I love food.  In fact, that's probably pretty obvious when you scroll through my blog posts and see how many are about recipes that I love.  My most recent obsession is the avocado.  I love it.  It's so creamy and it has such a mild flavor.  My favorite way to eat avocado is on a sandwich.  My recipe is really simple.  Not much to it at all, but this sandwich is really satisfying.  

It's so satisfying, that I ate half the sandwich before I even remembered that I was going to take a picture of it.  Oops.

What you need:

1 Haas avocado

1 tomato 

1 Tbsp Hellman's lite mayo

2 slices of bread

Salt and pepper to taste

Toast your bread first.  It makes the sandwich easier to handle.  Slice up your tomato.  Halve the avocado and twist it apart.  Slice the avocado while it is still in the peeling, then squeeze it to get the slices out.  Layer the avocado slices and tomato on the bread.  Lightly salt and pepper the tomatoes.  Spread the mayo on the other piece of bread.  Voila!  It is finished.  

I think it would also be nice (and more decadent) to add a few slices of bacon and some melted mozzarella on here.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  Good eats!

Ain't nothing like some cheese and marinara!

As a college student, eating good food can be hard.  My roommates and I don't share groceries, so purchasinsg fresh produce, breads, and dairy products can be difficult since they don't last long after you buy them.  I wanted to share a meal that is easy, inexpensive, uses fresh vegetables, and tastes GREAT.

Here is my version of Eggplant Parmesan:

Ingredients

1 medium size eggplant

1 cup Italian bread crumbs

3/4 cup egg substitute

Vegetable oil

1 jar marinara sauce

2 cups of finely grated mozzarella cheese

Directions

Slice the eggplant in 1/2 inch slices.  Coat each slice in egg substitute and then cover with bread crumbs. In a frying pan with enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the pan, cook eggplants slices on medium high heat until browned on both sides, flipping once.  Lay the slices on paper towel after cooking to drain excess oil.  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cover the bottom of a 9x9 baking dish with marinara sauce.  Layer eggplant, more sauce, and 1 cup of cheese.  Repeat this one more time so that you have 2 layers.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  

You can eat the eggplant parmesan alone or serve it was noodles or your choice.  Eat up!

Oh, the excitement!

Oh, the tastiness!

This stuff also heats up well in the microwave.  Although I could probably eat the whole dish...I think I will just have it again tomorrow night.  And maybe the next day for lunch.  :)

"I love you 'til the end of this life and forever in the next."

Yep.  That quote is from my super romantic and handsome boyfriend.  I don't usually like sharing the mushy parts of my life with the public, but I have to give my man, Jeffery, a standing ovation for the incredible Valentine's he had planned for me.  We weren't able to be together on Valentine's day but he fully made up for it on Saturday.  


Now, I've blogged about Nami's before.  It's a Japanese restaurant in Anderson, South Carolina that is FANTASTIC.  I've raved about the place many times in front of Jeffery, so he took initiative and made us reservations.  We both got all dolled up and he took me out!  

I love sushi.  Cooked sushi, that is.  I will never put anything in my mouth that is raw, other than a vegetable.  I ordered the Philadelphia roll and scallops gratin.  The roll contained crab, avocado, and cream cheese.  I ate every bite, except one because I made Jeffery taste it.  He hates avocado and cream cheese.  Needless to say, his bite almost reappeared on the table.  


I would have a picture of Jeffery's steak with tempura battered shrimp and vegetables, but he ate it all before I even thought about it.  


Now, during all of this wonderful food, Jeffery really surprised me.  I knew that  he had bought me a gift.  After thinking really hard all last week, I had decided that he bought me The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  I had told him  I wanted to read the last book, but I couldn't find it anywhere.  Well, I was VERY wrong about my gift but I am so happy that I was.  Even though I wanted this book very badly, I am so glad he decided on the gift that he actually gave me.  

This is the nicest gift that I have ever been given.  And what was even nicer were the words he said that went with this ring. He's a keeper.  


To end off the night, Jeffery had to have dessert.  After badgering the poor waiter about what he should get, he decided on the triple chocolate mousse. It was a fine choice.  He almost ordered a second one...

Before

30 seconds later...

Thank you, Jeffery, for the perfect Valentine's day.  I look forward to the many more we will share together.  

