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Category: Everyday Life

  • 5 Ideas for Valentine’s Day

    Love

    5 Ideas for Valentine’s Day

    Each year we think about things we can do on Valentine’s day. Some of us with our boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife and others who are single and can’t stand all the happy go lucky people who are getting ready to celebrate this holiday that was invented called Valentine’s Day.

    I have come up with 5 ideas for couples to do on Valentine’s day and 5 ideas for those who are single.

    ~ Enjoy your night, it doesn’t have to cost you a fortune to be romantic, and have a nice night, just be inventive and be with that person you love….

    5 Ideas for Couples:

    5. Stay in and light up some candles, fresh flowers, message oils and you have your own private spa…. This spa should definitely lead to a ‘happy ending’.

    4. Order Out – who says you have to get home from work and start cooking a gourmet meal? Order your favorite dish, place it on some nice plates, pop open the champagne or wine and BAM! Romantic dinner for two that took you 2 minutes to prepare.

    3. Some people like to go out to dinner, so GO OUT! Make reservations, it doesn’t have to be the most known place, try picking a quiet, little place no one really knows about, this way you get seated right away and it feels a little more intimate than a big franchise restaurant.

    2. Celebrate Valentine’s Day the weekend before. If you want to go out and not worry about having to wake up the next morning for work, celebrate it the weekend before. There isn’t a law that says you can’t. Go out to dinner on Saturday, get a few drinks, and talk the night away. Then head back home for some extra ‘cuddling’.

    1. Plan a weekend vacation for Valentine’s. My boyfriend and I always do a mini vacation to Orlando and we go to Universal and Islands of Adventure. You can say it’s become a tradition of ours. We love it, during the day we get to act like kids and go on roller coasters and at night we become grown ups and we go out to dinner and have some drinks.

    5 Ideas for those who are single:

    5. Girls Night – If you have any single friends, plan a girls night – Order in your favorite dish (pizza, sushi etc). Rent a comedy movie and enjoy your night.

    4. Pamper Yourself – While others are going out to dinner and being all lovey dovey, you can be enjoying a day at the spa. Take the day off from work or go after work. Get a massage and just relax.

    3. Wine it up…. Some of us just like to feel sorry for ourselves. So if that’s what you like to do, there is nothing wrong with that. Open up a bottle of wine, grab a girly movie to watch and sip away…..This is the one time of year that we’ll forgive you for feeling down.

    2. Blind Date? Okay so I’m not really one for blind dates, but I’ve heard some good stories. If you don’t want to be alone, have a friend fix you up. If you can… try to take a peak at that picture before you make your decision.

    1. Do Nothing – Valentine’s lands on a Tuesday this year, so go to work, and finish your day off like you normally would.

    Whether you are with someone or not, I hope you have a beautiful Valentine’s Day.

    xo,
    kristin nicole

  • Dream.Love.Believe.Hope

    Dream.Love.Believe.Hope

    Dreams

    Sometimes we aim for a dream and it comes true, other times we aim and miss. I wanted this DREAM to come true so bad, I wanted it to come alive, for all my hard work to finally pay off. Then the news….. “Sorry we decided to go with someone else.” Life doesn’t teach you how to take rejection, it doesn’t teach you what to do next, or what to feel, or what to do. You take the tears and the pain and you keep moving forward.

    In life we wish for the things we want for ourselves and our family, we dream big and we hope that one day, everything will fall into place. When we are hit with the disappointment of seeing our dreams come crashing down, we are filled with a pain so hard that we sometimes forget how to push that pain away to the side and keep pushing forward. We forget what it is to believe in HOPE. No one ever tells you how hard it is to be rejected, no one ever shows you what to do next. In life, we just do it, we just keep moving forward and we hope that one day, that dream will come true.

    I’ll admit, I was crushed, I felt like I had it on the tip of my fingers, I had this faith inside me that my dream was finally coming true, only to hear those horrible words “Sorry & But”. Yes I cried, yes I felt sorry for myself and yes I almost wanted to just give up. But if I gave up, then what good will that be? I love to write, I love to help people with their problems and I’m not going to give up on myself just because someone else doesn’t believe in me. One day I’ll be everything I’ve ever dreamed of and more. I have people who believe in me and most importantly I believe in me.

