salad

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A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by a representative from Lucini Italia products asking if I wanted to try their Tuscan Chickpea Frittata mix. I love trying new products, so I of course said yes. Imagine my surprise when I came home from the Healthworks picnic last Tuesday and found a HUGE box full of items from Lucini. I kept digging through the packing materials and finding more and more, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soups, sauces, salad dressing, and of course the chickpea frittata.

I couldn’t wait to get back to NJ and into my kitchen to get started with the delicious-looking gifts I received. Last night was our first night home in ages, so I made a quick and tasty dinner featuring Lucini products.

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Lucini Italia Products

For the salad portion of dinner, I made one of my favorite simple combinations, romaine, red onion, and local heirloom tomato topped with Lucini’s Fig & Walnut Savory Balsamic.

salad

salad

heirloom tomatoes

I love that I found local heirloom tomatoes at Trader Joe’s as I missed the farmers’ market on Friday. I love my heirlooms!

The main course was Tuscan fiery chili frittata with Tuscan marinara with roasted garlic. This was super easy to make, just add water and olive oil, mix, and pour into a baking dish. Next time I would use a larger baking dish; I spilled the mixture on the VERY hot oven and had to turn everything off for the cleanup as you do need to preheat it to 500.

Once the frittata was cooked and set, I topped it with the marinara and some grated parmesan cheese.

chickpea frittata

Soft, hot, comforting, and spicy, I loved the frittata. I had never had this before, and it reminded me a little bit of polenta. I loved how savory and satisfying it was. And I can’t wait to have a slice on top of salad for lunch today.

chickpea frittata

In other news, I bought a juicer over the tax free weekend, and I can’t wait to start drinking fresh juice a few times a week in addition to my veggie smoothies. Last night I made one with carrots, bok choy, apples, and lime. Delicious!

With fall coming, I love that feeling of renewal, and part of that is definitely getting back into a better workout routine and really nourishing myself, all while still savoring summer, of course. Getting ready for fall makes me think all about new beginnings, new clothes, and this year a new class, my wine class at the Elizabeth Bishop Wine Resource Center at BU.

It’s also a great time to do some shopping for the home, new kitchen appliances, bedding, and maybe even dining room furniture. To help one of my lucky readers with that, CSN Stores is offering a $50 gift card to one lucky reader. They have SO much great stuff; I would love to win this giveaway!

To enter: Leave a comment responding to the question below. If you have Facebook or Twitter, link back to this post there as well as on your blog if you have one. The giveaway will end on Saturday, August 21. Good luck!

Even if you are, like me, no longer in school, do you still feel that new-ness when fall starts approaching? What do you to to welcome it?

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Tags: Food, frittata, giveaway, Italian food, salad

Happy Tuesday! Today is the last day to enter my giveaway for a copy of The Secret Ingredient. I am already working on 2 more recipes from this flavor-filled cookbook, and if you haven’t entered, you will want to!

Yesterday I took a mini vacation with my sister and niece, Isabella, to Davis Farmland in Sterling, MA. If you have been reading for awhile, you may remember that we visited this farm as well as Nashoba Winery last year, and we all loved it so much, we decided to go back.

Davis Farmland

Davis Farmland houses a variety of animals from around the world. Many of them are dwindling farm animal species, and Davis Farmland is working to preserve and educate about them. Isabella and I agreed that the little teddy bear-like lamb below was our favorite.

baby lamb peacock

This cow was just hilarious. He held his mouth wide open for us to drop the food in.

cow

We spent an exhausting day playing with and feeding farm animals, then at Davis Farmland’s water park and then at dinner at The Banshee, a great little Irish pub in our neighborhood.

When I got home, I knew I had to whip up some lunches for the week, so I grabbed a bunch of stuff I had on hand.

1 can chickpeas

1 can black beans

1 can organic roasted tomatoes with chiles

2 red bell peppers

2 cups roasted corn (from Trader Joe’s, great ingredient for so many dishes!)

bean salad

I simply drained and rinsed the beans and mixed those with the corn, tomatoes, chopped red pepper, and 2 finely diced cloves of garlic.

After I mixed it all up, I added some crushed red pepper flakes for spice. We will eat this for the week, served on top of heaps of spring lettuce mix with some other veggies like radishes and carrots. I love lunches that last a week!

bean and corn salad

I hope you are all having a great week so far. To be honest, it’s a bit tough to be back in the office while my family is visiting, but I have some Salesforce training to sit through. . . bah.

