Some More Colombian Food Pics

If you guessed dragon fruit on my last post, or Pitaya, your were correct!  And because I didn't KNOW the answer before I wrote the question, I'm glad to have learned something!

Every South American country I have visited so far seems to have its own local soda.  Most remind me of Cream Soda, and this one was no different.  It's been years since I even tried Cream Soda but I don't remember liking it.  However, I did like this pop?  My taste buds might have changed OR it could have just been another hot sweaty day in Cali, Colombia.  Heh.

You can find drinkable yogurt in the States and it's ALL you could find in Peru, but the yogurt in Colombia was even more liquidy - it is like flavored colored milk.  They even sell these little plastic things you snuggle the bag of yogurt into for pouring purposes.  It's still pretty tasty!  Just funny to me.

Walking around the streets of Cali, you'd see these things being sold everywhere.  I never caught the name (it was a whirlwind of a trip, let me tell you) but they give you a couple in a plastic bag and pour honey over them.  To me, they tasted like very strange sweet potatoes with honey poured over them. :)

On my last night, we ate true Colombian food - Arepa Maizao.  I'm not sure if these kinds were made of cornmeal or flour or what, but they were stuffed with all sorts of goodies.  We ordered the "con todo" and it had 3 different kinds of meat (chicken, pork, and mystery), cabbage, and I can't remember what else.  They were quite good and I'd definitely try one again!

HEARTY Chicken Pot Pie

I just realized something silly.  I made this 4 or 5 days before Valentine's Day and cut a heart out of the top for fun.  As I dug up the recipe to share with you guys, I realized what it was called...

Oh, how clever I accidentally was.

Mike can never resist trying Sriracha on everything.  We more affectionately call it Rooster.

On a side note, I started a Twitter account a while ago and keep forgetting to tell you.  If you're into that sort of thing, check it out and follow me!

Click here for printable recipe.

Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

It's been well over 2 years since we ate this particular form of enchiladas but I still remember it clearly.  Our friends had us over for dinner and after we ate I knew I couldn't leave before obtaining a copy of Glenda's recipe.  Turns out it was from the Cooking Light magazine which is great - makes me feel healthier, right?  :)

After moving a few times since then, both domestically and internationally, turns out I hadn't lost the copy after all this time.  You might be surprised by that, but people who know me well probably wouldn't be!

I don't own a blender yet, so the sauce looks a little "chunkier" than the recipe calls for.  But it tastes the same!  I did utilize my awesome food chopper to practically mutilate the onion, so that was fun.

The sauce doesn't drench the enchiladas like some recipes call for, so if you like it SAUCY then definitely double the sauce portion.

I'd highly recommend serving this with some form of Mexican rice, black beans, tortilla chips, and lime.  And don't forget the salsa!

Oh, and definitely don't accidentally miss the "cooking spray" part of the recipe...or when you try to dish them up, they will look like this:

Print recipe here.

Sweet & Sour Chicken

I've been trying to get this short post up for days!  Sometimes I still marvel at the impossibility of not being busy in this country.  I have commitments, appointments, meetings, and non-stop activity every day, goodness...

Anyway!  This is a very good and easy recipe that does not take much prep work.  I used this sweet-and-sour sauce, but I'm not sure it was my favorite.

It was definitely good enough that I'm going to try this recipe again one day, but I'll try it with a new sauce.

Click here for the recipe.

P.S. Since I discovered how to create printable recipes, I've been trying to compile them under a new tab up on the top menu of this blog.  It will be going public very soon!

A Romantic Evening with a Not-So-Romantic Picture

I took advantage of a free night last week when Mike and I were going to be the only ones in the house and actually without obligations!  We had received lovely candlestick holders for our anniversary from mis padres and so I put together this in the middle of the living room:

I snapped it with my cell phone to MMS to a friend and forgot to take real pictures with a real camera.  But before I ask you to excuse the blurriness of the above photo, let me just say that photography in general wasn't my friend that night...I was rushing to get the food on the table while a very hungry husband was not-so-very patiently waiting.  Pretty much the best photo I got of the delicious cordon bleu (if I do say so myself) is this one:

It wasn't the only thing I served - that's just what it looks like. =)

Here is the original recipe (which I reduced for just the 2 of us):
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. ground black pepper
6 slices Swiss cheese
4 slices cooked ham
1/2 c. seasoned bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat a 7x11 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Pound chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness.

3. Sprinkle each piece of chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Place 1 cheese slice and 1 ham slice on top of each breast. Roll up each breast, and secure with a toothpick. Place in baking dish, and sprinkle chicken evenly with bread crumbs.

