Eggplant Casserole

We recently spent a weekend at my parents' house. I surprised my mom with flowers!

Austin and I cooked my parents a special dinner which consisted of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and brown gravy.  I also made eggplant casserole.

For those of you that asked for the recipe, here it is!  This is my version, which is only slightly modified from my grandma's recipe.

Eggplant Casserole

2 large eggplants, peeled & diced
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp butter
2 egg yolks, beaten
½ cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt

1 cup dry breadcrumbs

Cook vegetables in boiling water, covered, for 20 minutes. Drain. Add remaining ingredients and pour into greased casserole. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until browned.  Bake uncovered.

I got a little teary-eyed when I saw my parents' dachshund.  He had to have surgery because he had a bone spur in his back.  He is healing quite well, though, and can walk around now!

Saturday night was movie night.  We watched a 1996 movie starring Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan, Courage Under Fire.  I love all of Denzel's movies, including this one!  It's definitely worth watching.

On Sunday we went to lunch at the Salt Lick BBQ.  Check out the pit!

The Salt Lick is delicious!  Everyone enjoyed their food.

My mom & dad split a plate of beef ribs.  Austin ordered brisket - it was moist and flavorful.  I ordered green bean casserole and nibbled on bits of everyone else's BBQ!

It was a fun weekend with my family - I'm looking forward to seeing them again tomorrow!  It will be especially fun since we'll be celebrating my birthday :)

Share one of your favorite family recipes, if you have one!

It's so special to me to have a recipe from my grandma, since I never really got to know her.

Summertime Chili

Chili is one of my favorite meals of all time.  Some people consider it a "winter-only" meal.  I, however, disagree.

I think chili is perfect for the summertime!  My recipe is incredibly simple, but worth repeating.

Summertime Chili

Chop onion and jalapeno.  Sautee in skillet with garlic and ground beef until meat is browned.

Add one can each of: pinto beans, black beans, kidney beans and diced tomatoes.

Now for the most important ingredients: Worcestersire sauce and heaping spoonfuls of chili powder! 

Simmer on low heat for an hour.

Scoop into bowl and sprinkle with cheese.

Eat & enjoy!

Do you eat chili year-round, or only in the colder seasons?

Tortilla Addict

I love meals that involve tortillas!  Wraps, fajitas, quesadillas, breakfast burritos, you name it.  I used to eat a ham and cheese quesadilla every day as my after-school snack.  I took it to the next step during college, tortillas were my one staple food - I would even eat PB&J on my tortillas.

Fortunately, I've grown past my tortilla addiction.  But sometimes, you just have to revert back to an old favorite, or give it a new twist.

This combination of flavors and textures is definitely worth repeating!  Can you believe I pulled off another vegetarian meal without any complaints?

Mushroom & Asparagus Wrap

In a skillet, sautee mushrooms, onions and garlic.

In another skillet, sautee asparagus, sliced tomatoes, garlic and sprinkle with veggie seasonings.

Prepare your tortillas with a layer of avocado and a handful of shredded cheese.

Next, simply pile on the asparagus and tomatoes, followed by the mushrooms and onions!

Wrap it up, or eat it like a taco, however you prefer!

Don't forget dessert! I had a serving of vanilla yogurt, topped with blueberries, blackberries, crumbled graham crackers, and peanuts!

Did you notice anything missing in my dessert?  That's right - chocolate.  No, I didn't go all day without my chocolate fix - I actually had an Attune bar for a snack earlier and it satisfied my daily craving!

These are probiotic bars.  Most everyone has heard of antibiotics, whose job is to kill bad bacteria.  A probiotic is basically the exact opposite of antibiotics - it is a dose of live microorganisms that are healthy for your digestive and immune systems.  Attune bars have a very reasonable amount of calories, 3-4g of fiber, and are obviously great sources of probiotics and calcium!  There's also only a few grams of sugar!

Of course, don't expect it to taste like a hunk of Dove chocolate (my favorite).  My personal opinion of the Attune bar is that it tastes healthy and chocolatey, too.  If you consider the health benefits, this is a great option to consider when you're craving a snack.

What's your favorite meal that involves a tortilla?

My favorite is probably fajitas!  Or, ya know I could just eat the tortilla all by itself!

Grillin' Out

If you're in the mood for grillin' out this weekend, I recommend you give this recipe a try!  We had these burgers over Memorial Day weekend, and they were definitely a hit!

Bleu Cheese Turkey Sliders

First, make sure that you have some mini-buns handy.  We prefer these King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls.  Beware, they're addictive!

For the meat, combine one pound of ground lean turkey with approximately 1/3 cup of bleu cheese, 1 tsp paprika, salt and pepper.  Divide the meat into eight sections and form each ball into a thick patty.

If you're like me and you have a grill-obsessed man in your life, then this part is easy - just sit back and relax while the guy grills the meat.

We have a nifty flexible grilling net that works perfectly for grilling sliders or vegetables.  Flipping has never been so easy,  I bet even a girl could do it!  Okay, I probably took that too far.  It's always best to act impressed by their grilling skills, ladies - make them feel special, and they'll continue making you good food.

So once again, while the guy was grilling on the patio, I was in the kitchen preparing the rest of the meal.

