Green Tea Ice Cream

One of the best gifts I got this past Christmas was my Kitchenaid Ice Cream Maker attachment from my brother and sister-in-law. And I absolutely LOVE it. I've only been using it for about month, but I've made quite a few batches of ice cream since then. So much that my freezer looked like an ice cream shop. Which really is a good problem to have. lol. This attachment is so much easier than my old ice cream maker that I don't have to fuss over using rock salt and making sure I have enough ice in the bucket. And the cleanup is so much easier.

I love making ice cream from scratch. Its easy to make (especially now that I have a better ice cream maker), it always tastes so fresh and creamy, and you always know what is in your ice cream. You know that its not loaded with any kind of preservatives.

One of the first few ice cream recipes I made with my new gadget was this Green Tea Ice Cream from Just one Cookbook. Simple ingredients and simple to make.  If you have trouble finding Matcha Green Tea Latte, I found mine from Trader Joe's (I love Trader Joe's!). If you happen to find the actual Matcha Green Tea powder, by all means, use it. Just add a little more sugar to the mixture. This tastes just like the green tea ice cream you get at Japanese Restaurants. So yummy! Thanks bro & sis for my new toy! I'll be sure to give you some of the ice cream ;-)

2 cups half & half
3 Tbsp. Matcha Green Tea Latte of Matcha Green Tea powder
1/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if using Matcha Green Tea powder)
pinch of salt

1) Freeze ice cream bowl for 24 hours.

2) In a medium saucepan, whisk together half & half, sugar and salt over medium heat. Add green tea latte (or green tea powder). Whisk often, and continue heating until it begins to foam and very hot to touch (do not boil).

3) Remove from heat, pour mixture into a large bowl. Place bowl in an ice bath to cool. Once cool, cover bowl with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight.

4) When ready, pour chilled mixture into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions, about 20-30 minutes. Pour soft ice cream into an air tight container and place in a freezer for 8 hours before serving.

Pao de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Bread)

One of my favorite places to eat is at a Churrascaria, which is an all-you-care-to-eat Brazilian BBQ. They serve the bbq with a buffet of different kinds of sides. My kids are not real big meat eaters, so they end up only eating whatever rice, potato, or bread dishes found on the buffet line. But their absolute favorite thing to eat at a churrascaria is their Pao de Queijo, Brazilian Cheese bread. 

I've been seeing quite a few recipes for Pao de Queijo all over Pinterest, like this one from Rasa Malaysia. The recipe is pretty easy and doesn't require much cleanup. However, the tricky part of the recipe is finding tapioca flour. You can find them in most Asian markets. Usually, when I find them, I buy quite a few bags of them because I like to make big batches for my kids to snack on. It also saves me a trip from constantly going to specialty Asian markets just to purchase tapioca flour. These are best eaten hot, but you can easily store them at room temperature in a large freezer bag or an air-tight container for 3-5 days. Then warm them up for  few seconds in the microwave. 

1 egg at room tempature

1/3 cup olive oil

2/3 cup milk

1 1/2 cups tapioca flour

1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice, packed

1 heaping tsp. salt

1) Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Grease mini-muffin tins generously.

2) Place all ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the blender and continue pulsing. Batter will make about 2 cups.

3) Pour batter into muffin pans, about 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 minutes, until puffy and lightly golden. Cool in the pan for about 2-3 minutes, and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Serve warm. Store remaining in a freezer bag or an air tight container for up to 5 days, and reheat when ready.

Bacon Ranch Pinwheels

We're getting a new employee at the office tomorrow, and to welcome him, the boss wanted to have some refreshments set up for his welcome. I was more than happy to bring something in. But what? For the 10 months I've been in this new office of mine, I've come to learn that my co-workers are not huge fans of sweets. Bummer. Its my favorite thing to make. So I guess I just have to be more creative with the goodies I bring in.

One of the supervisors is bringing donuts. I think there will probably be enough sweets there as it is, so I decided to bring something savory. I remember eating this yummy appetizer my sister-in-law made one New Year's day celebration and thought it would be a perfect thing to bring at the office. A quick text to her lead me to a search on Pinterest and found this recipe for  Chicken Bacon Ranch Pinwheels from In the Kitchen where I Belong. I wanted to keep it simple, so I omitted the chicken, but will definitely add it in the future. I think they'll like these at the office. Thanks for the idea, Deby!

