Halloween Treats

Being on a budget can make things difficult for my creativity but then I realize, it is only a challenge and I can make it happen!  So for our pumpkin carving party I decided to make sugar cookies, since we also have ample amounts of candy for all to pick at.  I really like the sugar cookies that come in the gift baskets but I think sometimes they can be a bit dry.  I tried this new recipe and I love it and so did JL who claims to "not be into sweets".  He can deny it all he wants but when I make a really good dessert he just can't seem to help himself :)

Sugar Cookies (like the gift basket ones)
Sadly I don't know where I got this from but thank you!


1/2 C + 6 T butter, I used salted
3 C + 3 T all purpose flour
1 C superfine sugar, you can toss some regular sugar into a food processor to make it superfine
1 large egg
1 t vanilla

• Cream together butter, sugar and vanilla, just until it is creamy, don't over mix!
• Beat in egg until well combined.
• Add flour until a non-sticky dough forms.
• Knead and separate into two portions.  
• Roll out in between two pieces of parchment or wax paper and let cool in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes, until firm.
• Remove from fridge and cut into desired shapes.
• Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes on a parchment lined cookies sheet.
• Slide paper off of sheet and let coo before removing them.

Frosting
Adapted from All Recipes, Submitted by JB BOX

1 C powdered sugar
2 t milk
2 t light corn syrup
1/4 t vanilla extract
food coloring

• Combine all but food coloring and separate into desired portions for coloring.
• Wait until cookies have cooled before frosting.

Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!

Chipotle Chicken

When trying to get creative with the ever-so-boring chicken, utilizing new or unknown ingredients can be the only way to go.  Chipotle Chilies are smoked Jalapenos and delicious in almost anything, even mixed with sour cream for a creamy salad dressing.  As spicy as jalapenos can be, the smoking of them can reduce the bite a little bit.  The Adobo sauce they are combined with, typically, in the can is deliciously sweet and can balance out the spicy-ness, leaving the smoky jalapeno delectably savory and edible for this gringa (white girl)!  If you like heat but never tried chipotle chilis, taste it and add as many as you want to the marinade.  I didn't blend the ingredients but thinking back, that might have been a great idea!

Yummy Chipotle Chicken that you can use for tacos, burritos or salad.

Chipotle Chicken
Adapted from Simply Recipies

2 chicken breasts sliced in half or pounded
2 chipotle chilis, diced
Sauce from chipotle chilis
2 T lime juice
1 T canola oil
Sprinkle of salt

Marinate chicken in chilis, juice, oil & salt for 30 minutes to 1 day.

Grill chicken until done.

As you can see below, I make American tacos, versus the typical Mexican taco with onion, cilantro and salsa.

Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!

It is just beginning!

The past few months I have been making cakes for friends, and their family or friends.  There was one period where I was making cakes every Saturday. 

Jose and I have been discussing this and the opportunity that has become available to me/us...  and Nessa's Cakes was born.  I don't take any credit for the name, that was all Jose! 

It is still incredibly preliminary and very under the radar so I have created a blog to give my potential clients a place to see my handy work and have a list of options available to them, from me :)  The pricing of the cakes is based on the actual cost of the ingredients for me.  This isn't a for-profit undertaking, in any way...

Long story short, here it is... http://nessascakes.blogspot.com/

Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!

The best easy cake recipe ever!

I am going to share a secret with you... Some of the cakes I make are not entirely from scratch... I know, I know, it is preposterous and a shame but to be honest, most bakeries no longer make things from scratch at all. Not to mention, I have tried so many recipes from scratch but the best ones I have made require a box mix to use as a base.

This past weekend I had to make 40 cupcakes and a two layer 10" cake. It was a lot of work but the crazy thing was, I was able to finish it all in three hours, from start to finish! Even though I was using a box cake mix, the additional ingredients is enough to almost consider it a recipe from scratch.



The request was for chocolate and not too chocolaty (crazy, I know) cake/cupcake. So I decided to use this recipe from Our Best Bites.

Previously, I made the recipe for a friend and everyone loved it, including me :) I decided, why not try it with chocolate cake mix, instead of vanilla, for a not-too-chocolaty chocolate cupcake/cake. I decided to go with a vanilla butter cream frosting and for the cake I added a strawberry filling.

Needless to say, the cupcakes were a hit and I honestly think they were better than anything else I have made to date. They were super moist, surprisingly since cupcakes are hard to get moist, and they all had a dome top! I thought adding the extra flour and sugar would take away some of the chocolate but they were still pretty chocolaty.

The conversion for a chocolate cupcake is to use Devils Food box cake mix and instead of eggs whites you can substitute 3 large eggs. I don't like to waste eggs and since the only reason the recipe calls for whites is to keep the cake white, I didn't see the necessity.

