When Life Hands You Tomatoes....

My dad brought us an incredible amount of tomatoes. 

Let me rephrase that, my dad brought us a ton of big 'ol tomatoes. I was bound and determined to move beyond my classic B.L.T. (heard of it?) and tackle these tomatoes head on in the most delicious ways. 

Big 'Ol Maters

Our tomato journey started on Sunday evening and as of Friday morning, we only have two tomatoes remaining. I call that a success! 

For most of the recipes, I snagged them from my fav-o-rite website, Skinnytaste. Gina (we are definitely on a first name basis at this point) always has the tastiest recipes. 

Here's what we've been eating all week!

On Sunday, we had Pesto-Parmesan Tomatoes to compliment our grilled steak. 

Pesto-Parmesan Baked Tomatoes via Skinnytaste

Over the weekend, my sister-in-law made a delicious batch of Pico de Gallo and I was hooked. One of our tomatoes this week was donated to the Pico de-cause and we have been snacking on Pico all week!

Pico de Gallo via Food Network, The Pioneer Woman

This dish was quite possibly my favorite! We have started incorporating more fish into our meal routine (BREAKING NEWS: I'm a salmon fan now!). On Monday, we had tilapia with a tomato and caper sauce. 

Broiled Tilapia with Tomato Caper Sauce via Skinnytaste

 We don't always have soup in the summer but when we do.... it's full of tomatoes! ;) On Tuesday, we had Tomato Bisque. My husband added some red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning to give it a little more zing! 

Tomato Bisque via Skinnytaste

It's summer time, so lunch looks a little different for me these days. Yesterday, I enjoyed a lump crab salad and avocado. 

Avocado and Lump Crab Salad via Skinnytaste

It's truly been a delicious week. (There was one recipe that was a big 'ol flop, but I'll save that for another day!)

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Just when I thought I had run out of ideas for my tomato stash, a friend sent me this link from The Gracious Wife with 88 recipes for fresh tomatoes. Now... I need a few more tomatoes!

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What are your favorite tomato-based recipes? Share with me! 

Our FIRST Iron Chef!

Last night, we got together with a group of friends and participated in our first Iron Chef competition! Prior to the evening, we all suggested secret ingredients and they were tossed into a hat. Then the youngest member of the group (i.e. a 1-year old) picked the ingredient and assigned each couple a "course" to prepare. 

The secret ingredient was.....

APPLES!

Scott and I were responsible for coming up with a main dish using apple as its star player. Our wheels were spinning all weekend. Finally, we decided to make ribs with some sort of apple glaze to drizzle over the top. 

Before tossing the soon to be applely-tasting ribs in the oven, I used Twisted Belly All Purpose Rub to coat the ribs for extra flavor. I may be biased, but Twisted Belly is my favorite rub - the only one I ever use. :) Even Chip is a big fan of the product!

#GetTwisted

Next, after consulting my fellow chef, my ribs cooked at 300 degrees in a pan of apple cider for about two hours. Oh, I added a few apples on top of the ribs for kicks. After two hours of cooking, I scorched my fingers and flipped the ribs over to cook for another two hours. 

While the ribs were cooking, I prepared the an apple glaze to add an extra apple-punch to the ribs. 

Apple Glaze adapted from Food & Wine Magazine

You'll Need:

• 2 cups apple cider
• 1/2 C Apple Jelly
• 1/2 C Maple Syrup
• 1/4 C Spicy Brown Mustard
• 1/2 t All Spice
• Pinch of Ginger
• 1 T Corn Starch

Make It!

• Bring the apple cider to a boil and let it reduce by half. Add the jelly and syrup to the reduced cider. Next, add in the mustard and spices. Add in cornstarch to thicken the glaze. 

Once the glaze was ready, Scott coated the ribs and stuck them back in the oven for a few more minutes. After a while, we turned on the broiler as well. 

