Remake of the Starbucks Roasted Tomato and Mozzarella Panini

When I'm in a rush and need a sandwich, I love Starbucks Roasted Tomato and Mozzarella Panini. But, I've often thought this could be SO much better. So, I remade it into an Eggplant, Tomato, Spinach, Mozzarella, Pesto Panini. Here's what mine looked like:

It was delicious! Here is the materials you need to make it:

• Cutting Board
• Knife
• Spatula
• Frying Pan
• Plate
• Napkins

Here's the ingredients that you will need:

• Spinach
• Eggplant
• Tomato
• Mozzarella
• Pesto Sauce
• Panini Bread
• Non-stick Cooking Spray
• Cayenne Pepper (Optional)

Let's get cooking! (Takes roughly 15 minutes):

1. Thinly slice your eggplant into 1/4 or smaller pieces. You will use roughly 4-6 pieces per sandwich.
2. Spray your skillet with non-stick spray and heat to medium.
3. Add your 4-6 pieces of eggplant (or how many will fit). I sprinkle Cayenne Pepper on mine to make it a little spicy. Just add a few sprinkles to each piece, because Cayenne is really spicy.
4. After a few minutes, check the underneath to see if it is browning. Once browning, flip and cook the other side.
   
5. While your eggplant is cooking, go ahead and slice your Panini in half to prep for layering.
6. Smear Pesto Sauce on both sides of your Panini bread.
7. Your eggplant should be cooked by now, I dry some of the oil out by letting it dry on a plate covered with paper napkins.
8. In the same skillet, add 1/4 inch cuts of your tomato. You will want roughly 3-4 slices per sandwich. This takes a lot less time to grill. Grill for roughly 60-90 seconds on each side.
   
9. While your tomato is cooking, go ahead and slice your Mozzarella cheese (if you bought a block).
10. Now that everything is cooked and cut, let's layer your sandwich. You've already added the Pesto Sauce, so now add fresh spinach to one side and your tomato on the other.
    
11. Next, add your mozzarella cheese to one side and eggplant slices to the other. Make it as cheesy as you want:)
    
12. Last, fold the sandwich together and toss it back in the skillet to melt the cheese. I cook mine on Medium-Low. Be sure to watch it so that it doesn't burn, but allows the cheese to melt. Roughly 90 seconds on each side.

Enjoy!!!

Turnt Up

Just kidding...I did cook with turnips for the firs time though! I used them as a replacement for white potatoes in my homemade vegetable soup. I have to say, I was very closed minded to the experience. I was 100% sure that I was not going to enjoy it, but to my surprise, I loved it! Here's what the finished veggie soup looked like:

 

 

I love to make vegetable soup when it's cold out and I have a lot of unused vegetables in my fridge. This past week has been extremely cold in Texas and I've been very busy. Without a lot of time to cook my vegetables were starting to go bad. Here is what I used in this batch:

 

• 2 boxes of vegetable broth (2 quarts total)
• Turnips
• Carrots
• Bell Peppers
• Onions

Other times, I've used things like:

• Tomatoes
• Potatoes
• Noodles
• Green Beans

You can nearly put any vegetable in your soup and it's very easy to cook. Here's the simple recipe that I followed:

1. Pour both quarts of the vegetable broth in a large pot and start warming on medium
2. Add a bag of miniature carrots (or anything small that doesn't need any chopping)
3. Chop the Onions and Bell Peppers into long strips then add them to the pot
4. Chop the Turnips into small pieces/chunks and add them to the pot
5. Add a few dashes of tobasco if you like it hot and crushed black pepper for flavor
6. Put the lid on the pot and let it cook for roughly 30 minutes; stir occasionally
7. Poke all of your veggies with a fork to make sure they're thoroughly cooked. If cooked after 30 minutes then enjoy! Otherwise, let it continue to cook on medium/medium-low.

This vegetable taste wonderful reheated. I usually make a large batch and freeze several tubberware since it reheats easily. Stay warm, friends!

Cheater, Cheater EVERYTHING Eater

How do you handle cheat days? The research that I've read suggest having 1 cheat day after 30 days of diet to prevent your body from going into starvation mode from low calories. Basically, eating a low calorie diet causes your body to think it is starving and save everything as fat. After thirty days, it is suggested to allow yourself one cheat day a week.

My first cheat day was on Super Bowl Sunday. It was glorious...on Sunday. I've regretted my decisions all week. It is Wednesday and I finally feel normal/semi-healthy again.

Curious to know how others handle cheat days. Does the guilt go away? After your first cheat day, are the rest not so outrageous? Does it make you more strict during the week? Do you ever skip a cheat day?

Anyway, here is my cheat day summary:

1. Woke up hung over so didn't have a breakfast (whoops!). I started the day at lunch with Sweet Tea and Homemade Shrimp Alfredo:

I love pasta; especially, creamy, bad for you pasta. This is a simple, bad, delicious recipe:

• Boil your pasta of choice. I prefer, thin spaghetti or angel hair noodles.
• While that is boiling, saute onions, tomatoes and shrimp covered in blackening seasoning in a skillet with butter on med-low heat. I start with the onions since they take a little longer. While they're cooking, I chop the other ingredients and cover the shrimp in Old Bay blackening seasoning. Shrimp and tomatoes do not take long at all.
• After the shrimp are cooked and the onions are translucent, I add in equal parts of the cream sauce ingredients: cream cheese and sour cream. DON'T JUDGE. I turn the skillet to low and allow for everything to melt.
• At this time, your noodles should be done. I drain them and add them to the skillet to guarantee everything is mixed well together.

After lunch, we headed to a Super Bowl party. For the party, I made a delicious, FAT, shrimp dip:

This recipe is also super easy and bad, but delicious!:

• I soaked 1lb of shrimp in hot sauce and Old Bay's blackening seasoning. I cooked them in a skillet with butter.
• After the shrimp were cooked, I diced all except for two in really small pieces. These two would later be used as decoration. (See photo above.)
• I mixed the chopped shrimp with 1/2 a thing of cream cheese, 1 cup of shredded, mozzarella cheese, 3/4 cup of Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin' Sauce and 3/4 cups of Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch Dressing.
• Once it is all mixed, bake it in the oven for 20 minutes.
• Top with chives and two shrimp as decoration. Serve with Frito Scoops.

For the rest of the party, I enjoyed a few adult beverages, some Reece Cups and some bean and cheese burrito bites.  Next Saturday/Sunday, my cheat day will involve a lot less alcohol and bad decisions....hopefully.

Soup Weather

Earlier this week, I made homemade French onion soup for the first time. It was a simple and delicious recipe that I fell in love with last fall in Alaska. And I love any excuse to use my new bakeware, which was perfect for seving this great soup:

 

 

I love cooking and think great home cooked meals come from the heart. With that being said, I did not follow this recipe exactly. I rarely do!: 

 

 Instead of brandy, I used one cup of red wind (and drank the rest!). Instead of beef stock, I used veggie stock. I only needed  8 oz of cheese (or less). I used four, yellow onions and thought it was the pefect amount. I chopped them in 1 inch to 2 inch rectangles. I added garlic and pepper. I did not simmer for nearly as long as it recommends and I definitely did not broil anywhere near the length noted. Any time you broil, you have to keep an eye on it; it will burn very easily.

 

This recipe made four, healthy servings and reheated perfectly. If you're currently enjoying soup weather, I'd like to recommed this recipe. Please provide feedback if you added or changed anything else; I'd love to hear from you!