Creamy Tomato Soup with Grilled Bacon & Cheese Sandwich

 

 

Update - 11/20/2013

 

I bought the tomato soup from Trader Joe's hoping it would taste similar to Panera's Creamy Tomato Soup but unfortunately it didn't. :(  I was so excited to try it that when I ate my first spoonful the disappointment took my appetite away.  It was so sweet... yuck.  Needless to say I tossed it out. 

 

I have recently discovered Pinterest and looked up several versions of Panera's Tomato Soup.  I found a recipe and made it tonight.  It is sooooooooooo good!  Not exactly like Panera's but pretty darn close.  I love it and it's so easy to make!  Anyhow, look up my blog post with today's update date for pictures and the link to the recipe I used. 

 

 

xoxo!!

Roasted Chicken

I want to roast a chicken.  Roasting a chicken is like the step you have to take before graduating to Thanksgiving Day Turkey.  So I WANT TO ROAST A CHICKEN.  I found a recipe where I have most of the ingredients already and also sounds yummy.  It's called Chipotle Glazed Roast Chicken with Cumin & Red Chile Rub.  Although I'm feeling pretty daring in wanting to roast a chicken I still get a little freaked out when reading one of the steps in the recipe...

"...rub salt under the skin, on the skin and in the cavity."

 

Under the skin and in the cavity?  Ewww....  Gosh, this whole cooking thing is starting to get icky but I will face this challenge.  Don't mind the funny faces I will likely make during the process though. ;)

 

I can't eat a full chicken and will probably need a little help with the whole rubbing the chicken thing so I will likely invite a friend over to help me.  Love my friends and their willingness to participate in my cooking experiments. 

 

Stay tuned for pics and my analysis of this recipe.   

 

xoxo...



Mexican Sisters

FYI - I found this blog entry sitting in my Drafts file.  I can't believe I never posted this!  The blog entry is at least 3 years old.  Oh well, I still love it and love what I tried to communicate.  Read on and enjoy! xoxo...

Oh how I love the Mexican Sisters! They're funny, lovable, and cook amazing. I'm talking about my mother's sisters. Two of them are in town for a long weekend and I love it. How can I explain the joy in my house right now?

Yesterday my mom took care of my nephew but it was great seeing her sisters help with feeding, playing, and cuddling. All three grandmothers taking care of a one year old. Priceless!

Taking care of my nephew didn't stop them from their real mission of cooking as much as possible in the shortest amount of time. Last night the sisters baked mexican bread and mexican cookies called coricos. Today the sisters are making tamales. They've been up since the crack of dawn working on this process. It's a tamale assembly line! haha! But seriously, I love this. They have been working hard and talking about everything and anything. I guess this is my small glimpse of their life back in the days at "el rancho".

(from left to right: Tia Marie, Tia Jacinta, and my mom)

I abosolutely love these ladies! They still fight like they're teens, laugh like their teens, and enjoy each other like only sisters can. So today it is my duty to spend the day with them and drive them wherever they want to go. I am happy to oblige!

To all my friends: I now see that being a smart ass runs way back in my family. haha!

 

xoxo...

Thanksgiving 2012

 

This year for Thanksgiving I made Roasted Butternut Squash with Sage, Green Beans with Caramelized Shallots, and Veracruz Corn.  I was pretty proud of my cooking but too bad that usually the veggies are always the last to go during dinner. Lol, oh well!  I have tons of leftovers and I can't figure out what to do with them.  I have a feeling I will end up tossing them. :-/

 

We had so much food as usual that I really didn't get to enjoy dessert.  That was so disappointing but I honestly couldn't fit anything else inside of me without getting sick.  Dessert sure did look yummy though...

 

I had a great time with my nieces and nephews.  The two older ones got my phone and took silly pictures galore.  Love when they do that. :)  Anyhow, I got my Christmas card idea that evening. I will post it on here when its done.

 

I had a pretty good weekend with family and friends.  I can't complain and I am always appreciating the blessings God provides daily.  Love my life...

 

xoxo... 

Dating...

