Katie's Cooking Tips: for vegetarians and individuals seeking a meat-free life.

I made a fantastic Baked Ziti dish last night. I wish I had taken a picture.
It turned out really well! It wasn’t vegan, but it was vegetarian.

I used:

• Ronzoni Ziti

• Ricotta Cheese
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

• Classico Florentine Spinach and Cheese Sauce
• Morning Star Farms Beef Crumbles

• Clove Garlic
• Onions
• Salt/Pepper/Oregano

Boil the water for the pasta.

Preheat the oven for 375*

Saute the garlic and onions in a little olive oil. I added the diced tomato, and let it sit for a little bit.

Then I added the Classico sauce and about 1/4 cup of water. (It will cook itself out)

Let the sauce cook and thicken, and then add the beef crumbles, and seasoning.

Once the pasta is cooked, add a tablespoon of butter to it.

The sauce should be done by then, so add the sauce to the pasta.

Mix it all together and move it to a baking dish.

Add the ricotta cheese to the pasta and sprinkle shredded cheese on top.

I usually cover the dish with aluminum foil to keep in the heat.

Bake for a good 30 minutes or until all your cheese is melted with a crispy outer ring! (The best part!)

Enjoy!

Posting by Kayla Groone

My favorite reality TV show would have to be Cake Boss. Luckily, I can now watch it since I got a cable tv deal. My old cable company was off more than it was on!

I am a very creative person and am amazed at the talent on this show. The show has many talented people who are all involved in making the cakes. Five or six people can be involved in creating one cake. I am finding out that a cake can be absolutely made into anything! I have seen a dog cake, a motorcycle cake, and a Sesame Street cake. A lot of thought and talent is put into designing these cakes. And they usually turn out pretty good! Sometimes they tend to have design problems but they work them out.

As with every reality tv show, there is always a little bit of drama with each episode. Either a sister doesn’t like a cake, someone sold a cake they weren’t supposed to, or a cake won’t fit into the delivery van. There is always a good outcome to the problems though. This show proves that anything can be done if one really wants to!

So, it has been a long, HOT weekend.

I left off Thursday, talked to you guys about the dress thing. We found the perfect dress for me!

Either in pistachio or clover. I think we are going with pistachio, right Jess? I know you’re reading! Hey Apu <3

So that was Thursday. Friday I worked til 4:o0 and made my way down to Seaside Park! Yay! The traffic on 18, 34 and 35 was absolutely fine up until the bridge. Once I got off the Point Pleasant Bridge, it was hell! And it was scorching hot. I had my convertible top open but that did NOT help. Finally after leaving at 4pm, I arrived at the house just before 5:30. It should have only taken me an hour to get there. But, once I got there, I was able to relax and sit in the house. At the house was Jess, Sue (Jess’ mom), Me, Rich (Jess’ fiance), and Drew (Jess’ brothers friend, he arrived later.)  Jess’ brother James didn’t come til Saturday evening. We all danced together as kids, so it was nice to have us all together again!

For dinner, I had this DELICIOUS salad which I am going to recreate here  as today’s recipe. After a long day of soaking up the sun, I was ready to go to sleep. Saturday, we woke up early around 9ish. There were some things we needed to do, so we got right to them. Jess, her mom Sue and I  went to the Verizon Store to get her phone replaced. HOWEVER, that is not what happened. The incompetent sales lady was RUDE, and not helpful at all. She lied straight to our faces and talked down to us. It was ridiculous. Anyway, after that fiasco we went food shopping. That was another fiasco, the place was packed and full of unsupervised children. Do out of staters know that it’s not okay to leave your kid alone in a food store in Jersey? Not saying we have child molesters or anything, but any food store in NJ at any time is packed, and it’s really not safe to let your kid roam a  supermarket alone when there are so many people in the store.

So that was done. We got back to the house and then it was off to the beach! Jess and I were there maybe 2-3 hours and that was enough. It was SO hot and there were no clouds in the sky. Once we all made it back to the house, we had sandwiches for dinner and sat around til James got there. We sat around and talked and then got ice cream. At night, everyone went crabbing but I was so beat and wiped out I just decided to stay in and read.