2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
ranch dressing
1/4 cup diced onions
10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
shredded cheese

1) Preheat oven to 375 deg F. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets and set aside.

2) Unroll each tube of crescent rolls. Pinch the creases together to seal and make a rectangular dough. Spread a few tablespoons of ranch dressing on each dough. Top with with equal amounts of diced onions, then bacon, and shredded cheese.

3) Roll the dough (from the long side) tightly and cut equal amounts of slices (I was able to get about 12 slices per dough). Place pinwheels on prepared cookie sheets and bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about a minute. Serve warm.

S'mores Pudding Pops

Guess what I found out today was......its S'mores day! Happy S'mores day everyone! I guess they make an occasion out of everything. But what a delicious way to celebrate an occasion. Funny thing is, without knowing what today is, I somehow chose today to experiment on this recipe. Well, its not really a recipe. I just threw stuff together to make a frozen treat out of my older daughter's favorite dessert - S'mores. And it came out yummy. It was such a huge hit with my girls, that I'm almost out of it. Luckily, I managed to wrestle some away from them to take a quick picture for this blog.

prepared boxed or chocolate pudding
crushed graham crackers
mini marshmallows

1) Using popsicle molds or small paper cups, place a small amount of graham cracker crumbs at the bottom of your mold. Place a few marshmallows on top of the graham crackers. Pour or spoon a small amount of pudding on top of the marshmallows. Gently tap the mold to ensure the pudding coats the marshmallows. Doing so will ensure the popsicle will freeze in one piece. Repeat layering.

2) Top the chocolate pudding with some more graham crackers. Place the popsicle stick and freeze overnight.

Spicy Thai Basil Chicken (or Turkey)

My friend/supervisor took a couple of us out to lunch a few weeks ago to a local Thai restaurant. I couldn't really decided what to order. I normally order my staples: Pad Thai, or fried rice, or Pad See Ewe, or Rad Na, or Satay or Thai BBQ. However, I figured since she was treating, I decided to go out of my comfort zone and order something different. My co-workers frequented this particular restaurant and they suggested I try their lunch special Spicy Thai Basil Chicken. It seemed everyone had the same idea of what to order because the waiter took down 3 lunch special orders of Spicy Thai Basil Chicken in different levels of spiciness. I ordered mine in a medium heat and I totally devoured my plate. I was able to save a few bites to take back to the office to eat for lunch the next day. But boy was it so flavorful. I vowed to my co workers that I was going to find them a good copycat recipe. So off I went that evening in search of the perfect Spicy Thai Basil Chicken and this is what I found from SippitySup via Pinterest.

Keep in mind that there are different species of basil, and this recipe is specific to Thai Basil, which can be found in many Asian markets or your local Farmer's Market. However, if you can't find Thai basil, you can always use regular basil and combine it with some mint leaves, which the original recipe suggests. Whatever you have on hand, make this now. You won't regret it.

3 Tbsp. oil for frying
15 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 small onion, sliced
1 lb. ground chicken or turkey (or you can chop up 1 lb. chicken into bite size pieces)
4 Thai chilies, sliced thin (more if you like it spicy)
juice of 1 lime
3 tsp. black sweet soy sauce (or 3 tsp regular soy sauce + 1 Tbsp. brown sugar)
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
2 cups fresh Thai basil

1) Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add onions and garlic and stir frequently to prevent from burning.

2) Add chicken (or turkey) and stir fry for about 2 minutes until it just begins to change color. Stir in chilies, lime juice and soy sauce. Stir fry for another minute. Season with the fish sauce. Continue to stir fry until the meat has cooked through.

3) Stir in the basil and continue to stir fry for another minute until the basil is wilted. Place on a serving platter and garnish with additional slices of chilies, fish sauce to taste, and lime wedges. Serve with steamed white rice.

