Crockpot Copycat Chipotle Barbacoa

I have to make a confession. I never really got into eating at Chipotle until about a year ago. Fast Mexican food just never appealed to me. Until one day, on a trip home from Vegas, hubby and I decided to make a pit stop at a Burger King in Barstow to pick up some food for our daughter . I know, I know. Being a foodie that I am, what in the world and am I doing feeding my child junk food??? Hey, it was quick and my daughter was hungry. Every now and then, we make an exception. Anyway,  Burger King happened to share the same parking lot with Chipotle. I didn't really want to eat Burger King, so I decided to give Chipotle a shot. The line was almost out the door, so I figured that was a good sign. Or else, they thought they same as I did in that they didn't want Burger King either. So after waiting in line, I decided to order a burrito with shredded beef (aka Barbacoa) and all the fix ins. Man, that burrito was huge. But after that first bite, I was hooked. I know that there was no way that burrito was healthy, but boy was it good. Even hubby was hooked.

Fast forward to a few months ago. Skimming through Pinterest, I came across a few recipes for Chipotle's Barbacoa and thought, hmmmm. Now there's an idea. So I decided to give
this recipe from The Slow Roasted Italian a try. What I loved about this recipe was that it was a slow cooker recipe. It looked pretty easy and it really was. The flavor was spot on with the barbacoa I get at Chipotle. I served it with my recipe for green cilantro rice which tasted exactly like Chipotle's rice. I added a homemade mixture of tomatoes, cilantro and onions as my salsa, topped it with some sour cream and we had an instant Chipotle Burrito. This recipe made a huge batch of shredded beef, so I was able to freeze a few servings to eat on a later day. Can't wait to get into it again.

3-4 lb chuck roast, fat trimmed
2 tsp. salt, divided
2 Tbsp. oil
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
6 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. ground clove
2-4 chipotle peppers (from a can, packed in adobo sauce depending on how spicy you like it)
1/2-1 Tbsp. adobo sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1) Cut roast into large chunks. Sprinkle all sides with about 1/2 teaspoon of salt, reserving the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Set aside.

2) In a blender or food processor, combine vinegar, garlic, black pepper, ground clove, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, broth and lime juice. Blend until smooth. Set aside.

3) Heat a heavy bottom pan over medium-high heat. Add oil and sear beef on all sides. Place beef in slow cooker. Pour sauce over beef and tuck in bay leaves into mixture. Cook for 5-6 hours on high, or 8 hours on low.

4) At the final hour of cooking, shred the beef using 2 forks to pull it apart. Season with salt to taste and stir sauce completely. Cook for another 1 hour. Serve as a burrito, taco, or salad with rice, pico de gallo (salsa), sour cream, guacamole, beans, etc.

Copycat Coco Puffs

If you don't know, you better ask somebody.

A few years ago, I posted about our first visit to the Liliha Bakery in Hawaii and our first time having their famous Coco Puffs. I had heard about them from an episode of Hawaii Five-0 and decided that we had to visit the bakery when we went back to Hawaii. From then on, we always make it a point to visit Liliha Bakery for their puffs every time we're on the island. Well, its been a couple of years since we've been back and I hella miss my coco puffs. What to do, what to do....

Recently, hubby's cousin in Hawaii posted a picture of some coco puffs she had made on Facebook. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking to myself that one day I would try making them. Well folks, THE TIME IS NOW. So I did a search on Pinterest and found this recipe from Just Jenn Recipes. Coco puffs are these little pillows of pastry (Choux pastry) filled with chocolate pudding and topped with a sweet Chantilly frosting. I decided to modify my vanilla pudding recipe and came up with my own Chocolate Pudding to fill the pastry with. The outcome was almost as good as coco puffs. It was a huge hit with hubby. In fact, he's asking me to make more! These, by no means, will ever replace the original. But its pretty damn close.

