In my quest to find healthy alternatives, eat my veggies and cut down on food costs, I have started trying to make pre-made foods that we enjoy at home, from scratch. One of those things are veggie burgers. We really love a good veggie burger in this house. It is a quick, easy meal that you can feel good about – and eat with oven baked fries!

Don’t get me wrong, we love the meat versions as well. But there is something lighter about veggie burgers, that we sometimes crave. They can be pretty expensive when you buy them at the grocery store and in keeping a balanced budget, we decided that store bought veggie burgers just weren’t going to make the cut. But that didn’t mean they had to be off the menu! Plus, finding a veggie burger at the store without soy products is becoming virtually impossible. Not to mention it is getting harder and harder to find veggie burgers with out a lot of additives these days as vegetarian food is also becoming industrialized at a frightening rate. So I got a crazy idea in my mind. I decided to do a veggie burger experiment. Try a few variations, using different beans, legumes and grains, until we got it right.

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As always here is what the FFF is all about. Finest Foodies Friday! FFF is a weekly Friday post featuring favorites from The Foodie Blogroll! We do this so we can share in the rich diversity of what The Foodie Blogroll has to offer by featuring some of our favorites yours! What is the Foodie Blogroll? It is the first and fastest growing free membership blogroll for food bloggers and has become a wonderful community (just under 2000 strong) to share ideas about all things food related.

The only requirement to be featured here on FFF is to be a member of The Foodie Blogroll and be displaying The Foodie Blogroll widget on your blog. If you are not yet a member, but you have a food blog and would like to join us, please click here!

If you have a favorite foodblog on The Foodie Blogroll, that you would like to be featured here on FFF, please join us over on The Leftover Queen/Foodie Blogroll Forum, and post your favorite Foodie Blogroll foodblogs here.

Sometimes there are blogs that I think I have already featured because they are so obviously good, that is why the nominations are so important – because it reminds me, Hey you! Get with the program!

One such Blog is Feeding Maybelle
This blog is just great in so many ways. Maybelle’s Mom (as she goes by) always posts beautiful and super original entries to The Royal Foodie Joust. Her photography and real knack for presentation also makes everything just look amazing! Maybelle, her daughter is the inspiration for the blog. She has some special dietary needs that made her mom really assess and look at the foods they eat as a family. But trust me, this is food everyone would enjoy!

Joelen’s Culinary Adventures
Joelen is one of the first Foodie Blogrollers from way back when. Her blog has grown a lot since we were blogging babies together! She now hosts highly successful local culinary events called “What’s Cooking Chicago” through Meetup.com. She has extended this event to cyberspace so that anyone can join her and her group in their culinary adventures! How fun is that? Her parents were both caterers, although they are retired now. So you can be sure she knows how to entertain! Be sure to check out her blog for great ideas for your next get together with friends or family!

The Crabby Cook
This is not a blog about crustaceans, although they are featured at times. It’s just that the guy at the wheel of this blog is a self-professed grump – hence the name of the blog. But don’t be fooled guys, this blog is not pessimistic, quite the contrary. It has a lot of great eats in the offerings. He loves to eat and to share his knowledge and tips for the kitchen with all his readers, inspiring everyone to feel that they too know how to cook.

Foodie With Family
Written by Rebecca and Valerie a step-daughter/step-mother team with a shared obsession for all things food-related. What a great team they make. From Rebecca’s love for cheesecake (she is a self-employed baker and cheesecake artist – sounds great!) to Valerie’s love of all kinds of cuisine’s from Mexican, Jewish, French, Italian, Chinese, Southeast Asian and Indian foods. As well as vegetarian, vegan and raw food. So there really is something for everyone to enjoy with this blog as inspiration!

Okay, this one’s for the Ladies (or the guys too, if you can expand your mind)! Now you all must admit to wanting to be a Goddess in the Kitchen, right? Well here is one such : The Goddess’s Kitchen (and here I was thinking it was cool to be a Queen! LOL!)
This is Maria‘s blog and Maria is a full time Domestic Goddess! She loves cooking, baking, spoiling her hubby, son, and kitties as well as collecting beautiful cookbooks! Sounds pretty awesome to me. If that sounds like you – head on over and get some ideas for dinner!

Remember, if you would like to see a blog featured here, who is part of the FBR please visit the forum and nominate them.
I NEED NOMINATIONS!!!!!!

Also we all love to know how people came to find our blogs, so please visit all of our featured bloggers today and don’t forget to tell them that you found them via Finest Foodies Friday!