To top off the ribs, we diced one apple and sprinkled the apple bits over the ribs as a garnish with the glaze. 

I don't mean to brag - okay, I will brag - but the ribs were amazing. 

Ah-maze-ing. 

We each gave scores for the other dishes in the competition and rated them on Taste, Plating, and Originality. 

The results were tallied... calculated.... recounted.... analyzed... and

WE WON! Not only did we win bragging rights, but we get to take home a pretty stellar traveling trophy with a fork on top! 

Victory!

Now, it's time to spruce up the trophy and start planning our next Iron Chef dish!

Cauliflower Pizza -- Weight Watchers Recipe

As soon as my boyfriend and I returned from New Orleans in January, I started the Weight Watchers program.  If you've read my blog for sometime, you are fully aware that I love indulging in sweets and good food. After having trouble shedding those pounds, I decided to test out the WW program and see what happened. 

The past two Saturdays, we've created a cauliflower pizza crust from scratch and it's been a tremendous success! I was very hesitant to test out this method, but we were very pleased with the results.

Chef Scottie Rob

It helps when you have someone handsome (as seen above) who is willing to grate a head of cauliflower for your meal. :) Tasty Kitchen has a great step by step guide to making your crust. Find it here. 

Our first pizza was a Hawaiian pizza with Canadian bacon and pineapple. We used this recipe from Recipe Girl as a guide. The crust came out thin and rather tasty. I think the shock was evident on both of our faces when we were realized how good the crust actually was. We came to the conclusion we really couldn't tell the difference. (side note: If you were to hand me a Shakespeare's Pizza, I could tell the difference. Just so we're clear!) In addition to this, one slice was 3 points plus opposed to the pizza we had a few weeks ago where one slice was seven. I was able to eat more pizza and I loved every minute of it. 

Our second attempt at making the pizza crust went much smoother. We used more of the cauliflower head and utilized parchment paper in the cooking process. This batch was much thicker than our previous crust, so it needed to cook much longer before adding all of our toppings. Week two's pizza was a BBQ Chicken Pizza adapted from this recipe. 

Ready to be baked!

The final product, both weeks, was absolutely delicious. The worst part about the whole process was grating the cauliflower (I don't own a food processor). However, as I mentioned earlier, convince a handsome lad to do the hard part for you. wink wink!

BBQ Pizza with a Cauliflower Crust

Have you used cauliflower for a substitute in any recipes? 

We've also made a garlic bread recipe that was delicious. Share with me your other cauliflower experiments! 

Scottie Rob's Champagne Poached Lobster

Meet Scott. 

He happens to be my favorite chef.  Now, you may think I am biased - and I am, but I am also right when I say he's an incredible chef. On New Year's Eve, he made us an amazing poached lobster dish. I intentionally ate really slow so I could savor it even longer. 

Sadly, I don't have a photograph to show you the finished product. You will just have to have faith in me when I say - it was ah-maze-ing. The perfect New Year's Eve dish! 

Scottie Rob's Champagne Poached Lobster

You'll Need:

2 lobster tails

1 leaks bundle

I  bundle green onions

1 C Whipping cream

1 C Brut Sparkling wine/champ

2 T lemon juice

2 cloves minced garlic

4 T butter

1 T dill

S&P to taste

Make it!

• Chop green onions and leaks
• Combine leaks, green onions, champagne, garlic, and lobster tail (in shell) in pot and bring to boil
• Cover pot and let simmer for 15 min
• Remove lobster from pot and set aside
• Add whipping cream to leaks and green onion mixture and bring to a boil
• Reduce by half
• Whisk in butter one tablespoon at a time, add lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper to mixture
• Remove lobster from shell and cut into medallions
• Serve lobster over bed of leaks
• Spoon remaining sauce over lobster

Tastes Like California

On our vacation in California earlier this month my bf and I had our first experience with cantaloupe and prosciutto pizza. When we ordered, we didn't really know what to expect we just crossed our fingers and hopped the pizza would turn out tasty. 

