Tropical Pork Steaks Recipe

Hola Amigos! When the weather turns cold I can't but to mentally transport myself to warmer places and one of the best way to do it is through food.

I got a couple of beautiful Pork Steaks at the butcher the other day and in my opinion nothing goes better with pork than the taste of the tropics and it's fruits. Passion fruit, pineapple and oranges are some of the tropical fruits used one way or another to prepare this steaks.

And if you are thinking it's too cold to light the grill. not to worry, these are baked!

They are extremely moist and tender the way they are, but you know me, I need to have some gravy with my meats! My gravy has all the flavors of the steaks and the sweetness of the fruit.

The kids love the sweet taste of the steaks and just to make it even more kid friendly, this time we just had them with some Mac n Cheese! It was a hit alright!

Thank You for visiting today, this recipe shows us that when we don't have the money to buy a plane ticket, we can still travel everywhere we want with food! Remember my friends, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Tropical Pork Steaks

Ingredients:

2.5-3 Lbs Pork Steaks

1 Cup Orange Juice

2 Envelopes Sazon  with Coriander and Tomato

2 Chipotle Bullions

Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder to taste
2 TBSP oil for frying

1 (8 oz) can Crushed Pineapples drained (save juice)

1 Cup Passion Fruit Juice ( I used Welch) 
1 TBSP cornstarch

Directions:

Prepare the pork steaks to be marinated either in a zip lock bag or a baking dish. Pour the cup of orange juice and sprinkle the Sazon and crushed chipotle bullions, salt, pepper and garlic powder and rub them with these seasonings until they are all covered, there is plenty for both sides. Put in the refrigerator and let them marinate for a couple of hours. 

When ready to cook, Pre-heat the oven at 365 degrees. 

In a large skillet, 2 tbsp oil, heat up. Place pork steaks, one at a time if they are too big, and seared and brown on both sides. Like 3-5 minutes on each side (again it will depend on the size of the steaks). Once browned place on a baking dish.

Pour the cup of passion fruit juice and the saved pineapple juice. Bake covered for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, uncovered and spread the crushed pineapple over the steaks bake for an additional 5 minutes or until pork is completely cooked, (internal temperature of 145 degrees according to the new USDA guidelines). Once time has elapsed, remove from oven and let the steaks rest.

For the gravy, mix drippings with 1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in a little bit of orange juice and cook until thickened . Serve on top of pork steaks and enjoy.

Prep and Marinating Time 4 hours                   Cook Time 25 minutes                 Serves 4

Sharing a taste of the tropics at these Fabulous Parties:

Craft Dictator, Tatertos aand Jello, Skip to my Lou, The Chicken Chick, Say Not Sweet Anne, Alderberry Hill, Boogieboard Cottage, Mad in Crafts, Frugality Gal, Carrie This Home, Create with Joy, Feeding Big, Smart School House, Hun...what's for dinner?, Our Table for Seven, Kleinworth & Co, Homemade Ginger, The View from 510, Lady Behind the Curtain, All She Cooks, Ducks'n a Row, Kitchen Meets Girl, My Girlish Whims, Pink Box Recipe, The Best Blog Recipes, Artsy Fartsy Mama, Craft Dictator, Sweet Haute

Fresh Cherries and Hibiscus Holiday Sauce Recipe

Hola Amigos: Today I'm mixing it a little bit and sharing with you a twist on side dish eaten by all throughout the holiday season, Cranberry Sauce. This year since I'm not hosting any of the holidays for family and friends, just my guys I get creative freedom when it comes to dishes and do things outside the can.

We only serve or eat cranberry sauce of juice when we have guests or we are sick, lol. This time of the year coincides with summer in my country so we instead of cranberry juice we have Hibiscus Cooler or "Saril" very popular drink around the holidays there. As refreshing and vibrant colored as Cranberry Juice Cocktail only a bit spicy since we add ginger to the infusion! Anyway, it is this Hibiscus Cooler concentrate infusion what I have used to prepare the base of this sauce.

It's not only good by itself, but goes great with ice cream, cake, pancakes anywhere where you use sauce you could use my plain Hibiscus Sauce.

To make it more festive and to resemble the whole cranberry sauce thing, I made a little cherry reduction with some sweet Moscato and mixed it all up!

The result made me skip dinner because I just got a bowl of my favorite ice cream and pour this still warm over it and at it all! Oh my guys! this stuff is addictive!

You can taste the sweetness and tartness of the hibiscus with notes of ginger and a bit of the Moscato on every cherry bite! yumm

I made enough of the hibiscus sauce to use for future recipes and this particular combination makes about 1 1/2 cup of goodness to have with your turkey or ham.
Thank you so much for visiting the blog today! I hope you enjoy this recipe a little bit our of the ordinary but delicious and easy to make. Remember my friends, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Cherry and Hibiscus Holiday Sauce
Ingredients
For the Hibiscus Infusion and Sauce
1 Cup Hibiscus Flowers
6 Cups Water
1 Inch piece Ginger, peeled
1/2 Cup Corn Syrup
8 TBSP Sugar
1/4 Cup Fresh Orange Juice
2 TBSP Cornstarch
Directions:
In a large saucepan, bring 6 cups water to a rapid boil. Add hibiscus flowers, remove from heat and cover with a lid for about 20 to 30 minutes.
Using a large colander, separate the infusion from the flowers, but do not discard the flowers. They will be use to prepare something delicious soon.
Add 2 cups of the infusion, ginger, corn syrup and sugar to saucepan on medium high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
Combine orange juice and cornstarch and add it to the infusion mix, continue cooking until the mix begins to boil, reduce heat at cook for abut 5 more minutes until the sauce coats a spoon. It will thicken a bit more as it cools.Remove and discard  ginger piece and  remove the sauce  from heat.
For the Cherries
1 Cup Fresh Cherries (could be frozen too), pitted
4 TBSP Moscato wine
1/2 tsp Orange Zest
In a small hot saucepan, add wine, cook for about 1 minute until the alcohol evaporates. Add cherries and orange zest. Cook until  the wine reduces to almost nothing, about 8 minutes. 
Add Hibiscus sauce to the fresh cherries, mix until everything is well blended. Serve and Enjoy!

