Three Olive Tapenade

I was going to buy some tapenade at the store for my Grilled Tomatoes Tapenade recipe but after seeing the price for a small container I decided to make it at home. I used a few leftover black olives, some green olives with pimentos, and kalamata olives. I chopped them all up and tossed them with a bit of garlic, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. This tapenade works perfectly with the above tomato recipe as well as a bruschetta topping.

Olive and Tomato Focaccia

I was recently sent a great little cookbook called The I love Trader Joe's College Cookbook. You don't have to be in college to enjoy this cookbook because it's filled with quick, easy, and inexpensive recipes using Trader Joe's products. If you read my blog you know I LOVE Trader Joe's and I use many of their products on a daily basis. I found this recipe while perusing the cookbook and couldn't wait to make it. This recipe is simple, quick, and it uses very few ingredients. I adapted it by using homemade Three Olive Tapenade instead buying some (it's so easy to make and I had all the ingredients on hand). This will be on our table many times in the future because we all loved it.

B,B,L,T,A Bites (Brie, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, and Avocado)

I love BLT sandwiches, especially if it has avocado on it. I had leftover brie and a baguette to use up so I decided to make bite sized BLT'S with avocado and brie. I left some baguette slices plain for my non cheese eating child (seriously, how can my child not love cheese? Weird). Anyway, these little bites turned out to be a perfect lunch for the entire family - we all really loved them! I thought the brie made these tasty bites extra special - they were so good!