Tuesday, May 29, 2012


    We have been growing  basil in our Earth-Box for about a month and it is seriously huge, tonight we just picked off 1 and 3/4 lb of Basil leaves! 
 Etymology_Basil_
   In Greek it means King or Royal. Basil has been rumored to help in the breeding of scorpions. Its oils are antioxidants, helping to protect against both  heart disease and cancer. Keeping basil in your pocket is considered by some to be Good-Luck. It has long since been used as an ancient fragrance for perfumes. In India it has been placed upon the deceased for safe passage into the after-life. 
     To save your Basil ....
  Google Says_
1.) One option is to add the basil leaves into your ice cube trays and freeze them with water. Later take out the
 ice cube and add it to whatever dish you are making, the water will evaporate.
2.) Or you can throw the leaves into a food processor with enough oil to make a thick or thin paste 
depending on your taste preference. You then put the paste in a zip-lock freezer bag and lay 
it flat in the freezer. When you are ready to use the paste you can break off a piece and put it 
into the recipe. You would want to use this for dishes that have some form of liquid in it, such as a sauce,
soup, or salad dressings.
3.) You can also place them on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer. After the leaves are completely frozen you can put them into a zip-lock freezer bag.
    *You can also clone your healthiest plant by taking a 4 inch cutting from the stem and rooting them in
      water...cut beneath the node from the original stem and change the water when needed!
  -JD

Gratin

For Dannin's birthday dinner, I was supposed to make a veggie side.  I had all intentions of getting up early Saturday morning and researching veggie sides in my numerous cookbooks.  Well, in my rush to get out the door and to get the hubbie, JD, out of the door, I completely forgot about the cookbooks.  So there I am standing in the produce aisle of Sweetbay with no recipe and no idea what to make.  I started to piece together an idea and grabbed a head of broccoli, cauliflower and cherry tomatoes.  I decided at that moment to make a broccoli, cauliflower gratin!

1/2 head broccoli - chopped into florets
1/2 head cauliflower - chopped into florets
2 cloves garlic - minced
2 cups cherry tomatoes - halved
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 jar favorite spaghetti sauce
1 box penne pasta
1 cup of bread crumbs (made from 2 slices of bread)
1 tbls evoo
1/2 cup shredded asiago

Set a large pot of water to boil and drop the broccoli and cauliflower in to cook for about 5 minutes, or until al dente.  Strain and, using the same water, set to boil again and drop the penne in and cook until al dente - about 8 minutes.  In a large bowl, mix the garlic, tomatoes, cream, milk and spaghetti sauce.  In a large casserole dish, combine the strained penne, the veggies and the sauce together.  In a small bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, cheese and evoo together sprinkle on top.  Bake at 375 degrees until the top is browned. 


Giant Cookie Cake

After brunch, Michelle and I got our hands dirty and made my very good friend and sister-in-law, Dannin, a giant cookie cake for her 29th birthday!  We all played a part in creating this masterpiece.  Michelle helped with mixing all the ingredients and the hubbie demonstrated his artistic ability by writing on the cake.  It turned out to be delicious!  We had a little bit of extra dough because the recipe called for a 14" pan and I only had a 13" pan, so we made three little cookies on the side... for quality control, of course!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/giant-chocolate-chip-cookie-cake-recipe/index.html

Above is the recipe we used.  The only edits I made were the 13" pan and I omitted the nuts.  The hubster will not allow them in anything!!  Even without them though, it was perfect!





Happy Birthday, Dannin!!  We wish you a wonderful year and pray for God's blessings upon you and your family's lives!  We love you!!  xox

Frittata

Memorial day weekend started off on a great note!  My best friend, Michelle came over for brunch and we gabbed and got caught up and made lots of goodies!  The main "star" of our brunch was a frittata.  I love frittatas!  I'm usually very picky about my eggs... they have to be "well done" and if there isn't enough cheese, I usually won't eat it.  But when it comes to frittatas, I don't know what it is.  I can cut back on the cheese (and the calories!), add all of my leftover veggies and prepare an easy, healthy and delicious breakfast (or breakfast for dinner!).