"Because you don't live near a bakery doesn't mean you have to go without cheesecake." -Hedy Lamarr

This past week my mama bought us a new spring form cheesecake pan since our last one managed to get warped.  So what did I do?  I went home and I made a cheesecake.  For my birthday in June we went to eat at a restaurant named Nami's and for dessert my mom ordered a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake.  Since she loved it so much, I decided I would search for the best recipe and try to recreate what she had at Nami's.  

If you've never checked out www.pillsbury.com, you're truly missing out.  There is an abundance of delicious and simple recipes.  In fact, I love pillsbury.com so much I've blogged about them a couple of times.  Anyway...I found the recipe I was looking for at: http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/white-chocolate-raspberry-cheesecake/3628c6b0-d06c-46a5-b1db-a31d73741aec/

I've made cheesecakes before, and they usually crack or either don't completely set up in the middle.  BUT...this recipe was perfect.  Because of the lack of ingredients at my local grocery store, I had to skip out on the chocolate wafer cookie crumbs and fresh raspberries, but the cake was great none-the-less. 

I'm not sure why the cheesecake looks so yellow in the picture, because it was more of an off-white color.

So...if you're looking for a great recipe, I assure you that this one will be a hit.

Well I have been quite the busy one.  One month ago I turned 21!! My wonderful parents took the family out to eat at this really nice Japanese restaurant on the lake called Nami's.  This was the first time my parents had ever had Japanese food, and I think they really liked it.  We did have a lot of laughs, and that's why I love my family so much.  My mom ordered the avocado roll.  Since she had no clue how to eat sushi rolls, she decided to cut hers up with a fork.  As if the sight of that wasn't funny enough, she accidentally mixed a whole glob of wasabi in with her first bite!!  In case you've never tasted Wasabi, the stuff is hotter than HE**!  It was hilarious.  I also decided to take a huge bite of something placed on the side of my Pendleton Roll.  After tasting it, I decided it must have only been for looks because it tasted like a pig's ear that had been soaking in the toilet and then dipped in pickle juice.  

The pinkish white stuff wadded up on the front of my plate is the "pig's ear."

For my main course, I had scallops gratin.  It was delicious. 

By the way...these pictures were taken after I have already devoured most of the food.  

Besides eating great food, I've also been doing a lot of preparation for optometry school.  I have a job at an optometrist's office in Cleveland, Ga. It was unexpected.  I thought I was only volunteering there, but I have no problem with them giving me a pay check.  I've truly loved every minute I have spent there and I am learning so much about all the aspects of optometry.

I have also began filling out my application for optometry school.  As soon as all of my letters of recommendation are in and I've completed my personal statement, I will be able to submit it!!

I'm Lindsay and I'm a Foodie.

It's true.  I am a foodie.  If you aren't familiar with this term then you probably shouldn't even be reading this blog, but I'll tell you anyway.  A foodie is someone who has a passion or interest in food.  This doesn't just mean that you are a chef and I think that's what I love about this word.  A foodie covers many different people.  People who cook, people who like to eat, people interested in food history, and on and on.  If you have any interest in food, you can call yourself a foodie.  

Me, well, I fit into several of these categories.  To begin with, I love to eat and I always have.  This is evident if you look back at photographs of me as a child and early teenager.  There were definite physical attributes that could tell you I enjoyed my meals.  Food is something that we need to sustain our lives, so why not make it interesting and tasty.  I do love my family, but my parents are so vanilla when it comes to food (no pun intended).  Do not dare suggest we have Chinese for dinner or anything with any spice or heat!  They are so afraid to try new flavors and I wish they could open up their mouths and let all of the wonderful flavors fill their mouths.  

Not only do I like to eat, but I love to cook.  I am not the best cook in the world and I have never claimed to be but I love being in the kitchen.  I can't get enough of Food Network.  I love all of the cooking gadgets and supplies at stores like Le Gourmet Chef.  AND...I even enjoy going grocery shopping.  I get as much satisfaction out of cooking a delicious meal as I do making an A on a biology exam.

