YUM- Vegetarian Italian Hoagie

Bold statement: This is my FAVORITE sandwich. 

I don't think it could get more delicious if it tried. 

I haven't tried, because there is no point. It's there.

Vegetarian Italian Hoagie

What you need for 4 sandwiches:

4 hoagie rolls. I like the ones that Fresh Market carries in their bakery, and the Sarah Lee ones are so friggin soft I want to make a pillow out of them.

4 slices pepper jack cheese, torn in half

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion, separated into rings

1 14-oz jar artichoke hearts, rinsed and coarsely chopped

2 cups shredded romaine lettuce

1/4 cup sliced pepperoncini

1 medium tomato, seeded and diced

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp dried oregano

Dash of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine artichoke, tomato, vinegar, oil, oregano and salt & pepper in a bowl.

If necessary, split your hoagie rolls  horizontally and pull out some of the soft bread from each side.

To assemble sandwiches, lay 2 halves of cheese on 1 side. 

Spread on the artichoke mixture and top with the onion, lettuce and pepperoncini's.

Press sandwiches together, and place on a foil lined baking sheet.

Place in oven until bread is browned and cheese is melted, about 8-10 minutes.

On the left is the Fresh Market hoagie rolls, and the right is the Sarah Lee soft sandwich rolls

Recipe adapted from LaaLosh

YUM-Veggie & Noodle Stir Fry and Crab Rangoon

I LOVE Chinese food. And I think it's really easy to eat healthy (or healthier) version of Chinese food. With That being said, here's my recipes for Veggie Stir Fry and Crab Rangoon.

Veggie & Noodle Stir Fry

What you need for 2 servings:

6 oz. of whole wheat spaghetti noodles (I use Bionature organic whole wheat. And I'm totally guessing on the 6 ounces...I usually just grab a handful.)

2 cloves garlic, minced

Grated fresh ginger, or dry, whatever's cleaver.

About a cup of whatever chopped vegetables you like/have handy. Good choices are: Red, yellow, green peppers. Red or yellow onion. Carrots. Zucchini. Yellow squash. Celery. Broccoli. 

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tsp Sesame oil

3 tbsp Organic Soy sauce

1 tbsp Creamy natural peanut butter

1 tbsp Honey

1-3 tsp Sriracha-Chinese hot sauce (depending on how hot you want it)

1 tbsp Rice Vinegar

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Start by bringing water to boil in a large pot. 

Add pasta and cook till al dente. Drain and toss with sesame oil.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook 3 minutes. Add other vegetables, and saute until tender.

Add soy sauce, peanut butter, honey, sriracha, rice vinegar, and pepper. Mix it all up till everything is coated, the add noodles to skillet.

Stir it all up so everything is good and saucy, and your done!

Crab Rangoon

This recipe makes about 25, but adjust to how many you need. Wonton's can be frozen, and so can leftover crab meat.

What you need:

4 oz softened cream cheese

2 oz crab meat. You can use imitation if you want. I got a lb of actual crab meat from the Fresh Market for like $13, and just used what I needed and froze the rest. I'll get so many crab rangoon out of that!!

1/2 of a white onion, finely chopped

25 wonton wrappers- We got the large size egg roll wrappers, and cut them in quarters.

canola oil for frying

Combine cream cheese, crab meat, and onion in a mixing bowl until well combined. You could use a food processor if you wanted. 

Place about 2 tsp of the crab mixture into the center of each wonton.

Wet your finger, and dampen the edges of the wonton wrapper to help it seal shut.

You can either just fold the wrapper in half to form a triangle, or bunch it up and lightly twist at the top to seal. We did the bunch a twist method, 

and it was like tiny little crab rangoon presents, just waiting to be opened.

Heat about 2 inches of oil to medium high heat in a large pot. 

Add a few crab rangoon at a time, and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes.

Let cool slightly, and start popping them in your mouth! 

YUM!

Recipe adapted from I Breath...I'm Hungry

YUM- Crock Pot Apple Butter

This is one of those things that at soon as I put in in my mouth, I felt like my life before that point was void of meaning because no apple butter had been in it.

I mean seriously. It's that good.

Unfortunately, I have an irrational fear that if I leave the crock pot on all day, my house will burn to the ground. And no amount of apple butter is worth that. So I will have to save making this dish for days when I don't plan to leave the house. Like Sunday.

Crock Pot Apple Butter

What you need:

about a dozen apples, peeled, cored, and cubed. I say about, because I used organic apples, which tend to be a little smaller, so I used more. Use the equivalent to a dozen average size apples...I just made that confusing, didn't I? Moving on...

