Quick Lunch

Ahhhh I've beeen out so much. First time home in about two weeks.

This isn't really something special, just something quick I put together one lunch.

Tuna on the bottom as a spread. Tuna consists of
-tuna (of course)
-mayo
-cucumber
-carrots
 SOOO GOOD. you gotta try this.

On top, I added green leaf sprouts and cherry tomatoes. The bitterness from the sprouts balances well with the sweetness from the cherry tomatoes. The bread is raisin bread, the extra sweetness from the raisin is delicious. But you could choose whatever bread you prefer.

Until next time,
Samantha

Italian night!

Yay another cooking night with some of my best friends!! It was Italian night.

We had 5 people and we were able to finish everything we made.

The appetizer we made was strawberry bruschetta with goat cheese.
-strawberries
-basil
-balsamic vinegar (2 tablespoon)
-baguette
-goat cheese
-brown sugar (1/2 teaspoon)

1. Cut up the baguette and add olive oil to each piece of bread.
2. Toast the french bread for 10 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Dice up the strawberries and the chop up the basil first.
4. Combine strawberries, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and chopped basil in a bowl (basil is really strong, so you don't need a lot to taste it)
5. Spread the goat cheese on the baguette and add the bruschetta on top. And you're done! :)

The entree we made was baked penne pasta with chicken & spinach.

-1 and 1/2 lb of pasta 

-garlic

-sauteed chicken with salt and pepper

-olive oil

-spinach

-1 lb of mozzarella cheese

-6 handfuls of spinach 

1. Cook the pasta in boiling water.

2. Drain the water and add spinach to the pasta to have it welt down.

3. Chop up the chicken and season with salt and pepper.

4. Add garlic into the pan and sautee the chicken until it's done.

5. Next, add the chicken into the pasta. 

6. Dump everything into a baking tray and add the mozzarella cheese on top.

7. Bake for 25 minutes for 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

8. Enjoy!

The pasta itself doesn't have any sauce added. But the flavor from the cheese and the seasoning made it light and delicious! This is an alternative pasta dish you can make if you don't want to eat heavy pasta. 

Meeting Robert Irvine

So recently I got an email that there was going to be a Food Network taping at Fashion Island and the first 150 people that RSVP would got in. So I quickly signed up my friend and I and we were lucky enough to get in!

We found out this was a TV show called Restaurant Express that is going to air on Food Network in November. There are nine chefs that cook in a food truck and each episode, the chef that makes the least amount of money gets eliminated. And whoever wins gets their very own restaurant!

We each started with 20 fake dollars and each item was a certain price. This event was free by the way.

There was three food trucks and each serving two items at whatever price they chose

The first item I got was the filet dip sandwich. It was priced at 15 dollars. This was a smart tactic because if you priced it at 15, you couldn't buy anything else because everything was minimum 10 dollars. Very smart...unless you split your money with a friend and that's what we did.

The next was this crab salad. There was plenty of crab!! Didn't really care for the rest. Good portion for 10 dollars.

Last but not least, we got a croissant that had duck and I thought it was okay but everyone else seemed to love it! This was also priced at 10 dollars. And it was the size of a regular croissant so very big portions. ( sorry no picture, i forgot )

There was free lemonade and ice tea there too.

Last but not least, I got to meet Robert Irvine!! I always watch his shows on Food Network so this was really cool.

Until next time,
Samantha

Making Thai Food?!

Sorry haven't been posting as much as I wanted to. I'm going to start posting weekly

This time, my bestfriend and I decided to try some Asian ethnic food. We were both craving Thai food so we decided to make Thai green curry.

Homemade Green Curry with chicken and carrots on top of rice 

First time ever making Thai food and I should more often because I love thai food!!

I'm going to start writing the recipe on here for future posts for y'all foodies to try at home!

Until next time, 

Samantha 

First Post

So I'm going to start cooking more this summer just because I have more time now and I don't have to worry about school. I always loved going out to try new restaurants, but I also love experimenting with food on finding the best flavor combinations. So this summer, my goal is to cook regularly and see what I can create.

Pesto Alfredo penne with sauteed chicken, spinach, basil topped with ricotta cheese

So yeah. Pretty damn good. Can't wait to start cooking more!