Have a great weekend everyone!

I have been seeing a lot of savory cheesecakes out in the blogosphere and they always look so nice. Every time I see one, I always said to myself that I will make one soon! Until I see another one a few weeks later and I kick myself under the table because I haven’t made one yet. Well the other day I was going through my cookbook collection and I came across one of my old favorites:
The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen of Moosewood fame.

I just love her rustic, yet, experimental way of cooking. Her recipes are just perfect for the New England climate that I spent most of my adult life in. So different from Florida. But as I was thumbing through the pages, reminiscing, and trying to mentally bookmark some ideas for the 2 weeks of cold weather we get here in the Sunshine State, I came across a recipe for Savory Vegetable Cheesecake!!!!!

My mom was coming into town for a visit that weekend, so I thought, it would be a nice, delicious, and “beautiful to look at” meal. Which is why it is my contribution for Dhanggit’s Event: Perfect Party Dishes!

She is hosting a special birthday party for her daughter who is turning one this year! She needs help with coming up with great dishes for the part. This is my contribution because it is elegant and it was actually so good that we ate the leftovers for lunch the next day – cold. Which was also an awesome way to enjoy this dish! I am sure that you can change some of the vegetables and cheeses around to suit your own tastes, as we did from the original recipe.

Happy Birthday Baby Dhanggit!

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On a recent trip to the Farmers Market we stopped at one of our favorite organic produce stands. They were selling some nice pea shoots and the biggest, fattest, firmest portabella mushrooms I had the pleasure of seeing. I really wasn’t in the market for mushrooms on this occasion, but forgive me, it was like that moment in The Fellowship of the Rings when the hobbitses find the mushrooms and get so excited they trip over themselves and start rolling down the hill yelling Mushrooooooms!
Luckily for me there were no hills involved…

I brought them home and knew we had to eat them right away. I didn’t want to lose any of those fabulous fresh flavors or the perfect meaty texture. So I decided to really celebrate my veggie finds: mushrooms, pea shoots, arugala and eggplant. I broiled the portabellas and eggplant (remember I have no grill and can’t get one) and paired them with chevre and roasted garlic and topped with really good balsamic vinegar. This was a wonderful main course salad, perfect for all that summer weather we have been experiencing. Served with a nice crisp glass of white wine and life is good.

I served the salad with caramelized onion pumpernickel dinner rolls – a recipe which I adapted from the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book that has revolutionized my life.

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As always here is what the FFF is all about. Finest Foodies Friday! FFF is a weekly Friday post featuring favorites from The Foodie Blogroll! We do this so we can share in the rich diversity of what The Foodie Blogroll has to offer by featuring some of our favorites yours! What is the Foodie Blogroll? It is the first and fastest growing free membership blogroll for food bloggers and has become a wonderful community (just under 2000 strong) to share ideas about all things food related.

The only requirement to be featured here on FFF is to be a member of The Foodie Blogroll and be displaying The Foodie Blogroll widget on your blog. If you are not yet a member, but you have a food blog and would like to join us, please click here!

If you have a favorite foodblog on The Foodie Blogroll, that you would like to be featured here on FFF, please join us over on The Leftover Queen/Foodie Blogroll Forum, and post your favorite Foodie Blogroll foodblogs here.

Today’s FFF picks!

First is Liz at Yo Soy!
Thanks to Kirby for reconnecting me with Liz’s blog. Liz lives in LA and she works in the art department for a TV show. She is vegan, and these are the tales of her daily life – from craft services to what she ate for breakfast, this is a blogger with an awesome sense of humor. Truly I am not even sure how she has time to blog given her completely hectic schedule! As Kirby says: “All of the food in her recipes and restaurant reviews looks freaking delicious, her pictures are really beautiful, and she is
really 100% hilarious”. Yep.

Personally I think Kirby‘s blog is pretty great too! How can you not be tempted to check out a blog called
Kirby von Scrumptious?
So let’s have a looky there too! She is a high school English teacher, so talk about a brave woman!. She basically blogs about things that fall under the category of “scrumptious” -so there are lots of good eats to be found – both things she cooks as well as delectables she comes across in her travels .

Another blog that I have really been enjoying since she joining the FBR is
Mickie‘s blog, Life Lightly Salted she has very diverse tastes when it comes to both food and life and all of that is reflected in her dishes that she prepares. She also has great taste is music – Depeche Mode anyone!