 

Do you buy or bring lunch to work?

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Tags: beans, Davis Farmland, healthy, recipe, salad, Vegetarian

Tomatoes and basil galore! If you are what you eat, then I am definitely a tomato with a side of basil this week. Tomatoes and basil are available in several of the farm stands at the Copley market, and I have been enjoying them in a variety of ways, including all by themselves.

Tuesday night, I was in the mood for something light, but the hubs was hungry so I whipped up two quick meals that showcased the tomatoes and basil that I bought at the market.

Hers:

tomato basil goat cheese

I had a quick salad of chopped tomatoes, shredded basil, honey goat cheese, olive oil, and ground pepper. Then I had another bowl of the same for dessert. So fresh and flavorful, this combination is a winner and will be on my menu until the last tomato is picked :) Love.

tomato basil goat cheese

His:

Pesto Shrimp

For a slightly more filling meal, I thawed some frozen shrimp (a staple in our freezer), then whipped up a quick pesto using a handful of basil, 2 cloves of garlic, and some olive oil. I tossed a whole chopped tomato and the shrimp with the pesto. Once the shrimp and tomato were evenly coated with pesto, I baked them at 375 until they were pink.

Pesto Shrimp

This filled the kitchen with such an incredible garlic and basil aroma. I snagged a couple of shrimp from my husband, and they were perfect. The best part? This dinner took about 15 minutes.

I love the simplicity of summer eating. Great local ingredients truly do shine.

If you have a roommate or significant other, do you always eat the same dinner, or do you sometimes find yourself cooking for a couple of different moods? We usually eat the same thing, but sometimes I just want boatloads of salad!

Don’t forget to enter The Secret Ingredient cookbook giveaway. It’s a good one!

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Tags: Farmer's Markets, pesto, recipe, salad, shrimp, summer, tomatoes

I may be a little obsessed with the sriracha and corn combo that I discovered at Myers + Chang and posted about yesterday. There is something about the sweetness of the corn, the spice of the sriracha, and the yummy, melty butter that scream summer in a hot, gourmet kinda way. Since I can’t eat just corn for dinner, I brainstormed with some of the fresh ingredients that we had in the house to come up with a healthy, filling, and easy to cook meal.

shrimp, corn, arugula, heirloom tomatoes

I shucked and boiled the corn on the cob until it was about 3/4 the way cooked. In the meantime, I was cleaning a bunch of medium sized shrimp and getting them into a pan with a few drops of olive oil on low heat.

shrimp, corn, arugula, heirloom tomatoes

Once the shrimp were pink on one side, I cut the corn off of the cob and tossed it into the pan of shrimp. Then the magic began. I added 3 small pats of butter and a bunch of sriracha and stirred the shrimp and corn until fully coated. Two minutes later, everything was cooked, and I added the shrimp and corn to a bed of fresh arugula and heirloom tomatoes.

shrimp, arugula, heirloom tomatoes, corn

Simple and delicious! This was another home run meal, if I do say so myself. I have been really enjoying the intense heat and the fresh, local food that summer has brought upon us. I really feel like I FINALLY feel thawed out after the winter! As everyone else is complaining about the heat, I reflect back on those Boston Marathon training days. . . and look ahead to this year, knowing that I will crave the summer heat then!

While cooking, I had a tiny glass of a great wine that I picked up at The Urban Grape last week. The 2007 Aramis is deep purple in color, as you can see in the photo on the right. I loved swirling it around in my glass and looking at it’s lovely color in the summer sunlight :)

Interestingly, the first night that I tried this wine, I got lots of dark berry flavors, but after I poured a glass from the day old bottle, I got an intense whiff of cocoa before the fruit came through. This wine feels round and luscious in the mouth and has a long, smooth finish. It is really an exceptional wine and was among many great choices that were open for the tasting.

Aramis Vineyards Shiraz Cabernet Aramis Shiraz Cabernet

This is not necessarily what most people would consider an ideal wine for a 100 degree evening, but for some reason I often want to drink red wine over white, even when it is hot out.

