It's "Souper" Bowl Sunday

It's been a long time I wrote on this blog, life has been insanely busy in the last few months. Six months ago, my husband and I found out that we are expecting our first child, definitely a blessing and a gift from God.

It's so exciting to prepare from the new arrival of our little boy, with the pregnancy, I become much more of a picky eater, since there are so many things I love I am not supposed to eat - sushi, deli meat, blue cheese and Caesar dressing, terribly good but bad for you process food, etc., sometimes I am having a very hard time to think about what to make for dinner. People keep asking me what I am craving for during pregnancy, honestly I don't think I crave any particular food, I think I pretty much eat the same amount and the same kind of food as before I was pregnant. The only different is I eat more carb especially rice! With the Autumn/Fall weather in the east coast and the weather getting cooler, one thing that I always turn to is soup! Since Sunday is a relaxing day and I have time to actually think about what to cook and actually cook, I told my husband that Sunday is now "Souper" Bowl Sunday! In the past, I always make Broccoli Cheddar Soup, French Onion Soup, Chili, White Chicken Chili, Sweet Potato Bisque and Tomato Soup, I know it's time to widen my horizon and I was thinking about the Spicy Tuscan Soup that I ate at Olive Garden and decided to google to see if there is a recipe out there.

Here is the amazing Spicy Tuscan Soup I found - Recipe
Thumbs up!!!! The only thing I changed on the recipe is that I didn't use the bacon and I used fat free half and half instead of heavy cream, added another 1/2 cup of 2% milk and used 7 small red potatoes with skin on.

Even my picky husband loved the soup and this is definitely a keeper for the future especially during winter time! I used the left over Kale and made Baked Kale Chips, they are AMAZING! If you never try it before, I highly recommend you to try it. You can find Kale in the neighborhood supermarket and they only cost $1.50 for a huge bunch! Just make sure to wash it thoroughly!

Enjoy and Happy "Souper" Bowl Sunday!!! This is definitely a good meal to make for Sunday football with left over for Monday night! :)

Lemon Almond Bundt Cake

Being in the kitchen baking is the only way I feel relaxed. The process of blending ingredients together, using my sticky hands from cracking eggs and greasing the baking pan with butter and having flour all over the counter and my clothes definitely helps me to relieve my stress. I love trying different new recipes and I am always amazed the magic that a few simple and small ingredients can do after baking for 10, 20, 45 or whatever how many minutes. 

For our 6 years wedding anniversary present, my spouse has bought me a bundt pan and I have some lemons on hand so I have decided I might just whip up some delicious lemon pound cake for him as well. Needless to say, Rob LOVES the cake and so is everyone else in my office. Although I am not much a cake fan, I do enjoy pound cake because they are so moist and dense, I love the Sara Lee pound cake in the frozen aisle in the store. And lucky for me, I found a perfect recipe online. I must warn you, for lemon lovers like me, this is a MUST do on your bake list. It's so good and one bite you may think you are in heaven! This is an easy homemade recipe and I think it will become a family recipe and dessert I bring to the in-laws Thanksgiving dinner!

Lemon Almond Bundt Cake

**This recipe is adapted from Tartlette ( I did make a few changes)

2 3/4 Cups Flour1/2 tsp Baking Powder3 Sticks salted Butter at Room Temperature2 Cups Sugar6 Large Eggs1 Cup milk (I used skim)
1 1/2 tsp of Almond Extract
Lemon Zest from 3 LemonsFfresh Lemon Juice from 3 Lemons
1/4 Powder Sugar

Preheat oven to 300F. Butter and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan.

In medium bowl, mix flour and baking powder together, set aside. Cream the butter and 1 3/4 cups sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the speed and add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in the lemon zest and almond extract. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Poke holes all over the cake with a wooden skewer.

Meanwhile, bring the lemon juice and remaining sugar to a boil over medium high heat in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Invert the cake onto a rack, positioned over a baking sheet and slowly pour the syrup over the cake, it will seep through the holes and into the cake. Let cool to room temp. Sift powder sugar on top of the cake before serving.

You can actually see the lemon zest in the batter!!!

So Good and it is definitely calling your name!

The Meal After Vacation

Disney World is definitely the most magical place on earth.