Lastly (and if the fact that I like grocery shopping didn't make me sound like enough of a nerd...) I love the biology behind how and why we taste things.  Did you know that our ability to taste different flavors such as sweet vs. bitter is because of evolution?  Now I know if you read my previous blogs you will find how opposed I am to the idea that we all evolved from a single species, but this is different.  Humans have evolved.  Not only in appearance, but in taste, too.  Sweet flavors meant that the food was full of energy and bitter flavors meant that the food could be toxic.  Individuals who couldn't taste harmful substances didn't make it very far in life.  Now we have extremely intricate palettes that can detect multiple flavors.  When the chemical compounds in the food we consume touch the papillae on our tongue, signals our sent to our brain telling us what kind of flavor it is!  

So, I really am a foodie.  Maybe you now realize that you're a foodie, too!  Foodie or not, next time you sit down to a nice meal, try to enjoy what you are having.

"Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it" Proverbs 15:17

Souplantation

This summer I ate at a restaurant called Souplantation several times while in California.  Souplantation is also known as Sweet Tomatoes in some areas of the US.  Unfortunately, I've never seen either one around here, but supposedly there are four in the state of Georgia.  If you've ever been to Sweet Tomatoes, you know how good it is.  The restaurant is buffet style.  You walk in a first you can make yourself a salad.  They have every topping you could possibly think of and they have a few prepared salads for you to choose from.  The salad is my favorite part of the dining experience.  They have soup, pasta, and delicious dessert, but nothing can beat the salad.  My favorite prepared salad is the sweet broccoli salad.  I was thinking about how good this salad was earlier today and I decided to look up some recipes.  Luckily, I came across the supposed exact recipe that Sweet Tomatoes uses!!!  I can't even describe the excitement that I am feeling.  I can't wait to go home and make this for my family this weekend.  I hope they like broccoli!

Ingredients:

1 head raw broccoli

1/2 cup crumbled cooked bacon

1/2 cup cashews

1/3 cup raisins 

1/4 cup chopped red onion

Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise 

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Wash broccoli and pat dry. Chop off bottom 2 inches or so of stems and break head into florets. Place in a large bowl; add bacon, cashews, raisins and red onion. In a separate small bowl for the dressing, combine mayonnaise, sugar and cider vinegar; stir until smooth. Toss broccoli mixture with dressing. Let set approximately 10 minutes before serving. Serve on chilled salad dishes.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

   

Its' a bird! It's a plane! No, it's the Pillsbury Doughboy!!

I love cooking, or at least trying to cook.  When it comes to making something delicious the quick and easy way, Pillsbury is the way to go.  You can come up with all sorts of recipes using Pillsbury products but if you aren't creative enough to do it yourself, just check out the Pillsbury website: http://www.pillsbury.com/

I have made several things using some of the recipes that I found here.  I've made pizzas, pinwheels, fajita pockets...You name it and there is a recipe for it.

Just look at some of these pictures taken from the pillsbury website (if you make it, it will still look this good) and see if your mouth doesn't start watering.  Mine is!

What's that purple thing??

It's an eggplant!

I only discovered the tastiness of this vegetable about a year ago.  I love trying new food, especially if it's a healthier alternative to something else.  There is this great restaurant off the square in Dahlonega called The Corkscrew Cafe.  Instead of ordering something normal like a chicken sandwich or quiche, I decided to try the eggplant sandwich.  It was delicious! It's a vegetable that has the heartiness and (if prepared certain ways) the flavor of meat!!

I haven't attempted to make one myself, but I've been browsing through recipes and I think this one might be the winner.  With eggplant, mayonnaise, and feta cheese you can't go wrong.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 crusty sandwich rolls, split and toasted
• 1 bunch fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

1. Pour the oil into a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Place the eggplant slices in the heated pan and cook without moving until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Flip the eggplant and continue to cook until golden brown on the other side. Remove from heat.
2. Mix together the mayonnaise and garlic in a small bowl.
3. Lay the toasted rolls out, cut side up. Place the cooked eggplant on the bottom half of each roll. Layer the eggplant with fresh basil leaves and crumbled feta. Spread the garlic mayo very lightly over the cut side of the top each toasted roll. Place the tops on the prepared sandwich.         allrecipes.com

I hope to try this recipe out within the next few weeks!  Another great recipe using eggplant is eggplant parmigiana.  There are a few different ways to make it, but it's delicious no matter how you do it.  

So, if you've never bought one of those weird purple vegetables before, give it a shot and make something delicious.