Back to Basics (beans and rice)

For me, beans and rice are comfort food at its best. While everyone went fishing at Castaic Lake, I stayed home and decided to get some chores done and have food ready when the family got home. I wanted to make something that didnt require me going out to the store. So I found some beans and the left over ham bone from the Christmas dinner and I knew what was coming next. You can't have beans without rice so I dug into the pantry and pulled out long-grain rice and a can of tomato sauce. Then for the salad there was a head of lettuce in the fridge, a few radishes and a couple of tomatoes. And of course I added some cilantro. My sister-in-law brought over some lemons from her tree and I squeezed some of the juice onto the salad with a dash of olive oil, salt and pepper. Simple but oh, so good. The only thing missing was home-made flour tortillas.

I got my biggest pot and filled it up with water and added probably 3 or 4 cups of clean and rinsed beans. I added the ham bone and cooked the beans for 3 hours. I added the salt (2 teaspoons) at the last half hour of cooking time. Normally I use 1 tablespoon of salt but since I added some ham and the ham bone, I figured I didnt need as much salt.

For the rice I sauteed it with garlic and some onions. I used 2 cups of rice to 4 cups of water, added a can of tomato sauce , 2 tsp. of salt and simmered it for about 25 minutes.

And don't forget the pickled jalapenos or if you have the time to make a salsa of your own.

Buen provecho!!!

Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookies
Easy To make, Made with the most Basic ingredients, and perfect for any Holiday with the right cookie cutter!

Equipment:
Mixing Bowl
Spoon
Measuring Cup (1)
Teaspoon
Rolling Pin
Cooking Sheet
Cooling Rack
Spatula
Cookie cutters

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
Extra flour & sugar for rolling

Method:
Cream butter & sugar
Add eggs & vanilla
Mix flour & baking Powder into mixture
Chill
Roll & cut out
Decorate cookies with sprinkles & Bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes

*Extra Tip* Take ¼ cup of the dough and mix water into it until it reaches the consistency of frosting and color with food dye, then put the dough in a piping bag to decorate your cookies. You can pipe messages onto your cookies or decorative patterns with different colors! Examples shown Below:

commie bowls

To make traditional chow mein you can pick up wonton noodles at the Chinese section in the super market, or you can just use plain old spaghetti like me. We always have a spaghetti pack or two laying around, but I'm not always in the mood for Italian, or were out of spaghetti sauce, or the ingredients to make it. It's also great to stretch out a small amount of meat or chicken. And in this case it was a small piece of ham. So small that I even thru in a couple of scrambled eggs. Chow mein doesn't usually have egg, but fried rice does. So I said what the hey.

So i scrambled the egg and then threw in chopped ham, garlic, jalepenos and green onion and sauteed it. Then I threw in the noodles and added a little more oil. Then I shredded a carrot, and added soy sauce, and brown sugar. Plus I added a little vinegar, garlic powder, hot sauce, and red pepper flakes. Then stirred it and served it.

I basically throw in whatever's around. Cabbage, and bean sorouts are always good. And any kind of meat, be it chicken, beef, or pork.

Recommend Music: Carl Douglas-Kung Fu Fighting

chicken tortilla soup

So my Dad baked a chicken last night for dinner and the leftovers were put in the fridge for today, but there were just bones and scraps left. Not enough for the whole familia. In those types of cases, casseroles or soups are in order, and since the weather has been cold, soup seemed much more appropriate. So I decided to make chicken tortilla soup!

Chicken tortilla soup is basically just a mexican chicken soup with fried tortilla strips thrown on top. And mexican chicken soup is basically just chicken soup with chile in it. So to begin i usually sautee onion and garlic then add a couple small handfuls of rice ( optional) then the liquids. In this case it was half a container of vegetable broth and the rest water ( about half the pot) . Then i threw in the chopped scraps of chicken and a can of chopped tomatoes. Raised to a boil, then lower flame and let simmer for about 20 minutes. For chile i added a few chopped jalapeno slices from a jar and also added about a teaspoon of chili powder. Also i added some garlic powder to make sure i got enough garlic flavor and salt and even a tablespoon of brown sugar, and some tumeric powder. Now tumeric powder is mainly an Indian spice, but it works well with mexican cooking and it very benificial to your health as it has anti-inflammitory qualities.

Fry the tortilla strips till brown and crispy and shred some cheese as well. And if you have an avocado to dice that would be great tambien. If your wondering how it turned out. i had three bowls. Ay,ay, ay!

The Greatest Chocolate Chip Cookies!

The Greatest Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Equipment:
2 bowls
1 teaspoon
Measuring cups (1, ¼, ¾ )
Big spoon
Baking Sheet(s)
Parchment Paper (optional)
Cooling Rack
Spatula

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi Sweet choc chips or more!
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

Leave out butter beforehand to soften if you refridgerate your butter.
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Gradually beat in flour mixture.
Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool on baking sheets for a couple of minutes

remove to wire racks to cool completely.

ENJOY!

Notes:

Feel free to add extra chocolate chips for even tastier cookies! i usually add an extra cup and sometime i add extra vanilla ( That is supposed to be a secret trick i read somewhere for better cookies!)

You can also add walnuts, cranberries, white chocolate chips, m&ms, raisins or whatever else you like in a cookie!

Also if you have a family like mine double the recipe if you want to have a cookie for breakfast the next day!

crazee potatoes 'n eggs too! haha

Taste great! and more filling! Leftovers for breakfast. So my pops baked some potatoes last night, and some yams and made chicken tacos....so i sautee some onions n garlic and chop the potatoes, a yam , and a taco baby!!! brown it. then toss in some cheesy cheddar, throw in an egg or two and enjoy.....f'in yummy...ask carmen.

Monster Biscuits

Monster Biscuits: A simple yet Scrumptious Recipe!

Tools:
1 Large Bowl
Baking Sheet(s)
Measuring Cups (1, 1/4)
Measuring spoons (1, ½)
1 Fork
1 Knife
Parchment paper (optional)

Ingredients:
6 cups flour
7 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 cup shortening or butter
2 ¼ cup milk
1 teaspoon salt

Procedure:
1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease with butter.
2. Mix the Dry ingredients. (Flour, Baking Powder, Salt)

3. Cut in the Shortening or butter with the fork and knife until the mixture resembles coarse corn meal.
4. Add the milk and blend with fork until the dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
5.Form large discs of dough about the size of the palm of your hand and space evenly onto the prepared Baking sheet 6. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges and tips of the Biscuit. Enjoy!
Notes:
I like to put butter and jam on mine and enjoy with a nice cup of tea.

For smaller biscuits simply put smaller amounts of dough on the pan but note that they will cook faster. You may also divide the ingredients by three to make a smaller batch.

Also for neater more uniformed biscuits you may roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out with a biscuit cutter.