season with your favorite crust seasoning! I used my Miracle Blend!

Top pita with sautéed veggies, fresh basil, sliced fresh mozzarella and broil until cheese just browns!

Top with a little more fresh basil and enjoy!!!

Homemade Tabouli

•EASY
•HEALTHY
•DELICIOUS

::RECIPE::
1Bunch of curly parsley - finely chopped
1 Green onion - diced
1 Small tomato - diced
1/2 Cucumber - peeled and diced
3 TBS cooked bulgar wheat
The juice of 1/2 a lemon
1-2 TBS Olive oil
Salt to taste (I used very little)
Mix and let marinate

Serve with pita bread and hummus!!!

Enjoy!!

French Onion Soup = My Goal

This is one of my favorite things! My goal this fall/winter is to create the most amazing french onion soup recipe! Challenge begins now....



P.S. This pic was soup from a can....mediocre at best!!!