Dinner with a View

For as late as I was up last night, I just couldn't sleep in!! By 7:30am I was ready to be up. So I made my way to my couch, rested for another 30 minutes before doing my workout... 30 minutes of yoga and 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer.

After working out I came back upstairs to the apartment and dyed my hair. As the dye was setting I made breakfast. I may have already mentioned this but Tiffany, one of the ladies in my small group, gave me a whole bunch of Vegetarian Times magazines. I decided that I would take one magazine at a time, mark all the recipes that I want to make, and then make them all before going to the next magazine. Yesterday while I was running my errands I picked up some of the ingredients to make some of the recipes in the magazine, but I did have almost all of the ingredients to make one... which I made as my breakfast.

Pressed Waffle Panini
(my recipe is a little different from the original, I am giving you mine)

2 Italian soy sausages
2 t homemade strawberry jam
1 t vegan cream cheese
pinch of dried thyme
2 leftover waffles from last weekend
4 T reconstituted sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
7 basil leaves, whole,
1 slice vegan cheese

Cook sausages over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes per side. Pull off the grill and cut each sausage into 4's. Combine jam, cream cheese, and thyme in bowl.

Thawed waffles in microwave before toasting in a toaster. Spread jam mixture on the waffle. Sprinkle sun-dried tomatoes over waffle, top with basil, vegan cheese , and sausage. Topped with 2nd waffle to form sandwich.

Coat heated pan with cooking spray. Grill sandwiches 3 minutes per side, or until golden brown and cheese melted.


I loved the panini, however I couldn't taste the cheese so I wouldn't put it on again. If I can't taste it, it's not worth having the extra calories! However, the cheese on its own tastes really good!! I bought it from Publix yesterday and when I ate it by itself I loved it, it tasted just like smoked provolone!!! I haven't had any cheese in so long it was amazing to have!!

After breakfast I finished getting ready for my day and headed up to the outlets off of 400. I had to go up to North Georgia because the funeral for my friends baby that passed away was today at 3:00pm. Since the funeral location and the outlets are pretty close to each other I decided to take a look at the outlets. Mostly to see if I could find a new rug or some pictures to hang in my apartment but I didn't find anything. However, what I did find was 2 dresses (one I am wearing now and have gotten a ton of compliments today on it) and the second I will be wearing tomorrow to work and then to a wedding. I also picked up a present for my dear friend Lynette!! Her birthday was on September 11 and I was supposed to go to her birthday party however I was laid up sick! So, now I will need to get together with her soon so I can give it to her!

After the outlets I went to the funeral, which was held right at the grave site of the baby. I expected it to be sad, however I wasn't ready for how sad I would be. The last funeral I had been to was for my grandfather. It was sad to see him go, however he had lived a good, long life; had children; had a wife who loved him; and was now in a nursing home. So, it was sad to see him go however it also felt like the circle of life. However, seeing the small coffin for the baby, knowing this baby hadn't lived even one day, the devastation this caused to my friend and her family made this so much harder! Andy, our preacher, gave the sermon and it was very good... discussing how this is something that we can never understand and how we need not try to. God does understand and what we need to do is lean hard against him. He talked about how David in the Bible had gone thru the same thing and he leaned on God to get him thru and how David was given compassion and was blessed.

After the funeral I stopped by the Lenox Mall because I had a birthday certificate from Aveda to get a free perfume. I got the perfume, looked around a few stores, stopped into Anthropolgie to see my friend Krista, and stopped by Teavana to pick up some Yerba Mate before heading home.

On my drive home I could think of nothing better than to eat my dinner on the rooftop. Once I got home I knew I needed do it. So I made myself a pear martini, heated up my left-overs, added a salad and headed upstairs.

Could it have been more beautiful?!?!?

While sitting upstairs all I could think of was dessert... and I new I had the ingredients to make some rice crispy treats and knew that I needed some! I have had a recipe that I have been waiting and waiting to make and finally decided it needed to be done... as always, I don't have all the ingredients from the original recipe however you can get the original here. Here is what I made...

Brown Rice Crispy Bars

Ingredients:
3 cups puffed brown rice
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tablespoon orange blossom honey
couple drops vanilla
2 cups mini marshmallows,
1/3 cups toasted slivered almonds
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries, white raisins, dark raisins mixed
2 dried fixed, coarsely chopped
couple pinches coconut flakes
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Lightly coat the inside of a 7 x 5 pan by 2-inch metal pan with oil and set aside. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Spread the brown puffed rice and almonds evenly on a sheet pan. Toast the oven for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the rice is toasting, prepare the marshmallow mixture.

Place the oil, honey, vanilla, and marshmallows in a large mixing bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water. Stir until the marshmallows are melted, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Once the marshmallows are melted, quickly add the toasted brown rice, almonds, and fruit and stir to combine. Coat your hands or a spatula with oil and spread the mixture evenly into the pan. Once the mixture has cooled completely, cut into squares and store in an airtight container for 1 to 2 days.


These are so good I have had like half the pan already! I am about to freeze the rest so it won't be so easy to eat so much so quickly!! I love the mix of fruit and cereal with the marshmallow!! Yumm-o!!!