Category Archives: Food

Will you be my Valentine?

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow and my daughter’s school is going to have a Valentine’s Celebration.  She was asked to bring a treat for her classmates and this is what I came up with.

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During a sale at Party City about a year ago, I came across these Princess Valentine cards.  They were Buy 1, Get 1 Free so I thought, “Hey, why not?  They might come in handy for the future.”  Hello handy valentines, it’s the future!  I packaged a princess card with a fruit snack in a candy bag and sealed it with a heart sticker that came with the cards.  These are for the girls in her class because I thought it would be perfectly ok to give the princess cards to everyone in the class, but that wasn’t the case.  My daughter and my husband, both, proclaimed that you couldn’t give the boys a princess card.  So I asked my daughter, “Who should be on the card for the boys?” and she replied, “Batman!”  Ok.  I did a quick AOL search and I found this cute clip art with Batman.  It does have a pink background, but I couldn’t change that and it’s still Batman.  I put together a total of 21, 12 girls and 9 boys.  I really hope they enjoy this treat.

I’m going to change the subject now because I wanted to share a quick dialogue I had with my oldest daughter last night.  She is learning our national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner, and I showed her several YouTube videos with the music and lyrics.  We came across Whitney Houston’s rendition at the Super Bowl in 1991 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHmdu_I_0zI).

Me: Her name is Whitney Houston.  This video is old, but famous because Whitney sang the Star Spangled Banner beautifully.  Unfortunately, she’s not with us anymore.

Olivia: Why?

Me: She had an accident and was hurt really bad.  She died.

Olivia: (Gasps)

Me: It’s ok.

Olivia: She’s beautiful.

Me: Yes, she was very beautiful.

I know that I didn’t have to tell her that Whitney passed away, but I want her to start getting an idea of death.  It’s definitely part of life and I want to introduce these aspects little by little as opposed to not having any knowledge of it at all.  Since she started school, she has come home asking me and telling me about things that we necessarily haven’t spoken to her about so whenever an opportunity presents itself, such as someone who has died, I mention something so she can know a little bit of it, for now.  We finished watching Whitney sing and my daughter asked to see and hear her again.  I loved how she said that she was beautiful.  Just like that.  Through a child’s eye, we can learn so much.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Chicken Wrap

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.

My husband came up with this quick and easy chicken wrap.  We had for dinner, but of course you can eat it whenever you like it.

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We used Tyson’s Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Strips, Mission Carb Balance Flour Tortillas, Light Sour Cream, peppers (red, green, and orange), and Mushrooms.

My husband grilled the mushrooms and peppers on the stove top while the strips baked in the oven.

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Assemble your wrap (I only wanted peppers and sour cream)…

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…and bon appétit.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes/Muffins

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  We had a long, lazy weekend that was spent resting and recovering from being sick.  It was great to snuggle up in my bed and watch some TV while my daughters played in the living room and my husband watched them.  Oh, did I mention that he also cooked our meals as well?  My husband is a great man and father (I know, my gushing is too much and you’re probably fake heaving, but I need to give my man a BIG SHOUT OUT).  He’s absolutely wonderful and a superb chef!  That’s why I wasn’t surprised when he was able to recreate a recipe pin that only had pictures with the ingredients.  I came across this pin (www.pinterest.com) right before my husband was going to the supermarket.  I showed it to him and he took a mental note of the ingredients and off he went.

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With the exception of the cheese from the above pin, my husband made these mini chicken pot pies.

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They looked amazing and tasted so good.  You should all give it a try if you like pot pies.

My husband simply cooked the chicken, then mixed it with the cream of chicken soup and vegetables, turned the oven on to 375 degrees, placed the biscuits into the cupcake pan, poured mixture in and on top of the biscuits, and baked for 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

Take good care.

Until next time…

DIY CHOCOLATE LOLLIPOPS

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Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well.  I am pretty well-known in my family to do chocolate lollipops with the help of candy molds.  I have a “small” collection of candy molds and I used to make them a lot for family and friends before I had kids.  Now, I make them once and awhile.  I decided to surprise my daughter with an after dinner treat.  Check out my process, it’s pretty simple:

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From my collection, I chose a heart-shaped lollipop mold with the word Love scripted in the middle, vanilla chocolate candy wafers, and a small bowl to melt the chocolate in.

