Ingredients:

* 8 Sheets of parchment paper
* Nonstick Cooking Spray fat-free
* 1 c. Carrots, shredded or matchstick cut
* 1 Red Pepper, cut into thin strips
* 8 Tbsp Sun-dried Tomato Vinaigrette Salad Dressing, fat-free
* All –purpose Salt Free Seasoning, to taste
* 4 Tbsp Sun-dried Tomatoes, chopped
* 4 ea 8-10 oz pieces of Tilapia, skin off*

Layering the bag:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spray each sheet of parchment paper lightly with Non-stick Cooking Spray on top side only.
3. Place ¼ Spinach in the center of each of 4 of the parchment paper pieces; add ¼ of the Carrots and ¼ of the Red Pepper slices to each stack.
4. Top each Spinach and Vegetable stack with 1 Tbsp Sun-dried Tomato Vinaigrette.
5. Place one piece of Tilapia on top of the Spinach and Vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with Salt Free Seasoning and top with 1 Tbsp chopped Sun-dried Tomatoes and 1 Tbsp Sun-dried Tomato Vinaigrette.

Sealing the bag:

1. Place one sheet of the parchment, sprayed side down on top of each piece of the tilapia.
2. Crimp the two sheets of parchment paper like a piecrust until the bottom and the top are completely sealed.

Cooking:

1. Place the bags of tilapia onto a cookie sheet and cook in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until the fish reaches an internal temperature of 140-150 degrees.
2. Place the bag onto a plate and slice the parchment open at the table to enjoy.
Serves 4

Wine Pairing:
Pinot Grigio, Chardonay

The thing I love the most about fancy schmancy restaurants are the cute little balls of butter. Honestly, if I knew how to make them, I would have a hundred in my freezer just waiting to be used. There in lies the downfall of the butter ball for me. It’s always frozen! Have you ever tried to butter your dinner roll with frozen butter? As much as I love the little balls of butter, I would much rather have one of these brought to my table with my bread…

This is a French Butter Bell crock, and it keeps the butter spreadable because it’s at room temperature. You can find these over at Vat19.com, and I hope to find them at all of my favorite restaurants!

Have you ever been to a restaurant and taken home your leftovers in the Styrofoam boxes with the company name on them? How about putting those boxes into a plastic bag with the restaurant name and logo on them? We all have…it seems like the days of taking home food wrapped in tin foil shaped like a duck have come and gone. There is tremendous name recognition that goes along with these bags and boxes. Retail bags have this same appeal–it’s a way to get your name out there fast and easy. Did you know that most people come to Chicago, and have to stop at American Girl store first so that they can spend the rest of the day wandering the Magnificent Mile with “that” bag in their hands? It’s so true! The Chef’s restaurant has both of these things and recently they had the opportunity to put their brand on Retail Trade Show Bags, because they were the sponsor or a huge charity event here in Chicago. Everyone that came to the event got his bag with all sorts of samples and merchandise from other companies as well. It was great exposure–and probably the least expensive method to really hit the masses with it! If your company is looking for this quick, inexpensive opportunity, check out interplas.com–and see just what they can offer you!

When the Chef first opened restaurant number one, I was the one that everyone chose to make the curtains for the windows. Now, as nice as it was that everyone thought of me, it was a very nerve racking experience! I’m not one that feels a lot of confidence in my own handiwork. They purchased a really heavy, designer textile that was fine–I would have chosen something a little lighter weight, but I made up for it with little “Piggy” buttons. I know–you are all wondering who in the world wants piggy buttons. But you have to remember this was a barbecue joint specializing in RIBS!! So the pigs were perfect! When restaurant number two came along, I was thinking of using more of a discount brocade upholstery fabric. This restaurant was bigger than the first one, and full service. There’s a bar area as well as a private dining room–it’s just bigger and a little fancier than the first one. The textiles that were chosen for the new restaurant were perfect, and everything works together. Piggy buttons just wouldn’t have matched the atmosphere in the new restaurant–but they really are cute!!

That’s right, Valentine’s Day is less than a week away! I’ve been putting up some Valentine’s ideas on this blog from restaurants, limo rentals, and recipes. So today I want to talk about flowers. I know it sounds cliche’ but you can’t lose with flowers, trust me, I know! Before we got married I told, or rather ‘warned’ my husband never to send me flowers. They cost too much and they die, those were my reasonings. Well, being the gentleman that he is, he lived up to that warning for nearly 10 years. Last year he broke down and sent me flowers, fully expecting the wrath that would follow. I was thrilled to have gotten the flowers! They were beautiful, and the feeling you feel when you get them is beyond words, even for an old ‘anti-flower’ girl like me. Let’s just say, the warning has been lifted, and he’s welcome to send me flowers anytime he wants to!

