Sunday, October 24, 2010
Johnsonville Sausage
We have added one of out yummy recipes to Johnsonville Sausage and wanted to share with all of you. We hope you love it just as much as we do!
http://pastaville.johnsonville.com/recipe.php?id=236
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Mushroom Salad
Its also really fun to make and quick. You can add or change things around it to make it your own, if made large enough it really can be a whole meal and often is in my house. Even my youngest is always asking for seconds. Yes, my darling youngster who usually gets home starving and begging for the 2 apples, bread, grapes ect. Same one who is usually so famished that he is willing to trade places with an Child who has mal nutrition because according to him we BARELY feed him yet, he sits at dinner and goes “umm Mommy, I’m kinda full” . yes, that boy even ask for seconds, lol. Even my “recovering from too much fat and sugar intake” hubby has requested to add this one to our Holiday list. Trust me I am sure your family and friends will love it too.
2 packs of Mushrooms
1 Cup of fresh squeezed lemons
1 Cup of Olive Oil
½ Teaspoon of Salt
½ Teaspoons of Pepper
Half of ½ Teaspoon of Cumin
1 Bunch of thinly cut Flat Parsley
Fresh Parmesans cheese cut thinly
Mix well Lemon, Olive oil, Salt, Pepper ad Cumin and then add Parsley let rest for a bit.
Once you clean the mushrooms you can either cut them into slices or leave them whole. Add mushrooms to a bowl and then mix in the dressing. Slice Parmessan thinly and add to bowl. Then refrigerate for at least an hour to two.
If you would like to make it as a whole dinner you can add Chicken which comes out enormously tasty and your set!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Hispanic Black Beans
Depending on the meal or occasions we make them but Usually its Black Beans but as any good Southerner knows, if its New Years its good luck to make Black Eye peas in order to have prosperity for the Next Year.
Ingredients:
4 Cups ~ Black Bean
6 to 8 ~ Bay Leafs
1 Tablespoon ~ Oregano
4 packets~ Sazon Goya
2/3 cup~ Mojo
1/3 cup~ Lemon
1 Tablespoon ~ Garlic
1 Tablespoon ~ Cappers
1 Tablespoon ~ Green olives with pimientos inside
* I usually cut them into small pieces but they are great whole as well.
¼ Teaspoon of either Hot Sauce or if you’d prefer Vinegar
*[Hot sauce has Vinegar and the kick is subtle so I use Crystal but if your not into that regular or apple cider vinegar are okay as well]
1 piece~ Ham Hock
*[You can either buy it at the grocery store; just ask your meat department. If not save it when you make ham ect. And freeze it.]
2~Tomatoes sliced into small pieces
1~White Onions sliced into small pieces
3~ Long Onions sliced into small pieces
1~ Green Peppers sliced into small pieces
1~ Yellow Peppers sliced into small pieces
1~ Red Peppers sliced into small pieces
PEPPERS: I usually make it with only green but if in season or affordable price I will add on the yellow and red for that splurge of extra color and vitamins.
If you are making black beans from a bag you must let them sit in water for 24 to 48 hours, we call it “Al cereno” which isn’t very accurate as it not only in the evening you will have it out. This allows them to open and be ready for cooking. You may also buy easy and ready to use cans to avoid the hassle or like us in order to get them done quickly.
Add all the ingredients in and adjust allowing simmering as much as possible. After about an hour or two it will taste wonderful and be ready to pour. Smaller batches will cook quicker and if you want to make it an all day thing you can [we do so for our larger cook outs].
Once done on a different pot add 2 cups of rice, a pinch of salt and some slivers of onions with 4 cups of water and boil. Serve and be ready to hear PLEANTY of compliments.
Bon Appetite!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Mini Caprese's
Its incredibly refreshing and healthy, originally from the City of Campana Italy [Which either from Italian or Spanish would translate into the English word Bell ] and much like the Pizza was made to have the color of the Italian flag.
So, I decided to start using the cutters to make my mini caprese and they came out looking phenomenal + everyone loved them. WIN,WIN FOR ME =) Then, I figured we could put little tooth picks so that people could easily grab them for say a New Years party [which is what we made this one for one year] and they worked so great its become one of our easy, quick, delish and awesome little secretes. We also have a salad that we make with the same dressing and similar vegetables we will post later one.