I can’t believe we are leaving for California so soon, after such a great long weekend! I am a little stressed. . . I always get stressed when we travel even though we do it pretty often. Often I just worry about my cats, but this time my cousin will be housesitting which is nice. I don’t know, I feel like leaving home takes away from of the control from this control freak ;) Does that make sense? I am of course really excited and have some great restaurants, winery visits, and boating on Lake Sonoma planned.

Do you get stressed when traveling?

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Tags: Aramis Vineyards, arugula, corn, healthy recipes, heirloom tomatoes, recipes, salad, Shiraz Cabernet, shrimp, sriracha, summer, Urban Grape, wine

Ever since the delicious blogger dinner at Vlora last weekend, I have been thinking about the traditional Albanian watermelon and feta combination, and I knew that I would have to try it in some capacity at home. And that’s just what I did for dinner.

But first, lunch. We got off to a late start on the 4th. My husband was kind enough to drive our friend Kari to the airport for her flight to San Diego, and while he did that I went back to sleep. . . until 10:30! I never ever sleep that late, and it felt soooo good.

I woke up, blogged, did some cleaning, and then we headed to Yankee Lobster for a little New England seafood lunch.

Yankee Lobster is a cute little place for fresh seafood down by the Seaport area of Boston. They have great, fresh, cold, Harpoon beer on draught (the brewery is something like .1 mile away!), and in addition to all of the prepared foods, they also sell fresh fish and lobsters to cook at home.

We shared the fried oysters and a lobster roll with fries and coleslaw. The oysters were a hit with a crunchy, light batter, and bursting with briny ocean flavor.

fried oysters at Yankee Lobster

The fries were excellent, but they don’t serve Heinz ketchup. . . next time I will bring my own. The coleslaw was really good as well, but the lobster roll was a little disappointing. The lobster was really dry, and while I used to love my lobster rolls with lobster salad: lobster, celery, mayo, I think I have become a devotee of the hot lobster roll with just lobster and butter. Decisions, decisions.

Yankee Lobster lobster roll and fries

After hitting up a completely empty Trader Joe’s- apparently grocery shopping ON a holiday is a good idea- we had a relaxing afternoon at home and eventually decided to just stay in for the evening.

I cooked up some tofu hot dogs and then got started on this splendidly simple salad.

Chunks of cool, sweet watermelon, crunchy yellow bell pepper, creamy, salty feta, and a dash of olive oil and balsamic were all I used.

watermelon feta salad

And next time, I think I would leave the olive oil and balsamic out and just let the flavors of the fruit shine through. Maybe a tiny handful of chopped fresh mint? All I know is that I am hooked on watermelon as part of a salad (or eaten by the bowl full for snack), and you will likely be seeing it here again.

After dinner, I ran into the living room to get something and discovered this:

image

Smuckers and Scout, sleeping together on top of the wine fridge. These two usually play and fight with each other, but I haven’t seen them sleeping together, and especially on such a small surface, in a long time. It was adorable.

Yes, that plate is theirs. They have their own plates in addition to their regular food bowls. Cats run the house, I tell ya.

The rest of the night was spent making chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches and watching Shutter Island: cookies from store-bought cookie dough and Trader Joe’s brand chocolate ice cream which is the best ice cream I have had in a LONG time. I am always disappointed when we go out for ice cream, but this has just that perfect chocolate flavor and rich, creamy texture.

Looking back and feeling rested and refreshed, I am glad we decided to spend the holiday together, at home, relaxing.

Do you ever feel pressure that you HAVE to do something on holidays like New Year’s Eve or the 4th of July?

 

Don’t miss my guest post on The Daily Craic, my Top 5 Things to Do in Ireland

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Tags: holiday, recipe, salad, summer

Hi guys! I am up in lovely Truro, MA enjoying a beachy weekend with the girls. Since my laptop nearly snapped in half and is in the hospital, I thought I would share with you a guest post I recently did on The Food Passport. It’s a great summer salad and wine pairing I think you will enjoy. And speaking of guest posts, I am seeking guest posters (and opportunities to guest post myself!) so if you have anything send me an email: traveleatlove (@)gmail.com. Have a lovely Sunday and I will be back tomorrow with beach, wine, and lobster filled posts! :)

Many people don’t know that New England has its own small but thriving wine industry that produces high quality wines from home grown grapes. Two summers ago I first visited Westport Rivers Winery on a trip to Horseneck Beach and became very interested in supporting local winemakers. Last year, we attended the Coastal Wine Trail kickoff event which brings together several coastal Massachusetts and Rhode Island wineries for a day of food and wine. It was at this event that we first discovered Travessia Urban Winery, and we have been hooked ever since.

image

Travessia’s owner and winemaker, Marco Montez, recently sent me a bottle of his 2008 Pinot Grigio to sample, and I thought that my first Food Passport post would the perfect place to share it.