I just went on my very first visit to Disney World with my partner for 5 days. Let me tell you, that place is wonderful and I am amazed by every details that it has been placed in every theme park, every performance,  every ride, etc. I am not so sure how much weight I have gained in 5 days while in Florida since I didn't work out once (I usually teach Zumba 3 times a week) but was still eating like a pig. We ate in Disney World for most of our meals and there were some delicious meals, desserts and drinks I just couldn't resist.

Gold Rush Sundae - Peanut Butter Fudge and Hot Fudge
at Ghiradell in Downtown Disney

Vanilla Creme Brulee at Chefs De France in Epcot 

Oreo Gelato

Fiesta Frozen Margarita

Pineapple Whip Float with Pineapple Juice
TASTED AWESOME! MUST GET ITEM AT MAGIC KINGDOM. 

Lobster Bisque

Broiled Salmon with Mashed Potato in Tomato Butter Puree

All the food we ate at Disney was wonderful. As mush as I love to travel and go on vacation once in a while,  I don't like staying on the road that long because I do get tired of eating out. That's something about homemade meal and dessert that warm my heart and make me feel good. One is that it is always cheaper to eat at home; two is that you can control the quality and the seasoning of the food. After five day vacation, I was itching to cook. And two hours later, this is what I made for dinner.

Honey Mustard Glazed Pork Loin with Creamy Dijon Sauce;
Spicy Green Beans in Garlic Oil and Cinnamon Mashed Sweet Potato

To cut down preparation time, I used the pre-seasoned pork loin (sold in the meat section) and frozen green bean. However, everything still tasted wonderful. The creamy dijon sauce does make the pork taste MUCH better and you can easier make them with a few ingredients you have in your fridge and cabinet.

Creamy Dijon Sauce

3 Tablespoons of Dijon Mustard

3/4 Cup of Half & Half or Whole Milk (may use fat free to substitute)

1 Table Spoon of Flour

Salt & Pepper to Taste

2 Tablespoon of Butter

Mix the first three ingredients together in a small pot and place it on medium heat until it get thicken. Turn off the heat, add butter and whisk until it get smooth. Salt & Pepper to taste. Serve warm and drizzle the sauce on top of the pork loin. 

**The sauce will taste excellent with salmon as well.

Spicy Green Beans with Garlic Oil

A Bag of Frozen Whole Green Beans

1/8 Cups of Water

3 Cloves of Sliced Garlic

4 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

Dashes of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Salt & Pepper to Taste

Microwave green bean in a covered container with water for 2.5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, Heat oil in low-medium heat and add garlic slices and red pepper flakes for 1 or 2 minutes. Make sure not to burn the garlic. Add green beans and saute in oil for 10 minutes. (may cook shorter or longer depending on your taste). Add salt and Pepper. Serve immediately.

Cinnamon Mashed Sweet Potato

2lbs of Sweet Potatoes 

1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon

2 Tablespoon of Butter

1/4 Teaspoon of Salt

Preheat oven in 400 degree. Wrap potatoes in foil and bake for 90 minutes or until potatoes get soften. Cut potatoes in half and scoop the inside into a bowl. Add cinnamon, butter and salt and mash potatoes. Serve Immediately.

Happy Cooking :-) 

Stuffed that Chicken!

It's hard to cook sometimes when you have a picky eater at home. My wonderful partner Rob has something against anything that is slimy or anything that have bones in them. His reason is that when he eats slimy food, he felt like he is being choked and that he is too lazy to take the bone off.
Rob will only eat boneless chicken breast, steak without bones and fat, shrimp without the shells, fish without bones, fruit without seeds. If he has a choice, he would not eat any vegetable or anything green. In his world, French fries is a vegetable and in my head - what a joke that is!
I am the opposite of  him, I eat anything and when it comes to meat, the darker the meat is, the more I love them. When I have to cook a chicken breast dish, I usually just bake them in the oven with salt, pepper and olive oil because I know he will eat them without hesitation or me listening to him complaining. I was indeed getting bored cooking chicken with the simplest ingredient and wanted to try something new and exciting; then I came across a stuffed chicken recipe that involves bacon and I knew I have to make it!

