Cilantro lime rice and taco seasoned chicken

I'm so happy the weather has been feeling so much like it's supposed to be. It was so cold the last few weeks here. Last year it snowed at the end of May. I'm hoping it's not going to repeat this year. I'm so ready for hiking and camping.

This is my first attempt making cilantro lime rice. It was kinda easy--I was worried that it might not work, but it did. It tastes pretty decent and similar to the one they served at Cafe Rio, I suppose.



My way of cooking usually focuses on how to make the most of it from the kind of ingredients I already have without having to go to the store.


Pretty much everything I needed to make the cilantro lime rice:
- 1/2 stick of butter
- 1 teaspoon beef bouillon
- 1/8 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder (which i left out from this picture, oops)
- 1 cup of chopped cilantro
- 1/3 cup of water

Since I eat rice all the time, I usually have rice left over from the previous day. You could make it by just making the rice first. When it's done, I would go ahead to make the seasoning in a sauce pan.




I put everything except lime juice, salt, cilantro in a sauce pan and brought it to a boil. Then I just poured it over the rice and mixed really well while having the pan on medium  heat. Then I added lime juice, salt, and cilantro. You can adjust to however you want by doing that because some people prefer it with more lime juice, cilantro, or salt. But that was just right for my taste.

I used about 2 cup of uncooked rice






Then, I cooked 2lbs of chopped chicken breast with 1/4 of taco seasoning. The package suggests to use one package of seasoning with 1 lbs of meat, but I like my meat to be a little mild so I only used a little bit of it.
 

Dinner was served with pineapple salsa from the previous day :) Pretty quick and easy recipe that fits perfect with my busy work schedule.

My favorite turkey meatloaf

The last time I made this was a while ago. It was ok, but I think I might have found my favorite. I was super excited. It came out very moist and well-flavored. The prep time lasts about 10-15 mins, which is a plus because I don't have a lot of time to invest in making dinner, although it took 1hr 30 mins to be fully cooked in the oven at 350.

Ingredients:
- 2.5 - 3 lbs of turkey (yep, we are meat lovers)
- 1 egg
- 1 - 1.5 cup of crushed corn chips
- 1/2 - 1 cup of salsa from the can (I used mild)
- Seasoning: 1 tsp soy sauce, 2 tsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tbs brown sugar, 1/8 tsp onion powder, salt & pepper.
I mixed all those ingredients with the ground turkey in a ziploc bag because I didn't want to wash dishes, lol. But it might be easier doing it a bowl. Then, I spread them in the baking pan.



Top the meatloaf with 6 slices of Havarti cheese (our favorite cheese for sandwiches), 1 chopped tomato, and some dried basil. You can also substitute the tomato for a layer of salsa as well; I would have tried if I had more salsa. I thought this would act like a thin blanket over the meat and keep it moist. It did turn out pretty moist so far :)

Cover it with tin foil and bake in the oven at 350 for 1.5 hours. Initially I planned to check it after a half hour, but after the first 30 min I didn't see that it was cooked so I added 1 extra hour to make sure it was fully cooked. I didn't get to check during the hour because we had some people over and I was not paying attention to the time. Luckily, it was fine :)

I love turkey meatloaf. 

With this much food, we had plenty of left overs for a few dinners in the future, a plus for me so I don't have to cook too often.

We truly enjoyed every single bite of our dinner. I'm glad this experiment turned out nicely. It really doesn't happen often enough. (Brett's note:  Yes it does.  I love when Chummy experiments.  Her food is awesome.  My growing waistline is proof that her experiments work out all the time.) 

Another taco night

I was craving some yummy Cafe Rio sweet pork one night. Then, after doing some searching for the best recipe online to make this, I found this one recipe that was perfect. It was pretty easy to make; just a little bit time consuming because you have to cook it slowly. Anyway, I decided to eat it taco style because it's simple to make and didn't require much effort.
Pork (click here for recipe)

Pineapple salsa: 5 slices of pineapple from a can, 2 tomatillo, 2 jalapeno, 3 tomatoes, 2 avocados, red wine vinegar, pineapple juice, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and extra chili powder if you like it spcicy.


 

And final meal:

Roasted honey chicken in pineapple juice

One of the easy ways to cook chicken that I recently learned is to roast them in the oven then season them with your desired flavor along the way. But to make the best roasted chicken I like to get the cut with lots of skin. The skin keeps the meat moist and juicy as you cook them in the oven. I personally love love chicken skin either when they're roasted in then oven or deep fried. Yes, I love the flavor and crunchiness of the skin.
It's pretty simple to just season my chicken with salt & pepper, cajun seasoning. Then I cooked them in the oven for about 30 at 375.

After 30 mins, I started pouring my seasoning over the chicken every 10 mins for a total of 3 times. My seasoning consited of honey, pineapple juice, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, and some olive oil. This process lasted for about another 30 mins or so. In the last 10 mins of cooking, I cranked up the oven to 400 to make my chicken skin crusty and charred just the way I would really enjoy it. To make sure your chicken cooked right, you should also check the temperature of the chicken before eating. The food thermometer should state around 165*F.

Since I flavored the chicken with pineapple juice, I made some pineapple chunks and zucchini stir fried and rice pilaf as side dishes. Everything turned out pretty well. I loved the flavor of pineapple in the chicken, will definitely make it again since Brett loved it too. It probably took a little while (about 1 hour) but it's surely easy to make and easy to customize different flavors each time I cook. I love recipes that you could customize and experiment with different seasonings that suit your taste.

