Stepping back in time with My Cherished Cookbooks: Back to REALITY ! A Costco Method

After Graduation celebration, visits with relatives and friends...we needed a reality check! Too much celebrating and eating out is like when you've been on vacation mode. You know, what I'm talking about... too much of a very good thing catches up with you! If your like me, I love to try new foods and new places. but then after awhile, you just want healthy home cooked meals, easy mode here cuz your still trying to catch up with everything. So we just craved a healthy simple meal. Finally, our daughter , Dana loves Salmon! after all these years of me asking her to " try it you'll like it !"

She CRAVES IT ! Thanks to another college education experience! Aren't we blessed with Costco here in America ? So I made my errand run to pick up their frozen Salmon.

OH MY ! These Salmon steaks are SO BIG in portion size! So next time,when it's just my hubby and myself , we'll share...Another trendy thing when your an empty nester , I'm finding out. Love frozen fish, it's an easy way to have quick access to fresh Salmon. They are individually vacuum sealed, and so it's easy. Great plus in my book when your catching up or being the "busy Mom." Even thou I'm an Empty Nester, you still have to step up to the plate when they visit you!

We love fresh Asparagus! And Tis the Season for Asparagus here in California. Here's a tip I found to an alternative EASY method in preparing fresh asparagus vs. cutting the ends off. It is to snap off the asparagus ends. Hold an asparagus spear firmly towards the end and bend it until it breaks naturally. The spear should break at the point where it becomes tough .Using EVVO ( extra virgin olive oil ) drizzle it over clean asparagus that has been snapped at the stalk. You'll see it will be a more tender asparagus . A sprinkle of Sea Salt and cracked pepper over it and this time I had lemon on hand so I squeezed some over the Salmon. Yeah it's DONE !

Now, for the next side dish... I've been loving these Campari tomatoes I get also at Costco. These stay fresh longer and are so flavorful. Keeping that in mind, I tried this recipe from Ina Garten. I adapted to fit for the 3 of us, as you'll see. It in all, was a nice change back to reality. ..but our family loves BREAD ! So, keeping that in mind of weaning ourselves slowly from the carbs. I served my favorite bread, also from Costco. La Brea Bakery Demi-Baquette. I love to keep these on hand, storing in individually wrapped in foil and placing it in frozen zip lock bag. Always ready for some yummy bread...don't you just love the smell of baking bread in the oven? Aw...Smells so good! One of my comfort foods for sure ! Wish we had smellavision for blogs right now... so I can share this yummy aroma going through our house.

Drizzling EVVO ( Olive Oil ) on my Pampered Chef stone pan. Drizzled again, with EVVO and some fresh lemon juice from one large lemon. Few twists from my Pepper grinder and sprinkle with Sea Salt.

Using drizzled EVVO over cleaned & snapped asparagus stalks, sprinkle Sea Salt and cracked pepper over

Roasted Tomatoes I adapted to fit for the 3 of us. from Ina Garten

8 Campari Tomatoes halved lengthwise, did not remove cores and seeds
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 large garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Arrange the tomatoes on a sheet pan, cut sides up, in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle the garlic, salt, and pepper over the tomatoes. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until the tomatoes are concentrated and beginning to caramelize. Serve warm or at room temperature. Hope you enjoy trying this Costco Method recipe out! Would love to hear your comments!