Homemade Fruit Rollups

My 13 month old daughter has been having constipation problems lately. I know, TMI for this food blog, right? Well, we've been trying everything to help ease her pain. Lots of water, lots of prune juice, and lots of fruit. I've bought all kinds of fruits that are in season to help kick up her fiber intake. With those fruits, I've tried making different combinations of smoothies and purees. But then I came across this recipe for a 2-ingredient homemade Fruit Roll-up from Raining Hot Coupons via Pinterest that I thought would be another great way to get her to eat more of the fruits. Its literally only 2 ingredients. If your fruits are sweet enough and you omit the sugar, its only 1 ingredient. You can use any fruits and any type of combinations of fruits you have on hand. I just happen to have a lot of strawberries to use up. And it really is like a fruit roll-up. My older daughter enjoyed it a little more than my 13 month old. I guess its a textural thing. Besides, she doesn't have that many teeth to chew with anyway.

3 cups of fruit
sugar (optional or to taste)

1) Pre heat oven to 170 deg F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap, making sure you have enough overhang.

2) Puree the fruit and sugar (if using) until you reach a smooth consistency.

3) Pour on a prepared cookie sheet about 1/8" thick. Bake for 6-8 hours until the center is no longer tacky.

4) Lift plastic wrap out of the cookie sheet and allow to cool. Once cooled, flip over on top of parchment paper or wax paper. Peel off plastic wrap. Cut into strips and roll. Store in a ziploc bag or an airtight container for about a week.

Arroz a la Cubana

I'm not quite sure if this is an authentic Cuban dish, but I came across this recipe from Skip to Malou when I found her website through Pinterest. It looked really simple and yummy. So when I made it, I was pleasantly surprised. It really was so simple, flavorful, and super yummy. Hubby really enjoyed it. This recipe is definitely going to frequent our household.

2 tbsp. oil
1 lb. ground meat (beef, turkey, chicken)
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
3/4 cup frozen green peas & carrots
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
fried plantains
fried egg

1) Heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in ground meat. Add bay leaf. Cook until juices is almost completely dry.

2) Add tomato sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes. Season with oyster sauce and soy sauce. Stir in green peas, carrots, bell peppers and raisins (if using). Continue to simmer for another 2 minutes.

3) Serve over steamed rice, topped with fried egg and plantains.

Carmelitas

This recipe for Carmelitas from Lulu the Baker has made its rounds on Pinterest several times and so I figured I should give it a try. It looked easy enough and I had some caramels left over from when I made Samoa brownies. I was able to make this during another one of my baby girl's naps because it was pretty easy to make. And they came out ooey-goey delicious and so easy to make. I'll definitely be making these again.

9.5 ounces (about 32 squares) caramel
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup flour
1 cup oats
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup chocolate chips

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

2) In a small microwave safe bowl, place caramel and cream and microwave for 1 minute. Stir and return to microwave in 30 second increments until the mixture is smooth. Set aside.

1) In a large bowl, stir together melted butter, sugar, flour, oats and baking soda until well combined. Pat half of the mixture on the bottom of an 8x8 pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

2) Remove pan from oven and top with chocolate chips. Pour caramel over chocolate chips. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over chocolate chips. Bake for another 15-20 minutes until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Boston Cream Icebox Cake

Have you ever heard of an Icebox Cake or Refrigerator Cake or No-Bake Cake? They're different names, but are all the same. I've heard of them, but I can't say I've ever had them. One of my nieces had mentioned that she wanted to make a Refrigerator Cake one day and I finally asked her what it was. She described it as crackers layered with a filling or some sort of custard and then refrigerated overnight for the crackers to soak up the custard. I decided to pass it up because I'm not a big fan of soggy crackers. Its textural thing. But then I've been seeing different versions of them all over Pinterest and it piqued my attention. So I decided to give this recipe a shot for a No-Bake Boston Cream Pie Strata from The Kitchn.

I used my Vanilla Pudding as the filling for this Icebox Cake. This dessert came out quite good, to my surprise. And it was so easy to make. The graham crackers turned into to this moist cake. Who would've thought that I would end up loving soggy crackers??? I may try the other versions of no bake desserts. Stay tuned.....

