Korean Beef Bowl

Korean beef ribs are absolutely delicious, they are sweet and savory and awesome! However, the actual Korean short ribs are hard to come by and so once upon a time I came across this recipe to create a ground beef bowl with the Korean BBQ beef marinade and I never went back to the ribs. This is so easy and so delicious and satisfying. I highly recommend. 

Peanut Pad Thai

Ingredients:

7 ounces pad Thai noodles (linguine sized rice noodles)

2 eggs, scrambled (optional)

1 cup cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces (optional)

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp fish sauce

2 Tbsp sambal oelek (or sriracha) (or more if you prefer it spicier)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/4 cup canola oil

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1/4 cup peanut butter (optional if you don't like the peanut flavor)

1 cup fresh bean sprouts

1 cup cilantro

3 scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Lime wedges (optional)

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Remove from heat and add the noodles. Follow directions on box for cook time. Drain and rinse under cool water. Set Aside.
2. Cook scrambled eggs and/or chicken to your liking. Set aside.
3. To make the sauce, combine in the empty pot you used to boil pasta, the soy sauce, fish sauce, sambal oelek, lime juice, canola oil, and brown sugar. Whisk until combined and sugar dissolves on low heat. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and whisk until emulsified.
4. Add the noodles to the sauce and toss until pasta is evenly coated with sauce. Add in bean sprouts, scrambled eggs, chicken, cilantro, and scallions. Toss until combined.
5. Serve garnished with peanuts and lime wedges. Enjoy!!!!

Chocolate Cream S'mores Pie (Surprisingly Lower Calorie)

Honestly I know it's been awhile since I have posted, I guess that means I found a great recipe worthy of posting again. Seriously, this pie is made with tofu! Can you believe it? It's a chocolate cream pie made with tofu rather than heavy cream. It is equally delicious but packed full of protein and none of that unhealthy fat, except from the dark chocolate and marshmallows of course. This is a delicious and quite easy recipe for a very pretty good looking and scrumptious pie. Perfect for any upcoming holiday get-togethers! I hope you will give it a try!

Spicy Crab Salad Bowl

Over the years my love for sushi has grown exponentially. My first experience with sushi was in the form of a California roll, which consists of crab, avocado, and cucumber. The flavor combo is pretty great and while I do not order California rolls anymore because I prefer something a little more authentic with raw fish inside or on top, the flavors of a California roll never bore me. This dish is basically an open-faced California roll with a kick, it is easy to make since imitation crab can be bought anywhere and everywhere and is so cheap, especially in comparison to any other seafood. This is definitely a delicious dish that requires not much effort at all...give it a try!

Ramen Chicken Noodle Soup

I am not that big of a fan of chicken noodle soup, I never make it because in the end I have to force myself to eat it because I've never had one that was good enough for me to want seconds. I saw this recipe for an Asian chicken noodle soup and I was quite intrigued and so I decided to make it and I was truly impressed. This was a delicious soup and it was so easy to make this flavorful broth especially since I just happen to have all these Asian ingredients in my pantry. This will definitely become a winter staple in our household. 

S'mores Cookies

I definitely have an obsession with s'mores desserts and so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to give it a try and that was the best idea ever. These are so delicious and they taste like a real s'more without all the messiness.

Fall Cheese Ball

I made this festive cheese ball for Halloween and it tasted great. It is a Mexican flavored cheese ball that is quite impressive with looks and taste, yet really easy to make. I think this turned out awesome  (even with my mini pepper stem garnish) and it really is great for any festivity during the fall season. 

Caesar Salad Dressing/Wrap

I never realized how easy it is to make homemade Caesar Salad dressing until I found this recipe on Pinterest. It truly is so easy and delicious when made at home. Also, I have learned that I usually tend to have all the necessary ingredients on hand at all times and so it is really easy to whip up for a meal, especially for these Caesar Salad wraps I have grown fond of making.

Homemade Cookies On A Whim

 

 We love to bake cookies on a whim and so I used to prepare cookie dough and then freeze it until I realized how difficult it was to spoon out cookies from frozen cookie dough. I then came up with a better idea to prep my own portioned sized frozen cookie dough so that I can easily prep and cook just the amount of cookies I want without having to wait for the dough to defrost to scoop. I have started to do this and it really is a game changer. Once I prepare the dough, I use a cookie scoop to scoop out perfect portion sizes and set them on a plate/pan to stick in the freezer to allow them to freeze individually. Once each portion is frozen, usually it takes 4 hours minimum (I usually just leave them overnight) then you can combine all the frozen portioned cookies together in a ziplock bag. It is important to freeze them separated first so that they don't all stick together. Then when you are ready to bake the cookies, place the desired amount of cookies on a cookie sheet while the oven is preheating. Sometimes depending on how long it takes for your oven to preheat, it could take an extra one or two minutes in baking time to reach the correct consistency. Enjoy!!!

Step One: Prep Cookie Dough

Step Two: Scoop Individual Sized Cookies for Freezing

Step Three: Combine The Frozen Cookie Dough in One Freezer Safe Bag

Step Four: Store Cookies in Freezer Until Ready to Bake

Step Five: Place Cookies on Cookie Sheet While Oven Preheats, Bake

Step Six: Enjoy!!! Homemade Cookies On A Whim

Reuben Quesadilla

Reuben Quesadilla

Well yesterday was St. Patty's day and so of course we made some corned beef and cabbage for dinner even though neither of us is Irish, but it's a good excuse for some good eats. I was especially excited because Costco was selling some organic corned beef with no added nitrates, etc., which is great for preggo me. The corned beef and cabbage was delicious yesterday but tonight's Reuben Quesadillas were truly the best. I highly recommend that everyone give this a try with their leftover corned beef, so delicious!