I wanted to create a recipe that was easily accessible without lots of fancy or expensive ingredients, so I used only items that I had in the house.

Recipe (Serves 2)

12 medium sized shrimp

3 cups sweet corn

2 cups sweet grape tomatoes

1 medium jalapeno, seeds removed

¼ cup finely diced red onion

Chopped cilantro to taste

3 TSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Ground black pepper to taste

This is the ideal recipe for a warm summer night when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen. I simply thawed a package of sweet corn at room temperature and once everything was diced and chopped, tossed the veggies together in a bowl. I did leave the EVOO off until the very end as I don’t like the salad to get bogged down and soggy from the oil.

image

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I grilled the shrimp plain on our George Forman grill which only took about 3 minutes. You can sauté the shrimp in a pan, toss them on an outdoor grill, or if you feel like eating them cold, boil or steam and then chill them.

The flavors of the salad ingredients paired well with the Pinot Grigio’s slight acidity because the major ingredients in the dish leaned more toward sweet and balanced flavors. Had the tomatoes been an acidic variety, there may have been some competition between the food and wine, but this pairing turned out perfectly.

image

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This year’s  Coastal Wine Trail kickoff was May 23 at Truro Vineyards in Truro, MA, and it was a wonderful event as it had been the year before. The Coastal Wine Trail is made up of 9 coastal New England vineyards, including Travessia, and they are all worth a visiting for a tasting, tour or special events.

Do you have a favorite annual special event in your area that you just love?

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Tags: food and wine pairing, healthy meals, Pinot Grigio, recipe, salad, shrimp, summer meals, Travessia, wine

Summer is a time for simple but bold, fresh flavors. I am back in the kitchen, and things have never been better. There were weeks of many salad meals, take out, and dinners out, and I am truly happy to be excited about developing new recipes again.

This weekend I made a healthy, spicy dish that had Greek, Indian, and Middle Eastern influences.

It all started with some fresh mint from my deck. I love being able to take a few steps and to come back inside with fresh ingredients.

Fresh mint from my garden 

First I made a cool yogurt salad with mint, garlic, thin slices of red onion, English cucumber, and tomato. Roughly, I used a cup of 2% Greek yogurt, a small handful of mint, 5 crushed and minced garlic cloves, 1 cup of sliced cucumber, maybe 1/4 cup sliced red onion, and 1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped. I stirred everything together, then covered it and let it chill for about an hour.

tiingredients for a yogurt marinade, yogurt, mint, red onion, garlic, tomato, and cucumber

red onion, mint, garlic, tomato, cucumber for yogurt marinade, tzatziki

 

preping cucumbers, red onions, tomatoes

Greek yogurt, red onion, tomato, cucumber, garlic, mint

Once the yogurt sauce was chilling, I coated free range organic chicken tenders with sriracha and a bit more Greek yogurt and set those in the refrigerator to chill as well.

The starring ingredient in this dish was a new product that I found at Trader Joe’s, Masala Tandoori Naan. It is a little sweet, spicy, soft, and so good. I am not a bread person, but this bread is positively addictive. I kept stealing bites as I was cooking ;)

Trader Joe's Masala Tandoori Naan Bread

After the chicken had been in the marinade for about an hour, I pan sautéed them in the yogurt and sriracha mix, creating incredibly tender and flavorful meat.

I chopped the chicken and place it on top of the naan then dressed it with the yogurt and veggie sauce/salad.

marinaded chicken with yogurt sauce, naan, and kale salad

Served with kale and red beets massaged with olive oil and lemon juice. Simple, healthy, delicious. 

marinaded chicken with yogurt sauce, naan, and kale salad

Even though it was quick and barely heated up the kitchen on a VERY hot and humid day, it felt like a proper meal because of how well all of the flavors worked and how balanced it was nutritionally.

I love to create recipes based on various ethnic foods. Right now I am all about Indian spices. At other times, I am inspired by Japanese sushi or Thai curries.

If you had to pick a favorite ethnic food, what would it be?

