Amazingly Simple

This is something that I came up with one morning that I was craving two things; salami and eggs.  I have made scrambled eggs before with cheese but this time I was going to include salami. The salami that I used in the eggs was deli sliced salami that I bought from the deli section. Eggs are another dish that you can add many different ingredients to.

Ingredients

• Eggs
• Butter
• Cheese
• Salami
• Salt

Directions

1. First crack the eggs into a small bowl ( 2 large eggs if for one person )
2. Next whisk the eggs ( if you don’t have a whisk it’s ok use a fork )
3. Then add a pinch of salt to the eggs
4. Next cut the cheese and salami into strips
5. In a small pan over low heat add some butter to coat the bottom of the pan
6. Then add the eggs
7. Keep stirring the eggs as they cook
8. In 3-4 minutes add the cheese and salami
9. Keep stirring till the eggs are fully cooked
10. Serve on a plate with a side of toast.

Tip: In case you don’t have salami you could use some deli ham as well. I have tried it before and it works very well too.

This is a yummy snack that I have been enjoying since I was very little. They are so delicious that you could easily eat a bunch in one sitting. This is another recipe where I use a store bought item to hurry up the process when making them for a quick dinner or lunch. This is something that you could also get the whole family involved in making. This is also a dish where you could let your imagination run wild. Some of the common fillings have been chicken, cheese, and beef. But some of the most creative ones I’ve seen are cheeseburger or Philly Cheese Steak fillings.

Ingredients

• Ground Beef
• Goya Disks ( Goya Discos )
• Oil
• 1 packet Goya Sazon
• 1 teaspoon Goya Adobo
• A pinch of Black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
• 1 teaspoon Vinegar
• A pinch of Salt

Directions

1. Defrost the empanada disks
2. Cook the Meat
   1. Place the ground beef in a bowl
   2. Add all of the seasonings to the meat
   3. Mix the meat and seasonings together
   4. Add 1 teaspoon of oil to a medium pain
   5. Place the pan on the stove over low heat
   6. Place the meat in the pan
   7. As the meat cooks break down the meat into small pieces
   8. Cook until the meat is brown
   9. Once cooked place the meat in a bowl and set aside

Assembling

1. Place one disk on a place
2. Add 1-2 tablespoons of meat on half of the empanada disk
3. Fold over the other half of the disk
4. With a fork press down along the edge of the empanada

Cooking

1. In a medium sized pot add oil to about half way
2. Let the oil heat up for about 4-5 minutes
3. Once the oil is hot carefully add the empanadas
4. Cook until golden brown
5. Once cooked place on a paper towel to cool off and dry off any excess oil
6. Once cooled off they are ready to serve

This is one of my absolute favorite things to make for dinner. It’s even been a big hit with my friends who always ask me to make it every time they come over to my house for dinner. The recipe was given to me by my mom.  I always watched her make it since I was a little girl. I was very proud of myself the day I was able to make it myself and have it taste just like hers. That’s the moment I knew that I had mastered making the chicken. The chicken goes get with any side dishes. Like rice, yellow or green plantains, some steamed veggies, etc.  This is something that is simple, quick and easy to make.

Ingredients

• Chicken
• Oil
• 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Onion powder
• 1 teaspoon Goya Adobo
• 1 packet Goya Sazon
• A pinch of Black pepper
• A pinch of Salt
• 1 teaspoon of Vinegar

Directions

1. Clean the chicken
   1. Take off any excess skin and fat
   2. Rinse with water
2. Place chicken in a bowl
3. All of the seasonings and vinegar to the chicken
4. Mix the chicken with the seasonings to coat every piece
5. Place the chicken in a medium sized pan
6. Cove the chicken with some water
7. Add 1 tablespoon of oil
8. Cook over low heat
9. Turn the chicken every few minutes so it cooks evenly on both sides
10. Once the water dries keep a eye on the chicken making sure both sides get fried
11. Once golden brown on both sides place the chicken on a plate and then serve.

Like I said before this chicken goes paired very well with any side dishes.

This is a recipe that I have learned from my best friend. We have been cooking this dish for many years now and it tasted better and better every time we make it. This is my go to dish when I’m craving some pasta. What I love about this dish is that there are many flavors mixed in that blend really well with each other.  This is a great recipe that one piece won’t be enough, you’ll be going back fro seconds!