Yum. It was the strangest and and one of the most delicious pizzas I've ever had. So different from pizza I'm used to back in Missouri. Since coming home, we were longing for a little taste of Southern California, so we made our very own Cantaloupe and Prosciutto Pizza. :)

You'll Need:

• Pizza crust (we used Jiffy Pizza Crust Mix)
• Cantaloupe (sliced thin)
• Prosciutto (sliced thin)
• Mozzarella cheese
• Pizza Sauce
• Basil

Make It:

• Prepare pie crust as directed on box or package and bake for 2-3 minutes. 
• Add pizza sauce and mozz cheese to pizza crust. 
• Next, layer prosciutto on top of mozzarella. Hold onto the cantaloupe!
• Bake your pizza (note: this depends on what type of crust you use/make) for 18-20 minutes at 425 degrees.
• Top your pizza with cantaloupe and fresh basil. Enjoy!

Monster Basil For Dinner

Earlier this spring I decided that I wanted to grow my own herbs for the summer. So I did! I went and bought some little seedlings, dumped them into a container, and let Mother Nature do her job. Prior to planting the seeds, I had pinned several links about gardening and planting herbs... did I read any of those before dumping the seeds? No, of course not. I really had no idea what I was doing. 

Then, I left for vacation and spent several days away from my house and left my little herbs to survive on their own. When I returned home I was surprised (and shocked!) to see that my basil plant had grown tremendously. I searched around for Jack (and the beanstalk) to make sure he wasn't leaving any magic beans around. 

Tonight, my bf and I decided to make pesto pasta using the magical basil plant that grew in my little garden. It was quite delightful. Below you will find our recipe!

Fresh Basil Pesto Pasta

You'll Need:

1 cup fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup pine nuts

1 clove minced garlic

8 oz penne pasta

1 cup chopped tomatoes

Make It:

• In food processor (or blender in our case!), combine basil, cheese, oil, pine nuts and garlic and blend until smooth.
• Toss basil mixture with cooked pasta and tomatoes. Sprinkle with parmesan and enjoy! :)

Linking up at the Tuesday Talent Show!

Lettuce Wrapped BBQ Pulled Pork

Are your drooling after reading the title? Yes, you should be. On Sunday, my house was filled with the sweet smell of BBQ as our pork creation simmered in the crock pot. My bf and I like to cook together and try out and experiment with new recipes. Sundays are the perfect experimentation day! This was actually one we've done before - I just forgot to blog about it. Shame on me. 

After a great Monday with my students, I was happy to come home to scrumptious leftovers. Those who know me well, know that I am not a typical "leftovers" fan. Gosh, I guess this means I'm growing up. 

Lettuce Wrapped BBQ Pulled Pork - Scott Style

You'll Need:

• pork shoulder
• mustard
• pork rub (we used Famous Daves)
• brown sugar
• 1 cup beer
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• BBQ sauce of your choice
• Lettuce (for wraps)

Make it:

• Coat meat with mustard and pork rub. Sprinkle with brown sugar (all over!)
• Pour 1 cup of beer and 1 tablespoon (or a few) into the crock pot.
• Plump your pork into the crock pot and drizzle with BBQ sauce.
• Let cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred when you're ready to dine.
• Spoon shredded meat into lettuce wrap for a little sandwich. If you're feeling fancy, drizzle with some BBQ. Enjoy!

Enjoy your extra hour of sunshine, friends!

Our Spin on Chicken Taco Pizza

Last night, my bf and I were craving something a little different than our Sunday night Soup tradition. After bouncing several ideas, we decided to create our own version of a Taco Pizza. If you have a Casey's General Store in your area - you've probably experienced one before. :) We borrowed ideas from this recipe at Jo Cooks here. 