 

I am looking for a few guest bloggers to submit posts for the coming weeks. Food, wine, travel, and fitness posts are all welcome. Please email me at traveleatlove (@) gmail.com.

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Tags: Food, healthy recipes, Indian Food, Naan, recipe, salad

But it’s a good source of protein, and you can easily make it taste like anything you want! I will admit that fried tofu is my favorite. I won’t lie. Especially if it is topped with a good peanut sauce.

I have had quite the events schedule lately, and now that it is settled down a little, I am enjoying cooking at home again. I guess the glam life of a blogger has to slow down sometimes ;)

Last night, I pulled together a dinner that my husband called flippin’ delicious. And since it was extremely healthy, that kind of praise makes me doubly happy.

I started out by pressing the bejezus out of the tofu. I placed it in a colander with a piece of foil and several cans of beans on top. Improv, but it worked. This was extra firm tofu, by the way.

Before cutting, I gave it a generous coating of hot sauce. Then I sliced it thinly and added more hot sauce and coarsely ground black pepper.

extra firm tofu with hot sauce

extra firm tofu slices with hot sauce

I pan fried it. I only used a teeny bit of olive oil, and I made the pan really hot so that the tofu had a good sear on it and had a little crunch on the outside. I am all about the texture.

For the salad, I used Olivia’s Organics Herb Salad which is amazing. Olivia’s salads are always really dry and stay fresh for much longer than other packaged salads. They are a bit more expensive, but I never have to throw them away because they rot from all of the water. I love the Herb Salad because it mixes together so many different flavors.  The box also had a little story about a charity in East Boston that Olivia’s supports. It made me a little weepy, it was so nice. 

tofu salad with Olivia's Herb Blend, corn, cheese, Mezzetta pepperoncini, avocado, and homemade salsa

Salad toppings included the tofu, avocado, Mezzetta pepperoncini, corn, shredded cheese from Trader Joe’s, yellow onion, and homemade salsa.

All in all, an amazing meal. I won’t eat tofu everyday, but with this preparation, I definitely need to remember to buy it more often.

What is your favorite tofu preparation?

If you haven’t entered my blog birthday wine and cheese giveaway. . . what are you waiting for?!

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Tags: Food, salad, tofu

Thanks for all of the blog birthday wishes! If you haven’t checked out the giveaway from yesterday’s post, definitely do!

This past weekend, I got to hit up Whole Foods Market which is a treat since it isn’t super convenient to get to from my house. After my lunch with the CE-Yo, I was in the mood for lots of organics.   In addition to veggies and fruits, I bought some Honest Tea Kombucha (my first!). I also got some Siggi’s yogurt, Maca powder, and Wellfleet oysters for a nice summer dinner.

We started with a major salad. Yellow beets, beet tops, roasted broccoli, and kale massaged with olive oil and lemon juice. Massaged kale is seriously amazing.       

 

yellow beets, beet greens, lemon

organic broccoli, lemon, yellow beet, grape tomatoes, lettuce, kale

It’s definitely kind of fun to just get your hands in there and really rub the kale with lemon juice and oil.  Then I topped it with crushed red pepper and garlic powder.

massaged kale with olive oil, lemon juice and crushed red pepper

Since we were having a light summer meal, the salad was huge and full of volume.

kale, yellow beets, goat cheese salad

As a special treat, we had some fresh, briny Wellfleet oysters. Served with a simple red wine vinegar and black pepper mignonette, these oysters just said summer.

Wellfleet Oysters and Lemon

Our final course was a dessert soup. Originally planned as a soup course, this dish turned out yummy but definitely sweet enough to serve as a light dessert.

I started by macerating several cups of chopped strawberries in Travessia Vidal Blanc and chopped mint. I actually refrigerated this mixture overnight, and the flavors came together very nicely.

 

strawberries,mint, and Vidal Blanc

I had a fun little photo shoot :)

Travessia Vidal Blanc, strawberries, mint

I added the strawberries, mint, and wine to the blender with about another cup of Vidal Blanc and a half cup of Greek yogurt. I pureed it until smooth and topped with more mint.

Strawberry Vidal Blanc soup Strawberry Vidal Blanc Soup

The soup chilled for about an hour before we ate it. It was cool, smooth, and sweet, the perfect ending to a summer meal. Next time I would think of adding ripe honeydew to this as well and maybe leaving some chopped fruit to the side to stir in at the last minute to mix up the texture a little.

