4/30/2012

String Cheese Stuffed Shells

While student teaching, one of the paraprofessionals taught me a creative use for the extra sting cheese we had leftover from school breakfast....stuffed shells. I made this for dinner yesterday because it is easy and I don't like ricotta cheese.


 You simple cook the shells as directed on the box (I make 24). Then cut 12 string cheese sticks in half (I use mozzarella but any would do). Put string cheese half in each shell. Place shells in a baking pan with some of your favorite spaghetti sauce on the bottom. Sprinkle with italian seasonings, shredded mozzarella cheese, and the rest of the jar of spaghetti sauce. Bake on 375 degrees for 45 minutes. 

4/29/2012

Luchitas Mexican Restaurant

I love Luchitas! They have a friendly staff as well as great food, margaritas, and are vegetarian friendly! I have only tried 2 menu items the Guaccamole Picado and Tinga de Pollo Vegetarian. Both items were delicious! They have other items that are always meat free and options like Tinga de Pollo that list "vegetarian available" (pictured above) on the menu. I went there on Friday and had the item that I get the most....Tinga de Pollo Vegetarian!




Tinga de Pollo - "Shredded chicken in a smoky chipotle, tomatillo, chorizo, and a tomato-based salsa, topped with homemade Mexican cream and slices of avocado. Served with Mexican white rice and black beans. Vegetarian available."


The picture above shows the vegetarian one. It is also severed with tortillas. As you can see the meatless option varied quiet a bit from the menu description. The chicken, chipotle, salsa is replaced with a mix of veggies. To be honest I'm not sure what all is in it but it is a great blend. Layed together on a tortilla with some of their amazing salsa makes a great meal with enough to take home for a second meal! If I is not hungry enough for a meal then I order the Guacamole Picado. It again is amazing and just like the Tinga de Pollo, I add their salsa to spice it up.


Guacamole Picado - "Made fresh to order. Avocados diced with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, peppers, and fresh lime juice."


I forgot to take a picture of the Guacamole Picado (sorry...next time). I will show you a picture of the Golden Margarita's. They need no description but I will tell you that after the picture was taken it was suggested that we try the Golden Pom Margaritas. It is the golden margarita with the addition of Pomegranate liquor. Not only does this make it a pretty pink, it gives it a nice fruity taste.

4/25/2012

Pizza Hut

Oh Pizza Hut! Why do I continue to give you another chance!? 


After seeing several commercials advertising the cheesy bite pizza, I  tried it today! In a word CARDBOARD! So now for the long explanation. The best tasting part unfortunately was the cheese bite crust. It is unfortunate because it wasn't oozing with cheese like shown on the commercials. The bites were not only over cooked and crunchy, but once you actually was "lucky" enough to bite into cheese it was a hard. Now this could very well be due to the fact that the pizza arrived 20 minutes past the estimated delivery time and was cold. But the part that puzzles me the most, it how the cheesy bite crust was so hard to bite yet the pizza fell apart when picked up because it was so thin and soggy. 

4/10/2012

New California Kitchen Pizza

Seven hours ago the California Pizza  Kitchen Facebook page posted that the winner of the new limited edition pizza flavor is "Chipotle Roasted Vegetables". It is a "crispy thin crust pizza topped with roasted read and yellow peppers, poblano peppers, roasted corn, black beans, chipotle lime sauce, parmesan, asiago, romano and mozzarella cheeses". It is AMAZING! My only complaint is that the box says "Limited edition". Thin crust is my favorite type of pizza and to have one that is a spicy vegetarian pizza is even better. I did add some jalapeno hot sauce to it but only because I like a lot of heat! This pizza is definitely my new favorite!

4/07/2012

Buffalo Wild Wings

I enjoy Buffalo Wild Wings...well at least the bar and grill! =) They have several options included mozzarella sticks, potato wedges, fried pickles, soft pretzels, queso dip, onion rings, artichoke dip and in case those already meatless options don't sound appealing, they make many other menu items minus meat (at full price of course).


So last night I had one of my favorite "minus the meat" menu items... The Grilled Chicken Buffalitos. It is "two soft flour tortillas with grilled chicken, lettuce, pico de gallo, a blend of cheese, sour cream, and your choice of your favorite buffalo wild wing sauce" VERY TASTY!

Healthy Choice Three Cheese Marinara

To sum it up in one word it was DISAPPOINTING!


According to the Healthy Choice website, The three cheese marinara will allow you to "Take a trip to the heart of Italy with this wholesome nine-grain pasta dish. Hearty tomatoes, yellow zucchini, and zesty onions are tossed in a savory marinara sauce and topped with Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago cheeses. And with just 310 calories, your taste buds—and waistline—are sure to find this saucy combination simply "delizioso!"" but really I thought it lacked both sauce and flavor. I totally get that it is suppose to be a healthy low calorie meal but I have definitely had a lot better tasting healthy pasta meals. The cheese was not nicely shredded throughout as pictured but rather a thick mass that wouldn't separate and I also got the joy of biting into a huge salt chunk. It had enough basil to last an Italian family of 4 an entire week...and I like seasonings! But please feel free to try it for yourself! I am still going to try some of there other vegetarian selections in hope to find one worth of a blog posting!