Berry Delicious!

Is this a blog post? Yes, it is! I haven't been updating this because, frankly, I forgot it existed. Today I was just going to eat a lousy (still delicious) bagel with organic butter on it but thought, "Ya know what? I will make a blog post and make something else instead!" So, here it is, one of my favorite "everything but the kitchen sink" salads.

Above me you will see the following ingredients:

¥ Iceberg Lettuce&Fresh spinach (My sister used the last of the fresh spinach so I just used iceberg lettuce)

¥ Canned black olives (you can use any other olive of your choice)

¥ Cherry tomatos (you can have them in whole or slice them)

¥ Fresh mozzarella cheese (cut into cubes)

¥ Strawberries (cut into slices)

¥ Grilled chicken

¥ Blueberries

¥ Raisins

¥ Parmesan cheese (grated)

&

¥ Rye bread croutons

The rye bread croutons are extremely easy to make and take less than ten minutes! 

You will need:

¥ Rye bread

¥ Extra-virgin olive oil

¥ 1 Clove of garlic

First you want to cut the slice(s) of rye bread into cubes. Then, put some olive oil in your pan/skillet and add in the cubes of rye bread. Let them toast on one side for five minutes or until brown. Flip and do the same on the other side. Once the other side is brown, crush and then dice your garlic. Add into pan and turn off fire. Toss them for a bit and then remove them from pan. MAKE SURE TO WATCH THEM BECAUSE THEY WILL BURN. As you can see from above, mine were burned because I was too busy taking pictures (the irony in this). 

Dressing:

¥ Cardini's Pear Vinaigrette 

Okay, I usually make my own salad dressings but this compliments the salad so well because of all the fruit that is in it.

 

You will want to put you lettuce in first, followed by your:

¥ Strawberries

¥ Blueberries

¥ Fresh mozzarella cheese

¥ Raisins

&

¥ Olives

Finally, add in your dressing and then toss.

Do NOT add in your croutons or parmesan cheese yet because while tossing the croutons will become a bit soggy and the best part of a crouton is the crunch (also, the whole purpose of a crouton).

After tossing your salad, add in your croutons and sprinkle in your parmesan cheese. You are done!

Now, here is a wonderful lemonade with fruit beverage to go perfect with your salad.

You will need the following (makes one serving):

¥ 3/4 Cup of water 

¥ 1/3 Cup of lemon juice

¥ 2 TABLEspoons of sugar

¥ Strawberries, blueberries and clementines. (make sure you slice strawberries)

You can add as little or as much as you want to this recipe by the way!

Pour your water into a bowl. Add in your lemon juice and sugar (I am doing this by eye). You can do this by how tangy or sweet you want your lemonade to be.

Whisk, whisk, whisk!

Finally, add in your strawberries, blueberries and clementines.

 Use a ladle to pour into your cup and enjoy!

Lunch is served!

 Happy Tasting!

Hi I have a post for this but right now if you do look here...

My Flickr.

go and look at that please.
kbye.

2 April 2011-Saturday Dinner.

So this Saturday a couple of friends from school and myself went to our friend's apartment to have a pot luck night! We each brought something to eat for dinner. Now, I don't know each recipe BUT I can tell you what was made for that night.

Dinner: 

(Clockwise)

¥ Fresh Mixed Green Salad (carrots, red cabbage and a olive oil & vinegar I believe)

¥ Chicken Cutlet (I cooked this one. I will put the recipe in a separate post from this)

¥ Macaroni & Cheese

¥ Freshly Handmade Pasta with a Fresh Tomato & Herb Sauce

¥ Kimbap 

It was my second time trying Kimbap and I must say it was very good. There was Spam in it and the fried egg that was crusted gave it the texture that reminded me of a fried dumpling. The salad had a fresh taste to it and brightened the plate extremely. my chicken cutlet ended up being the only meat there and, luckily, the chicken had a lovely crust on it (sometimes I mess this up which is suppose to be impossible to mess up). As for the pasta, it complimented everything very well because everything was very light. The pasta had the starch needed for satisfying everyone's stomachs. The macaroni & cheese was cheesy and the right consistency for it. Macaroni & cheese should always be a thick consistency, never runny unless covered in cheese. 