So I have started dating. Like official first dates at a restaurant. I even found my favorite "first date" restaurant. Its far enough away from home, has valet, and safe because I'm known by some employees there. Feels good to date. All my past relationships have been so unconventional. That tells me that I've been going about it all wrong since none of them have worked out.

This year I allowed physical relationships in my life but like the year, I'm quickly coming to the end of that. I want something serious. I want to be taken out. I want someone to tell me I'm beautiful. Not "can I see you tonight?" It's my fault for allowing it and therefore not allowing myself to be seen in another way. I kind of held hope that the physical relationship would grow into something more serious but I realized that its not going to happen.

So this is why I'm dating. I had a date last Friday. He treated me to a nice meal and told me i was beautiful. That's what I want.

Xoxo...

Chicken Soup

 

I'm so proud of my first attempt to make chicken soup.  I did not follow any recipe and just took some pointers from my friend and then followed my instinct. 

 

I cooked the chicken breast in chicken broth with chopped tomatos, onion, some lemon grass and a little garlic.  I added salt and lemon pepper to taste.  Once the chicken look cooked I added all my veggies.  Those veggies were:  celery, carrots, green beans, and potatoes.  I let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until veggies were cooked. 

 

I loved my soup so much I didn't even add Tapatio sauce or lemon!  

 

Can't wait to make it again!

 

xoxo... 

Sopa De Fideo

 

Sopa de Fideo is one my favorite childhood soups.  It was a repeat dish growing up and I didn't mind that at all.  I would mix in Tapatio sauce and lemon sometimes or other times mix in mayonaise.  Yup, sounds weird but I loved it.  My friend commented that the pasta I used was shells instead of the broken up spaghetti (aka fideo).  I told her that in my family we've always used all sorts of pasta for this sopa.  I remember shells, stars, alphabets, macaroni, and spaghetti.  It's delicious none the less and I'm so glad I know how to make it.  It's so easy you can try it too!

 

Ingredients:

 

7 oz bag of pasta (your choice!)

Knorr Chicken Flavor Bouillon (to taste)

Tomato sauce (about half of 8oz can)

1 tablespoon of cooking oil

3 - 4 cups of water

 

First you slightly brown the pasta in the oil for a few minutes stirring it regularly to make sure it cooks evenly.  Add enough tomato sauce to coat the pasta but be careful not to add too much.  Stir it in and then add the water and chicken bouillon.  Stir it, cover it, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, or until pasta is cooked.

 

Enjoy!

 

xoxo.....

Pastel de Chocolate Méxicano

 

I found this recipe in an old Mexican Desserts recipe book my family has.  I've had the book for years but never used it.  Recently my sister asked for the book and I hated letting it go. Lol, before I gave it to her I found this recipe that seemed pretty easy to make and included Abuelita/Ibarra chocolate.  I had been "itching" to make something with the mexican chocolate I had and I finally found an easy recipe. 

 

Again, it was pretty easy to make.  The end result was pretty disappointing to me though.  It had a Jello consistancy that I didn't enjoy.  My mother and friends tasted the pie and they liked it.  My mother liked it the most and I felt slightly redeemed for that. :) 

 

What would I change?  Not so much Jello pudding mix and more cream cheese.  A Mexican Chocolate Cheesecake sounds awesome right?  Yummy!  One day I'll be adventurous enough to experiment and make it. 

 

xoxo.....

Mata Ortiz Pottery

 

Today I volunteered and helped friends sell their Mata Ortiz (small town in Mexico) pottery.  They also had a couple of the Mata Ortiz artists there for Q & A and to teach some of us how they paint their pottery.  This picture is my attempt at paiting the pottery.  I've never been good at staying within the lines... Lol :)

 

xoxo....

My Baby Daddy

 

Okay, so I joke around that my friend is my future baby daddy.  This stems from a serious conversation we had years ago where I was freaking out about being 30, single, and could swear I was hearing my biological clock ticking.  My lovely friend then offered to be my "baby daddy" should I ever start looking for a donor. :) 

 

Since that conversation I have thought about going down the sperm donor route but I always seem to think over and decide against it.  I'm still young enough to have children on my own and I want to believe that I will find my life partner. 

