Ok, so it took me about 40 minutes to complete this meal from beginning to end but I do not regret it. Not a big deal; however, the slicing and chopping and putting together the dish took a little love, smile.
 
Category:  Entrée  
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:  40 Minutes
Approximate Cost:    $13.29 or $6.65 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free  
Servings: 2  
 
Ingredients for the Haddock ($9.50)
2 haddock filet, pieces cut at about 1” angle ($6.50)
1 ½ tsp. Rosemary Garlic Seasoning (.15)
1 ½ tbsp. Angie’s basting olive oil (.40)
1 handful of fresh cilantro, chopped (.20)
1 large roasted red pepper (.30)
1 Lemon (.60)
1 avocado ($1.25)
Green scallions for garnishing (.10)
 
Directions for the Haddock
Clean the fish, pat it dry and season with 1 ½ tsp. Rosemary Garlic Seasoning and 1 ½ tbsp. of my basting olive oil. Refrigerate until your orzotto is almost done. Then bring it out of the fridge and sauté it in its own basting oil.
Once done, add the juice of ½ lemon, the cut red peppers and any extra seasoning you may want to taste.
 
Ingredients for my Green Orzotto ($3.79)
1 c. Orzo ($1.49)
2 c. beef broth ($1.25)
1 ½ tsp. Rosemary Garlic Seasoning (.15)
1 tbsp. Angie’s basting olive oil (.40)
2 frozen cilantro-garlic-oregano sofrito-molido. (if you don’t have it use fresh chopped) (.50)
 
Directions for my Green Orzotto
Add 1 ½ tbsp. basting oil to a skillet and sauté the orzo.
Add the Rosemary Garlic Seasoning, stir.
Carefully, add the broth ½ c. at a time, and the sofrito-molido disk. Bring it to a light boil to melt the disks and reduce the heat to med-low. Each time it begins to dry, add ½ c. more. The idea is to keep it moist to cook the grain. Once the grain is al-dente, turn it off and begin to plate the meal.
 
My Link:
Angie’s Basting Oil:  www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oil
 

​Ok, so I make lots of flan during my lifetime. Therefore, I am always looking for ideas to make them different from the old mighty traditional flan. Just to steer clear of monotony! This time though, I decided to use a coconut rum and trust me, it didn’t disappoint. 
 
Category:  Dessert
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:   1 hr.
Approximate Cost: $6.83 or .85 cents per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free    
Servings: 8
 
Ingredients
1 cup of white sugar for the caramel (.50)
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk (.99)
1 can condensed milk ($1.45)
1 (13.5) can of Goya Coconut Milk ($1.99))
1 tbsp. Malibu Caribbean Rum (.90)
1 tsp. cinnamon (.20)
5 large whole eggs (.80)
 
Directions
Add 1 c. sugar to a skillet on med high until it melts and turn to caramel, a light amber color. (Don’t burn it). Carefully, pour the caramel into a mold of your choice, set aside.
Get a larger mold, pour hot water and place the smaller mold with the caramel in the middle of the larger mold with water. Set aside.
 
Preheat the oven at 350 degrees.
In a blender, add all the ingredients left in the recipe and blend.
Add the blender mixture into the caramelized mold.
Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour. Check for doneness in the middle. An inserted toothpick must come out clean. The flan will jiggle.
Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.
To plate it, place a larger plate over the flan mold and making sure the flan is completely detached from the sides, carefully turn it upside down to remove from the mold.
 
HACK: Garnish? Yes, you can add a scoop of ice cream, or whip cream or berries, or what the heck, add all of them to it and then enjoy.

​This is such a delicious and good looking dish. If you make it at home, it is also reasonable in price. Furthermore, the mango salsa is refreshing and super healthy.
 