Jenny‘s blog Picky Palate is another blog full of gorgeous looking food. She says her family is full of picky eaters, but from looking at her recipes, I don’t think so! She is creative and adventurous in her cooking. She loves to enter cook offs and recipe contests and has her winning dishes on her blog as well as family favorites. Her photos are also fantastic!

Next is another blog that has a great name The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch
This blog is just chock full of all kinds of different recipes from pickles to cakes to great ideas for the grill this summer. The recipes are family friendly and just sound delicious! If you aren’t sure what to make for dinner, go on over and check it out! I am sure you can find something great!

* Remember, if you would like to see a blog featured here, who is part of the FBR please visit the forum and nominate them. I NEED NOMINATIONS!!!!!!*

Also we all love to know how people came to find our blogs, so please visit all of our featured bloggers today and don’t forget to tell them that you found them via Finest Foodies Friday!

Have a great weekend everyone!

It is time once again to announce the winners of this month’s Royal Foodie Joust – a foodie event hosted on
The LeftoverQueen/FoodieBlogroll Forum! Where each month features recipes using 3 ingredients in common. It has been referred to many times as the “Iron Chef” of the Food Blogosphere. Each month’s ingredients are chosen by the previous month’s winner!

The winner of each Joust not only wins the Queen’s favor, bragging rights and a cool icon to put on their blog, but is also awarded with a super cool personalized apron! Second and Third place winners also receive prizes!

So what are you waiting for? Come over and join us this month!

Last month’s winner was my friend Peter, from Kalofagas and he chose Seafood, Sesame and Cilantro as his three ingredients. This was a personal challenge to himself as well as the other Jousters and we got some really stellar dishes! Every month the participants really up the ante, but this month was by far the most professional – both in terms of presentation, photography and creativity. It was a very difficult time at the polls picking just one. So please, don’t forget to come on over to the Forum, so you can get in on the fun this month!

Now for the Winners!

In first place is Kittie of Kittens in the Kitchen!
Her dish Seafood, Sesame and Cilantro – A Trilogy!

(Or as I have officially coined it: Yummalicious!)was one of two trios entered this month. There was obviously a lot of thought and prep time taken to come up with these delicious morsels! And what are the morsels?
Well I will let Kittie explain:

“The first of the three is seared marinated tuna (in the middle!), coated with crushed coriander, szechuan pepper corns and sesame seeds. I served this with a thick tahini dressing, complete with a garlicky cilantro swirl.

Last, but by no means least – crispy fried wontons (on the left!) with a spicy fish and prawn mousse filling, served with sweet cilantro chili dipping sauce. ”

Yeah, I’d say that is a winner!

Second place is my dear friend Nuria from Spanish Recipes with her summery and delicious looking Citrics Marinated Tuna to me this looks like a bowl full of summer!

Third Place was a tie:

Ladies first…Marija from Palachinka with her Stuffed Brown Trout – talk about presentation! I don’t think I have ever had the pleasure of eating trout that way!

and

Peter from Souvlaki for the Soul with his Coconut and Sesame Crusted Prawns with Coriander/Lime Dipping Sauce I just love how great that looks – I can’t resist coconut shrimp!

CRUNCH!

I really want to thank everyone for their participation! Everyone made such beautiful dishes. If you would like to see the other entries, and I assure you that you do, come over over to the forum and sneak a peek here for recipes look here.

Now for Miss Kittie’s picks:

Whole Grains (or at least they have to be whole at the start of the recipe!)
Ginger (in any form)
Citrus (any, in any form!)

Please come and join us for another round of the Royal Foodie Joust!

We have been getting ourselves re-familiarized with pasta lately. Due to rising food costs, I have been trying my best to stretch things, like our veggies and meat and following in the footsteps of my Grandparents, pasta often comes to mind. There are a lot of great pasta types out there now that are more healthy than your garden variety enriched “white” pastas. Roberto, like a good Italian, has always been big on pasta meals. Before he met me, he used to eat pasta every single day of his life.
For myself, I have always joked that I am not a good Italian, because I have never really been a big pasta eater, even less so as I got older, because it really likes to stick to certain parts of my body that I really wish it would not. But now, with all these varieties to choose from, I have found healthier versions.

Not all pasta is created equal…

One of my favorites is De Boles. Not only is De Boles organic and all natural, but it offers gluten free and whole grain varieties as well as my favorite, the ones made with half Jerusalem artichoke flour and half semolina flour. This means it has a lower glycemic index. Jerusalem artichokes also contain inulin which is a pre-biotic (not pro-biotic – although those are good too) that stimulates the growth of beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract that in turn aids digestion and lowers blood pressure and cholesterol. Texture wise, it is just like regular pasta. You are unable to tell the difference. Take it from the Italian and the Italian American.

