Well today my family had a surprise birthday party for my aunt at olive garden

It was lunch time so I decided to do the soup salad and bread sticks lunch

I already know that I love their salad and who doesn't like bread sticks so all that was to decide was which soup to try

I decided to so the Tuscana which was a light sausage and potato soup with kale

I was actually going to try another since its endless but I filled up on so much salad and because this soup was so good I ate it all and left no room to try another

I guess next time ill have to take it a little slower lol

Tonight it was my papa's turn to cook

I had bought some country pork ribs a few days ago and I'm not the best at cooking ribs yet so I let him do it

He also made some delicious dill potatoes to go with the ribs

He made these by cooking off some prosciutto and onions and boiling the potatoes

He them sauteed them with the onion mixture and seasoned with salt and pepper and of course dill

Delicious every bit of it

I really do love these days when someone else cooks for me

I think my parents will do just fine without me

Johnny Cakes

So tonight I was in the mood again to experiment so I decided to try and make my version of Johnny cakes

See at work we have these things called johnny cakes which are basically little honey corn meal pancakes that we serve with our pulled pork

I absolutely love these things and I just wanted to see if there was an easier way to make them at home

Well I think I figured it out

After some trial and error I think I got it

But the thing is I don't have measurements exactly

But here is basically how I made them

I mixed a little pancake mix with some corn meal

not exactly equal a little more corn meal

Then I added some water, milk, sugar, honey, and a bit of melted butter

Now these things are a little finicky to cook so you kind of have to practice to get it right but they are definitely delicious and make an awesome breakfast or a side dish for dinner

or even a snack either way these things are AMAZING!

Tuna Salad

So lately I have really been wanting to make some tuna salad

But unfortunately we had no tuna

But the other day when we went to Sam's I had to get some

So today I decided to make my tuna salad for lunch

Now normally tuna salad is made simply with canned tuna, mayo, and pickle relish

But I decided to jazz mine up a bit and this is how I did it

I started with 1 can of chunk light tuna and I added to it...

(note: I don't have measurements because this was an experimental recipe)

Mayo, dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper

And I didn't have any pickle relish so I decided to substitute some of my pickled Cherry peppers

Its basically a hot pepper relish so I figured it would be pretty good and substitute in pretty well

Well that's about it
This is a great healthy lunch and its perfect with some crackers or as a sandwich with whole wheat bread and a little lettuce and tomato

delicious

Tonight it was just my mom and I for dinner

My dad had a unexpected meeting so I had to come up with something simple to make for just my mom and I

So I decided to make a frittata

Just a simple one made of what I found in the frig

which happened to be some leftover Italian sausage, bell pepper, some red onion, basil, Parmesan, salt, and pepper

Oh and of course GARLIC

pretty simple and this is definitely one of those recipes were you can make as much of as little as you want depending on how any you are feeding

So my mom never feels like just the frittata is enough so I made some hash browns as well to go with it

That too was easy enough

simple grate a few potatoes squeeze out the extra water add to a HOT pan greased with a little olive oil and butter season with some salt pepper and garlic

and cook the crap out of it until golden brown and crisp on both sided

These leftovers make a great breakfast or brunch!

Alright so today I just wanted a little snack before I went to work and I'm a huge lover of fruit and what makes a better snack than fruit?

In my opinion not much and this is probably one of my very favorite fruit snacks

Apples and peanut butter

ok so you way be thinking

WHAT? not caramel

well you see I never have the caramel dip at home so one day I decided to pair one of my favorite fruits with my favorite things ever!

peanut butter

and it was delicious

thus birthing this snack

But you all know I'm pretty nuts about peanut butter and I like it on everything

so you try it and you be the judge

Today my mom and I had to do all kinds of shopping in beavercreek and we really needed to go to Sam's to get some of those things we go through so fast it only makes since to buy in bulk

so any way we both decided that for dinner it would be good to just buy one of their delicious roast chickens

so when we finally got home we decided to just have salad with the chicken or in my cases chicken in my salad

for my salad I used the spring mix with a delicious Parmesan and herb vinaigrette

and of course the chicken

fantastic

Tonight it was back to the chicken

My mom didn't want my dad eating anymore beef or pork because he had ate way to much steak the other night especially for his diabetes

