Author Archives: ginamisty

Bacon, Leeks and Tomato…It’s Like A BLT On Pasta!

lil chefMy lil chef, Isabella, made this dish extra magical with her cooking talent! 

Ingredients,

5 Leeks

2 tablespoons olive oil

6-8 slices of bacon, one package

3 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped

1 28-ounce can Muir Glen Organic, fire roasted crushed tomatoes

¼ cup parsley

2 packages garlic basil pasta, Trader Joe’s

Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1 bunch fresh basil, chopped

Salt and pepper

bacon and leeks 2             basil pasta

Oh the smell of bacon…Now let’s get to cookin’!

Trim the tough tops and root ends of the leeks.  Make sure to clean well as leeks often tend to have dirt on the roots.  Thinly slice with a knife or use a food processor for the leeks, basil and parsley.  Save some whole basil leaves for garnish.

In a large skillet heat the olive oil on medium heat.  Coat the bottom of skillet.  Slowly add the bacon and cook until crisp.  Remove bacon from the pan and roughly chop in your food processor (Cuisinart, everything, is my favorite!)  Add the leeks and garlic to the bacon.  Cook for 6 or so minutes.

bacon               muir glen

Add the tomatoes to the pan and mash using the back of a wooden spoon.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes over low heat.  Stir a few times to mix the flavors.

In a large pot, salt the water and bring to a boil.  Cook pasta to al dente.  Drain the pasta well and place back into pot.  Slowly mix the tomato mixture in with the pasta.  Season with salt and pepper, if desired.   Garnish with parmesan cheese and basil.

blt pasta 2

The pasta pictured above, I purchased at Trader Joe’s.  I love both flavors and use them often during the spring and summer months.  The Muir Glen tomatoes can be found at any grocery store or online.  Serve with a fresh green salad, steamed asparagus or any fresh vegetable your family enjoys.

Happy cooking friends and enjoy!

With love and peace in my heart,

G-xx 

Carrot Cake…With A Touch Of Vanilla!

 

bunny pan

Anything and everything vanilla makes life fabulous!

Ingredients

3 large brown eggs, room temperature

1 pound medium carrots, peeled and finely grated, Cuisinart is best

1 cup white sugar

1 cup vanilla bean sugar, The Vanilla Company sugar is my favorite

1/3 buttermilk

1 ½ cups vegetable oil

1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, The Vanilla Company

3 cups golden raisins (optional)

1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and finely chopped (optional)

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 pinches or shakes of ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

batter                       IMG_0700

Now let’s get to baking!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium size bowl, whisk together shredded carrots, eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract, raisins and nuts.  If you own a food processor, use this to shred the carrots.

In another medium size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.

Combine the flour mixture with the carrot mixture, stir well.  If using a baking pan, I used a cute Wilton bunny pan, coat with butter or spray with Pam.  Bake carrot cake for 30-40 minutes.  If using a muffin tin, fill each ¾ full.  Bake for 23 to 28 minutes.  Insert a cake tester, like a butter knife or bamboo stick, until it comes out clean.

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Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.  I always let anything I bake cool completely before frosting.  But when no one’s looking, I of course lick every spoon and bowl!  Perks of the job I guess!

Isabella’s classmates really enjoyed the muffins for a snack choice.  I omitted the raisins and nuts for food allergy purposes.  I didn’t frosted the muffins because I wanted the children to enjoy without the added sugar.  They loved them and asked me to make them again.  Getting children to eat shredded carrots, WIN!

Happy baking friends!

Peace and Love,

G-

Silly G!

The Vanilla Company, Home of the Vanilla Queen

Check out the website @ www.vanillaqueen.com

So in love with this company and it’s products.  Like really…I can’t get enough!

Holly’s Special Pizza…Sundried Tomatoes is the secret!

 

special pizza

This is one of my favorite recipes and perfect for the springtime!

Ingredients

1 Boboli pizza

1 jar sundried tomatoes in olive oil, chopped

1 red onion, minced

1 fresh bunch basil, chopped

2-3 chicken breasts, skinless-boneless

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 bags Spring Mix Lettuce

3-4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

½ cup pine nuts

½ blue cheese, crumbles

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

red onions                        Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset

Let’s get to cookin’!

Preheat your grill at least 15 minutes before cooking the chicken.  Drizzle the chicken breasts with olive oil and season with crushed garlic, salt and pepper.  Grill the chicken for 12-15 minutes until it reaches 170 degrees F.  Once done, chop the grilled chicken into bite sizes pieces.