Category:  Entrée  
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:   Under 30 Minutes
Approximate Cost:    $13.15 or $6.58 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free    
Servings: 2
 
Ingredients for the Ahi Tuna ($7.70)
2 ahi tuna steaks ($6.95)
1 ½ tbsp. Angie’s basting olive oil (.40)
1 ½ tsp. Angie’s dry seasoning (.20)
1 tsp. Dry minced garlic (.15)
 
Directions for the Ahi Tuna
Clean and pat dry the fish. Add 1 ½ tbsp. Angie’s basting olive oil, 1 ½ tsp. Angie’s dry seasoning and 1 tsp. dry minced garlic. Refrigerate while you prepare the other ingredients.
 
Ingredients for the Mango Salsa ($2.95)
½ large mango, peeled and cut in 1/2 -inch cubes (.50)
9 to 10 cherry tomatoes cut in half (.35)
1 small jalapeno, rinsed, seeds removed and chopped (.35)
¼ of a small red onion, chopped (.20)
1 handful of cilantro, rinsed and chopped (.15)
½ lemon for the juice (.35)
1 tbsp. olive oil (.35)
Salt and pepper to taste (.10)
½ large avocado peeled and cut in slices (.60)
 
Directions for the Mango Salsas
Rinse and rub the mango, pat dry, peel and dice in ½ to 1-inch cubes.
Chop the onion, celery, jalapeno, cilantro, slice the cherry tomatoes and add to a non-reactive bowl.
Add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and stir.
Add the avocado slices at plating time to keep them fresh.
Refrigerate until serving.
 
Spanish Rice Bag ($2.50)
When you are ready to plate, cook the Spanish rice according to the bag directions (just microwave it for one minute and 30 seconds) done!
 
NOTE: You can also steam some veggies and add to this meal. (Optional)

What a sweet combination. No need to buy thick chops, they take longer to cook and as we all know; pork must be cooked thoroughly. These babies cooked fast and were tender. Boom!
 
Category:  Entreé  
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:    Under 30 Minutes
Approximate Total Cost:    $15.87 or $3.97 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free    
Servings: 4
 
Ingredients for the chops $6.10
8 thin sliced boneless pork chops ($5.55)
1 tbsp. Adobo Goya (.10)
1 tbsp. Granulated Garlic (.10)
1 tbsp. olive oil (.35)
 
Ingredients for the Salad $5.73
3 c. spinach ($2.50)
1 pint Cherry tomatoes cut in half ($2.48)
1 tsp. lemon juice (.25)
2 tbsp. olive oil (.35)
3 Hot banana peppers sliced (.15)
 
Other Ingredients $4.04
1 pk. 11oz. Goya Maduros ($2.79)
1 Avocado ($1.25)
 
Directions
Clean the meat of all fat and season with the ingredients listed under A.
Prepare the salad with the ingredients listed under B. and mix all well. Refrigerate.
Microwave the Maduros listed under C. according to the pk. directions.
In a skillet over medium high, sauté the chops until golden brown, remove let them rest.
Slice the avocado, get the salad, maduros and get ready to plate. Enjoy!

I tell you this, the Goya Green Plantain Pieces are a hit in my home. Why? I don’t have to peel and fry the plantain when I am in a hurry and I can make mofongo in no time as well. You can find it at Spanish and Asian markets and maybe at Walmart. So easy to make and hey, so that you know, I don’t get any money from Goya or anyone, smile. Today I used it to thicken my lentils even more. So creamy!
 
Category:  Entrée 
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:  40 minutes includes softening of the lentils
Approximate Cost:    $7.59 or $1.90 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy or $1.90 per serving
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free    
Servings: 4
 
Ingredients
2 ½ c. soft lentils (read the bag instructions in the bag) ($1.25)
½ lb. pork tenderloin cut in small (1/2 inch) cubes ($2.49)
2 tbsp. Angie’s basting oil (.40)
1 tbsp. Angie’s dry seasoning (.35)
1 tsp. curry powder (.15)
1 tsp. turmeric (.15)
2 frozen sofrito-molido cube (.35)
2 celery ribs chopped (.15)
2 rainbow carrots, sliced (.25)
1 Goya chicken seasoning envelope dissolved in 2 c. of lentils’ water (.20)
1 Sazón seasoning envelope (.20)
1 tbsp. Paprika (.20)
1 c. Goya Green Plantain Pieces to thicken the sauce (.60)
1 tbsp. Goya Salad Olives (.25)
2 c. pumpkin cut in 1” cubes and cooked until tender (.60)
Directions

