2nd Recipe: Vapiano's Inspired

When I was home for Christmas Break my mom made this amazing panini and I just had to share it with you!

It doesn't really have a name so I named it the Pear and Turkey Panini. It's so easy to make and perfect for lunch or dinner along side some warm, rich soup. It takes 10 minutes or less to make and you can make as many as you want.

For this recipe you will need:

- Fresh Bread (I used French)
- Turkey
- Swiss Cheese
- Bartlett Pears
- Fresh Spinach
- Stone Ground Mustard and Sweet and Hot Mustard


First you want to slice your bread if it's not already sliced. Once you do that butter each side of the bread for your sandwiches.

After that you want to put the stone ground mustard on one slice of bread and the sweet and hot mustard on the other slice of bread.

Place the cheese on top of the mustard so it melts better when you grill the sandwiches.

Add everything else to the sandwich. You want to wait until the pears are a little soft but if you don't have time to wait they will taste just fine. Cut the pears super thin and you can put as much as you want of the cheese, turkey and spinach.

Put the sandwiches together and then grill then on a skillet, Forman Grill or anything you have that will get the grilling done!

Finished Product! It is so delicious and super easy to make. The sandwich has just the right amount of sweetness and a spicy kick from the mustard that creates a party in your mouth! It's perfect for dinner parties or just a night with the girls (or your husband).

" The Belly Rules The Mind"

So much has gone on these past few weeks!!

I went home to McLean, Virginia over the Christmas break and did a lot of eating! We also spent some time in Maui, Hawaii so I will be writing about some of those restaurants as well.

The first restaurant I want to share with you is called Vapiano's in Arlington Virginia. This restaurant has a fun, interactive environment. How it works is when you enter the host gives you a card that looks like a credit card. You walk up to one of three stations the station where you can pick from pizza, pasta. salad and panini or all three! After you order the chef that takes your order cooks your meal right in front of you allowing you to see how they make all their food. They scan your card with your order and you hold on to your card until the end of your meal. At the end you take your card up to the host and they scan it, see how much is on your card and that is what you pay.

The restaurant is very clean and open with an eclectic and modern feel. It has very neat lines which draw your eye to all the decorations. They have long wooden tables to sit at either with your family or others intended for a very social meal.

After trying to figure out what to order for a long time I finally decided on the Carbonara pasta and Dane ordered the Carpacciso pizza. When you order pasta not only do you pick what kind of pasta you actually want but you also pick what kind of noodle you would like your pasta to be made with. The food is amazing! They make all the food in front of you and they grow their own herbs right there in the restaurant so you know it's fresh. It's delectable and mouth watering. The portions are a good sharing size and trust me you will want to share.

My pasta was fresh and very light even though the sauce was super creamy and delicious. Each bite was packed with flavor and the flavors blended very well. The pizza was bright and each bite brought all the crispness of the toppings on the pizza. I would definitely order this again but I hope to order many more items off the menu to get a real taste of the restaurant.

This is definitely a place I will return to and bring my friends so they can enjoy this wonderful creation. Like this fish pizza!