I'm Back!

Have I fallen off the face of the earth? No.

Have I been plagued with a horrible combination of business/laziness/summer craziness? Yes.

Do I feel bad about it? Yes... and No :)

These past few weeks have been filled with walks with the pup,

good wine,

house guests,

a new vacuum purchase (this is an exciting thing to me...),

yard projects,

and of course, a plethora of deliciousness coming from my kitchen...

I'm sorry that blogging didn't make the to-do list cut, but rest assured, I finally have my act together again.

I hope you'll still be my friend!

Summer Gazpacho

Sorry I haven't posted in a while... I was here all last week:

Anyhoooo, back to reality.

One of my FAVORITE FAVORITE things to make during the summer is gazpacho. It's refreshing, easy, healthy AND delicious- perfect!

My grandma has a wonderful recipe that I start with and then doctor up depending on how I feel and what I have on hand. Here's the basics:

2 cucumbers, peeled and diced
3-4 stalks of celery, diced
2-4 bell peppers, diced (I love them so I go with 4)

Toss all the diced veggies in a BIG bowl...

Next, gather all the liquid ingredients and spices...

2 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes (I use one can of regular and one can of the spicy kind!)
Enough tomato juice to cover the veggies (about 3/4 a bottle of tomato juice, to your taste)
1 cup red wine vinegar
3 Tbs Worcestershire
1 tsp oregano
A dash of hot sauce (Red Rooster is my pick)
S&P

Pour everything in the bowl and mix together...

Chill for a while in the fridge, this is the kind of thing that gets better and better the longer it chills. I will last the whole week and is perfect to pack in a lunch or dole out for a quick dinner. I love the chunky consistency in this gazpacho, but if you're feeling fancy give it a hit with the blender to smooth it out. Top with a dollop of sour cream, avocado and a dash of fresh cracked pepper. Now stay cool!

Tomatoes Galore!

Earlier this spring, we planted tomato plants in our garden. In the past couple weeks, they have gone crazy!  This morning post-gardening, I picked a bunch of them and noticed that I also noticed that my basil was nice and plentiful. My gardening skills have always been lacking so I got really excited and decided to make something really great to go with our breakfast.

I diced the tomatoes up, added a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, some fresh basil and some salt and pepper.

YUM! Going with the whole tomato-basil concoction, I scrambled some eggs with some fresh mozzarella until the cheese was nice and gooey...

Top the eggs with the tomatoes and serve with your breakfast sides of choice... we love asparagus and sourdough toast. 

I could eat caprese any meal of the day. It's so light and summery and I'll use any excuse to work that tomato-basil-mozzarella combo in with anything. Plus with this plethora of tomatoes and basil in my garden, I'll have 2 out of 3 always handy, for a while at least!

Pork Chops and Arugula Grape Salad

Food Network is a favorite website of mine... especially when I want easy and delicious recipe ideas. I found this recipe for grilled pork chops with an arugula and grape salad and decided to give it a shot.

Here's what you'll need for the chops...

I varied it up the recipe by marinating the pork chops in the salad dressing for about 10 minutes prior to grilling.

I doubled the dressing recipe so I could use half of it for the marinade and the other half for the salad. Wisk together a diced shallot, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and S&P. Pour half into a ziploc bag with the chops and stick in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, assemble the salad...

Toss together some arugula mix, red grapes sliced in half, crumbled gorgonzola and the dressing.

Grill the chops on the BBQ or a cast iron grill pan for about 4 minutes on each side, depending on how thick they are. The finished product will look like this...

Uhh... so good!!!

Summer Salad Series- Chicken and Parmesan with Balsamic

I love a good "throw together whatever you have in your fridge" salad... especially on a summer evening  when you come home to a hot stuffy house and the last thing you want to do in this heat is COOK (there, I said it.) Open all the windows then open up your fridge to see what you can toss together.

Here's what I had to work with:

Some salad mix, green onions, shredded parm, already-cooked chicken and my favorite salad dressing ever- Three Cheese Balsamic Vinaigrette from Fresh & Easy (It's bottled up amazingness.)

Empty the salad greens in a big bowl. Chop up the chicken and the green onions. (I also found an apple to dice up and throw in there, too...) Throw in a handful of parmesan and toss with some dressing.

Scoop up some ensalada, pour yourself a glass of chardo and relax.

5 Minute Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Don't be fooled by the title of this post. These pulled pork sandwiches literally take 5 minutes to throw together. This is all thanks to my newest Fresh & Easy discovery... fully cooked pulled pork for $5.99!

It also comes in pulled brisket and pulled chicken... yum! So here's the breakdown of the 5 minutes it will take you to cook dinner. Ready, set, go!

Minute 1: Pop some wheat hamburger buns in the toaster to toast lightly. Also put the pulled pork in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes.

Minute 2: Toss some shredded cabbage cole slaw mix with some oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

Minute 3: Slice an avocado.

Minute 4: Take the pork out of the micro and the buns out of the toaster.

Minute 5: Assemble your sandwiches and top with a splash of your favorite bbq sauce.

Ok, so you will be hustling this whole time, maybe if you slowed it down a bit it would take 7 or 8 minutes, but still! Can you beat this quick, easy and cheap dinner?

Don't forget the napkins. You'll be wearing this sandwich before you know it!

Breakfast for Dinner

We are big fans of breakfast for dinner. I whipped up this savory scramble and it totally hit the spot. Not to mention, with only 4 ingredients it's easy and cheap.

Here's what you need:
About 8 eggs
1 bunch of asparagus
About 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
Grated Parmesan to taste

Start by trimming the bottoms off asparagus and slicing on a diagonal (it always looks pretty...)

Sauté the asparagus with a splash of water and cover for a few minutes until it's nice and tender. Drain from the liquid and set aside.

Beat the eggs with a dash of S&P and the scramble in a frying pan until they are no longer wet and gooey. Take them off the heat and mix in the asparagus and ricotta until combined.

I grabbed a loaf of kalamata olive bread at the market and toasted some slices. I also sliced up a ripe avocado that was ready to be eaten... and I wouldn't have wanted anything else for dinner! Ta-da!