• Soften the lentils according to the bag directions. Sort and rinse the lentils well. Add 3 c. of water and bring to a boil, discard that water, add new water to the lentils and bring to a second boil. Reduce the heat to low and then simmer for about 10 minutes. Set aside.
• To prepare the country style pork ribs, clean the fat, cut in small (1/2 inch) cubes, season with Angie’s basting oil and dry seasonings.
• Clean and chop all the veggies.
• Brown together the chopped veggies in 1 tbsp. of my basting oil.
• Add the pork to sauté with the veggies in its marinate until almost done but still pink.
• Now add the softened lentils and the liquid where you soften them, about 2 cups, turmeric, curry, frozen sofrito-molido cube, Goya chicken seasoning envelope, Sazon, Paprika and Goya Salad Olives and the Green Plantain Pieces to thicken the sauce. Stir to bring all these ingredients together.
• Simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes, done!
• I also made some pumpkin chunks. I cleaned, cubed and boil the pumpkin pieces until tender.  Then drizzle olive oil all over.

 
My Links:
Angie’s Dry Seasonings: http://www.angieslifehacks.com/family-life/oven-roasted-bacon-chicken-and-angies-seasonings
Angie’s Basting Oil:  www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oil
 
Note: Though the Kale is always awesome, I decided not to add a chopped cup at the end to keep the plantain flavor intense.

Last week I posted my whole wheat bread recipe. This week is my all-purpose or bread flour white sandwich bread. I keep trying to find the best bread recipe that I can add or take off ingredients to make it my own. Making bread is not the easiest thing to do. You have to be cautious about the temperature inside your home, humidity, the length of time to knead the dough, etc. I decided that this challenge, like all the ones that I faced, is not going to stop me. Therefore, here is my new baby, white sandwich bread with sesame and sunflower seeds.
 
Category:  Bread
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:  Over 1 hour
Approximate Cost:  $3.35 or 37 cents per 2 slices
Difficulty Level:  Intermediate
Allergens, Other:  CONTAINS GLUTEN   
Servings: 18 slices for approx. 9 sandwiches
 
Ingredients
2 to 2 ¼ c. cups bread flour (all-purpose flour) ($2.00)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (.15)
1 packet Fleischmann's® RapidRise® Yeast (= 2 ¼ teaspoons) (.50)
½ tsp. salt (.10)
¼ c. water (.0)
½ c. milk (.30)
2 tablespoons butter (.30)
(OPTIONAL) 1 tsp. Chop Rosemary, 2 tbsp. Sunflower, 1 tsp. Sesame seeds 1 tsp. Roasted Garlic and herbs
 
Directions

1. Combine 1 cup flour, sugar, dry yeast, seeds, herbs… in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir until blended.
2. Combine water, milk and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH in 15-second increments until very warm but not hot (120° to 130°F. Butter won’t melt completely). I highly recommend using an instant-read thermometer.
3. Add to flour mixture and salt, beat 2 minutes at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally.
4. Add 1 cup flour; beat 2 minutes at high speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in just enough remaining flour so that the dough will form into a ball.
5. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic and springs back when lightly pressed with 2 fingers, about 6 to 8 minutes. Cover with a wet towel; let rest for 10 minutes.
6. Cut dough into 2 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a 12 x 7-inch rectangle using a rolling pin. (It depends on the dough; the whole piece ball can go into 1 greased mold.
7. Beginning at short end of each rectangle, roll up tightly. Pinch seams and ends to seal. Place, seam sides down, in two 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 “loaf pans that have been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Cover with towel; let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
8. Bake in preheated 350 to 375 degrees  oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans by running a knife around the edges and invert onto wire rack.

