Family.Friends.Love. What more could a girl ask for?? Yummy CAKE!

For those of you who don't know, my birthday is on February 14th. My favorite holiday, VALENTINE'S DAY!! When I was little I didn't get the concept of a holiday being on my birthday, so I thought all the stores were decorated for me. I still like to believe that. So pretty much anything pink, red and heart shaped makes me happy in February! Add some frosting and I really can't complain!

I had such an amazing Birthday with friends, family and Jon! Everyone made me feel special from wine tasting, to the Gypsy Den, a duffy boat ride in Newport and even a nice Italian dinner in Laguna. I am blessed and definitely felt the L.O.V.E this year!

The way to my man's heart: Pasta, Sausage, Cheese Bread and Wine

"I love cooking with wine, I sometimes even put it in the food"

Picture Courtesy of Pioneer Woman

Today I had a nice meeting with my unemployed club. My girlfriends Cassy and Tina came over to work on applications while I worked on job hunting. The hard work we were putting in, with our three lap tops on my dinning room table quickly morphed to finding our doppelganger for facebook and researching for yummy pasta recipes I could make for Jonny B. I settled on Whole Wheat Rigatoni with sausage and peas in a light cream sauce. MMMM yummy. I started with garlic cheesy bread that was pretty much amazing. We had a wonderful time talking with Cass, cooking while munching on the bread and washing it down with a $3.99 bottle of Chardonnay. I honestly can say one of my greatest joys is making a meal for Jon and watching how much he loves the food. We haven't quite got him to do ALL the dishes after every meal but hey he is so sweet all the time I can sacrifice doing half the dishes. Everything I make comes with love to my family and friends. Its one way I really know how to express I care.

Kitchen Therapy for the Unemployed

Being unemployed definitely has its ups and downs! Some days can really be hard and depressing, but I have hope and keep praying that God will guide me to where I am supposed to be. Although it has been a hard track, I have also had some really great experiences and connections. Through all life's adversities the great aspects of raw humanity ALWAYS comes out of the woodwork. I have been lucky enough to live at home rent free with my wonderful family. Since time is now not an issue, I am able to focus part of my time on my passion for cooking. I really haven't put much into this blog thus far, because I really haven't been cooking too much! These past 22 days, my kitchen has been my site for therapy. I feel so relaxed and happy when I am cooking and when I test a finished product with my biggest fans, my boyfriend Jon and my family. I have taken this time to work on some basics and some personal specialties. I have found some simplistic cooking ideas through magazines and online blogs.

This is a tasty and easy recipe for Chicken of any cut, but I have been doing drumsticks (cheaper cut) not as healthy as breasts:

Simple Baked Chicken Adapted from Cooks Country Magazine

Serves 4 to 6

Because different cuts of chicken cook at different rates, Use only one cut of chicken (such as all breasts or all thighs) or be prepared to remove the various different cuts from the oven as soon as they reach their appropriate temperature for doneness.

4	pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (whole breasts, split breasts, whole legs, thighs, and/or drumsticks), trimmed
2	tablespoons Olive Oil

1. Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a broiler-pan bottom with foil and lay the slotted broiler pan on top.

2. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and arrange, skin-side up, on the broiler-pan top. Brush the chicken with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Roast until the breasts register 160 degrees or the legs, thighs, or drumsticks register 175 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 30 to 50 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Turkey Burger Bowl

This is one of my favorite lunch or dinner to make. I got the idea from the Counter gourmet burger bar. It is SO tasty and really cuts down on the carbs. In this one I included:

Burger Bowl

Turkey Patty

Natural Cheddar Cheese

Romain Lettuce

Tomatoes

Black Beans

Corn

Cucumber

Dressing:

Olive oil

Salt

Grated Garlic

lemon juice

I mix all the ingredients and do a taste test until I think the combo is right. Each persons taste is difference so you choose what you want more or less of. Then serve a tablespoon over your salad before you put the patty on.