A few weeks ago, I made some delicious homemade pickles.  I sliced pickling cucumbers and added onion, white vinegar, sugar, sea salt, mustard seed, and pepper for flavor.  Then I closed up the container and stuck it in the freezer for a couple weeks until the pickles were just right!

Atop the Hawaiian rolls, I added the following condiments: mustard, avocado, tomatoes, and homemade pickles.

Insert a bleu cheese turkey burger, and now you have the world's tallest sliders!

I also made fries, or chips, whichever name you prefer.  I thinly sliced several baking potatoes, tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and ground flaxseed - then baked them at 425 until they were crispy.

 With a smidge of ketchup. these fries were quite tasty!

Oh, and did I mention that Austin also threw some corn on the cob on the grill?  What a guy...and what a meal!

What is your favorite grilled food?

My favorite is grilled asparagus!  Yum!

Amazing Asian Food

The dinner I made last night deserves a post all for itself.  So I'm giving it one.  This stir fry is hands-down the best Asian food I've ever made.

Sweet & Sour Chicken Stir Fry

Cut boneless, skinless chicken breasts into bitesize chunks.  Dip chicken in egg and then in mixture of salt, pepper and cornstarch.  Pan fry in oil until crispy and golden brown. Place in a single layer in a baking dish.

Mix together sauce ingredients: 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tbsp ketchup, 1/2 cup cider vinegar, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp garlic powder.  Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 350 for 60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, it's time to sautee the veggies.  I used mushrooms, snow peas, cabbage, onion, and garlic.

On the side, I prepared a package of chow mein noodles. To give the noodles a bit more flavor, I made a peanut sauce with 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp peanut butter, 1 tbsp rice vinegar.

My nose was in heaven with all of these delicious foods cooking in my kitchen!

Dozer's nose must have picked up the scent too, as he was really begging for a taste.

I heaped the noodles, veggies and chicken on my plate until it was overflowing.  Then I sprinkled a few peanuts on top for an extra crunch, and dug in!  It was delicious!

If you like Asian food, I definitely recommend that you try this!

In other news, I am offering the opportunity for my fellow bloggers to submit a guest post to be published in the beginning of June.  If you're interested, e-mail me and let me know what topic you're interested in writing about.  This is a great chance for publicity for your blog!

What's your favorite Asian dish?

I can't choose just one!  My favorite chinese food as a kid was beef & broccoli.  Lately I've discovered a love for sushi, miso soup, and Vietnamese pho!

Endangered Chocolate

Prepare yourself for lots of pictures - we ate a ton of delicious food this weekend, and I couldn't help but include it all in the photographs!

Let's start with breakfast.

Fresh-squeezed OJ, eggs, turkey bacon and toast with jelly.

My secret to sweet fresh-squeezed OJ is a packet of NuStevia.  It adds more sweetness than sugar!

Continuing on with other breakfasts:  Austin whipped up a couple of breakfast burritos with egg, cheese and turkey bacon in a whole wheat torilla.

I also made a new breakfast creation that came to me in my dreams on Saturday night: Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes.

I ate mine with raspberries and powdered sugar.

And this morning I had them again, with blackberries, syrup and flaxseed.

Moving on to other eats - for lunch on Saturday, I made fried eggplant with a homemade marinara sauce.

For the sauce, I chopped up three tomatoes and let them simmer in a sacepan with garlic and olive oil.  I spiced it up with fresh basil from our garden.

I peeled and sliced the eggplant and dipped it in bread crumbs.

Dozie was being a good kitchen helper, so he received an eggplant peel-hat on his head.

I fried the eggplant in a thin layer of olive oil for a couple minutes on each side.

It turned out perfectly golden brown and delicious.

Austin executed his mastered grilling skills with the chicken.

And I threw together a couple of salads for some green veggies on the side.

All together, this was a fantastic meal.

On Saturday night, we headed downtown for another Astros game.  Since we had a bad experience with raw chicken tenders at the last game we went to, we made sure to eat a snack before the game this time!

I made a Chocolate Cherry Smoothie that consisted of Amazing Grass Chocolate drink powder, a banana, frozen cherries, spinach, milk and ice cubes.

We had fun watching the Astros, even though they're having a rough season.

It was a beautiful evening at Minute Maid Park.

On Sunday, we went to the movies while our lunch marinated in the fridge.  In the mix: steak, onions, himalayan peppers, mushrooms, red potatoes, and a Garlic & Molasses marinade.

The movie of choice was Robin Hood, starring Russell Crowe.  Is it just me or is he seriously Gerald Butler's twin?  It was fun to learn the story behind the legend.  I also enjoyed the scenery of the movie.  Overall, I give this action flick a thumbs-up!  However, at 140 minutes of screen-time, I did feel like it dragged a bit at times.

Ok, you want the truth? I was in a hurry to get home to these kabobs!

Austin grilled some shrimp and scallop kabobs for himself.  I wasn't too jealous, though, because the beef was amazing!

I even had enough leftover for a salad at lunch today.  Bonus!

I'll leave you with a piece of dessert: dark chocolate and raisins.  I've been eating this Endangered Species Chocolate as if the chocolate itself is going extinct!

What do you like to pair with chocolate?

Duh...my mouth!  Haha :) I like to pair chocolate with raisins, nuts, peanut butter, or ice cream!