Reheat pizza without getting a soggy mouthful

Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove , set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. Just say “no!” to soggy za!

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Fool-proof deviled eggs

Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing roughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

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The miracle of expando frosting

When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

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Reheating bread-like foods

To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated , place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

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So how awesome were those? Have any other helpful hints to share?

But I am currently chomping on the best apples known to man — Honeycrisp.

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Only available from Sept-Nov, these apples deserve their own blog. Until you try one of these orb-shaped delights, I’m not sure we can continue to be friends. Sure, they may be $2.99/lb., but whoever said the “best things in life are free” clearly never danced with Mr. Honeycrisp.

I kid you not when I tell you that I nearly pummeled two grannies and a few children as I sailed across the grocery store this past weekend to grab my haul. I’ve been counting down this “season” since last November and was not about to let a few blue-hairs get in my path of glory.

I always wondered why Adam had to be so foolish to reach for that apple in the Garden of Eden. Now I know — clearly a Honeycrisp. Can’t say I blame him.

If you haven’t tried this miraculous spheres, get thee to an orchard. Or grocery store. Or friend’s fridge. Just not mine.

This cobbler…(er, crumble?) was one of the best things I’ve ever made. Ever. Topped with vanilla ice cream, it was the perfect way to cap off a delicious meal.

I used Eat Live Run’s recipe, but made a few modifications. First, I used Splenda (Splenda granulated and Splenda brown sugar blend) – go ahead and judge, I don’t care — the way I see it, I get to eat more and have more ice cream. Not a SOUL detected the “artifical taste.” I also used whole wheat flour, which again, went undetected

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Make this for your next get-together. Just make sure you help yourself to seconds. And invite me, of course. I’ll even bring my own spoon.

Simple.

Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli

This dish is just as easy as the chickpea creation, but with different flavorings and veggies so you don’t get sick of eating shrimp two days in a row!

You’ll need (makes two “Mister-friendly” entrees):

• 1 head of broccoli – chopped
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (left over from yesterday!)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt + pepper (pinch)
• 1 pound of shrimp

First, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add broccoli and onion to a roasting dish and toss with one tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and onion powder.

Bake for about 15 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Take the tails off your shrimp (they are annoying and disruptive when eating!) and toss with one tablespoon of olive oil, lemon joice and oregano. Set aside.

Once broccoli is finished, remove from oven and top with shrimp mixture. Cook about 5 more minutes.

Wash your hands, remove your apron and marvel at just how easy it is to be a domestic god(dess) I don’t know about you, but I am LOVING this one-dish dinners.

Enjoy!

Still impressed with my meal-planning? Join in next week! You’ll need four tilapia fillets (the best deals are often found in frozen seafood section – one bag usually contains six fillets!) to serve two people, two completely different meals. (if serving more than two people, purchase two fillets per person.) I’ll share the remaining ingredients you’ll need at the end of the week.

UGH.

Not.a.fan.

Do I like tuna? Yes! Eggs? Of course! Potato? Yum! Macaroni? Duh.

What I don’t like is MAYO. Especially when it’s been sitting out on a hot summer day. In fact, I can’t imagine anything grosser.

While I have created a fantastic tuna/chicken salad recipe with YOGURT, even that can get a little gross in the heat.

So I started thinking — how can I create a fresh, flavorful tuna salad that I could enjoy all summer and not worry about it going rancid if I accidentally left it in my purse or car (what? you don’t leave trails of food everywhere you go? You gotta eat more )

Problem solved. This recipe features fresh parsley and olive oil, which serves as the perfect backdrop to the rest of the delicious ingredients.

You’ll need (makes 4 entree-sized servings):

• 9 oz chunk tuna, packed in water (about 3 packages)
• 1 can of cannellini beans
• 1/2 cup of halved cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 red onion (chopped)
• 2 stalks of corn, shucked, boiled and cut off the cob (or 2/3 cup canned, if you are lazy)
• 1/3 cup artichokes (about 1/2 of a small jar), chopped
• 3 teaspoons fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Combine all that good stuff in a bowl and toss.

