I’m out by 7:40 PM and have been sleeping till 7:00 AM and doing it all over again. No joke. This “cooking a baby” business has totally messed me up. I heard once that  baby’s eat brains. I believe it.

But I might be over the first hump. This week I’ve felt great and last night, I even stayed out till 11 PM. No joke sans baby that’s an accomplishment.

I’m paying more attention what I’m eating and trying to have at least one “meaningful” healthy meal a day. One new discovery that has been tasting really good to me is breakfast shakes. I load them up with berries and bananas. They fill me up and give me the right amount of energy during the day.

Breakfast Fruit Punch (adapted from a recipe I heard from Alton Brown on Good Eats)

1/2 cup frozen strawberries

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 cup frozen peaches

1 medium ripe banana

1/2 cup Acai juice

1/2 cup Soy milk

Put it all in the blender.

My tip is to start on MIX mode for the first minute and switch to PUREE mode for the last 2-3 minutes.

When I have one of these, I’m able to justify the Little Debbie Zebra cakes, Dunkin Donuts and Peanut Butter right out of the jar.

Share/Save

The Spring garden is almost in full bloom. Green tomatoes are turning red. I can’t wait to  see and taste how they all turn out. In the mean time, my mint plant is quite the show off.  After reading the label of the plant, intrusive is a word used to describe the growing pattern of mint. In my mind: Intrude baby, intrude!

This recipe is from the Neiman Marcus Cookbook.

1 cup lemonade

1 T prickly pear syrup

1/4 c 7Up

1 t mint

1 c ice

Put it all in a blender and enjoy.

Share/Save

Now I’m in search of tasty festive boozeless alternatives.

Italian Sodas. You can make them savory or sweet. Straight up or with cream.

Mostly, I prefer mine sweet without cream. But adding a bit of cream, does add to the richness of the drink.

I know I’m not sharing any earth breaking cooking tip (but really do I ever), but moreso, just putting on your radar. If you’re like me, you only order Italian Sodas at soda or coffee shops.

My Italian soda arsenal includes:

• 12 pack of Big K canned sparkling water
• Variety of flavored syrup (cherry, vanilla, pomegranate)
• Silk soy creamer

Making your own flavored syrup is super easy. I first read about it here, but since then have seen similar easy approaches.

8 ounces watermelon, chopped into 1 inch dice

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a food processor or blender, combine chopped watermelon, sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Stir to combine.

Puree watermelon syrup in blender. Strain into small pitcher and bowl. Refrigerate until needed.

via Watermelon Flavored Syrup for Soft Drinks Recipe : Michael Chiarello : Food Network.

Share/Save

I was not an early adopter to Facebook. I’ve had my account almost two years and at first I had a small group of contacts and now my contact list has really grown. I’ve got the usual FB suspects including high school friends, college contacts, adult hood friends and family.

I love having my family on FB because it gives me a chance to see what’s happening in their everyday lives. I mean how often to you call your aunts and uncles? I think that our FB relationship allows me to know more about them and gives them a chance to learn more about me.

The other day my Uncle Pat updated his status with:

mmmmmmmm. Coffee with a packet of Swiss Miss milk chocolate in it. Gooooood! BTW HOOK”EM HORNS!

That sounded really good to me. Recipe: So this morning I made a big cup of coffee, stirred in a packet of Swiss Miss and added a drop of peppermint extract. Yum. Its a great compliment to our chilly morning in Phoenix.

On another note, I’m torn on if there is still time to put up Christmas lights outside.

I had my tree up two weeks before Thanksgiving, but somehow the outside lights didn’t quite make it.

But you know, I’m comfortable with keeping it simple.

Share/Save

I was watching this show on the History Channel, Hillbilly, have you seen it? It’s almost as good as my other favorite History Channel show, Hippies. There is this legendary moonshiner and he looks just like my Uncle Ricky. And I got nervous that what if he is my Uncle Ricky and subconsciously, in my attempt to make limoncello, I made moonshine because I was just programmed that way.

So, its in a jar in my pantry. I think I’ll keep it handy just in case one day I need some extra fuel for my car.

But I digress, I did in fact make a Limoncello and Berry Sangria, but I used good old Italian limoncello, that I did in fact buy in Italy.