    When you start to lose faith in yourself, remember that where ever there is a storm of self-pity, there is always a rainbow shinning bright on the other side. Dream.Love.Believe.Hope

    xo,
    kristin nicole

  • We bought a house but I’m not In Love Anymore…

    I'm not in Love Anymore…

    The Question:

    Dear Kristin Nicole;

    I’m 27. I’ve been with my girlfriend for a little over 3 years and we recently bought a house together, last year in fact. I feel like I don’t really love her anymore. not in that way at least. she’s a great person but she’s more like a best friend then my girlfriend. we don’t really have an intimate relationship. when I met her she was a virgin so nothing really happened for a while which is fine with me. but I think because we waited so long it killed those types of feelings for me. I tried to fight through it but it didn’t work and now I’m stuck in this position. I know life is short and I shouldn’t waste my time or hers if I’m not happy, I just don’t know how to go about it. thank you so much for listening I really do appreciate it.

    ~ Confused

    My Response:

    Dear Confused;

    I don’t have to tell you that it would have been wise to really think about buying a home with someone if you were already feeling that you didn’t love her anymore. What’s done is done, now you have to think about the options you have to take. You are still young, don’t settle just because you just bought a house with your girlfriend, if you aren’t in love, you aren’t in love, and it isn’t fair to yourself or her you keep living a lie. The worst thing that can happen is that you lose your home and go into foreclosure, your credit gets messed up for a few years and you rebuild it. But let’s try to avoid that…. First you need to sit down with your girlfriend and really try to explain to her that you don’t want to hurt her but you are just not in love with her anymore. At the end of the day, those words are going to sting right through her. I’m not going to lie, it’s going to hurt her but at the end of the day it’s for the best. After talking to her you need to figure out what you want to do with the house. Did you go into the house 50/50 or did you buy the house alone? If you bought the house alone, then you have the rights to the house and you need to let her know that she needs to move out. Give her a deadline because if you don’t, sometimes the person will try to linger in order to rekindle the relationship. If you went into the house 50/50 you have two choices, either you buy her out or she buys you out in order to keep the house, or you try to sell it. Since the economy still isn’t doing too good and you just bought the house you might not be able to sell it, or if you do you might have to take the lose and move on. If you don’t want to sell, which I recommend you don’t, and hold on to the house until you can make some money off of it, then you can rent it out where the rent can cover the mortgage and taxes etc, so that neither of you really have to worry about paying for the house. I would definitely put away at least two to three months just in case you can’t rent it out. I know this is a lot to handle on top of breaking up but it’s something you need to think about. Be honest with yourself and your girlfriend and tell her how you feel. It is better to do things now then later down the road…..
    Good luck.

    xo,
    kristin nicole

  • 5 ways to communicate better

    Communication is Key

    Relationships can be difficult. They can include a boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife, friendship or even a relationship between you and a family member. No one ever said relationships were easy, so how do we try to fix a relationship we feel is irresolvable? The number one rule to having a healthy relationship is simple but you have to be willing to meet the person half way. Are you ready to hear what it is? Communication! That’s right; it’s something we learn from when we were born. We learn to talk and ask our parents for things that we want; this is the first step into communicating your feelings. After that it should be a breeze, right? Many people do not know how to communicate properly, either they don’t know how to speak to others without being rude, they might be too shy to speak, or they might feel scared to tell the person they love how they really feel.

    Have you ever tried telling someone how you feel, only to find yourself speechless? This is normal, many people have felt this way and sometimes not saying anything at all, is worse than actually coming out with how you feel. If you don’t talk about your feelings, it is only going to eat away at you, and eventually it will only lead into an outburst of frustration, which will later lead into a fight. There are all types of ways to communicate your feelings; I have listed the top five ways I found it easier for me to communicate.

    Five ways to communicate your feelings:

    5. Write a letter or a note. – Don’t email the person or text; this is a little more impersonal. Give the letter to the person face to face so that they can read it in front of you, you can then later discuss what you are feeling, but the letter will at least break the ice with bringing out what you have been feeling inside. Trust me this works (this is actually how I started communicating better; it gave me the courage to really say what I felt on paper.)

    4. Choose the right time and place. – Sometimes we are scared the person we are talking to might retaliate and start screaming or acting a little crazy, so choose the right time and place to talk about your feelings. Don’t ever try talking to someone when they are having a bad day, they aren’t in their right state of mind and this may through them off, they might not understand where you are coming from because they are focused on their own problems at the moment. So make sure to choose the right time to talk. Choosing the right place can be essential too, if you want to make sure to keep things quiet, pick a place to talk where they can‘t get too loud with you. This will help keep both emotions inside and talk like two normal people.

