what I've been having for frenchfast

As a newly christened "morning person", breakfast has become one of my favorite meals. If I could eat a breakfast pastry for every meal, I would be the happiest.


Because I don't have a delicious, French pastry shop in my kitchen (I'm assuming I'll become a master baker one day and eventually make my own), I've been trying to find ways to make breakfast a little fancier than usual.


Apparently that means adding Nutella and strawberries to otherwise normal breakfast items.


Maybe these ideas can help start your day off delicious and full of chocolate!


Tuesday: Croissants avec Nutella

• Cut into your croissants like you were going to cut them in half, but don't cut all of the way.
• Put them in the toaster oven for two minutes maximum (or quickly heat in the microwave).
• Spread Nutella in the pocket you made in each croissant.
• Slice a couple of strawberries to enjoy on the side; you may also choose to put them in your "sandwich".

Wednesday: Bagel avec Nutella et la gelée

• Separate one bagel and toast/heat however you prefer.
• Spread Nutella on one half and jelly on the other (I used a local boysenberry spread).
• Enjoy one half at a time, or however you prefer.

Thursday: Gaufe (waffle) avec Nutella

(I've been wanting to do this one for a while)

• Toast/heat until they've reached your desired level of crispiness.
• Instead of using butter, just spread Nutella
• Slice strawberries to enjoy on the side.

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break me off a piece of that bur-ri-to

With my weird metabolism, I'm generally not hungry for dessert like I used to be.


How sad is that, right? Especially when I could use a daily dose of sweet and/or chocolate.


So for breakfast, I tend to have something sweet (like PopTarts, bagels, etc); this morning, I ended up having a slice of cake. My mom baked the cake last night and I made the chocolate frosting from scratch (using the recipe on Hershey's website), so it was PAINFUL not to be able to enjoy it last night.


Let me tell you, cake for breakfast is genius.


But for lunch, I figured I should make up for my culinary indiscretion with something at least a little healthy.


I haven't had much protein lately, something important to a vegetarian's diet. Hence I created a lightly fried burrito. Think of a soft taco made crunchy.


Bouncing Bean Burrito:

Unstuffed Peppers

Last week, my mom and I picked up some fresh fruit and vegetables from a local farmer's market. We had plans to use some of them, but then others ended up sort of sitting around for a bit.


So a cubanelle pepper has been staring at me for a few days now. Today, I decided to finally use it. But, how would I cook it? It's a sweet pepper, so it can be used in a lot of different ways.


There are a lot of recipes online for stuffed peppers; I got it into my head that I would stuff the peppers with a rice/veggie mixture. But as time went on, I didn't really feel like roasting it in an oven "forever". I like my lunches to be quick-yet-delicious.


Eventually, I used some stuff from our fridge and pantry and came up with a Spanish rice-style dish. Fair warning, this is a combo of ingredients that might sound... a little strange. But it's delicious, I swear!


Unstuffed Peppers

these bagels are more than just "bites"

I'm one of those people that relies heavily on Bagel Bites as a major food group. That sounds a bit extreme, but during the school year, they're usually on my grocery list.


I also love bagels (though I still tend to grab Pop Tarts in the morning) and all the yummy things you can eat with them. They're kind of like a food chameleon, or whatever.


Anyways, you should definitely make your own "bagel bites" when you get the chance. More satisfying and just as easy to make!

Foodlettes on the Road - Part 1

I spent 13 hours in a car yesterday. I had a good excuse, so don't worry.


I'm currently enjoying a mini-vacation with my grandparents in historic Williamsburg, VA. We left their house at 4 a.m. and drove, with plenty of stops, until we reached our condo.


My nana is all about her research, so we already had a couple of dinner spots we want to visit while we're here. They like seafood and eating healthy, so it wasn't too hard finding locations in this college-area.


Last night we ate at "Food for Thought".

Symbolically, Food For Thought is built on this same success model. Our food is prepared with love and served with pride. The foundation of our menu is built upon Classic American dishes such as Fork Tender Pot Roast, Grandma's Meatloaf, and "fall off the bones" ribs. These are meals that America grew up on. To complement these American favorites we added some newer, more contemporary flavors and ideas like Pad Thai, Jamaican jerk chicken, flavored butters, and original vegetarian dishes.