 

Oh Lord Jesus, I have been eating beef steak since I was a child and I have been cooking it since I was a teen. So, I would like to share my recipe and encourage you to make it a staple for your family.  Of course, I have my own favorite ingredients, digressing mildly from the traditional ones and furthermore, I do not boil the meat but instead, sautee it until somewhat golden and juicy. Therefore, to make it you need a good cut of meat, or these thin sirloin steaks, smile.
 
Category:  Entrée  
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:  Under 30 Minutes
Approximate Cost:    $11.78 or $3.93 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free    
Servings: 3 (@ 2 steaks per serving)
 
Ingredients
6 thin pre-cut sirloin steaks (5.50)
1 tbsp. AdoboChon, or Adobo Goya (.15)
1 large yellow onion, sliced (.40)
6 large garlic cloves, chopped (.30)
1/4 c. Angie’s basting olive oil ($1.50)
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar (.20)
1 bag Seeds of Change Brown Basmati Rice ($2.48)
1 avocado ($1.25)
 
Directions
In a glass bowl, combine the steaks, Adobo-Chon, or Adobo, Angie’s basting olive oil, sliced onions, chopped garlic and vinegar. Allow to marinate for about 15 minutes in the fridge.
In a skillet over medium, sauté the steaks until golden brown.
Microwave the basmati rice for 1 minute 30 seconds.
Slice the avocado and boom, ready to plate.

MY LINK:
Angie’s Basting Oil:  www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oil

WOW! This pandemic brought back my bread making skills from a century ago, smile. Yes, it seems as though everyone decided to make bread at home during this imposed quarantine. It is so obvious, it took me a month to find Active Dry Yeast and Instant Dry yeast. I went to every grocery that you can think of and not one had it. It was some sort of panic, everywhere I read, people were desperately looking and asking for yeast. Well, thank God I finally found it, so let the bread making begin in my home, smile.
 
I found this recipe on line. It’s from Tasty by Joey Firoben. However, I made it my own by adding the seeds and my basting oil instead of regular oil, I also reduced the whole wheat and all-purpose flour ratio to even amounts, since wheat flour is so tough and I needed to soften the loaf a bit. Oh, and I used bread flour instead of all-purpose. Also next time I make it, I will add 1 tbsp. of chopped fresh rosemary. Boom!
 
Category:  Bread
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:  3 plus hours
Approximate Cost:    $3.93 or (about .50 cents per serving)
Difficulty Level: Advanced
Allergens, Other:  CONTAINS WHEAT 
Servings: 16 slices to make 8 sandwiches
 
Ingredients
1 ¼ cups warm water (not hot) (0)
1 ½ teaspoons sugar (.10)
1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast (.50)
1 ½ cups + 2 tbsp. + 1 tsp. whole wheat flour (.98)
1 ½ cups + 2 tbsp. + 1 tsp.  BREAD Flour (or all-purpose flour) (.90)
2 tablespoons Angie’s basting olive oil (.50)
1 ½ teaspoons salt (.10)
 
SEEDS for the Dough: (.50
4 TSP. Sesame Seeds
4 TBSP. sunflower seeds
 
SEEDS for Topping: (.35)
1 TBSP. Sesame Seeds
1 TBSP. sunflower seeds
 
Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk the water, sugar and yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes, until the yeast has bloomed.
2. Pour in the wheat flour, all-purpose flour, oil, SEEDS and salt, and mix until the dough comes together in a ball that does not stick to your fingers.
3. NOTE: You can also do the first 2 steps in a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, mixing on low speed until the dough no longer sticks to the sides.
4. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough a few times until it really starts to form a tight ball.
5. Form the dough into a ball shape and transfer to a greased bowl, turning the dough to coat it in grease. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a wet towel and store in a warm place for 1 hour.
6. Allow the dough to rise until it doubled in size.
7.  Uncover the bowl and save the plastic wrap/towel to use it again.
8. Transfer the proofed dough to a lightly floured surface, press the dough (don’t stretch) into a 7x7-inch square.
9. Fold the top 3rd of the square down, and the bottom 3rd up to form an even rectangle. Pinch the top fold to seal the dough.
10. Roll the dough over so that the seal faces upward and fold both ends up toward the center, so that the dough has formed an even log shape about the size of your loaf pan.
11. Transfer the dough to a greased loaf pan and cover with the plastic wrap or towel used before.
12. Let the dough rise for 1 hour, until it has raised over the edge of the loaf pan about 1½ inches.
13. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
14. Remove the plastic wrap and transfer to the oven and bake for 50-55 minutes, until the dough has browned slightly and formed a light brown crust.
15. Immediately remove the loaf from the pan and set aside to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.
16. Store in an airtight container or bag. The bread can be stored in freezer up to 6 months.