Frittata

6 eggs
3 - 4 tbls milk (eye ball it)
s & p
sprinkle of smoked paprika
1/2 - 3/4 cup veggies - chopped (I used onion, garlic, red bell pepper and yellow bell pepper)
1/4 cup shredded cheese
1 tbls parsley - minced
1/2 tbls oregano - minced


Whisk eggs, milk, s&p and smoked paprika until well mixed.  In an oven proof pan, melt 1 tbls butter and 1 tbls evoo.  Saute veggies until softened and spread out in pan to make an even layer.  Pour the egg mixture over veggies and cook (do not stir it) until set up on the bottom and the sides.  Take pan and put it in the oven at 375 degrees and bake until completely set up and done - about 6-7 minutes. 


ENJOY!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Thursday Remix

After all my cooking this week, I knew this day would come.... a day when cooking feels like a chore and sitting on the couch watching "Chopped" is the only thing on the agenda.  So this calls for leftovers!

First up, Caprese skewers....

I used some leftover grape tomatoes, basil from our garden and little cubes of are our favorite block of cheese - drunken goat cheese - that we have been cherishing.


Next up, Stuffed Peppers:

I filled two halves of a yellow pepper with leftover paella, covered them in foil and baked them at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Then I removed the foil and let cook for another 5 minutes.  I snipped some fresh chives from our little window box "garden" and sprinkled it on top.  It was good, the only thing that I noticed and I will do differently next time, is season the pepper.  Some s&p would've added so much more flavor and maybe even a splash of evoo rubbed in the inside cavity and then sprinkled with s&p?

 
Happy Friday!! I wish you a very happy, holiday weekend!



Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Vegan Paella

Tuesday started off with a vegan start of oatmeal with blueberries (I'd like to say that I made it, but the folks at my local McDonald's made this little treat.... don't judge me - it was delicious!).  When lunch time came around (or 10:45am... it was a long morning), I had leftover Tijuana Flats - a norrito bowl of rice, two kinds of beans and salsa.  I realized yesterday afternoon that I had a good start and I should make Tuesday my vegan day #1.
I whipped out my trusty vegetarian cookbook and decided that I would make whatever I could find where I had all the ingredients already.  Vegetarian (or in my case - vegan) Paella!

Vegan Paella

1 onion - chopped
1/2 head of broccoli - chopped
1/2 head of cauliflower - chopped
1 red pepper - sliced
3 cloves garlic - minced
1 zucchini - sliced
3 ribs celery - chopped
4 scallions - chopped
1 box of vegetable broth/stock
2 1/2 cups wild rice/brown rice
14 oz. white beans (either canned or already cooked)
pinch of saffron
2 tbls mixed herbs - minced
8 oz. cherry tomatoes - halved
salt and pepper

Add all of the veggies, except for the herbs and tomatoes into a large pot with a couple tablespoons of evoo. 


Saute for a few minutes and then add the vegetable broth and rice.  Mix well and bring to a boil.  Cover with a lid and reduce the heat to low to simmer.  Simmer for about 45 minutes.

* At this point, I must interject with a change to the recipe.  I would not add the vegetables before the rice and broth.  Because the wild rice takes so long to cook, by the time it was ready, the veggies were all soft and mushy.  If I used a long grain brown rice, it might have been different and not taken as long to cook, but I think no matter what, I would wait until the rice was halfway done before adding any of the vegetables. 

Once the rice is tender, add the herbs and tomatoes and stir to combine.  Serve hot!
 
 The dish was very flavorful and I have a ton of leftovers now that I will freeze.  The only disappointment was the vegetables being so mushy.... lesson learned.

Here's to your (better) success!

Btw, my vegan day #1 ended on a, well, not vegan end.  Curse Baskin Robbins (that just opened by my house!) and their Jamocha Fudge icecream.... try, try again.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Home grown Caprese salad

It's tomato time!  Our tomato plants are blossoming and little fruits are starting to grow.  It's so satisfying to see something you put your hard work and time into, grow and flourish. 
We made a caprese salad last night using our fresh tomatoes and basil.  We didn't have any mozzarella, but we did have asiago and drunken goat cheese, so I alternated asiaso, then drunken goat, all the way around.  Delish!!