Chicken Taco Pizza

You'll Need:

• Pizza Dough (we picked up the premade kind)
• 1 cup refried beans 
• 1 pound of chicken breasts, cut into strips 
• Shredded cheese
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 package of chicken taco seasoning
  
  Toppings (go wild!)
• Lettuce 
• Tomatoes
• Green peppers
• Salsa
• Cilantro
• Plain Greek Yogurt (substitute for sour cream)

Make it!

• Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. 
• Begin assembling your pizza from the bottom up. We covered the pizza with refried beans and salsa while the chicken cooked in the taco seasoning. 
• In the mean time, cook your chicken in a skillet with the taco seasoning. We followed the directions on the packet of seasons.
• Add the cooked chicken and shredded cheese to your pizza. 
• Pop it in the oven for 8-10 minutes.
• Polish off the pizza with toppings of your choice. We went with: lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, green peppers, cilantro, and yogurt. 
• Slice your pizza up and enjoy!

I don't mean to toot our horns or anything... but this was a delicious dish. I'm looking forward to the leftovers tonight for dinner. We watched ours with an episode of Walking Dead and the NFL playoffs. Are you a fan of Walking Dead too? We are catching up on season three and things are getting emotional. 

Happy Monday!

For the Love of Quinoa!

I felt it was time to dive into the quinoa phenomenon since I've pinned hundreds of recipes already. Many of my Sunday evenings are spent enjoying a delicious bowl of soup, so this week my bf and I decided to make a little vegetable soup with quinoa. Thanks to this recipe found here. 

The recipe has all of your classic vegetable soup staples (and then some) to enjoy on a chilly evening. Naturally, we had to make a few modifications because I thought I had all of the ingredients. Soon enough, I found they were missing from my pantry. We also made this into a slow-cooker soup by letting the vegetables, spices, and broth cook all day then added the cooked quinoa at the very last minute. 

In addition to the soup, we also added a few other spices and whatnot (which means I don't have an exact measurement.. just go with it).

Frank's hot sauce
red wine

lime juice

minced garlic (more!)

After an afternoon of smelling vegetables simmer all day in the crock pot, I can assure you that this bowl of quinoa soup was enjoyed with the Golden Globes (and the playoffs!) playing in the background. 

Enjoy your evening, folks!

What's For Dinner? Lettuce Wraps!

From most of my food blogging you can probably tell that I a major sweet tooth. I usually don't branch out very much in the dinner department, but I've been searching for more healthy alternatives to my favorites. One of my favorite genres of food is Mexican. Yummmmm! Nothing makes my heart smile more than a big 'ol batch of white queso and tortilla chips. Combine a yummy taco slopped with sour cream and I'm in heaven.

As a little alternative to the traditional taco, we swapped out the tortilla shell for lettuce. Wild huh? I'm sure you have tasted something similar in your eating days!

I modified this recipe a smidgen to suit our needs. Plus, I forgot a few ingredients at the store. One of these days, I'll become an expert at grocery shopping.

Chicken & Pepper Lettuce Wraps (for two!)

2 chicken breasts 

2 Cups Zesty Italian Dressing

1 tbsp Cumin

2 bell peppers sliced (I picked a yellow and red one!)

Shredded cheddar cheese

Head of lettuce

Fun fact: Until recently, I had no idea that cumin actually made things spicy. I found out the hard way.

Mix one cup of the Italian Dressing and the cumin in a bowl with your chicken that has been cut into strips. Stick it in the fridge for 30 minutes or so to marinate.

Add remaining dressing to skillet and toss in chopped peppers. Cook until they are a little crispy. Set aside to let them cool.

In the same skillet (with dressing) toss in your chicken until it's cooked through. It will probably take about 10 minutes. Add your veggies for about 2 minutes and stir.

Spoon your chicken and peppers into your lettuce wraps and top with cheese. Add some salsa if you're feeling fancy!

Awkward arm

Yuuum

Delicious and colorful!