To get a dome top on the cupcake, preheat oven to 400 degrees and right after you put the cupcakes in the oven and the oven comes back to temp, reduce the temp to 350. This may be a little annoying but it is soo worth it!

Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy

Planning Ahead

This is not a food post but something very related to food and a normal person's active lifestyle.

I was inspired by Tina to share this with you...

About two weeks ago Jose and I decided, enough is enough. We are no longer going to be eating out during the week and will leave it to once a week, maybe. I then created a system to help the deciding of meals an easier task. This system I will share with you, you lucky person you!

First I created a weekly meal plan.

Monday: Fun meals (to make Monday seem less boring)
Tuesday: Home-cookin’
Wednesday: Mexican
Thursday: Italian
Friday: Home-cookin’
Saturday: Slowcooker/BBQ
Sunday: TBD (usually visit the "in-laws")

Then I started to brainstorm. I created a separate list for each type of meal and vowed to come up with at least eight meals for each. This meant that I would have at least 40 meals to make and as you may assume, I exceeded that.

Once that was done the rest of it was so easy and, may I say, enjoyable! All I had to do was decide which meal for each day and create a list.

Below are some ideas you can use for the meal types.

Fun food:
Chinese Appetizers
Tuna Melts
Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs
Buffalo Wings

Home-cookin'
Chicken Pot Pie
Roasted Chicken with Potatoes and Carrots
Cream of Broccoli Soup
BLTT Sandwiches (add turkey)

Italian
Chicken Alfredo
Stuffed Shells
Cajun Fetuchinni (maybe not really Italian but to JL it falls under this category)

Mexican
Chipotle Grilled Chicken Tacos (recipe to come soon)
Enchiladas
Not-Chipotle Burritos
Chili Relleno Casserole

Slow Cooker/BBQ
Burgers
Pot Roast
BBQ Salmon & grilled veggies
BBQ Ribs

Hope this helps you get back into the healthy and more cost efficient way of eating and always enjoy what you put in your mouth!

Live, Laugh, Love!

Thanksgiving came early!

Well, not really. It sure smelled like thanksgiving when I was making dinner though! Dinner was roasted chicken with vegetables.



Roast Chicken with veggies

1 whole chicken, minus the neck and insides and rinsed
4 red potatoes, cut in 8 pieces
1 cup carrots
1 onion, roughly cut
8 oz mushrooms, rinsed
2 celery stalks, roughly cut
1/4 c butter, softened
1 t dried thyme
1 t rosemary
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil
Cooking Spray

1. Preheat oven to 385 degrees.

2. Spray 9x13 roasting pan with cooking spray.

3. Combine butter and spices.

4. Place chicken in pan and run fingers under skin covering the chicken breast and legs.

5. With your hand, spread the butter under the skin and smooth out.

6. Place vegetables along the edges of the chicken.

7. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

8. Bake in the oven for 60 to 90 minutes, until the internal temperature has reached 160 degrees.

9. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes to allow for the juices to redistribute.

Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!

Green Enchiladas

It seems as though I am on a roll! Let's hope it stays this way :)

Enchiladas are one of my favorite foods. When I go to a Mexican restaurant that is usually what I order, they never let me down.

My Mom used to prepare them at least twice a month when I was growing up so they are also one of my comfort foods. She would use the red sauce you can find in a can at the store and cheddar cheese, yummy!

My taste buds developed through the years and I decided to try the green sauce... Delish! Now it is one thing I make once or twice a month for dinner and we both LOVE them! They are great for leftovers and can be made ahead and frozen, just keep the sauce for the top separate otherwise the tortillas will soak it all up.



Again, sorry but still on the hunt for my camera battery charger, I will not give up!

Green Enchiladas
by, Me!

Makes 4 to 6 servings, depending on your hunger :)

24 corn tortillas
2 chicken breasts
1 package of queso fresco (or 3 cups shredded jack cheese)
1 large can of green enchilada sauce
2 small onions, halved & sliced or diced (your preference)
2 T butter
2 t chili powder
1/2 t garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
Corn or canola oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Combine chili powder, garlic, salt & pepper

3. Place chicken in lightly greased 8x8 or 9x9 pan and coat with spices. Bake chicken for 20 minutes.

4. While chicken is baking, melt butter in skillet and add onions. Saute for 20 minutes or until caramelized.

5. While chicken and onions are working, heat oil in skillet or comal (flat pan with raised edges) until hot. Test it but adding a piece of a tortilla, if it sizzles, you are ready to go.

6. Place tortillas in oil and fry until they puff up but are not crispy, make sure to flip them. Drain off excess oil on paper towels.

7. Once chicken is ready, remove from oven and dice into small pieces. Add them to the onion and about 1/2 cup of the green sauce. Simmer for about five minutes.