Sunday morning, I left to go home bright and early to miss the traffic. Good idea on my part, the later it got the hotter it got. When I got home, I took a nap and went to switch on my laptop to update from my cozy bed. But my laptop was not charged OR charging. My charger broke! And it was a holiday so I could not call to get a replacement. But I decided it was a good thing and just watched TV. I made macaroni salad in honor of the 4th and made my own Veggie Burger. It was yummy. Mom and I watched tv for a while, and then I called it a night.

Yesterday nothing too exciting happened. I called Asus about my charger, Mom and I went food shopping for a few things, my dad came home from PA from his little vacation and I played a Dead Space for a while. Again, nothing too exciting haha. But I do have to say, I have been keeping up with the TV show Persons Unknown, and I have to say that I like it a lot!

So it’s Tuesday, I am back at work and I have a new recipe for you.

Klee’s called it a “Tuscany Salad”

What you need:

• Romaine lettuce
• Cubed fresh mozzarella cheese
• Roasted red peppers
• Sun dried tomatoes
• Grilled sliced eggplant
• Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Salt/Pepper/Oregano

I pretty much don’t need to explain this one. It’s a salad, just throw everything all together in there. To prepare the red peppers and eggplant yourself. Just throw it in the oven with some garlic and olive oil for a good hour. Let it cool and you could even put it in the fridge before adding it to your salad. This salad goes great with some wine and pasta. Sorry about the lack of photos, I did not have my camera with me!

Well that is all for today. Any questions or suggestions for me? Please I would love some feedback! Bye everyone, stay cool!

Dark sorry! Blackberry photo! Me on the left

This is me today. Didn’t get a good nights sleep. I stopped at Wawa this morning for coffee but it has not hit me yet. I had a lot to do this week actually. Yesterday I had a dentist appointment. I hate the dentist! I hate when my lips get dry. That is such a pet peeve thing I have. As I sit here typing I am thinking about reaching for my Carmex. Anyway, the week has gone by pretty fast. It’s Thursday already. Tonight I have to meet my best friend Jessica at David’s Bridal so I can try on dresses for her wedding next year. I am the maid of honor! Yay! Jessica decided she wanted a fairy tale wedding, so she will tie the knot in Disney next July. I cannot tell you how excited I am. <3 THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER <3 I love Harry Potter. Hahaha.

So yes, dress fitting tonight. And then tomorrow after work I am going straight down the shore. I’ll probably be there til Sunday morning. I need this mini vacation so badly.  All I want to do Friday-Sunday is lounge at the beach, drink long island iced tea, read Harry Potter over in preparation of The Death Hallows Part 1. UGH. So excited. I really have no plans for the 4th of July but I think my neighbors are having a party so I will head over there. I got invited to another BBQ but I am going to be driving home from Seaside and I don’t feel like driving an additional 30-45 minutes up north. Need to conserve gas and my sanity.

I started playing Dead Space too. I really have had no time to cook, so I have nothing to update with as of now. But maybe I’ll have the motivation tomorrow.

So tired.

Thanks to Katheryn Swinton for writing this post.

I am a closet chef. I admit it. Growing up, I would watch and videotape any local cooking show that aired. Many people like me wanted to learn more about cooking from the famous chefs and personalities that are featured in the magazines, but if you live in the country you know this is impossible. There are many rural areas that are not serviced by cable companies. I know there are hundreds if not thousands of small town cooks who would love to find new recipes for their families and how to prepare them quickly and easily. The thing that changed my life and improved my talents in the kitchen was finally getting the ability to watch food shows on various cable tv specials about food and cooking. This has been a life changer. I can now find high definition broadcasts that air twenty-four hours a day! From good old southern cooking to the finest French cuisine, TV cooking has finally made it to the backwoods! If you know someone stuck in an isolated area, the gift of proper TV access can truly change his or her world.

I thought it was time for me to update with a new recipe. I’ve done a bunch of things already, keeping in with a summery theme. I was thinking of posting a soup, but I would rather show you guys a sandwich I am REALLY craving right now!

I never had pesto up until maybe a year ago and I fell in love. It was a weird color, and it just freaked me out. I also have a weird thing with tomatoes, I hate them. But I can tolerate them in this sandwich.

