Just this week we got word that Tavis’s job will be taking him (and Aiden and I will be tagging along) to Washington, DC for 4 months, and we leave in 4 days!!! More on that craziness soon… We will be taking the Airstream up to DC so we don’t have to live in a […]
Cuban Style Pork Roast
This is easily one of my favorite weeknight dinners. This was the recipe that my Cuban friend’s mom used to make her pork roast. Her mother, my friend’s grandmother, was born and grew up in Cuba. She fled to Florida soon after she was married, and brought with her a wealth of delicious recipes. I […]
REAL Authentic Cuban Sandwich
Soooo… it all started today when Tavis and I were talking about cutting out refined carbs for a week or two to reset our eating habits. We are not “no-carb” people but we find it useful to drop a few pounds if we spend a week or two getting all our carbs from fresh veggies […]
Chicken with Mushroom Lemon Cream Sauce
I was in desperate need of a new recipe the other day. You know those days… the ones when you have a full fridge and pantry but nothing really sounds good…? Or is that just me? In any case I found myself perusing through a few recipe sites looking for inspiration and I stumbled upon […]
Hearty Ham and Bean Soup
Lately I have been craving heavy filling soups. Soups that feel like a hug when you take a bite. I have always loved soups but I think part of this new found obsession comes from the lack of seasons where we live, Puerto Rico. I have been craving a trip “north” to Florida so that […]
5 Minute Mini Pizzas
This last summer I saw these delicious little pizza muffins all over Pinterest and just HAD to give them a try!! So I grabbed the ingredients next time I saw them at the store and tried my hand at them. They were really wonderful!! We loved them… except for one little thing. If you bake them long enough to cook the dough, the pizza sauce got so hot and it was hard to cool the center down before the outside go cold… The crust and dough made the prefect little insulator that, shy of eating them completely cold, you were alway biting into a molten pit of lava sauce each time. Ok, maybe that was a little dramatic but it was hot!! Although it is trendy to make thinks in cute little muffin tins, I started to think outside the box… What if, rather than making pizza in muffin tins, we laid them flat!!!! I know, it is kinda revolutionary thinking but just stick with me here. If you lay them flat, there is no little pool of molten sauce to attack you with every bit!!! The pizza and sauce cool off in about 5 minutes after removing them from the oven.
Knife and Fork Chili Burgers
We left Puerto Rico two weeks ago and have been on the road since then. I spent four days in Washington, DC visiting with my sister and her family while Tavis was up there for business then we headed south to Florida and spent a week at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground with my other sister […]
Caribbean Eggnog, aka Coquito at the Friday Afternoon Happy Hour!
It is hard to keep track of seasons when the high temperature in summer and winter only fluctuates 5 degrees… Summer high is 88-90ish and in winter the high is 83-85ish degrees. SO when I had the realization yesterday that Thanksgiving is in one week, I nearly had a heart attack!! I am not ready!!
Rather than panicking, I invited my friend Jenny over, and we mixed up a batch of Caribbean Eggnog, or better known here in Puerto Rico as coquito!! What better way to get in the Christmas spirit and get us ready for all the holiday craziness, than to mix up a yummy treat that is loaded with coconut, cinnamon and best of all… rum!!
Best Ever Game Day Chili
When I am in the mood for Chili, the last thing I want is a bland bowl of tomato and ground beef that someone decided to call Chili. I want slow simmered, layers of flavor, keeps you on your toes guessing what is in it until the last. delicious. bite. THAT is Chili! I have a recipe for you today that will set you well on your way to perfecting chili to exactly how you think it should be. This recipe has several “less-used” chili ingredients. They are not unheard-of but the are not usually commonplace in your grandmas chili recipe.
Parmesan Crusted Oven Baked Chicken aka “Frickin’ Chicken”
Soooo, if you were to ask anyone in my family if they like Parmesan Crusted Oven Baked Chicken you probably wouldn’t get a big reaction… that is not because they dislike this dish. On the contrary this is a family favorite in our house! The issue that you will run into is that everyone knows it by a different name. But, for the sake of this blog I figured that I would change the name to be a little more “user friendly”.
As a kid growing up, we would always come up with odd names for things, the more that my mom protested, the more my dad and us kids would use it! So at some point when I was about 10 years old, this dish got the name “Frickin Chicken”. My mom was not pleased but the more she frowned the more the name was cemented in and 25 years later everyone is still calling it that.
Dry Rub for Pork
Out of all the things that we cook on the Big Green Egg (BGE) there isn’t anything that Tavis gets more enjoyment out of than smoking a pork shoulder all. day. long.
He gets up much earlier than the usual to 6am makes sure the at the rub is perfectly applied. He painstakingly cleans out the old charcoal and makes sure that the place setter and other parts of the BGE are set up properly. He watches the temperature with the diligence of a nervous new parent who cannot leave the crib side as their baby sleeps, except he is usually sipping a beer as he watches the temperature… ok there were probably better analogies but lets move on.
Skinny Mai Tai – Friday Afternoon Happy Hour
We are back again for the Friday Afternoon Happy hour! I am currently in China, but I put together one of my favorite drinks last week to share with you all! If you want to follow along with us while we are in China, check us out on Instagram! If you google Mai Tai you […]
Pumpkin Pie Spice Puppy Chow
In the Fall spirit, I put together my own version of Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow to share with you guys today. I don’t normally experiment with recipes… I like things that I know work… but I tried this recipe out on a few friends and they loved it so I figured I would share it with you fine folks. Here is what you will need: 6 cups Chex Cereal… I think that the cinnamon version would be best but I used the plane stuff and it was great!!
1 Bag of white chocolate chips
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 box of powder sugar
2 Tbs pumpkin pie spice
Southern green beans with bacon honey dijon dressing
For as long as I can remember my mom has made green beans the same way. It was the way her daddy made then (my Grandaddy) and the way that she tough me to make them. steamed with a little onion and a chuck of fatback (bacon or ham will do in a pinch) last year she turned me on to this recipe and with a few tweaks it has become our go-to green bean recipe… and they are addictive!!
Start off with your bacon. Cut the bacon into approx 1 inch pieces and fry over medium heat. The small pieces make it easier to cook evenly. Does anyone else have a problem with the center of the slice of bacon cooking really quick and leaving you with raw spots on the ends? I don’t usually cook my bacon in a wok but I do for this recipe because you will keep adding things to your frying pan and the wok gives you enough room to stir and toss the green beans with plenty of room