Hula Hula Yum Yum Chicken

I found this dish on Pinterest. I was honestly really skeptical of it but it actually turned out to be SUPER yum!

Ingredients: 
1/2 Cup of brown sugar
6 Tablespoon of ketchup (I used Heinz)
6 Tablespoons of reduced sodium soy sauce
2 1/2 Tablespoons of sherry or chicken broth (I used chicken broth)
1 1/2 Teaspoon of garlic
Chicken (I used 2 chicken breasts)

Cooking Instructions:
1. Start by prepping the marinade

2. I cut off all the fat from the chicken breasts
3. Put the marinade into a bag with the chicken

*** Let the chicken marinade for a few hours at least if not a day

4. Preheat grill (around 400 degrees)

5. Cook chicken for about 5 minutes a side. When flipping the chicken, I basted the chicken with more sauce.

*** To check if chicken is done, you can poke it with your thongs and if it is soft like your finger tips then it is done.

6. Slice the chicken.

7. ENJOY :)

The chicken came out tender and rich in flavor! It was so great! I CANNOT wait to make it again!

Zucchini Mania

I cannot believe I have not posted this recipe yet. Trust me guys its a FANTASTIC one! This is my go to side for when I'm having friends over and need to whip something up. It is very easy and 100% guaranteed to delight!

This zucchini dish is very simple. I like to have all my food prepped. This dish absolutely lends itself to doing so.

I literally eat this zucchini dish twice a week BY ITSELF - just the zucchini! Seriously so yummy!

Ingredients:
Zucchini (I use about 3-4 zucchinis for about three people - it depends on how much you think people will eat)
Basil
Oregano
Thyme
Garlic Powder
Avocado oil (olive oil also okay)
Optional: Alessi premium balsamic reduction

****NOTE: It ends up making less than you think (in my opinion) since the zucchini shrinks - especially when cooking it in a pan.

There are two different ways to prepare the zucchini - on the grill or on the stove.


Cooking Ingredients:

FOR GRILLING:
1. Start by washing the zucchini

2. Cut the zucchini into slices.

3. Place into a gallon sized baggie with herbs and avocado oil. How much herbs you want to use is really up to you. I am usually pretty liberal knowing that a lot of it will fall off once the zucchini hits the grill.

4. Store until ready to use.

5. Once grill is around 400 degrees, place the zucchini on the grill. Cook for about four minutes and then flip. I like my zucchini to be more on the burned side but it is up to you. All grills are different so just keep an eye on it.

6. ENJOY!


FOR COOKING ON THE STOVE:
1. Start by washing the zucchini

2. I dice up the zucchini. Smaller pieces helps it cook faster.

3. Place into a baggie with herbs and avocado oil (up to your discretion how much you want to add - just know some of it will fall off in the cooking process).

4. When ready to cook, place in a pan on medium heat.

5. It probably takes about 15 minutes for the zucchini to get to the right doneness. It will require a lot of monitoring and flipping. I do like my zucchini somewhat burned so I might cook mine more than most people.

6. YAY FOOD!

OPTIONAL: After the zucchini is done cooking, I drizzle a balsamic reduction over my zucchini. I like the Alessi premium balsamic reduction.

While it might not look super pleasing - I assure you that whatever it lacks in presentation makes up for in taste!

I was even staying at a friends house and offered to help cook and I made my zucchini dish and they were BLOWN AWAY!

Sweeter Than Apple Pie

I guess I have an apple theme going on but one my classmates requested apple pie for this birthday. Like all birthdays - your wish is my command. So I made an apple pie.

Overall, pies are fairly easily to make as far as desserts go and they are always a crowd pleaser :)

Yield: 1 apple pie

Ingredients:
1 Pillsbury pie crust
3 granny smith apples
2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of corn starch
1/2 of a squeezed lemon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
3 tablespoons of melted butter
1 tablespoon of melted butter
One piece of aluminum foil

Cooking Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Start by peeling the apples.

3. Then dice the apples. The size of the slices is up to you but I prefer to cut the pieces fairly small.























4. Add the sugar, cinnamon, butter, brown sugar, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch to the apple mixture.

5. Mix the mixture so that all of the spices and sugar and butter get incorporated.

6. Spray the pie tin with Pam to prevent any sticking.

7. Unroll the pie crust into the pan. Push the crust as far up the pan as you can. It is important to make sure that the bottom pie crust can "meet up" with the top pie crust.

8. Add the apple mixture to the pie tin. There is no rule book about how "full" the pie tin needs to be. I try to add as much as I can.

9. Place the second pie crust on top of the mixture. Press the two pie crusts together so they come together to make a pattern. Use your fingers to create triangle-squiggly type shapes all around the pie crust. Then make some holes in the center of the pie crust. This will let the air escape as the pie cooks.

10. Use the remaining one tablespoon of melted butter to brush it all over the pie crust (the edges and the middle). This will help create a golden brown color on the pie crust.

11. Take a piece of aluminum foil and fold it in half. Then fold it in half again. Then cut a quarter of the circle out of the foil.

12. Unfold the foil and it will create a circle. Then place the circle on top of the pie. The goal of this is to cover the crust of the pie. You do not want the edges of the crust to over cook so it is crucial to put on the aluminum foil.

13. Place the pie in the oven and cook for about 40 minutes and then remove the aluminum foil.

14. Cook the pie for another 20 minutes.

15.  Remove the pie and serve with vanilla ice cream!

This was a hit with my class! Some students told me I should open a bakery and called it the best apple pie they have ever had!



NOTE: If you do want to create your own pie crust - here is a recipe that I like to use:
1 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 teaspoons of ice cold water
6 tablespoons of butter

Fresh Apple Cake

My grandmother was a great cook. One of my mom's favorite dishes from her childhood is my grandma's fresh apple cake.