If you don't know about these yummy pastry treats, you better ask somebody how good they taste. Or better yet, go to Hawaii and visit them yourself. Or even better is to try making them yourself like I did.

prepared chocolate pudding (homemade or boxed instant pudding mix)

Choux  pastry
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
pinch of salt
1 cup all purpose flour
4 eggs

1) In a medium pot over high heat, bring water, milk, butter and salt to a boil.

2) Carefully add flour in the pot and stir. Continue stirring until the dough begins to pull away from the sides. Cook for another minute or so to cook the flour out. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Line 2 cookie sheets with silpat or wax paper.

3) Place dough in a bowl of an electric mixer. On low speed, add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Do not over beat.

4) Using a small cookie scoop, scoop dough onto prepared cookie sheet, spacing them enough to fit 12 puffs in a tray. Bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, lower the heat to 350 deg F and allow to bake for another 10  minutes. Turn the heat off and keep the puffs in the oven for another 10 minutes for them to dry out. Remove from the oven and cool completely in a wire rack.

5) Once cooled, poke a small hole on top of the puff and fill them with prepared pudding, using a piping bag or a sandwich bag.

Chantilly frosting 
1 (12 oz can) evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 egg yolks
4 Tbsp. cornstarch
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
pinch of salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract

1)  In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients over medium low heat. Whisk constantly until mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Refrigerate until mixture turns into piping consistency for a few hours, or place in freezer to cool faster.

2) Pipe or spoon frosting on top of prepared puffs. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Red Velvet Cheesecake

I've had this recipe pinned on Pinterest from Recipe Girl for a while to make for today. I absolutely love anything that has to do with Red Velvet. And what's more festive than having a red dessert for Christmas? And a cheesecake at that. If you've ever eaten at the Cheesecake Factory and you love red velvet like I do, then I'm sure you know all about their Red Velvet Cheesecake. And so for this special day, I decided to make it for our families as one of our desserts.

This desert requires quite a few steps, and possibly 2 days to make because you have to freeze the cheesecake first, and do a crumb coat for the frosting. Then I used my own tried and true recipe for recipe for the red velvet cake part. Labor intensive, but the result was amazing. I first made this a few weeks ago to test out the recipe. Obviously, hubby and I couldn't finish the whole cake, so I sent half of the cake with hubby to work and it seemed to have gone over well with them. This is definitely going to be a repeat recipe for a special occasion like today.

Merry Christmas everyone. Have a blessed day full of love with family and loved ones.

Cheesecake
2 (8 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 325 deg F. Place a roasting pan on the lower third rack of the oven. Heat 4-6 cups of water to a boil in the microwave or a kettle on the stove. Grease a 9-inch spring form pan and place parchment paper at the bottom of the pan. Wrap the outside of the pan with a double layer of foil to prevent water from entering the pan. Set aside.

2) In a bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream the cream cheese until smooth. Mix in sugar and salt, and continue blending for about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Mix in sour cream, heavy cream and vanilla and blend well until smooth.

3) Pour batter into prepared pan and place in the roasting pan inside the oven. Carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan enough so that it reaches about an inch on the side of the cheesecake pan. Bake for 45 minutes until the cheesecake is set and no longer jiggly.

4) Cool cheesecake on a cooling rack for at least an hour. Once cooled, place cheesecake in freezer until completely frozen, or overnight.

Red Velvet Cake
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp. (1 oz bottle) red food coloring
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. white distilled vinegar

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease and flour 2 9-inch  round pans and set aside.

2) Sift together cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Beat eggs, oil, buttermilk, red food color, vanilla extract and vinegar in a large bowl of an electric mixer until well combined.

3) Slowly add dry mixture into wet mixture and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, until toothpick test comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then completely cool on a cooling rack.

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese frosting 
1 1/2 cups butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 tsp. vanilla extract

pinch of salt

4-6 cups powdered sugar

2-4 Tbsp. milk, depending on consistency

1) Cream the cream cheese with an electric mixer for about 1 minute. Add butter and beat for 1-2 minutes, until well incorporated.

