How to cook - 1 Handed

Creamy chicken tortilla Soup!!!- Amazing!

2010-06-25T06:21:00.000-07:00

I am back with one of the very best recipes EVER!!!! This is the BEST tortilla soup recipe I have ever. I love tortilla soup. And there are many different ways to prepare it. Some people prefer the broth chicken soup texture. Here in the Yucatan we have a wonderful soup called Sopa de Lima or Lime soup. It is VERY similar to chicken soup with a lot more lime. I prefer to eat that for my chicken soup fix. When I eat tortilla soup I want it creamy like tomato soup. The great thing about this soup is that there is no cream in it. But it still has a wonderfully creamy texture. So here it is.... so far the best thing I have ever made and I have made some pretty incredible meals.

This recipe is FULL of veggies. It is so good for you. Really the only thing not that good for you is the fried tortillas- and if were die hard you could use regular tortilla chips instead of frying tortillas yourself. But in my opinion- when it is already this healthy- you can afford a little fried tortilla.

Here is what you will need:
Chicken breast (or whole chicken if you prefer.)
Veggies- really any ones you want- the more the better- I usually have and use a combo of
onion
garlic

carrots

celery
broccoli
frozen corn
bell pepper
calabasa or other squash
tomatoes
potatoes
Chili (jalapeno or habanero)

You will also need:
corn tortillas - a little old and dry are even better
oil

chicken bouillon, salt, pepper, Pappy's (my favorite seasoning) and a box of tomato puree.

For toppings: avocado, sour cream, fried tortilla strips, red onion, queso fresco (I have also used shredded pepper jack and it was killer)

Okay so to get started cut your tortillas into strips and fry them until they have a good crispness and set aside to drain on a paper towel.

Prepare your veggies. Go through and cut off the crown of the broccoli, carrots, celery, bell pepper,-- eat veggie and put the part that you would normally throw away or compost into a large pot and put the part that you would normally eat into large bowl and set aside. Your veggies do not need to be bit sized just a rough chop is fine.

Once all of the veggies are prepared and all of their stems are in the sauce pot- season your chicken whether breast or whole and throw it into the pot. Fill the pot with water and add a little bouillon. Let this boil for a good 20 minutes.

remove the chicken from the pot- shred or cut up the chicken and set aside.

remove all of the veggie bits from the pot so all you have left is your broth. add all of the cut veggies to the broth and add the tomato puree. Allow the veggies to cook and soften in the broth for about 15 -20 minutes.

Once all the veggies are good and soft, spoon soup into a blender and blend. This soup is worth making a lot of so you will need a 2nd pot to pour the blended soup into. You will want to add a handful of the tortilla strips that you did earlier while you are blending.

Once all of the soup has been blended allow the soup to simmer a bit while you get you bowls and toppings ready. I like to do this step last because one I throw all of my veggies into the broth to cook I can clean my workspace and start getting my blender ready and while the soup is simmering I can put my blender away and prepare my bowls and toppings.

To serve!!!! put a mound of chicken in the bottom of each bowl, add the soup but pass through a strainer- This is what takes it from a killer soup to a restaurant quality soup is straining it! You will have a beautiful rich deep orange soup!

top with chopped red onion, chopped avocado, queso fresco (or other cheese- pepper jack was amazing too) and some of the tortilla strips. I also add some finely chopped chili- I like my soup spicy.

Obviously serve with a cold Carona! I mean --- Obviously.

you will love this soup and it is SOOOOOO HEALTHY! Perfect for kids. And it is also filling. And that is handy when you have a hubby who likes to eat as much as mine does.

Chicken -Yummy and low fat

2009-07-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

okay, this dinner was so simple and low key that I did not even think about taking pictures of it until I was finished making it and then I realized... these are exactly the type of dinners that need to be on this site.

This dinner was literally just some butterfly cut chicken breast with salt, pepper and Pappy's fried in a little bit of oil.

I put down some large lettuce leaves, chopped tomatoes and little onion. Once the chicken was on top I added a little herbal salad dressing. It was great.

At the same time I made chicken breast sandwiches for the kids. It was a really good dinner and I HATE salad. But I need to eat it more.

Bomb Oatmeal cookies

2009-06-28T09:44:00.001-07:00

As much as I would like to be I am not much of a baker. I do keep trying and some things work and some do not. The other day I decided to make oatmeal cookies. the recipie was really easy. I got it from the Joy of Baking. I love this website. They have so many things that look so yummy and they have lots of info and pictures.

I started by letting my 3/4 cup butter sit and warm to room temperature which did not take long and added my cup of brown sugar. I got to use my "new to me" electric hand mixer. This is actually my late grandma's and I love the idea of baking treats with the same equipment that she did. Any way....
I whipped the butter and sugar and added 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and mixed gain.

In a 2nd bowl I put 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda, salt and cinnamon. and mixed them together. I then added that to my wet ingredients. I would have added nuts, raisins or dried fruits but I did not have any and they were still great.

after mixing the dry ingredients with the wet I added 3 cups of oats. I did not have any parchment paper or even spray for the cookie sheet so I just tried my luck. They did not stick to bad.

I used a 1/4 cup scoop and made little balls and then pressed them slightly. They turned out great. They were really tasty. I cannot wait to make them again.

At home composting

2009-06-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

After living in Oregon, a very eco friendly state, I am having a hard time adjusting to Tulum, Mexico. For one the town itself JUST became a city so the basic services that one would expect to find are just now coming in. One of the services that I cannot wait for is recycling in Tulum. I have heard that there is or was a recycling center but no one to run it. And you have to bring your items there. So with no pick up, no people at the center and very few people with cars you can imagine how much trash (and much of it recyclable) gets thrown on the floor. And this drives me especially crazy because Tulum is supposed to be this whole super eco place. It is part of its whole shtick.

Anyway. Since I am not currently recycling I needed to do something to offset my guilt. So I started composting, much to the dismay of my husband. Now, we live in very close proximity to a lot of people and have very limited space. The last thing I wanted was a stinky mess. I saw some various designs for garbage bin composers on many websites. The one I liked the most was this one.

I did not want to purchase and materials so I used what I had. In my case it is our old kitchen garbage can that has no lid be cause it broke and so I used the bottom half of my cats carrying case with a brick on top. When I make my next one, I will use a can that is round on the bottom so that it is easier to roll.

I took my husbands drill and drilled a bunch of little holes in it. If I had to do it over again, I would have cut out larger fist sized whole but lined the inside of the bin with fine screen and mesh wiring. I think that would let the air through better. But it is so hot here that it is doing just fine.

I have a little bowl on the counter and I throw it in every night or so. I also throw in all of the leaves that my husband gets when he rakes. We have to be careful though because there are a lot of weeds and i do not want those in the bin. I do throw in our tp rolls, cereal boxes, and egg cartons. That helps a lot for the dry part of the compost.

Even after a few months, I still have not filled up the bin and it is a small little container that comes up to my about my knees. I am trying to turn or mix it but it is really hard. I think that if I did a larger and round one it would be easier.

I went over to my friends house the other day and he had just started composting recently as well. He has already put the first layer on his garden. I hope that mine is ready soon. I might ask him to come and take a look at mine and see if I am doing it okay.

My garden has definatly not been going well. There seem to be more weeds then anything growing. Something about living on the beach has been hard. Oh well. It is a learning curve. I am not much of a gardener at all and learning to do it in the sub tropical climate of the Caribbean is proving to be challenging. I really took the environment in Oregon for granted. Things grow like mad there.

Oven roasted Chicken w/ home veggies & low fat gravy

2009-06-08T19:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this recipie was inspired by one of my favorite places in Paris. It sits on a perfect corner on Rue Cler. It was called Cafe du Marche. My ex-husband and I would go here all of the time and I always had the same dish (and then ate half of his while he ate the other half of my favorite.) That way, if we hated the other dish- we knew we would be leaving happy with mine. It was so simple, roasted chicken, potatoes with a simple gravy/dressing and a small salad. But many of the best recipies are always the ones that use the simplest of fresh ingredients and prepare them well. No wonder I loved Paris, and all of France for that matter.

Anyway, this was a simple roasted chicken. I let Ruben wash it up inside and out while I got the veggies ready. Just a few cut baby potatoes, sliced carrot, white onion and garlic. I threw in a little water so I had pleanty of gravy. A little salt, pepper and Pappy's and we were on our way.

We let it cook up for and hour and a half and it was perfect. I could have taken out all the chicken and veggies and then thickened the gravy... but no thanks. That is just another dish and I was set. I did not even really make a full salad, just a little lettuce and it added a great crispness to the meal. It was great. We ate a little for lunch and a little more for dinner and then we are making tacos tomarrow.