4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from oven, and place 1/2 cheese slice on top of each breast. Return to oven for 3 to 5 minutes, or until cheese has melted. Remove toothpicks, and serve immediately.

The Cheesecake Factory Experience

After our day in Portland last week for Bakerella’s book signing, we of course had to eat at The Cheesecake Factory!

It may be a more spendy restaurant than many of you care for (including myself), but oh my goodness, it was worth it.  The service, the food, the music, bathrooms, ambiance, everything gets a 5 out 5 stars.  Probably the only thing that wasn’t perfect was the 6 inches between our table and the next...okay, a slight exaggeration, but we were pretty packed in there.  Other than that, it was a wonderful experience.

My mom’s exact words about her Herb-Crusted Salmon Fillet: “most fabulous thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.”  We agreed it’s pretty hard to actually prove that to oneself, but that’s how wonderful it was.  My Spicy Cashew Chicken over a bed of rice was just as mouth-watering.  I love spicy, I love cashews, I love lots and lots of flavor.  And I had all of that.

With only one restaurant in all of Oregon, I’m glad it’s 2 hours ago.  Reduces the temptation.

And we didn’t even try the cheesecakes this time… 

New Friends and Goat Cheese

Several weeks ago, I made a new friend!  Turns out, we both enjoy cooking, so we planned a night to cook dinner for our hubbies.  She even made me a cute new apron!  Thanks, Claire. :)

Dinner was baked chicken with homemade tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, sweet potatoes with goat cheese (amazing!), and a pretty fruit salad.  Simple yet very filling.

It was sunny. :)

Oh, and I almost forgot!  I made homemade shortcake for our tasty Strawberry Shortcake dessert.  Here's the easy recipe:

Ingredients:

2 c. flour

2 tbsp. sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 egg, beaten

2/3 c. milk

Directions:

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cream of tartar.  Cut in butter until mixture is the size of peas.  Add the egg and milk; mix well.  Spread into a greased 8-in. square baking pan.  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.  Cut into squares and top with strawberries and whipped cream if desired. Yield: 9 servings.

Easter Dinner

The menu:
    Chicken Fried Chicken

    Mashed Potatoes with Country-Style Gravy

    Mom’s Sweet Carrots

    Kiwi, Mango, and Watermelon (brought by Alyssa & Leanne)

Before church, I peeled and cut the carrots, peeled and boiled the potatoes, and prepared the coating for the chicken (see baggie of crumbs).  For the coating, I added crushed saltines, flour, seasoned salt, salt, and pepper.  You can add potato flakes if you don’t live in a place where you can’t find fancy things like that.

So yeah, Mike won so many of these random packets of things for the White Elephant party last December, so I had this gravy and, wow, was it yummy.

 I forgot to take any more pictures, surprise.  Our 2 Canadian friends came over after a very long strange Easter church service, and we had a nice little dinner.

And here we are in our Easter garb:

Chicken Alfredo

Mike and I are finally home for a few days and, praise the Lord, the week fell on Holy Week so our office is closed today.  I am getting some much needed rest, laundry is finally caught up, fish tank is clean, house is getting cleaned, and I can actually cook something!  (See last post for traveling woes hehe.)

When we're only home for a week at a time, we try to buy as few groceries as possible.  I had one more chicken breast in the freezer so I rummaged through my cabinets and thought I'd make some Alfredo sauce with pasta and add the chicken.

Here's what I found:

And here it all is cooking:

Don't forget to soak the fruit in Kilol!

And it turned out to be a nice little lunch:

Taco-Spiced Chicken

Since I was working from home today, I figured I could actually cook a little dinner for Mike and me.  It’s difficult to do when I work at the office all day so I took advantage of the opportunity.  It was simple, really.  I just took a bunch of spices (see picture), mixed them all together.

  I took the boneless chicken breast pieces (I always rejoice when I find these at the store, because they don’t always have them and they are SO much easier to use J) and brushed vegetable oil on each side.  Then I spread the mixed spices all over each piece.  I cooked them in a little olive oil in a skillet for a few minutes and then let the oven do the rest of the cooking.  Meanwhile, I heated up this awesome can of beans. 

Not so exciting for most of you, but we almost never can find canned veggies so I scooped this up and it was an easy side dish.   And really yummy, too!  I also served green grapes, which of course were bathed in Kilol…I’m not sure how long they’ll actually carry the green ones so we’re eating them often.  The only grapes they usually have year-round are the giant purple ones with seeds.

For the proportions of the spices, it’s difficult to say because I usually just “judge” in whatever I’m cooking.  But here’s something close:

2 Tablespoons taco seasoning

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika

It gave the chicken a ton of great flavor and of course the hubby liked it, so it was a successful night!