2) Add brown sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and beat until well incorporated.

3) Slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar and beat well. Continue adding powdered sugar and alternating with the milk until desired consistency.

To assemble the Cheesecake

1) Unmold the frozen cheesecake from the spring form pan. Place in between the two layers of cake. Apply a thin layer of frosting to act as a crumb coat on the layered cake. Place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes for the frosting to set.

2) Complete frosting the cake with a thicker layer of frosting and decorate as needed. You can decorate with white chocolate shavings. Keep cake refrigerated until serving.

Copy Cat Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli

I cannot believe that it has taken me 2 months to post another entry on this blog. For those who follow me, I am deeply sorry that I have been missing for so long. I know a few of my co-workers have been wondering what happened to my posts. If you remember a couple of months ago, I was complaining about a serious bout of morning sickness that has prevented me from stepping foot in the kitchen. Nowadays, I just haven't had the energy to spend too much time in the kitchen. So most of our meals are take-outs or leftovers from the parentals. Being almost 7 months pregnant can do that to you. When I do cook, I cook some of my go-to Quick and Easy meals. Baking is still something I enjoy doing. So you'll often see me in the kitchen because I'm baking cookies or something. Not experimenting a new recipe.

However, because I'm nearing the end of my pregnancy, I thought about doing some make-ahead meals that I can freeze, which will feed us later once the baby arrives. Learning from my first pregnancy 5 years ago, I didn't have much time to cook our meals with a newborn around. So I thought  how much help it would be for me to have frozen meals that we can just pop in the microwave or oven.

I found a lot of make-ahead meal ideas online and from blogs I frequent. But it was a copy cat recipe from Food.com for Olive Garden's Pasta e Fagioli that caught my eye. A crock pot recipe at that. Before I discovered my love for Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, I used to love starting my meal off with their Pasta e Fagioli. This recipe looked so easy and makes a huge batch. So I thought it was perfect to set some aside and freeze. You can also cut this recipe in half if you don't intend to freeze the leftovers. Unless you have an army of people to feed. My daughter and I came home to the house smelling so good. My daughter said "mmmm...it smells like spaghetti!" This is a delicious and hearty soup that is a meal in itself. I served this with some good french bread to sop up some of the soup. So good.....

2 lbs. ground beef or turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
5 tsp. chopped fresh parsley
2 (28 oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (16 oz) can red kidney beans, drained
1 (16 oz) can white kidney beans, drained
3 (10 oz) cans beef broth
3 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. hot sauce (optional)
1 (20 oz) jar of your favorite spaghetti or marinara sauce
salt to taste
8 ounces small pasta (like small macaroni or small shells), cooked
shredded or grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

1) Brown meat in a skillet. Drain.

2) Place cooked meat and all the ingredients, except the pasta, in the crock pot. Season with salt to taste. Cook on low for 7-8 minutes, or on high for 4-6 hours.

3) Place cooked pasta in serving bowls. Top with desired amount of soup and garnish with Parmesan cheese.

*If you plan to freeze the soup, place the soup in a freezable container and freeze. Add the cooked pasta after you have re-heated the soup.

Copycat Disney French Toast

I've been on a hiatus the past week or so because I went back on my Fat Flush Diet, which lasted a week. So there obviously hasn't been any cooking or baking. If you followed me in 2010, the Fat Flush Diet consist of no salt, no sugar, no flavor! But it cleanses your body of toxins. This time around, however, it was easier to plan for our meals. All I did was grill/pan sear a lot of fish. Because fish tended to have natural flavoring in it. That diet was so hard, but so worth it. I lost about 5 pounds, where 2-3 pounds were probably water retention. So I'm sure I'll get that back once I get my body back to consuming the salt. So, I probably lost a solid 2-3 pounds. A good weight to kick start a diet. I had been calorie counting for about a month or so and I just couldn't shed any weight. So this will help me continue with the calorie counting.