The kids loved it, I loved it, it used very few dishes and it is a usefull leftover. That is one of my favorite meals ever.

Edit Me

2009-05-24T15:30:00.000-07:00

Edit Me

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Banana Bread

2009-05-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

okay, I made this banana bread the other day and it was great but I did not get many pictures. Well, with how easy this banana bread was to make I decided to make it again.

However, this time I had some leftover tropical pancakes that had been soaking in syrup. I really did not want to throw these away for a few reasons. For one we are totally broke. We really do not throw away much. But also, these were whole wheat pancakes, with kiwi, papaya and mango!!! I thought that sounded perfect for banana bread.

The basic recipe was really easy. I got it from the Joy of Baking site. I am in love with this site. But 1 problem I knew I was going to have was that I do not have any baking soda. We only have baking powder. After doing some research online I was able to determine that I could sub baking powder pretty easily for the same measurement. So that is what I did.

The recipe as called for by Joy of Baking is below.

After I got all my wet butter, banana, eggs and villa all together I threw in the rest of the kids pancakes. after mixing in the dry ingredients it seemed a little wet so i threw in a little more whole wheat flour.

I put it into a heart shaped baking dish (still the only 1 that I have!) The bread was great. It was finished off for breakfast the next day. The pancake did add to the flavor not only in the tropical fruit and syrup but also in making the bread a little heavier. It did more to fill you up.

Recipe:

1 cup (115 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)

1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 ripe large bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Garnish: (Optional)

1 large banana, sliced or dried banana chips

Tropical pancakes

2009-05-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

I have been really trying to think of new ways to use a lot of the fruits that either are starting to get too ripe or the ones that get smashed to bits on our way home. Well this morning I thought of a great idea... tropical pancakes.

I took some basic whole wheat pancake mix. I am not sure how much of a difference the whole wheat really makes but I am sure it is at least better for you. And I added 1 large but smashed kiwi and some chopped up bits of mango into the batter. i was a little worried that it would be too wet so I threw in a little bit of wheat flour.

They cooked up very nicely in the pan and I topped them with some mango and some papaya with a little syrup and a touch of powdered sugar. It was really tasty.

The really funny thing is... I have sort of a weird idea for the left overs. I made some banana bread the other night- it was my first batch and it turned out great. I did not get too many pics but anyway... I have decided to make it again but this time I am going to add my kids left over pancakes already moist with syrup.

I am not sure if this is going to turn out but we will see. That is the fun part.

wheat pasta with fresh and light garlic tomato sauce

2009-05-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

Now if you read this blog you know that I make a number of variations of tomato/ marinara and bolognese sauces. I almost always use either a small box (here it is a box- in the USA it would have been a jar) of ready made sauce and or a box of tomato puree. This just extends the sauce to be able to cover more meals.

Alas- last night i did not any ready made items. I had to make it all and it went really well. it was the same thing that I always do but with out the bow of tomato puree.

It was simply... 1/2 chopped white onion, 6-8 cloves chopped garlic, 4 chopped tomatoes, a little salt and pepper and at the very end I added chopped basil from my garden.

Once the noodles were ready I just added them to the sauce pan with all of the yummy oil and sauteed onion, garlic and tomatoes. It was a very fresh tasting dinner. Especially for how simple it was.

It also reheated today beautifully when tossed into a non stick pan with just a little oil- it was perfect. When topped with fresh parmesan cheese--- ahhh... wish I could get that here. Oh well.

This dinner was simple and wonderful. This would be perfect for a party or crowd. i thin I will serve this at our next picnic.

Mango, pineapple sorbet with tequila and orange liquor

2009-05-17T08:21:00.000-07:00

May I just say first of all, that I really want an ice cream maker. Ever since keeping strict track of the money we spend on things and at each store I have noticed a few things. One is that the ice cream at the store (which is the cheapest place to buy ice cream) has gone up from 35 pesos for about a liter to 40 pesos and I am sure that it will keep going up as the town continues to grow and populate. The 2nd thing I have noticed is that ice cream is our number one treat because it is so hot here. This is the one that I want... I think it will be so much fun to make a bunch of fruit sorbets. I mean... we have no shortage of cheap fruits here and the need for cool treats.

Anyway...

This palate cleanser was an idea that I had based on a restaurant that I went to twice in Paris, La Truffiere. It was one of those magical restaurants that you sit and eat at for hours. I went there once during the summer of 2000 and then again for Christmas Eve 2001. Both times were a truly unforgettable dining experience. Well, in between the fish and meat course they serve a palate cleanser. This was on both occasions an icy sorbet that contained liquor to help prepare you for the next dish.

Yesterday I was cutting some pineapple for some sweet and sour chicken I was making and the pine apple was to the point of almost done. Still a good pineapple but not the kind you want to eat plain. I had some mangos that were the same way. I decided to give a sorbet a try.

So yesterday I scooped out my over ripe mango and blended it in my trusty mini chopper and then did the same to the remaining half of the pine apple. I mixed the chopped fruit with a few splashes of orange liquor and a splash of tequila as well a cup or so of water.

I put it all in a tupperware dish and put it in freezer. After many hours I went and took it out and stirred the more frozen parts into the middle. Even at this point it was looking and tasting really good. I put it back in the freezer to harden over night. I figured that it would be a perfect snack for the next day which has already proven as I sit here at 10:30 am... that it is going to be a VERY HOT day.

But... alas... my husband came home from work last night and ate it all. can you believe that?!?!?! He assures my that it was very good. What a punk ass. Oh well. I am not really mad, although I would have loved to at least try it. I made it to be enjoyed... and it sounds like it was. But it did make so excited to try another one. What a great way to use all those fruits that are past the point of good raw.

This time I will hide it in the back of the freezer so the hubby cannot find it! :)

Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce- loaded with vegetables

2009-05-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

Now, ever since I have found wheat pasta at the supers here in town- we make noodles with marinara or bolognese at least once if not twice a week. We love it especially because of how many vegetables we have in the sauce but for how easy it is to reheat the next day or use in a new way. We love making french bread pizzas the next day!

Anyway. Another reason I love this recipe is because I hardly have to chop anything at all. With my hands in as bad of shape as they are I have come to LOVE and rely on my mini-chopper. First thing in is 1/2 to a whole clove of garlic- Once chopped I put a little a container with some butter to melt, the rest goes onto a little plate, next, the onion followed bell pepper.

I heat up a little oil in my skillet and and throw those all in with some salt, pepper and Pappy's. While those are getting soft and mixing together I blend up a head broccoli florets and then 3 carrots, I usually do not peel my carrots, just wash them up really well. and put those on the little plate.

After the onions, garlic and pepper are soft add the ground beef, you could ground turkey or chicken but I have not tried that yet. Once the meat is pretty cooked, add the broccoli and carrots and mix together. If I had celery or squash I would have added it here.

Then mini chop some tomatoes and throw those in with some tomato paste. At this point I usually add some cinnamon, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes and 1/2 a chopped jalapeno.

For the bread, we just mix the garlic into the butter and let it stand at room temp for a few minutes (here it melts within minutes) Cut the bread length wise, butter and grill until golden.

We usually serve it with a simple salad and save any leftover salad for salad or sandwiches the next day.

I love this meal. And the kids love it and there is almost no limit to what you can do with it. I love having extra sauce to make french bread or bagel pizzas or lazagna. And now with the whole wheat pasta I do not feel nearly so bad.

Grapefruit Grouper

2009-05-13T06:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I had some grapefruits to use so I started poking around online looking for recipies that would work for a grapefruit sauce on grouper fillets. I found some recipes for bbq grouper with sweet and sour grapefruit sauce so I figured it must work flavor wise. So then I started looking at some grapefruit sauce recipes in various areas. I took some ideas from a bunch of them and made this lunch. It was grouper in a grapefruit and ginger sauce, brown rice and steamed broccoli.

For the rice and broccoli is never occurs to me to us my double pot steamer. This time I remembered. I put my water for my rice on the bottom and the broccoli on the top and added the rice half way through. Though next time I will not add the pot with broccoli until my rice is already in. I just like my broccoli a little crispy.

*** One good idea to get your kids to eat veggies it to steam the veggies for the whole time that the rice is boiling and cooking and then mash the veggies into the rice. Sometimes I will add a little butter and garlic at the end. But my kids do not pick out the veggies then***

For the sauce I threw some red onion, a little garlic butter I had left, grated ginger (a little goes a long way) and some grapefruit segments and the juice and some water. I let those flavors simmer together while I got the other stuff ready. It did not take long for the sauce to start smelling really good. If I had a chili I would have thrown it in too but I did not.