Caprese Sandwich

What you need:

• Crispy bread, or roll. Foccaccia, italian, semolina, sourdough. Anything works!
• Tsp Olive Oil
• Pesto sauce
• Sliced mozzerella cheese
• Sliced tomatoes
• Salt and pepper

This one is particularly easy. I don’t even need to tell you what to do. Simply spread the pesto on your bread, put on the mozzerella cheese, then the tomatoes. I drizzle the olive oil on the tomatoes, and then add a little salt and pepper on top. And that’s it! Some people like to add olives, but I hate olives! Haha. Icky. This sandwich goes great with fresh brewed iced tea, and some fruit or pita chips.

Oh that reminds me. I should do a post on my favorite snacks. Pita and hummus being one of them. My co-worker and I were just talking about how much we love hummus yesterday!

Ok folks, that is all for today. See you soon! Have a fantastic Thursday <3

Katie

Okay, so this past weekend was Father’s day. And I decided, well I thought it would be nice if I baked a cake for my dad. So I went to the store and made my way over to the cake aisle. I decided to make a chocolate cake, with cherry icing and put slivered almonds on top with a few fresh cherries as well. I don’t like chocolate cake myself, but I thought it sounded like a tasty cake after looking at the cake flavors and icing flavors that ShopRite had.

I arrived back home and started making my cake. After starting to make my cake, I realized I had nothing nice to put the cake on. I mean, yeah, an aluminum pan is usually the way to go…but I was tuned into the Food Network and I was watching a cake showdown. All of these bakers had these nice, state of the art cake stands. I was jealous! I wanted one just like it. After putting my cake in the oven, I made my way over my laptop and started looking for places online that could help me with my non-existent cake stand problem.

I found the website, Become.com whose motto is “Shopping your way.” I immediately was satisfied by their easy and simple site navigation.  I was linked directly to their cake stand section and I went right to browsing. I found a few that I liked such as this cake stand one, with a clear display. I like the fact that the cake I worked so hard on could be shown even after it’s ‘put away.’  For cakes that are extra yummy, that will be eaten right away that won’t need a covering, I found this Martha Stewart cake stand. I decided it would be best to have both kinds in my kitchen at all times.

I found it so fantastic to shop, browse and buy a cake stand in the convenience of my own home. And all in the time it takes to bake a cake!If you need a cake stand or anything for that matter, use http://www.become.com for all your needs!

I am not sure what I want to experiment with next. I have not tried to cook with tempeh, for fear of screwing it up. Maybe I should just suck it up and try it?  It can’t be too bad right? Let’s see if I can find any good recipes with tempeh.

Wow, you know what. This looks excellent! Barbecued Tempeh!

I love barbecue sauce, and I think this would be simple enough for me to make really quickly.

Or this, Tempeh Pepper “Steak”

I could do that!

I can smell the barbecues driving down the street! One would think a vegetarian couldn’t have fun at one. But there are plenty of foods for a vegetarian to eat at a barbecue as I have pointed out.

Next week I am going into NYC to see Stephen Colbert! I hope to stop in at the Zenith Vegetarian Restaurant if there is time.

It is always exciting to come across a blog that you enjoy reading and look forward to checking on every so often.

Seems as though my site was down for a bit there. But I am back up now.

I wanted to make a post about barbecues and Memorial Day foods but I didn’t have time and then my site was down. Blah blah. Anyway here I am.

In general, I wanted to list some foods that vegetarians could do for a barbecue. Such as soy hot dogs,veggie burgers , Shish-ka-bob with Gardein Beef Tips and Veggies, potato salad with MSF bacon, coleslaw…and then I remembered my absolute favorite summer salad. Well, actually, you can eat it whenever you want like me because it is delicious!

Cous Cous Salad

What you will need:

• 2 Boxes of Near East Cous Cous : Now they have many flavors of this, just pick whatever one tickles your fancy. But check the back ingredients to make sure none are  made with chicken broth or chicken fat.
• 2 TBS of Rice Vinegar
• Chopped Onion
• 1/2 cup of Cherry Tomatoes cut in halves
• Diced Cucumber
• 3 Bean Salad

What to do:

• Cook the Cous Cous as the box says and once it is done, let it cool.
• Chop onion, dice onions, cut tomatoes in half.
• Add rice vinegar to cooled cous cous, mix.
• Add cut vegetables to cooled cous cous, mix.
• Add 3 bean salad, (as much as you want), stir in.
• Once you have done that, you can add salt to taste, pepper and just a little parsley.
• Put it in the fridge for a good hour.

Then enjoy!