That's a good pig! (pork)

It's a bit late so this post may be a bit incoherent or whatever but I feel bad that I haven't really posted much of anything in a good while so I figured I could sacrifice precious sleep time to post this. Life has a way of getting in the way of things that I'd rather be doing, like blogging and cooking and baking and stuff, but I can't complain too much. My life has some suckage at times but I am blessed.

You're probably wondering what this post will be about, well it's gonna be about pork! Oink, oink, snort, snort. Unfortunately, it's not about bacon but we will get there eventually. I promise.

This recipe is pretty easy. Simple, delicious, easy, and healthy. I had some pork chops in my fridge that had been giving me a guilt trip and was just nagging me to make something good and not the usual way I make pork chops. I also got recently introduced to Quinoa which is a yummy, whole-grain that is a lot like my beloved rice only better for you. My plan was: cook pork and have quinoa as a side and make it healthy and delicious! Easy enough. After a little bit of internet research and a couple of polls as to what pork recipe to follow I picked Rosemary Pork Chop Skillet with Quinoa. Let me just say that making this recipe with all the fresh herbs made my house smell utterly delectable. If I could eat the air whilst I was cooking this I probably would have. I really do love the smell of fresh herbs. If you've never cooked with it before well this recipe is the perfect time to start (and I would never lie to you!) I found the recipe here. I always rinse the meat and pat it dry with a paper towel or clean dish towel before I season it. I rubbed it with sea salt and pepper and I recommend that if time permits and you can season the pork and just let it sit for at least an hour or so in the fridge to marinate some. Here's the recipe:

Rosemary Pork Chop Skillet


Ingredients

* 1 pound boneless pork sirloin chops, cut 1/2 inch thick (I had 4 decent size 1/2" thick pork chops)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt (The S&P doesn't have to be exact, eyeball it to suit your taste, I did!)
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 2 cups peeled and cubed (1 inch) winter squash, such as butternut, banana, spaghetti, and/or acorn squash (I used butternut squash and I used a little over 2 cups cuz I love em!)
* 1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
* 2 teaspoons snipped fresh rosemary (again doesn't have to be exact)
* 1/4 cup chicken broth (I doubled the broth and orange juice because I wanted to be able to drizzle some in my quinoa)
* 1/4 cup orange juice (note above)
* 2 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces
* 1 teaspoon snipped fresh sage

Directions

1. Trim fat from pork. Sprinkle chops with the salt and pepper. In a 12-inch skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown chops about 4 minutes, turning once. Combine squash, onion, and rosemary; spoon squash mixture over chops. Pour broth and orange juice over squash mixture and chops. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

2. Add zucchini and sage. Cook, covered, about 5 minutes more or until chops are done (160 degrees F). Using a slotted spoon, transfer chops and vegetables to a serving platter. Cover; keep warm.

3. Bring reserved juices in skillet to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, about 5 minutes or until liquid is reduced to about 1/4 cup. Spoon over chops and vegetables.


** I didn't have a big enough skillet to do this all in so what I did is cook the pork chops in my grilling skillet then transferred it over to a heated pan and finished cooking it in there.

As for the quinoa. You can purchase this at your local supermarket (ie. Publix) or if you can't find it there they will have it at a health food store. Cook it according to package directions and when its done add about 1 Tbsp. of chopped basil per 1 cup of uncooked quinoa. The basil is not mandatory but it just gives it that extra notch of goodness.

To serve this dish, I placed some quinoa on a plate then topped it with the pork chop, drizzled with some of the broth and surrounded it by beautiful, colorful, mouth-watering vegetables. Enjoy! (I sure did!)

Turn "pretty" to hott!

Heeeyyyy! How you doin??? I apologize for falling off the face of the earth, this thing called life kept getting in the way! I do have a new recipes I need to share with you but this post will not be it. I know, I know but hey, "pretty lil things" covers a broad subject area so deal with it ok?


Moving on. I've made a few friends via twitter and even though I haven't met a lot (all) of them in person due to geographical differences, I am still glad to have "met" them. One of them being @sarahntastic She has sent me books and other baked yummy goodies and I totally love her for it! She also has her own blog and I highly recommend it. Anyway, via said blog I found out about this amazing product called Yummie Tummie.

