Portobello Mushroom Sandwich and a Winner!

Thanks for all of your comments! We hope everyone uses the 10% off code (TwoPeas) to purchase some GOOD vanilla. Sorry we can only give away one bottle! The winner is: Culinarywannabe who said: "toffee melting and oozing" - Oh man Oh man!!!!

Please send me your name and address and we will get the vanilla shipped to you shortly!
Thanks again to Blue Cattle Truck Trading Co.Mexican Vanilla.

Now for a really good burger! I don't eat meat, but I do enjoy portobello burgers! They are thick, juicy, and delicious. We brushed our mushrooms with balsamic vinegar and grilled them to perfection. We used whole wheat buns and topped our burgers with roasted red peppers, onions, spinach, mozzarella cheese, spicy mustard, and tomato slices.

I could eat these burgers every day. Get wild and crazy and add whatever toppings you like. Sometimes I like to add pesto or use different cheeses. With the portobello as the base, you can't go wrong!

Portobello Mushroom Burgers

2 large portobello mushrooms, stems and gills removed
Balsamic vinegar
2 whole wheat buns
Roasted red peppers
Grilled onions
Spinach leaves
Mozzarella cheese
Spicy mustard
Tomato slices

1. Heat the grill or grill pan if doing it inside. Brush the mushrooms with balsamic vinegar.
2. Cook both sides until tender and juicy.
3. Toast the whole wheat buns.
4. Place the mushroom on the bun, top with cheese, red peppers, onions, spinach, mustard, and tomato slices.

Chocolate Toffee Cookie Bars and a GIVEAWAY!

I have a deep love for toffee. I think my love obsession started when I was a young girl. My dad used to take us to Dairy Queen for ice cream treats. I would always order the Heath blizzard, same as my dad. My love for toffee hasn't weakened, it has only gotten stronger.

Whenever Heath bars are on sale, we stock up. I keep them in the freezer so they aren't haunting me every time I walk into the kitchen. They are hidden. Yes, I know they are there and sometimes they talk to me...they beg to be eaten, but I do my best to ignore them. But this time I gave in.

I made Chocolate Toffee Cookie Bars. The bars are loaded with chopped up Heath bars and chocolate chunks. The texture is similar to a blondie, but much better. The toffee chunks melt in with the chocolate, but they still have a nice crunch.

I was a little worried when the bars were baking because they got "bubbly." But don't worry, that is just all of the toffee melting and oozing through the bars. If you are a toffee fan like me, make these now. They are insanely good! The bars are soft and chewy, but you get a nice crunch from the toffee too. They are rich, so beware. I am glad Joshua loved these because he ate more than his fair share...better him than me:)

Now for another fun giveaway! Have you heard of Blue Cattle Truck Trading Co.Mexican Vanilla? If you haven't, you are missing out!

As seen on the Martha Stewart Cupcake Show - Blue Cattle Truck Trading Co. authentic Mexican Vanilla is produced by the Canosa family in the South of Mexico, the birthplace of vanilla. Grandfather Jose Canosa established his award winning Vanilla company in 1917 after fleeing his native country Spain during World War I. Registered with the FDA and coumarin free, you will never want to use anything else. It’s rich, smooth taste is simply unrivaled. No other type of vanilla can compare to Mexican vanilla. And this Mexican Vanilla is bottled in Utah, yahoo for local companies:)

For a chance to win a 8.4 oz. bottle of vanilla, please comment on this post, you have until Wed. at 12:00 a.m. (MST). We will announce the winner on Thursday morning. So comment away, I know you will want this vanilla for your baking adventures.

They are also giving our readers a 10% discount on all orders, so hurry to their website and order some vanilla today. The coupon code is TwoPeas (no space.) Just enter it in when you are ready to check out!! Thanks again to Blue Cattle Truck Mexian Vanilla. We love your products!

Chocolate Toffee Cookie Bars

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
4 packages (1.4 ounces each) Heath bars, chopped
3/4 cup chopped chocolate (I used semi-sweet, you can use chocolate chips if you wish)

1. Heat oven to 350°. Spray a 8 by 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. In medium-sized bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In another medium-sized bowl, mix together melted butter and both sugars with a wooden spoon. Mix in egg and vanilla and almond extracts until blended. Add in flour mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in Heath bar pieces, and chocolate; batter will be dense. Scrape into baking pan, spreading evenly.
3. Bake 25 minutes or until set. Ours baked for longer, maybe 30 minutes. Just watch them! They will look weird and bubble up, that is ok:) Transfer pan to a cooling rack; let cool for 30 minutes, then cut into bars.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms and a WINNER!

Thank you to everyone who visited and commented on our blog! We hope to see you again! We really wish everyone could win a book, but thanks for playing:)

Now for the big news....the winner is Jennifer Brailsford who said: Who does not love bread? It gets even better because it takes five minutes. I am all for it.

Please email us your mailing information and we will get the autographed book to you!! Thanks again to Jeff and Zoe, we love your book! If you didn't win, sorry...you should still buy it! It is definitely worth it!