I think that we all go through the problem of seen some of our bananas going bad. However, there is also hope, since to make my recipe you need to use the ugly dark, spotted bananas, smile. So, no much is lost and the end result is so darn cute I want to eat them all…NOT!
 
Category:  BREAKFAST
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:   20 Minutes
Approximate Cost:  $5.56 for 24 minis
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  CONTAINS Gluten    
Servings: 24 BABY CUPCAKES OR 9 REGULAR
(To make these Baby Muffins, I used 1/3 of my ORIGINAL RECIPE)
​
Ingredients
1 egg (.16)
1/3 c. granulated white sugar (.20)
¼ c. or (4 tbsp.) unsalted butter, room temp. (.60)
½ c. + 2 tbsp. Flour (.70)
¼ tsp. baking powder (.10)
½ tsp. baking soda (.10)
Pinch of salt (10)
1/8 tsp. cinnamon (.10)
1/8 tsp. nutmeg (.10)
1/8 tsp. ginger (.10)
1 ½ tbsp. mashed bananas (approx. 1) (.20)
1 tbsp. buttermilk (.10)
1/8 tsp. Vanilla ($1.00)
1/8 tsp. Amaretto ($1.00)
¼ c. chopped walnuts ($1.00)
DIRECTIONS
Cream butter and sugar, then add egg.
Sift all dry ingredients together.
Add vanilla, Amaretto, milk, banana, nuts to the dry ingredients just until blend.
The batter will not be soft. Fill muffins wrappers with t tbsp. of the batter.
Bake @ 350 degrees for under 10 minutes or until done, depending on your oven. 

What a lunch my friends. Looks good, taste good and I don’t think it adds any pounds to our slender bodies, since the little yucca bowls are fried in olive oil and drained super well, smile.
 
Category:  Entrée  
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:   Under 30 Minutes
Approximate Cost:    $34.38 or $17.19 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Intermediate
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free  
Servings: 2 +
 
Ingredients
1 lb. of cooked octopus, cleaned and diced (Costco sells it at ($21.99)
2 tbsp. chopped olives, drained and rinsed (.40)
3 Roma Tomatoes (.99)
½ small chopped Jalapeno, seeded (.25)
¼ c. chopped roasted red peppers (.50)
½ Red onion, chopped (.40)
1 handful of Cilantro, chopped (.25)
1 lemon - juice of a large lemon (.50)
¼ c. extra virgin olive oil ($1.25)
1 ½ tsp. Roasted Garlic and Herbs (.35)
8 Goya Yuca Cups ($3.00)
4 c. Mixed greens ($1.50)
½ lb. asparagus ($1.75)
1 avocado ($1.25)
 
Directions 

1. The octopus is already cooked and clean, however, I like to rinse and pat dry it before dicing it in bite size pieces and place in a med-size bowl.
2. Steam the asparagus in ½ cup of salted water to-taste until bright green.
3. Meantime, chop the onion, olives, roasted red peppers, and Jalapeno and add to the octopus’s bowl.
4. Add 4 tbsp. of olive oil, Roasted Garlic and Herbs, lemon juice (and some Red Hot sauce to taste if you want) and chopped cilantro. Stir it all well. Refrigerate while you prepare the plantains.
5. In a skillet with whatever olive oil you have left of maybe a bit more, fry the plantains until golden brown according to the package directions.
6. Slice the avocado, tomatoes and you are ready to plate as soon as all the plantains are done. If you want, just use my slide presentation to plate.  Emjoy!