This can be a fun dinner for a group of friends. Just put out all the ingredients and everyone adds their own twist to their liking. You can make different types of patties to accommodate everyone. Have fun with this one an be creative!!

Kick off to healthy eating starts today!

Today was my first day back to the gym since I left from my trip. Before I left I was working out 6 days a week which made me feel awesome. It has been slow getting back into the groove, but this morning was great. I did lifting circuits with my sister Meghan and took an hour yoga class. Wow I forgot how much I love yoga. It was great. Being at the gym and doing physical activity always jumps starts healthy eating! I remembered this recipe I saw a few months ago, Smashed Chickpea Salad.

Smashed Chickpea Salad
Inspired by Smittenkitchen.com

1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons pitted, halved and very thinly sliced black olives
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Zest and juice from half a lemon (if you’ve got one of those sad, juiceless lemons, use both sides for juice)
Couple good pinches of salt
A few grinds of black pepper
A few glugs of olive oil (the original is quite oily, like bread-soaking oily, I went a little lighter. Both ways are delicious)

Mix everything but the olive oil in a small to midsize bowl. Very lightly smash the chickpea mixture with the back of a fork or a potato masher. You’re not looking for a hummus-like puree but something closer to a coarse chop with a few smaller bits to hold it together. Add the glugs of olive oil, mix it lightly and enjoy.

I have never made it but want to try it out. I will let you know how it turns out and the variations I make.

The 4th of July was a fun day for all my family and friends. We had a BBQ at a friends in Irvine. We all brought different foods to contribute. I tried out a new recipe from "the Pioneer Woman". I love her blog she always has yummy food, especially when cooking for a party or for guys. She has a section called cowboy food that has some really fun stuff. Not healthy though!! I made chili con queso revved up. It was a HUGE hit, especially among the men folk.

I forgot to take a picture of my creation. But here is a link to the recipe:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chile_con_queso/

It is Chili con queso with spicy sausage and extra green chilies and jalapeno. It wasn't too spicy it was really just right. I highly recommend this appetizer for your next gathering.

Healthy cooking? Not yet....

I am back in the U.S. and already cooking! I missed it a lot while I was traveling Europe eating wonderful food and yummy gelato. It was an amazing experience, one that I will always remember and cherish as my first time traveling. Needless to say I have been bitten by the travel bug and already want to plan for next summer. This week has been a great transition back home. I have had minimal work hours, waking up when I want and drinking American coffee with milk and splenda! Mmm my favorite. Monday I made a diner style strawberry pie from cooks-country magazine.

It was good but between my family and Jon's family I should have stuck with unflavored gelatin and not strawberry flavored. Guess I should have read the whole article before I decided to pick up the ingredients.

Because we have a plethora of strawberries at my house I am now doing a browned butter strawberry tart. This is a recipe adapted from Bon Appetit magazine, which called for raspberries. I let you now how it goes after I feed it to my taste testers. The pie filling tasted yummy before I even popped it in the oven!!

Crust:

• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• Pinch of salt

Filling:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced
• 2 6-ounce containers fresh raspberries

preparation

For crust:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Using rubber spatula or fork, mix melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in medium bowl. Add flour and salt and stir until incorporated. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Using fingertips, press dough evenly onto sides and bottom of pan.

Bake crust until golden, about 18 minutes (crust will puff slightly while baking). Transfer crust to rack and cool in pan. Maintain oven temperature.

For filling:
Whisk sugar, eggs, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add flour and vanilla; whisk until smooth. Cook butter in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until deep nutty brown (do not burn), stirring often, about 6 minutes. Immediately pour browned butter into glass measuring cup. Gradually whisk browned butter into sugar-egg mixture; whisk until well blended.

Arrange raspberries, pointed side up and close together in concentric circles, in bottom of cooled crust. Carefully pour browned butter mixture evenly over berries. Place tart on rimmed baking sheet. Bake tart until filling is puffed and golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool tart completely in pan on rack. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.

Remove tart pan sides. Place tart on platter. Cut into wedges and serve.