You’re done! Now try and tell that wasn’t one of the easiest thing you’ve ever made.

Eat plain, on a sandwich, with crackers or over some chopped romaine.

Pack this for your next picnic or bring to Grandma’s family BBQ to enjoy even on the hottest summer day.

If you decided to be a meal-planning rock-star with me this week, you still have some leftover roasted chicken. Lucky you, I have another fast and delicious recipe!

Chicken Taco Salad

You’ll need:

• 2 romaine hearts
• 2 bell peppers, chopped (I used combo of green, yellow and red)
• 1 avocado
• 2 ears of corn, shucked
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups leftover roasted chicken, chopped
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chicken stock

First, put a pot of water on the stove to boil — you’ll need it for the fresh corn.

Next, heat oil in a large saute pan. Next, add chopped bell peppers and cook about 3-5 minutes.

Add chicken, stock and taco seasonings. Stir and cook about 5 minutes on low.

While this is cooking, add your corn to the boiling pot. When finished, cut the corn off the cob and set aside.

Now it’s time to build our salad! Add lettuce to a bowl and pile on the chicken and pepper mixture. Top with chopped avocado, cheese and corn. Use salsa as “dressing.”

To add extra crunch, feel free to crumble some tortilla chips on top!

Up next on the meal-planning front: 1 big bag of shrimp (2 lbs.) = two days of DELICIOUS recipes! Buy your shrimp this weekend and stay tuned!

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From good ol’ Wiki:

Seaside is an unincorporated master-planned community on the Florida panhandle in Walton County, between Panama City Beach and Destin. The town has become the topic of slide lectures in architectural schools and in housing-industry magazines, and is visited by design professionals from all over the United States.

While Seaside is fun to visit, I have a feeling that all that perfection might get tiresome afterawhile and a dorky klutz like me would stick out like a sore thumb. But that doesn’t mean I can’t take advantage of the town’s perfection while I’m there!

Figure A: The Pizza Bar.

After getting stuck in the rain (guess you aren’t so perfect after all, Seaside!), this pizza joint spoke to the Mister and I like a message from the Lord himself. And we’re not ones to ignore the Lord.

The Pizza Bar was a cool, hip place to dry off from the rain and recharge our batteries.

As I evaluated the menu, I immediately knew that I wanted the Farmer’s Market Pizza, topped with market veggies and arugala. One might even say it was in God’s plan.

Thank goodness.

Luckily, the Mister and I had decided to go to Hoggy’s for lunch. Their open faced pulled-chicken BBQ sandwich fit the bill. Served on buttered Texas toast and along side grilled corn and asparagus, this meal wasn’t for sissies.

Finger licking good.

What is your go-to “big-boy” meal?

Anyway, we paid another visit to Northstar this past weekend. This time, we decided we’d see what they could do with lunch.

No disappointments here.

Salad contained: mixed greens, dates, goat cheese, roasted chicken, almonds, corn, avocado and tomatoes (reminds me of another salad favorite!). Served with a huge chunk of freshly baked bread that I’m fairly certain Jesus himself might eat every day up in heaven. No butter required — and how often do I say that? Correct answer: never.

The simple fact, really, was that I was too lazy to walk back up to the counter and ask for some. Instead, I scarfed down the bread and then realized that just this once, I didn’t miss the butta. Could it be because I was too busy dipping it in the lemon oil vinaigrette dressing? Or calculating how much I would need to fix myself a bath of it? You betcha.

he knows I don’t take issues with cheese lightly.

he knows about my deep love for Chicago (and NYC).

and he wouldn’t want me to die without the best ZA in my belly.

So this past Saturday, we feasted.

Thanks to my aunt in Chicago (love you, Jenny) we feasted like Gods.

Because if there’s a God, he totally eats this pizza on the reg.