2 sleeves of Graham Crackers
2 cups prepared vanilla pudding
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. milk
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1) Line the bottom of an 8x8 inch pan with graham crackers, breaking them in half if necessary to fit the pan. Pour 1 cup of prepared vanilla pudding on top of the graham crackers. Place another layer of graham crackers and pour the remaining vanilla pudding. Place a final layer of graham crackers on top and set aside.

2) In a small saucepan, melt butter with the cocoa powder over medium-low heat and bring to a light simmer, whisking occasionally for about 1 minute. Whisk in milk and continue cooking for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in confectioner's sugar until smooth. Add vanilla extract. While mixture is still warm, pour on top of graham crackers and smooth with a spatula or hot knife. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to overnight.

Creamy Jambalaya Pasta

This is another recipe I found on Pinterest. It seems as though Pinterest has taken up most of my free time. Whenever I have down time with the baby, I always pick up my handy-dandy iPhone and look at Pinterest to see what other new and interesting recipes I can find. And this recipe was just that.

I love Jambalaya and this recipe from Plain Chicken piqued my attention. I thought it resembled the Jambalaya pasta I sometimes order at restaurants. So I decided to give it a try. Its a really quick and easy recipe and it came out quite good. I lessened the salt a bit from the original recipe, because I thought it was a little too salty for my taste. I also decided to add chicken and shrimp to have a variety of textures in the dish. Its a little less milder than what they serve at the restaurants, but it was, all the same, delicious. Definitely a repeat dish I'll be making whenever I'm in a pinch to cook dinner.

1/2 lb. Farfalle pasta (or any other type of pasta)
1/4 lb. smoked sausage, sliced
1/2 cup cubed chicken breast
1/4 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning
1 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup white wine
4 Tbsp. tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp. chopped parsley
grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

1) Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and set aside.

2) In a large skillet, cook chicken breast on medium heat with a little oil until no longer pink. Add sausage and cook until browned. Stir in onion and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3) Stir in white wine, making sure to scrape up any browned bits at the bottom. Add shrimp and continue cooking until wine has reduced by half, about 2 minutes.

4) Add Cajun seasoning, paprika, salt, pepper and tomato sauce. Stir in cream and reduce heat to low. Continue cooking until cream is bubbly and has reduced by half, about 5 minutes.

5) Add drained pasta and toss with parsley. Serve on a platter, garnished with grated Parmesan.

Ham Sandwich Casserole

I recently discovered that King's Hawaiian had a website full of recipes using their beloved sweet rolls. As I searched through all the yummy recipes, I found this interesting casserole for Mini Baked Ham Sandwiches. It was so easy and so tasty. Its an alternative recipe for a plain 'ol ham and cheese sandwich. I'm definitely going back to website for more tasty recipes.

1 (12 pack) King's Hawaiian Original Rolls
1 lb. deli ham, shaved
1 lb. Swiss cheese, sliced
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 Tbsp. prepared mustard (preferably Dijon)
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp. dried minced onion (or onion powder)
poppy seed for garnish

1) In a small saucepan, melt butter. Mix in mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and onion. Set aside.

2) Slice entire pack of rolls horizontally in half, keeping all the rolls in tact. Place bottom half of rolls (cut side up) in a 9x13 inch pan. Arrange deli ham and cheese on top of rolls. Cover with the top half of the rolls.

3) Drizzle butter mixture on top of rolls. Refrigerate overnight.

4) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Bake casserole for 15-20 minutes. Separate rolls and serve.

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

Happy 1st of July!!! I can't believe that summer is in full swing. What a way to kick off the heat of the summer by baking cookies. lol! I had to crank up the oven today, because when I saw these cookies from The Novice Chef, I had to make them right away. I've often had chocolate crinkle cookies, but never a red velvet version. I didn't realize how simple these yummy cookies were. Everyone knows that I like to make things from scratch. But with the use of a boxed cake mix in this recipe, I think I can make an exception.

I used the crinkle cookie recipe on the side of the box from Duncan Hines. The only difference from the Novice Chef version is the addition of lemon zest and cornstarch. It gives the cookie an extra zing. This technique, however, can used with other boxed cake mixes like chocolate, lemon, or even funfetti (obviously, you'd omit the lemon zest if you were using the chocolate cake mix). This is a great recipe that you can quickly whip up when you have a cookie craving and have extra cake mixes on hand.