In a large bowl mix the lettuce, sundried tomatoes, onion and basil together, toss well.  The oil from the sundried tomatoes will act as your dressing.   Mix in the pine nuts, blue cheese, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Brush the pizza crust with olive oil.  Bake the Boboli pizza for 5-8 minutes.  Watch closely so that you don’t burn the crust.  Our family likes it a little crunchy.  Place the salad mixture on top of the pizza crust.  Slice with a pizza cutter into individual servings.

Get creative and add additional toppings to this recipe.  Diced apples, pears or cucumbers work well here.  Most of these ingredients can be purchased at Trader Joe’s.  Because I love sundried tomatoes like a lot, I usually buy 2 jars.  If your family doesn’t like blue cheese, other cheeses can be used as a substitute like Asiago.  This is a great alternative and has really good flavor.  For an extra smoky taste, toast the pine nuts in a small saucepan over low flame.  To prevent nuts from burning, stir constantly.

This is always a big hit with my girlfriends on those perfect summer nights.  Serve with a nice bottle of Merlot, Chardonnay or a Shirley Temple of course!

Happy Cooking and Enjoy!

Peace and Love,

G-

Happy New Year!

Isabella and I are so excited for next year’s blogging adventure. We would like to thank everyone in the blogging community for welcoming and inspiring us. Looking forward to all the new bloggers and their stories.

Happy New Year to all! With Love and Peace in our Hearts!
Isabella and Gina 🎉

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Mini Muffin Quiches…Bacon, Spinach and Ham!

 

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I had such a blast cooking this recipe with my sister.  We served these delicious small bites for our Christmas morning brunch. 

A perfect party appetizer or classroom snack.  This is a great kitchen activity for the children and helps with eye and hand coordination. 

Ingredients

2 eggs, brown organic taste best here

½ cup whole milk

1 cup grated cheese; Cheddar, Colby Jack or any cheese you wish

2 boxes refrigerated pie crust dough, Pillsbury, or homemade tart shells (frozen is ok)

1 cup diced: ham, bacon, spinach, onion, mushrooms or any fresh garden vegetable

salt and pepper to taste

dried garden herbs: rosemary or French thyme

The dried garden herbs add a nice elegant flavor. A wonderful appetizer to serve if entertaining a crowd.

Recipe tip:  if possible, try not to use the processed shredded cheese.  It doesn’t bake as well and lacks the flavor.   Offer choice and get creative when choosing the quiche toppings.

IMG_9340Now let’s get to cookin’!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, making sure the oven rack is centered.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs with the milk.  Beat together until fluffy.  Slowly add the shredded cheese.  Add the cooked vegetables and mix well.  Season with dried garden herbs, salt and pepper.

On a piece of parchment paper, roll the dough out into a flat circle.  Using a cup face down, press firmly to create circle cutouts.  Gently press the cutouts into the muffin pan.  Evenly spoon the quiche mixture into the mini pie shells.  Bake for 20 minutes, until lightly browned and puffed in the middle.

IMG_9354             IMG_9357

Happy cooking friends and enjoy the party!

Yours truly with Love and Peace in my Heart,

G-xx

Snowball Cookies…A Christmas Eve Tradition

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In my family we call these treats Mexican Wedding Cookies.

Ingredient

1 cup salted butter, softened

½ cup confectioner’s powdered sugar

Pinch of salt

1 cup toasted pecans, finely chopped

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

For cookie sprinkle

½ cup confectioner’s powdered sugar

cough dough in bowl-001

Now let’s get to bakin’ these delicious cookies!

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees.  Using butter or Pam spray, coat the baking sheet.

In a large bowl, add the softened butter and powdered sugar, cream them together until smooth.  Add the pinch of salt and vanilla extract and mix well.

Slowly add the flour until the dough comes together.  Fold in the pecans pieces and mix well.  Let the cookie dough chill for about ½-1 hour in fridge.  It is very important not to skip this step.  It is much easier to form the cookies when the dough has been refrigerated.  The temperature of your hand will make the butter in the dough soften.  Trust me on this one, I have learned this the hard way!

cookie balls-001

Roll the dough into small balls and place onto the baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees until the cookies are golden brown about 12-15 minutes.  When done, remove the cookies from oven and let cool on a baking rack.  Once the cookies are cool, roll them in the sifted powdered sugar.  It’s important that you allow the cookies to cool so that the powdered sugar sticks well.  Roll well in the sugar making sure that each cookie is completely covered.