Stuffed Creamy Spinach Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts (Adapted from allrecipes.com by jeresygirl_chell)


1 package of fresh Spinach Leaves (10 ounce)
1/2 Cup light sour cream
1 Cup of shredded Monterey Jack Cheese or Pepper Jack Cheese
4 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
4 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast Halves - Pounded to 1/2 Inch Thickness
Salt & Pepper to Taste
8 Slices of Bacon

Preheat oven to 375 degree Boil 8 cups of water in a pot and cook spinach until wilted (around 4 minutes). Drain the spinach and pat them dry. 

Stir in sour cream, cheese, garlic, salt and pepper into the spinach and mix them together. 

Place the chicken breasts on cutting board and spoon a scoop of creamy spinach mix onto each breast. 

Roll up chicken to enclose the spinach. 

Wrap each breast with bacon and secure them with toothpicks. 

Season each chicken roll up with fresh ground black pepper and put them in a shallow baking dish. 

Bake uncovered for 35 minutes and increase the heat to 500 degree for 10 minutes to brown the bacon. Serve immediately. 

Happy Stuffing! :) 

"Butter Fruit"?

Is there such a thing called "Butter Fruit"? The answer is yes!

In Chinese, Avocado literally is translated as "Butter Fruit". The main reason is because the texture of an avocado is just like butter, smooth, silky and spreadable! The myth about avocado is that they are fatty. WRONG! They are only 4.5g of fat per serving and avocado is good for you, but remember not to overeat them.

Source: http://www.avocado.org/nutrition/

I am a sucker for Mexican food and I love guacamole and it is one of the dishes that I always make in the summer for potluck party. I will also make them as a side dish when we make fish tacos!

On New Year Eve, I tried an avocado & egg dip at my friend's house. It was delicious and when I saw some ripe avocado today, I wanted to make it for dinner. This dish/dip is simple, light and it's perfect for the summer! 

Chunky Limey Avocado & Egg Salad/Dip 

3 Hard Boiled Eggs (diced)

3 Ripe Avocados (diced)

Juice of 1 Lime

2 Brunches of Green Onion (chopped)

Quarter of a Red Onion (chopped)

Black Pepper & Salt to Taste

1 Teaspoon of Cumin

A Dash of Cayenne Pepper (Optional)

Mix/Mash everything together and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving it with tortilla chips, or use it as a topping for burger!

Enjoy!!! :) 

B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Bananas!!!!

In March 2012, I served as one of the college administrators and led a group of 13 students to Santo Domingo, DR for a week long service trip in a Catholic elementary/middle school teaching students English. The Dominican students love to sing and dance in English and Spanish during class time and one of their favorite songs is called "Bananas"! It goes like this "All the bananas in the world united. And we pick bananas, pick pick bananas; and we peel bananas, peel peel bananas; and we eat bananas, eat eat bananas; and we mash bananas, mash mash bananas; and we go bananas, go go bananas...go go bananas". The song was so easy to pick up and everyone had a lot of fun doing it.

As I was going through some of the pictures that we had taken in the DR and thought about this "bananas" song, I thought to myself - let me write about bananas!

Although bananas are not my most favorite fruit (I love mango, papaya, peaches & pineapple), bananas are definitely the fruit I eat the most. Banana has become my best friend in the fruit group for the last 4 years since I started to eat breakfast to boost my energy up in the morning. Honestly, I don't like to eat in the morning and sometimes I literally don't have time to eat, but I realize if I don't eat in the morning, my stomach will growl by 10:30am, sometimes it's extremely embarrassing especially when I am in the middle of a meeting. I often caught myself saying: "opps, I am hungry!" So to save myself from embarrassment, I started to eat a banana every morning because who knows this bright yellow fruit is so filling! Some may say bananas contain a lot of carb, but if you look at the overall nutritional values, they are one of the most healthiest fruit there is and only between 110 to 130 calories depending on the size.

Sometimes I do get tired eating bananas by itself, in that case, I will do the followings - 

1. Pair it up with some peanut butter 

2. Make a sandwich with peanut butter 

3. Bananas in cereal with soy milk or almond milk

Since I love to bake, I also incorporate bananas into my baked goods. I must say, I make a really mean banana bread even my students and colleagues will say so. I have mastered my banana bread recipe and have all the ingredients memorized, I even started to try to make my own recipe. During Christmas times, I used to bake up the storm and make over 200 cookies to pass out, and since I moved off campus and started to pay for utilities, I need to find a better, more energy efficient and cost effective recipe for my Christmas treats. In an hour, I can bake up to 14 small loaves and 4 huge loaves. Banana bread has officially taken over the cookies. 