6 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 box Red Velvet cake mix
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp. cornstarch

1) Preheat oven to 375 deg F. Place confectioner's sugar and cornstarch in a shallow bowl and set aside.

2) In a large bowl, combine melted butter, eggs, lemon zest and cake mix until there are no large lumps left.

3) Roll dough into 1-inch balls (about 1 tablespoon of dough) and coat in confectioner's sugar and cornstarch mixture. Place dough balls on an ungreased cookie sheet about 1-inch apart.

4) Bake for 9-11 minutes, until the tops have crackled and have set (the centers will still be gooey). Allow to sit for 5 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Warm Toasted Marshmallow S'mores Bars

This recipe came up on my Facebook feed from Betty Crocker. My daughter had been wanting to bake with some mini marshmallows we bought at the grocery store. I first wanted to incorporate them into brownies and make S'mores brownies. But when this recipe for S'mores bars appeared, I thought to make this first.

This recipe could not be any easier. The ingredients and assembly is real simple. The result is this warm, gooey, and messy treat. I should warn you that you should cool the pan for at least 30 minutes for the chocolate to firm up a little bit for a cleaner and easier way to cut into bars. Otherwise you'll end up with a gooey mess. But hey, isn't s'mores supposed to be messy?

1 pouch sugar cookie mix
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup butter, melted
3 cups chocolate chips
4 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

1) Preheat oven to 375 deg F.

2) In a large bowl, combine cookie mix and graham cracker crumbs. Stir in melted butter until fully incorporated and dough forms. Press dough on a 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until set.

3) Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips evenly on top of crust. Allow to sit for 3-5 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Spread chocolate evenly over crust.

4) Set oven to broil. Sprinkle marshmallows evenly on top of melted chocolate. Broil for 20-30 seconds  until marshmallows are toasted (Watch closely. Marshmallows will brown quickly). Cool for 10-30 minutes for the chocolate and marshmallow to firm a bit. Then cut into bars. Serve warm. Store remaining bars in an airtight container.

Tangerine Beef Stir Fry

I'll just get right to the point. This dish was so awesome and so flavorful. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised how well this dish came out because it came out of Spark Recipes, which means diet food, which means bland, right? No way! This was soooo good! Who knew that Asian food would taste this good using only a few ingredients? It literally only took a few ingredients and you can use practically any vegetable to stir-fry with. And the end product is this orangey-delicious dish that tastes just as good as any other take-out Chinese food.

2-3 tangerines
1/4 cup dry sherry or white wine
2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 lb beef, cut into thin strips
5 Tbsp. oil
1 medium bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. grated ginger

1) Zest 1 tangerine and set aside. Juice tangerine to equal 1/2 cup of juice. Stir in sherry/wine and hoisin sauce and set aside. Place beef strips in a medium bowl. Add soy sauce and sprinkle cornstarch. Massage the meat so the that it is well coated with the soy sauce and cornstarch. Set aside.

2) Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, ginger, and orange zest. Cook, stirring frequently until vegetables are tender-crisp. Transfer to a large bowl.

3) Heat an additional 2 tablespoon to the skillet. Add half of the beef and stir fry until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the vegetables. Repeat with the remaining beef.

4) Add juice mixture to the skillet and cook until boiling, about 1 minute. Return vegetables and beef to the skillet and continue cooking until heated through. Serve with steamed rice.

Chex Mix

I've been eating packaged Chex Mix for as long as I can remember. Its a great snack with lots of flavor. I also remember hearing that it was just as easy to open a bag of Chex Mix as it was to make it. But I don't know why I've never made it before. I've made other Chex snacks from Chex cereal, like Monkey Munch (aka Puppy Chow), and recently, Chex Lemon Buddies (which the recipe I got from the back of the box). The traditional Chex Mix recipe was also on the back of the box, and I had some cereal left over from so I decided to make some today. I can honestly say that these were totally better than the packaged stuff. Its nice and buttery and crunchy and fresh.

