Lazy Marinera Pasta

Back to cooking! 
Lost count of the last time I wrote here.  But much has happened:

1. I got married!!!
2. I planned a wedding!!!
3. I made it happen!!!

Boy that was SO much work. Anyone that has planned a wedding knows that what I am saying is true. A wedding is crazy work but worth it cause it's once in your life and then you have memories forever.

To my point, I realized that I have abandoned cooking, one of my joys in life. So I have been looking at new recipes to spice up my life, I should say here, our lives.  So I am back readers to keep discovering new flavours and make life more fun since we have to eat everyday.

So here is a lazy recipe that I do when I only feel like boiling pasta but becomes a substantial and tasty dinner, "pasta marinera" I call.

All you need is:

Ingredients
-500 grams of pasta.
-3 cans of tuna.
-2 cans of mussels
-750 grs of peeled tomatoes made puree. (tomates triturados).

So this is all you need, you throw that all together when the pasta is boiled, and voila, you have a great tasty meal. The tomato sauce works incredibly well with these fishy flavours. Kenton was even impressed by how good it all tasted.

By the way the photo is Strasbourgh from last month.

Taco Casserole

This recipe comes from a blog I found in this blog Bebe a la Mode that I followed for a long time. Britanny don't ever stop writing. 

I did it yesterday for my Bible Study and it worked pretty well. So easy, and a good meal. 

Ingredients: 

-300 grs. of ground beef
-1 can of refried beans.
-1 can of red beans.
-Taco seasoning.
-One bag of tortilla chips or nachos.
-1 bag of mozarella chips.




STEPS 

1. Place tortilla chips crushed at the bottom of the recipent and put aside.
2. Brown the ground beef and add taco seasoning to it. 
3. Now add the refried beans and the red beans to it and mix well. Also you can hava a few diced tomatoes.
4. Place it all in the dish and add more crushed tortilla chips and the grated cheese.
5. Bake it for 20 minutes.
6. Then you can add avocados, diced tomatoes and cilantro, etc..or lettuce, sour cream.

Voila! This is a good recipe you all.

Mushroom and Garlic Creamy Soup

Found this FANTASTIC soup in this site Budget Bytes 

Now, warning, it did take a looooooong time to make, approximately one hour, but it was worth every minute. Perfect for a cold night, just like last night.

INGREDIENTS

• 200 grms of white mushrooms.
• 200 grms of portabella mushrooms
• Some shitakii mushrooms (optional)
• 3 cloves of garlic.
•  1/4 cup of cream (nata liquida for cooking).
• Thyme (tomillo)
• 2 spoonfuls of flour
• 2 spoonfuls of butter.
• Vegetable stock.
• 4 cups of water.
• Olive oil.
• Black pepper.
• Salt.

STEPS 

1. Cut up the mushrooms. Leave half sliced and the other half diced it up.
2. Now in a big pot add the mushrooms with some olive oil, a bit of salt and the pepper.
3. Now add the garlic crushed, or very finely sliced.
4. Have it all in the saucepan until the water of the mushrooms disolves and you are left with tiny mushrooms and the garlic.
5. Now add the butter and the flour and it will seems like strange cause it gets thick like a paste, but do not be afraid.
6. Now add the 4 cups of water with the vegetable stock and let it all bring to a boil.
7. Now THIS is when the soup gets thick.
8. And now, add the cream which will make it velvety and beautiful and finally
9. Add the thyme, loads of it so that it has a great balance between mushrooms, garlic and thyme.
10. Voila, enjoy.

Great, great recipe you all, it tastes just as good as it looks. My boyfriend flipped at how good it is.

I will definitely make it again.

Pineapple Chicken Teriyaki

Yum! 

another great recipe from Steamy Kitchen. My boyfriend says I am 1/3 spanish, 1/3 american and 1/3 asian! wow! compliment! 

Very easy and tasty this recipe, basically this recipe is a marinade recipe.

Also you can do variations such as sticking it in the oven or doing it as a stir fry sauce. Also you can marinate the chicken with the sauce for a while. Endless combinations. It is great for bland and tasteless meat such as turkey, chicken and even pork. 

So here it is:

Ingredients:  

-1 can crushed pineapple (300 grs).

-3 tablespoons of honey.

-1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger.

-3 garlic clove, finely minced or grated.

-2 spoonfuls of thick soy sauce.

