Ham & Apple Grilled Cheese YUM :)

This is an awesome recipe- some kids might like it too. I discovered it at Baron's where they made it for  samples and now I've been eating it for almost two weeks: they got me! It's like a gourmet grilled cheese... whole wheat sourdough bread, spread with butter, then layer havarti cheese (or any other favorite cheese), thinly sliced apples (I prefer green), smoked ham and then a little more cheese so it all sticks together. Grill. YUM.

Lovely iPhone Cases

I have never wanted an iPhone... until now. These are thee most beautiful cell phone covers I have ever seen, and of course they are for a phone I do not have. Sold at my new place of work: Nordstrom by  Tech Candy. Personally I love the cream one the best. $32

Italian: Not The Healthy Kind

CARBONARA! I have been eating Carbonara for three days now. When I make it, I make a lot... thinking it will be eaten by my boyfriend and roommate, but NO, I end up eating it for three days :) Which I hope doesn't sound like complaining because it is damn good. Funny enough, I got the recipe from a People magazine: Eat, Pray, Love Carbonara... just like in the movie! Hah. The picture looked great and the recipe looked easy, so I gave it a try!


Carbonara:
1lb. spaghetti pasta
4oz. pancetta- the best is from Trader Joe's, I don't recommend the one from Baron's
1/2 cup powdered Pecorino Romano
1/2 cup powdered Parmesan
2 room temp. eggs

1. Start boiling the pasta, usually it takes a while to heat up that much water!
2. Also begin to saute the pancetta on medium in a BIG pan, this will take about 12-15 minutes (until fat is rendered out)
3. Mix both cheeses and eggs in a small bowl, whisk until smooth. Set aside.
4. When pancetta and pasta are done, drain pasta and add to the pan with cooked pancetta, it should now be on low heat.
5. Quickly pour cheese/egg mixture on pasta, mix with pancetta and turn heat off so the egg doesn't scramble. Top with a decent amount of ground pepper and serve! YUM.

I Love World Market: Lounge Chair

my new favorite thing

I love this chair. It is beautiful and comfortable. It's $30 from World Market, however if you sign up for their rewards program you get a $10 off $30 coupon so it's only $20! It is awesome, and it makes me want to hang with my flowers on the patio... and read a book under the sun. 

Quick Fix: Pet Dishes

I hate the plastic bowls my cat's food and water used to be in. I had the obnoxious looking ones with the rubber bottom so they don't move around. It worked out great when Kashmir would come sliding into home for dinner, however Reggie got a little bacterial thing going from those plastic bowls so I decided to switch to glass or ceramic. When I went to Petco the ceramic bowls were a. ugly and b. expensive! I went to Wal-Mart, which is where I go when I need to find something for cheap, and got some great ceramic bowls for close to $1.00 each. They stay cleaner then plastic, they are easy to wash and they look a little less obtrusive. Score!

Famous Cheese Potatoes

My mama's famous cheese potatoes! I don't have exact measurements, so if you want this lovely potato dish in your kitchen you're going to have to work with me!  

You'll need:
-About 8 oz. or 1 block of Gruyere Cheese, shred it! They have it at Trader Joe's
-1 cup whipping cream
-About 6-10 ORGANIC russet potatoes (enough to make three layers in a baking dish, cut in 1/4" slices)
-Salt

You can use any size baking dish, depending on how much you want to make, adjust cooking times and ingredients. Oil or butter your baking dish. Make three layers: start with the sliced potatoes, sprinkle with a medium amount of the shredded cheese: not too little not too much, and top each layer with a little salt. After you've made three layers pour the whipping cream evenly over them, I usually end up using a little less then one cup. Put it in the oven for 45-60 minutes on 375 degrees, until brown and beautiful like the picture below, enjoy!

world. famous. so good. 

Wellness: Cancer Cure

I've slowly come to realize there is a cure for many degenerative diseases including cancer, and easy steps to prevention. After reading The Gerson Therapy, check gerson.org too, it opened my eyes to food being medicine and nutrition in general. You can rent their movie The Gerson Miracle on Netflix: it's a little intense, and low-budget, but the message is eye-opening.

This is also a very interesting theory and website:  phoenixtears.ca  and  phoenixtearsfoundation.com. It is something I am going to look even deeper into. There are some very interesting videos on this site including Run From The Cure, which I think everyone should watch.  If you haven't heard of these things before I hope you look into them and find them helpful!

Also, I just saw Ziggy Marley on Chelsea Lately and the interview is awesome, watch it here!

My Take on Italian...

I'm not the kind of person who LOVES Italian food. I would probably pick anything else over Italian... when I eat it it's good, but it's not something I crave. My boyfriend's favorite food is Italian and this recipe makes us both happy... and I crave it! I got it from my wonderful friend Marty- where lots of my recipes and good ideas come from, she's quite inspirational :) We decided to call it 'Spinach Rolls', however I think 'Veggie Lasagna' is a better fit.

This recipe is easy to make, and easy to adjust to your taste. Everything should be diced.
-Saute onions, one bell pepper (I like it yellow or orange for this meal), and garlic. If I have green onions I add those too.
-While thats cooking you may want to start boiling the water for the lasagna. I never knew lasagna was a type of pasta, I thought it was just a dish. But that is what everything is rolled up in, lasagna! Boiled just enough so it doesn't get too soft. They tend to stick together so add some olive oil to the water.
-Add diced mushrooms and red pepper flakes (if you like a little spice) to the onions, bell pepper and garlic.
-When it is just about done cooking add chopped up spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and a splash of spaghetti sauce. Turn off the heat and add a heaping spoonful of cottage cheese. You can use any cheese, or no cheese...I don't really like cottage cheese, nor does my boyfriend, but it is good in moderation- especially in this meal!
-Drain the lasagna when done cooking, usually it only takes about 5-7 minutes to boil. One by one lay out the pasta and roll the veggies up in it, then directly put the rolls in a baking dish.
-Top the rolls with the some spaghetti sauce and bake for 10-15 minutes on 400 degrees. Done!

When I made these the first time I had also bought a bottle of Contadino: Pinot Grigio from Trader Joe's for $3.99! It is an Italian wine that I will continue to buy whenever I want Pinot Grigio, and it went perfect with my version of Italian food. Enjoy!

mmm... easy Veggie Italian!

Dream Headboards Website!

Finally got my Dream Headboards website up! There is still a bit to do, but check it out:  www.dreamheadboards.com

If you or anyone you know need a custom made fabric-covered headboard please, send them my way... 

Water Anyone?

This is my new thing. I drink a lot of water normally, but this makes water even better! I fill up this beautiful pitcher from World Market with water, sometimes ice and anything from mint and lemon to mint and lime, oranges, cucumbers, berries... and I leave it on the counter all day so I drink it. I end up drinking close to two pitchers a day, it also saves me on water bottles because I'm strangely addicted to them. I love the pitcher so much it makes me want to use it. Crisp.  

Perfect Dessert: Plum Puff Pastry

 I really impressed myself with this one. I googled "apple plum+puff pastry": only because I wanted a good dessert and those were the only things I had that sounded like they could make a good dessert. I found this recipe from Apples & Butter -best new food blog of 2008 ...ooh-la-la. Anyway, it turned out to be super quick and easy, and an absolutely wonderful dessert. I did modify it a bit, but there are SO many things you can do with this. This is what I did:

*pre heat oven to 400 degrees
1 sheet of defrosted puff pastry, cut into 1/4's (TJ's or Baron's)
2 plums, sliced and put on top of pastry in halves
Top plums with brown sugar and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar all over pastry :)
Bake for 15-20 minutes

-Eat warm! I loved it with a side of cottage cheese mixed with honey and I don't love cottage cheese, or skip all the sugars and top with honey for a sweet breakfast, or powdered sugar ...thats what I'm doing with my one left-over tomorrow :) Next I will try the same thing, but with sliced tomatoes and pesto! Or artichoke dip and sun-dried tomatoes ..so many options and not just dessert. Puff Pastry is awesome.

Plum Puff Pastry! oh yeah...

Roasted Vegetables!

 I have never roasted vegetables. I have never seen anyone roast vegetables... but it is easy, and it is amazing. I threw in organic potatoes (non-organic potatoes are one of the worst things you can put in your body), sweet potatoes, carrots, brussels sprouts (never used them before, amazing), onion, zucchini, leeks, mushrooms and garlic- tossed it with olive oil, salt, pepper and dried basil. Put it in the oven on 375 degrees for about 45 minutes, checking on it until the potatoes were done and BING... amazing roasted vegetables. AMAZING.  

I Love Target: Shoes

I LOVE these shoes for spring...I just bought them at Target on sale for $22. Steal.

Tempie: also available in nude

Photo Works/Diana F+: Round 2

Here are some more pictures I took with my Diana F+ Lomography camera, using 120 Black and White Negative ISO100 film. Again, I took my film to Leroy at Photoworks in Temecula and he did a fabulous job. I am going to start taking more pictures with the color film which I think really adds something to these kind of pictures... but I do enjoy the black and whites as well.

Just another day at work :) 

Anabella & Babi

add some color...

Wellness: KALE

Kale is amazing. Most people know kale as the garnish next to their hamburger... or sandwich rolls as shown below: the stuff everyone throws away. However, kale is a highly nutritious vegetable and it basically fights cancer: score.

I try to eat a little kale every week and I like to buy it organic: fewer chemicals mean more nutrients. I get it at Baron's off Clinton Keith because Trader Joe's doesn't carry it, wtf! All the regular grocery stores usually have it also, but not organic ... I mean, if you're going to eat vegetables you might as well get the most out of them! I warn you: too much kale is too much kale, I recommend using it in small quantities. Rinse it and throw it in stir fry, put some in salads or follow this great recipe for Kale Chips, a great alternative to potato chips:

• Rinse 2-4 large kale leaves & preheat the oven to 300 degrees. 
• Tear off pieces about the size of small potato chips- just the leafy part, not the hard center
• Toss it in a bowl with a little olive oil, pepper and salt- not too much salt! (It's worse for you then you think and if you don't believe me read The Gerson Therapy.)
• Spread the kale out in an even layer on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, let cool and enjoy!  * The crispier the better, as long as it doesn't start burning :) 

These are pictures of the Kale Chips I made tonight!

before

after... yum!

A Quick Fix: The Dinner Table

I never really thought candles would make a good table centerpiece. My mom was coming over for dinner and I had to impress! I didn't have anything else so I grabbed two candles from my kitchen, solely based on color... and an elephant teapot from World Market I got a few months earlier. You could probably use any teapot and it would look the same. I had ranunculus that were on their last night and very close to dying, which I cut and put in the teapot- just for dinner. I really like the vibe it gave, and the candles haven't left my table since... now I'm looking for place mats to match!

The blue candle is the Vanilla Amber from Target, my favorite!
... bought on clearance actually :)