Yummie Tummie. What is it? Why do you (if you're a female that is) NEED this thing? Let me explain. Upon reading this in Sarah's blog I was intrigued. I mean really, shape wear that is comfortable, pretty and not some kind of torture device??? It can't be! So I did my research. I went to the website, I perused and read and contemplated...then I ebay-ed because I am not about to pay retail and then end up with crap since it's not exactly the cheapest. (that's how my brain works :P) Well a few days later I received my very own Yummie Tummie shape wear tanktop. IT. IS. FABULOUS! Granted I could have gotten a size smaller (I think) since I'm kind of an in between size right now but I really do love this thing. The material is soft, comfortable and wearable as a layering tank top. I will be getting some more at some point in the near future and build up on my wardrobe staples...yes, this product is a wardrobe staple!

Some of you may know that I have a toddler, if not well now you do ;) I didn't gain much when I was pregnant but I was all belly, so my stomach was stretched beyond normal proportions and it's not like how it was pre-pregnancy. Although, I have lost all of my "baby weight" I still have a "pooch" the baby pooch which is really quite annoying and unfortunately for me I am not a celebrity with a dedicated plastic surgeon to do some nip and tuck on my problem area nor do I have a trainer and can train for 8 hours a day and get those amazing abs that they flaunt all the effin time! I have some other shape wear products that I have purchased before to go under certain dresses but they are not comfortable nor are they really meant to be seen by anyone else but the wearer but Yummie Tummie is totally different. I can't tell you how fairly amazed I am about this thing and if I could afford it I would buy more because I need these! You may ask well..."I've never had a kid so I don't need this" you are WRONG! If you have any kind of shape wear like Spanx, well you will want this and you will probably chuck your old one out. If you don't believe what I'm saying then I highly recommend that you locate a store near you and try one on. If you don't love it then you can come back here and tell me I'm wrong...which I know I'm not, just sayin' ;) Well, what are you waiting for? Go and try some on!


p.s.
unfortunately, I can't take my own before and after pictures but here it is one of their's.

p.p.s.
ok so I took a picture with my phone of me wearing it today. No "before" picture because my self-esteem is *not* that high lol

Savor your Cheese and Herb Muffins

MUFFINS!!! Most breakfast muffins are loaded with sugar and all sorts of deliciousness that really isn't all that good for your first meal of the day. But who really wants or thinks about being healthy first thing in the morning? I know I don't (and don't even lie!) You may "think" about eating something healthy but in the end whatever is easiest (and looks more appetizing) is what gets eaten.

In my quest for a muffin that is not your usual run of the mill muffin, I found a recipe for these savory Cheese and Herb Muffins from Healthy Cooking For Your Kids cookbook that I got on sale at Barnes & Noble for a wonderful sale price of $6.98 (I love great bargains!) This book has some great pictures that accompany the recipes and most of them are pretty easy and really not just for kids. The muffins, contain no sugar and I actually added a drizzle of honey on each cooked muffins to give it just a hint of sweet (cuz dammit I need some kind of sweet in the morning) My 20 month old toddler gobbled it up no problem and so did my co-workers. Seriously, this cheese and herb muffins (no, not that kind of herb) are mighty tasty. I recommend baking this at night and letting it sit till the morning to give the honey some time to permeate the muffins. Ok so onto the recipe!

Cheese & Herb Muffins (this is my edited version of the recipe)

Ingredients:

1 salad package of baby spinach (or 2 1/8 cups)
5 1/2 Tbsp of butter
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (or more if you want :))
1 Tbsp chopped fresh herbs (like parsley, chive or tarragon. I used tarragon)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
*honey

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Line muffin tin. (You can either use a regular size or mini size muffin tins. I used 24 count mini muffin tins and 6 regular size ones. The decision is up to you!)

• Put spinach in a colander and pour boiling water on it to wilt them. Let cool, then squeeze all the liquid out till spinach is very dry. (I did this using paper towels or you can be all environmentally friendly and use a kitchen towel, just wring it out) Mince.

• Melt butter in a small pan on low heat (do NOT burn the butter!) then let cool. Mix the herbs, flours, baking soda, salt and baking powder together in a bowl, then stir in spinach. (You will *not* be using a mixer in this recipe. A spatula is all you need)

• Whisk the melted butter with the egg and buttermilk in a pitcher, pour into the dry ingredients. Stir briefly to combine. Do *not* over mix - the batter should still be a little lumpy.

• Spoon batter into muffin tins and bake for 10-12 minutes.

• Once out of the oven, poke tops of muffins with fork several times then drizzle with honey. (amount is again, up to you) leave overnight. Re-heat it in the micro for about 5-10 seconds before eating if you want to serve it warm.

Voila! Breakfast is served!