A truly wonderful meal is a combination of good food and good conversation. So talk about the special people featured here. Talk about the contributions that these people have made to the world. Talk about how everyone can be great in his or her own way. Talk about how we can each make a significant contribution if we model the same principles and beliefs of those that have gone before us. Have fun while enjoying a deliciously inspiring meal and expand your mind as well as your belly. . .

After being in the car all day, I pretty much just wanted a salad and a nap.

Happy Summer Blueberry Nests!

Since I've been doing so much baking lately, I decided to share with my downstairs neighbors. I've never really spoken to them, or any of our other neighbors, but they have an adorable little girl (and a UF welcome mat) so I figured they could use a treat!


I had come up with an idea for a "thumbprint"-style cookie, where you make wells in the cookies before you bake them, then fill that well with a jelly or a jam.


I still had some blueberries that I had picked a couple weeks ago (that I will hopefully finish baking away soon) so I decided to make my own blueberry "jam".


I used the same cookie recipe that I've been raving about, those glazed lemon cookies, but added the juice of 1/2 lemon to the dough mixture. Then, I made sure to add a "nest" as best as I could to each cookie.


Because I wasn't actually making a jam out of these blueberries, I sort of had to invent my own recipe for the sauce/syrup.

• 2 cups blueberries, fresh
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• juice 1/2 lemon

Heat that up in a saucepan over medium heat. This recipe is fun because you get to squish and mash the blueberries in order to make it a sauce; there is no other added liquid. It'll heat up and get delicious, then bring it to a boil (pretty much still on medium heat) for at least five minutes.

From there, spoon a little into each cookie. Mine had a lot of spillage, as the cookies weren't built like the dams they should have been, but that was my own fault. Either way, the cookies and jam have to cool and harden a little before serving.

I packaged up a whole tray of cookies for my neighbors (the recipe makes two trays, so we were able to enjoy some, too) and left it on their doorstep. I know they've brought it inside, but I'm still waiting to see if they think I'm some lunatic - or if they appreciated the thought. I included a recipe card so that they could make them, too.

Note: You're going to have plenty of leftover blueberry sauce. If you're like me, you'll eat a couple spoonfuls just out of the pot, then save the rest for later use.

salad! the DIY way

Many moons ago, my dad and I would make our own salad dressings. We didn't do it too often, but it was a really fun way to experiment with flavors and use ingredients you might normally use.


I've been trying to eat more fruits and veggies lately (c'mon, health!), so for lunch today I thought I'd make my own salad + dressing.


Sami's "Vinaigrette" Dressing:


I didn't use any proper measurements, just sort of eyeballed what I poured into a small mixing bowl and whisked together.

• About a teaspoon of honey mustard.
• Two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.
• A dash or two of blueberry infused red wine vinegar. (I'm almost positive no one else even has this. I don't know why we do, at this point.)
• A good tablespoon of soy sauce.
• Two teaspoons of honey (I used clover honey).
• A couple pinches of sugar, to taste.

At the last minute, I cracked in some pepper. Along the way, it's so important to taste after almost each step. One ingredient can completely change the entire dressing, so you might have to compensate with a little more of something else. I originally wasn't going to include any sugar, but it was pretty tart.

In order to have more fruits and veggies all in the same meal, I sliced up one orange and two large strawberries to toss in with a salad mix.

Stir together, and enjoy! As you can see, I enjoyed the salad before I could snap any photos. I suggest you do the same.

warning: not a vegetarian recipe, but I hear it's delicious

After I bugged my friend Derek, he revealed the recipe for this ginger chicken soup. You see, I'm just trying to coerce all of my friends into food bloggery.


And no, like the title suggests, this recipe is not vegetarian, but that can be easily fixed.


You'll need a crock-pot (a slow cooker) in order to make this recipe to Derek's perfection, but that can be fixed, too.


Derek's Ginger Chicken Soup: