Vegetarians- this one goes out to you.

Hey there bloggerz.

I am approaching crunch time for the end of my summer classes, so obviously procrastinating by adding a new post was my top priority. I'm still backed up by about 4 posts, but just bought a NEW CAMERA. YES. So this should help with motivating me to add the recipes that have just been sitting in my blog document..resenting me for not being shared with the world.

So this camera business. I've had my current camera for a solid three years. It's not broken, and it still takes OK pictures (despite some water marks). This has induced feelings of guilt over the purchase of a new camera...and also resulted in poor Steve hanging out at Best Buy with me for an hour while I was trying to make the decision (if you know me, you know how greaaat I am at making decisions). But, I

really liked this camera, it was a decent price, and best of all...it has a Cuisine setting. WHAT!? Yes.

In conclusion, I hope to be much better about blogging as my classes will be over, I only have one job now, and will be Papprazzi (spelling?) with my new camera.

Now I know that I do not always make the most vegetarian friendly meals. I have some thrown in there, but I'd like to increase the amount of meals I make sans meat. There are times that I consider going vegetarian, but then...I don't? I think about it often, but then end up eating some chicken. Or a burger. While I'm thinking about it. Not a good situation. But many of my friends are vegetarian, and I like to make things that most people will enjoy :)

Basil Pesto Pasta

What ya need:

Whole wheat penne pasta (however much you want, I shared this with Steve so I believe we split a box with plenty of leftovers. This took much self-restraint, as I have an addiction problem with pasta).

1 tbl olive oil

1 cup chopped onion (we used white)

3 garlic cloves

1 orange bell pepper, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 small zucchini, chopped

1 cup frozen edamame

**this recipe called for tomatoes, but I pulled a Cathy Reynolds and left them at the store. Like mother, like daughter.

Basil sauce:

1 cup packed fresh basil

1 avocado

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp olive oil

Kosher salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, to taste (I used lots of red pepper flakes so it had a nice kick to it)

What ya do:

*Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta.

*Sautee onion, olive oil, and garlic in a large skillet for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add in chopped vegetables and edamame. Sauté for 10 minutes.

*Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for the amount of time recommended on the box (I usually do 10 minutes). It's ok to make it a little al dente. Drain and set aside.

*In a food processor, make the basil cream sauce by processing the basil, water, olive oil, lemon juice, avocado, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes until smooth (or just about).

*Add pasta to the vegetables in the skillet. Now, pour on the basil cream sauce and stir until combined. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, to taste. Garnish with basil leaves.

SO DELISH! Adapted from one of my favorite blogs, ohsheglows.com. Happy eating :)

Baked Breakfast Goodies.

Okay bloggers. I know. I'm the worst ever. My last post was in June and it is now JULY (p.s how did that happen??). However, I have been extremely overwhelmed this summer with three summer classes, two jobs, and a Master's project. And moving. And cooking. And socializing. Man I'm busy. So forgive me, but I will be posting many more recipes once I can breathe in August.

For now, I've been in super breakfast mode. I never used to like breakfast. Lunch and Dinner usually include some type of pasta which I am all about, and it's more socially acceptable to have dessert after these meals. I can't really get away with eating a whole bag of M&Ms in the morning. But, apparently I've had a change of heart. These two recipes are healthy, relatively easy, and will leave you satisfied until Lunch (when you can sneak in some dessert).

Baked Tomato Cups

What ya need:

4 medium sized tomatoes on the vine


4 large eggs


1 tbsp butter


Freshly minced or dried tarragon


Salt and pepper

What ya do:

*Preheat oven to 375°F and slice off the tops of tomatoes. Carefully scoop out the pulp. Place tomatoes in a baking pan or casserole dish, whatever ya got.

*Crack an egg into each tomato cup. Add ¼ tablespoon butter, sprinkle with tarragon and season with salt and pepper.

*Bake for 25 to 30 minutes . Remove and serve immediately with toast, or a bagel, or fruit, or whatever your little heart desires ☺

Baked Oatmeal

What ya need:

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup toasted almonds, chopped

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp fine-grain salt

2 cups milk

3 tbs unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 ripe bananas, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 1/2 blueberries or raspberries

What ya do:

*Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and butter the inside of an 8-inch baking dish.

*In a bowl, mix together the oats, half the almonds, the sugar, the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

*In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, the milk, half of the butter, and the vanilla.

*Arrange the bananas in a single layer in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle 2/3 of the berries over the top. Cover the fruit with the oat mixture. Slowly drizzle the milk mixture over the oats. Gently give the baking dish a couple of thwacks on the counter-top to make sure the milk moves through the oats. Scatter the remaining berries and remaining almonds across the top.

*Bake for 35-45 minutes, until top is browned. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Drizzle the remaining melted butter on top and serve. If you don't want to do that to limit your butter intake, I usually drizzle a bit of honey on top.

Enjoy your breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day (or so I was told by my beautiful nutritionist Mother). Happy eating!