4/20/13

Garlic and Citrus Chicken Thighs

Hola amigos! Happy Weekend! If you don't know what to cook this weekend and you just have a few ingredients in your pantry and fridge this is the recipe for you. While you are running errands or working on the yard, the marinade is doing all the work for you. Come back in the house,  pop it in the oven...and dinner is ready.

Here is the quickie recipe for you.

Garlic and Citrus Chicken Thighs

6 Chicken Thighs no skin
Marinade
3 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 Cup Orange Juice
2 TBSP Lemon Juice
Salt to taste
Paprika to taste
a pinch of onion powder
a Pinch of Cinnamon

Mix all this ingredients and place your chicken thighs in this marinade inside a ziplock bag for about 30-40 minutes.
Once the chicken has absorbed the flavors, in a 350 degree oven bake on a rack with a pan on the bottom to catch any juices (an avoid a mess in your oven) 
Half way through the baking process (about 20 minutes) baste with a mix of freshly squeezed orange juice (or bottled it doesn't matter), and 2 squirts of your favorite hot sauce. 
I added my magic ingredient as well, only a little bit of this Achiote (Annato) paste. It gives the chicken color and flavor. You can find this condiment on the international isle at your grocery store.

 Brush this a few more times until your chicken is fully cooked., about another 20-25 minutes. 
Listo,

I served mine with sticky rice and a few slices of orange.

It is perfectly baked, crispy in the outside and thanks to the marinade juice and full of flavor in the inside!

Thank you so much for sharing part of your weekend with me! Hope you have fun making Spring memories in the kitchen and out too with family and friends. Remember everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,
Lizy

Sharing some finger licking good chicken at these Fabulous Parties:
Under the Table and Dreaming
Sunny Simple Life
Will Cook for Smiles
The Wondering Brain
Couponing and Cooking
Call Me PMc
A Humble Creation
Claire Justine oxox
twelveOeight
Fluster Buster
Mom's Test Kitchen
The Mandatory Mooch
The Real Coake Family
The Best Blog Recipes
My Turn (for Us)
Rattlebridge Farm
Posted by at 22 comments
Labels: , , , ,

4/18/13

Terracotta Garden Accents Updated

Hola Amigos! Do you decorate your gardens with Gnomes? How about the very popular and pretty Fairies?   Any Bird Lovers out there decorating with bird houses and baths? I'm sure one of my readers have a statue of kissing children or a cute duck that gets dressed up for every season.  I'm crazy about turtles! I've been collecting them since I was 5 years old and my Aunt Linda got me a Bean Bag one right about my size! It was huge!!! and I loved it.

I've had 3 terracotta turtles I brought from Panama many years ago. This harsh weather has played a number on them, after all they are made out of dirt, but all and all they are still looking pretty good! I wanted to give them a little makeover this Spring and bring some color in them.

First I primed all the turtles so it would be easier to paint any color I wanted.

For the first turtle I gave her a tribal, almost natural sophisticated look with twine circles and glass beads!

In gray with turquoise accents to match the glass beads that almost look like water drops on top of her shell.

The Second one, and biggest became a garden in itself, now I can patiently wait for my flowers to bloom
because I have my turtle garden I can place wherever I need a pop of color and cheer!

If you don't have a green thumb, this will solve your Spring fever and flower craving. You will have flowers for as long as you want, allergy free!







A few Accents make this beautiful walking garden even better, Butterflies are flowers best friends. A couple of butterflies hovering on the flowers give it a special touch.




You can't tell this poor gal is injured! I used to leave her out in the snow and there is only so much terracotta can take. One of her legs broke, but I didn't have the heart to throw away something I brought from my homeland so many years ago. I'm happy I kept her. I think she looks great!




My last turtle is truly a lady! So feminine on her pale yellow and grey classic color combination and her pearl and crystal buttons and lace daisies! oh and of course...some sparkle in gray glitter is a must!

This little critters are so cheap and available everywhere...why not "bling" one for mom (cute for little kids to make for Mother's Day) or for Grandma!...I'm sure they would love them!

I hope my little fun project today inspires you to go grab that old abandoned gnome you have sitting in the front porch and give him a makeover! I'm sure your garden or flower bed will take a whole new look to complement your brand new blooms!