To celebrate the newer me, I wanted to finally make a good breakfast for us today. During this week-long diet, all I did was look for new recipes. I saved up so many, so I'm going to be consistently making new recipes in the next month or so. One of those is a copycat recipe for
Disney's French Toast that I found on food. com. I first had this yummy breakfast a few years ago when my brother-in-law and his family invited us to stay with them during a trip to Disneyland. They brought us along for breakfast at one of their character breakfast. I had some of their french toast and its all I look for when we have breakfast at Disneyland. I'm so glad to have found this recipe because it was delicious. You don't even need to use any syrup because its already sweetened with cinnamon sugar. Hubby and my daughter were thoroughly pleased with this supped up classic breakfast. I modified the recipe and used regular sandwich bread and cut the recipe in half. But you can use Texas loaf as the recipe calls for if you would like larger french toast.

8 slices white or wheat bread
1 egg
1 1/4 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
oil for frying

Cinnamon Sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
6 Tbsp. sugar

1) In a large bowl, whisk all the batter ingredients together, except the bread, until thoroughly combined and smooth.

2) In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.

3) Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a skillet or griddle. Dip bread in batter and fry on both sides until golden brown.

4) Pat french toast on a paper towel to remove excess oil. Coat in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and serve warm.

Copycat Chick Fil A Spicy Chicken Sandwich

There's been a lot of hype lately with Chick Fil-A. And they haven't been positive. I'm not gonna get into the details of it, nor am I going to discuss my views on it. It is what it is and people can form their own opinion on it, but not me. I'm here to discuss food.

Hubby and I recently decided to try out Chick Fil-A because they've been appearing in random places here in Southern California. I decided to try out their Spicy Chicken Sandwich. It had just the right amount of spice without burning the roof of my mouth. And it was quite yummy. I also loved the friendly vibe I got in this fast food joint. So I told hubby that this was a good fast food place we can frequent. But because of the recent media attention they've been getting, I didn't think it would be a good time to visit one. And because of the recent media attention, I've been seeing a lot of copycat recipes for their chicken sandwich.

This recipe appeared on Shine from Yahoo and I decided to give it a go. It was pretty simple to make and quite tasty. Very flavorful. A good alternative if you can't make it out to a Chick Fil-A.

2 boneless, skinless chicken
1/2 cup pickle juice
1 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup all purpose flour
2 Tbsp. confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 cup oil for frying
toasted hamburger buns
dill pickle slices

1) Place chicken between two plastic wrap and gently pound with a meat mallet (or any heavy kitchen utensil) to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut chicken into two even pieces and place in a bowl. Pour pickle juice and Tabasco sauce in bowl and stir until well incorporated. Marinade for 30 minutes to an hour.

2) In a small bowl, bet together egg and milk. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and all the spices.

3) Heat oil in a skillet to 345-350 deg F. Dip chicken in egg mixture and then coat with the flour mixture. Fry chicken for about 2-4 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through. Place on a paper towel to drain oil and serve on toasted bun with pickles.

Homemade Cracker Jack

I didn't eat much of the childhood favorite, Cracker Jacks. I don't know why, but I just wasn't in to the boxed popcorn stuff. Even the prize you get from the Cracker Jacks box didn't appeal to me. It took me a while to even start liking the popcorn you buy that came in those large tin containers. You know, the ones they normally sell during the holidays. To me, they were just plain stale. I like freshly made popcorn. Whether it be fresh buttered popcorn or freshly made caramel corn. They have to be fresh.

My daughter has been asking me to make some popcorn snacks recently and so I decided to give this recipe a try from the Brown Eyed Baker. I've never made caramel corn before. And it was quite easy and yummy.