1 Box of ~ mini Tomatoes
1 container~ Mozzarella cheese [Fresh ones are really the best but really any will do fine ]
1 Bunch~ Basil leaves I try to pick them with out having them get damaged
1 per half tomato~ Tooth Picks
½ cup of Olive Oil
2 TBS~ Lemon Juice
½ cup of ~ Balsamic Vinaigrette
½ a table spoon of ~Cumin [I always add it but you can decide not to and it wont affect this recipe]
1 TBSP~ Salt [Kosher sea salt is my fave}
1 TBSP~ Peppers
~Cut Tomatoes and cut in half each
~Pick basil Leaf by leaf
~Slice Mozzarella and use cookie cutters to make shapes. Any extra Mozzarella as you will have pieces left over once you’ve gotten your area cut I either give
to the kids to pacify them,lol.or just add them to a bag and cute later in order to put them on anything you’d like, salads, mini bread pizza’s ect. Don’t throw them way =)
Use the hard side of the Tomato down ward, add basil and then mozzarella and put toothpick through it. Put into whatever container you are using to store them in and once completed get a cup and add.
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Cumin
Salt
Peppers
Stir quickly and either spray [yes if you have a sprayer Id say use it. If not a regular cup and fork will work well] Evenly disperse on the top of Caprices so the mozzarella and basil get some dressing on them too. Make more or less as you desire and put in fridge for at least an hour to cool off [If you don’t have time it works well with as little as 10 minutes but we like ours cool] and Done! .
If you would like to make the salad just slice all veggies, add some yellow,red, and green peppers and add some romaine lettuce and onion and your set. This is what it looks like.
Hope you enjoy! And if you can include the kids but watch them carefully, they might sneak a Giraffe or Lion depending on what you have.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Seasoned baked potatoes
In my family we love potatoes just a bit too much I think ,lol. One of those foods I must only buy when we are certain to make them for a meal or they will vanish quicker then you can say “to much starch” haha.
So every now and again we choose to indulge in our love for the all mighty vegetable. Needless to say I have a few recipes for them but this one, we make in combination of anything we are grilling especially during the summer. Its awesome for lil kids as well as its such a none messy finger food [if you wanna go that way].
I love Extra Virgin Olive oil because I have found tend to be higher in polyphenols (a powerful antioxidant) than are the more-processed i.e.... virgin olive oil,pure olive oil, olive oil or pomace olive oil which tend to be refined. Antioxidants are considered beneficial because they help the body rid itself of unstable molecules called free radicals and minimize harmful cellular inflammation. A recent study comparing virgin olive oil, refined olive oil and the combination of both found that virgin olive oil appears to have greater heart-health benefits. are produced without the use of heat or chemical treatments. As a result, they retain more of their heart healthy polyphenols than cheaper olive oils that have been refined and processed. Extra-virgin also has a superior taste when compared to lower quality oils. Look for bottles that are clearly labeled as "extra-virgin" or "virgin" when purchasing olive oil to get maximal health value for your dollar and so much better for your family [not to mention you can use it as a moisturizer buts for another time].
Cut red potatoes in half in 4
boil half way I usually leave them till they are still a bit crunchy on the inside and then drain.
2 ~table spoons oregano
4 ~tablespoons lemon
~½ a cup of olive oil
2~ tablespoons paprika
2~ garlic
~salt and pepper as desired
I turn the oven on between 300 and 350 and put in the cookie sheet with all the potatoes and slathered with the sauce .
takes me about 30- 40 minutes but that usually depends on how crispy we want it. Just to make sure they are cooked properly I would stick a tooth pick in the middle of one or maybe just taste one ;) but only to ensure that my family will love it,hihi.
Then if you would like, you can put small dollops of sour cream [our daughters favorite] or taziki which is a greek dressing made with dill and greek yogurt etc. yum,yum great! If you have ever had a Gyro then you have tasted this mild and mouth watering dressing and it truly compliments this recipe.