 

I may take him up on his offer after the big 4 - 0 but for now I'm holding out hope for romance. 

 

xoxo...

Breakfast Toast

I need something fast & easy in the mornings so I started making this breakfast toast recently & I love it.

Ingredients:

1 slice whole wheat bread
1 veggie patty
1 slice pepper jack cheese
Sliced tomato to taste

I bake the veggie patty for about 10 min in my toaster oven. Enough time for me to walk away & continue my morning routine. Once the patty is done I start toasting the bread in the toaster oven. A minute later I add the sliced tomatoes. About a minute before the timer ends I add the sausage patty on top of the tomatoes and top it with the cheese slice.  No toaster oven?  Toast your bread first, then nuke it in your microwave with all the ingredients above for about 15 seconds, or to taste.

You end up with a crunchy & savory breakfast toast. Wash it down with a glass of OJ or almond / coconut milk. This gives me a great start to my day!

Xoxo…

Huevos Rancheros

 

This isn't my first, and will not be my last, blog post about huevos rancheros.  I LOVE them so much!  For me this breakfast dish takes me back to my childhood days. On Sundays mom would always make fried eggs, place them over a warm tortilla, and add freshly grilled salsa over them.  It was our Sunday thing and we loved it. 

 

When I first moved out on my own I bought a small cheap pan at my local latino store.  To my delight there was a recipe for huevos rancheros that came with the pan.  Hooray!  This was my first attempt ever at cooking from scratch.  It came out so good it became my favorite breakfast item.  It's slightly different than how mom made them (egg & tortilla are fried together) but as yummy as ever!

 

The recipe feeds four very hungry people. I usually follow the salsa instructions and save the extra salsa for another day.  I'm not sure if I posted the recipe before but just in case here it goes:

 

 

Ingredients -

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1/2 green pepper, finely chopped (I change it up and often use different peppers like poblano)

1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (I change it up here too with serrano)

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained (you can also use fresh tomatoes)

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

8 large eggs

4 corn tortillas

 

Make salsa by softening onions, green peppers, and jalapeno peppers in a medium saucepan on medium heat for about 3 - 4 minutes.  Add drained tomatoes, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper and allow to simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes.  Set aside.

 

Spray some non-stick spray on both sides of a tortilla and place it in another small pan on medium-low heat.  Cook the first side of the tortilla for about 3 minutes, flip, and carefully add two eggs on top of the tortilla.  Place two heaping tablespoons of salsa between the two eggs, cover, and bring heat to low.  Allow eggs to cook between 3-4 minutes, remove from heat and serve. 

 

Enjoy!

 

xoxo....

Greek Harvest Grain Salad

Here's my copy of the yummy farro salad I had! I cooked the chicken seperately and added it at the very end. This salad is yummy on its own without chicken but I added it for guests who need to have some meat with their salad. This salad would also be a great side to fish like salmon or tilapia. :)

- trader joe’s harvest grain blend (whole package cooked according to package instructions) *I used chicken broth instead of water
- 4 oz sun dried tomatoes
- 6 oz sliced kalamata olives
- 1/2 medium red onion, chopped
- cucumber to taste, finely chopped
- 3 oz crumbled feta cheese (use less or more, to your taste)
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: cook grains and chop onions, cucumber. Allow grains to cool and toss with the rest of the ingredients. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (overnight is better) to allow flavors to intensify

Cooking Challenge

Last week I had lunch with a great friend and ordered a very tasty salad that I must recreate. I copied the text below from their online menu so I'm saving it on here so I can reference back to it. I will not be using Farro (which I learned today is a grain mix from Italy) but instead will use TJ's Harvest Grains Blend. I've been wanting to use the grain blend for a while now and now I have an idea of how to use it. I'm crossing my fingers that it works out! :)

FARRO scottish salmon / cucumber greek feta / red onion kalamata olives

Day 3 of Staycation Vacation

 

Today I watched the US Women's soccer team beat Canada in the Olympic Semi-finals.  It was such an exciting game!  It was a nail biter but fortunately I did no nail biting because afterwards I went to get my manicure. :)  Loving my summer nail color!