1/2 Cup Water

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon All Spice

1/4-1/2 Cup Honey

Now just put everything but the honey into your crock pot and set it for high (6-8 hours) or low (10-12 hours). Depends on how bad you want the butter, I guess. 

I started mine on high, then turned it down to low once things started getting good and cooked in there.

Every few hours, give it a stir. Once the apples have disintegrated and it seems like an appropriate consistency, add a 1/4 cup of the honey. Stir. Taste. 

Sweet enough? If not, add some more honey.

Totally not necessary, but I blended about half of the mixture until smooth, then added it back to the rest. It gave it more spreadable texture.

This recipe made about a pint of butter, which lasted no time in my house. Next time I will double the amount, cause once you go for the butter, you'll never go back.

Recipe adapted from Cake Student

YUM-Apple Pie Oatmeal

I love oatmeal. Most days I just pour some oats in a jar, add a dash of salt and brown sugar, and pour in some Almond Milk. Then I put a lid on it, let it soak on my way to work, and by time I'm sitting at my desk I have a easy, filling breakfast.

But, on days when I have more time, this 

Apple Pie Oatmeal 

is like my special treat.

And easy. All you need is:

1 apple, cut from the core and chopped into bite size pieces
1 cup  of water
1/2 cup organic rolled oats
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the oats, apple, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Adjusted the heat to low and simmer the oatmeal until apples are a little soft and liquid is all absorbed, about 5-7 minutes. Top it off with a little milk (I use Sugar Free Vanilla Almond Milk) and a sprinkle of brown sugar. 

So. Good.

Recipe adapted from Family Feedbag

YUM-I think I might have created the most amazing thing to enter my mouth...ever.

Every week I create a 7 day meal plan for the following week, and then make my grocery list accordingly. This is great because we only buy the groceries we will need, so therefore we save money and waste a lot less food.

But it's hard! I spend what seems like HOURS scouring the Internet for recipes that:

A. Are meatless

B. My family will eat

C. Aren't boring salads, pasta's, or any other bland stereotypical vegetarian meal.

Hard. Core.

All I have to say is thank the sweet baby jesus for Pinterest. It has come to my rescue on many occasions!

I recently stumbled upon this little gem, and thought YUM!



Open-Faced Ratatouille Sandwich



And then thought, "I can do better."

And I did.

Presenting "The best sandwich I've ever put in my mouth"

...or something like that. Clearly needs a better name...

Ingredients:

olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 small zucchini slices, then quartered
1/2 medium red pepper, cut in strips

1/2 of a small red onion, cut in slices
handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

2 slices of mozzarella cheese

salt & pepper

Oregano

2 eggs

Loaf of French bread...or any other good crusty bread. I used this Rosemary French bread that I found at The Fresh Market, and it was awesome.

1/2 cup Veganaise (or whatever you use, Miracle Whip or mayonnaise would be fine)

1 chipotle pepper, minced (from a can of Chipotle Chili's in Adobo Sauce)

1/2 teaspoon-1 teaspoon of Adobo sauce

squirt of lemon juice

How To: (Makes 2 VERY FILLING portions)

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.

Add garlic, onion, eggplant, zucchini, & red peppers. Cook until tender, about 8 minutes.

Add cherry tomatoes, salt & pepper, and oregano. Cook for about 5 more minutes.

Meanwhile, cook eggs in separate skillet to desired doneness, and toast 4 slices of bread until lightly browned. I did this in our toaster oven, but you could just as easily place them under the broiler for a few minutes.

For chipotle mayo: Mix together mayo of your choice with minced chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, and lemon juice. Chipotle peppers and the adobo sauce are crazy spicy, so I recommend adding a little, tasting, and adjusting as necessary!

Place 2 slices of bread together on each plate. Spread a nice thick layer of chipotle mayo over top.

Top with a heaping serving of the sauteed vegetables. (I had about a 1/2 cup of veggies left over after assembling both sandwiches)

Top each with a slice of mozzarella cheese

And put an egg on it! Grab a fork and knife and dig in.

I'm not at all joking when I say how amazing this is. Richard and I were talking about it HOURS after dinner was over.

The only thing missing is a super bad ass name to represent this super bad ass sandwich.

My pal Erin has appropriately called it the "OMG"

and Lincoln dubbed it the "Eggy Face"

Any other suggestions??