The sauce turned this nice muted orange color and was smelling fantastic. I added the grouper which I seasoned with salt and pepper and left them alone for several minutes on each side, flipping once.

We plated them up and used up all of the sauce. Ours had a little too much ginger in it but it was still good. It was a very healthy and tasty lunch. And if this is not the ultimate test... my 4 year old ate every bite of broccoli florets, brown rice and grouper with grapefruit sauce. That is quite a victory for me.

Lena thought the fish was a little funny tasting. I think it was the ginger. This is one of the first times I have ever really used ginger. They had it at the store and Ruben loves it so... Hey, you try you learn.

Mexican Grilled Grouper in a Tequila Marinade, with brown rice and veggies and sliced mango

2009-05-08T18:18:00.000-07:00

So armed with left over brown rice and veggies that I made last night, I set out to make a grouper recipe that was adapted from this web site I had all the fixings for it so I thought that I would give it a shot.

I marinaded the grouper fillets in some tequila, orange liquor, lime juice, garlic and salt. I set the in the fridge for about a half hour or so. I took a picture - it is a pretty boring fridge. And our "pantry" is not that much more exciting.

I then made the salsa. This was just tomatoes, white onion, red onion a little garlic, salt, pepper, a little sugar, _ I would have put in jalapenos but I did not have any. So I added a little red pepper flakes in the kids salsa and then added red pepper flakes and a little habanero salsa to our pico de gallo

I lightly oiled my grill pan and set the fish on there to cook for about 5-6 min. each side. Meanwhile I put the marinade in a little pan and simmered while the rice and veggies that we had leftover reheated.

When served it was a fillet of the marinade liberally dressing the top (this would have been a great topping for fresh steamed veggies. We then piled the pico de gallo on the fish and served with the leftover rice and veggies and sliced mango.

It was a great lunch. It tasted very fresh and light.

I just found this great web site that looks like it has some great recipies for fish.

One pot veggies and brown rice or No broth veggie soup

2009-05-08T14:43:00.000-07:00

This is a one pot version of a dish that I made all the time. A simple mixture of veggies much like I would make chicken with vegetable soup or vegetable soup.

I started by sauteing white and red onion, yellow bell pepper and garlic after a little while I added a few hand fulls of brown rice and let it brown on all sides. I am not sure why you do this but I have seen it in a few recipes so... why not,

Then I added a bunch of water and a little chicken bullion and Pappy's. Once it started to boil I added my carrots, broccoli and chaote.

At this point I could pretty much leave it alone and let it just cook and stir occasionally.

This was a very tasty meal for the kids and I.

Stuffed Red Snapper, Corn pudding and Zucchini pudding

2009-05-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

Torta de Elote (corn pudding) Budin de Calabcaita (zucchini pudding) with Stuffed Red Snapper. My authentic Mexican dishes for our Cinco de Mayo celebration.

This recipe was first inspired by the fact that Ruben was working in the morning and was going to be home for dinner. And it was Cinco de Mayo so I wanted to make something nice. Red Snapper is one of Ruben's favorite, it is very traditionally Mexican (especially here on the Caribbean) and I was literally walking right by the pescaderia. I picked out my fish and they cleaned it up and slit it for me. he asked me how I was going to cook it so we could decide if I wanted the head and tail or just the fillet. He said that I should stuff it. Sounds good to me.

In the cookbook, Mexico, The Beautiful Cookbook with recipes by Susanna Palazuelos, that was recently given to me as a gift I found 2 recipes that used things that I had in the house and I thought would go nicely.

The first was Torta de Elote (corn pudding)- This consisted of 8 cups of corn (I only had 4 - oh well)3/4 butter, 2 teaspoons baking powder,& 1/4 teaspoon of salt although I added some cinnamon and sugar to make more of a sweet pudding and it was really wet so I added maybe 3/4 cup of flour.

After blending the corn in my trusty mini chopper, I mixed with the remaining ingredients and put into my baking dish.

Next I made Budin de Calabcaita (zucchini pudding) The recipe for this originally called for white cheddar cheese but we do not have an abundance of cheese here so I used a yellow cheddar like cheese- I have no idea what it is called.

4 cups zucchini, boiled-drained-mashed, add 1 cup shredded cheese, 1 beaten egg, 1 cup crushed soda crackers, 1/2 cup butter and salt and pepper. I did not have individual ramekins so I used a muffin tin- they still had to be scooped onto the plate and did not hold a form. Ramekins would have been better/prettier.

I then stuffed the red snapper with garlic, sliced onion, red peppers & zucchini with salt, pepper and Pappy's. I also seasoned the outside of the fish on both sides.

For the kids I put some onions, red peppers and garlic on the baking sheet and laid the fillet of grouper I had gotten for them on top. I then sprinkled both fish with lime juice.

After cooking the corn pudding for 30 min I let it stand while I baked the fish and zucchini for 20 minutes.

The food was great. The kids loved every bite of the food and Ruben and I were thrilled with our dinners to. Dessert was also perfect at simple vanilla ice cream, fresh cut mango and cajeta sauce.

My garden

2009-05-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

While I was in the USA with my kids I regret that my garden really suffered. For one, while I am sure he did it almost everyday, my herbs need to be watered 2 times a day. Most of the little herb pots were completely dried out. I have been nursing them back to health and some are making a great comeback.

My pumpkin did not make it. It had a ton of squash blossoms but the whole thing died before I we got any pumpkins. My corn also died. I think that was because it was not the right time to plant.

One problem I am having is with the soil itself. Someone told Ruben that the plants would probably not produce anything because the soil was not good enough. I need to be adding fertilizer. Well, the whole point of trying to grow my own food is to keep costs down so I really do not want to buy a bunch of expensive fertilizer.

Well, I have been doing some research and have found some home made fertilizer ideas. One is the egg shells and coffee grounds. We have eggs and coffee everyday so there is a ton of this to add to the garden. I also read about collecting sea kelp and soaking it in water for a month or 2. This is a good option for us as we live in a beach town. I also heard putting sand around my tomatoes will do wonders.

Some of the plants are doing really well but are not giving any fruit. This one is a pepper I think but there are no peppers????? There is also this other huge plant growing right in the middle of the pepper. I am not sure what either of them are really.

I have a few tomato plants that have finally started to grow but as of yet are not giving much. There is one little tomato on one of the plants but that is it?!?!?!

I really hope it changes soon.

Marinera sauce and wheat noodles

2009-04-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

This was a real budget meal. With this whole out break of swine flu in Mexico. Money has been really tight lately. This recipie can be made with pretty much anything. This time I had on hand onion (red and white) garlic, tomatoes and a box of sauce .

Everytime I make this it is a real garbage bowl type of meal. You can add pretty much anything you want. It is also a really good way to get kids to eat a variety of vegetables. I chop my veggies in my little mini chopper and then the kids cannot pick them out.

I sauteed it all up, added the sauce and a bunch of basil (one of the herbs that is doing really well here)

When put on wheat noodles this turned into a pretty healthy meal. Yeah!!!!

This is also a great leftover meal. It is easy to reheat the sauce and can be used on more noodles, put on lasagna noodles or put on pizza dough or on french bread and make french bread pizza. The kids love this dish in all forms.

Penne with bacon wrapped Shrimp w/tomato, garlic white wine sauce

2009-03-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

This dish was absolutely amazing. My girlfriend Jessica had recently watched an episode of Rachel Ray where they made this sort of dish and she could not wait to try it out. We did not need much. Just some garlic, onion - white and red, white wine, tomatoes (in Rachel ray they used cherry tomatoes- but the store did not have them) white wine, some bacon and some shrimp. We would have used the larger shrimp but the cocktail shrimp was all that was at this particular super.

We used spices like salt, pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning, Pappy's (obviously)and fresh from my garden we used basil- which is growing great here - and parsley.

This dish only used 2 pots which I love and the kids asked for seconds. The only thing that would make this a 100% guilt free meal is whole wheat pasta but I have not found that yet.

The first part is the only pain in the butt. You trim all or most of the fat from the bacon and wrap each piece of shrimp. . Again, we would have rather used larger shrimp but the pescaderia was not open. So we had to settle for cocktail shrimp but it was still bomb.

Fry the bacon wrapped shrimp until a little crispy in a large saute pan. Once they are brown on all sides transfer to a dish to drain. In the same pan saute onion, red onion, garlic, and tomatoes. We used 1 whole red onion, 1 small white onion, 1 small head of garlic, and 8 or so tomatoes. In the Rachel Ray one they used the little cherry ones and put them in and let them burst open. We seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano, italian seasoning & Pappy's. I went the my little herb pots ad grabbed a bunch of basil leaves and parsley leaves and threw them in at the last minute.