3 cups Corn Chex cereal
3 cups Rice Chex cereal
1 cup mixed nuts
1 cup bite-size pretzels
1 cup garlic flavor bite size bagel chips, broken in to small pieces
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder

1) Preheat oven to 250 deg F.

2) In a large bowl, mix together the cereals, nuts, pretzels and bagel chips. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings. Pour sauce over the cereal mixture and stir until evenly coated.

3) Spread prepared cereal mix on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread Chex mix on paper towels to cool, about 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container.

Mongolian Chicken

I've been doing pretty good as far as making healthy recipes lately from Spark recipes. So far, I think this is my favorite recipe that came out of that website. Its a very easy recipe that only required about 10 ingredients and approximately less than 20 minutes to cook. Who could use a quick recipe like this? Me, of course. Along with many other busy and working moms out there. I was a little skeptical about the flavor of this dish because it only required very few ingredients. I figured it might end up bland again, but it is so far from that. This dish had a sweet and savory flavor that reminds me of many take-out meals. One good tip in making this dish is to make sure the chicken is still slightly frozen for easy slicing of the chicken. You'll end up with nice, thinly sliced chicken. Hubby really enjoyed this one, so I'm definitely making this quick and easy meal again.

2 boneless, skinless chicken, still slightly frozen
2-3 tsp. freshly grated ginger
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar, slightly packed
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. water
chopped green onions for garnish

1) Cut chicken into thin slices. Heat a skillet to medium low and add chicken. Cook chicken until no longer pink.

2) While chicken is cooking, heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add grated ginger and crushed garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30-60 seconds. Stir in soy sauce, water and brown sugar. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

3) In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water  and whisk together to make a slurry. Whisk slurry into sauce. Add sauce mixture into the skillet with the chicken. Allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes until sauce thickens. Top with green onions (or broccoli would also go well) and serve with steamed white rice.

Baked Crispy Chicken Wings

This is another great recipe I found from Spark Recipes for Baked Crispy Chicken Wings. I absolutely love Korean Fried Chicken after discovering it during a recent  trip to the Philippines, of all places. I was stoked to find Kyochon locally near my mother-in-law. So you better believe that we always stop by Kyochon whenever we visit her. When I saw this recipe, I was hoping it would have a similar taste and texture of the Korean Fried Chicken I've become addicted to. However, the flavor was not quite there. It was somewhat crispy, the way I like my fried chicken. But it lacks in the flavor category. The great thing about this recipe, though, is that its baked. So you don't have to worry about the extra calories you get from frying the chicken. The chicken gets its grease from the skin during baking, so it doesn't stick too much to the surface. I think I may use the technique in this recipe and tweak the flavor to achieve that signature sweet flavor from the Korean Fried Chicken that I love.

16 chicken wings
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine
pinch of onion powder
pinch of garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup flour for dredging

1) In a freezer bag, combine soy sauce, wine, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Add chicken and massage marinade into chicken. Allow to marinate for 1-2 hours.

2) Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Place flour in a shallow pan. Remove chicken from the marinade and dredge each chicken piece in the flour. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 40-45 minutes, until crispy.

Mexican Chicken and Rice Casserole

             

After all the festivities and leftovers from the past weekend, I'm pooped. And I don't really feel like slaving over the stove. But I think we've had enough of the leftovers. Its time for some freshly cooked meals again. So what can I cook?

Recently, I reverted back to my calorie-counting diet and was searching through some recipes on my online calorie tracker, Spark People, for some diet friendly foods. In honor of Cinco de Mayo this weekend, I settled on this recipe for Mexican Chicken and Rice Casserole. It had great reviews and it looked really simple. And so I gave it a shot. At first, I was real leery over the use of canned soups, because the dishes I make with them never turn out well and always bland. But I'm dieting, so I guess its supposed to bland. This dish was so far from being bland. It was quite yummy, actually. I even used my Homemade Taco Seasoning which helped lessen the amount of sodium in the dish. Served with warm tortillas and only about 280 calories per serving, this was actually an awesome dish that hubby really liked too. He actually suggested we serve this for the Mother's Day Luncheon we're hosting next weekend. We'll see :)

1 can fat free Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can fat free Cream of Chicken soup
1 can water
1 package taco seasoning (or 2 Tbsp. homemade Taco Seasoning)
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies
1 1/2 cups corn kernels
chopped cilantro for garnish
2 green onions, chopped
shredded cheese for garnish

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan and set aside.