Dessert:

¥ Lemon Fluff 

The lemon fluff was tart but it was extremely refreshing after that lovely meal. It was light and the fresh lemon really woke everyone out of their food coma. It also had a nice texture to it. 

Happy Tasting!

16 March 2011-Wednesday//Small Breakfast.

Beverage:

Pineapple Blueberry Smoothie:

Ingredients:

¥ Pineapple (can or fresh; can or 2/3 a cup)

¥ Blueberries (fresh; handful)

¥ Orange Juice (3/4 of a cup)

¥ Ice Cubes (4)

This smoothie is exactly what bittersweet is suppose to taste like. The tart flavor from the orange juice compliments the tangy taste of the pineapple while the blueberries give it the sweet the smoothie needs. 

The Small Meal:

Blueberry Macaroon Cupcakes

Recipe:

¥ Four Egg Whites

¥ 1/2 cup of Cake Flour

¥ 1/4 teaspoon of Salt

¥ 1 cup of Granulated Sugar 

¥ 1/2 cup of Blueberries 

¥ 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

In a bowl, put in whisk in your egg whites, sugar and salt. Place bowl on top of a saucepan which is filled with water (double-boiler method). Put saucepan with bowl on top onto the stove. Once mixture is creamy and warm, take off of stove top and mix in your flour, vanilla extract and blueberries. Cover and refrigerate until firm (roughly 2 hours)

Preheat oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Place in your cupcake paper liners into your tray. With a tablespoon or an ice cream scooper, collect firm batter and place into the liners. Bake for 20 minutes or until a light golden brown shows.

I ended up not baking all of my batter so I froze the rest of it. These tasted wonderful. The recipe originally called for coconut but I replaced it with blueberries because I felt they would taste a bit better if warmed for a midnight snack. The chewy texture compliments the outside crust so well. Also, the blueberries give it a lovely kick and the vanilla extract enhances the flavor of the blueberries.

My "work station."

Topped it all off with butter on whole wheat toast.

Happy Tasting!

12 March 2011- Saturday.

2AM Snack

Nuts4Nuts Candied Almonds

It was two in the morning and I got hungry. Beth and I were roaming Manhattan, about to go back to our hotel, when I decided to buy some of these. They cost two dollars BUT the guy let me have them for a dollar. Awesome! Once I got home today I did some research to see how and what exactly these morsels are. I found out!

Ingredients:

¥ 1 1/2 cup of nuts (any of your choosing. this case it is almonds. NOT ROASTED NUTS)

¥ 2 tablespoons of water

¥ 1/4 cup of sugar

You just have to boil the water and sugar in a medium saucepan until sugar dissolves. Then you put in the nuts of your choosing, mix them around a bit and make sure there is a nice even coating on all of the nuts. From there, in a couple of more minutes the water will evaporate and then the sugar water will crystalize onto the nuts. Put onto a plate or platter of your choosing to let the nuts cool.

I have more recipes and a critique to do of a small Italian restaurant on Broadway we went to with Beth's Grandmother BUT that review will be for later use. Either way...

Happy Tasting!

27 February 2011-Sunday.

Dinner

Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

¥ Pasta (any kind you would like to use)

¥Chedder Cheese

¥ American Cheese

¥ Any other kind of cheese of your choosing (I sometimes use Feta or Blue Cheese. It really goes well with the light strength coming out of the American Cheese BUT if you do not like strong cheese, don't use it)

¥ Milk (or heavy cream!)

¥ Butter

¥ Salt

It was simply delicious! It was enough to be a meal to be honest. Since no one was home I didn't want to make a huge dinner.

Beverage:

Homemade Limeade 

Ingredients:

¥ Fresh Lime

¥ Water

¥ Sugar

*¥ Vanilla Extract (RECOMMENDATION. DOES NOT NEED TO BE USED)

Happy Tasting!

P.S: Sorry about the horrible quality of these photographs! I didn't have much time to take out my camera and go for it.

11 March 2011-Friday.

So I decided to post some of my favorite snack foods for when it is late at night or when I am waiting on dinner. I did not eat all of these today but just thought I'd share what I DO eat when it comes to snacks.

Kalamata Olives w/ Pits

I have nothing bad to say about these. Favorite olives, hands down.