    3. Think before you speak. – Sometimes we want to talk about how we feel right there in the moment, but this may lead into fighting, because we might just say things we really don’t mean. In the heat of the moment we are all guilty of saying things we don’t really mean, or we do mean them, but it’s just not the right way to say it. Before talking to someone, try going over in your head what you want to say, cool off a bit and then sit down calmly to talk about what you are feeling.

    2. Listen to the other person. – Sometimes we are scared to open up when the other person is talking to us. Listen to what that person has to say, if they are talking to you openly and telling you how they feel then push away the fear of talking back, take a deep breath and answer them back. More than likely it was just as hard for them to tell you how they felt, so don’t be scared to return the favor.

    1. Stop being scared about what the other person may be thinking and DO YOU. – What do I mean by ‘DO YOU’, well at the end of the day the only person who is going to be there for you, is YOU. Stop being scared to open up and tell the person how you feel. The worse thing that can happen is that it leads into an argument, but so what. We sometimes have to argue in order to figure out a way to fix things. If we never argued in the world, then life would be too boring.

    We can change the world with total communication ~Sharon Sullivan

    When communicating to someone how you feels starts to stress you out, stop and breath a for a second and remember that communicating is the only way to fix what you are feeling inside.

    xo,
    kristin nicole

  • Life gets BUSY….

    Life gets BUSY….

    So lately I’ve been slacking on Soapnights, there really is no excuse but I just have been feeling very overwhelmed with work, school and my new house.

    Renovating a new house with my boyfriend has taken much more of our time then ever expected. Although we are absolutely loving it and it’s coming out beautiful, it’s a lot of work, time and money.

    Happy New Years By the way…..

    This year we took a trip for new years to a small town called Blairsville, Georgia. It’s a beautiful little town, and getting away from life for a while helped me relax a bit before starting the new year.

    In life we sometimes get so busy we forget to stop and smell the roses ‘so to speak’. I’ve been so busy lately that with a blink of an eye it’s already 2012! When did life start passing me by? I have so much left to do before I turn 30 and this year is going to be my year.

    Let’s start off with what I will accomplish before the end of the year:

    Bachelors Degree in Psychology by June
    Starting Masters in Journalism
    Finish Remodeling my house ~ At least in the inside…
    And…. A few things I won’t say because I don’t want to jinx them 😉

    That’s not such a long list, now is it?

    Ever wonder what you will accomplish before your 30? 40? 50? I really don’t, I live in the moment and I try to focus on what is right in front of me at the moment, but getting older I do start to wonder and think about all the things I should have done by now that I’m still working on. So although this year is going to be busy I am going to make it an effort to write more on my site and if you have any questions or concerns you need advice on, I’m only an email away.

    As for today. Happy Friday the 13th!!! Let’s start this weekend out with a SMILE~

    xo
    kristin nicole

  • Saturday Morning Breakfast for Two

    I got inspired by a recipe in Barefoot Contessa’s cook book. It’s called Omelet for two.

    Ingredients

    * 1/4 pound good thick-cut bacon
    * 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
    * 1 cup medium-diced Yukon gold potato
    * 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
    * 1 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper
    * 5 extra-large eggs
    * 2 tablespoons milk or cream
    * 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    * 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    * 1/4 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts
    * 4 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, diced, plus extra grated cheese, for garnish

    Directions

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

    Cut the bacon crosswise in 1-inch slices. Cook the bacon in an 8-inch ovenproof saute pan over medium-low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned. Drain the bacon on paper towels and discard the fat from the pan. Add the butter to the pan, and then add the potato and yellow onion. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the onion starts to brown and the potato is tender but firm. Add the jalapeno pepper and cook for 30 seconds.

    Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together with a fork. Stir in the scallions and diced Cheddar. When the potato is cooked, add the bacon to the pan and pour over the egg mixture. Place the pan in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the omelet puffs and the eggs are almost cooked in the center. Sprinkle with a handful of grated Cheddar and bake for another minute. Serve hot directly from the pan. (to see her recipe click on link foodnetwork.com-ina-garten )

    My recipe:

    Ingredients:

    * 1/4 pound good thick-cut turkey bacon
    * 1/2 cup of chorizo
    * 1 tablespoon salted butter
    * 1 cup medium-diced Red potato
    * 1/2 cup chopped Red onion
    * 6 large eggs
    * 2 tablespoons fat free milk
    * 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    * 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    * 1/4 cup chopped curly parsley, & 1 twig of Rosemary
    * 2 to 3 handfuls of mozzarella cheese, plus extra mozzarella and one palm full of Mexican mixed cheese, for garnish

    Directions:

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

    Cut the bacon in 1-inch slices. Cook the bacon in an 8-inch ovenproof saute pan over medium-low heat (If you use Turkey Bacon like I do, spray the pan with Pam first because the turkey bacon tends to stick to the bottom of the pan) for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned. Drain the bacon on paper towels and discard the fat from the pan. Add the butter to the pan, and then add the potato and red onion. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the onion starts to brown and the potato is tender but firm. Add the Chorizo for about 2-4 minutes.

    Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together with a fork. Stir in the parsley and rosemary along with the mozzarella cheese. When the potato is cooked, add the bacon to the pan and pour over the egg mixture. Place the pan in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the omelet puffs and the eggs are almost cooked in the center. Sprinkle with a handful of grated Mexican mixed cheese and mozzarella cheese and bake for another minute.(Depending how much cheese you like). Serve hot directly from the pan.

    Yummmm

    Boy was this dish DELISH! I couldn’t believe how my inspiration for cooking this dish came from stuff I had at home mixed with Barefoot Contessa’s recipe. I definitely want to try Ida’s recipe, but I wouldn’t mind doing mine again either. I might even try a healthier version next weekend. Hope you enjoy, it’s a must try recipe. By the way, it says Omelet for Two but this is more for about 3 people. I only ate half of my slice.

    xo,
    kristin nicole

  • Saturday Night Dinner Recipes

    Saturday night I decided to try a few recipes from my oh so favorite, foodnetwork.com

    Shopping:

    For the appetizer I decided to go for the Spinach and Artichoke Dip. First let me start off by saying Frozen Artichokes are hard to come by. I first started my shopping at Whole Foods, and they didn’t have any, so we headed to WinnDixie where I didn’t find them there either, so off to Publix, because Publix has to have them right? Ehhhh WRONG! They didn’t have them either, so as I ask people no one tells me that they come in a can, and I didn’t find this out until later when my boyfriends mom told us about it. So I bought baby artichokes because I couldn’t even find just one regular sized artichoke at Publix. I get home and find out that cooking this thing is going to take about 25-45 minutes. So we opted to return it and try buying the artichokes in a can at another Publix. While I was there, I decided to try and see if they had the frozen ones, and to my surprise, they did! YEAH for me, I can do the recipe as follows. So off to my house to start my first course.

    BTW:

    My other recipes included my Main Dish – Rib-Eye Steak with Black Olive Vinaigrette and for my side dish, Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic, Gorgonzola and Herbs. They ask for Roma Tomatoes but I couldn’t find those either in Whole Foods, so thanks to the help of one of their employee’s I found out that Roma Tomatoes is the same as a Plum Tomato which they did have. Don’t worry folks, I didn’t just take his word, my boyfriend looked it up on the iPhone and found the same thing. And just in case you are ever wondering, Red Pepper Flakes is the same as Chili Pepper Flakes. (Another item I couldn’t find). So on to the recipes…

    Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip:

    Ingredients

    * 1 cup thawed, chopped frozen spinach
    * 11/2 cups thawed, chopped frozen artichoke hearts
    * 6 ounces cream cheese
    * 1/4 cup sour cream
    * 1/4 cup mayonnaise
    * 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
    * 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
    * 1/4 teaspoon salt
    * 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

    Directions

    Boil spinach and artichokes in 1 cup of water until tender and drain. Discard liquid. Heat cream cheese in microwave for 1 minute or until hot and soft. Stir in rest of ingredients and serve hot. — Recipe courtesy Alton Brown (if you want to see the recipe click on link foodnetwork.com )

    I followed the directions to a tee, and it did come out a little creamier then I thought, so if you don’t like too much cream cut the portions I say a 1/4 or 1/2 of what they ask. However, at first I wasn’t sure because it looked so creamy, but I have to admit, it came out DELISH! I added a few pitta chips on the side and get ready to dig in.

