Drowning...

At the moment, I feel a little swamped. like I'm drowning. It's not a good feeling.

slowly, and I hope by the end of the day, I'll feel like I'm treading water.

And by next Thursday, I'll be ready for a margarita and my chicken taco.

I am very ready for next Thursday, April 22nd to be over. I will have accomplished a lot by then.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

The way to my heart...

They say the way to a man's heart is through their stomach... The same could be said for me, because I'm in love with Tommy!

Spring Break was all Austin TX for me and I picked this up at one of my favorite spots in ATX; Whole Foods Headquarters. ohhh my! where to begin..... fruit so colorful it felt like we had walked into a candy shop, fresh grind-your-own-nut butter (my favorite was almond!), lots of fresh samples in the bakery!, amazingly unique products that are difficult to find in Iowa like kale chips and gfree options...

Chips and salsa are definitely the way to my heart! When I saw Tommy giving samples and selling his new salsa at Whole Foods I knew I had to buy some. He had just received his first shelf space -- how exciting! :)

After we all dipped in to several of his different types, I chose the Fire Roasted Corn & Black Bean salsa. I love black beans and this was nice and smoky.

I gave it a try last night with my cheap bag of Santitas- gotta love 'em. It was indeed smokey, but not very tomato-ey. I liked it a lot, but I do think I'll try adding crushed tomatoes next time to add extra flavor and stretch it out a bit.

This would be awesome used on blackened chicken or maybe on top of rice?! I'm glad I picked it up! Have a great Monday!

Homemade croutons

I remember posting this a few months ago while in Roma. My absolute favorite way to start the day was with a cioccolata cornetto and a cappuccino from Bar Del Cappuccino. yum. In the states, however, I want my day to start with this. Every day. Ooo wouldn't that be nice?!

Chocolate Chip Bagel and Hazelnut cream cheese from Panera!
Paired with a perfect Cinnamon Sticky Buns french press coffee. deeelish!

After a great Friday at work I came home to an awesome dinner. My mom made these homemade croutons. oh yeah. She's good. :) These were very crunchy and very good! Not to mention, she put them in one of my favorite dishes. I have a thing for dishware.

They were a great addition to thiiis salad :)

um hello?! so colorful! so delicious!

Fresh, Real Food

This breakfast was the perfect start to my day! I am loving the combination of frozen raspberries (no sugar added!) and banana on Total or Special K or Crispix. It is so great -- a must try!

Sometimes it's George Strait, sometimes its Norah Jones. or Lady Antebellum. Lately it's been a lot of Straight No Chaser's Man That Can't be Moved. A little Paul Simon, Michael Jackson, Vince Gill, Bon Iver, Matt Wertz.... anything goes really. My little bose speakers are always playing some sort of music in our kitchen.

I feel like I could cook and bake, cut and chop, for hoooours when I'm listening to music. Last night I did just that.... I grabbed a lot of the veggies in our frig and started chopping.

Fresh, real, healthy food makes me so happy.

I sauteed onions, minced garlic, s&p, cumin, green and orange peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, black beans, and wilted spinach right at the end.
I served this mix with brown rice pilaf. It was pretty good! Not that flavorful... but really good. I think I liked it even more because I know its so good for me. Is that weird!?

Nicobella

Truffles are always pretty.

Their dainty decorations make most girls swoon.

And their decadent fillings... oh, that's another story.

These truffles, however, are absolutely. stunning.

oh. my. goooodness. They are perfect! Each one is vegan and they come in the most creative flavors (how yummy does a Pumpkin Chai Truffle sound?!)

Please visit nicobellaorganics.com and read about them.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!! I'm stuffed. :) such a good feeling! Now Im sipping on a french press and blogging!

Instead of waking up to cinnamon rolls like a few weeks ago... I woke up to potatoes baking in the oven. Since about 9am I've been cooking! Its been a busy day but it paid off. Here are the goods--
Cornish Game Hens
My dad seasoned the little guys with s&p on the inside and Famous Daves Rib Rub on the outside (with a little butter to make it stick) and popped them onto the Weber for about an hour and 20 min at about 350.