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I melt my chocolate in the microwave.  Make sure you don’t put it on high or the chocolate will burn.

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With a small spoon, pour the chocolate into the mold.

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Pick up your mold and tap it against the counter until your chocolate spreads out evenly.

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You can add lollipop sticks or not.

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Put the candy mold in your freezer for about 10 to 15 minutes.

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Enjoy!

You can buy candy wafers in different colors.  I’m going to get them in red and using this candy mold make some lollipops for Valentine’s Day.

My sister and I are currently looking for a theme for our brother’s 30th birthday party.  We’re leaning towards a mustache party and while browsing through Pinterest, of course, I came across this:

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Isn’t that awesome?  I’m definitely going to be on the lookout for this candy mold, just in case.

Take care all.

Until next time…

Bean recipe

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Today I would like to share with you how I cook my beans.  Yup, beans.  I decided to post this for 3 reasons:

1. My husband always compliments me on my beans and that means a lot because he’s a great chef.

2. My brother always goes back for seconds and according to my parents and I quote, “He doesn’t eat beans.” 🙂

3. Finally, a recipe for my best friend, Azizi, who has always asked what I put in my beans, but I’ve never jotted the ingredients down for her.  Sorry Z!  I hope this makes up for it.

Here’s my recipe and of course you can all tweak it to your liking.  I am American/Puerto Rican so I grew up learning how to cook Puerto Rican style.  I’ve learned from my mom and mother-in-law, both superb cooks.  During time, my ingredients have changed.  Most recently, I’ve added chopped dried onions flakes and I find that it makes it taste even more divine.  It’s become a staple within the spices.

Angie’s Beans:

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You can use this recipe for any type of beans like red, white, pink, chick peas, etc. and of course use whatever brand you want.  I used to make my beans with potatoes, but now I add the Vienna sausages.

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Mix together:

1 can of beans

1 can of tomato sauce

1 can of Vienna sausages

½ – ¾  can of water (I use the bean can to measure the water)

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Ingredients:

1 packet of Sazón

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon chopped onions (dried flakes)

¼ teaspoon Adobo

¼ teaspoon ground pepper

½ teaspoon cilantro leaves

1 teaspoon parsley

1 teaspoon oregano

½ tablespoon ground flax-seed

2 tablespoons Sofrito

(Sofrito is a major Spanish cooking staple usually found in the frozen section in supermarkets and it’s a combination of vegetables and spices puree together)

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Mix all ingredients into the pan with your beans and Vienna sausages.

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Cover and cook over medium heat.  Lower the heat after the beans start boiling.

Cooking time is between 25 – 30 minutes.

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Once they’re done, pour over rice or place them on the side and enjoy.  This is Sophia’s dinner plate, which includes apple slices, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, chicken, rice and beans.

I hope you like my recipe.  I am by no means a professional recipe writer so if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them.  Thanks for taking time in viewing my blog!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Mason jar + chocolates = great gift

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  I wanted to share a gift idea that I put together in order to give several of my closest aunts and cousins.

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 I bought mason jars at the craft store (A.C. Moore) along with gold ribbon.  The candies I chose are Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares Limited Edition Peppermint Bark (delicious!) and Coconut Malted Milk Balls, which I ordered from www.ohnuts.com.  These are my absolute favorite and they were such a huge hit at my anniversary/renewal party that I decided to gift them again.

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I made a paper label and tied the gold ribbon around the mason jar.

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I put the coconut malted milk balls in a clear candy bag just in case they melted and placed 4 peppermint bark squares inside around the mason jar.  I like the way they came out and can’t wait to give them to my family members.  I hope you like this idea.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Jell-O No Bake Lemon Meringue Pie

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  The other day, my darling husband was grocery shopping and something caught his eye.  A lemon meringue, no bake pie and what sealed the deal, it was on sale.  Enough said, into the cart it went.  All you needed was butter and cold water.  That’s it!

Inside the box you have three mixes (crust, filling, and whipped topping).  For the crust, you add the butter and for the filling and whipped topping, you add cold water and stir.  Refrigerate for two hours before devouring.  Easy peasy.  How did it taste?