Tortellini with Spinach

My weekend reading lead me to this recipe: Tortellini with Garlicky Kale.  Both the hubster and I agreed that it sounded good; I mean, who doesn't like garlic?!  So my mission yesterday was to buy kale.  I failed in my mission.  I could've gone to Publix to buy it, but instead I chose to go to the farm stand.  I figure if kale isn't in season, than I shouldn't force it and instead, eat seasonally.  (At least that's what I told myself... it could've been that the farm stand doesn't have enough kale lovers for them to buy it from the farmers....)  So instead, I bought spinach.  Turned out perfectly!  I think the kale would've brought a little peppery bite that the spinach was lacking, but all in all, I was happy with the dish.

Tortellini with Spinach

Bread crumb topping:
2 cups of fresh bread crumbs (2 slices of bread)
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tbls evoo
1/4 cup of your favorite fresh herbs (I used basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary and parsley from our garden)

Grind the bread until bread crumbs form.  Heat the evoo in a medium saute pan and add the garlic.  Cook the garlic until slightly brown (don't burn!), about 1 minute.  Add the fresh herbs and bread crumbs and cook until bread crumbs are browned.  Remove from pan.

Tortellini
1 package of fresh tortellini
4 garlic cloves minced
10 oz. spinach chiffonade
2 tbls evoo
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

In the same pan that the bread crumbs were in, heat the evoo and add the garlic and red pepper flakes.  Cook for two minutes and then start adding the spinach.  Add it in batches until the first wilts, then add more.  Once the spinach is all wilted, add salt and pepper and the balsamic vinegar.

While the spinach is cooking, set a pot of water to boil and add the fresh tortellini.  Cook for about 2 minutes or until tortellini starts floating.  Since it's fresh, it won't take long.  Drain and add the pasta to the spinach and toss.

*Note:  We noticed that the garlic was really strong, so I might just use 2 cloves of garlic in the spinach mixture and not 4.



Monday, May 21, 2012

Veggie Egg Rolls

After perusing my vegetarian cook books all day (yes, I spent the day on and off reading them... between that and watching Harry Potter, my day was complete), I decided to make Asian for dinner.  I read about all of these different kinds of stirfrys and it got my cravings going!  However, I decided that instead of making a stirfry over rice, I would make egg rolls.

Veggie Egg Rolls
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/emerils-vegetarian-egg-rolls-recipe/index.html

I followed this recipe, except that I subbed my own favorite veggies.  I used broccoli, cauliflower, red pepper, carrots and bean sprouts.  They turned out to be delicious!!


I also made egg drop soup from a package that I bought in the Asian aisle and believe it or not, it turned out to be really good!  I definitely recommend it.


Stay tuned for my version of "Meatless Monday" - Vegan style!  Kale is on the menu tonight (as long as I can find it at the farm stand....)!

Vegan Day #2

Vegan Day #2....
Started out very well and ended with a bang!  For breakfast I had a bagel and for lunch I had a veggie sub.  I had all of these leftover veggies, so I decided to make a veggie pizza for dinner!

Veggie Pizza
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 cup julienned red pepper
1/2 cup ground "meat" (I used the Gimme Lean soy sausage)
1 tomato sliced
6 basil leaves
1/2 cup marinara
1/4 cup Veggie Shreds
1/2 pizza dough (we bought the raw dough from Publix)

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and place pizza stone in oven.  Let the stone heat up for about 15 - 30 min.  Roll dough out so it's very thin.  While stone is heating, saute veggies until al dente (still a little crisp) and set aside.  In the same pan, cook the faux meat until browned.  Season with salt and pepper. 
Place dough on hot pizza stone and spread marinara sauce over the top.  Place basil leaves down in a circular pattern over all of the dough, then place tomatoes in between basil leaves.  Add the sauteed veggies and then the faux meat.  Top with the "cheese" - Veggie Shreds.  Bake for 15 min.

As you can see by my picture, I technically only made 1/2 a pizza.  There was no way I was getting the hubbie to eat a vegan pizza.  So half was a pepperoni pizza with extra cheese and the other half was completely vegan!  The joy of compromise in marriage.  :)

*Note:  we noticed that heating the stone first was very instrumental in getting the dough to be so crisp.

.