Orange cream cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

I used this lemon cream cupcakes recipe to make my orange cream cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I'm so craving for some more right now. They are festive and oh-so-good! Yes, I'm super ready for Christmas to come; it's my favorite holiday of the year. That's why I'm learning how to cook and bake so I'll be able to throw big fat feasts for the family, haha.

1 cup butter or margarine, softened


2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons grated orange peel

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups sour cream

FROSTING:

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar


2 tablespoons orange juice

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon grated orange peel

2-3 tablespoon whipping cream

Directions

1.In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add orange peel and vanilla; mix well. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick).





Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.



For frosting, cream butter, and sugar in a small mixing bowl; add orange juice, vanilla, orange peel and whipping cream; beat until smooth. I added cream cheese to this recipe. It was a great addition to the frosting and very tasty! Adding more cream cheese made the frosting mixture thicker; hence I used heavy whipping cream to make it exactly how I like it. Great success for me as a first timer :)

Chicken bacon ranch pizza

My first homemade pizza had to be something with bacon. I chose chicken bacon ranch because it is my favorite to get from The Pie pizza, a famous pizzeria in Utah. It's quite expensive there so when I thought of this I was quite excited to make it and not have to spend too much for their pizza :) It cost about 5 dollars to make the whole pizza myself and it's very similar to the Pie. I just need to perfect my dough making because this time I made it a little too dense with a little too much flour.

My main ingredients: boiled chicken, bacon, tomato, cheese, ranch, garlic powder, and salt&pepper to taste. One great thing to make your own pizza is that you can choose whatever you like!

First I boiled the chicken in water and some salt until it's done (about 15-20 mins). Then, I cut them in small pieces and mixed in about 1 tbsp of my buttermilk ranch dressing and some salt and pepper. Before I arranged all of other ingredients evenly, I smeared about 2-3 tbsp of ranch dressing on the dough.

Add cheese and some bacon on top

Then some Parmesan and Asiago cheese for more flavor

 Then baked for 45 mins at 375 or until brown

Chocolate bread

I love the taste of chocolate bread :) I used the recipe to make French bread then just added 2-3 tbsp of cocoa powder.

Stir fried ramen noodle

We had this dish a while ago; I never had time to post it until now. I used to eat ramen noodles everyday when I was in college. Then, I became so sick of it, the last time I had it probably was over a year ago. I still have a few packages left, instead of throwing them away I decided to do something interesting with it. I finally decided to do a stir fry with shrimp, ground pork, and baby bok choy since it's something different than how I used to have them. It turned out pretty decent, well worth keeping the noodles around :)



I boiled the ramen (about 6 small packages) for about 2 mins then rinsed them through cold water to stop the noodles from cooking themselves; that way the noodles don't get too soggy later on.




 
I stir fried the bok choy in some soy sauce, added the already cooked ground pork with vietnamese black mushrooms, then added the shrimp last because they get cooked really fast and I don't want to over-cook them.


Finally, I just mixed the stir fry and the noodles together in a big frying pan, added sesame oil, salt & pepper, and soy sauce.
 
Easy dinner that saves money and time for us :)

  

Seafood Tacos

Talking about the Mexican food we like, I oughta mention my inspiration: Lone Star Taqueria (2265 Fort Union Boulevard, Salt Lake City, Utah ). They have the best fish burritos and tacos in Salt Lake City area. If you haven't tried them, you definitely need to go there :) I'm not kidding. Their food is amazing. It's my favorite Mexican food restaurant.

My way of making this is super cheap, quick, and easy.


Avocado sauce: chopped avocado mixed with paprika, ranch, and a little bit of Italian dressing



Cook the shrimp or fish in butter and chopped green onions seasoned with taco seasoning and salt & pepper





It took me less than 20 mins to put everything together. It's so simple but absolutely delicious. It's my way of eating seafood tacos :)




Fish tacos



Shrimp tacos

French bread and my new KitchenAid

I always wanted a stand mixer to help me work on my baking experience. I almost bought one a few months ago when they were on sale for really good prices on Eziba.com, an online private sales managed by Overstock.com. I have to say, I really really love this site. I check it daily to make sure I don't miss any good deals :) So yeah, I didn't buy my new KitchenAid mixer from Eziba this time since they haven't featured them again yet. However, I bought it from Overstock.com. It was on sale for less than 200; I also got a $10 coupon, a store credit to use for this purchase, and free shipping. Plus, it's so incredible that they give you money back on every single purchase whether it's big or small. After having bought this mixer, I already got another $10 back in my account for my next purchase. Not only did I save at least 15 from the lowest price online but I also got free money back. That is a total of $25 on top of the cheapest price! I think it's safe to say no other retails could beat that deal!

My KitchenAid Pro 450

I ordered my mixer on Tuesday; it arrived on my front porch on Friday. Awesome! I started my first baking on Saturday morning to welcome my lovely helper. Hopefully, I'll be able to bake everything I wanted with no stress in mind.



The baking experience has begun. My first 2 loaves of French bread turned out pretty good. The first one is already gone as we speak although it was a little burned because I forgot to check and left it in the oven for a little too long. The second one has just arrived an hour ago and already been eaten. I must say it's much better than the first loaf. It's just right! Brett and I both love bread. Now, we could save some money from buying bread at the store while still getting to enjoy great bread :)

Loaf 1: A little over done




Loaf 2: Beautiful