    Main Dish – Rib-Eye Steak with Black Olive Vinaigrette:

    Ingredients
    Rib-eye Steak:

    * 1 2-inch rib-eye steak, boneless
    * 1 tablespoons olive oil
    * 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence
    * 1 teaspoon salt
    * 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

    Black Olive Vinaigrette:

    * 1/2 cup black olives, pitted
    * 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
    * 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
    * 1 garlic clove
    * 1/2 teaspoon salt
    * 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    * 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    * 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
    * 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

    Directions

    For the Rib-eye: Preheat your grill pan on medium high heat. Coat the beef with olive oil and sprinkle with the Herbs de Provence, salt, and pepper. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes a side until the meat is medium-rare, remove from heat, and allow to rest.

    For the Black Olive Vinaigrette: Combine the olives, red wine vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper in a blender and blend until mixed. In a small pitcher combine the olive oil and vegetable oil. Drizzle the oil into the blender with the machine running. Transfer the vinaigrette to a serving dish. Stir in the parsley and serve with the rib-eye. — Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis (for the recipe go to foodnetwork-everday-italian.com )

    At first I wasn’t sure I would like the Black Olive Vinaigrette because I am not a huge fan of black olives, although I don’t mind a few in my salad or on my pizza, I am not one to just pick them out and eat them. So I didn’t add as many olives as she required, just a few less, not much a difference and instead of 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil (btw vegetable oil is very similar to canola oil) I only added 5, but boy was it good. I just wanted more on top of my Medium Rare steak which by the way also came out DELISH! The Rib-Eye is simple to make and depending how you like it cooked that’s the only thing time consuming. If you like it like my boyfriend and I do, Medium Rare, then the dish only takes about 6-8 minutes on each side, depending on how thick you bought your Rib-Eye.

    My Side Dish – Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic, Gorgonzola and Herbs:

    Ingredients

    * 12 Roma tomatoes, sliced in 1/2 lengthwise
    * 1/4 cup olive oil
    * 2 cloves garlic, minced
    * 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
    * 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    * 3/4 cup plain bread crumbs
    * 3/4 cup finely crumbled Gorgonzola or grated Parmesan cheese
    * 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

    Directions

    Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

    Using a teaspoon or grapefruit spoon, remove the seeds from the tomatoes. Place the tomato halves, cut side down, on paper towels to drain, about 5 minutes.

    In a large bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Using clean hands, gently toss the drained tomato halves in the oil mixture until coated. Marinate the tomatoes for 10 minutes.

    In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and Gorgonzola cheese.

    Place the marinated tomato halves, cut side up, on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Fill each tomato half with the bread crumb filling. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until slightly softened and the underside of the tomatoes are brown.

    Arrange the cooked tomatoes on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve immediately. –Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis (For recipe click on link Foodnetwork.com-everyday-italian )

    Okay so my only problem was finding the Roma Tomatoes, also if you are only cooking for 4 people, 12 is way too many, 5 tomatoes are plenty. So I followed the directions and I used Gorgonzola NOT Parmesan as my cheese. It’s your choice but if you have never tried Gorgonzola I say try it, but make sure to get one that is not too strong if you don’t like a strong cheese, and if you do, go for it. But we opted for the creamer Gorgonzola. So because I used less tomatoes don’t use as many bread crumbs in your recipe. This plate came out good, but my boyfriend and I weren’t too in love with the bread crumbs, however the idea inspired me and next time I might use the garlic to season the tomatoes and the Gorgonzola cheese for the filling but I might add a few different items and leave out the bread crumbs. However, all in all the dishes came out DELISH!

    I love trying new recipes and next Saturday I’ll probably try another.

    xo,
    kristin nicole

  • Struggling mind

    My mind struggles to think
    I can feel every aspect in my mind trying to focus
    but every time I close my eyes and try to think of nothing
    I can’t!
    It’s in constant motion,
    constant thinking
    negative thoughts, positive thoughts
    but mostly just thoughts.

    How can you get your mind to relax, to just not think of anything at all. Fully focus on nothing and let your body just relax.

    Some say sleep is a form of relaxation.
    Many people don’t remember their dreams, but I dream almost every night.
    Mostly nonsense stuff that doesn’t even make sense.
    When I wake up I feel exhausted sometimes, feeling like that dream had me running for miles.