10 cups freshly popped plain popcorn

1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/4 cup light corn syrup

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

2 Tbsp. water

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 cup lightly salted peanuts

1) Preheat oven to 250 deg F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2) Coat a large bowl with non-stick cooking spray and pour popcorn in the bowl.

3) In a small saucepan, whisk together brown sugar, corn syrup, melted butter, water and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Continue to simmer, stirring often, until mixture reaches 250 deg F, about 3-5 minutes.

4) Remove caramel from heat. Whisk in vanilla extract and baking soda. Immediately pour caramel onto popcorn. Add peanuts. Gently fold mixture using a rubber spatula until everything is coated with the caramel. Transfer mixture onto prepared baking sheet and spread out. Bake for 1 hour, stirring the mixture every 20 minutes.

5) Cool popcorn on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Gently break up the popcorn. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Sweetfire Chicken

I was searching for some new recipe ideas one day and I came across Christine's Kitchen Chronicles. She had a copycat recipe for Panda Express' New Sweetfire Chicken. I haven't had their Sweetfire Chicken, but I have had my fair share of Panda Express dishes that I'm not afraid to admit. You really can't blame me. When I'm tired, lazy and am looking for a nice warm meal but I don't want to slave over a stove, I turn to my local Panda Express to feed my hungry family. Don't get me wrong. Real, authentic Chinese food is what I prefer. But Panda Express is a good alternative to satisfy a craving for Chinese food.

I've been in a main dish funk lately. I haven't made a good meal since last memorial day weekend when I made Barbecue Turkey burgers. And even before that, I don't think I made a good meal. You'll always find dessert recipes every other day on this blog, but main dishes are becoming almost scarce. So I was actually relieved to find this recipe to help me get out of my funk. And what a great recipe it is. Very quick and easy. And yummy. Hubby was real pleased with this one.

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch chunks

1 cup all purpose flour

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

salt & pepper to taste

3/4 of a red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1/2 of a small onion, sliced

1 1/2 cups drained pineapple chunks

1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce

vegetable oil for frying

1) Pour enough oil to cover bottom of frying pan. Heat oil.

2) In a gallon ziplock bag, mix together flour, cornstarch, cayenne pepper, salt & pepper. Add chicken pieces and coat evenly. Once oil is heated, add chicken pieces. Discard leftover flour mixture. Cook chicken for 4-5 minutes, stirring several times. If pan gets dry, add a little more oil. Once chicken has browned and cooked, remove from heat and set aside.

3) Add bell pepper and onions to the frying pan and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes. Add sweet chili sauce and stir. Immediately add cooked chicken and pineapple chunks. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Serve over white rice.

Chicken Tequila Lime Fettucine

Its Valentine's day and I'm pretty much spending it with just my daughter. Hubby and I sort of celebrated Valentine's day last weekend and gave gifts to each other because we knew that he had to work and go to class this evening. But that doesn't mean I can't make a nice dinner waiting for him when he gets home.

I have come to love California Pizza Kitchen's Chicken Tequila Lime Fettuccine and order it often when we're there. I was craving some one day and decided to look up the recipe and found this one from CDKitchen.com that I wanted to try out for Valentine's Day. This dish was surprisingly easy to make. But I found it to be a bit bland so I modified the recipe a bit and added some salt and it came out delicious. Hope hubby likes it. And I hope everyone has a great Valentine's day.

1 lb. Spinach Fettuccine (or you can probably use plain fettuccine)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, plus 2 Tbsp. more for garnish

2 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicy)

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 Tbsp. tequila

2 Tbsp. fresh-squeezed lime juice

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 1/4 lb. chicken breast, diced 3/4 inch

1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 medium yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 medium green bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp. salt

1) Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions.

2) Cook 1/3 cup cilantro, garlic and red pepper flakes in 2 tablespoon butter over medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Add chicken broth, tequila and lime juice. Bring mixture to a boil and cook until reduced to a paste-like consistency. Set aside.