Picture Me This

Who loved reading picture books growing up? I did! My imagination was always pretty vivid but hey, it's nice to see some pretty pictures and illustrations. Pictures are even better on cookbooks better yet baking cookbooks. Why you may ask? Well, if you're a self-taught baker like myself, you've learned what you know now by following recipes, google and numerous food/baking blogs out there that share their passion with everyone and are usually pretty helpful but sometimes that's not enough.

When I first got into baking, I was pretty intimidated. I've always just used a box mix of whatever and the only thing I've tried to make from scratch are brownies and nobody can really eff up a brownie. (Okay maybe you can burn it but I never did so :P) So, my first try at baking something from scratch was cupcakes then sweet breads and then breads. The one thing I haven't really tried to make are pastries, such as a "frou frou" pastry like danish or the "I need people to eat this" pie. As much as I love to bake, I can't exactly eat everything that I make so there in lies my problem. But I digress.

Last week whilst looking for a silicone wire whisk at Beall's Outlet (which they were out of sadly :() I decided to peruse the book section. You can always find cheap books/cookbooks at this store (also Ross) Low and behold I found this pretty lil baking cookbook!

I haven't actually made anything from this cookbook yet but let me tell ya, I paid $7.99 for this wonderful book and it retails on Amazon.com for way more than I paid for. This cookbook is pretty amazing! The photographs are fantastic and really helps a novice baker like me who can't exactly afford to pay the big bucks to go to culinary school. For a self-taught baker like myself, sometimes you see terms or descriptions that you're not exactly sure what it's supposed to look like or even what it means! Google is always helpful but you can't always be next to your computers or laptops. This book is great for those occasions :) The recipes are simple and seemingly delicious (I was drooling a bit looking at the pictures in this book) and every step has a picture to guide you. How awesome is that? Pretty freakin awesome!

Watch out for some deliciousness that will be gracing this blog because this cookbook. If like myself, you like (love) to collect all sorts of cookbooks I highly recommend perusing your discount stores (even thrift stores) for some great and cheap finds. You never know what you may find

Bears like Salmon. I guess I'm a bear?

I know that you know that eating fish is good for you. But let's be honest here, there are only so many ways you can cook a fish and majority of us don't exactly like the fishy smell afterward. (get your mind out of the gutter please...it's not there? ok well, then maybe it's just me in the gutter :P)

As I've said in the previous post, I'm on a fish kick at the moment, in my attempts to eat healthy and all that jazz. Mainly, so I can eat more cupcakes and stuff without feeling so guilty. This salmon is delicious! It's a little bit sweet and tangy and just the right amount of kick (if you add the crushed red peppers that is) It's packed with flavor yet super simple, quick and easy to make. The marinade can also be used for chicken or tofu, it's very much an Asian flavor (to me anyway without all the grease and MSG that comes from ordering take-out Chinese) So, without further ado, I present you with Honey Lemon Soy marinated Salmon!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Salmon (skinned. I used about 1lb)
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp roasted garlic oil or canola/vegetable oil
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup of soy sauce
2 tsp minced garlic (or more if you want it extra garlic-y)
1/2 - 1 tsp salt and pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional but just to add a little kick)

Directions:

• Rub salt on Salmon. Place on a deep dish plate or tray.
• In a small bowl, combine honey, oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, salt & pepper and red pepper flakes. Mix well and pour over fish making sure that it coats every spot.
• Marinate for at least 30 minutes. The longer (a few hours to over night) the better.
• Heat up a non-stick pan drizzle some garlic oil or whatever oil you may have handy. Make sure pan and oil is hot enough before putting the fish in.
• Cook each side of the fish about 4-5 minutes. Longer depending on how thick the cut of fish you have.

I served (ate) this with jasmine rice and broccoli slaw sauteed in garlic oil, salt & pepper to taste.

You can serve this with whatever you feel like. I'm Asian and I love to eat rice with everything...really everything. I love chocolate rice porridge (champorado) but I digress that's for another time and another post.

Gimme S'more Of That!

So, I am cheating a little bit on this post. This is an old post from my old lj (livejournal) just edited.

My go-to chocolate cake recipe is always Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" chocolate cake it's moist, chocolate-y and yummy! Usually I substitute the cocoa powder with dark cocoa powder and it's Deeh Vine! You can use whatever chocolate cake or even graham cake recipe you want but this is what I used. It yields about 24-32 cupcakes

These bad boys have a graham crust bottom. What kind of s'more will it be without graham crackers?!

Graham Cracker Crust
2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/2 cup Melted Butter

• Mix butter and Graham Cracker crust till the graham crackers soaked-up the butter.