    My mind has control of me, my thoughts, my dreams my desires. How do you make it stop just for one second?
    Just stop for one second so that I can breath with out feeling the pressure in my head.
    Stop for one second so I can think straight.
    When I read, I’m thinking
    When I lie there, I’m thinking
    When I dream, I’m thinking
    It never just stops, it never just lets me relax, it never just lets me BE ME!

    It’s like a fish in a bowl, swimming in circles for hours, for days until he takes his last breath. I sometimes feel like that, a routine, work, school, play, work, school, play. It never just stops, I never stop.

    xo,
    kristin nicole

    © –written by: kristin nicole — January 22, 2010 @ 10:15 am– Inspired by a dream, stuck in a dream–

  • Healthy Vegi Sandwich

    The Shopping List for Vegi Sandwich:

    4 slices of Sourdough bread
    1 red bell pepper
    vegetable oil
    olive oil
    2 big portobello
    1 eggplant
    4 basil leaves
    fresh mozzarella
    White Onion cut 1/4
    1 tbsp of unsalted butter
    1 tsp paprika
    Salt
    Pepper

    The Shopping List for Garlic Mayo:

    1/4 cup Low fat Mayonaise
    Half a lemon
    1 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
    Dash of Salt & Pepper

    How to make it:

    Pre-Heat the Oven on Broil at 350 degrees f.

    Take the Red pepper and with a pastry brush, brush vegetable oil all over the red pepper, make sure that the creases are also covered in the vegetable oil. Place the red pepper on the top rack of the oven on a backing sheet, 5-8 minutes on each side. When you see that the red pepper is turning a little black on top grab a pair of tongs and flip the red pepper on the other side for another 5-8 minutes or until it starts turning black. Once the pepper is ready place it in a bowl and cover it with saran wrap (plastic wrap) for 15-20 minutes.

    While the pepper is cooling off in its bowl, take the white onion and cut it in 1/4 cut. Rough chop it, you want big pieces of the onion to put into your sandwich. Take a non-stick pan and place the butter and onions on medium-low heat, season with a little salt and pepper and add paprika. Leave cooking until you see the onions soften, then place covered and leave on warm stove. While the onions are cooking, begin to heat up an indoor grill, while the grill starts warming up take the eggplant and cut off the skin. Cut both ends off so that the eggplant stands up, then cut about 1/2 inch each straight down. Cut 3 pieces and wrap and refrigerate the remainder of the eggplant for dinner tomorrow or another day. Once you cut the eggplant dribble a little bit of olive oil on top of each piece and season with salt and pepper. Place the eggplant on the grill about 5-6 minutes on each side or until you start seeing the grill marks. Take the portobello and rub with a little bit of olive oil, season with salt and pepper on both sides. Once you have room for the portobellos place them on the grill about 7-8 minutes on each side or until the portobello begins to soften.

    While that is cooking you can now take the red pepper out of the bowl. It will be soft so you can just pull the stem right off, cut the red pepper in half and scrap out all the seeds. The skin of the pepper will peal right off. (You now have a roasted red pepper, remember you can always buy them in a jar, but I think this way is so much better).

    How to make the Garlic Mayo:

    While the vegis are grilling you can make the mayo. Take 1/4 cup of Mayo, mix with half a lemon wedge and add a dash of salt and pepper and 1 1/2 tsp of garlic powder. Stir good and refrigerate until ready.

    Finish the sandwich:

    First cut 4 good slices of the mozzarella cheese and have the basil leaves ready for the sandwich and cut the portobello in half so that you have 4 slices. Once all the vegi’s are cooked, sprinkle a little bit of olive oil on both sides of the bread, place two slices of the bread on the grill, while one side is cooking grab your garlic mayo, once one side of the bread has a few grill marks flip over. Take a butter knife and spread some of the garlic mayo on both slices, place 1/2 of the roasted red pepper on one side with 1 1/2 slices of the eggplant on top, on the other bread place 2 basil leaves, 2 slices of the mozzarella cheese and 2 pieces of the portobello that were cut in half and place both slices side to side, take some of your onions and put on top of the eggplants. Take the sandwich off the grill, cut in half and serve. Do the same with the other sandwich. Bon appetit =)

    My thoughts:

    Well of course I’m going to say it’s good, I made it, but in all honesty, I have to admit, it really was just simply Delish! My boyfriend loved it, not only is it healthy, it’s delish. The sweet pepper, with the eggplant and portobello, and onions ohhh and that garlic mayo it’s all just so good. The mozzarella cheese just melts in your mouth and you get that little kick from the basil leaves. You have to try this recipe. If you do let me know how it comes out.