Ingredients:
Flour tortillas
Corned beef, prepared and cooked, shredded
Saurkraut or cooked cabbage, shredded
White Cheddar cheese, shredded or Swiss cheese
Thousand Island dressing (I made my own and added some horseradish for a kick)

Open Face Reuben Quesadilla

Reuben Quesadilla

Beef and Noodle Bake

 I found a recipe on Pinterest for this interesting casserole dish, I had looked up the ingredients but when it came time to prepare the dish, the link I had pinned no longer worked. So, instead I prepared the dish how I would have thought it to be prepped. This was very easy to make and pretty delicious. As Nick put it, the flavors are unique but in a good way. Just a different taste than the dishes we usually prepare. It was a nice change of pace. 

DIY Nursery Alphabet

For my recent baby shower, I found this wonderful idea on Pinterest to have guests decorate a letter from the alphabet to put up in the nursery. It seemed like a good idea and a fun activity to have available. I also figured we might not get enough participants but that’s okay because then I could just decorate the remaining letters myself. Well to my surprise, this activity was a huge hit. Not only did we run out of letters (because some people did more than one each), but the craft table was busy the entire shower. We had a co-ed shower and so even more surprising was how many men participated in this activity. There was a moment where I was worried we would have too many pink letters, but my girlfriend who helped with hosting, stepped in and removed the pink paints after she saw there were 5 letters in pink already (great job Meggie!!!). Another complete shocker was how well it all came together, not a single letter was the same color as the one next to it. This seriously is my most favorite thing in our little girl’s nursery now and we will treasure it forever. I just love the fact that every letter was crafted by one of our loved ones just for her, it is just so wonderful. 

Home Improvements

 

As my avid followers (mom and dad) already know, Nick and I relocated to Michigan over the summer, bought a house, started new jobs, and found out we were expecting. It has been quite the whirlwind getting our lives settled in Michigan. So far so good though. I promised I would share some pictures of our improvements we’ve made on our house and so I bring you this Home Improvements post. Later I will post our Before and After furniture projects, etc.

Oreo Pops

Oreo Pops

 Our families recently held a baby shower for us back at home in California. I wanted to do my part in helping by adding to the party favor aspect of the shower, a candy bar. I found this easy recipe to make these impressive yet easy Oreo pops. I decided to give it a go. The process was quite easy, just time consuming. It took me 3-4 hours one evening to completely make around 40 Oreo pops including wrapping them up ready to fly cross country. The best part about these is their WOW factor, they are so impressive looking and ridiculously tasty. I will do this again the next time duty calls. 

Salty Bourbon Squares

I haven't tried very many new recipes lately but when I wondered across this recipe online, I knew I had to venture outside of the box. My husband is definitely a connoisseur of all things Whiskey and so I figured he would love these and that he did. The bourbon flavor was quite prevalent in these goodies, which made for one really rich treat. While Nick's favorite whiskey of all is Maker's Mark, we had a bottle of Elijah Craig bourbon, from our whiskey tour in Kentucky, that I decided to use instead, which turned out just as tasty.

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

 

Photo courtesy of Judith Cameron

Hello Again!

Hey there blog world, sorry for the long absence. Maybe you missed me, maybe you didn’t, but here I am again. This past summer, my husband and I relocated to Michigan for his job. With the move and the new job came a new house. With the new house came a lot of new house work. Therefore, during the time I was unemployed, I managed to spend most of my creative time working on the house, unpacking, restocking, organizing, designing, etc. While I was still cooking, I stuck to things I knew and didn’t try many new recipes, hence the absence of food posts. Thankfully, I did get a job in Michigan within a month of looking and we have had many visitors, which have kept us pleasantly occupied.  While we are finally feeling settled into our home and Michigan 4 months later, I feel that I have finally hit my stride and I hope to bring back some more food posts but even more likely, some DIY posts for things we’ve done around the house. I appreciate your patience as I took a break from the blogosphere, but hope to jump back into it real soon. For now, enjoy this lovely pick of our new home that we love so much (more on that later).

Swedish Meatballs

Swedish Meatballs

Have you ever had the Swedish meatballs at Ikea? Well, this recipe puts those to shame. I have never made this type of recipe before and I have really been missing out. These are so tasty and delicious, they would be great served with rice the next time so as to soak up all the sauce, mashies work well too. Seriously give this a try!

Birthday Cookie Brownie Surprise

Birthday Cookie Brownie Surprise

Assemble in prepared 9 by 13 pan
Layer of chocolate chip cookie dough (recipe found here)
Layer of Birthday Cake Oreos
Layer of brownie dough (recipe found here)
Topped with rainbow sprinkles
Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes

Carne Asada

Carne Asada tacos with onions, cilantro, guacamole, and Cotija cheese

 Carne Asada is a delicious Mexican staple that Nick and I really enjoy. Carne Asada literally means "grilled meat" and in Southern California it is always referring to beef, even though it can be used for other types of meat. We love Carne Asada beef in our household because of the citrus and flame grilled flavor, especially when served as Carne Asada fries. In fact, I think Carne Asada fries are one of the best food creations ever made, but sadly they only exist in Southern California and so when we want them we have to create them at home from scratch, it is a lot of work but it is so worth it.

Carne Asada fries with homemade Idaho french fries, Mexican cheese mix, onions, cilantro, tomatoes, salsa verde, cabbage, sour cream, and guacamole