Monday, April 16, 2012
A few weeks ago the SC was eating at Bonefish Grill & I asked him to bring something home for me. My tastebuds wanted Bang, Bang Shrimp, but my waistline told me to order the Salmon & Asparagus Salad instead. I am so glad I did because that salad was amazing! He ended up getting home late & so instead I saved it for lunch at work the next day. Let me tell you, nothing brightens a day at work like having a delicious lunch to look forward to all morning, & think about all afternoon 
This one was so good that I knew I had to recreate it at home. Luckily, it isn’t too difficult to figure out the ingredients in a salad. Salad dressings can be a little bit harder. Fortunate for me, someone else had already done the dirty work & posted a copycat of their citrus herb vinegrette. I did change some of the amounts because I found there to be too much sugar & not enough lemon/lime juice the first time around.
This is the perfect salad for the warm summer nights that are approaching. Even the SC gave it two thumbs up & he said he doesn’t usually like to eat salads as an entree.
CopyCat Bonefish Grill Salmon & Asparagus Salad
Ingredients:
For the salad
spring mix
asparagus (cooked al dente)
goat cheese
tomatoes, chopped
salmon (cooked in the oven, or grilled)
For the Citrus Herb Vinegrette
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
4 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons fresh parsley, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil t
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Mix all ingredients together.
Assemble salad & drizzle dressing on top.
Note: dressing can be kept in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Simply set out at room temperature for 20 minutes & stir vigorously before using.
Directions:
Monday, April 2, 2012
…with a refrigerator!!!
confession: I’ve already cleaned the front of it twice.
This beauty was delivered on Wednesday & we said out with the old…..
& in with the NEW!!
This refrigerator is bad ass! {sorry, mom..there’s just no other way to say it!}
It’s so beautiful it makes me want to go spend a fortune at Whole Paycheck & stock up on beautiful produce to fill these drawers with…
Check out all that freezer storage!
One of my favorite features is the measured fill on the water dispenser. No more guessing how much water you’re drinking, or standing at the fridge pressing your cup against the lever. KitchenAid solved that problem. Simply hit the measured fill button on the beautiful blue led lit screen, select the number of ounces you want & watch as your glass is filled with refreshing & purified water. AMAZING.
The SC & can’t walk into the kitchen without opening it. He even said, “It’s so nice I had to think twice about where to put something in it.” I agree! I usually hate putting away groceries but I had a blast filling this beauty up yesterday 
A huge thank you again to KitchenAid!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
This past weekend I was in Walt Disney World attending Food Blog Forum. This was a wonderful experience full of meeting fellow food bloggers who I have only communicated with via comments & twitter, & inspiring sessions on everything from photography (yep, took about 20 pages of notes in that one!) to writing bigger & better posts. I learned so much and have a lot of knowledge to vamp up my blog, however these are the ones that will resonate in my mind & heart for awhile.
1. Think fiction, write nonfiction. When I write about my life through my experiences in food, I am writing nonfiction which can often be boring, so instead I should write as if I’m writing fiction (not fabricating details of course, but use a similar style to fiction) That leads me to number two.
2. Tell a story. Who cares if you are making plain ole tomato sauce, every recipe, every restaurant, every food experience is a story from your life. Tell it richly, tell it well.
3. Don’t compare your blog to others. I’m not setting out to write a cookbook or make a bunch of money off this blog. Set you’re own goals. Mine is to chronical my life each spoonful of the way. So even if I only get 1 comment, or 100, I am blogging for me & I will continue to!
Some other things learned along the way….
Disney World is just as magical at age 27 as it is at age 7.
Disney sure does know how to wine & dine us food bloggers
Crossing your fingers & hoping to win the grand prize really does work!
A HUGE, HUGE, HUGE thank you to KitchenAid for donating a beautiful refrigerator for our grand prize drawing!! This beauty is set to arrive next Wednesday & I can hardly wait to fill it with ingredients for future posts
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Life lately has been crazy, thus blogging has been VERY sporadic. I find that since I spend the majority of my day behind a computer at work, the last thing I want to do when I get home is also sit at the computer. This has made blogging hard, & lately I’ve enjoyed chronicling my culinary experiences primarily through twitter or instagram {@heatherbee21 on both!}
However, I am hoping that two major events this weekend give me the motivation to blog. 1) the arrival of my ipad3! woot woot! When my netbook was stolen in January I decided to hold off on buying a new computer & instead buy an ipad. The SC has a laptop, I have one from work, & honestly 99% of of the time that I’m on the computer I’m simply surfing the web. I’m hoping posting from my ipad will be seamless thanks to my wireless keyboard
2) {and no doubt most important} I am attending Food Blog Forum in WALT DISNEY WORLD this weekend!! I am soo excited to meet so many foodies like me who I’ve gotten to know from the blogging community & of course to be inspired by the seminars. I’m also ridiculously excited for Disney World itself!
Coming soon are some deliciously inspired posts including two new fabulous nashville restaurant finds!
Also, do yourself a favor & make The Pioneer Woman’s pork chops with pineapple fried rice. I made it last week & it was fabulous!
Monday, February 27, 2012
How I lived 27 years of my life slurping up noodle after noodle of JARRED tomato sauce is beyond me. The homemade version is so easy, so inexpensive and SO.DARN.GOOOD! It was so delicious that I used it with homemade meatballs one night & then reserved a cup to make TableForTwo’s Tikka Masala. {Which by the way was amazing!} The best part is that you can either cook for an hour on the stove {as indicated in the directions} or for hours on low in the slow cooker & it makes a ton! So make it tonight & freeze some for later
Homemade Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
(2) 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons italian seasoning
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Add all ingredients to a large pot, stir and cook on low for an hour stirring every 10 minutes.
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