Hummus Spinach Ricotta "paquetitos"

Looking for some recipes yesterday, I found a greek recipe called "Hummus Spinach Spanakopita" that looks pretty tasty...I had almost all the ingredients the recipe ask, so I just made my own version. At the bottom is the original recipe where you can compare ingredients :)

Ingredients:

- Spinach 1 package

- 1 cup ricotta

- 1 cup hummus

- nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon

- salt 1/2 teaspoon

- pepper 1/4 teaspoon

- garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon (i used garlic powder because the recipe asked for garlic hummus, and I had the plain one)

- 1 tapa para pastelitos (small empanadas cover? you can fin them in latin markets)

Star chopping the spinach, and transfer to a bowl. Heat the oven at 350 degrees farenheits.

Add hummus, ricotta and all the spices....

Start filling the dough with a teaspoon

Brush the border of the dough with water, so it can stick together, join the ends in the middle and press all the sides.

I use a cupcake baking pan to keep the firm, but you can use just a regular baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes...and there you go! It tastes really yummy, I like it....it is like an appetizer size, but i made a lot so with a nice salad, it was a healthy dinner!

http://www.cookingwithbooks.net/2014/11/hummus-spinach-spanakopita.html

Turkey chilli (my version)

According to my meal plan for the week I supposed to cook turkey meatballs today, but a trip to the car service office this afternoon make me change my plans (need to change my car brakes); so it was so much easier to use the crock pot for a quick dinner.

I looked for a recipe just to remind myself about timing and some measurements but I ended doing my own version.

I don't eat spicy food, it is funny because many Americans think as a Latina I should like spicy, but in Paraguay the most spicy we eat is black pepper and a knorr hot sauce; anyways the recipe I found it looks very spicy, and asked for 1 whole jalapeño, and I was afraid it will be to spicy, so I just used 1/4 of it, but the funny part was, the recipe asked 1/8 tsp of cayene pepper and by mistake I put 1 tsp!  I had no idea cayenne pepper was that spicy....after all it was ok, less jalapeño, more cayenne, the result was spicy but still good, so it is up to you in how spicy do dou you like.

At the bottom it is the link of the original recipe if you want to try that one :)

Ingredients: 

- 1 pound ground turkey

- 4 tomatoes (the recipe ask for can diced tomatoes, I prefer naturals)

- 1 bell pepper

- 1 onion

- 1 jalapeño (I ended using it just quarter of this)

- 4 spoons tomatoes paste

- 1 tsp oregano

- 1 1/2 salt

- 1 tsp cayene pepper (you may want to reduce this)

- 1 tsp chilli powder

-  4 spoons ketchup (my idea)

- 1/2 cup chicken broth

- 1 can kidney beans

- cilantro, green onions and cheese for topping

Place a saucepan in a medium heat, drizzle olive oil on it and cook the turkey until brown, about 10 minutes or more, then transfer to the crockpot.  In the same pan put the onion and garlic, cook for 8 minutes until they are soft, transfer to the crockpot.

Chop the rest of the vegetables and add the spices, beans, ketchup and broth. Set the crockpot for 4 hours in low, and just go to do your errands.

Here is is the final result, serve warm, top with cilantro, green onions and cheese. I also cooked some brown rice to go with it. It was good, it had that kick in your mouth at the end of the bite....try it and enjoy it :)

http://www.eat-yourself-skinny.com/2013/09/the-best-turkey-chili-youll-ever-taste.html

Shepper's pie

Looks like the fall is finally here, gray and chilly weather today!

So, i bought mashed potatoes from costco, there are two packages in one, they are big and since i still have one in the freeze i looked for something to do with it; i found a healthy version of shepper's pie with turkey but I used beef.  

With the mashed potatoes ready to use, you have half of the work done.

Ingredients:

2 celery ribs

2 carrots

1 onion

2 garlic

Peas, half can

Ground beef
2 cups beef broth
3 spoons flour

Thyme

Rosemary

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven 400 degrees farenheit.
Chop the onion, garlic, celery and carrots, heat a saucepan with oil and sauted them for 10 minutes, then add the beef, thyme, rosemary and the flour, mix everything and continue cooking another 5 minutes...

Add the beef broth and leave to boil for another 5 minutes.. when is cool, add the peas.

In a deep baking dish, transfer the beef mixture, spread the mashed potatoes on the top and try to make it flat, 

Bake until potatoes are golden, about 30 minutes, then slice and serve. As you realize in the picture I didn't even have time to take a pic of the whole dish, my family was hungry!!

Try and enjoy it!!

11/10 Veggie soup and Paraguayan soup

When you read the title I'm sure you though ; two soups together? Well actually the paraguayan soup is solid, is a kind of corn bread but with cheese and onions.

On Mondays I always need to eat soup, I don't know maybe because it was a tradition in my family and brought me memories of my childhood; so even my husband is not a fan of soups, I make them every week, at least once!

Veggie Soup

Ingredientes:
- 2 carrots peeled and chopped
- 2 finely minced garlic
- 2 celerys leaves? chopped
- 1 tomatoes chopped
- half medium onion chopped
- 2 small potatoes peeled and chopped
- 2 cups chicken broth
- oregano, about 1/2 spoon (6 leaves)
- 1/2 cup jazmine rice
- salt and pepper
- oil aproximately 2 spoons

Heat the oil in a stockpot over medium-low heat. 