Seriously, these were ah-maz-ing. I think I said "WOW! These are really good" several times during our meal. I think I set the bar pretty low in my mind, so I was very suprised how much I enjoyed them. Once upon a time, I was a very picky eater (my sister can testify to that) and I would have never tried something like this. I guess this means I'm growing up.

Grandma Knows Best!

Growing up my grandma would always make stuffed green peppers for my family. Each time my dad would bring home a new batch to stuff in the freezer, I would shiver and say.. "Ew! Yuck!" Year after year, my hatred and disgust towards this family tradition grew larger and larger. It was snowballing out of control. 

Why did I hate those peppers so much? I'm not sure. The real question is, why didn't I ever actually try them? (I imagine my sister is shaking her head at me now). Let's just say I was judging this edible book by its cover. Now here I sit at the age of 23 preparing to tell you about my own stuffed pepper experience. 

Does this mean I'm growing up?

Taco Stuffed Peppers from AllRecipes.com

• 2 green bell peppers
• 1/2 pound ground beef or lean ground turkey
• 1 tablespoon chopped onions
• 1 can kidney beans (drained -forgot to do that!)
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 3 tbsp taco seasoning (I definitely used the whole package)
• sour cream
• cheddar cheese

note: I made several changes to this recipe on accident. Peppers still turned out great!

Step 1: Cook the meat (I used lean ground turkey) and chopped onions in your skillet. 

Step 2: Boil the peppers that you've cut in half and de-seeded. (whoops! Forgot to mention that step).

Step 3: After you've drained your meat mixture, add 1 can of tomato sauce, 1 can of kidney beans, and 1 package of taco seasoning. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for ...umm.. however long you feel it should simmer.

Step 4: Simmer down now.

Step 5: Pop in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees and let bake!

Step 6: Take a photograph for your blog.

Step 7: Park your butt on the porch with a good book and enjoy.  Sorry, that was bossy. You may sit and do wherever you would like.

Roaring Peppers - Get it?

Consider this my public apology for never trying my grandma's stuffed peppers.

Don't worry - we're on the phone now. 

Taco Chicken Soup

Happy Monday, friends! I hope the weather is beautiful in your area. Today, I woke up as a frozen popsicle in my bed (because I'm cheap and won't turn up the heat) and this afternoon I was prancing around in flippy flops. I sure do love spring weather! 

While driving home, I remembered I had a few chicken breasts in my fridge waiting to be cooked. I was in the mood for something soupy, stewy, taco-ey, and yummy. I started looking up recipes for a chicken taco soup, but I didn't have all of the ingredients to complete one.. so I combined a few! 

Chicken Taco Soup
Here's What You Need!

• Chicken breasts
• 1 packet of taco seasoning
• Salt
• Chicken broth
• Cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 of velveeta ...stick? What do you call those things?
• 1-2 cups salsa
• 1 can corn
• Tortilla chips
• Sour cream

Directions:

• Boil chicken breasts, taco seasoning, chicken broth and water for roughly 30-45 minutes. Don't quote me on that one! 
• Remove the chicken from the broth and chop up into cubes or shred. I went for the shred/cubed approach.
• Add the remainder of your ingredients (except chips and sour cream) to your broth and let simmer. Don't forget to throw your chicken back in!
• Pour some in a bowl and eat with chips and sour cream. Enjoy!

I enjoyed mine from the comfort of my patio. Now, I'm going to clean the crap (pardon me) out of my house.

My patio is ready for guests. Come one... come all!

Squashed

Not so long ago, my dear friend Ali (follow her blog here) tried to convince me to eat spaghetti squash. She told me how delicious it was and it was a great alternative to noodles. I thought she had gone crazy! Spaghetti from a SQUASH? I said, "Girl, you've lost your mind." (I'm 75% sure that's an accurate statement)

Well, skip forward two and a half years and guess what I tried out last night? Yes, you guessed it! Spaghetti squash. How did it taste? Not too shabby! It was the perfect dish for a dinner date after a beautiful day of Polar Bear Plunging!

