The Johnson's Jungle: Iron Chef Miami: October 2009

So, a couple weeks ago, three of my girlfriends and myself were lounging around a pool...

...isn't that a GREAT way to start a story? Don't you wish you were lounging around a pool?

I suppose I shouldn't admit that that was our occupation for the day..."pool loungers". After all...I work very hard to dispel the "housewife" myth of lazy ladies who hang out in yoga pants all day and play on Facebook and have housekeepers and nanny's that do any actual "housewife" stuff. That's why I prefer terms like "homemaker"...

or better yet..."domestic goddess"...

...of course, there isn't another activity that is more "goddess-like" than lounging around a pool with your girlfriends, sipping lemonade and eating fresh-cut fruit...

...but still...

ANYWAY...we were lounging and chatting and LAUGHING (which is my favorite part)...and talking about how we needed more stuff to do (yah right)...and we came up with this GREAT idea to host our own Iron Chef competition...

...we'd invite a few other choice ladies and have a monthly mini cook-off on the second Monday of every month, and choose a secret ingredient to "star" ...something easy and accessible to make great...

So today was our FIRST EVER Iron Chef Miami competition...and the secret ingredient was "tomatoes". We had GREAT entries...and after tasting some delicious entries, we voted, and crowned Tina Fabiano as our Iron Chef for October!! She won with her Capellini Caprese!! It was AWESOME!!

Here are some pictures of our AWESOME afternoon...just so you know, from now on, I'll post all the recipes from Iron Chef on the Jungle Food Chain part of my blog...the recipes from today are on there now!!

Doesn't everything look delicious?

This is Crock pot Chicken Tortilla Soup by Melodee Cooper. We topped it with tortilla strips, fresh cilantro, and pepper jack cheese. Best of all...it was a Weight Watchers recipe!!

This is Tina Fabiano's entry, Capellini Caprese. She puts capers in it...which makes it amazing.

Heidi Tyler made Fresh Herb-Tomato Crostini. So good...I ate four...

These are the Grilled Cheese Croutons for MY entry...Roasted Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons...which I got from a recipe I found in Family Fun magazine a few months ago. It is WAY delish!!

After we ate, we graded each entry on Taste, Presentation, and Originality. The points were tallied, and the winner was...drum roll, please...TINA FABIANO!!! Hurray!!!