3) Pour soy sauce over diced chicken. Set aside for 5 minutes.

4) Cook onion and peppers with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the vegetables have wilted, add soy sauce and chicken mixture and toss.

5) Add reserved tequila lime mixture and cream. Season with salt. Bring to a boil. Continue to boil until chicken has cooked through and sauce has thickened, about 3 minutes. Toss-in drained pasta and remaining cilantro. Serve hot.

**Note: you can substitute the cream with half & half to make the dish lower in fat, but keep in mind that the sauce will be thin.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Its the last weekend before Christmas and its been raining for the past 3 days. We had planned a trip to Disneyland and the rain has, for lack of a better word, dampened our plans. So we stayed local and have kept busy by attending one of my nephew's birthday party and did our last-minute Christmas shopping. I'm pooped, its rainy and cold, and I wanted to have something to warm me up inside.

Last week, our office had a holiday luncheon at BJ's Brewery. I had a half-sandwich and a bowl of Broccoli Cheddar soup. Yummy. I have large bags of broccoli and shredded cheese that I bought from Costco that I could use, so I searched for a good recipe for Broccoli Cheddar soup and found this recipe from CD Kitchen. I've never tried anything from Panera Bread, but this is a copycat recipe of their Broccoli Cheese soup. This was a yummy comfort food that I'll definitely be making again. Its a great way to have your vegetables for the day.

1 Tbsp. butter

1/2 of a medium onion, chopped

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 all purpose flour

2 cups half-and-half (I used 1 cup milk and 1 cup cream)

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 lb. fresh broccoli

1 cup julienned carrots

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

1) Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a stockpot. Saute chopped onions for about 2 minutes. Set aside.

2) In the same pot, add melted butter. Whisk in flour to make a roux and cook for about 3 minutes, whisking constantly. Slowly add half-and-half. Add chicken broth. Simmer on medium-low for 20 minutes, whisking constantly.

3) Add onions, broccoli and carrots. Simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper.

4) Place mixture in a food processor or blender and puree (or you can use an immersion blender). Return mixture to the pot to heat. Add cheese and continue to cook on low heat until cheese has melted. Add nutmeg. Remove from heat and serve topped with more shredded cheese or croutons.

Pasta Bravo

I was looking online for new recipes and came across this one from The Piggly Wiggly that looked simple and delicious. We don't have a Bravo restaurant here in the West Coast, but they apparently have a dish there called the Pasta Bravo. This recipe only required 6 ingredients and 2 steps. However, if you make the chicken it calls for from scratch, it'll take more than 6 ingredients. I just pounded some chicken flat, seasoned with salt and pepper, then drenched it in flour and fried them. Or you can use ready-made chicken nuggets like she did in her recipe.

I had saved this recipe for a while now, because I haven't found the time to pick up some Alfredo Sauce from the Olive Garden. We had lunch there last week and I finally got to pick some up. The recipe emphasizes to use either homemade Alfredo sauce or buy some from Olive Garden. So that's just what I did. Then I picked up some Tomato & Basil Marinara and a jar of Roasted Red Pepper from Trader Joe's. Finally, I made this dish and it was as easy as 1-2-3. Make this and you'll definitely impress.

8 oz penne pasta (cooked according to package directions)
cooked chicken
1 Tbsp. butter
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 pint (2 cups) Alfredo Sauce
1 pint (2 cups) Marinara Sauce
7 ounces roasted red peppers

1) Melt butter in a saucepan and saute mushrooms until cooked. Set aside.

2) In a blender, combine Alfredo sauce, marinara sauce and red peppers. Blend until smooth. Pour in another saucepan and bring to a low boil. Remove from heat.

3) Assemble by placing pasta on the plate, topped with chicken, then mushrooms. Pour sauce on top and add shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish.