Hopefully this weekend the weather will be good enough in your neck of the woods so you can go out and plant some tasty veggies or pretty flowers to go with your new and improved, animals, pots, gnomes or ducks!
Besitos,
Lizy

Posted by at 26 comments
Labels: , , , , ,

4/17/13

Lemon Meringue Pie Milkshake

Hola Amigos! Happy Wednesday. For some reason I went Lemony Crazy and bought quite a few this week. I love lemons, they are refreshing, packed with vitamin C, good with honey when you have an itchy throat and great for cooking!!! ( I even use them to clean copper!). So I'm using at least 1 of  them to make this delicious Lemon Meringue Pie Milkshake. Ingredients as follows.

Lemon Meringue Pie Milkshake

1/2 cup of Milk
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
3-4 Tablespoons Lemon Curd
1 TBSP Lemon Zest
2 Cups Honey-Vanilla Greek Frozen Yogurt (or your favorite Vanilla frozen Yogurt


Whip Cream 
Lemon Cookies for garnish

In a blender add Milk, Lemon Juice, Lemon Curd, Lemon Zests. Blend until ingredients are well mixed. Add the frozen Yogurt, Blend for a couple of seconds until smooth!



 Listo
Garnish with Whip Cream or Lemon Cookie!

I even added some extra Lemon Curd to the bottom of my cup for a little tasty surprise!

It's so refreshing and hard to have only one.

If you don't want to dip your cookie in your shake, how about crushing it and sprinkle it on your shake...yummmm, 

Thank You so much for stopping by the blog today, I hope you get a chance to enjoy this refreshing milkshake now that Spring seems to be in a full swing! Have a great Wednesday!

Besitos,
Lizy

Posted by at 32 comments
Labels: , ,

4/15/13

DIY Drip Painted Vases

Hola Amigos! Happy Monday. Seems like The Muses and the Titan Metis have been kind enough to inspire me at least a little this week and allow me to share with you a couple of very colorful vases perfect for Mother's day or a pop of color in your everyday decor.

You will need for this craft:
A couple of Dollar Store vases (mine from a previous failed project)
Acrylic Paints
Primer
and a little bit of patience!

First prime you vases, so if your dripped paint misses a spot it would look like done on purpose.  Place your vases upside down on a surface you don't mind getting messy, because believe me,  you will make a mess!

 Drop a little bit of paint (one good squirt) in the center of your vase and just watch the paint drip on the side.

 Repeat with many colors as you want, moving towards the edge to cover areas missed by the initial few squirts of paint. Note that as you move toward the edges of the vase you will need less and less paint in order to get your layers of color...otherwise you will end up with one big solid color effect. Let your paint dry (here is where patience comes to play) until is completely dry to the touch.


 You could leave it like that at this point or if you want a glossy finish, use a bit of your glossy Mod Podge on each vase...it will take a couple of days to cure though (insert more patience here) and you are done.

By the look of mine I think I'm channeling my inner Miro, Kandinsky and maybe a little of Picasso's Surrealism Period

They look pretty by themselves


Or with Pretty Flowers

Yes there is a little wasted paint involved, a little messy but projects where your imaginations is the limit and really you can't get them wrong are all worth trying in my book!



If you see some faint lines on my vases, it was the result of my failed previous project, new vases should look smooth.

Thank You so much for sharing some time this Monday with me! I would love to hear how your weekend was! Wishing you a Creative, Productive and Healthy week...

Besitos,
Lizy

Bringing a Paint Palette full of color to these Fabulous Parties:
Under the Table and Dreaming
Between Naps on the Porch
Feeding Big and More
Kathe with an E
Mom 4 Real
A Pinch of Joy
The Dedicated House
Cozy Little House
Love Bakes Good Cakes
We Three Crabs
Clean and Scentsible
Fluster Buster
Ginger Snap Crafts
Savvy Southern Style
The Mandatory Mooch
No Minimalist Here
Food Done Light
The Real Coake Family
Primp
Momn on Time Out
Ducks'n Row
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Beyond the Picket Fence
Bowdabra
Fireflies and Jellybeans
Rooted in Thyme
The Charm of Home
Simply Designing
504 Main
The Thriftiness Miss
My Turn (for Us)
Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons
One Artsy Mama
PJH Designs
Cheerios and Lattes
Diana Rambles
Classy Clutter
Sew-Licious Home Decor
Sunny Simple Life
Life on Lakeshore Drive
Heatherly Loves
Navy Wifey Peters
The Chicken Chick
Call Me PMc
A Humble Creation
Natasha in Oz
Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen
twelveOeight
Nap-Time Creations
Jennifer Rizzo
Posted by at 33 comments
Labels: , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)