When using regular pasta, my favorite brand was always Barilla. It always cooks perfectly and is the preferred brand of most Italian households. The company was founded in Parma, Italy and has for 130 years been family owned and operated. Also in 2007 they were one of the six out of 5,000 globally recognized companies evaluated as “most ethical”. So you can also feel good about eating this pasta. Another reason to feel good about eating Barilla is that they too have some out with new healthier varieties with their Barilla Plus – multigrain line of products. Barilla is also way cheaper than De Boles, so it is often what we have in our pantry.

I wanted to try some different pastas that are not traditionally Italian in taste, to spice things up a bit. So recently I made a curried penne. I had finally found an Indian market near where my mom lives and I picked up some great spice mixtures and had a hankering to try them out. I am a huge yogurt lover, and yogurt (which contains PRO-biotics) is found prominently in Indian cuisine, so an idea for this spicy pasta started coming together. However, I doubt you would ever find this on a menu in any Indian restaurant! It is a Leftover Queen classic
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Happy August Everyone!!! The first FFF of the month is always a celebrated occasion!

As always here is what the FFF is all about. Finest Foodies Friday! FFF is a weekly Friday post featuring favorites from The Foodie Blogroll! We do this so we can share in the rich diversity of what The Foodie Blogroll has to offer by featuring some of our favorites yours! What is the Foodie Blogroll? It is the first and fastest growing free membership blogroll for food bloggers and has become a wonderful community (just under 2000 strong) to share ideas about all things food related.

The only requirement to be featured here on FFF is to be a member of The Foodie Blogroll and be displaying The Foodie Blogroll widget on your blog. If you are not yet a member, but you have a food blog and would like to join us, please click here!

If you have a favorite foodblog on The Foodie Blogroll, that you would like to be featured here on FFF, please join us over on The Leftover Queen/Foodie Blogroll Forum, and post your favorite Foodie Blogroll foodblogs here.

So here are today’s FFF picks!

Let’s kick things off today with Tanya‘s Take the Cannoli

Man, do I just get a HUGE kick out of that name! It is pure genius and it makes me smile every time. She is a pastry chef who also has her own parties and special occasions business. Another awesome woman living her dream! Another thing I just love about her bio is she says she feels like she was born in the wrong era – boy can I relate to that! But this is my favorite – a quote from her bio:
“The goal of creating this blog is to connect with other people who enjoy the same things I do. To share ideas and gain inspiration. None of us know everything, but we all know something, and I believe we can all learn from each other”. NICE.

The next blog is another blog with a great name: Yannis‘ blog, My Little Baklava

Who doesn’t like baklava, and if you are like me, who doesn’t love Greek food? These are two things that feature prominently on his blog. Yannis enjoys molecular science, good food, and Olympic archery. He is in fact a molecular science student at Oxford. So, a smart foodie. If you want to know what is going on in the food world at large, he often discusses various food articles on his blog as well as great recipes and restaurant reviews!

Erin‘s Blog, The Way The Cookie Crumbles

Erin loves food flavor and fitness and believes that they call all be together on your plate in happy harmony! She bakes a lot of cookies. She is not only a fitness instructor, but she also has her own cookie business. This balancing act that she does between decadence and health is a beautiful thing! So we can all have our cake, well, in this case cookie, and eat it too!!!
Go check it out!

Next is Lucia‘s blog, College Kibble

Lucia is a college student who believes that making real, satiating food during the college years just isn’t that hard. Her site is a chronicle of those meals, and let me tell you there are some really good eats on her blog – not just for college students! This is a girl after my own heart. When I was in college, I was determined to eat as best as was possible for my time and my means. Go Lucia!

Last but not least, Lizz‘s blog: I was really hungry

She just really loves food and she’s funny. She isn’t into super fancy food nor crazy food styling or fancy food photography. She just loves to eat and share her finds with her readers. She does very humorous and fun restaurant reviews as well as reviews on any other interesting food stuffs she happens upon. Very fun read – did I mention she is funny? Go check it out!

Remember, if you would like to see a blog featured here, who is part of the FBR please visit the forum and nominate them.
I NEED NOMINATIONS!!!!!!

Also we all love to know how people came to find our blogs, so please visit all of our featured bloggers today and don’t forget to tell them that you found them via Finest Foodies Friday!

Have a great weekend everyone!