-500 grms. of chicken. 

Steps:

1. Make the marinade, sautee in a large saucepan the ginger, and garlic and sautee with a little bit of oil.

2. After it is slighly golden add the honey, the thick soy sauce and the crushed pineapple with the juice of the can.

3. Stir it away and let it simmer in low fire for 10 minutes.

4.  Now add your chicken to the marinate. 

Pretty incredible recipe you all. My Bible study loved it.

Spicy Chinese Mustard Greens with Garlic and Ginger

I loved cooking this recipe the other day at home.

I had been looking at these amazing greens at the Bangladeshi store and finally bought them.

Then I found this awesome recipe in Steamy Kitchen, that will make you drool and thought I would adopt to these incredible Chinese Mustard Greens, and yes, it worked, like amazingly.


Ingredients: 


-Mustard Greens or any other green.
-Canola oil or any oil.
-Garlic crushed.
-Cayenne pepper flakes.
-Ginger crushed. 

The way you do this is the following:

1. Place in the wok about two cups of water so that you can steam the veggies.
2. When the water is very hot or boiling you need to place the veggies cut in half.
3. Th way you do this is placing the hard stems FIRST, and then on top you place the leaves. See photo.
4. Once they are tender, about 7 minutes, remove them from saucepan and throw away the water.
5. Now place the canola oil and add the garlic crushed, the ginger and the cayenne pepers and sautee them but DO NOT LET THEM BURN or it will taste disgusting.
6. Once they have browned for about 2 minutes, add the greens and spread it even.

That's it. Now serve with soy sauce and buckle up.....soooooooooooooo tasty....yum...
You'll love them. 

I like this type of recipe for when you have a meat that it's completely tasteless. You know? 

Bug & Berry Cake

Made this cake for my sister and thought I would post even though I did not make the cake, it is a mix.   I called it my bug berry cake. 

Ingredients:

• 1  Chocolate Mix Cake. 
• 1 Chocoloate icing.
• A small box of gooseberries (grosellas).
• 2 boxes of raspberries.
• 1 small of fresh cranberries.
• ladybugs candies.
• Marmalade.

Steps:

So I was in a rush for this cake so I had to buy the mix and the chocolate icing. So ....

1. Step one: Make the cake with the mix cake. 
2. Put the frosting on top. This frosting really works like glue with the fruit.
3. Wash the berries and dry them a bit so that they stick to the icing. 
4. Distribute them evenly, don't just throw them without any order...it has to look varied and the cool thing about this cake it's the many red tones that go from bright red till almost black.
5. Place the ladybugs or whatever cool candy you have on top.
6. Stick in on fridge so that it solidifies.

This cake really worked I have to say.....it saved me big time, cause it looked awesome and very elegant and fun, perfect for December. My nephews couldn't stop looking at it and kept looking for the ladybugs. 

Also the combination of rich dark chocolate and acidic fruits really worked, as it balanced it out.   Lastly, try to find reasonable berries because they are expensive. I bought the canadian fresh cranberries in El Corte Inglés (posh supermarket of snobbish Madrid) but the rest I got them in LIDL and was just glad for the extra walk there.

I should probably cook like my hero Julia Child. How cool is that outfit?  

Garlic&Ginger soup with fish

I am going to make this recipe tonight for my Bible Study based on the recipe of the Jaden from Steamy Kitchen. Jaden, you are awesome!

INGREDIENTS:

-1/2 yellow onion, finely diced.
-1/2 teaspoons of grated fresh ginger
-1 garlic of glove, crushed through a garlic press.
-Oil
-2 tablespoons of soy sauce
-1 litre of vegetable broth.
-Half a lemon squeezed.
-Fish, half a kg of frozen fish, like cod.
-Some shiitake mushrooms
-1 or 2 carrots
-Some cilantro if you have some
-Some green onions if you have some. 


STEPS:

1. Sautee onion, garlic and ginger.

2. Put 1 litre of vegetable broth onto the work.

3. Now add the soy sauce and squeeze half the lemon.

4. Now put the fish and let it cook in medium heat.

5. After 10 minutes of cooking, add the carrots and mushrooms, and green onions, and cover another 5 minutes. 
-
6. Voila, done, beautiful gorgeous dinner, that is warm and easy to make perfect for a cold dinner.

Bok Choy and Pork Asian Soup

Made this great soup last night and magically it came out like tasting incredible. 