My hubby and I, both agree it was DELICIOUS!!  This is definitely a repeat purchase.

Stay alert, stay alive.

Until next time…

Happy Thanksgiving 2012!

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Happy Thanksgiving and we hope you all are able to spend time with family and friends.  A special THANKS to those who are serving in the military and protecting our country.  You’re forever in our thoughts and may you have a safe return back to your families.

My husband who’s a great cook made our Thanksgiving lunch, which is also going to be dinner as well.  We sat around the table, held hands, and gave thanks.  Now there’s football on the television and our bellies are full.  Have a great holiday!

Our traditional Thanksgiving food! It was yummy!

Stay alert, stay alive.

Until next time…

DIY PIZZA BAGELS

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  About a month ago, my silly daughter came home from school a little bit annoyed with the fact that students that day were able to eat pizza because of the school lunch and she couldn’t because she had her lunch already from home.  My daughter loves pizza and she declared that she wanted pizza as a lunch option.  Well, she didn’t use those words exactly, but simply put SHE WANTED PIZZA.  My mission then was thinking of a way to pack “pizza” in her lunch box.  First thought I had was go online and search, but then I remembered those frozen pizza bagels you see on TV.  I didn’t want to go buy them though for three reasons: I wanted to make them myself, I wanted to save money, and I wanted to make them healthier.  This is what I came up with:

I used mini whole wheat bagels, marinara sauce, and shredded mozzarella cheese.  I placed the bagels in my oven at 375 degrees for eight to ten minutes.  I cut them in half so I can easily fit them into a sandwich container, but I can only fit two bagels even though you see three.  Needless to say my daughter is very happy with these pizza bagels and that makes me happy as well.  I also include fruits, veggies, small dessert and water in her lunch bag.  I hope you guys like my take on this.  Enjoy!

Stay alert, stay alive.

Until next time…

My sane and healthy approach to school lunches

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well and safe.  The trains and buses are semi running here in New York City.  It’s great to see everyone working hard and together to get this city back on track.  All the best to those currently working outside, safe travels to and from your destinations and may you all recover swiftly.

Before my daughter started Kindergarten, my husband and I decided to take her to eat lunch a few days at her future school.  They offered free lunch to children during the summer.  I wanted her to get acquainted with the cafeteria and I also wanted to see if she liked the food that they served.  Some days, she ate well (hamburgers and sandwiches were a hit), but the day she was given pasta and meat sauce separately, she took a small sampling of the meat and left it completely.  She did it eat some of the pasta, and I tried to convince her to eat more of the sauce, but she wasn’t having it.  Of course, she had no complaints with the desserts they offered.  Neither with the plain or chocolate milk and fruits, but the main dishes and even the vegetables were mostly a miss.  I knew then that I would be making her lunches for school.  At first, I was nervous because I wasn’t sure what to pack in her lunch.  I’ve never done this before so I searched online for ideas.  I saw so many wonderful pictures of lunches packed by fabulous parents!  They were educational and inspiring.  Also, her school has implemented a healthy eating program.  It was one of her first projects.  They wanted her to draw or cut out pictures of healthy food and glue them onto a piece of paper resembling a plate like this:

Go to www.choosemyplate.gov for more great information

We all learned a lot with this project!  Now, I consult this clip art, which I made into a mini poster and placed it on my kitchen wall,  in order to send my daughter with a healthy portion from each group.  I went to Wal-Mart and bought small food containers and I place everything into my daughter’s lunch bag sort of like a bento box.  Also, in order to remember what she ate Monday through Friday, my husband placed a big dry/erase white board, which he found outside a while back, in the kitchen for me to jot down all the foods per day and keep a list of foods to pick from.

This is what keeps me sane!  I’m a visual person so this helps me out a lot.  FYI: If you spy the word KRAVE under Monday’s menu this is Kellogg’s new cereal that we’re totally addicted to.  It’s so delicious.  It doesn’t last two days in the house, because of me! 🙂

The board looks different this week because I’ve written “school closed” for the whole week and at the bottom there’s a short hand version of her lunch for each day.  It’s the norm now so I just keep it up.  Many thanks to all those moms and dads who post pictures of their children’s lunches.

Stay alert, stay alive.  Until next time…