Snickerdoodles,
Lemon Raspberry Thumbprint
& Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Ball (2010) 

Half of the Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (2011)

On a regular basis, I bake Dark Chocolate Chip banana bread at least twice a month for my office and they will be gone in no time. Last week during Easter break, I baked two loaves for my co-workers and my partner. Between Rob and I, we can only eat so much and we had left over banana bread. I didn't want to waste the bread and decided to make french toast out of them after my Saturday morning Zumba Class. I cannot imagine how much calories are in those toasts, but man...they are so good! With two slices of bacon, they are breakfast of champion!

Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Bread French Toast with Thick Cut Bacon!

My Awesome Banana Bread Recipe -

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Stick of Butter (room temp)

3 Ripe Bananas

2 Eggs

1 Tablespoon of Honey or 3 Tablespoon of Milk (may use half & half)

1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

2 Cups of Flour

1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

1 Cup of Dark Chocolate Chips (Optional)

Preheat oven at 350 degree and grease two large loaf pans. 

Mix Butter and Sugar with an electric beater until smooth. Add bananas and 2 eggs and mix until everything incorporated. Add vanilla and milk OR honey, flour and baking soda and mix it into a batter. Fold in Dark Chocolate Chips (You may also use walnuts). Pour into 2 pans evenly. Bake it for 45 minutes. Set aside and cool down.

(To bake in multiple small loaf pans, baking time reduces to 30 minutes)

Enjoy this golden deliciousness!

GO BANANAS!!!! 

**I will be making individual banana foster cakes soon...stay tuned! Here is a picture that I saw online, this recipe looks heavenly to me!

Oh BS!! As in Brussel Sprout?

My first encounter with Brussels Sprout was two years ago when I visited my friends in Minneapolis, MN. It was love at first bite! I love the texture and the favor of this little green small cabbage look-alike vegetable. They are cute, extremely easy to make, great side dish and cheap! (Especially when you buy them frozen!) Most important of all, when you cook the Brussels Sprout with crispy bacon and garlic, who can resist this deliciousness!?

Brussels sprout indeed has a very unique taste and not everyone likes them, just like other vegetables such as beets and okra, but if you cook them right, you may fall in love with them just like me. These little fellas are also rich in vitamin C! Do you know they contain almost 50% more vitamin C than an orange!? And if you eat 4-6 sprouts a day, you basically get all your vitamin C you need for the day! I also need to mention that nutritionists have proved that Brussels sprouts contain nitrogen compound called indoles and can help to fight against cancer. For individuals who are watching their weight, 4 of the sprouts only have 33 calories which is awesome!

Brussels sprouts can be prepared in so many ways! One of my favorite ways to cook them, as I mentioned earlier, is with crispy bacon and garlic. To bring the sweetest out of these little guys, I sometimes drizzle balsamic reduction on top before serving them.

This is a very easy recipe! And I cut down my cooking time by using frozen Brussels sprouts (>$2 for a bag).

Brussels Sprouts in bacon garlic oil with Balsamic Reduction

Ingredients:

1 bag of Frozen Brussels Sprouts
2 - 3 gloves of minced garlic
1/4 Cup of Water
3 slices of bacon, chopped in small piece
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 cup of Balsamic Vinegar
Optional: A dash of Red Pepper Flakes

Microwave Brussel Sprouts with 1/4 cup of water on High for 3 - 4 minutes. Do not overcook them. They should be still a little cold but not icy. Drain them and pat them dry with paper towel. Meanwhile, cook bacon in frying pan in medium heat until turning brown or crispy (don't burn them).

Bring 1/2 Cup of Balsamic Vinegar to boil and reduce heat to low and simmer it down for 4 minutes or until it gets thicken, similar consistency a syrup. Set aside.

After putting the Vinegar into the pot, Put sprouts into pan and toss them with the bacon and grease immediately. Add garlic, salt and pepper to taste and/or red pepper flakes for a little heat. Cook for 10 minutes or until they turn golden brown.

Drizzle Balsamic Reduction onto the sprouts. (If reduction got too thick and won't drizzle, reheat in low heat for 1 minute and stir, once it turns back to liquid, drizzle immediately).

I hope you will enjoy this recipe! Happy First Bite!