We were at Costco the other day and spotted portobello mushrooms. They were huge shrooms and very reasonable in price, so we bought a package. I love portobellos in all forms, but my favorite are stuffed portobellos! So that is what I put on the menu for dinner.

I brushed the mushrooms with balsamic vinegar and stuffed them with garlic, onion, spinach, roasted yellow peppers, tomatoes, and breadcrumbs. We also topped them with mozzerella cheese! We baked them in the oven for about ten minutes and voila, we had an amazing meal!

The mushrooms were thick and "meaty." I don't eat meat, so I guess I can't really compare the two, but these shrooms were thick, tender, juicy, and filling. So much better than meat:) The flavors were fantastic!









Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

2 Portobello mushrooms
Balsamic vinegar
1 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 of an onion, chopped
1 yellow pepper, roasted and chopped
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
2 cups of fresh spinach
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
Italian seasoning (I use a blend from Emeril)
Mozzerella cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the stem and gills from the mushroom. I use a spoon to scoop them out.
2. Brush the mushrooms with balsamic vinegar.
3. Heat olive oil in a small saute pan. Add the onions and garlic. Cook until tender. Add in peppers. Cook until tender.
4. Add in tomatoes and spinach. Cook until spinach wilted and "cooked."
5. Divide the filling and stuff the mushrooms.
6. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on the top and add Italian seasoning. Top with cheese.
7. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about ten minutes or until the cheese is melted.
8. Enjoy!

And the Winner Is...

Thanks to everyone who commented on our giveaway post! It was great to hear from so many of you. We loved hearing about your favorite vacation spots! We have a lot of traveling to do:)

Luckily, we have been to a lot of neat places. My favorites are Italy, France, Switzerland, San Francisco, Ponte Vedra, Chicago, San Diego, and now I love to go home, to good old Oakley, Illinois. I have a lot of favorites:)

So now onto the big announcement...the winner of the bag giveaway is Kara, who said: I heart Sedona, AZ...the red rocks look like castles to me. And they feel so old and wise. I love the energy of the whole area.
We are so going to make these pizzas!

Congrats Kara! Please email me your name and address and we will get the bag sent out to you!!
Thanks again to everyone for your comments. We hope to do more giveaways in the future!!

Come back later for another tasty recipe! I have some good ones to post:)

French Bread Pizza and a GIVEAWAY!

Josh was begging for pizza AGAIN, he never gets sick of it. I was not in a creative or cooking mood, so I let him take charge in the kitchen.

He decided to make French Bread Pizza. This has to be the easiest meal ever! We bought a loaf of french bread from our local market. I recommend buying a big fat loaf instead of a little french baguette. The baguettes are a little too crusty and chewy for pizza!

We cut the loaf in half lengthwise and then into four portions. We tore some of the bread out of the middle so the pizza wouldn't be too bready! Then we toasted them under the broiler for a couple of minutes. While the bread was still warm, we took a fresh garlic clove and rubbed the bread down. I love this trick. It really adds a lot of garlic flavor.

Luckily, we had leftover homemade pizza sauce in the freezer, so we used that for the first layer. Josh piled on the pepperoni for his pizza, but I stuck with lots of fresh veggies. We topped the bread with some mozzarella cheese too!! We baked them in the oven for about 15 minutes!

I actually liked this meal. It was quick and easy...and I liked the nice crunch of the bread. It was fun trying a different type of pizza!

And now for the big giveaway!! This is our first blog giveaway...yahoo!! Cait, from Crabbybags, has donated one of her trendy bags to give to our readers! I adore her bags!! They are so fun! They are perfect to take to the grocery store. You can shop in style and save the environment!

Cait only uses high quality home decor weight fabric and reinforces them with thick interfacing, so these bags are very durable. They make wonderful reusable grocery bags, but of course they can be used for just about anything!!

To view Cait's other bags visit this site: www.crabbybags.etsy.com
I am sure you will want one of each! Thanks for a fabulous giveaway!!

To enter the giveaway, please answer the following question, "Where is your favorite vacation spot?" Please comment on this post, the deadline is Sunday at 12:00 a.m. (MST). We will announce the winner on Monday!! Thanks!!

French Bread Pizza

1 loaf of French bread
1 clove of garlic
Pizza sauce, of your choice
Pepperoni
Veggies
Mozzerella cheese
Italian seasoning

1. Slice the loaf of French bread in half, lengthwise. Then cut it into four pieces. Tear out some of the bread so the pizza isn't too bready:)
2. Place the bread on a cookie sheet and put it under the broiler for about 4-5 minutes.
3. Take the garlic clove and rub it all over the bread. This will add a nice garlic flavor.
4. Spread your sauce on all four pieces of bread.
5. Next, add your toppings. Josh used pepperoni, I used veggies.
6. Cover with cheese and Italian seasoning if you wish.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for about 10-15 minutes, just until the cheese melts.