Ingredients:

-2 bok choys.
-3 pork sausages.
-1 chicken stock.
-A little bit of grated ginger.
-1 and 1/2 litres of water. 
-A dab of chinese wine. 

Okay,  seriously, it was amazing. Clear, warm and flavorful asian soup. Also with the grease of the sausages it gave the stock the perfect consistency.

Pork and bok choy really go great together. 


Ahhh guess what my Bible Study is having tonight!? 
;)
 
Pictures of rice fields in Bali

Crunchy Chicken Salad

Hey readers!

I skipped an entire season! but my spring has been so crazy full!

Here is a great salad for summer time that I had been wanting to do for about a year, and finally got round to doing it on tuesday for my Bible Study! 

The original recipe comes from A cup of Jo, thank you Joanna! I love your blog! My Bible study really loved this salad, and so did I!

Here are the ingredients:

-1/4 shredded cabagge.
-1/4 red cabbage.
-5 carrots sliced.
-1 cup of mint leaves.
-1 cup of cilantro leaves.
-500 grs of chicken in stripes.
-1 cup of cashew nuts.

For the salad dressing:
-1 can of coconut milk.
-1 lemon or lime.
-2 teaspoons of sugar.
-2 teaspoons of fish sauce.

Steps:

1. Just chop up the cabbage, slice the carrots and break in smaller pieces the mint and cilantro  ingredients and then add everything into a bowl.
2. Cut the chicken in stripes and saute it.
3. Do the dressing and add to the salad.

Honestly this is one great recipe. 

I understand it is a bit annoying to have to buy mint and cilantro (here they are 1 euro each bunch), but it is a great recipe so colourful and with so many flavours and textures: crunchy, soft, coconuty, acid, fishy, it really has everything and you can also add a little bit of cayenne pepper to the dressing to give it a spicy kick! 

Don't you love summer???? I sure do!

Crepes

Happy new year friends!

A comforting recipe for these cold months ahead. Crepes a classic from all over Europe, but especially every time I go to France, it's like...duh--crepes, how amazing are they and why do I not make them, like everday of my life?

INGREDIENTS:

1. 2 large eggs
2. 3/4 cups of milk
3. 1/2 cups of water
4. 1 cup of flour
5. 3 tablespoons of melted butter
6. 1 tablespoon of sugar.
6. butter for cooating the pan


STEPS:

1. Mix all the ingredients together and then distribute evenly in a saucepan thinly.
2. When the sides gets golden turn it around.

3. Enjoy! ahhhhh they are so good with Nutella, jam, cheese and a good book.

Happy new year sweet friends and readers.

These pictures are France, Paris on the left, Strassbourgh to the right.

Parmesan meatballs with creamy sauce

I did this recipe the other day inspired by these two recipes in A Cup of Jo.

This one and this one. This was a very flavourful recipe. But it did take a long time let's be honest, so I'd only recommend it for those days when you are feeling  creative and have a long saturday morning ahead of you...

But it was very tasty and fun too.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 300 grs. of pasta
2. Some parmesan cheese.
3. Requeson, creamy cheese (200 grs).
4. A brick of tomato sauce (200grs)
5. 2 cloves of garlic.
6. Some cherry tomatoes.
7. Minced chicken.
8. Pepper and salt and some italian herbs.




STEPS:

1. Mix the grated parmesan cheese, the herbs, the salt, and the pepper in a plate.
2. With the chicken mince, create mince balls and make sure the meat is properly mixed with the parmensan cheese and herbs.
3. hen set them up in a sauce pan and fried them, evenly.
4. Now put the tomato sauce with the creamy cheese together and mix it up. I added two cloves of garlic for extra flavour.
5. Now add the meatballs to the tomato sauce, the cherry tomatoes and the garlic and let it simmer for a little

6. Add it to the pasta and voila. Pretty pretty tasty. The sauce is real awesome friends.

American chocolate chip cookies

A classic here from the US.
I did this recipe while living in San Joaquin 3 years ago with my roommates and Nicole. It was a fun time. These are the ingredients and pictures will tell the rest of the story:

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of margarine

3/4 cup of white sugar

3/4 cup of brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

2 and 1/2 cups flour

1 and 1/2 of chocolate chips

STEPS:

1. Mix it all.

2. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes, until it is all lightly golden.