Kandi's Breakfast Sandwich!

This sandwich has been done over and over. So I do not get an A for originality, and I can handle that. Because this sandwich makes me happy. Also because I have been sick and not been able to eat. I made my husband one before he left for work (because I rock like that) and decided to make myself one as well. Sadly I wasn't able to finish it simply because I am not ready for a ton of food. BUT, on any other day, that sandwich would NOT have stood a chance. At all. When you combine my 3 fave things, bacon, chipotle and avocado.....you can not go wrong. At all.

So here is my not so original recipe, but it makes me smile and it is pretty.

Kandi's Breakfast Sandwich!

bread to your liking and toasted

crispy bacon

a little bit of mayo, half of an avocado, and a half of a diced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (more or less depending on how spicy you would like it) all mashed together

fried egg (or poached, up to you)....I fry mine in coconut oil

slice of your fave cheese

lettuce and tomato


Layer the way that makes you happy!

Enjoy.

Now back to the sick couch and some hot tea for me. :(  Buh bye!

A Santa Fe Beef Salad Un-Recipe

Un-Recipe because it was kind of thrown together after I couldn't find the ingredients for the original recipe I was going to try. I wanted something pretty light and good clean flavor. I have still been eating in vacation mode, ya know?

Here is the gist of the salad:

Flank Steak: marinated in a mix of oil, minced garlic, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, cumin, and maybe more. Haha. The husband mixed it together, so I am not certain what all is in it. We like to keep it simple so you can actually taste the meat. After it was marinated for a couple of hours, it was slapped on the grilled to mouth watering goodness. Then we squeezed a tad of lime on it while it was still hot. After letting the meat sit, we thinly sliced it.

Green leaf lettuce: You know...wash it....chop it....arrange on a platter or in a bowl

Diced tomatoes: I wanted plum, Target didn't have plum....so I used on the vine

Thinly sliced red onion because it is pretty

Avocado: ours was mangled due to a little girl who wouldn't stop eating the avocado slices. I couldn't cut it fast enough.

Homemade Tortilla Chips...cause they are good. Just don't make too many...because you can't stop eating them. You should only make a handful. And when I say you, I mean me.

Black beans: rinsed and drained

Arrange it all in a pretty fashion and add a pinch of sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Use dressing of choice, but I kept it light and just used lime juice. You can also top with your fave salsa and cheese.

That was fancy, huh? :)

Puff Pastry Bites with Feta, Tomatoes and Pesto

One of my fave food blogs is My Easy Cooking. She has simple yet tasty recipes and beyond beautiful food photography! Drool!

I didn't have time to get the thyme (snort) so I left that out. I also didn't photograph my puffs with the pesto, because as good as the combination is, my pesto looked like bird poop. For real.

Here is her recipe...I had flavored feta and it was crumbled, worked out just as good.

By the way, I ate way too many of these. Haha.

That Was Way Easy Tortellini...and some snickering

I am surprised by this so I decided to post it. Super easy and not original I am very sure. But when it is just the kids and me, it is easy to get stuck in that rut of easy kid food and me munching on whatever for the remainder of the night (not good for swimsuit season I might add). Tonight I asked the kids if they wanted Italian or Asian. My son screamed Italian as my just turned 4 daughter asked what Italian was. My son told her pasta. They were both happy. I told them it would be Tortellini, my son quickly said Turtle WHAT? That is just funny because secretly I called it turtle weenie. Ha.
I had picked up some spinach and cheese tortellini one day when I was a hungry shopper. I decided to put that to work (plus it was a long day and any excuse to have wine with Italian was what I was looking for).
So, after cooking the turtle weenie (how old am I?) per the instructions, I drained it and drizzled with olive oil and Parmesan cheese. I then (again with the olive oil) sauteed minced garlic (from the jar of course) and halved cherry tomatoes for a few minutes. Topped the tortellini with that, more Parmesan cheese with s&p, added a side salad and it was a meal. It also made for a pretty picture.

Now get this, the kids LOVED it. I gave each a good helping. They both wanted more. So I gave them 2nds. Then 3rds. This was a hit I tell ya. And here I thought I could have leftovers, HA! Not!

So, there you have it. The daddy is gone and momma gets fancy in the kitchen meal. Or at least it looked like it. Now the kids are happy watching Pippi Longstocking (again) and I am on my 2nd glass of wine. Cheers.

Red Quinoa Black Bean Salad

My first time every making quinoa. So I just followed a simple recipe that came with my Inka Red Quinoa. I was more than impressed and now that I know what the texture is like, I can't wait to try some more original dishes.

Make a note if you have never made it before. Cooked quinoa has little white sprouts coming out that might look like little worms and have you googling frantically about worm infested quinoa. Luckily I read this exact warning so I was prepared. Haha. !



RED QUINOA BLACK BEAN SALAD
1 cup red quinoa
2 cups water
4 teaspoons fresh lime juice, or more to taste
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons minced scallions
1 ½ cups cooked black beans (one 15 oz can)
2 cups diced tomatoes (one 24 oz can, drained and diced)
1 cup diced red bell pepper 2 teaspoons minced fresh (or canned)

diced avocado
green chilies
salt and black pepper to taste
Add red quinoa to 2 cups of water. Cover and simmer about 10-15 minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Set aside to cool. Combine lime juice, cumin, coriander, cilantro, scallions, beans, tomatoes, bell peppers, and chilies. Add cooled quinoa, salt and pepper to taste. Serves 2-3

Tomato Pie-be still my beating heart

The first time I tried this was last weekend here. As soon as I came home I had to make it. Seriously. Not kidding.

I made two versions, the traditional and a bit more spicy. And OMG I could not get enough. A couple days this week it was my breakfast and my lunch! My mouth is watering again.

Go here for the recipe. I didn't want to crumble the bacon though. And I used low-fat mayo just because I had it.

You can add anything else to this pie, like for our spicy version I added hot sauce to the cheese mixture and sprinkled red pepper flakes on the mixture. Make it your own. Enjoy.