    Hope you enjoy!

    xo,
    kristin nicole

  • Is Romance Overrated?!?

    Romance By Definition:

    a. A love affair.
    b. Ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people; love: They kept the romance alive in their marriage for 35 years.
    c. A strong, sometimes short-lived attachment, fascination, or enthusiasm for something: a childhood romance with the sea.

    Is it overrated?!?

    As a young girl, you watch all these movies that make you wonder, is Love really out there?!? Is there really that guy out there that will romance me and whisk me away into a fairytale ending?!? Unfortunately Life doesn’t work that way. There really is no Prince Charming to whisk you away into a castle, and you don’t become a princess over night. However, love is out there, that I do believe. But is Romance overrated?!? Do we expect men to ROMANCE us to wine and dine us until we simply just fall into there laps, giving them all our attention and love, Or do we just want Romance because that’s what the world tells us we want?!?

    My thoughts

    I think every girl wants romance, it doesn’t matter if that movie isn’t real, it just matters that a guy would try to make a night romantic, it just melts a girls heart. It shows how much the man cares or loves the women, and in every aspect in the girls heart, it tells her “He really does care”. To go out of his way, and make this a special night just for me?!? What more can a girl ask for?!?

    There are some men out there that love to be romantic and constantly romance their women. However, there is that guy that just doesn’t see a point to romancing their women if they already have her. It’s not something you do to catch the girl, it’s something you do to show how much you love her, to show that you care enough to think about doing something so unexpected. I wouldn’t want romance all the time, it would kill the idea of being surprised every once in a while. But in a dark room, where your thoughts lie, you always dream about that one night, when the guy will come to romance you in ways you’ve never known.

    Examples

    The intimate setting of rose petals, candles, some massage oils, strawberries and campaign. (Something simple, that I’m sure most women would love).

    I once heard a story about a proposal, it was so cute:

    The story:

    The girl got home from work to find a note from her boyfriend, it said pack 2 over night clothes for day and night and at 5pm a limo will be showing up to pick you up to take you to the airport. Don’t worry about where I’m taking you, just get ready. At 5pm sharp, there was a knock on the door, and the limo driver stood there with one single rose in his hand. He handed it to her and on the rose read a note: “From the moment I fell in love with you, I knew you were the one”. The limo driver took her bags and headed to the airport. At the airport she stood in the check in line and the lady at the counter logged her in and gave her another single rose. The girl looked around wondering how she knew who she was. There was another note “With every day that passes my love for you grows”. She got to the plane and to her surprise she was sitting first class. She boarded the plane to New York, and the flight attendant came up to her and handed her another single rose. Now she was freaking out. She asked if she knew her boyfriend, and the flight attendant just said no, she was just told to give this rose the person sitting in Row A Seat 2. Another note…”I know you are freaking out, but don’t, I’ll see you soon”. She landed in New York and a limo driver was waiting with her name, he took her bags and handed her another single rose with another note that read “I’ll see you soon”. She was starting to get nervous, what could all this mean. She didn’t think he would be proposing considering they had talked about it, but it just didn’t seem as if he was ready any time soon, so this had to be something different, right?!? The limo driver took her to Central Park, and told her to get on that carriage there. She asked the man if he knew her boyfriend and he said please hop on and I’ll take you to him. He handed her a single rose and a note that read “I’ve never known anyone like you, smart, funny, sexy, my best friend”. Has she rode her way through Central Park she saw candles lighting up the sidewalk and at the end of it was her boyfriend with a dozen Lilly’s and roses, as she walked up to him he got down on one knee, her hands began to shake because she couldn’t believe what was happening, he opened the box and told her how much he loved her, he couldn’t see himself with any other women, she was his best friend and he wanted her to be his wife. “Will you marry me”? With tears in her eyes she said YES!

    Now that’s a Romantic Proposal!

    So is Romance Overrated?!? Or is it just something we want to have?

    What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~ by Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

    When you love someone, all your saved-up wishes start coming out.
    ~ by Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973) ~

    xo
    kristin nicole