• Scoop a spoonful of the crust into each cupcake wrapper and press down with either a spoon or the bottom of a shot glass. Once all the cupcake liners have graham crusts, pour in batter filling 2/3 up. Don't over fill!

• Crush some graham cracker (not the crumbs) and sprinkle on top. Bake cake as directed in recipe.

Marshmallow Frosting
1 1/4 cup sugar
4 egg whites
1-2 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)

• Combine sugar and egg whites over double broiler, whisk constantly till sugar is melted (160 degrees)

• Pour on mixer with whisk attachment, whisk on medium high till u reach stiff peaks. adding vanilla a teaspoon at a time.

• Pipe over cooled cupcakes. Then "roast" the marshmallow frosting and add a piece of Hershey's chocolate as garnish.

One of the things I love about making this cupcake is the fact that I get to break out my culinary torch! It's the best part of this whole thing! (I think so anyways lol)

*If you have left over marshmallow frosting, you can pipe it into a baking pan lined with parchment paper, bake at 350 degrees till brown and cracking. Yummy meringue!

Impromptu Dinner Get Together

Last week I got a DM (direct message) from @LoveMyPhilly asking for my e-mail because they have a "special opportunity" for some of their followers, so of course I said sure! Soon after I responded I got an email, it contained a recipe that they would like me to try and review and in exchange they told me that I they would send me a paperback cookbook as well as coupons. (Which I already received :)) I'm a sucker for new recipes and what a great excuse to have some friends over! I had two of my girl friends who lived close by come over for dinner a couple of days later to help me critique the recipe and of course have some girl talk. Let me tell you girl talk is always fabulous when it's accompanied by good food and wine :)

As I was making the main dish which was Creamy Tomato-Basil Pasta with Chicken I served some Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus mind you this appetizer is super easy to make and is always a hit whenever I've made it. Besides, who doesn't like bacon? Everybody loves bacon! Well...except for maybe vegetarians but I bet you they loved bacon too before they decided to not eat Babe anymore ;)

Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus

Fresh Asparagus (amount is up to you depending on how many people you're having)
Maple Bacon
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea (or rock) Salt & Pepper

Directions
•pre-heat oven to broil.
•cut the asparagus so you have about 3-4" left from the tips
•put asparagus in mixing bowl and coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Make sure every spear is coated.
•take 3-4 pieces (depending on size)of asparagus spears and wrap it in bacon. repeat till all asparagus are gone
•place bacon-wrapped asparagus in a roasting/broiling tray and broil for 10-15 mins. Ovens vary so check at about 10 mins and see how the bacon is cooking, once its golden take it out and let cool then transfer to a serving plate.

*You can use whatever kind of bacon you like. I use maple bacon because the maple flavor in the bacon gives the entire thing a nice variety in taste.

Ok, now let's move on to the main star of this entry! This is the recipe that Philly emailed me.

Creamy Tomato-Basil Pasta with Chicken

Prep: 30 minutes
Makes: 4 servings

3 cups penne pasta, uncooked (I used whole wheat penne pasta for a healthy alternative)
¼ cup KRAFT sun-dried tomato dressing, divided (you can find this in the salad dressing aisle)
4 small boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
1 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
½ tsp. each garlic powder & black pepper
4 oz (1/2 package) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed (which is 1/3 less fat than regular cream cheese)
2 cups grape tomatoes
½ cup KRAFT shredded parmesan cheese
8 fresh basil leaves, cut into strips

•Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp. dressing in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken, cover. Cook 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until done (165º F). Remove chicken from skillet, cover to keep warm. Carefully wipe out skillet with paper towel.

•Add remaining dressing, broth, and seasonings to skillet; cook 3 to 4 min. or until heated through. Add Neufchatel; cook and stir 2 to 3 min. or until Neufchatel is melted. Stir in tomatoes, cook 3 min.

•Drain pasta. Add to ingredients in skillet with Parmesan and basil, mix well. Serve topped with chicken.

*This dish was pretty easy to make. Although, I would recommend marinating the chicken in the sun-dried tomato dressing over night or at least for a few hours so that it can really soak up the flavor. I did as directed and the chicken was alright but it could have been more flavorful had I marinated it. Next time I make this dish again I would also use sun-dried tomatoes as opposed to grape tomatoes, again for additional flavor/taste. Overall, the dish was tasty and hearty. Even someone who isn't all too familiar in the kitchen can surely make this dish :)





Thank you to @LoveMyPhilly for giving me the opportunity to try this recipe and also for my goodies! That was very awesome of you (and swift too!)

P.S.
A cupcake entry will be following this post. I promise! Really, I do!