This dish was so good. It was the perfect dish to end what has been an amazing day. And this dish cost only 200 pesos and we bought every ingredient. And we have a ton for lunch tomorrow and were able to drink 2 glasses of wine with the rest of the bottle. PERFECT!!!! It was so good.

How I am going to do... Each day at a time.

2009-03-28T18:27:00.001-07:00

Okay, so here is something scary. Since I have moved to Mexico I am losing my battle against fresh corn tortillas. Even as active as we are I have still gained weight. Well, for my 30th birthday this year I am going to give myself 2 gifts. The first is to actually loose the 15-20 lbs that I really need and want to. The other is the tattoo that I have been wanting for over 5 years now.

In October there is tattoo expo in Merida and Refried Dreamer and her husband will be there. I am also dying to go to Merida for a weekend. I said that I would not get my tattoo until I am at a happier weight. As a part of losing this weight I will be doing 4 major changes, although I really only see 3 of them really happening.

1) to run to town each morning to the fruiteria and polloria and get the needed items for that days food and the next days breakfast (except for eggs, we will get those at the "corner store" in our neighborhood. and then brisk walk home.

2) do stretches each morning and each evening on the roof of the house. Once we get our roof set up it will be nice spot to do this.

3) update everyday on my blog the following information...
Date: _____ # of Calories consumed: ______
# of glasses of water: _____ Did I run: _____
#of cups of coffee: _____ Did I stretch AM: _____
# of sodas: _____ Did I stretch PM: _____

I figure that this is a way to really embarrass myself and really hold me accountable. I hope that it works.

and 4) stop putting sugar and milk in my coffee. This could only be worth it would good coffee and I cannot afford good coffee. I might as well spend that money on Splenda.

I hope that this works. I really want that tattoo for my birthday.

Huevos Rancheros & Chorizo & Egg Burritos

2009-03-27T15:02:00.000-07:00

I love huevos rancheros. It is one of my favorite meals. I had a friend visiting recently and this was all she wanted to eat while she was here. I love this recipe. It is so easy to make.

In a small sauce pan I sauteed some onion and bell pepper. On my blog you will rarely see actual measurements. I think it is to each his own and add what you like. I have a very iron chef approach to cooking. Anyway... Saute onion and bell pepper (I used red this time) in a little oil. Once soft I added salt, pepper, cumin and cayenne pepper along with2-3 cloves of chopped garlic and 1/2 a chopped jalapeno. I would have use the whole jalapeno as it was not very spicy but we were also feeding the kids. Once that was all blended together I added some chopped tomatoes and a little tomato paste and a touch of water to thin it out.

Meanwhile in another pan I heated through a can of re fried beans. Many times I will make a large pot of beans - pinto or black and keep them in the fridge. Making them from scratch is easy, much cheaper and allows you to add a lot of flavor like cooked bacon,onion, garlic etc.

Then it was time to fry the tortillas. This is fast and easy. Simply heat some oil and throw in the corn tortilla. Once it starts to bubble a little, flip it over. Once it starts to bubble on the other side get ready to take it out. I like my tortillas a little crisp for this so I leave them in for another minute.

Start plating by spreading some beans on each tortilla ( you can double them up if you want but it adds a lot of extra oil and beans and tortilla instead of all of the fresh stuff so we do not. Add some of the cooked salsa to the beans and top with a soft to medium cooked egg.

Add a little more salsa and some avocado. I would have added queso fresco if I had it but I did not. Bummer. This is a filling breakfast and all parts of it can be made in larger batches and saved (well, not the eggs and tortillas) We almost always have a pot of beans and some salsa in the fridge ready to make more or any other meal.

My friends boyfriend love huevos con chorizo so once the eggs were cooked, I threw in some chorizo and fried it up and then added some eggs. I served this on a warm flour tortilla with some beans, the chorizo and eggs mixture and some salsa and avocado.

My husband is of course the person who wants both so needless to say he was very happy. But it ended up being 2 meals in one

My garden is Growing!!!

2009-03-26T07:47:00.000-07:00

I had lost faith for a little while that nothing was going to happen with my garden. I have never really done a whole lot of gardening before except for house plants- which I had a ton of! But, so long as they are green they are fine. Fruits and veggies are so much more full of expectation.

I started the seeds back in late January. I had everything from onions, tomatoes, peppers (the top most important thing in any Mexican garden!!!) as well as corn, pumpkin, carrots, herbs --- all sorts of stuff.

When we planted them in the garden we got some serious rain down here. This ran a whole bunch of the seeds together. So other then the pumpkin, corn and tomatoes I am not really sure what any of the stuff that is growing is. Not to mention that since we get our dirt from the jungle (via the store!) things pop up out of nowhere.

My tomatoes plants grew a few inches tall and then just sat there for weeks and weeks. I asked Ruben's dad and he said that they were gaining strength and would grown with strong stems.

That is what is happening. The tomato plants grew almost over night and now are doing great. Now all sorts of stuff is popping up. I am very curious to see what it is going to be. hehehe

Caramelized Fried Plantains w/ shredded coconut

2009-03-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

At the fruiteria we bought some tiny little plantains. The kids and I were in the mood for something sweet so we came up with this recipe. It has all things I like so I was sure that it was going to be good.

I started by putting some flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. After cutting the bananas (we did some length wise and other simple circles) we coat the bananas with the flour mixture.

I threw some butter in a pan and let it melt. I then threw in some brown sugar and then added the coated bananas. I let them cook pretty long so they had a nice brown color. I added shredded coconut and some more brown sugar to the tops of the bananas.

After a little while I flipped the bananas and let them cook on the other side. Once they were good and brown and a little crispy I put them on a plate to cool. The carmel on the bananas cooled and made a sort of hard shell.

It was so good to bite into and then get to the creamy banana on the inside. This would be very good on ice cream or in a crepe. But I liked them as just a bite sized treat. The kids also loved them. But then again, how could not love plantains, brown sugar, butter and coconut!

Chicken and veggies with Thai chili sauce

2009-03-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

This is sort of like chicken soup with out the soup. I would usually serve this with rice but we did not have any. That was a good thing because we really are trying to eat less rice and bread and tummy pouch causing foods.

So this dish starts with the same ingredients that I usually buy and the fruiteria. We always buy the same basics and then a few random things. As always, I used my mini-chopper (my favorite kitchen helper) to chop up some onion, red pepper, garlic and jalapeno. I cut up some broccoli, carrots and cauliflower and got all my spices out and ready. I have decided that a major part of my joy of cooking is dependant on preparing all of my foods. It also makes the dishes easier.

This dish was also nice because it was all cooked in 1 pan.

I started by making a little chicken stock. Once that was ready I put it in a bowl to the side and started on the veggies. I sauteed the onion, red pepper, and jalapeno until soft. I then added the chicken and the garlic. I let that cook just for a moment and then added the chicken stock.

After allowing it to cook for a few more minutes I added the carrots. I have really been focusing more on when and how long I let certain veggies cook because I have noticed how much more I enjoy slightly crispy veggies.

In goes in the broccoli and cauliflower. At all sorts of random times I add salt, pepper, Pappy's and and Thai sweet chili sauce. (I love this sauce)

Once everything was cooked it was ready to eat. We pulled all of the food out and left the liquid. After serving up the kids I added some more chili sauce to spice it up.

There was some left overs and it reheated on the stove very easily. We do not have a microwave so we reheat everything on the stove. This reheated very well.

"make it work" slip cover

2009-03-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

When we left the United States we left just about everything that was not breathing. Along with all of that stuff was our nice furniture. When we got to Mexico we bought our neighbors furniture. The sofa and chair are in terrible shape. I have been using our queen size sheets that I brought from the USA as slip covers. I would be using them as sheets but we only have a double bed.

Well, I have been getting really sick of fixing the slip cover every time someone sits down. So I came up with something that helps a lot.

I took the flat sheet and cut it length wise so each end could cover the seat and back portion of the sofa and chair. I then cut the fitted sheet into 4 sections. The corner sections fit really well on the arms of the sofa. It makes it so much easier to fix the sheet when they get messed up which is not nearly enough.

I am currently using another unused sheet to cover the pillows on the sofa. This is just because I do not like the orange cover that is on the pillow. When I come back from the USA I will bring some new fabric and recover things. I will post new pics.

It is ghetto but it works. And when you have NO money... you make it work.

Tortilla Soup

2009-03-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, there is this one place in Playa del Carmen that has wonderful tortilla soup. It is very creamy and warms you up. We had it the other day and I have been craving it ever since. I looked up a few recipes and sort of combined some and made adjustments.
Today at the fruteria we got the stuff we needed and a bunch of fruit I have never had. We are going to branch out and try new things. For breakfast I am planning on making some sort of tropical fruit and plantain crepe situation.

