Category Archives: Recipes

We are leaving next week to go on vacation, so the goal this week is to clean out the fridge.  I hate to waste good food so I thought that this salad would be a perfect addition to some grilled chicken.  It is light, healthy, and delicious!

I also love flavored vinegar and oils.  One of my favorite places to pick up some is Florida Olive Oil located down in Sarasota at St. Armand’s Circle.  I love to learn of new places….so do share…

Tomato-Peach Salad

• 1 pound beefsteak tomato
• 1 pound of peaches
• Shaved Asiago Cheese
• toasted sliced almonds
• 2 Tbl olive oil
• Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar
• salt and pepper

Peel peaches and cut both peaches and tomatoes into wedges or slices.  Top with 2 ounces of shaved Asiago and salt and pepper.  Toast 2 tablespoons of almonds in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over low heat.  Top almonds over the salad.  When ready to serve drizzle with strawberry balsamic vinegar.

So after a fun day at Honeymoon Island beach with the boys, I was pondering what I should cook for dinner when Davy asks, “Can I watch The Princess and the Frog?”  Humm…New Orleans/Cajun flavored food….and the lightbulb goes off….Jambalaya.  A one pot dish!  Most of the ingredients I had, but I still needed to make a quick trip to the grocery store, so this worked out perfect.

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com so I must give credit where credit is due (thank you Bubba), but if you know me…I gave it some “love sauce”…and added garlic bread on the side.

• 6 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 pound cubed cooked ham
• 1/2 pound cubed cooked chicken
• 1/2 pound cubed smoked sausage
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes, with liquid
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning (I used Luzianne)
• 2 cups uncooked white rice (I used 1 cup white, 1 cup brown)
• 1/2 pound peeled/deveined shrimp

1. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add bacon, and cook until crisp. Remove bacon pieces with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Add celery, bell pepper, and onion to the bacon drippings, and cook until tender.
2. Add the ham, chicken and sausage to the pot, and pour in the tomatoes, beef broth and chicken broth. Season with thyme and Cajun seasoning. Bring to a boil, and add the rice. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the rice is tender.
3. Stir in the shrimp and bacon just before serving, and heat through. If you use uncooked shrimp, let it cook for about 5 minutes before serving.

My favorite food in the whole world is PIZZA!!!!  So, it is fitting that I am on a mission to make my very own with a signature flavor.  This was a great foundation to start with, and I know over the years it will just get better and better.

We love to have family pizza night and the thinner the crust, the better.  Most of the time we will use a large tortilla shell; this way everyone gets to make their own and it significantly lowers the calories.  But tonight, I felt adventurous and made my own.

Dough:

• 3 3/4 cups of flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbl sugar
• 1 active yeast packet
• 3 Tbl olive oil
• 1 1/3 cup of warm water

Whisk flour and salt.  Make a well in the middle and add sugar, yeast packet, and warm water.  Knead until smooth and then add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Form a ball and then brush the rest of the olive oil over it.  Cover the bowl and place in a warm spot.  We live in Florida, so I just set the bowl outside.  Let the bowl sit for about an hour and a half or until it has doubled its size.  This dough can be divided into 2, 3. or 4 smaller balls for individual or thinner pizzas.  Pre-heat oven to 450.  Stretch and roll out the dough being  used.  Place on a pizza stone or an inverted baking sheet on the lowest rack in the oven.  Bake until golden.  In my oven that is 7 minutes, but it may be 15 in yours.  Pull out the dough, top it with your favorite toppings (Andy’s is spicy sausage, sweet onion, and mozzarella) and place the pizza back in the oven until cheese bubbles, 7-15 mins.

Sauce:

• 1 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/2 Tbl dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix and allow the flavors to blend for at least an hour.