I found a recipe on Kraft Foods and modified it just a tad. The original recipe for Cheesey Spaghetti Squash can be found here.

Whoops! Forgot the Squash.

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti squash (we used two!)
• Mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan Cheese
• Spaghetti Sauce
• Parsley or Italian Seasoning
• EVOO (as Rachel Ray says) 

Make it!

• Microwave your squash for 10-12 minutes. Make sure you stab it with a fork a few times to allow for steaming. As demonstrated below. :)
• Cut the squash in half and pull the seeds from the insides. Use a fork to scrape the sides of the squash to form spaghetti-ish strands.
• Throw the strands and your ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss 'em up!
• Enjoy with your date!

Take Out Your Anger on Some Squash!

Dinner is Served!

Our dish was complete with a side of asparagus. Thanks to a suggestion from Pinterest, I seasoned the asparagus with olive oil, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Then, I stuck them in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes!

I think it's about that time to enjoy a little nappy-poo, Netflix, and my couch while I mentally prepare for a spectacular night of television. Yes, I'm talking about The Oscars! 

"FindAnythingInTheFridge-Monday"

I've never really been creative enough to throw ingredients together and whip up something grand. Now, before I continue with  my "creation", I will warn you: a four year old could do this. I definitely don't deserve a medal for my little kitchen creation.

I peaked in my fridge and three things that stuck out to me: crescent rolls, cheese, and salsa. Why not put them all together? So I did. Like I said, this post is dedicated to the younger demographic.

Let me back up. I mentioned finding some salsa in my fridge. Yes, recently I purchased a jar of salsa from a restaurant down here at the lake. There may be more Mexicali Blues floating around the world, but to me.. it's local!

Please examine this jar carefully. Notice the "HOT" and "XXX"? Yeah, ME TOO. As I was banging the jar of salsa on the counter and twisting with all my might to get the lid off... I read the jar carefully. I gave a shriek and put that salsa away ASAP. I am what you might call a "weenie" when it comes to spicy food.  Actually, I'm more than a weenie. I'm a wuss/weenie/little baby/chicken when it comes to spicy foods. I stick to normally-flavored foods that don't make my lips and mouth want to fall off and run away.

Thankfully, I had another jar of salsa hibernating in my pantry. After that unfortunate salsa "episode", I rolled out my crescent rolls, sprinkled them with colby jack cheese, threw in some frozen corn for good measure, and doused them with salsa. I'm sure Martha Stewart is calling me as we speak and I'll be guest starring on "The Chew" in no time.

I Picked the Pretty Ones to Photograph

After about 13 minutes in the oven, I pulled out my little crescent delights and parked myself on the couch for a fine feast.

Not too shabby for a Monday night.

Confusing

Is it pizza? Is it lasagna? Very confusing, I know.  My taste buds were very conflicted while I was mixing ricotta cheese, mozz, parmesan, and italian sausage AND spreading it on a flatbread in a pizza-like fashion.

I kept repeating to myself.. I'm making lasagna. I'm making lasagna, etc.

Whether you classify this recipe as pizza or lasagna, it's definitely a must-try. It was definitely enjoyed on my end with a rousing head to head match of Scene It.


This recipe comes courtesy of Plain Chicken. I've used other recipes from Stephanie's site before. It's a great one to follow!!

Lasagna Flatbread Plain Chicken

15 oz ricotta cheese (can use cottage cheese)
8 oz shredded mozzarella, divided
3 oz parmesan cheese
2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 egg
1 lb sausage or hamburger
1/2 (26oz) jar marinara sauce
6 flatbreads

Preheat oven to 375.  click here to read the rest of Steph's recipe! 



In other news, I just bought the most adorable Valentine's Day cards from Rifle Paper Co. 

Maybe you'll be one of my lucky snail mail recipients? Happy MLK Jr. Day!