But tonight it was tortilla soup. Since the pain in my hands teeters between awful and absolutely unbearable, I use my mini chopper all the time. For just about everything. So in went my onion, red bell pepper, garlic and jalapeno. I threw that in some oil to soften.

I chopped up 2 tomatoes, -(next time I will use more) and threw those in too. I added some cumin and a little salt and pepper.

After about 3-4 minutes I added some chicken stock. I had made some chicken soup from scratch the other day and had set this aside. I let it boil for a and cook down.

In another saute pan I heated some oil and fried some tortilla strips. While they were draining on a towel I threw on a little salt and pappy's seasoning.

To plate the soup I put a little handful of tortilla strips, spooned some soup, added some chopped avocado, a squeeze of lime and some fresh cilantro (from my garden!!! YEAH!!!)
*** If I would have had queso fresco I would have put that on top- possibly crema as well (Mexican sour cream) But we did not. Chicken would have been really good in this too***

The kids loved this soup as well. I want to eat the last of it but I know that Ruben will want to have some of this when he gets home from work.

Ruben had a good idea... he said that he would blend it with some tortillas and then put a few strips for garnish. This would make it easy to reheat as well.

Chorizo and egg burritos

2009-02-27T09:16:00.000-08:00

This is a great meal for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack. They are so easy to make and taste great. For this, I use flour tortilla from the store rather then the usually fresh corn tortillas you can buy almost anywhere here is Tulum.

First remove the casing from the sausage. I love chorizo but any sausage can be used for this. Chorizo is great because it has a lot of flavor and spices but is not too hot for kids. I have used Italian sausage before and it had too much heat for the kids. I like to cut up the chorizo first because it makes it easier to break apart in the pan. If you want you can also add some onion to the pan with the chorizo Once the sausage is ready add some eggs. I usually use about 6 eggs (sometimes mixed before hand with a little milk, salt and pepper.)

Once the eggs are scrambled as hard as you like transfer them to a bowl. In the same saute pan heat through some re fried beans. (or make them yourself- they are really easy to make)

on a grill pan put a tortilla to heat through quickly then flip it over. Put a little cheese (I like cheddar- or the closest thing I can find to cheddar here but any cheese will work)

On a plate put the tortilla with cheese, a little beans, the eggs and chorizo and top with salsa. This is a very good, quick meal. Enjoy.

Chicken Parmesan

2009-02-26T10:43:00.000-08:00

I am not really sure if this classifies as the traditional chicken parmesan but oh well. This dinner was literally last minute and took only a few minutes to put together. I lined a baking dish with foil, laid 2 breasts of chicken in and seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic powder and pappy's (of course). I flipped them and seasoned on both sides and drizzled very lightly with oil.
I then took the last piece of bread (you know, the one at the end that most people do not eat) and chopped it up in my trusty mini chopper and sprinkled the chicken breast. I wish I had fresh parmesan but that is just not a realistic dream here in Tulum. So I sprinkled the chicken with the Kraft parmesan in the green can.

I put the chicken in the oven at ??? again we only have 1,2,3,4 & 5 on the oven- it was between 2 and 3. I had it in the oven for about 20 minutes. I had made some red beans earlier in the day for breakfast and reheated those. I also made some white rice in chicken stock which gave it a lot more flavor.

(Beans and rice are 2 things we always have a bag of in the house) :) I served the chicken with a little lettuce. I would say salad but we had nothing else on it so it really was not a salad. -- The kids really liked it and it was a very last minute and "oh shit- what I am going to make" sort of meal.

Chocolate fondue

2009-02-21T20:01:00.000-08:00

I am sorry for the long delay. I thought that this recipe was already here, oh well.

The chocolate fondue could not be easier. It was simply a pot of water, a bowl, some heavy cream and hershey's kisses. We would have used just chocolate chips or a bar, but we could not find anything like that. Those are the weird things that we seem to not be able to find. Anyway.

I also got the first yield from my garden... yep, 1 whole radish. Granted, it was good. But still, hopefully more grows soon. The corn has gotten bigger and the pumpkin is HUGE!!!!!

Spaghetti W/ lots of vegetables

2009-02-13T18:53:00.000-08:00

Okay so we have had some interesting things going lately. First we tried to make home made tortellini. The Gorgonzola sauce was great but the pasta did not turn out well. But it was fun to make anyway. But since it is one of my favorite dishes I am going to make it again for Valentines day but without making my own pasta.

So today I making some meat sauce that I planned to make a few meals out of - (lasagna, spaghetti, and strata) I grabbed my little mini chopper which I just LOVE. As I am rapidly losing the battles with my hands I have come very dependant on this little device. Plus it gets all of veggies so my kids can't pick them out.

Today I was thrown a curve ball, right in the middle of sauteing my onions and garlic my gas stove dies. We ran out of gas. We have to wait for the gas truck to cruise by in the morning with the little jingle and then they take the tank and bring it back the next day. So right at that point I switched my little hotplate that we used when we first moved here. Thanks goodness. I do need to be careful because I get electrocuted often. but oh well.

So I mini chopped a bunch of random vegetables. Onion, garlic, celery, carrot, broccoli, chanote, tomatoes, asparagus, used a little chicken stock when needed for the veggies. I added some seasoning-(salt, pepper, oregano, italian seasoning, cinnamon, and Pappy's)

Before the veggies I cooked up the ground beef that I had gotten at the carcinera that day. I cooked that with the same seasonings as above as well as some garlic and onion powder.

I threw the beef in with the veggies and added the can of tomato sauce. It turned out very good and is very full of a ton of vegetables. I get my kids to eat a lot of vegetables.

I was going to make a lasagna to cook later and prep a strata to cook another day. But since the oven cannot be used I just left it in the saute pan to reheat for a whole lot of superheat. But that is okay.

My failure!

2009-02-07T08:54:00.000-08:00

While there have been some recipes that have really been favorites, others were good but just pretty good. Well, I have had a HUGE epiphany. I was making a chicken and broccoli casserole the other day and while I was making it, I kept questioning the recipe. It did not seem like things that I wanted to eat. It was very gloppy and gooey. By that I mean that while I was totally on board with the chicken and broccoli, the rest of the recipe was stuff like, mayo, sour cream, can of cream of mushroom soup, flour etc. I was not happy and curious and relaxed like I am when I am usually cooking. This made me feel heavy just making it. My epiphany was that if you are not happy when you are cooking the food, chances are you will not be happy eating the food. I am glad that my camera was out of batteries because it was a very ugly looking dinner too.

I will however try to come with a new recipe for a chicken and broccoli casserole that is lighter. If you know one please

Chicken and vegetable lasagna

2009-02-02T18:08:00.001-08:00

Tonight's dinner was something that I had the idea for a few days ago. I have started to crave more casserole and lasagna stuff. I have never made a lasagna so I was a bit nervous. We are really trying to use all of what we have in house and fridge and not have extra around. So most of my recipes can be done with what ever veggies you have. Or even better, these recipes are a great way to sneak a lot of fresh veggies into your life and into your kids! So the recipe I had in my head... Chicken and veggie sort of lasagna. I had intended to do a very chunky veggie thing but I decided that it was easier to get a ton of stuff into the kids if I chop most things in the mini chopper. This works well for me too as my hands are no good. Tonight I had onion, garlic, celery, carrot, potato, broccoli, bell pepper, fresh tomatoes, zucchini (this I kept in strips) , a box of tomatoes sauce and I used some oregano and Italian seasoning and I think some Pappy's.

In the back pan I started to boil water with chicken bouillon, salt, pepper, and oregano. I used this water to poach the chicken. I have heard that this is a very healthy way to cook fish so we are going to give it a try. Plus our chicken was already cut think so it worked well. After the chicken was done I cut it up and set it aside. I saved the stock to use with the veggies.

For the vegetable I sauteed a little garlic, onion and celery,- let them soften then added the carrots, bell pepper and potato. As I needed to I would use the chicken stock to add to the veggies as they cooked. after a while I added the broccoli and zucchini. After a few more turns with the spoon I added the box of tomato sauce.

For the cheese I had 2 types. A white that was shredded. It was Manchego. And a yellow cheddar that was cubed. I then made an easy bechamel sauce and added the Manchego.

I do not have any baking dishes here yet except for my baking one that is a heart or a train. So we had a heart lasagna. I layered the oiled dish with noodles (these ones did not need to be pre cooked which was great) white cheese sauce, chopped chicken, veggies sauce, then threw down a few cubes of cheddar. Second layer: white cheese sauce, chicken, veggies sauce, cubed cheddar- you get the idea. We only did 3 layers I think. Then on top we finished with the cheese sauce and veggies sauce on top.