So tonight I tried to make something a little liter but still super delicious So I made chicken breasts with a broccoli sauce and bulgur risotto

The chicken was simple enough to make I just seasoned the chicken breasts with some Cajun seasoning we bough from a market in South Carolina a few years ago

I then seared them in a pan with a little olive oil then removed them from the pan

Then I added 1/2 can of cream of broccoli as well as 1/2 a bag of frozen chopped broccoli

I then placed the chicken back in the pan and covered and allowed the chicken to finish cooking while I made my bulgur risotto

Also simple enough this risotto starts with one small red onion softened and about 3 cloves of minced garlic

then I toasted the bulgur and added chicken stock a few ladles at a time until the bulgur was cooked through and was nice a creamy

Finally I finished off the risotto with a little Parmesan and served along side the chicken

Today was another day off for me

Which at my house is not really a day off since I still have to cook for my parents

But at least I don't have to do it for 6 hours straight

So what I decided to make my parents tonight was actually one of the first meals I ever cooked for them by myself

It has much improved though

What I made was pork chops and mashed potatoes with pan gravy and mixed veggies

These pork shops are so simple to make and best of all its a one pan deal and by making the gravy you get a kick start on the clean up

You see after cooking the chops in the pan you have all though lovely brown bits and are full of flavor but a hassle and a half to clean

So why not take to extra step and add a bit of flour to the residual fat and make a roux

Then add milk and with a whisk scrub away at those little brown lovelies

And vuala clean pan and in the process you made a delicious gravy!

Now you can either smother your chops or some delicious mashed potatoes

Or in my case both

Cinnamon Apple Crisp Cheesecake

Well we got a new dessert at work this week and its pretty delicious and as you can see we have a great presentation for it so I decided to take a pic of it and post it for you guys

So its called the apple cheesecake crisp

And we make it by frying the tortilla triangles and tossing them in Cinnamon and sugar

I then scoop out a square of the apple cheesecake and place it in the bowl

I stick the tortilla strips into the cheesecake to make a star and then drizzle it with caramel sauce

Then the crumble

Then some whipped cream (hand whipped by yours truly)

Chocolate drizzle and "fairy dust" more Cinnamon and sugar
Delicious and beautiful!

Well today my doggy had to have surgery for a blockage in his tummy which turned out to be a corn cob and nothing serious

But to take my mom and I's mind off it we kept ourselves busy with errands

So when it was time for lunch we were still out so we decided to grab something to eat at Arby's

I know I'm sorry not to exciting but we had to eat and we weren't close enough to home to make anything

Plus I had to work all night to I also didn't get a chance to make dinner

I promise something better tomorrow

So as you know I usually work pretty late and I'm always a bit hungry when I finally get home

So tonight was pretty much the same story but I didn't really want anything big so I decided to make myself a little platter of crackers and hummus

two kinds of hummus to be exact a little garlic hummus and a little roasted red pepper hummus

MY FAVORITE!

Just a little simple snack before bed
perfect

So today I actually got called off work so of course I made dinner for my parents and I

Well my dad wanted some pasta but all we had was a canned marinara sauce

So you know I had to spice it up a bit and make it my own

And to do so I started by sauteing one onion until soft about 10 minutes

I then added 3 cloves of minced garlic and let cook for about 2 more minutes

I added the jar of sauce to the onions and garlic and added some basil and a bit of red pepper flake because as you know my dad and I like things a little spicy

I also added about a cup of water and I allowed the sauce to simmer and develop it flavor for about 15-20 minutes

Lastly of course I cooked my pasta in a nice big pot of SALTED boiling water until al dente

and served with plenty of Parmesan cheese

Well today realized that we literally had not food in the house and we definitely needed to go grocery shopping

But before that we had to figure out how to use what little we did have in the freezer

So we found these steaks and decided to cook those off with some corn on the cob and the last three of our potatoes

So while my mom and I shopped for groceries my dad got ready to make dinner

He baked the potatoes and boiled the corn and caramelized some onions to go with the steaks

and once we got home he cooked of the steaks

They were delicious and perfectly cooked

props to my dad because he definitely knows how to cook a steak

Today my parents and I went to visit my aunt and uncle and look at cars so while we were out we decided to get a little late lunch/dinner