Ingredients

• Ziti noodles
• Italian sausage
• Cream of mushroom
• Marinara sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• Garlic
• Red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees
2. In a pot of boiling water add the ziti noodles ( add a pinch of salt for flavoring and a bit of oil so the noodles don’t stick )
3. In a medium sized pan a teaspoon of oil and place on a low heat
4. Take the sausage out of the casing and place in the hot pan
5. As the sausage is cooking keep breaking down the sausage to small pieces
6. Once the sausage is a brown add a can of cream of mushroom soup
7. Next add a quarter of the marinara sauce ( if not enough add a little more )
8. Keep cooking the sausage for 3-5 minutes more ( careful not to burn the sausage )
9. Once the noodles are done boiling drain the water out.
10. In the same pot the noodles were cooked in carefully incorporate the sausage and sauce mix
11. Then place everything in an oven safe pan
12. Top with mozzarella cheese
13. Place the pan in the over
14. Cook for 15 minute or until all of the cheese has melted
15. Once cooked place to the side to cool off
16. Once cooled cut an serve

Tostones and Maduros are the best side dishes to include tying in any meal.  Not only are they a great side dish they are also a very delicious snack. My mom has made them always my whole life. They are a perfect balance of both sweet and salty. If you want to add something salty and savory then you would make some tostones for your meal. If you’re looking to add a hit of sweet to your meals then you would make some maduros.

Tostones

Ingredients

• Green Plantains ( Platanos)
• Salt
• Oil
• Garlic
• Water

Peeling the Plantain

1. Cut off each end of the plantain
2. Make a slit length wise down the plantain
3. With the point of the knife carefully peel the plantain
4. Once peeled set aside

Directions

1. Grab a cutting board
2. Placed peeled plantain on the cutting board
3. Cut 1 inch think circles
4. In a small pan add 1/4 cup of oil ( if it doesn’t look like enough add a little more)
5. Let the oil heat up for about 2-3 minutes
6. Once the oil is hot carefully add the cut plantains
7. Let them get a little golden brown a bit on each side
8. Once golden brown on each side pull them out of the pan
9. Place the plantain on the cutting board
10. Take a small plate and gently press down on the plantain
11. Add the squished plantains back into the hot oil
12. Fry again for about 2 minutes each side
13. Once fully fried sprinkle a little salt over them.

Tip: if you would like to give the tostones a small taste of garlic; in a small bowl of water add some garlic powder. After the plantains are squished dip them one at a time in the water garlic mix. Set them aside for a moment before adding them into the hot oil to fry again.

Maduros (Yellow Plantains)

Peeling the Maduros

1. Cutting off the ends of the plantains
2. Make a slit down the length of the plantain
3. Carefully peel the plantain

Yellow plantains are much easier to peel than the green ones.

Directions

1. Place the plantain on the cutting board
2. Cut the plantain diagonally about an inch wide
3. Add about 1/4 cup of oil to a small pan on medium heat
4. Carefully place the plantains into the hot oil
5. Brown each side for about 2 minutes
6. Once each side is brown place on a place and serve

Rice is one of the most common sides among many cultures. Coming from a Hispanic background, rice is part of almost every meal that my mom makes. It’s safe to say that my family loves rice. This is one of the very first things that I learned to make on my own. I’m not going to lie, the first time I made rice by myself I totally messed it up. It looked more like rice pudding than nice fluffy rice you would see on tv or in the restaurants.  But I didn’t give up there I was determined to fix my errors and make some nice fluffy rice. On today’s post I’m going to go over two different ways to make rice; on the stove and in a rice cooker.  The rice cooker is an appliance that has made it a little easier and faster to make rice.

Ingredients

• Rice
• Oil
• Salt
• Onion
• Garlic powder

Directions  ( Stove Top )

1. Rinse 3 cups of rice then set aside
2. Place a large pot on the stove over a low heat
3. Add 2 table spoons of oil to the pot
4. Cut a slice of onion and add to the pot
5. Once the onion is brown add the rice
6. Stir the rice for 3-4 minutes
7. The add water, enough to cover the rice
8. Raise to a medium heat
9. Before all of the water dries out lower the heat and cover
10. Once all the water has dried out, with a fork fluff the rice.
11. Let the rice keep cooking until soft.

Once the rice is soft place with the rest of the food.