I had my concerns about this dish. I mean, for 1 there were A LOT of veggies so I was not sure if it was going to be "too veggie" tasting. I mean I want to eat healthy but I want it to taste good. But after 20-30 minutes in the oven it was ready to eat. If I was serving this to my husband I would have served it with a small salad and bread- but it was just me and the kids so we just had the lazagna.

First of all- the kids loved it. They ate every bite on the plate. It did turn out great. I was really excited about it.

I saved a little of the veggies sauce to make a strata for the next morning. My friend Jordan told me about this and I have been playing with them since. In a baking dish you line with aging bread. (a great way to use up bread that is hard)Then some sauce (any number of variations could work for this) then some cheese, then some bread, sauce, cheese,& bread, sauce, cheese- topped with bread. Then you whisk a few eggs, milk, salt and pepper and pour it on top of the top bread. Put it in the fringe and the next day you can put it in the oven for 30-40 minuets - It is a great breakfast, lunch or dinner. I will post pictures of it when I get them.

Serrano ham and peas with a Gouda cheese sauce

2009-01-29T19:26:00.000-08:00

Okay... this dinner was awesome. It was inspired by the Serrano ham I found at the supper. And I found some shredded Gouda. This dish was so easy and yet finished off fabolous. It definitely tasted great.

In one pot I had the noodles cooking with a little oil and some chopped garlic. I used some small bow tie style ones. In my saute pan I threw in a little oil, onion and garlic then threw in the chopped up Serrano ham. I also was looking up recipes with Serrano ham and found an appetizer that was asparagus wrapped in Serrano ham. So when I do this recipe again, I might try asparagus. But anyway. Once the ham was heated threw I threw in the thawed peas.

The sauce for this recipe took me into making my very first bechamel sauce. It was sooooooooo easy. In a 3rd sauce pan I put 4 Tbs. of butter and let it melt and start to bubble, then threw in 1/4 cup flour and slowly added 2 cups of milk.

I threw in some salt and pepper and then when the noodles were ready I threw in some grated Gouda from the store. I kept whisking to make sure that the sauce did not clump. I then put the noodles and the sauce in the saute pan and mixed everything together. It was such a good dinner.

Chicken and veggie fried rice

2009-01-29T12:36:00.000-08:00

Armed with my left over white rice (cooked in chicken stock instead of water) and some cut up pineapple, and some lightly seasoned thinly cut chicken from the local pollo shop! I eagerly awaited to see what Ruben was going to bring home that was going to go into the dish. I just told him... veggies. He came home with some great stuff. We had onion, garlic, bell pepper, carrots, tomatoes and this other veggie (I cannot remember the name but it is sort of like a potato.) We threw in the onions & garlic then added the chicken, then we threw in the carrots and a short time later we added the Bell pepper because I like my bell peppers more on the crispy side. During all of the cooking I threw in random things. Some herbs, some sweet chili sauce and a little water. At the end I threw in the pineapple and rice and coated everything. It was really good. I added more sweet chili sauce to our plates after we served the kids. It was really good and was much more a veggie and chicken dish with a little rice to fill it out rather then the other way around. I really like dished that force my kids to eat their veggies. :)

Chicken salad

2009-01-28T09:08:00.000-08:00

Okay, let me first say that last nights dinner was so much of an after thought that I almost did not even take pictures until I realized that those "oh crap what am I going to make just prior to restock" dinners are the ones that I was to share the most. Those dinners when it seems like the only things in the fridge need something that you would need to go to the store for. So last night, I had 2 chicken breasts- simply seasoned, wrapped in foil, and baked.
Then I made some simple white rice for the kids, sliced pineapple and small little salad. Let me also say that I am not one for salads.
I need to be but alas I am not. :( But I do love chicken Cesar salads so I decided to throw some lettuce, onion & tomato into a bowl and top it will chicken and a little Cesar dressing. Now 1 thing, if you are going to bother with lettuce... please do not buy that iceberg lettuce. While it tastes good it has no nutritional value. Just a lot of water. If you are going to bother eating well you might as well get some vitamins and minerals.

Okay anyway. The dinner was really good and the kids even asked for more salad. I had a lot of rice and pineapple left over so I put those in a bowl and we are going to make some kind of fried rice for dinner.

On another note, in the spirit of utalizing the things around you to be useful. We desperately need more storage in our kitchen. There is literally NONE!!! We bought a shelf system but it has to hold everything. So I asked Ruben to build me a shelf right next to our stove so i could put all of the bottles of spices and oils and such right there. We ended up using 2 cement blocks and took a board off a piece outside. It turned out really well.

Then we used 4 cement blocks to make a little table by the computer. Now we have a little place to put all of the little stuff around the computer. It turned out really well.

Roasted Potatoes, baked chicken & orange slices

2009-01-26T18:19:00.000-08:00

This dinner was great. And since I used 1 of my all time favorite kitchen utensils ever... aluminium!!! I love this stuff. It cleans our bbq, covers our food, goes under my casseroles to protect from spilling and even wraps my food making them extra clean and makes almost no cleanup!!! I love it. This recipe was very easy.

It is simply chopped potatoes thrown in a bowl, throw in some chopped garlic, chopped onion, salt, pepper, and a few herbs and you are set. Now,my herb plants are not grown yet so I am using dried. I would have used fresh rosemary or dried rosemary if I had it but I do not. SO i used dried oregano and it was great. Plus my kids hating getting stabbed in the mouth by rosemary sometimes. And the oregano was very nice. I tossed all of these ingredients with a little olive oil and wrapped in foil. I then set that in a baking pan.
I simply pit a little foil on the bottom of a baking pan and threw a little salt, pepper and oregano on the chicken, sprinkled with a little olive oil and in they both went.

I left them in there for about 45 min - an hour. I am not sure what the temp is because the oven only has 1,2,3,4 &5. It was around 3. I am assuming that is close to 325. The dinner was really good, very juicy and easy to clean up.

I also have decided that the only way to slice oranges is by doing rings, cut in to quarters and the inside pith cut away. We eat a lot of oranges down here as it is what grows best. This is the way that I have discovered gets the most actual orange into the kids, (rather then just sucking the juice) and the least amount of seeds and sticky on my floors.

home made pots

2009-01-24T20:00:00.000-08:00

Since this blog is more about becoming a domestic goddess in my new home and my new way of life- I am trying to relay all of the new things that i am learning and figuring out to all of my... well, probably not that many readers but still. Since we are living on a budget that by our old standards in the USA can only be described as insane, we have really tried to come up with new and interesting ways to use things that we would have other wise thrown out. Also because regrettably, the recycling system here in Mexico and especially here in Tulum is tragic. So we have come up with some pretty good ideas. One of my favorites is the use of our old soda bottles and in 1 case, an old bleach bottle (well cleaned ironically enough) for planters. I have finally gotten a bunch of herb seeds and have started to grow them. I took many 1 liter and 2 liter bottles and cut off the top 1/3rd. I punched a few holes in the bottoms and a few on the sides. It is my plan to hang the small "pots" from the rungs on the ladder that leads to the roof. Which is where I hang my cloths and we have decided to put the kids pool. (trust me- if you saw it it would make sense. Once it is all set up and cute I will take pictures. The hanging pot is full of strawberries that I really hope will work because strawberries are very expensive here.

The other thing that we did today was make a little screen to cover the planter in the front yard. The cats kept getting into and using for a litter box and that was not good. I also learned a few tricks that are very cool and that are working amazingly well.
The first is that if you smash a clove or 2 of garlic and put it in a spray bottle with water along with some chopped pepper, preferably a little roasted (we are using habanero) It keeps the bugs off of your plants. The other is to sprinkle used coffee grounds at the base of the plants and that keeps off unwanted pests as well. The whole goal of all of this is to be more natural and more healthy and spraying with a bunch of chemicals does not seem to make sense. Except when it comes to cockroaches. I will spray those little f***ers with whatever napalm I can get my hands on. One thing that has also proven its own difficulty is that the bark dust that you buy here is not the same you would get in the states. Here it is directly from the jungle mixed with some fertilizer. The good thing is that it is full of naturally composted materials falling from some of the best trees of earth. The bad news is that is also comes with a ton of sticks, dry leaves and stuff of that sort. oh well. The plants seem to like it.

Chicken stir fry

2009-01-23T12:44:00.000-08:00

This recipe was soooo easy and tasted sooooooo good. First we had our chicken cut into bite size pieces, chopped onion, garlic, carrots and broccoli. In a small sauce pan we had some water, chicken bouillon and made some simple white rice. I would have made whole wheat rice but do not have any.