You can easily double this recipe if entertaining for a holiday party.  This is a great cookie dough to make the day before your baking party.

Along with baking and decorating sugar cookies for Santa, these Christmas Snow balls are for the little elves…Mama and Papa!

Enjoy friends and Happy Baking!

Yours truly with Love and Peace in my Heart,

G-xx

Grandma Gallarza’s Oh So Yummy Spanish Rice

spanish rice bowl-001

This recipe can be used for so many dishes.  Breakfast burritos, tacos, grilled chicken etc… Isabella loves to have a small bowl for a snack. 

My favorite…squeezing fresh lemon juice to add a little kick!

Ingredients

1 –  15 oz can tomato sauce, I like to use Contadina

2 cups basmati or jasmine rice

2-3 tablespoons Knorr chicken flavor bouillon

¼ cup vegetable oil

2 cups filtered water

salt and pepper

rice ingredients

Now let’s get to cookin’!

In a large saucepan on medium heat, add the vegetable oil.  The bottom of your saucepan should have a nice even layer of oil.  Once the oil is heated, slowly add the rice.  Brown the rice until it becomes a nice golden color, 3-5 minutes.  Stirring frequently as you don’t want the rice to burn.  Trust me when I say, I have burnt rice many a times!  Silly me!

Using a measuring cup, measure 1 cup tomato sauce and 1 cup water into a bowl.  While using the measuring cup, slowly add 1 cup water to the rice; stir as you pour.  Stand back a little from the stove and don’t get your hand to close to the pan.  Steam will rise and you don’t want to burn your hand.  Now pour in the tomato and water mixture.  Stir until mixed well.  I like to add water to the tomato sauce can so that I don’t waste any sauce.  Pour the remaining tomato sauce into the rice mixture.

rice in pan 2-001

Add the Knorr chicken bouillon, salt and pepper and mix well.  Continue to cook the rice on medium heat until it reaches a boiling point.  You will notice little bubbles in the middle of the pan.  Lower the heat to simmer and cover the rice with a lid.  Wrapping the lid with a kitchen towel and then covering will help create a nice fluffy rice.  Cook for about 25-30 minutes or until rice is nice and fluffy.

You can get creative and add vegetables to this dish.  I will sometimes add chopped tomatoes, carrots, corn, peas and onion.  Most of the time my grandmother made this recipe as described above.  My father is kinda picky, so she would often times scoop out a little onto the side and then add the vegetables.

If you only wanted to make a small portion of rice use the following ingredients: 1 cup rice, 1 8oz can tomato sauce and 1 cup water.  Cut back on the oil and bouillon.

A helpful kitchen hint…don’t wash or soak the rice before cooking, it just doesn’t work here at all!

Enjoy and Happy Cooking Friends!

Yours Truly with Love and Peace in my Heart,

G-

Traditional Stuffing…Mixing it up with Apples, Pecans and Golden Raisins

b and Mrs. Cubb 2-001

Ingredients

1 bag or bunch of celery, chopped

2 yellow onions, chopped

4 Granny Smith apples, chopped

1 package fresh Sage leaves

2 eggs

½ cup pecan pieces

1 cup golden raisins

3 bags Mrs. Cubbison’s Classic Dressing, Seasoned flavor – purchase 2 boxes

1-1 1/2 cups turkey stock

4-6 tablespoons ground sage

3 sticks salted butter

Salt and pepper

stuffing ingredients-001

Without further ado…Let’s get to stuffin’!

In a food processor (Cuisinart is my favorite) chop the celery, onions, sage leaves and apples.  In a large bowl mix these ingredients together.

In a large saucepan melt 2 sticks of butter on medium heat.  Make sure the bottom of the pan is evenly coated with the melted butter.  Add 3/4 of the chopped veggies to the saucepan to sauté.  Sautéing the vegetables until they start to caramelize, this adds a nice subtle flavor to the stuffing.