8. Set up your assembly area. Remove cheese from package and set chicken skillet on the counter.

9. Grease two 13x9 pans and start rolling the enchiladas. Inside the enchiladas go some cheese and some chicken/onion mix. Make sure and not over do it on the cheese so you can have some for the top.

10. Once all the enchiladas are in the pans, pour the rest of the sauce over them and sprinkle remaining cheese.

11. Place pans in the oven for about 20 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and thick.

12. Remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes.

You are more than welcome to make your own green sauce, but as you can see these are pretty labor intensive so the canned version makes it just a bit easier.

Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!

Coconut Shrimp with Apricot-Ginger Dipping Sauce

I LOVE coconut shrimp. I really do... When JL and I go out to dinner I usually scan to see if it is available and then see that the price is ridiculous and opt for something less expensive. The real problem is that I know I can make it for a lot less so I think it is ridiculous to spend four times the amount. The recipe I make tastes a lot like the kind from the Yard House but I use a beer batter and they use panko.

I apologize for the quality of the pictures... My Nikon battery charger is MIA so for now I only have my phone camera.










Coconut Shrimp with Apricot-Ginger Dipping Sauce

Adapted from FoodNetwork

Ingredients

Apricot-Ginger Dipping Sauce:
1/2 cup apricot jam
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (or 1 t ground ginger)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeds discarded, minced
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

Coconut Shrimp:
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup beer
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 egg
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (you can leave the tails on, I didn't)
3 to 5 cups vegetable or canola oil

Directions

Place all apricot dipping sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Reserve.

In a large bowl, combine flour, beer, lime juice, baking soda, salt, cayenne, and egg. Beat until it is smooth. Add a bit more flour or beer, if necessary, so that the batter has the consistency of pancake batter.

Pat shrimp dry so the batter will stick.

Pour oil into a small, tall pot until it is 3 inches deep. Heat oil until it reaches 350 degrees F, BE CAREFUL!

While oil is heating, dip each shrimp into the batter, then dredge into the coconut shreds so that the entire shrimp is covered in coconut shreds (minus the tail, if you are keeping it).

When oil is ready, submerge 4 shrimp at a time into oil. Fry for approximately 1 minute, or until coconut is a golden brown, rotating once or twice. Remove and place on paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Skim any wayward coconut shreds from the oil. Adjust heat so that it is 350 degrees F again and continue with next batch.

Serve with apricot dipping sauce.

Live, Laugh, Love, & Enjoy!

Refried Beans

Ok, so I don't have a picture for this one but consider it a bonus! I am writing this in lieu of my cousin Sarah's comment on Beans Beans... regarding the everlasting question, do refried beans have lard in them??? Honestly it really depends on who you talk to!

The Rosarita beans you find in the grocery store do not, they are more a mashed beans than refried beans. I love them, grew up eating them and I make a delicious layer dip with them, but you will find they are not what you can get from a restaurant...

So that leads to the question, then how can I make them???

First, cook your own beans. Not only will they taste better, they are less expensive and don't have the funny taste canned ones can have. Refer to my previous post about beans for how-to.

Second, find a fat you prefer to use. My suggestions would include, lard* (yes lard), corn oil, canola oil, and light olive oil. I make my beans with canola or corn oil but it really is up to your taste preference and the type of bean you are using... If you are going with a pinto, I would suggest either lard or canola, black beans can use light olive oil or canola nicely and white beans, just about anything!

Third, over a medium heat, heat up about 1 tablespoon to 3 tablespoons (depending on amount of beans, I tend to use very little and add more if I need to) in a skillet.

Fourth, while fat is heating up, drain beans but reserve the liquid, you will use it in a bit...

Fifth, add beans to skillet, be careful, they may pop at you!

Sixth, stir beans in the fat and let them get "dried out" and tender.

Seventh, once tender, start to mash. They should be tender enough that you can do this with a spoon or what ever you are using to mix them...

Eighth, once all mashed slowly add some of the liquid you reserved to the mash and combine. Continue to add until they are a bit runny, then slowly let the liquid evaporate by simmering until you are happy with the consistency.

So to answer your question Sarah, to make the beans you will find in a restaurant, use pinto beans with lard. But to make more traditional beans from Mexico, use a small amount of light oil and enjoy the flavors of the beans, not the lard!

*Be cautious when using bacon fat/lard. It tends to be salty and if you have already salted your beans then it might make for a bad idea...

Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!

Goals

As you may or may not know, this blog was intended to be a foodie blog but I feel I have been slacking a little on this and for that I am sorry. So my goal is to post at least two recipes, with pictures, a week. I know this seems crazy but I think I can do it!

So what to post for today? Well, tonight I am making chicken enchiladas so maybe something related to that? I guess we'll see :)

Live, Laugh, Love!