In a large saute pan we heated a little oil, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and Pappy's. Then add the chicken seasoned with salt, pepper, Pappy's and a little Mexican oregano. After the chicken was well on its way we added the carrots.
I like my veggies a little on the crisp side and my broccoli especially so I waited to add that. My mom gave me a huge bottle of Thai sweet chili sauce so I put some of that in as well. The pan was a little dry so I threw in a little water.

the end result was great. The chicken and veggies had so much flavor that even the kids did not eat too much rice. This was a hit and we will definitely be making it again.

We also made a bunch of home made OJ. We bought a HUGE bag of oranges for 40 pesos and so we have been loving that. Nothing like fresh squeezed OJ.

Chicken Sandwich

2009-01-21T09:19:00.000-08:00

Today we made a great sandwich. It was really easy and tasted great!!! It was simply toasted bread, mayo, mustard, sliced tomato, white onion, lettuce, chicken breast (seasoned with salt, pepper and Pappy's) topped with a fried egg and Valentina hot sauce. They were great. filling and very easy to make. The kids ate them up as well. It was all of my favorite things in our favorite tacos but in the form of a sandwich.

I'm Back- sorry for the long break

2009-01-08T07:06:00.000-08:00

Well, I was gone for quite some time from this blog but I am back now. I have a camera so this blog will be much more fun to read and look at now. Well, it is now the start of 2009 and my quest for becoming a goddess is in full swing. We have done a few projects around here to get started.
The first is that my husband built me 2 screen doors so we could have the doors open, the bugs (for the most part) out of the house and the cats can go back and forth. What makes this really amazing is that this was done using a machete, an old saw and a drill. He even made the angles in come wood so that he could make a design. He basically sandwiched the screening between the different pieces of wood and then made the little door for the cats.

Fried Chicken

2008-12-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, now this would have made any of my country friends very happy. I have never made fried chicken before and had always been scared to make it. It seems like it is always tricky. But this was so easy. Ruben brought home a whole chicken all cut up. I rinsed the chicken and set it in a bowl of milk. At my mother's suggestion I would have used buttermilk, but as is a typical situation, I do not have buttermilk and I am not even sure if they have it at the store. I doubt it. In another bowl I threw in a bunch of flour, salt, pepper, a good amount of paprika and just because I had it some Mexican oregano. This was so simple I could not believe it was so tasty. I just rolled the chicken in the flour and gently put them into a large pan of hot oil. I thought that it would splatter a lot more then it did but it was very easy. The chicken fried for about 7-8 min and then I flipped it over. I did about 3 batches in the pan and let each batch drain on a towel.

I served it with some mashed potatoes that I cut up and boiled in some stock that I had saved from when I last made chicken soup. The broth was so flavorful that I did not add anything after mashing the potatoes. I did try to make a little gravy. This did not turn out great because I do not have a whisk so the flour was a little clumpy, but it was still good.

For the gravy we emptied almost all of the oil that had cooked the chicken, threw in about 2 cups of stock that I had saved, added a little butter and some flour. I would have added milk if I had it but I was out. So anyway... there you go.

Good old fashioned fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Needles to say, this took less effort then going to KFC. I cannot wait to make it again. And as usual, it was great cold the next morning.

Speghetti with bacon and peas

2008-12-09T16:45:00.000-08:00

This dish was very easy to make and looked great. When I get my camera up and going I will make it again and take pictures. The recipe calls for a cup and a half of parmesan cheese. We did not have that but it would have made the dish much better. Once again I prepared everything. I think this makes the difference in my enjoying cooking. I even start to enjoy the prep. My hands have been having a very hard time keeping up with all of the things that they need to continually do here so prep takes a while- but hey... time is what I have.

I chopped up the rest of the bacon slices that I had (after making a much needed BLT) and set in 1 bowl, thawed the frozen peas in another bowl and in a 3rd bowl I had 3 eggs, milk, salt and pepper. On the back burner I started the noodles while in my skillet I cooked the bacon on medium (mostly as to not burn the shit out of my arms.) Once crispy, I set it aside and got rid of most of the drippings. I threw in some garlic to soften and drained my noodles. I used a little of the hot water (about 1/2 cup) to temper the egg/milk mixture. I then threw the noodles, tempered egg/ milk situation and the peas into the saute pan to heat through.

This was my first time tempering eggs and I did not do it that well so they did harden up in the pan. That was okay though, it was still very good. At the end I threw in the bacon and if I had it this is when I would have added the cheese as well.

It was a very good dish, easy to make and the kids loved it. I wish there was a picture. It was nice looking. And I like pretty food.

Well... problems

2008-12-08T16:01:00.001-08:00

We have made some great dishes lately but I do not have a camera that is working. From what I have heard the humidity is a big problem. I will update with some upcoming dishes but I am sorry that there will not be pictures. and that is my favorite part.

Shrimp Tostada

2008-11-29T16:12:00.000-08:00

This is one of those dishes that you see on a menu and it seems so easy, with such simple ingredients. Well, one thing that I have learned about cooking fresh and frugal - especially in Mexican cuisine, is that the separate ingredients, if done right, each take their own bit of time and effort. This was a typical tostada stacked with wonderful layers. The first, a fresh fried tortilla, black beans, "Spanish rice", lettuce, tomatoes, shrimp, avocado, salsa and queso fresco.

First I started with the shrimp in a pan of water with bay leaves, salt, pepper, Mexican oregano, chopped onion, garlic, a little left over green pepper and carrot. I have heard that making your own stocks makes a big difference in the taste of the food. And while I do not do it on a large scale so that I have stock ready on hand, I do cook it during a meal and usually have enough for left overs. Or the left overs will make a perfect stock. I am going to play more with stocks and do a whole entry on them. Anyway...

Pan 1- the soon to be shrimp stock- had all the things listed above and about 50 pesos worth of shrimp. 50 pesos of meat is what we average for our family to stay on budget and it has worked out well. I mean, we want more meat and less pasta and rice but you also have to meet the frugal of the "fresh and frugal" ideology. So Pan 1 is going and
in... Pan 2- we have some black beans, onion, and a touch of green pepper, salt - I think that was it. I have gotten used to the idea of simply adding on hand. That has been fun.

In a 3rd pan I made some simple white rice. And fried my tortillas in my favorite only non-stick pan. Once I was done with the tortilla, I set them aside and sautéed some tomatoes, a little onion, salt and pepper and threw in some of the shrimp stock that I had sitting on the back burner. I am sure that there is a lot that goes into Spanish rice.
That is why mine had quotes! Mine was pretty simple. Anyway.
After I set the rice aside I shelled and deveined the shrimp. I threw the shells back into the stock to draw some more flavors from them.
I threw the shrimp in to my favorite non stick skillet and watched them curl like they do so nicely in the restaurants. Then it came time to refry the beans. I was not sure if I had cooked them long enough so I re fried them with some of the stock. Then it was just a matter of assembly. 1st... the tortilla, then the beans, the rice, the lettuce, tomatoes, shrimp then topped with a little avocado and queso fresco. I knew Ruben needed some heat so I added to his some salsa and some pickled veggies that were part of a to-go plate the other day. All-in -all... a very good lunch.

Now this was a smart left over re-creation

2008-11-28T16:11:00.001-08:00

I have never been good about left overs. I always just reheated the same dish. But I have been trying not to throw anything away. But the kids too are picky about left overs. So when we had some of the pasta in garlic cream sauce left, I figured... I used a lot of good ingredients for that dish, and there is a lot left (except shrimp... Akilean LOVES shrimp) I knew that I had to use it all. But the kids did not want the same pasta- they wanted a meat sandwich. So I said, well "I'll put meat in your pasta." I simply fried up some sliced ham and threw in the pasta. The oil from the ham coated the pasta- which already had great flavor from the veggies and sauce from the last dish. One of my more successful left over dishes.

At this rate, we will be able to stay very close to our 700 peso a week budget.

Ham , eggs and veggies- Our perfect breakfast

2008-11-28T10:17:00.001-08:00

It is no surprise with how many eggs my family eats that we are trying to acquire a few hens as quickly as possible. My almost 4 year old son eats about 4 eggs to himself. And these eggs are full of healthy fresh veggies as well. It is so hard to get kids to eat their veggies and the morning is a perfect time. They are so hungry that it is easier to get food into them. At least, that is the case with my kids. So I have been working on finding ways to add vegetables to their meals, and ours for that matter. Fruit and especially citrus grow very well around here. So here is one of our staple breakfasts.
First, once again, I prep everything. It is so much easier, and enjoyable, to cook when everything is ready. So I start with cutting/ dicing 1/4 green pepper, good chunk on onion, 1/4 of a calabasa, 1 large roma tomato and a bunch of diced ham. In a small bowl I mix 7-8 eggs, milk, salt and pepper. The milk helps use less eggs and adds calcium. And of course, since my husband is wonderful, he surprised me one morning with a coffee maker... we can add a cup of coffee.