Athenos Hummus

I prefer my Dad's homemade hummus to be honest. This one was not to my liking. I think it had a slight smokey taste to it I didn't really enjoy.

Salted Cashews

Where do I start with these? I can eat any kind of nut and I am sure I would love it. Usually, make my own mix and I really want to bake my own (salt them myself too) but these little guys are great for an afternoon snack! I just love the nutty taste with the salt. Also, I have found nuts to be quite rich as well. 

No perverted references please.

Cup of Noodles

The perfect midnight snack when you want a meal but don't want to overdo it. I try not to eat these often because of how much salt these soups pack but I do love them. It is so salty but so satisfying and perfect kick in the face if you need to pull an all nighter.

Pink Grapefruit

I love the tart taste a grapefruit brings. I refuse to put sugar on them because they lose that tart taste. They are perfect for a snack or for breakfast on the go. I also love how it is a food and a beverage all at once. 

Kashi TLC Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are extremely good cookies. I love them because the cookie has a cookie dough taste while the texture is clearly telling you it is an oatmeal cookie. However, the chocolate chips give it a huge kick and make it taste simply delightful. They are great with a cup of tea after a long day!

I ended up eating the grapefruit as you can clearly see from above.

Happy Tasting!

One more thing!

Check out my FLICKR.

Friday-3 March 2011

Cold Pizza.

Pizza Garden's Sicilian Pizza (Cheese & Pepperoni)

I personally love cold pizza more than it warm when it comes to Sicilian pizza. However, I usually never eat Pizza Garden's pizza because it is horrible. This time, their Sicilian was actually pretty good. Plus, I usually hate Sicilian pizza. The fact I ate two slices of this is surprising to say the least. I prefer my pizza thin with tons of cheese packed onto it, which is bad because I am lactose intolerant. However, I recommend to try Pizza Garden's Sicilian if you are ever in Flushing, Queens! 

Warm, cheesy and ooey gooey delicious.

27 February 2011- Sunday.

Preparation

¥ Three Eggs

¥ Cinnamon 

¥ Nutmeg 

¥ White Bread (Sesame Seeds were on it. Ick)

The Cooking.

Brunch

French Toast w/ New York Maple Syrup

Beverage

Iced Pink Berry Lemonade (My Style)

Ingredients

¥ Lemonade (Lemon, Sugar+Water)

¥ Fresh Berries (Blueberries, Blackberries+Strawberries in mine)

¥ Ice Cubes

Iced Pink Berry Lemonade from Above.

All Gone!

26 February 2011-Saturday.

Dinner

Mince Meat

¥ Pasta (Elbows)

¥ Peas

¥ Ground Beef

¥ Taco Seasoning

¥ Fresh Tomato Sauce

¥ Secret Spices I am not allowed to give out

¥ Rice

Stuffed Cabbage

¥ Green Cabbage

¥ Rice

¥ Ground Beef

¥ Fresh Tomato Sauce

¥ Secret Spices/Ingredients I am not allowed to give out

The preparation for both dishes.

The preparation for the Stuffed Cabbage.

Cabbage that was used.

Beverage

¥ Chamomile Tea

25 February 2011- Friday.

Homemade Pasta with Tomato Sauce

Pasta

¥ Semolina Flour

¥ Water

Sauce

¥ Diced Tomatos

¥ Extra Virgin Olive Oil

¥ Sausage (Sweet)

¥ Basil

¥ White Onion

¥ Garlic

Garnish with Basil and Parmesan Cheese. 

21 February 2011-Monday.

Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Granola Bar

Sandwich

¥Roast Beef

¥ Yellow American Cheese

¥ Roman Lettuce

¥ Mayonnaise 

¥ White Bread

Beverage

¥ Starbuck's Iced Coffee

Dinner

¥ Spaghetti + Meatballs with a lovely Tomato Sauce

¥ Italian Bread

Beverage

¥ Mango Green Tea with no sugar

Yum.

Snack

¥ Blueberries

I will be at PRATT today working on a Stop-Motion with Melina + Wolfgang! Then, we will be cooking some dinner and I will try to get pictures of the finished product! Then, I will be back in the morning to go to Long Island for the weekend for my Gram's.