My grandma just recently passed away and as a moment, my aunt got my grandma's handwritten fresh apple pie recipe put on a  cake stand. 

Ingredients:

5 cups of diced peeled green apples 

2 cups of sugar 

1/2 of a lemon 

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup of vegetable oil 

2 tablespoons of vanilla 

3 cups of flour 

1 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of all spice 

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon 

1 cup of chopped pecans 

Cooking Instructions:

1. Peel and dice green apples. 

2. Add two cups of sugar 

3. Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla and squeeze the half of a lemon.

4. In a separate bowl, add eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla 

5. In another separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda, allspice, and cinnamon.

*** You do NOT have to sift. Pouring it in spoon my spoon is sufficient. The idea is to just get some air in the flour (if that makes any sense).

6. Then add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.

7. Add the apples and pecans to the cake mixture. 

8. Pour the cake mixture into a pan.

9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

10. Put the cake mixture in the oven. It will cook for about one hour. 

11. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven - sprinkle the cake with a generous amount of sugar. This will create a crust on top of the cake. 

This cake does not require a frosting but it is super delicious! 

This sh!t is bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

My friend is actually allergic to the grains in flour so they started using Einkorn flour, from Italy.  It is the only wheat to not have been hybridized. Einkorn flour has 30% less starch and 30% more protein than regular flour.

So I decided to test our the flour and use it to bake them some banana bread from Einkorn flour.

Here is a picture of the bag of flour I used.

Ingredients: 
2 ripe bananas
1/3 cup of melted butter
3/4 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of baking soda
large pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of einkorn flour


Baking Instructions:

1. I did not have any ripe bananas so I put them in them oven at 250 degrees for twenty minutes.

2. Add all of the ingredients into a bowl (I just add them all at once).

3. Then mix up all the ingredients.

4. Add the bananas to the mixing bowl.

5. Change the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

6. Put the bread batter into a pan and then put into the oven for about 20 minutes. It is not an exact science so just try and keep an eye on it.

7. After the bread is done cooking, I put the bread in some foil - this helps keep the bread moist.

The outcome was delicious! She is a physical therapist and her clients were loving it! The bread was moist and tasty!

Try it guys and let me know what you think!

Spinach and Artichoke stuffed Chicken

I LOVE spinach dip. Ask my mom - everytime I come home I ALWAYS ask her to make me some.

I was craving some spinach dip so I thought why not stuff spinach dip in some chicken. So this dish is inspired by spinach dip.

I did not go off a recipe just instinct.

Ingredients: 
1 boneless chicken breast
1/2 cup of spinach
1/2 of artichoke hearts (I used two from a can).
1/2 of shredded mixed or mozzarella cheese
1/2 of ricotta cheese
pinch of salt
pinch of garlic powder

Cooking Instructions:
1. Start by cutting up the spinach and the artichokes. It is up to you with how small you want the pieces to be.

**Alternatively, you could put all of this in the food processor along with the ricotta and shredded cheese.

2. Add the ricotta cheese and shredded cheese to the spinach and artichokes.

3. Grab the chicken breast and slice a slit in the chicken. Ideally, in the middle of the chicken and as far back as you can go.

4. Put the spinach and artichoke mixture into the chicken.

5. Then place chicken in a hot pan until the chicken browns on each side.

6. Then put the chicken in the oven to finish for about 10 minutes on 350 degrees.

*** I had extra spinach and artichoke mixture so I put the mixture in the oven to cook with the chicken.

The result was tasty!!! It was creamy and delicious!

Spinach Dip Filled Onion Rings

My brother has recently gotten in the habit of tagging me in food making videos on Facebook. He recently tagged me in a video of spinach dip onion rings from the Food Network.

When we were together over the holidays - he asked me to make them for him, so I did as an appetizer before Christmas Dinner!

Ingredients:
1 white onion
1 clove of garlic
3 cups of panko bread crumbs
1 cup of flour
5 eggs
1 cup of shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup of romano cheese
1 8 oz. container of chive and onion cream cheese
5 ounces of spinach (I use the frozen rectangles from the grocery store)
1 can of artichoke hearts


To make the spinach dip:
1. Thaw out the spinach. To speed up the process, I put it on the stove with some chopped up garlic.

2. While the spinach is thawing, open the can of artichoke hearts and squeeze out all the liquid from them.

***This is the trick for having a thicker/less soupy spinach dip.

3. Place artichoke hearts in a food processor.

4. Once the spinach is thawed, place it in the food processor with the artichoke hearts.

5. Pulse the processor for a minute.

6. Then add two eggs, 1 cup of mozzarella, 1/2 cup of romano cheese, and the 8 oz chive and onion cream cheese.

7. Then run the food processor for two minutes or until everything appears to be mixed up.

To make onion rings:
1. Cut the onions into slices. I tried to do about 1/2 inch slices.

2. Lay the rings out on a sheet tray.

3. Add the spinach dip to the onion rings.

4. Then put the onion rings in the freezer for at least one hour.

*** This helps solidify everything together and makes it easier to bread the onion rings.

5. While the onion rings are freezing, set up the breading station. Set up three bowls: one with two eggs (beaten), flour and panko bread crumbs.


After at least an hour

6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

7. It is time to start breading the onion rings. Place the ring in the flour, then the egg, and then panko bread crumbs.

8. Place the rings on a sheet tray.

*** I do not like to fry things because it is unhealthy so I  cooked them in the oven.

9. Place in oven and cook for 20 minutes on each side or until brown.


This was the result!!!

From what I heard, they were delicious! My brother, boyfriend, and even my dad really really loved them!!