First sauté the pepper and onion in oil, when they are soft add the calabasa and ham. I think it makes a big difference when the ham is fried with the veggies first. After the ham has a nice brown color, add the egg mixture.
Gently pull the eggs from the edges of the pan towards the center allowing the runnier eggs to fill in. This will give you evenly cooked (and flavored) eggs. Do not constantly mess with the eggs but tend to them. When they are almost cooked as hard as you like, throw in the tomatoes and turn off stove. Gently fold the eggs over the tomatoes just to heat them through.

We usually eat these eggs with half a grapefruit for the adults and some other fruit for the kids. It is a really good meal and a great way to add veggies to meals that your kids will eat.

Baking for the first time- Mandarin Bars

2008-11-28T09:45:00.000-08:00

Okay. So part of this whole adventure is working with the fresh fruits and veggies around me and working within the parameters that are simply parts of living in this area in Mexico as well as the limited amount that we have rebuilt our household with. So when I decided for some reason that it would be a good idea to bake something, the follow through was not thought through. SO yesterday was Thanksgiving in the USA. And I did not really notice or miss it (probably because it is 85 degrees and sunny- it does not seem like late November to me.) Anyway. The day before and the day of I started to get a lot of emails about Happy Thanksgiving and what everyone was doing with their families. And then I really started to miss it. For several of the past many years I have cooked the vast majority of the food for Thanksgiving. SO it was very strange not to cook this year. So I set off to try to find the things that I would need to bake lemon bars and pecan squares.

Well, okay, no brown sugar- just standard (sort of brown) and super refined (white) But the brown sugar is more like sugar cane or sugar in the raw then the brown sugar I am used to. Then there was no powdered sugar, no baking soda, oh yeah... and no lemons.

So here is what I came with.
First I had to "powder" the sugar myself by putting it in my little food chopper. - That did not work that well. Then I had to sub mandarins for lemons. When it came time to zest the lemon... I realized... I do not have a zester. Luckily I have a lot of time and a serrated steak knife. To say the least, that took a while.

When it came time to make the dough for the bottom, I started by using my little chopper in place of an electric mixer. That might have worked if my mixer could hold more then 4 cups. So I just mixed it with my hands. They say that you can really put your emotions into food and I guess it makes sense that you have to get your hands on it.

At the end, I still did not have powdered sugar so I caramelized a little sugar to put on top--- well that was just a bit burnt so I will not do that again.

After the whole adventure there was no way that I was about to make the pecan squares. I still had to clean the kitchen. This is not an area that you can leave any thing sugary out and about. Oh, I forgot, I do not have my baking dishes here so I baked this in an omelet pan. Hehehe. We use what we have.

Shrimp and Pasta in a Garlic Cream Sauce and Veggies

2008-11-26T12:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, this dish was inspired by a killer fettuccini and salmon cream dish that we had on Lena's birthday and this cute little place in Tulum called 2 lum. First let me say that my cooking experience is made so much better since I decided to start prepping my food when I cook. For this dish, a shelled & deveined about 1/2 a kilo of shrimp and separated the meat and the shells. And my typical assortment of veggies, (onion, calabasa, broccoli, carrot, and TONS of garlic)

In one pan I heated heavy cream, a pinch of salt and pepper, a little garlic and the shells from the shrimp. ***Ruben made a good point... he suggested that I sauté the garlic for a moment before adding the cream. I think that I will do that next time. *** After allowing the shells to simmer in the cream, I removed the shells and the added the shrimp meat to cook in the sauce.

In another pan, I sautéed my veggie combo is some simple chicken stock that I had made.

In the last pan I boiled water and cooked spaghetti noodles with a touch of oil and salt until tender.

It was my intention to serve the veggies mixed with the pasta and shrimp but in the end I thought that the pasta would be better by itself in the garlic cream sauce and shrimp and the veggies had a punch of their own flavor. It was very good.

Veggie Fried Rice

2008-11-17T16:49:00.000-08:00

Okay, so armed with the same things as yesterday I was off to create something new. I thought, well, I just did pasta. So I should switch to the other cheap eat staple... rice. I made fried rice. Simply made some rice and set aside, chopped the veggies and started to sauté. I only have oil and white vinegar so I used those and a touch of chicken stock.

In a second pan I gave the rice a quick re-fry with some of the drippings from the other pan. I threw that into the veggies and scrambled up some eggs and topped with a cut sweet orange. I served it in a bowl of lettuce since the head of lettuce was HUGE!!!!

So far, so good!

Spaghetti with Chorizo Meat Sauce & Chorizo and Veggie Strata

2008-11-17T13:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we are going to see what we can get out of these 300 pesos. Part of my whole goal is enjoy the process of preparing food and well, shit... I have nothing else to do! So I might as well take my time. My hands go through spells of severe pain so 1 of them is usually performing at about 30% its normal ability. And when you consider that the doctors gave up on me after loosing 25% of the ability that I used to have in the first place, the hand that is having a bad day pretty much helps the potato not to roll.

Having said that, there are a few things that I have come to really appreciate in a kitchen. The first 1 is a good set of knives, cutting boards and my mini chopper. I love that mini chopper. Plus it is a perfect way to make veggies small enough that the kids cannot pick them out.

So here is a recipe that actually makes 2 meals. The first is great pasta with meat sauce and the 2nd is a great strata for a hot cooked breakfast with NO effort.

This is actually a combination meal with a girlfriend of mine. I make this chorizo pasta dish a lot for my family and then she showed me a great recipe for the next day. It is amazing.

So with my chopped onion, garlic, 1 carrot, 1 large chunk of calabasa, large handful of broccoli florets, 6 chopped tomatoes, some chopped green pepper and 1 lb chorizo we were off to cook. This is what I got at the tienda that day but you can use just about any veggies that you have.

Simply sauté all veggies, add chorizo and season to taste with anything you have or want (I always use salt, pepper, Pappy's and cinnamon) and serve over spaghetti or other pasta and garlic bread. For my garlic bread I just mini-chopper some garlic- let stand with butter and melt, spread over bread and toast.

And there is meal #1. For the 2nd meal.... read the strata recipe.

With the 2nd roll, layer bread (this recipe can be done with old stale bread as a way to use it up) and chorizo sauce and cheese (if you want) into a casserole dish. In the picture is one of my oven proof pots, I do not yet have a casserole dish. Bread, sauce, cheese, bread, sauce, cheese, bread sauce cheese, bread. End with a layer of bread on top and pat down lightly. Then beat up a couple eggs and some milk, salt and pepper and pour evenly over the bread layers.

Cover the strata and leave in the fridge over night. In the morning, start the coffee and bake at 350 or so for an hour or so and you have a hot yummy breakfast. This is so filling and substantial that it can also be made for a dinner dish served with salad instead of fruit.

300 Pesos & a new a new tienda!!!

2008-11-17T08:11:00.000-08:00

I just discovered a new little tienda in town. They had great prices on all of the things that we need, mostly fruits and veggies. We are trying to figure out what the cost of food that we need really is. So for this first trip we bought, 1 L milk, spaghetti noodles, sandwich bread, tiny jelly, 2 chorizo links, 6 small bananas, 1 grapefruit, 2 oranges, 1 calabaza, 3 carrots, 1 head lettuce, 1 head broccoli, 8 roma tomatoes. 1 avocado, 1 lime, 1 onion, I head garlic, 1 green pepper, 8 eggs and 2 rolls. All of this came to 300 pesos. (abt $30 usd)

The Start...

2008-11-17T07:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I had this idea to document my quest to get into a new life here in Mexico. Everything here is different and there has been so much to learn. We are dealing with some interesting obstacles. My hands for the past 5-6 years have had very serious problems. Once that, as the days and weeks go on, gets worse and worse. Couple that with the wonderful simplicities that come from living in Mexico and it can be hard.

What I mean by this is that we do not have a dishwasher, a dryer, a microwave. We do have a washing machine, but so many people wash by hand. And it is really nice. You begin to enjoy the time you get when you take your laundry out to the sun to hang it up. You really start to enjoy all of the little things that are special to here.

The downside to that is that my hands do now work very well. We go through spells when one of them is completely useless. I have had hand problems for almost 6 years. So I am learning to take the time to do things at a comfortable speed. Being a domestic goddess is fun when you can enjoy the process.

So this blog is my detailed account of my quest to become a diosa doméstica. The Mexican way.