Easy Cheesy Garlic Bread

This is one of my quick and easy recipes that I make to accompany pasta dishes or when we buy a pack of bread from Sam's Club and are not sure what to do with the second loaf.

Horizontally cut the bread loaf in half.

Mix garlic, butter (or margarine), mayonnaise, salt, and shredded cheese (I use sharp cheddar) and spread over the bread.  I do not measure the ingredients, I basically make a paste/dip consistency with the ingredients.  I like a lot of garlic and cheese, so I usually use about 7 medium sized cloves to 3/4 cups mayonnaise.

Spread the mixture evenly on the bread. 

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350F or until the cheese starts to melt. 

 Cool the bread for until you can touch it (5-10 minutes) and then cut the bread into slices.  We forgot about the bread in the oven and ended up with some burnt edges. Enjoy!

Dallas Restaurants~Nosh

I'm finally getting around to blogging again and found some posts that I set up but never uploaded.  This was pre-baby (over 2.5 months ago) and when we could actually go out for a nice dinner.
We checked out NOSH, a European Bistro in Plano and were pleasantly surprised.

Main Lobster Fritters with Mandarin Tartar! This was my favorite dish of the night! It was a light deep-fried lobster piece surrounded by a cheese sauce. I will have to try to replicate this yummy dish! Mike thought that this dish was a genius idea.  It sounds expensive because these fritters contain lobster, but really you are eating a lot of tasty cheese and batter AND lobster. 

Tartare of Ahi Tuna-avocado, jonah crab, and yuzu

Grilled Diver Scallops-Brussel Sprouts, Asparagus and Romesco

Grilled Shrimp and Grits

Nosh 
4701 W. Park Blvd, Suite 101
Plano, TX 75093
972-612-3200

Biscoff/Speculoos Spread

Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter-it tastes just like Biscoff's Creamy Speculoos Spread.  Did you know that there is also a CRUNCHY Biscoff Spread?

Imagine the original creamy Biscoff Spread with pieces of crunchy Biscoff cookies.  I'm a texture person and when it comes to foods, I like crunchy foods better than soft items.   CRUNCHY over creamy peanut butter, TACOS over burritos, and CRUNCHY Biscoff Spread over creamy. 

I'm not sure if you can see the cookie bits in the spread. But it's so good.  I wonder if you could make this by grinding up Biscoff cookies and mixing it into creamy Biscoff spread.

Fruit Pearls

I read about these Fruit Pearls a few months back and wanted to try them.  They are a bit pricey (a 4-pack for $6.50), each cup weighing 90 grams.  But Dippin Dots are expensive, and they use the same flash frozen method, so I can see why a fruit version would be pricey.  Tiny orbs of fruit puree and yogurt are flash frozen in the Wild Berries and Cream flavor that I purchased.

I bought this at a local Sprouts store, and chose the one containing fruit and cream.  Other flavors included a chocolate and strawberry flavor, a tropical fruit mix, and other fruit mixtures. 
At only 70 Calories per cup, this is a healthy frozen snack.  I would not mind trying other flavors.

Texas Restaurants~LA Burger

The last time my sister came to visit in December 2011, she checked out this place called LA Burger in Irving, TX.  When she came back to visit this past August, she really wanted to go back and eat the signature LA burger. LA Burger has expanded since the last time my sister visited and there are now two locations (Irving and Carrollton). 

We checked out the Carrollton location since it was closer to the city that we live in.  Since it was the newer location, the owner happened to be there.  He's this young super nice guy that walked us through the menu and suggested what we order.  He even checked up on us a couple of times to make sure that we were enjoying our meal. I love it when restaurants have awesome customer service.  My sister mentioned that back in December the owner was also friendly and sincerely wanted to make sure that she was enjoying her LA Burger experience. 

Asian Tacos-We tried three different ones.  A teriyaki chicken, bulgogi, and pork taco

 Kimchee Fries-French Fries topped with kimchee, spicy sauce, and onions.