I know, dumb long story, but I wanted to point out that just because your Valentine may say ‘no’ to flowers, it won’t be how she feels when she gets them. At 1800flowers.com you can find a HUGE assortment of flowers, baskets and even fair trade gifts for valentines. The following is the Sweetheart Rose bouquet with 36 roses…pass it on to the Chef for me!!

I’ve been curious about different ways to track just how successful blogs are in driving traffic to them. There are a couple of different measures that I’ve found, but the one I watch the most is IZEARanks.com. I installed the ranking toolkit just over 1 week ago, and I have to be honest, I was amazed at how quickly I was able to determine that I’m getting some pretty good traffic here! My rank has come down over 5000 points. True-I have yet to see the ‘triple digits’ and … I will never be the #1 blog, which is sad because during the month of February the #1 blog of each week gets a $1000 bonus! I’m not sure there will be more than one number one blog–but it’s interesting to track!

If you are interested in seeing how your blog measures up, head on over to IZEARanks.com and get the java script coding for your blog. Follow their instructions, and they will get you set up! Some people (including myself) have been shy of putting this type of coding on our blogs for fear of the ‘almighty smack’–but this coding is different than any other coding, so you need not be afraid!

I was doubtful at first, but I have to say after a week of using it, I’m pretty sold on the concept!

I have a question for all you “gourd” people out there! I found the coolest looking pumpkin/gourde at the supermarket yesterday. It’s wicked looking! Honestly–it’s the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen! My problem…I don’t want it to rot out and die–because truly–I want it over and over and over!! Is there a way to make this beautiful ‘vegetable’ immortal? Ok, wrong term I know–but I want it to last forever!! Can I pull all of it’s innards out and cook it? Do you just empty it and let it dry? Do you clear coat it? See–I’m desperate! Is there anyway to save the amazing little creation forever?

Have you seen the commercial with the man giving out his Social Security number? The one I saw last night, he had it painted on the side of truck driving around town. These are commercials from Lifelock.com and are illustrating how their company can save you from identity theft. I think it’s sad that there is a need for this type of company, but with society how it is, you just really can’t be too careful. There was one man giving a testimonial on the lifelock commercial. He talked about how someone took his identity walked into an RV lot and tried to purchase an RV. He didn’t know that the gentleman had protected himself, and as he waited for the salesman to finalize his purchase (or so he thought) he was really just waiting for the police to get there to arrest him. This protection comes with a million dollar guarantee, and that is more than putting their money where their mouth is!! And…they say they can reduce your spam mail–sign me up!

I always thought it would be cool to have some “Restaurant Hopper” business cards made. You know, leave them on the table with the bill. Not so much to get anything for free, but so that the restaurant knows that they’ll be receiving a critique on my blog. What I would also love, is if they would them email me with some of their upcoming specials! I would love to have an updated list up in the ‘pages’ that let you know just where to find the deals! Cheap Checks may be another way to go. My current checks have the Ratatouille Rats on them–it was as close as I could get to having “Chef’s” on my checks! But to get some with Frogs on them–or other “hoppers” would be fun too!

The first company we started (as kids) was CRK Enterprises, and we sold cheese door to door. At that time–25 years ago, the only place you could go to get rubber stamps made was the bank, and the bank name had to be on them. Mind you, it was a pretty lame company stamp! Why am I telling you all of this? Well, because I was over at VistaPrint.com and they have all of this stuff; Business cards, rubber stamps, invitations–even sticky note pads (I totally want those!!) Everything you need to get your company off the ground–they’ve got! And if you are looking at ordering checks–use coupon code “BlogFreeChecks08″ to get 25 free checks at check out!

I’m shopping today–and soon, I hope to be leaving little “Froggy” Restaurant Hopper cards with my bill!!

The Chef and I have four kids. They range in age from 10 down to 3, and like all ’sons’ my eight year old has plans to grow up to be a Chef just like his dad. Now I do have to say, this is a noble ambition, one I’m happy to facilitate. But in this day and age, even with his college fund growing he won’t be able to meet this goal without seriously looking into Direct Student Loans. As much as we would like to take care of it for him, there are a couple of reasons that I think it’s important that they do it on their own to some extent. First off, when I was in college with my dad paying for it, I certainly didn’t take it as seriously as I should have. In fact, I’ve been looking at going back to school and getting my teaching certificate. That way if something were to happen to my husband, or even when my 3 year old is in school, I can get a job with the same hours that they have. I pulled up my old transcript and I was disgusted by just how much time and money I wasted when I was younger and far more immature than I am now! That’s why, even if it has to be done with student loans, I want my kids to share some of the expense of college.

Culinary school is a lot of work. It starts even before the summer vacation officially begins after you graduate. You go to school for most major holidays for two years straight. It’s a commitment and with our help, and the help of student loans–I’m sure it’s a goal he can achieve!