2) In a medium bowl, whisk together soups, water and taco seasoning.  Evenly spread rice over sauce. Arrange chicken on top of rice. Top chicken with black beans, tomatoes, corn, cilantro, and green onions. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour and 25 minutes.

3) After the baking time, remove foil. Shred chicken, if desired, and top with desired amount of cheese. Continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes until cheese is bubbly and melted. Served warm with tortillas.

Homemade Shamrock Shake

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! And also, Happy Birthday to our nephew, Vin.

To commemorate this special day, I decided to finally try to make this beloved shake that originated from a beloved fast food restaurant, McDonald's. I remember when I first had my taste of Shamrock Shake a few years ago. It was the end of our work day and one of my co-workers said she was getting ready to get some Shamrock Shake. I asked "What's a Shamrock Shake?" And she looked at me with a disgusted expression and said, "You've never had a Shamrock Shake???" She proceeded to let me know that its a green shake only sold at McDonald's during the month of March in honor of St. Patrick's Day. So on MY way home, I had to stop by McDonald's myself to see what all the hype was about. It was this creamy, minty, yummy goodness. And I was so glad they only sold it for a limited time, because if not, I'd be making pit stops to McDonald's everyday.

Ever since then, I had always kept my eye out for that wonderful green shake every March. And then they began selling them in fewer restaurants. And suddenly they disappeared altogether. I hate being toyed with. Since they practically didn't sell the shake anymore, my taste buds didn't miss it anymore either. Its been a while since I've had a Shamrock Shake. They recently started selling them again in all McDonald's. But I don't have the same enthusiasm for it as I used to. But this recipe was featured in Yahoo News from Shine, and I figured maybe I should try to make it at home. It was a quick and easy and delicious.

3 cups vanilla ice cream
1 3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. mint extract
3-6 drops green food coloring
whipped cream, optional

1) Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour in a glasses and top with whipped cream. Serve immediately.

Cheeseburger Macaroni

I've been craving for some comfort food lately and for some reason, I was craving some kind of a Cheeseburger Macaroni dish. One that I used to eat out of a box (via Hamburger Helper) when I was a kid. I had previously made a similar Hamburger Helper dish, Creamy Taco Mac which we absolutely love. However that dish had a little kick to it with the use of cumin and other spices. I wanted something simple and creamy.

I decided to see if there was a Cheeseburger Macaroni recipe out there and sure enough, I found
this recipe from food.com that looked really easy. So easy that the original recipe only required 7 ingredients and the use of Velveeta cheese. I've modified the recipe using the cheese sauce from my Macaroni and Cheese recipe because I'm not a huge fan of processed cheese. I've had my fair share of Cheese Whiz when I was a kid, but nowadays I always try to make everything from scratch. Besides, anything processed can't be too healthy for you. However, if you're pressed for time and need something quick to make, Velveeta cheese is the way to go. Whichever way you make it, it'll definitely turn out delicious. This dish really hit the spot.

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 3/4 cups milk
2 1/2 tsp. sat
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or any shredded cheese)
1 lb. ground turkey or lean ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
4 cups water
3/4 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. mustard
3/4 cup canned petit diced tomatoes
12 ounces elbow macaroni

1) (Note: This step can be skipped is using 1 lb. Velveeta Cheese) In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and continue to cook about for 1 minute. Whisk in milk and continue to cook until mixture starts to boil. Remove from heat. Add 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in cheese until smooth. Set aside.

2) In a large skillet, brown ground turkey or beef over medium heat. Add onion and continue to cook until onion begins to soften.

3) In a medium bowl, whisk together water, ketchup, and mustard. Pour over meat. Stir in tomatoes and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil.

4) Add macaroni and turn heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes, until macaroni is cooked through and almost all the liquid is absorbed.

5) Stir in prepared cheese sauce (or 1 lb. Velveeta cheese cut into cubes) until smooth and evenly distributed. Serve immediately.