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.

Pioneer Woman's Spaghetti Sauce

Everyone who knows me in real life knows I love anything that's related to spaghetti. In fact, I've made a whole bunch of spaghetti recipes on this blog, some of them sauces, that I like to make large batches of that I freeze as a make-ahead meal. Just freeze the portioned sauce and thaw it in the microwave for a quick, homemade meal. I even like to bottle some of the sauces and give them to my brother and co workers. From Pasta Bolognese, to Tomato Basil Marinara  Sauce, to Spaghetti al Amatriciana. I love all my spaghetti recipes. Despite all the spaghetti recipes I have on here, though, I actually don't have a spaghetti sauce recipe. What a shame. My mother-in-law actually makes a kick a$$ spaghetti sauce, but she hasn't quite given me the recipe for it yet. So I decided to do a search on Pinterest for my own spaghetti sauce recipe and this one from The Pioneer Woman (one of my faves) has come up quite frequently on Pinterest. This sauce is quite comparable to mother-in-law's. It makes a huge batch of meaty goodness. Perfect to freeze as a make-ahead-meal.

5 lbs. ground beef

3 Tbsp. olive oil

2 large onions, diced

6 cloves of garlic, minced

2 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes

1 (14 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

1 jar of store-bought marinara sauce (I used my marinara sauce)

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)

4 bay leaves

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

8 basil leaves, chopped (or more if you like basil)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan, more for garnish

1) In a large pot over medium heat, add ground beef and cook until browned. Remove meat from the pot and set aside. Discard grease and add olive oil. 

2) Once oil is heated, add onions and cook for about a minute. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute or so.

3) Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and marinara sauce. Stir to combine. Then add sugar, salt, oregano, thyme, crushed red pepper (if using), and bay leaves. Stir in cooked ground beef. Cover and allow to simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add water or beef broth if it needs more liquid.

4) After 1 hour, stir in parsley, basil and Parmesan cheese. Cover and simmer for another 30 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Serve over your favorite pasta or spaghetti. Freeze unused sauce for up to 6 months.

Cookie Dough Dip

I love anything that has to do with cookie dough. Whether it be cookie dough it its raw form whenever I make my Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies. Or my Cookie Dough brownies. Or my Cookie Dough cupcakes. Or my Cookie Dough truffles. I just love cookie dough. So when I found this Cookie Dough Dip recipe from Love and Prayer via Pinterest, I knew I had to add it to my collection of cookie dough recipes.

I decided to make this for a pre Mother's Day lunch with hubby's side of the family last month and it came out really good. I served it a few neutral flavored cookies and crackers like Vanilla wafer cookies, Graham crackers, and honey wheat pretzels. I loved it most with the pretzels. So yummy.

1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (8 oz) block cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips

1) Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture starts to bubble. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, whisk in vanilla extract.

2) In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream together cream cheese and confectioner's sugar. Slowly add cooled brown sugar mixture. Mix until combined.

3) Fold in chocolate chips. Refrigerate for an hour before serving. Serve with vanilla wafer cookies, graham crackers, or pretzels.

Kimchi Fried Rice with Portuguese Sausage

I had my first taste of Kimchi fried rice during a recent visit to Hawaii. Hubby's cousins took us to dinner at Side Street Inn in Waikiki. I never really liked Kimchi because I just couldn't get past the strong fermented smell of cabbage. But I was on the islands and it seemed to be in a lot of the menus we ordered from. And of course, the cousins ordered it for the table, so I gave it a taste. Man-oh-man was I missing out. Yes, it did have that pungent smell. But boy did it taste ono.

I started seeing posts on Facebook of people making Kimchi fried rice and decided to recreate that yummy dish I had in Hawaii. Kimchi Fried Rice, also known as Kimchi Bokkeumbap, is just the way its sounds. Fried rice made with Kimchi. I did a search on Pinterest and came upon this recipe from Notions and Notations from a Novice Cook. It called for shrimps, but in order to make it Hawaiian style, I replaced them with Portuguese sausage, which I bought at a Japanese supermarket that sold Hawaiian items. You can also use canned luncheon meat like Spam or Polska Kielbasa or Louisiana Hot links for that extra spice. The rice came out just like I remembered. So yummy and flavorful. This has been somewhat of a staple at home for hubby and me (my daughter can't take the spice yet).

3-4 cups cold, day-old white rice
1/2 - 1 cup cubed Portuguese sausage (or Spam, Kielbasa, or hot links)
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 - 1 1/2 cups kimchi, chopped (juice reserved)
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil for cooking
salt & pepper to taste
fried egg for garnish

1) Heat sesame oil in a large pan over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add sausage and kimchi and saute for about 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.

2) Add soy sauce, fish sauce, and lime juice and continue to stir.

3) Add rice, making sure to break up as much of the large pieces as possible and stirring constantly to prevent it from sticking to the pan. Add kimchi juice, one tablespoon at a time, if the rice is too dry.

4) Stir in green onions and season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and place in a serving platter, topped with fried egg for garnish.