 

Tomorrow I'm head to Palm Springs with my friend.  Looking forward to the 116 degree weather. :)

 

xoxo...

Day 2 of my Staycation Vacation

Day 2 started out with two good friends and brunch plans. The three of us try to make brunch plans at least once a month but we hadn't done it since May. We decided on King's Hawaiian Restaurant because it was kind of in the direction of one my friend's new home and because I've never been there. The food was good but their bread was even better! Their bakery is awesome and I'm thankful it's far away enough where I won't visit often. One of my friends is notorious for ordering tons of food. I usually joke that he orders the whole right or left side of the menu but on this day I don't think it was a joke. There was seven plates for three people on our table. I barely got halfway through my macadamia crusted mahi mahi. I had a couple of bites of their famous french toast and was in food coma status soon after. After brunch my friend wanted to visit Marukai Market, a Japanese Super Market. We went and were blown away by all the awesome Japanese products. I bought four tea cups (pictured above), tea, and other small stuff. I'm definitely going back. After King's Hawaiian & Marukai I went back home but only to picked up by my other friend and her daughter. We took a trip to my favorite fresh yogurt place in Los Angeles, Yogi's Yogurt. Once both excursions were done I was back home to watch the Olympic Games. Misty May and Kerry Walsh kicked Italian butt in Women's Beach Volleyball! The pretty much sums up my wonderful Sunday. :) xoxo...

Day 1 of Staycation Vacation

Today my only plan was my friend Cesar's wedding. I am so happy for my friend. He deserves the best this world has to offer and deserves the biggest & best love out there. Still can't believe he's married!! We were just in high school… yesterday! Lol, how time flies. After the wedding I got a craving for fruit but not a specific fruit. I wanted fruit from el Frutero, which is mixed fruit, chili powder, and lime juice. Yumm! I drove from South L.A. to Culver City and could not find a frutero so I decided to buy my own fruit and make my own frutero fruit salad. The results are in the pic above. Now my fridge is filled to the max with fruit. :) It was a good day one. Xoxo...

My Father Is Dying

He is on his deathbed in Mexico and I don't know what I'm feeling. I'm not devastated nor do I feel the need to fly to his side. I feel sad that the man who I'm genetically half of is going to die soon. I'm sad he wasn't a better father and I'm sad I can't feel love for him or anything more. I'm sad he didn't try to mend our relationship sooner.

Maybe I'm in shock right now? Maybe once I hear he's passed I will feel sorrow? I don't know...

Xoxo…
Update:
It turns out my father passed the next day but we didn't find out until the day following his death. I was very sad and shed some tears. I mourned the father I never had and the one I never will have. I always held hope that he would try to mend our relationship but that hope is forever gone. May God Bless his soul and as my older sister said, "Maybe he'll be a better father to us from Heaven." Amen to that sister... xoxo

Portland - Day 3

Today was a special day. My meals were whacky because of two things.

First, we had a very late lunch because I was busy fighting with Dell employees (long story). My friend's boyfriend and I went to Veggie Grill and I ordered a Thai salad with sweet potato fries. The salad was missing my favorite peanut dressing and was ok. The fries were super yummy.

A couple hours later we went to a bar to watch the hockey Stanley Cup Final. We felt kind if guilty not having anything so we ordered a couple of beers and onion rings.

So when it was time to have yummy dinner at a sushi place I was not hungry. Instead I had a small bowl of miso soup and a hot green tea.

Xoxo…

Portland - Day 2, part 3

This food is still from Nicholas'. Every table gets bread like in the pic below. Very yummy! My friend ordered a Lebanese cheese pizza and a rice/lentils side dish. It was all really good but so much food!!

What a food day!

Xoxo…

Portland - Day 2, part 2

We went to Nicholas' Lebanese Restaurant for dinner. I ordered a Meat Mezza and it included everything from the pics below. The star pastry thing was lamb and below that is a beef kabob.

Portland - Day 2, part one

Wow! So much food was consumed today! This post does not include dinner.