So we went to a place called Smash Burger

My dad and I went here before back during swim season and I had gotten the classic Smash Burger

So this time I decided to try something different

But between my mom and I we couldn't decide which to try

So we each got something different and we split them

For me I got the Spicy Baja

This burger consists of

Pepper jack cheese, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, onion, chipotle mayo and fresh jalapenos on a chipotle bun

Man it was good and not overly spicy it just had the right kick with a little extra when you got a bight of jalapeno

For my mom she got the Mushroom Swiss

consisting of garlic sauteed mushrooms, Swiss cheese and mayo on an egg bun

Very much a classic burger just simple and delicious

And you can't have a burger with out fries

So we decided to try the

Sweet Potato Smash Fries

which like their regular smash fries are tossed in rosemary, olive oil, and garlic

Absolutely delicious I say if you want a good burger go Smash Burger

PB&J

So today I went back to my roots and school lunch box ways and made myself a PB&J before I headed off to work

I love PB&J sandwiches a lot but I don't eat them a lot in the summer because they remind me of school and it upsets me that I have less than a week to get prepared to go back =/

But you know what its my senior year so Ive got to get through and and make the most

I actually think I'm really going to enjoy this year

Lobster Bisque

Well today was pretty exciting because my dad was out this morning running some errands

He stopped by a local market to grab a little lunch and he brought me home a little treat

Lobster bisque!

Oh man this stuff was delicious

I have only had lobster bisque a few times but that just makes it all the more special when I do get it

As you know after work I like to just make up something to eat with whatever we have in the frig

So tonight my dad made some kind of steak we really aren't even sure what cut it was but whatever he did to it made it delicious

Even if its no so attractive it was yummy and I'm sure it was better when they had with the corn on the cob and potatoes that they decided not to save for me =/

so I had to eat mine with black beans and rice

still good but I wish I would have got some corn

Blackened Chicken

Yes tonight I actually got to cook for my parents

An actual meal too not just something out of a box

So what I made was a blackened chicken breast with green beans and baked sweet potato fries

Those were a request from my mother

Alright making this meal was fairly simple I just started by peeling and chopping my sweet potatoes and tossing them with olive oil salt pepper and a little bit of brown sugar

Then after getting those in the oven I started on my chicken and green beans

I got a pot of salted water boiling to cook the beans and heated my pan pretty high so I could sear then chicken and get that nice dark blackened crust

I seasoned the chicken breasts with some blackening spice and salt and pepper

Then got them cooking in my pan

Once the chicken was cooked through I removed them from the pan and tented them

I then sauteed my blanched green beans with some of the blackening spice and by the time they were done so was everything else

So to serve I just sliced up the breasts and served with some of the green beans and fries

Delicious

Today I was out and about for most of the day and so I brought with me one of my favorite protein bars just in case I got hungry

Its called a LUNA bar as you can see and they are made by CLIF bar which in my opinion are the best organic energy bars

But what is great about LUNA is that they are made just for women

they have extra vitamins and minerals that us gals need

and with all the delicious chocolaty flavors

of course we are going to love it!

All so they are only about 180 calories and are packed with protein so they are a great substitute for any candy bar

This flavor is cookies 'n cream delight

But my favorite has to be the chocolate peppermint stick

It tastes just like thin mint girl scout cookies!

Tonight we just had a easy little dinner because it was really hot and none of us felt like really cooking so we just made one of our favorite summer meals

Taco Salad

its one of the simplest dishes but its perfect for lazy summer days

you can just make it up and everyone can come and eat whenever they want

its just and all around great recipe

Mini Frittatas

Today we had a family birthday party for my uncle bobby

and I was asked to make an appetizer type thing for it

So I decided to make mini frittata

I actually made two different kinds

the fist was an Italian style with sausage, peppers and herbs

and the second was another Italian style with mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes

To make them I started with a basic frittata base of about 8 eggs and a little bit of cream

I then seasoned the mix and added my mix-ins and cheese

I divided the mixtures up into well greased muffin tins and baked them at 350 for about 25-30 minutes or until they pull away from the sided

These are perfect little appetizers because you can fill them with anything and make them your own

also leftover are perfect for breakfast the next morning