Thursday, May 17, 2012

TVP and Black Bean burgers with Zucchini Fries

My vegan day #2 started out so well.... I had an english muffin with spray butter for breakfast and a Norrito bowl from Tijuana Flats (rice and beans - no cheese!) for lunch.  Then I went home to make dinner...
Over the weekend we went to our best friends' house for dinner and she made zucchini fries.  The hubbie loved them, which I was pleasantly surprised by because they are so healthy!  So of course, I couldn't wait to make them. 
Whilst getting my ingredients ready for supper, the hubster, who never comes into the kitchen mind you, to "oversee" the process.  Once he found out that I was planning on adjusting the recipe to be vegan, he was not having it.  I believe he said "great, so I have to eat food that tastes like crap".  Not a very confidence-boosting thought.  So I said "forget it" and whipped out the cheese!  And boy, does cheese taste good after abstaining from it (albeit only for one day)!
a little wine and cheese for an app....

Zucchini Fries (recipe courtesy of the Dr. Oz show)




TVP and Black Bean burger:

Monday night's leftovers from the fajitas I made turned into vegetarian black bean burgers:

3/4 cup black beans (cooked)
1/2 cup TVP (re-hydrated)
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 small onion - diced
1 garlic clove - minced
1/4 cup button mushrooms - sliced
salt, pepper and thyme to taste

Saute the onion and the garlic for 2 minutes until onions are translucent, then add the sliced mushrooms.  Cook until all the liquid has been cooked out of the mushrooms, about 3 - 5 minutes. 

Add all ingredients into a food processor and puree until smooth, but a little chunky.

Form into patties and grill in saute pan until brown on both sides.
Enjoy!






Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Vegan Day #1

Meatless (and dairy products) Monday was a success!  There were a few times when I went to grab for some cheese and remembered... nope, that's not vegan.  All in all though, I was able to get through the day fairly easily.  Lunch time still seems to be a struggle though.  It's hard to find something vegetarian, much less vegan to eat at quick, take-out restaurants.  With that being said, I managed to make/buy the following meals:
Breakfast:  Cinnamon-raisin english muffin with spray butter
Lunch:  Two organic, handmade fig newtons and a veggie sub on wheat bread (no mayo or cheese) from Publix
Snack:  One organic, handmade fig newton
Dinner:  Veggie fajitas with sauteed onions, poblano pepper, red bell pepper, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, brocolli and cauliflower with some taco seasoning and nutritional yeast as my "cheese"; black beans (not canned); TVP with taco seasoning.  I just layered it all on two tortillas and gave them each a splash of lime juice.  It was delicious! 
Tonight I think I'll try my hand at making a "hamburger" with leftover TVP and black beans.....  Stay tuned to see how it turns out! 
Happy Monday!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Best Weekend!

The past three days have been the best three consecutive days!  The hubbie and I saw literally every single person we know and love who we are closest to.  It was a jam-packed weekend, but how many people can say that #1, they have such amazing friends and family in their life or #2, have the opportunity to see them and spend time with them?  We also ate some very yummy food!
Friday night we went to Michelle's house for a little last minute BBQ.  We visited with a few of our closest friends and enjoyed veggie burgers, twice baked potatoes, avocado bruschetta, etc.  It was a great time!
Saturday night we spent the night at two of our best friend's house and enjoyed some Greek fare with another couple we are very close to.  We dined on gyros (mine was meat-free), zucchini fries, sweet potato fries, salad and of course, cheesecake for dessert in honor of the hubster's birthday!  So yummy!!  I will hopefully be posting pictures and a recipe of the zucchini fries soon! 
Sunday we spent the day with our family.  We first went to my in-laws where we indulged in a decadent brunch and as per usual, the morning was spent laughing and joking around.  After that we went to my mom's house where the best ending to our weekend was waiting in surprise... my sisters surprised everyone for Mother's day!!  BEST surprise!!!  It made my week to see them and it was so good to catch up with them again!! 
To all of my loved ones... thank you for making our weekend so special and for the love you bless our life with.  We are incredibly grateful!!!
Side note... after talking with my sisters, I am going to try to eat vegan a few times a week... I'm going to try nutritional yeast as an alternative for cheese (gulp) and see if I can manage it.  It's time for me to cleanse myself and get back to eating right and not overindulging in anything unhealthy.  I will update with my vegan adventure. Today is a new day and a new beginning!!
Happy Monday!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Let them eat cake!