Directions (Rice Cooker)

1. Measure 3 cups of rice with measuring cup provided
2. Rinse the rice
3. Add the rice to the cooker
4. Measure 3 cups of water with measuring cup provided
5. Add salt to taste
6. Add a little garlic powder for extra flavoring (optional)
7. Then add 2 table spoons of oil
8. Cover and then set the cooker.
9. Once done fluff the rice with a fork
10. Let the rice sit in the cooker for about 5 more minutes
11. After 5 minutes then serve

Buffalo wings are very popular and loved my many people. Some may think that they are difficult to make but in reality they are easy to make. This is something that I make when I get together with my family to watch major sporting events. Next time you are invited to watch the Super Bowl, World Series, a major UFC  fight or any major sporting event you can impress everyone by making buffalo wings.

Ingredients

• Snack size chicken wings
• Seasonings ( Salt, Black Pepper, Garlic )
• Buffalo Sauce
• Butter

Directions

1. Defrost the wings an place in a bowl
2. Season the wing to your liking (I add some garlic, salt, and pepper, not too much seasonings because we will be adding the sauce later)
3. In a medium sized pot add oil till about half way
4. Place pot of oil over a medium heat
5. Wait about 2-3 minutes for the oil to get hot
6. Once the oil is hot, gently add the wings (Be extra careful during this step, hot oil is very dangerous )
7. Take out the wings when they are golden brown
8. Place them on some paper towels to drain any excess oil

Buffalo Sauce

1. Add 1-2 cups of buffalo sauce to a medium pot
2. Place 1 tablespoon of butter to the sauce
3. Heat the sauce for about 2-3 minutes

Assembling

1. Place wings in a large bowl
2. Add a little bit of the sauce
3. Gently mix the chicken and sauce
4. Add more sauce if needed.

Serve on a plate with some Ranch and/or Blue Cheese Dressing and Enjoy!

This is another recipe that my friends and I like to make. We all have a huge sweet tooth and we like to have some cupcakes almost every time we get together. Like I said in Tip 1, we always have limited time when we hang out.  This is another recipe that we like to use store bought items and tweak them how we want. When we make cupcakes we like to let out imaginations run wild and see what delicious cupcakes we can make.

Ingredients

• Chocolate Cake Mix
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Cream Cheese
• Vanilla
• Oreos
• White Chocolate Chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven as directed on the cake mix box
2. Prepare the chocolate cake mix as directed on the box
3. Place the cupcake liners on the cupcake try
4. Fill the liners ¾ of the way with cake batter
5. Once every liner is filled place 1-2 white chocolate chips in the batter
6. Place in the oven and cook for 16-19 minutes or as directed on the box
7. When done baking set aside to cool off

Frosting

1. Place 3/4 of the cream cheese frosting in a bowl
2. Mix in 3 ounces of cream cheese
3. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla
4. Add crushed Oreos ( optional )
5. Set aside for later

Assembling

1. Crush Oreos in a sandwich bag
2. Add frosting to your liking on the cupcake
3. Sprinkle some crushed Oreos on tip

One of my friends and I’s quick and easy to make plate of food that we like to cook are quesadillas. The one thing that makes this plate quick and easy to make is because we like to use some store bought items to make the quesadillas.  This helps us out to cut the cooking time and allow us to spend more time on watching a movie, playing some board games, or to simply spend some time catching up as we enjoy our food.

Ingredients

• Rotisserie Chicken (Store Bought)
• Tortillas ( Large Flour Tortillas)
• Cheese (Taco Blend)
• Spinach
• Seasonings ( Garlic, Red Pepper Flakes : Optional )
• Sour Cream

Cooking Spinach

1. In a pot of boiling water place the spinach
2. Let it cook for 3-5 minutes
3. Once cooked strain the water
4. Squeeze out any excesses water
5. Set aside in a bowl for later

Directions

1. Take the chicken off the bone and place in a bowl.
2. Pull the chicken apart until it’s all shredded
3. Once shredded you can add some seasoning if you would like, I usually as some garlic and some red pepper flakes for a little bit of spice.
4. Once the seasoning are added mix the chicken so the seasonings coats all of the chicken.
5. Butter one side of the tortilla, this will help it from sticking onto the pan
6. Place pan; big enough to hold the tortilla, on the stove over medium heat.
7. Once the pan is a little warm place the tortilla butter side down on the pan.
8. Next add the chicken, cheese, and spinach
9. The place another tortilla on top with the butter side up.
10. Once a little brown, carefully flip the quesadilla over to brown the other side.
11. When both sides are brown, place on a plate to cool off
12. Once cooled you are ready to cut the quesadilla into triangles like a pizza
13. Place the cut pieces nicely on a place and serve with sour cream.