These were DELICIOUS.

Next up-- Brussel Sprouts.

I know..... gross, right? WRONG. I have been reading about roasted brussel sprouts on my two favorite blogs (iowagirleats.com and katheats.com) for the past year or so and finally decided to give them a try. I am so glad I did! They were great! Even my brother and my dad who reminded me many times how they were not thrilled about them, said they really liked them! Score.

(these were frozen so prep may change a bit but it will be similar)

wash.

cut off stem. remove raggy leaves on the outside.

slice in half lengthwise. toss with olive oil, garlic salt, and pepper then bake at 425 for 27-30 minutes.

And... Spinach and strawberry salad with homemade poppy seed dressing by my mom! It was so fresh!
Also... twice baked potatoes and french bread.

for dessert.... Special K bars. Half the pan is already gone... I give my dad until tomorrow morning to polish the rest of the pan off :)

Happy Easter!

This is one cute post by Joy the Baker (remember those gorgeous raspberry scones?! those were hers!) After reading the entire post, I happen to agree. Entirely.

I am still working on a post from last Sunday's Gianni 7 Reunion. It's taking me way too long... In the meantime, I'll share these beauties!

How great do these look!? I found this display of caramel apples (plus cookies chocolate nutes sprinkles sugar frosting etc etc etc) in Whole Foods (an incredible grocery store that was first opened in Austin TX specializing in organic, healthy, and whole foods). I wanted to get one so badly, but did you catch how much they were!? Nearly 8 bucks each! whoa ho ho Noooo.

they are pretty cute though :)

Happy Easter everyone! OOOOO


those little guys above are, of course, little easter eggs.

Rome Reunion

Oh my goodness... Romesickness.

Certain things... the smell of fresh basil, the first couple notes of PYT by Michael Jackson, my great copper sandals from Dublin, checking my morning messages, the thought of skype, hearing or replying with Ciao bella!, oh my... so many things flood me with thoughts of Rome and my time abroad.

Last fall was an incredible semester. With 6 incredible girls.
We have had plenty of family dinners.... whether it was in our dining room on Circonvallazione Gianicolense

I think this was the dinner Bethany and I made, if I remember correctly.

Or in a hostel in the middle of Venice :)

oh. my. what a night :/

And even though we were in the heart of the city with the most incredible food... we still managed to eat plenty of Chinese.

When our semester ended, we vowed to do Gianni 7 things together hopefully weekly, and if not weekly, then every couple weeks! So, at the end of March all of the PYTs came over for a little family reunion :)

On the menu

• wine. wine. wine.
• Two types of lasagna (one for the glutard and veg, one for the rest of us)
• A colorful salad
• Garlic Bread
• & for dessert, a fresh lemon tart (channeling a little Sorrento)

The Lemon Tree Restaurant in the heart of Sorrento, Italy

My mom and I started zested, juicing, stirring, straining, and baking the lemon tarts Saturday morning. It was kind of a long process but completely paid off. It was fun to try such a unique dessert with such a bold flavor!!

zeeeest

straining numerous times to achieve that silky texture

lots. of. yolks. hello cholesterol!

After making the tart and whipping up the first lasagna, we took a lunch break.
I grabbed this loaf of bread that I brought home from the test kitchens at work and made a quick egg sandwich.

Wow. Can't beat those ingredients and nutritional facts!

This bread was Dense. But tasted great toasted. Served with an apple and peanut butter. YUM!
Next up was the gfree/vegetarian Spinach and Artichoke Lasagna. This baby turned out gooood. I'll post the actual recipe soon, girls!

the goods

sauteeing the homemade sauce

and finishing up the sauce.

I put the lasagna in the oven and started prepping the salad. which took forever! gr.

Salad ingredients

After the salad was together, the food was ready to go. A few last minute prep items... and things were in place!
Around 5 o'clock the girls arrived!
It was a fun evening! We listened to MJ and watched our vid eos haha and reminisced. Can't wait to do it again!

fresh lemon tart with raspberry sauce