Today my best friend turns 31.... very hard to believe!  I remember her Sweet 16 birthday and now look at us!  Time definitely flies when you're having fun!  And I'm very happy to know that the majority of our 18 year friendship has been just that - FUN!  There have definitely been some rocky points, issues we had to overcome and our own personal dramas that we have helped each other through.  There have been times when we cried and leaned on each other for support, but mostly there have been times full of laughter, love and comraderie. 
In honor of Michelle's birthday, I made her a cake.  I've never made a cake (with the frosting!) from scratch before and I have to say, it was surprisingly easy.  Not only were there limited ingredients which was nice, but the methods were super simple.  Having a stand mixer definitely helped though, especially when beating the sugar and eggs together.
I can't take credit for the recipe however.  I found this cake recipe on tastespotting.com (one of my all time favorite websites!).  See below:
http://www.food52.com/recipes/6857_grownup_birthday_cake

Making the frosting...

The cakes cooling...

Raspberry jam in the middle...

The finished product! 

Happy Birthday, Michelle!!


Tomatoes!

Our latest harvest - tomatoes!  These were the best tomatoes we've ever had!  So sweet!!  Nothing at all like the ones you get at the store.... totally worth growing your own!

(Side note:  The brown bits in the picture are not dirt - it's cocoa powder from baking Michelle's birthday cake - see above)

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Go Veg!

For four years I was a strict vegetarian.  The only animal proteins I would allow were eggs, milk and cheese.  I tried going vegan, but honestly, a life without cheese is too depressing to even consider.  I also tried to cut out eggs, due to the horrible living conditions of the chickens on most commercial farms.  Watching a couple of documentaries on this really was eye-opening and I still wish I had the determination to cut them out of my diet completely.  It's just too hard to accomodate that lifestyle choice because eggs are in everything!!  Kind of like high-fructose corn syrup; another evil little ingredient that due to politics alone, not to mention the health concerns, I personally feel compelled to loathe.  But yet again, it's in Everything!! 
I digress....
About two years ago, I had some blood work drawn and due to the unhealthy results, I decided to start including meat back into my diet.  For about a year, I was eating like any other red-blooded American.   Unfortunately, my body didn't exactly like the change.  My digestive system has a very hard time breaking down meat.  So I decided to become a pescatarian.
Somehow though, eating some kind of meat made it a slippery slope into eating other kinds of meat in a bind.
Such a bind came up today.  My boss wanted lunch from a restaurant with a limited menu.  Thinking I would be fine, I ordered a gyro.
Mistake.  Big Mistake.
Suffice it say, from this one horrible eating experience, I have decided to go back to being vegetarian!  The idea of eating any kind of meat right now, even fish, makes me want to go running to the bathroom. 
Only this time, I'm doing vegetarianism the smart way!  More beans and leafy green veggies for me.  No more "faux meat" as my only source of protein. 
Digestivally and culinarily (is that a word?) speaking, I was at my happiest and most comfortable when I was a vegetarian.  My digestive system was in full swing and I loved the challenge of coming up with meat-free entrees.  It really got me out of my comfort zone and the traditional "meat and two side dishes" funk.  I was open and eager to try new cuisines, especially European and Middle Eastern.  I learned what kind of flavors compliment one another and to appreciate the humble vegetable and elevate it to center stage.  Dinner time was an adventure, not just a means to an end. 
So with all of that said and done, I have to say that I am quite excited and feel very confident about my decision to go back to the Veg lifestyle. 
Hopefully I will be sharing many new recipes in the future! 

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Cous Cous

Cous Cous



Fresh vegetable Cous Cous.  We took our fresh green beans and one tomato and made a cous cous with it.  The hubbie said it was the best cous cous I've ever made!!  I hope you enjoy!

Cous Cous

4 mini peppers - minced
2 cloves of garlic - minced
1 cup green beans - chopped
1 tomato - chopped
1 cup cous cous
1 1/3 cups water
2 vegetable bouillon cubes

Saute peppers and garlic until soft.  Add the green beans and water.  Bring to a boil.  Add the vegetable bouillon cubes and cous cous.  Cover and turn off the heat.  Let sit, covered, for 5 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and add chopped tomato.


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Our first harvest of the season!

We are the proud parents of 18 little sprouting green bean plants!  We gingerly picked the first batch of green beans, leaving the smaller ones to grow a bit more.  There will definitely be at least one more harvest before the plants "hibernate", or (and who are we kidding?!) go to plant heaven after being touched by Shelley's black thumb of death. 
We also picked two tomatoes that are almost ripe enough to eat!
We enjoyed the green beans and one of the tomatoes in cous cous last night.  I will try to remember to take a picture of that today and post it with the "recipe".