We started our day by having brunch at a restaurant called Toast. I had The Bad Ass Sandwich which had greens, two fried eggs, bacon, and a side of potatoes.

Then we went to downtown Portland and after a nice walk we visited Voodoo Doughnuts. I couldn't make up my mind on what to get so I ordered an apple fritter. It was yummy like all apple fritters are but it wasn't an amazing Voodoo Apple Fritter. My nephew ordered a few doughnuts for his college buddies and those looked pretty interesting. Two cream filled and one fruit loops. He also ordered an Oreo cookie doughnut (not pictured) that I took a bite of. Pretty yummy!

Portland Day 1

We went straight from the airport to Lovejoy Bakery. I ordered a Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese salad with a Peach Vanilla lemonade. It was so yummy! Later for dinner my friend's boyfriend cooked pork & chicken kabobs with a yummy fruit & quinoa salad. Too bad I didn't take a picture of it. For dessert my friend made ice cream sundaes. Yummy :)

Xoxo…

Portland Oregon Food Blog

I'm back in Portland Oregon and after prior trips of experiencing so much yummy food I decided to keep track of it this year. So for the next seven days I will be posting pics of yummy food and the name of the restaurants.

Xoxo…

11:11 Again

Today I saw it twice. Both times I had my phone to look something up and there were those numbers. Luckily I was able to screen capture it. :)

11:11 and Guardian Angels

Lately I've seen the numbers 11:11 a lot. My thought when I first saw it was "cool". Then after the second time my thought was that I should go buy a Lotto ticket. After the third time I began to wonder if there was more behind those numbers. A Google search later informed me that I wasn't alone in my 11:11 sightings. There were both nice and dark definitions and I chose to believe the nice ones for many reasons.

First of all living a positive life is a conscience decision I make every day; therefore, why give the negative stuff a chance to ponder in my head? I only invite positive things in so it was pretty easy to believe that seeing 11:11 means an angel is near you and just letting you know.

Second, I truly believe I have a guardian angel. Whether its one angel or many more. That fact is that I've had life experiences where someone can say I was lucky or they can say what I believe - that my guardian angels are taking care of me.

Let's start off with one of my earliest childhood memories. I was around 7 years old and almost kidnapped My sisters & I were at a local arcade goofing around and although I didn't have money it didn't stop my pretend games. At one point a man approached me and asked if I liked quarters. I said yes. He then said he had a lot of quarters in his car and if I followed him I could get the quarters. I smiled and said yes and was ready to go when something within made me stop and a voice in my head screamed "Don't go! This is a bad person!". Instead of following him I turned around and went straight to my older sister to tell her what happened.

In my next memory I was about 10 yrs old and almost drowned. My sisters and me, along with other neighborhood kids, where swimming at a local pool. My crush was there too. I didn't know how to swim so I was hanging on to the edge of the pool. I moved to the deep end of the pool and in a brief crazy moment I decided to show off and let go of the edge. I didn't tell anyone what I planned on doing so my sisters weren't really paying attention to me. After letting go of the edge I just sank down slowly. I looked around and figured I didn't magically learn to swim. After what seemed like several minutes I understood that I wasn't in a good predicament and decided to do something to get someone's attention. I slowly raised my arm and next thing I know my sister grabs it and pulls me out. My underwater experience feels surreal to this day and although my sister saved me I truly believe my guardian angel was with me and helped too.

Many years later when I was walking home from high school I was almost hit by a car. As most teenagers I tended to walk with my head down instead of looking ahead. As I was crossing a street a truck driven by a college student made a left from the main street onto the street I was crossing. I looked up in time to see the truck coming straight towards me and I stopped in my tracks, frozen. The truck swerved a little but still came my way. I remained frozen in the middle of the street and watched as the truck somehow drove inches away from me and stopped. The driver apologized and after I realized I was okay my legs somehow began to move again. I walked home in a daze. I couldn't believe I escaped a dangerous situation again. I knew then that without a doubt my guardian angel saved my life.

So this is why I believe 11:11 is a sign that angels are near. I've always felt blessed in life and now I'm feeling it even more.