Louisiana Chicken Pasta

Another pasta dish I love at the Cheesecake Factory is the Louisiana Chicken Pasta. Creamy, crunchy, and a bit spicy makes a perfect combination. So I was stoked to come across this recipe from a blog I encountered, The Piggly Wiggly. Its a copycat to the Cheesecake Factory recipe and tastes just as awesome. Making this dish required a few steps, but it was pretty easy to make. I had most of the ingredients on hand, so I was really excited to try out this recipe for dinner tonight. I got a thumbs up from hubby, daughter, and you can also add my 2 thumbs up as well.

Sauce

1 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 small yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

3/4 of a small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup chicken broth

4 Tbsp. fresh basil, thinly sliced

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

12 oz package pasta, cooked according to instructions

Chicken

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast

creole seasoning

1 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

4 Tbsp. all purpose flour

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup milk

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1) To prepare the sauce: Melt butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add bell peppers and onion and cook for about 4 minutes.

2) Add garlic and crushed red pepper and cook for about 3 minutes.

3) Add cream and chicken stock. Simmer sauce until it slightly thickens, about 5 minutes.

4) Add basil and Parmesan cheese. Stir until thoroughly incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer until sauce is reduced and thickened (approximately the amount of time it takes to cook the chicken)

5) To prepare the chicken: Season chicken with creole seasoning. Pound the chicken until thin.

6) Combine breadcrumbs, flour and Parmesan cheese in a deep dish. Place milk in another deep dish.

7) Dip flattened chicken in bread crumbs, then in the milk, and back in the breadcrumbs.

8) Heat oil in a frying pan to medium-high and cook chicken on each side until golden brown. Drain chicken on a paper towel and keep warm.

9) Add cream sauce to the pasta and toss to coat. Serve on a platter and place chicken on top of the pasta. Top with additional Parmesan cheese if desired.

Cilantro Pepita dressing (Mexican Caesar Salad dressing)

After making my Tequila Lime Chicken and adding it to a salad, we used a store-bought Thousand Island dressing, which was all we had in the fridge. It tasted okay. But I thought to myself that a creamy cilantro dressing would go great with this salad. So after searching online for a cilantro dressing, I found this awesome recipe on CDKitchen. It turns out, this was also the recipe for El Torito's Mexican Caesar Salad dressing, which I had when we last visited there with my office. SCORE! That visit to El Torito left me with a very lasting impression. From there, I was inspired to learn how to make my Chile Verde. Now I learned to make their salad dressing.

I had to go to 2 different stores to buy all the ingredients for this dressing. They don't normally sell Pepita (or shelled Pumpkin seeds) at the grocery store, so I went to a local Mediterranean market to buy some. Going to the Mediterranean market is always an adventure for me because I find a lot of unique ingredients not normally found at the regular grocery store.

Anyway, this dressing was delicious! Very flavorful. My next conquest from the El Torito menu will probably be their sweet corn cake. We'll see how that goes. Hubby loved this one and said it was restaurant quality. So this will definitely make it on my regular rotation.

2 medium Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded

1/3 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cup oil (olive or vegetable)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

5 Tbsp. Cotija cheese

2 small bunches of cilantro, stemmed

1 1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup water

1) In a blender or food processor, place all the ingredients except cilantro, mayonnaise and water. Blend for 10-15 seconds. Add cilantro a little at a time until blended smooth. Set aside.

2) In a stainless steel bowl, whisk together mayonnaise and water until smooth. Add the cilantro mixture into mayonnaise mixture and mix until well incorporated. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use. Dressing will keep for about 3 days. Serve with chopped romaine lettuce, tomatoes, corn, avocado, crushed tortilla chips and crumbled cotija cheese.

California Club Pizza

We took our boss out to lunch to California Pizza Kitchen for Boss' day last week. I normally order the Santa Fe Chicken Pizza or mushroom ravioli. I decided to be adventurous and try something different from the menu. So I tried their California Club Pizza and it was really good. It was so simple but had all kinds of different flavors. The saltiness of the bacon, the crunch and creaminess from the salad on top, and the butteriness from the avocado. So I decided to replicate it at home. Hubby took a look at his meal and his eyes bugged out. He was quite impressed.