Once nicely sautéed, mix in together with the raw vegetables.  Add the Mrs. Cubbison’s stuffing mix and 1 stick melted butter; mix well.  Slowly add the turkey stock and 2 eggs; mix well.

stir the stuffing-001

Add the pecan pieces and golden raisins.  These ingredients are optional however, I believe this is what makes this recipe so incredibly special.  Slowly add the ground sage, salt and pepper.  Taste the stuffing often and add more seasonings if needed.  Mix all ingredients well.  I know, I know a lot of mixing in this recipe but look at it this way…it’s a great arm work out!  Reserve 2-4 cups of stuffing for the bird.  Some will say that this is not safe but our family is well and alive!

Transfer the stuffing to a casserole dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.  A nice golden brown top will indicate readiness.

stuffing in casserole 2-001

Since I was a small child the turkey stuffing is absolutely my most favorite part of the Thanksgiving feast!  A very special thank you to my mother Holly Ann for sharing this family recipe.  She has been making this dish for years and always makes just a tad bit more Just for Me!  Cooking side-by-side with her all these years has given me my passion for cooking, forever grateful!

TeamBandG get silly while trying to make a stuffing video!  Check out our YouTube clip:

Happy Cooking!

Yours Truly with Love and Peace in my Heart,

G-

Sharing is Caring…Please leave me a comment as I would love to answer any questions you might have.  I have a passion for learning so if you have a kitchen tip please share.  Thank you!

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Gobble Gobble Turkey Stock

Making your own turkey stock is super easy and adds the most incredible flavor to the stuffing.

Ingredients

Turkey giblets and neck, found inside of the fresh turkey

4-6 carrots, unpeeled

1 large yellow onion, cut-up

4-6 celery stalks

1 bunch fresh sage leaves

1 bunch fresh rosemary

Salt and pepper, to taste

How to prepare the stock:

In a large stockpot add filtered water ¾ full.  Add the turkey innards, carrots, onion, celery, sage leaves, rosemary, salt and pepper.  Cook over medium heat for 3-5 hours.

This is a cooking step that our family prepares the day before Thanksgiving.  This makes a great stock for turkey soup using the leftovers from the feast.  You can also freeze this stock for a cold winter day.  Having reserved stock handy is a must and makes for a quick and easy soup!

Happy Cooking!

Yours Truly with Love and Peace in my Heart,

G-

Candied Chicken…A Definite Crowd Pleaser!

cooked candied chicken-001

Ingredients

Chicken options, with skin and bone-in:

1 cut-up chicken

6 chicken breasts

1 package thighs and legs

Salt and Pepper

Olive oil

Paprika

Candied Sauce:

½ cup honey

½ cup soy sauce

½ cup ketchup

4 tablespoons brown sugar

3-5 garlic cloves, crushed

candied sauce ingredients-001          candied sauce-001

It’s as easy as One, Two, Three!  Let’s get to cookin’!

If I have the time, I will usually refrigerate the chicken for a few hours before cooking.  This allows the flavors to soak into the chicken pieces.

Place the rinsed chicken parts in a glass Pyrex dish.  Season with olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika.  Sprinkle garden herbs, my favorite to use here is French thyme, on the chicken; set aside.

candied sauce poured-001             glazed chicken-001

In a large bowl combine the honey, soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar and crushed garlic.  Mix these ingredients well.  Pour half of the candied mixture on top of the seasoned chicken.  Reserve some sauce for basting.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Remember to baste the chicken often.  I will usually set the kitchen timer for 15 minutes, a nice reminder to baste.  Oven temperatures and cooking time varies, so use a meat thermometer to check for readiness.

If time allows, bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 30-40 minutes.  The slow cook method will make the chicken fall nicely right off the bone, delicious!

This is a great recipe when serving a large crowd.  For my single mamas’ crew, this is a great dish that can be served in a few different ways once cooked.  Cut the chicken pieces into bite size and make: chicken and cheese quesadillas, chicken salad, chicken sandwiches or chicken/veggie rice mix.  This recipe will make a few meals for the munchkins and gives mama less fuss and clean-up on those “What a day” kinda days!

A very special thank you to my dear friend Jackie Rosenthal, who taught me this wonderful family recipe.  She is a mother like figure in my life, Isabella’s Grammy, and is always teaching us recipes and beautiful table décor to share with you all. Family recipes is truly what I enjoy blogging and sharing the most!  Love you Grammy!

Enjoy and Happy Cooking!

Yours Truly with Love and Peace in my Heart,

G-

Sharing is Caring…Please leave me a comment as I would love to answer any questions you might have.  I have a passion for learning so if you have a kitchen tip please share.  Thank you!

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