Shrimp Ramen and Asparagus

Steamed Asparagus with butter

Shrimp Ramen with Bellpeppers and Water Chesnuts

When ever i dont know what to cook, i pretty much just look ing my fridge and cupboards to see what i have and what is easy to make.

 I boiled some Top Ramen noodles, then drained when they were soft and transferred them over to a pan to finish cooking with the sauteed bellpeppers and water chesnuts and shrimp. I added cajun spice season and a little bit a black pepper. When it was done "meshing" together, it was done and to my husband's surprise, it was mighty tasty!

Torta de carne asada and bruschetta

We needed a perfect meal to watch the Giants game on Saturday night...we decided on Tortas de Carne Asada!

We went to the bakery, bought some bolillos and then to the market, to buy some carne and avocado.

Hubby grilled the meat  and bread

 I made the salsa de molcajete

-jalapenos and red tomatoe grilled on the burner, then put in the ninja, add some salt

Prepared the tortas by spreading some mayonaise on one side, refried beans, carne asada, salsa, avocado slices, white onion slices and queso cotija and the chow down!!!!

The next morning we woke up and had left over bolillo and frijoles. I decided to make a mexican version of a bruschetta...beans, queso, and salsa...it was a definite hit for the little 2 year old, if i may say so myself!!!

Chicken Mole

ive never ever been a mole kind of gal...but my comadre gabby had invited my husband and I over one day for her little brother's birthday and her mom had made some awesome turkey mole.

This mole that my comadre's mother had made was not out of a jar like that of which i grew up knowing, but really was from scratch and had a very nice spicy kick to it.

every so often when i fall in love with a dish, i love to attempt it at home.

My dish was no where close (well maybe just a tad), as to the delicious one i had tasted,  but nonetheless as a good attempt

first i must say that my spanish rice came out perfectly awesome this time. My rice is never the same and i love that. everytime it is different and everytime it is delicious.

but this time my rice came put perfectly fluffy!!!!

in a pan i toasted some calrose rice until golden brown with a little bit of oil,

added chicken broth (or water and chicken boullon), tomato sauce, black pepper, la goya-cilantro/tomate seasoning and onion slices. i added enough liquid just to cover rice and covered with a lid on low heat stirring occasionally.

whenliquid had evaporated, i added more broth and stirred and let it finish cooking for about another 20 minutes and continuing to stir. nice and fluffy and perfect!!!

For the mole, i boiled chicken breast (chicken thighs may work better because its juicer). i shredded chicken  and set aside. In the same pot with chicken broth, i boiled chile pasilla, chile de arbol and chile colorado, until soft. i added it all to my handy dandy ninja food chopper (same as processor) and liquified. added it back to the pot and let boil. added chicken and let the whole pot simmer. added salt to taste and voila!!!!

i will never buy mole in a jar again!!! I still need to know Gabby's mom's recipe but until i do, this will have to do!!!

Spam Masubi

Ever since I was in San Jose and one of my friends took me to Hukilau Resturant for the first time and introduced me to this tasty dish, I fell in love!!!

After I moved back to my super small hometown, I craved this like crazy, especially during my pregancies....

One day I looked up the recipe and saw that it wasnt too hard to make...at the the time (and still when I made this batch), I didnt have a spam masubi maker (which is a small rectangle glass box to form the masubi). When i first made it, i didnt think that I'd be making it as often as i have so i used to use the spam can and cut the top and bottom out to use as a masubi maker.

One can of spam should be cut into 8 thin pieces.

To cook the spam, mix soy sauce and sugar in a pan on low heat. cook spam for a few minutes on each side and take off heat.

each nori piece needs to be cut in half down the center the length of the spam. place the masubi make on top of nori, add a thin layer of steamed white rice (i use calrose, long grain is too dry and separates quickly), add one piece of spam, another layer of rice then take off masubi maker and fold nori. cut in half and enjoy with tabasco sauce and soy sauce or without!!!

Fresh Cherry Tomato, Roasted Garlic and Fresh Basil Pesto

I had no idea what to make for dinner but I knew it'd be something with chicken. I was watching my fave channel "Food Network" and one episode was making a cherry tomato, garlic, and basil pesto. My Nino had given me a bag of Cherry tomatoes that I really didn't know what else to do with them except for putting in salad which I did the night before, and I'm not much of a fan of cooked tomatoes n food unless its a sauce...so i figured this would be a good way to put them to use...I roasted the cherry tomatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper in the oven at 375 and in a separate container i roasted garlic covered in olive oil at the same time...about 20 minutes.
when they were all done, i blended tomatoes with olive oil, garlic with half of oil, a little more salt, Parmesan cheese and a handful of fresh basil. My cousin had given me a plant for my birthday and I'm not too good at keeping plants alive and every now and then forge to water it, just earlier that day i took off a lot of dead leaves :(
I blended all together and it was delicious...
poured it over some pasta (your choice) and grilled chicken, served with broccoli and romaine salad and a glass of wine!!!

(with the left over Olive oil from the garlic you can saute the chicken in it and serve or saute some shrimp would be delish!!!)