When is hot add the carrots, garlic, celery, and onions; cook for 7 minutes until are soften. Add the chicken broth, salt, pepper. Cover to boil for 5 minutes, then add the potatoes and tomatoes and the rice, boil until the rice is ready. Turn off the heat and add the chopped oregano.

I used chicken broth Costco brand 

So happy with my herb plant i bought yesterday (oregano, thyme and rosemary) 

Paraguayan Soup

There are many recipes online of Paraguayan soup, but the best is and always will be the one made in Paraguay with paraguayan cheese, pork fat and in the firewood oven....ahhhh memories...
This time I'm going to try one a little healthier and with ingredients we can find in US. Usually I use here Queso fresco that is the closest one to paraguayan cheese, but today I'll use cottage cheese and see what happens. LOL

Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 eggs
- 8 oz cottage cheese
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven 375 degrees F. Grease and add a spoon of flour to cover a pan. Set aside.

In a large saucepan melt the butter over low heat and add onions and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are soft, 5 minutes or more. Remove from heat, wait to cool down a little bit.

Then add the cottage cheese and the eggs yolk, mix very well, and slowly start adding the cornmeal and milk.

In a clean bowl place the white eggs and using a hand mixer, beat the eggs and soft peaks form, around 3 or 4 minutes. Then gently add the eggs to the cornmeal mixture.

Pour the mix in the pre grease pan and bake for 35 minutes or until a knife insterted in the center come out clean.

Remove from oven, wait to cool down a little bit and serve with the soup.

Here is the piece I ate, I like it...very moist, but next time for my healthier version I'll use less butter. Of course I forgot to take the pic of the soup, sorry :)

Note: In Paraguay this dish is very traditional to eat with barbeque (asado) and yucca, or also like this case to serve with a light soup.

11/8/2014 Potatoes and chicken salad

Hi there...

Today i'm doing something latin, it may be call in different ways in some countries of SouthAmerica and it has variations in the ingredients too. I know people from Venezuela and Puerto Rico has something similar...in Paraguay we call it "Salpicon de Pollo"

Ingredients:

- mayonaisse 1/4 cup (if you want to do healthier you can mix 2 spoons of mayo with greek yogurt and add garlic powder, salt and pepper) 

- 1 can of peas

- parsley 

- 1 chicken breast cooked and chopped

- 2 carrots cooked and chopped

- sliced black olives

- 1 pound potatoes peeled, cooked in boil water and chopped in cubes

Peel the potatoes and put in water to keep it from turn them in brown, meanwhile you put a pot of water to boil. Cooked until the potatoes are soft.

Mix together potatoes, carrots, peas

Saute the chicken in a pan with a spoon of oil, when it is brown add some water and add salt, pepper and bay leaves. Cook for 10 min, let it cool down.

Chop it in small pieces and add to the other ingredientes.

Add the black olives and the mayonaisse and some salt and pepper.

Put in the fridge; serve it cool!

PS. I forget to add the parsley :)

Try it  and enjoy it! 

11/4/2014 Stir fry pork with asparagus

A chilly morning today, but the forecast said it will be 90 by noon!

We have plans for a playdate at the park this morning, and a free? afternoon at home, that's mean I won't have a lot of time for cooking, so I'll go ahead and prepare some of my ingredients.

Today i'll doing a pork stir fry with asparagus. The original recipe asks for snap peas too, i didnt use then, not a fan.

I found this stir fry pork cut in the grocery store, I'm not sure if it is pork tenderloin as the recipe ask, but I gave it a try :)

Here are the ingredients I used:

1 pound stir fry pork
1 cup brown rice
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sherry
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 bunch of green onions, sliced thin
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and sliced pieces
1/4 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

I added some olive oil to my wok and I started saute the pork over high heat, around 8 min, or until it was brown...

Meanwhile the pork was cooking I whisked together the soy sauce, sherry, sesame oil, corn starch and rice vinegar...

This is how it looked the pork, I set aside and in the same wok I added more oil and I started to saute the asparagus and green onions...for about 5 minutes, then I added the water, the ginger and garlic, and left for another 3 minutes...

Finally I added the mix and the pork, I cooked for another 5 minutes.

The rice I put in water hours before start cooking that helps to the brown rice to cook faster. When it was ready I mixed with some butter.

I think I overcooked the asparagus, they were a little soggy instead of crunchy :( but in general the flavor was good...

Below the link of the actual recipe...try it and let me know how did it go...

The original recipe is this:

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-pork-stirfry-with-aspar-47510

11/4/2014 - Pesto Linguine and baked salmon

I'm a stay home mom, busy, so when i have enough time I can make a very elaborated recipe but most of the time I make something quick and simple.

I tried to plan my meals ahead so I do my groceries once a week. Today I made a easy dinner...
3 principal ingredients:
- marinated salmon (sells at Costco, a very good deal and it is wild!)
- Linguine wheat pasta
- Pesto paste

Meanwhile my LO was taking her nap..I start boiling the water for the pasta with salt and oil.

I always put foil in my baking pan, is so much easier to clean...if you have to, sometimes it just stay clean!!
Salmon ready to go in the oven...350 degrees for 20 minutes.

When the pasta was ready I put in the colander to let the liquid to flow out, put it back in the pot and
add some butter, about 2 spoons of pesto paste and parmesan cheese.

And here we go...voila! My husband loves fried eggs, so I add one for his plate....

PS. Hope my english is not too bad :)