I think you will be seeing many cold summer soups this summer! Gazpacho, cold beet soup, and more fruit soups. . . delicious and healthy and perfect for those nights you don’t want to heat up the kitchen!

I still need a Friday Foodie Feature for this Friday, so please let me know if you are interested!

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Tags: dinner, kale, oysters, salad, soup, strawberries, summer recipes, vegetables, Whole Foods

Have a good Saturday? I hope so! I certainly did. It involved sleeping late, Mad Hectic overnight oats, dog walking at the MSPCA, lunch at Bukhara with an old friend, shopping at Trader Joe’s and Prosecco on the deck. Not too bad for a hot and sunny day, no?

Today I am up on the Cape in Truro attending the Coastal Wine Trail Kickoff event. I love local wine, and I have literally been looking forward to this event since last year.

So today’s post involves a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I hope you don’t mind ;)

First, a favorite, refreshing summer thirst quencher, strawberry-lemon water. Not lemonade, this spa-like drink is literally a pitcher of ice water with slices of strawberries and lemon. The flavors infuse the water, and then you get to eat the strawberries at the end. This is also delicious with cucumbers and lemons. Water infused with some natural flavor is a summer must-have in our house.

strawberries and lemons  

Speaking of summer beverages, I have so many summer wine recommendations that I thought the weekend before Memorial Day would be a perfect time to get started. There was of course my Duca del Frassino boxed wine from Wednesday’s post. I stand by my post in that I think that this is a perfect wine for your Memorial Day barbeque.

If you are looking for a good red that goes well with barbequed meats and the like, I love Zinfandel. I am a red wine drinker year round, and Zinfandels offer that ripe, jammy, fruit forward flavor that has some good body but is still light enough to have with summer dinner. My favorite Zinfandel is from Zichichi Vineyards in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma.

Here’s a not so great photo from our last visit to Zichichi. It is a great winery to visit if you are ever in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma. I don’t think Zichichi wines are available outside their winery, but I also like Rodney Strong Knotty Vine Zinfandel and DeLoach Forgotten Vine Zinfandel.

Zichichi Winery

2008 Zichichi Old Vine Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley Villa Carlotti Prosecco from Trader Joe's  

I also just discovered a value Prosecco, Villa Carlotti Prosecco, at Trader Joe’s last weekend. Yay for free samples! This Prosecco is about $5 a bottle, and while it is certainly no Veuve Cliquot, it is a yummy bubbly that pairs perfectly with chopped strawberries. It would be perfect for a girls’ night in or a summer brunch.

Prosecco and Strawberry Cocktails   Prosecco and Strawberry Cocktails

I have a bazillion other wine recommendations for summer wines, but I will spare you constant wine chatter. . . for now.

Back to food.

As I mentioned in Friday’s post, part of the Healthworks Blogger Bash swag bag of magic was a bag of Mad Hectic oatmeal, something I have seen around the blog world, and I was SO excited to try it. I am JUST back from an oatmeal hiatus. I really overdid it last year and couldn’t look at oatmeal for awhile! But right now I am loving cool, overnight oats. I mixed about 1/2 cup of my regular oats and grains with this Mad Hectic almond pecan oats mix, soaked it all in some organic milk, and the next morning had overnight oat perfection, which I topped with cacao nibs.

I love the flavor that the Mad Hectic oats brings to the mix! It was nutty and a little like butterscotch! Really yummy, and 840 mg Omega-3 per serving doesn’t hurt either! This kept me filled up through dog walking, all the way to lunch at Bukhara, and I am rarely full. Overnight oats it is!

Mad Hectic Oatmeal Mad Hectic Oatmeal nutrition stats

Finally, I present you with last night’s dinner. We thought about going out, but decided that Prosecco and strawberries went quite well with veggie burgers on “British Muffins” (Trader Joe’s name for them!) and salad topped with tomatoes sauteed in reduced balsamic. Sometimes a relaxing night at home is what a blogger needs.

veggie burgers and salad

After the Coastal Wine Trail kickoff, my night will be devoted to the final episode of Lost.

Who’s with me? What do you think will happen, or what do you want to happen?

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Tags: easy meals, Food, oats, prosecco, salad, Sonoma, summer, veggie burgers, wine, Zichichi, Zinfandel

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