Not food.......

It's not food, but it is a creation by Shelley:

Thanks to one of our best friends - Matt - for finding the shell that inspired the necklace! 

Food and Wine on Pine

Food and Wine on Pine

The hubster and I enjoyed going to the Food and Wine on Pine last weekend.  The food was amazing and the wine was very diverse which was a lot of fun!  We tried some organic wines, two different Pinot Grigios (my current favorite) and a Sauvignon Blanc.  We didn't venture into the land of red wine due to the scorching heat.  Light, crisp, minerally and chilled wine was the order of the day!  Paired with grouper tacos, cheese danishes, tater tots, fried green tomatoes and chocolate bak lava was paired lovingly with our wine!
We found a cute little olive oil store that, as it turns out, sells our favorite kind of cheese - Drunken Goat Cheese! 
If you haven't tried it before, it's not creamy like the traditional goat's cheese.  It's a semi-hard cheese that has been soaked in a red wine brine.  The wine infuses the goat's cheese and it melts in your mouth!  Delicious!
We grabbed our last glass of wine for the day, bought a little ciabatta loaf and munched on bread, cheese and wine.  Does it get better than that?!

Sunset Cocktails

Sunset cocktails


The hubby and I enjoyed a bottle of vino at a Taste for Wine in St. Pete.  Perfect sunset viewing!

Strawberry-Basil daquiris

Strawberry-Basil Daquiri

It's that time of year again!  We have planted several different plants and herbs... we have tomatoes, green beans, peppers and garlic growing, as well as basil, mint, oregano, parsley, thyme, rosemary and cilantro. 
Our basil plant is really growing very well and we have had a plethora of basil.  Of course, the first thing I think of when I have a lot of basil, is to make a pesto.  But honestly, there's only so much pesto you can eat and not only that, but pine nuts are crazy expensive!!  So I began a search for new and fun ways to use basil.
My search ended with strawberry-basil daquiris!  Not only is it a great and unique way to use basil, but it also utilizes the last batch strawberries for the season.  Enjoy!!

Strawberry - Basil Daquiris

10 hulled strawberries
1/4 cup simple syrup
2 oz. rum
juice of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lime
2 tbls basil - chopped

Mix all ingredients in a blender and blend until smoothe.

Chimichurri

Chimichurri

After getting back some really unhealthy blood tests about 18 months ago, I decided to start eating meat again.  I was eating all kinds of meat for a while, but then decided to cut out all red meat.  I eat chicken and pork now, but try to limit that and mostly only eat fish. 
With that being said, I'm still learning my way around the kitchen with fish... I'm not sure what kinds I really like and of those kinds, how to make them in a variety of different ways. 
So far I've found that I like salmon (I make it with bbq sauce and also maple-glazed), tilapia (Picatta) and most recently grouper (chimichurri). 
The first time I made grouper, I really did not like it.  It was so meaty and thick... it was like eating a mild-tasting steak.  Yuck! 
However, I had already spent all this money on a grouper that I portioned out and froze, so I was stuck making it. 
My sister-in-law gave me a great idea - make a chimichurri sauce for the grouper and marinate it to break down some of the tissue. 
Turned out fabulously!!  So good in fact that I made it also with chicken for my in-laws and we enjoyed it in fajitas!

Chimichurri
2 tbls fresh mint - minced
2 tbls fresh flat-leaf parsley - minced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro - minced
2 tbls fresh oregano - minced
3-4 cloves of garlic - minced
1/2 cup evoo
2 tbls red wine (or white wine) vinegar
spinkle of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and use as a sauce, or a marinade with grouper chunks or chicken pieces.  After marinading, dump all (meat and sauce) into a saute pan and cook until done.

French Martini

French Martini

After almost two years of a blogging hiatus, I am back and ready to roll!  2012 has been a great year so far!  Starting in February.... We held a Valentine's Day party and had a signature cocktail to start.  We enjoyed French Martini's all night!  The pink hue is perfect for V-day and the sweet drink complimented the salty, ooey-gooey fondue that was shared!

French Martini

2 oz. Raspberry Vodka
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
1/4 oz. Raspberry liquor
Ice

Combine all ingredients in cocktail shaker and shake until your hands almost get frost-bite and serve with raspberries!  Delish!!