Lemon Blueberry Bread

I know I've somewhat neglected this blog for a while. Having a six year old with tons of activities at school and a 1 year old needing attention will make me do that. I'm not complaining though. I'm so blessed and thankful to have healthy children and a busy household. But now that I have another daughter to look out for, I really needed to get back to my food blogging so both my children can benefit from this. I want to start creating memories with her in the kitchen like I did with my 6 year old. I can't wait to have both my girls with me in the kitchen. Its what I've always dreamed of.

I had been craving something lemony to make one day. But I had a huge batch of blueberries that I bought from Costco that needed to be used up. So in search of a great recipe, once again, turned to my favorite Pinterest and found this recipe from Notes from the Heartland.

This had just the right amount of tartness I was looking for and not overly sweet. I brought this to work and my co-workers really enjoyed it. Its a great way to use up those blueberries.

1 1/2 cup, plus 1 Tbsp. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan.

2) Sift dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients together. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine.

3) Mix the remaining 1 tablespoon of flour with the blueberries, being careful not to crush the blueberries. Gently fold blueberries into batter just until combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick test comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan.

Lemon syrup
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar

1) Dissolve sugar and lemon juice in a small pan over medium heat. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

2) Remove from heat. Place blueberry bread on a plate. Poke with a fork or wooden skewer several times. Brush the bread with the lemon syrup.

Lemon glaze
1/2 -  1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2-3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1) Stir together powdered sugar and lemon juice until well combined.

2) Pour glaze over blueberry bread.

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.

Chocolate Pistachio Cupcakes

Its been a while since I've made any new cupcakes. I'm usually making my staple cupcakes of Red Velvet, and Banana cupcakes. But I wanted to replicate a Chocolate Pistachio cupcake I get from my local cupcake shop that I love so much. So I searched my ever-so favorite site, Pinterest, and found this recipe from The Little Kitchen. 

I used my new favorite Chocolate Frosting. However, I feel like this frosting was too rich and it overpowered the Pistachio flavor of the cupcake. The cupcake was delicious. It had just the perfect amount of pistachio flavor. I may play around with the frosting to match the cupcake a little more. Stay tuned....

Pistachio Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. sat
3.4-3.5 ounce box of instant Pistachio pudding
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 egg white
1/2 cup milk

1) Preheat oven to 325 deg F. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.

2) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and instant Pistachio pudding. Set aside.

3) In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add oil and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Add eggs and egg white, one at a time until completely incorporated. Scrape the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.

4) Add dry ingredients and incorporate with a rubber spatula until most of the dry ingredients are moistened. Its okay if there is still some unincorporated flour. Add milk and mix on the mixer over low speed for about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and continue mixing on low for another 30 seconds until batter is smooth.

5) Fill prepared liners with the batter about 3/4 full. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or toothpick test comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Frosting

9.5 oz chocolate chips (bittersweet, semi-sweet, or milk chocolate chips)

6 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted

4 Tbsp. cocoa powder

pinch of sat

2/3 cup sour cream

1) Melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over pot of simmering water (double boiler). Set aside to cool until just barely warm.

2) In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter over medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Gradually add in confectioner's sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Beat in melted and cooled chocolate and then sour cream. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and well blended. Frost cupcakes immediately before chocolate hardens and frosting sets.

Cuban Garlic Chicken

A few months ago, I was assigned to a new position at work where I get the chance to work again with an old colleague of mine that I worked with when I first started my career almost 15 years ago. Its great working with an old friend and reminiscing of old times. Since being assigned at this new position, however, all she and I have been talking about was food and exchanging recipes. I introduced her to my blog and she introduced me to this wonderful, flavorful recipe for Cuban Chicken. She lead me to this recipe from the Food Network. Let me just cut down to the chase...........this chicken is probably one of THE BEST things I've made on this blog. Yup, its that's good. And I have thanked my friend a million times for introducing to me this dish that is reminiscent of our days when we would eat at one of our favorite Cuban restaurant - Versailles, and I would have their garlic chicken. This dish was so easy to make, it was ridiculous. And the end result is this burst of flavor in your mouth. You will be just as amazed as I was. It marinades for 2 days. But the first time I made it, I didn't get to cook it until the 3rd day, and it probably made it even more delicious. I cooked half of the batch of chicken, and froze the other half for later use, which came out just as good. I also served this with sweet fried plantains. You can also serve this with black beans to complete your Cuban meal. Make this dish now, and you'll thank me later. Thanks Cossette!!!

1 cup lime juice
2 cups orange juice (preferably fresh squeezed, but store-bought is ok)
1/2 cup lemon juice
12 cloves garlic, crushed then roughly chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. cumin
salt & pepper to taste
3 whole chickens cut up (or 8-10 pieces of chicken thighs)

1) Combine all marinating ingredients together. Place chicken in a deep roasting dish or gallon sized Ziploc bag. Pour marinade over chicken and marinade for 1-2 days in the refrigerator.

2) When ready to cook, preheat oven to 450 deg F. Arrange chicken in a single layer in a roasting pan. Pour marinade over the chicken and place pan on the lower third of the oven. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until juices run clear and chicken is cooked through and sauce begins to caramelize. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, baste the chicken with the sauce. Serve with rice, fried plantains and black beans.
(Note: You can also grill the chicken over an open flame until cooked through. Use the sauce to baste the chicken to keep it moist).