Bon Appetite and more importantly have fun making this with your kids and then talking about it!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Stuffed Chicken Breast w/ Gorgonzola cheese Recipe
Chicken
Turmeric
Cumin
Kosher Salt
Mustard
White Pepper
Garlic
Adobo
Mojo
Orange
Lemon
Apple
Sage
Rosemary
Basil
Parsley
Yellow Pepper
Gorgonzola Cheese
carrot
chive
olive oil
Butterfly the chicken so that you can stuff everything into it, I add all my ingredients in order for it marinate as early on in this stage as possible and if you can give it 24 hours to marinate that would be
even better
To Marinate it you will add:
2 Tbs ~ Turmeric
1 ½ Tbs~ Cumin
1 Tbs~ Kosher Salt
3 Tbs ~ Mustard
2 Tsp~ White Pepper
1 1/2 Tbs~Garlic
1 Tbs~ Adobo
½ cup of ~Mojo
1 whole~ Orange [squeezed]
4 whole~ Lemon [squeezed]
Rub it all over chicken and then slice fruits and vegetables thinly to add to center, I prefer fresh ingredients as they make everything taste better, it seems very hard but I swear one of the easiest things to do and for the ingredients there are grocery stores where you are able to get a small bag with just what you want so if you are only interested in a bit of Turmeric then you only buy what you need and nothing extra. Add Olive oil all around and rotate once closed to add a bit more of the seasoning to the outside of the chicken. Once you have sliced and added :
1 whole~ Apple
Half a container ~ Sage
1 whole bunch ~Rosemary
Half a bunch ~Basil
Half a bunch ~Parsley
½ of a whole~ Yellow Pepper
Half a carrot sliced~caroot
1 Whole~ Long Onion
I sprinkle Gorgonzola Cheese all over the top and a bit in the bottom of the veggies as well and then fold over so then I may add the bands around the chicken top, bottom and middle area to ensure it does not fall through I must warn you that a bit of the cheese will drip a its getting cooked but that just the grill telling you that all that goodness is melting inside.
Just to be fair this was a very quick marinate we made for our steaks:
½ cup~Mojo
1 Tbs ~Kosher Salt
1 Tbs ~Pepper
2 Tbs ~Garlic
1 Whole~ Lemon [squeezed]
1 whole~ Orange [squeezed]
½ a bunch ~Parsley
1 Whole~Shallot
And this is what they looked on the grill:
Now during the summer take a lil time and make this. I am sure the whole family will be delighted and many of people will think you spent an eternity when you barely did. A smart person gives the illusion of working harder then they do, the rest buy take out!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Orange and Lemon floor cleaner
Sorry its been a minute since I have written anything but between work, travel, kids, crazy kitty and hubby its been a lil nuts. Lol. And just for us nutty people I’ve got a bit of an unorthodox recipe for cleaning which I swear works every time and the incredible aroma will never disappoint. This one is fo
floors in particular.
One of the items I love the most to use is Vinegar which in itself is an amazing thing to have around for every kind of use from cooking, cleaning the house and you find it is very inexpensive compared to "cleaners". It can work for cleaning windows and leaves floors impeccable. Every now and again I add some vinegar to this recipe but mostly I use it as Im about to give it to you.
When ever I use Limes, Lemons or Oranges for cooking purposes I take the peel [or Cascara as my Hispanic side will call it] and freeze once Ive squeezed every drop I could. My husband often snickers when he has to go in the freezer to take or put something in because there isent much space,lol. Considering that I am a former Clorox addict {and still indulge in it from time to time.haha} I think it beats it so he leaves me with my peels =]
I love Florida water, it smell's divine and a bottle is about 3 to 4 bucks which last me forever. I add a few droplets [perhaps 3 to 5] and you
are ready to clean without harsh chemicals and everything will be shinny and
smelling great while not costing you a fortune
Just to give you a bit of background on why it works so well here is some information on each:
Lemons and Oranges for example deodorize, remove grease, bleach stains, and disinfect; you can mix them with baking soda to use as an abrasive cleaner. Lemon juice can remove stains fromplastic food storage as well as de-grease and make your hands smell great right after you touch or deal with garlic, fish ect. Keep a piece by the side of your sink and when needed rub around your hands and clean. It will take away any foul order of that type.
Put either in your disposal and turn on it will remove nasty odor from it too.
If you grab an orange and insert cloves [whole] in it leaving no area unsealed it will provide a wonderful scent and not acquire fungus around it perfect for closets, x-mas tree or china cabinets [which is where I have mine] .
As you can tell I can go on and on about the benefits of Oranges and Lemons so I'll stop for now though I would like to hear from everyone what alternative uses you have found for them.
As for Florida Water is actually made in NJ/NY,lol. it is an alcohol base "cologne" which has become a big staple in a many Caribbean households, here is the link to
the company: http://www.lanman-and-kemp.com/florida.htmI
Generally I can buy it here in San Diego at CVS and back home in Florida
anywhere,hahaha.It has a purifying kind of scent and will never disappoint.
I use other ingredients here and there that I may add to the this but this is the one I
use the most and is always the base for anything else I may add to it. It works
fantastically every time and I am sure you will all enjoy.
Wish everyone a wonderful weekend!!! Drop me line to tell me how much you love this recipe once you have a chance to try it.