LA Burger-Hamburger with kimchee, fried egg, cheese. I liked the toasted bun!

 

LA Burger 
1017 E Trinity Mills Rd Ste 104
Carrollton, TX 75006
(972) 245-0505

Fast and Easy Dinner~Pasta

I've been on a "different" pasta kick and recently purchased some Orecchiette pasta.  "Orecchiette" means "small ear" in Italian.  Do you think that the pasta looks like little ears?  Changing up the shape of the pasta can change the eating experience. I do not think that I would have enjoyed this meal as much if I used spaghetti noodles or macaroni shaped pasta. 

Orecchiette Pasta, Arugula, Italian Cheese, Pesto, Grape Tomatoes, Onions, and Garlic

This was a quick and easy dish. I sauteed sliced onions in oil, then added minced garlic and grape tomatoes.  I then added the cooked  pasta, then some pest. I shut of the stovetop heat, and added shredded Italian cheese and a couple of handfuls of arugula.  I've been trying to incorporate more vegetables into our diet, and this pasta was a perfect way to increase our veggie intake instead of eating a side salad. 

I liked the look of the pasta, but I had some difficulty cooking this pasta.  Since the Orecchiette pasta were all the same shape and size, a bunch of the pasta pieces stacked together and I could not separate them while they were cooking in boiling water.



Texas Restaurants~Stephen Pyles Samar

Here's another restaurant that we checked out pre-baby. We went to Stephen Pyles "Samar," fancy tapas bar that serves Spanish, Mediterranean, and Indian inspired tapas. I've been wanting to visit a Stephen Pyles restaurant for the longest time and last year I received a gift card to Stephen Pyles and never got around to using it.
I, as well as the receptionist at Samar that it was hilarious when Mike made reservations, the receptionist asked us what we were celebrating and he answered with, "The death of our social life because the baby's coming soon." The receptionist started laughing and said, "I'm not sure what to write in the comments section here."

Black Hummus-Chefs creation of hummus with black sesame seeds and squid ink for the signature black color.  This was my favorite dish of the night.

Potatoes and Chorizo with Egg and Foie Gras. This dish sounds good, but a similar dish we ate in Spain was so much better.

Haulomi stuffed squash blossoms with a pomegranate and green olive sauce. I enjoyed the combinations of flavors and textures on the plate. I like the tart pomegranate seeds and the creamy cheese. 

Tandoori Chicken Butter Masala with Tomatoes and Fenugreek. This was my least favorite dish. I've never been to India before, but I've tasted much better Butter Chicken type dishes at Indian restaurants. 

Dark Chocolate and Spiced Pecan Baklava

Would we go back to Samar again? Probably not.  One of our "foodie" friends raved about the food here, but he visited the restaurant during one of the special nights.  Overall, we were disappointed and Mike evaluated the restaurant by saying that taking into consideration the price and taste, he would eat a 2-choice plate from Panda Express.  All the food that we ordered cost a little over $50, and I think Mike would still choose a Panda plate for $25 versus the food we ordered. 

Samar 
2100 Ross Avenue at Olive Street
Dallas, TX 75201
214.922.9922

Kiwi Berries!

I read about kiwi berries a few years ago, but could never find them in the grocery store. Kiwi berries are the size of grape tomatoes and look like mini kiwi fruit without the fuzzy brown exterior. The flavor is similar to kiwi and you can pop these fruit into your mouth skin and all.    

I was shopping at Sam's Club the other day and saw this 1-lb pack of berries for ~$4.    According to Wikipedia, the berries have a short shelf life, which makes it difficult to commercialize them. I guess a company must has figured out how to mitigate the short shelf life, because the berries are now being sold in bulk at Sam's Club. 

Where is Butters?

Our dog Butters has the tendency to quietly follow us into rooms.  Sometimes we shut doors and do not realize that he's trapped in a room.  He does not bark to let us know he's stuck.  We either start realizing that Butters is missing, or he let's us know where he is by sticking his paws underneath the door. 