Prep Time   20 minutes                           Cook Time 13 minutes                            Serves 2 Cups

Sharing my Delicious Creations at these Fabulous Parties:

The Chicken Chick, Under the Table and Dreaming, Coastal Charm, Between Naps on the Porch, The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen, Cooking for the Seven Dwarfs, A Pinch of Joy, Create with Joy, The Tumbleweed Contessa, Kathe with an E, Feeding Big, Home Stories A to Z, Hun...what's for dinner?, Our Table for Seven, The View from 510, Mandy's Recipe Box, Nap-Time Creations, Chef in Training, Pint Sized Baker, Lady Behind the Curtain, Ducks'n a Row, Fluster Buster, The Taylor House, Ginger Snap Crafts, Diana Rambles, Sweet Haute, Juggling Real Food and Real Life, My Turn (for Us), Craft Dictator, Tatertots and Jello, Rain on a Tin Roof, Huckleberry Love, Craft-O-Maniac, Skip to my Lou, Say Not Sweet Anne, Alderberry Hill, Boogieboard Cottage, Mad in Crafts, Frugality Gal, Carrie This Home, Smart School House, Kleinworth & co, Homemade Ginger, Memories by the Mile, All She Cooks, Kitchen Meets Girl, My Girlish Whims, Pink Box Recipe, The Best Blog Recipes, Artsy Fartsy Mama, Craft Dictator, Sweet Haute

Combination Stir Fry with BBQ Peanut Sauce Recipe

Hola Amigos! I guess at this moment we are clearing the fridge to make room for our 18 pounder bird and pies and everything we can possible prepare ahead of time. But what to eat before Turkey Day  arrives? well, just check among the "forgotten" items while making that needed space, put them all together and make a delicious stir fry.

This dish came about  because in one of my shopping trips I noticed this perfectly delicious 16 oz of stir fry mix for only $1.69!!! that is a bargain! Most of the time I stick to my rule of buying each veggie by itself because it's usually cheaper, but this one was a no-brainer, just the broccoli alone was $1.99 per head and I just needed a few tops and stems. Same with everything else.

In my fridge I found 1 lonely chicken breast, left from a package of 5, a handful of shrimp and 2 thin cut boneless pork chops, I already had a supply of sauces and condiments from previous visits to take outs ( I know laugh, but they come in handy sometimes) and who doesn't have peanut butter in the pantry?

After a 30 minutes you end up with a flavorful stir fry for almost nothing! You have used some of your leftovers without repeating a meal and creating something worth of the best take out place in town!
The peanuts were an impulse buy at the dollar store, saw a bag of BBQ peanuts and bought 2 for $1 never knowing what I was going to use them for...perfect crunchy element for my stir fry!

Do you check the "manager's special" at your local grocery store? How often do you buy or do you just pass them? I'm  thinking of doing this more often if the value and quality are there and try to create something good for almost nothing.

For this dish the only thing I bought was  the stir fry mix for $1.69!!! Score!

Thank  You for visiting the blog today! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend in anticipation to the big day to come. Remember friends, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Combination Stir Fry with BBQ Peanut Sauce

Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp Sesame Oil

1 Chicken Breast, strips
2 Boneless thin cut pork chops, strips

1/2 lb Cooked Shrimp or use any meat you have handy

1 (16 oz) package Stir Fry Mix

1/2 Cup Onion, chopped

2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 inch piece Ginger, ground

3 TBSP Peanut Butter

1 TBSP Soy Sauce
1 TBSP Hoisin Sauce
Thai Spice or Pepper Flakes to taste
1/4 Cup BBQ peanuts, chopped
Noodles or Rice to serve with your Stir Fry
Directions:
In a skillet heat up the  1 TBSP sesame oil and fry your chicken strips and pork chop strips until cooked. Set aside. Coat the skillet with the remaining 1/2 tsp of sesame oil add onions, garlic and saute until for 3 minutes. Keep moving constantly not to burn the garlic. Add the Stir fry mix, chicken and pork chop strips. Mix until everything is well combined about 2 minutes, finally add the shrimp. Remove from heat. 
In a separate small sauce pan, on low heat,  mix peanut butter, soy and hoisin sauce until everything is smooth, add Thai Spice Mix or pepper flakes to taste. 
Pour this sauce over stir fry mix coating everything and serve your creation on top of rice noodles or white rice. Enjoy!

Prep Time 10 minutes                            Cook Time 20 minutes                       Serves 4-6 

Sharing my Quick and Delicious Stir Fry at these Fabulous Parties:

Today's Creative Blog, Cheerios and Lattes, Made from Pinterest, Twigg Studios, Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Life on Lakeshore Drive, I Should be Mopping the Floors, Will Cook For Smile, Titi Crafty, 2 Crochet Hooks, My Mixing Spoon, Under the Table and Dreaming, The Chicken Chick, Coastal Charm, Between Naps on the Porch, The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen, Cooking for the Seven Dwarfs, A Pinch of Joy, Create with Joy, The Tumbleweed Contessa, Kathe with an E, Feeding Big, Home Stories A to Z, Hun...What's for dinner, Out Table for Seven, The View from 510, Mandy's Recipe Box, Chef in Training, