tomatoes – Page 2 – Loving Food, Fashion, & Life

Quinoa Salad

Posted on October 9, 2013 by LFFL

Made with quinoa, tomatoes, carrots, sun-dried tomatoes, scallions, minced garlic, sliced almonds, fresh parsley, water, and salt.

Well, I never plan to make this again. The quinoa just didn’t have the right mix of ingredients to make this taste very swell to me.

Plenty of people may like this just fine, but me?—I’ll pass.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, make a healthy grain quinoa salad that actually tastes good.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Try different ingredients when making a quinoa salad until you find just the right combination to give you happy taste buds.

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Lasagna Two Times

Posted on September 23, 2013 by LFFL

Made with ground beef, lasagna noodles, egg, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, spaghetti sauce, fresh parsley, and water.

What exactly do you want me to say about this? Is there something about the picture you’re just not getting? It speaks loud and clear to me.

Can you imagine a bathtub being layered with this stuff? If only there was a baking dish the size of a bathtub. Man, I’d immerse myself and go to town—right in the dead center! I mean, can you imagine being surrounded by all that good lovin’?

Then again, you have the problem of finding an oven that big.

Recipe for—Simply Lasagna

Made with ground turkey, no-boil lasagna noodles, olive oil, onion, minced garlic cloves, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, eggs, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, fresh parsley, seasoning salt, and salt & pepper.

Now this was a different second lasagna recipe I tried. This one had a few more ingredients in it than the first one above but was still just as lovely and simple to make.

I was reluctant to make any lasagna at first because I always thought there was so much work involved. But once I started making it, there really wasn’t anything to it. It was much simpler and quicker than I thought it’d be. And if you have someone to help you, it can cut the time down even further.

Recipe for—Mama’s Lasagna

So, if you have nothing else to do today, find the largest bathtub-sized baking dish you can find and make a big fat lasagna.

Take-Away Life Lesson: There’s nothing wrong with taking a little cheese bath.

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Vegetable Pizza To Love

Posted on September 8, 2013 by LFFL

Made with organic whole wheat pizza crust, pizza sauce, mushrooms, green & red bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, 5-cheese Italian, sharp cheddar cheese, and pizza seasoning.

I just LOVE a homemade pizza. There’s nothing like homemade. BUT I had no patience to make my own pizza dough—so the dough is store-bought from Whole Foods.

I just layered and lumped all the ingredients together and called it a day. Notice that it’s not even flat like most pizzas. I had to make a HUGE MOUND of veggies and cheese. It’s a mini-mountain.

There was nothing to making this and the reward was a lot of pizza cheesy gooey goodness all for me! I just sliced it right down the middle both ways for 4 huge slices of love. With slices that big you need two hands or a fork and knife. All that matters is that it ends up in your mouth.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, try making your own homemade pizza.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Always save yourself some time if you need to by buying store-bought pizza dough. If you have the time and the patience, I’d highly suggest making your own dough from scratch though.

Zucchini Gratin

Posted on August 26, 2013 by LFFL

Made with zucchini, onion, chopped garlic cloves, chopped plum tomatoes, fresh chopped thyme leaves, all-purpose flour, butter, brown sugar, eggs, salt & pepper, half-and-half, sharp white cheddar cheese, and Parmesan cheese.

I just fell in LOVE with this dish! It was SO good. Needless to say, it has a permanent home in my recipe book.

I have to say, I don’t eat like the humans. Instead of this being my side dish and part of a bigger meal like it probably should have been—this was my ONLY meal! When something is that good to me, I’ll slice it into big hunks and go to town on it. Then I’m full.

Slice this straight down the middle length-wise, then into thirds the other way. SIX HUGE CHUNKS, PEOPLE!!

Recipe for—Zucchini Gratin

So, if you have nothing else to do today, try making this zucchini goodness. It was SO easy to make.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Side dishes can always be a meal in and of themselves. It’s like eating an entire box of macaroni and cheese to yourself. You eat until you’re full.

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Halibut With Artichoke & Olive Caponata

Posted on August 22, 2013 by LFFL

Artichoke & Olive Caponata made with red onion, celery, artichokes, capers, kalamata olives, tomatoes, raisins, red wine vinegar, olive oil, sugar, and salt & pepper.

This was new and different. I can’t say there was anything fascinating about it, but it was good. It gave the fish a little kick. It doesn’t have a home in my recipe book though so I probably won’t be making it again.

Halibut fillet seasoned with olive oil, salt & pepper; topped with artichoke & olive caponata and parsley; served with corn and spinach.

Recipe for—Halibut with Artichoke & Olive Caponata

So, if you have nothing else to do today, try making a fancy topping for your fish fillet.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Anything with fish is better than eating a plain fish.

Tomato-Basil Bread Pudding

Posted on August 2, 2013 by LFFL

I’m prepping the ingredients here to add to the baking dish for this delightful Tomato-Basil Bread Pudding. Look at that mound of fresh cheese! I always throw in more cheese than what any recipe would call for. Who are we kidding?

Made with multi-grain bread, shallots, chopped garlic cloves, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, parmesan cheese, eggs, milk, salt & pepper.

This turned out to be a pretty good dish.

Recipe for—Tomato-Basil Bread Pudding

So, if you have nothing else to do today, try making this dish just because it’s so easy to do.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Always throw in extra cheese than what any recipe says to do. You can never go wrong.

Baked Panzanella Caprese

Posted on July 28, 2013 by LFFL

Made with tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, mozzarella cheese, fresh chopped garlic, fresh basil, salt & pepper, ciabatta bread, and drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil.

I absolutely LOVE this baked panzanella caprese. I just love the combination of tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and a good vinegar. Oh, dear, just look at the CHEESE!

Anything with cheese is fine by me. I love buying a big fat mozzarella ball and cutting it into big chunks as I eat it along the way.

I used ciabatta bread for this recipe and sliced it to fit. This is SO simple to make and I make it every chance I get. It’s such a good snack food. I can eat at least half this pan straight up—which leaves little left for guests.

Recipe for—Baked Panzanella Caprese

So, if you have nothing else to do today, you should definitely make this panzanella caprese and maybe find only one other person to share it with.

Take-Away Life Lesson: This is best eaten straight from the oven while it’s good, hot, and crispy. You could microwave leftovers the next day, but it’s just not the same.