I macerated the strawberries and raspberries in limoncello and I added a little sugar and orange zest.  Macerating is basicaly marinating, so the longer you marinate the fruit the more of the natural flavors of the fruit take on the flavor of the alcohol.

The base of this sangria blanco is sparkling wine, so it was light and crisp once I added the fruit.

Limoncello and Berry Sangria

6 oz sliced raspberries
6 oz sliced strawberries
2 oz limoncello
zest of 1/2 small orange
1 T sugar
4 cups pink lemonade
1 bottle sparkling white wine

Macerate fruit in limoncello, orange zest and sugar. Overnight if possible, minimum 1 hour.
Mix remaining ingredients when you’re ready to serve.

Share/Save

For me that means that today is the day I’ve got to start digging out of this mess. And what’s so hard about it, is that the temperatures are mild outside, the wind is strong and it’s just too perfect to be bogged down with housework. Hence, the negotiations started.

“Just get the kitchen finished, get a load of laundry in the machine and tidy the living room.”  I told  myself that if I got those things done, I could do a bit more tomorrow and be fine. My motivation was the new bottle of Cheri’s Prickly Pear Syrup in the fridge.

I don’t know what made me think about prickly pears, but I found myself searching Phoenix for the past month trying to find either a prickly pear petal (tuna) or prickly pear syrup. I searched at the local grocery store, the organic store and finally found the syrup at a high end grocery store. If you’re flying thought Tuscon or Phoenix Arizona you can find prickly pear syrup at the gift shops in the airport. It’s worth grabbing a bottle.

Cheri’s Prickly Pear Syrup was just under $8 for 12 oz. I have plans to see how many different ways I can use this ingredient. Todays agenda was to reward myself for getting the housework done with a Prickly Pear Margarita. I love margaritas and have had several experiments over the years. You can review previous posts here, here, and here.

The recipe I found on the Cheri’s website was straight forward and easy. That bright pink color is amazing! The margarita has a punch, but it drinks light because there’s no simple syrup in the recipe.

PRICKLY PEAR MARGARITAS
Cafe Terra Cotta Restaurant
3 oz. Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila
2 oz. Triple Sec
4 oz. Lime Juice
1 oz. Orange Juice
2 oz. Cheri’s Prickly Pear Syrup
On rocks: Mix ingredients, pour over ice into 4 glasses.
Makes 4 servings.

Share/Save

After college I moved to San Antonio, TX and it was there that I was able to explore and learn more about this amazing culture. There were Mariachi festivals, luminarias, tamales and tequila, and so many other influences.

Living in Arizona now, there are still a lot of opportunities to explore the culture. Now that the weather is cold, wet and windy (60 degrees!) one treat that I look forward to is Aztec Hot Chocolate.

Recipes can get as simple or as complicated as you want. Some ingredients I’ve seen included in this drink are honey, cloves, cinnamon, chili powder and anise. As simple as it is, here’s what hit’s the spot for me.

Aztec Hot Chocolate

Equipment

Hot chocolate Frother 

Ingredients

Quality Hot Chocolate

1/2 Cinnamon stick

1/2 dash of Chili Powder

Make hot chocolate according to the directions on your container. Add cinnamon stick and a dash of Chili Powder.

Note: I use McCormicks grocery store Chili Powder for this drink. I find that when I use some other Chili Powders they can be too smoky or too spicy depending on the brand.

Share/Save

Orange Margarita- Drink this one by the pool.

Share/Save

Fast-forward four years later and I think I can honestly say that I’m better at rolling with change than I ever thought possible and I’m getting where I welcome it.

Not like it, I’m just more welcoming. I guess there’s a whole faithful element to all of it too, but my brian hurts too much to contemplate that right now.

A friend recently made a huge change and moved to Minnesota for a total career change. While talking to her today, she said, “I’m having a mojito and watering the lawn.” Is there a better way to water the lawn? Seriously!

Well, I don’t have to water the lawn, but I do have to do laundry. So, I’m doing laundry and drinking a Calimocho. Ha!

Share/Save

I found this Blueberry Iced Tea recipe in a Southern Living magazine. It was very refreshing. I used less blueberries and half the sugar and the result was a milder blueberry taste.

Have you heard the advertisements on Food Network for Ingrid Hoffmann’s new show Simply Delicioso. I hope her show in English is a success.

I used the basic tamale casserole recipe and added and subtracted a few things to get what you see below. It’s yummy.

Share/Save