Tia

Foodie Friday

Its freakin Friday folks!! And not just any Friday, but the start to a 3-day weekend Friday!!! 3.5 more hours of work and then the relaxing begins! Hope you all have either amazing plans for the holiday weekend, or plans to do nothing but relax and chill by the pool with beverage in hand. But either way, you should add this recipe to the meals you will eat this weekend, cause I cooked it last night, and it was GOOD!!

Italian Turkey Stromboli's

adapted from recipe found here.

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds of Italian ground lean turkey
1 white onion
1/2 green pepper
6 oz. can tomato paste
8 oz. can tomato sauce
1/4 c. water
Small can sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp garlic salt
6 deli style sesame buns
Mozzarella cheese, shreeded

1. Saute turkey, onion and green pepper. Drain. Add all other ingredients to meat mixture and simmer approximately 10 minutes.
2. Layout buns on foil lined baking sheet. Top bottoms with meat mixture, then with mozzarella cheese. 

3. Bake at 400 degrees until cheese melts. 

hello heaven...its good to be here!

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend!! I'm outta here till Tuesday!

xoxo

Foodie Friday

Thank you baby Jesus, it's finally Friday!! 

Unfortunately, with the firing of my assistant came the misery of me having to work Saturday till I get a replacement. Great.

On a happier note, I have some defuckingliscious recipes to share with you!

For our main course we have a quick & easy skillet chicken dinner.

In the interest of full disclosure, Richard hated this dish. While I was sitting on one side of the table licking my plate clean and moaning in pleasure, Richard was on the other side practically throwing up in his mouth. Different strokes people, different strokes.

Quick, Easy -N- Fast Skillet Chicken Dinner Recipe
(my changes to the original recipe are in red)

6 small Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast
salt, pepper
2 T. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. brandy-I love my booze, but who the hell drinks brandy? I substituted with some pomegranate infused blush balsamic vinegar
1/2 C. chicken broth
1 T. mustard
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary--Seriously?? like I just have this stuff laying around?? Lets get real, I used the dried variety,
Handful of baby carrots, sliced in half

Red Onion-about an 1/8 cup, chopped

Place potatoes and carrots in small pan. Cover with water and bring to boil. Cook 10 minutes or until partially cooked. Drain.

Meanwhile, season chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Heat oil in large skillet. Add chicken, garlic and onion and brown chicken 5 minutes per side. Pour off fat. Add brandy(vinegar) and scrape up browned bits in skillet.

Pour in broth, mustard, thyme, and rosemary. Add potatoes and carrots. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until chicken is glazed and tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serves 2.

For desert, I did as Gabby said, and made this for my lover

It's a pizookie...i.e.:Pizza Cookie. And it is heaven.

Here is the recipe, copied from Gabby, she wrote:

1 cup unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together.

Cream the melted butter and sugars together in a large bowl.  Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and milk and mix well. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spread into your pan of choice. {I used two 8 inch cake pans and it was perfect.} Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

But be careful, because this will happen:

And you will find yourself with some new junk in the trunk.

Happy Friday loves!!

xoxo

Foodie Friday

I want to get back into posting some of the delicious recipes I try, so I've decided to start doing a Foodie Friday feature. I'll be even more excited to cook once our kitchen is finished! We are getting pretty close, the counter tops have been painted, and we are narrowing down the choices on new appliance. 

I can't wait to have it all finished! And to have the kitchen table out of our living room.

This weeks recipe is Pizza Grilled Cheese. People have probably been making this delicacy for centuries, but I just found out about it, and I am in love. 

Seriously, like I-served-it-to-my-family-3-times-in-one-week love. And thats deep.

Ingredients:
Bread
Butter
Marinara Sauce
Garlic Powder
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Pepperonis (optional)
Oregano (optional)
----I say optional, but if you don't add the pepperonis, I will consider you a crazy person.


1. Preheat skillet on medium.

2. Butter one side of the bread, and sprinkle with a little garlic powder and dried oregano. Place butter side down onto heated skillet.

3. Top bread with 1-2 tablespoons of marinara sauce.

4. Top that with about a half a cup of shredded mozzarella.

5. Layer on the pepperonis (as many as you want) then top with more cheese.

6. Spread marinara onto another piece of bread, and place marinara side down onto the sandwich.

7. Spread the top with butter, then sprinkle with garlic powder and oregano.

8. Cook until golden brown on both sides and cheese is melted, flipping occasionally.

YUM!!!!

Feel free to leave the links to your favorite recipes in the comments, I'm always looking for new things to try!

Have a great weekend!