Xoxo…

Ewww…

I was asked to give a recommendation on LinkedIn by someone I haven't worked with in over 3 years. I believe that there was more between us *almost* going on back then but for whatever reason nothing progressed on a personal level. We still maintained a good professional relationship. Later this person left the company and dropped off the map.

On Monday I got the generic request asking that I recommend him. I write a pretty darn good one on Tuesday. I also sent him an additional personal message saying hello etc. Then I noticed he needed to review and approve what I wrote prior to it being posted on his profile.

Today I waited all day to receive a response from him. At least a "thank you" for writing an awesome review. Lol :)

Well as you may have guessed I haven't heard from him. I know he read it because my recommendation is posted on his profile I know I'm being silly for expecting a personal message as a response but I did expect a thank you on a professional level.

Ewww… disappointing.

Xoxo

Eye Contact

Established eye contact and smiled from a distance. I received a smile in return. Felt great! :)

Xoxo…

Camarones Aguachile

I finally made this very traditional Mexican seafood dish!! I'm so proud of this!  

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients (serves 4 persons as main course and 6 persons as starters )
1 kg shrimp, cleaned, peeled, deveined, butterflied and dried with kitchen towel
2 peeled small cucumber, sliced one thinly, and roughly chopped the other
1 red onion, thinly sliced
3 table spoons chopped cilantro leaves
6 chile Serrano, sliced
2 cups lime juice (reserve 2 table spoon for the salsa)
Salt and black pepper to taste
Tortilla chips or crackers to serve

Put the prepared shrimps in a bowl and cover with the lime juice. Make sure that the lime juice covers the shrimps completely. If not turn the shrimps around every other minute.
Let it rest for ten minutes until it turns opaque.

For the salsa:

Pulse the chopped cucumber, Serrano chillies, cilantro and reserved lemon juice, for few seconds until smooth.
Check the seasoning and add salt to taste.

Serving:
Arrange the sliced cucumber on an individual plate/bowl, arrange the shrimps on the cucumber.
Spoon over the salsa, garnish with sliced red onions, and avocado if you wish. 
Served with some crackers, tostadas or toasted crispy corn tortillas.

I Love Breakfast!

I just wanted to share a picture of my breakfast from yesterday. It was a simple veggie egg scramble with a touch of serrano chile for a kick. The scramble was on top of a flat sandwich bread slice that was nicely toasted. I then sprinkled cheese to finish it off. YUMMY! :) xoxo…

The "After Spinning Class" Dinner

I had an amazing spinning class today and by the time I got home I had a HUGE burst of energy! So I directed that energy to cooking.

First I put together a simple salad which had greens, tomatoes, lemon juice (my dressing), and salt & pepper. Simple & yummy. Then I made a shrimp dish which had minced garlic, salt/pepper, chopped Serrano pepper, chopped mushrooms, tomatoes, onion, spinach, and shrimp. Lastly, I cooked brown basmati rice. This was yummy with just the right amount of spicy.

I have plenty for lunch tomorrow. Hurray! Xoxo…

Ceviche

I finally did it! I learned many things throughout the process but overall I am so glad I finally made ceviche. The first thing I learned was that cutting fish isn't that easy. Make sure your knives are sharp! Second, I hate cutting cilantro. Can't they sell it without the stems?Third, now I know why limes are preferred instead of lemons. Lemons are sweeter and the tartness of limes work better for this dish. Lastly, don't chop cucumber in the food processor because it makes it a watery mush. :)

Xoxo…

Aguachile Salsa

I bought a ton of jalapeños for a great price and that same week a customer brought in a bunch of lemons. So I decided to make the aguachile salsa for the first time. The jalapeños weren't too spicy but you can still taste the chile. I'm looking forward to tasting the salsa with shrimp. I still have a lot of lemon juice left so I'm thinking of making a yummy lemonade. This will all have to wait for Sunday. Can't wait!!
Xoxo… excited me :)

Veggie & Cheese Egg Scramble

This was fun because i was creative in my cooking. I grabbed veggies from my veggie drawer (squash, mushrooms, tomato, & jalapeño) and a little garlic. Added salt, pepper, and finally a slice of provolone cheese to top it off.