1 tube of prepared pizza dough (like Pillsbury)

slices of fresh mozzarella cheese

1 cup cooked chicken, cubed

1/2 cup cooked bacon bits

1 large tomato, sliced thinly

shredded lettuce, dressed in a mayonnaise dressing (mayonnaise splashed with a little milk)

avocado slices

1) Preheat oven to 425 deg. F. Spread pizza dough on an ungreased cookie sheet. Layer slices of the mozzarella cheese on top of dough. Evenly spread cooked chicken over the cheese. Sprinkle bacon bits. Place tomato slices evenly on top. Bake for 15 minutes.

2) Cut pizza in slices. Place salad mixture on top of each slices and top with avocado.

Zuppa Toscana

I've been sick with a cold and cough for the past few days. So while at the grocery store a few days ago, buying some items to help me heal, I figured to buy ingredients to make all kinds of soups. That day was the worst of my illness, so I needed to buy something quick that I can make for lunch. Boxed Matzo Ball soup. Then I proceeded to the produce section and saw that there was a sale on potatoes - $.69 for a 5 lb. bag of russet potatoes. But what can I do with so much potatoes?!?! Mashed potatoes, chicken croquettes, and, oh yeah, my zuppa toscana!

This recipe is a similar version of the Zuppa Toscana you'd find at Olive Garden. I was able to figure out the recipe. And now, my family always requests me to make it in the winter time, especially around Christmas or New Year's eve. I've been up to cooking for a day or two now, so I thought to make Zuppa Toscana to help me heal even quicker.

4 slices of bacon (regular or turkey bacon)
1 Tbsp. oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
2 pieces italian sausage (however spicy you prefer. you can also use italian turkey sausage)
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into small pieces
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
2-3 cups kale leaves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

1) In a stock pot, cook bacon until crisp. Set aside bacon. Add oil. Stir in onions and garlic and cook for a few seconds. In the meantime, squeeze the meat out of the casing of the italian sausage. Add the meat into pan, making sure to break up the meat into small pieces. Stir until meat has cooked through.

2) Add chicken broth and potatoes to the pan. Then add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on medium-low for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes have almost cooked through. Add heavy cream and bring back to a boil. Crumble the bacon into the soup. Add kale leaves and cook for another 2-3 minutes and serve.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

This is one my family's favorite recipes. Its a spin-off to PF Chang's Chicken Lettuce wraps. This recipe calls for a lot of chopping/mincing/dicing, so I strongly encourage you to use a food processor.

8 dried Shiitake mushrooms (soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes and drained then minced)

1 tsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. dry sherry

2 tsp. water

1 tsp. soy sauce

salt and pepper

1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken (minced, or you can use ground chicken)

5 Tbsp. oil

1 tsp. fresh ginger (minced)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

2 green onions (chopped)

8 oz can bamboo shoots (minced)

8 oz can water chestnuts (minced)

iceberg lettuce leaves

Cooking sauce

1 Tbsp. hoisin sauce

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. dry sherry

2 Tbsp. oyster sauce

2 Tbsp. water

1 tsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. cornstarch

1) Combine cornstarch, sherry, water, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Add chicken and coat thoroughly with the mixture. Stir in 1 tsp. oil and let sit for 15 minutes.

2) In the meantime, combine all ingredients for the cooking sauce and set aside.

3) Heat 3 Tbsp. of oil. Add the chicken mixture and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes (or until chicken is no longer pink). *Make sure to separate the chicken as they will stick together in large clumps. Add ginger and garlic. Stir fry for another minute.

4) Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and green onions. Stir fry for another 2 minutes. Add the cooking sauce mixture and cook until thickened and hot. Serve with Iceberg lettuce leaves.