Mini Corn Dogs

I saw pictures of these mini corn dogs on Pinterest and wanted to try them. I rarely eat hot dogs and could not get myself to buy regular high fat hot dogs and bought turkey dogs. 

Generously spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick oil spray.  Fill the mini muffin pan with prepared cornbread mixture. I used a box of Jiffy cornbread mix and followed the instructions on the box. 

Place the 1" hot dog pieces into the batter. Bake at 375F for ~12 minutes.

Serve the mini corn dogs with ketchup or mustard.  Mike thought that these were just "okay." He recommended that the next time I make these I use REAL hot dogs and make a fluffier cornbread.  I guess that means I have to make a cornbread batter from scratch or find a cornbread mix that results in a fluffier finished product.

Easy Dinner~Taco Salad

I've been trying to post more on this blog, but I find myself not having enough time in the day.  Making dinner, doing laundry, and taking care of things around the house take second priority after taking care of our baby girl and the dog. 
I just realized that I can start blogging more if I use Mike's laptop instead of mine. My laptop keyboard is AWFUL! I have to pretty much stab some of the keys for some of the letters to appear on the screen. Typing on Mike's laptop makes blogging so much easier. 

Here's a picture of one of our quick and easy dinners.  Vegetarian taco salad.  I could actually make this during the day so that Mike had dinner waiting for him when he arrived home. 
Chop up lettuce, tomatoes, and onions.
Cook vegetarian patties (gardenburgers or boca burgers) with chopped onions and taco seasoning. 
Add Catalina dressing, black pepper, and Tabasco to taste. Top salad with crushed tortilla chips.

Trader Joe's in Texas!

For the longest time I have been tracking the news awaiting the opening of Trader Joe's in Plano, TX. A Trader Joe's opened up in Fort Worth, TX earlier this year, but Mike and I never made the hour drive down there.  Well, the Plano location opened up in early September and I finally made it down there with a friend two weeks after the store opened.  We checked the store out on a Saturday afternoon and it was SUPER CROWDED! I guess I'll have to go back to the store during the week or after the newness of the store dies down. 

I love perusing grocery stores. I think Mike might have mocked this hobby of mine in a previous post, but I enjoy seeking out new products and trying them, and sometimes wondering how they were processed or who was the co-packer that produced the item. 
This SHELF-STABLE box of whipping cream was one of my finds.  I've seen UHT (ultra high temperature) processed milk before, but never heavy cream.  I haven't tried it out yet, but this is a perfect solution to my baking needs. Sometimes recipes call for whipping cream and I have to make a special trip to the market just for a carton of cream.  Now I can have it on hand in my pantry. 

I heard that Trader Joe's was selling a Speculoos Cookie Butter like the one we purchased in France.  I tried it the other day, and I cannot taste a difference.  My guess is that the company that manufactures the Biscoff Speculoos also packages this product for Trader Joe's. 

My all time favorite Trader Joe's cookies, their Crispy Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Don't get me wrong, most of Trader Joe's cookies are yummy, but these crunchy cookies do not last long in my house. 

Sliced Honey Roasted Almonds-This is a new item at the store. I bought this bag to put on salads, but the bag was empty before I could use it on a salad.  I'll be purchasing them again.

I bought this bag of fruit leather pieces for Mike and apparently he took the bag to work and ate it in three days.  I usually buy him the all fruit bars, but this bag contains the extra "scrap" (well that's my guess).  It's still just like the fruit bars, but the "ugly" pieces.  If the process of making the bars produces a lot of scrap, this is a great way for a company to make a little extra profit.  This is assuming that the processing and packaging equipment is already available and adds extra cost to the product.

Olive Bread-I thought the bread was tasty.  It's full of a bunch of kalamata olives and you can eat it plain.  Mike must have liked this bread too because it quickly disappeared from our kitchen counter. 

 

I cannot wait to go back to Trader Joe's to try other new items. Mike and I have to clean out our freezer a bit more so that I can stock our freezer with different frozen foods from Trader Joe's.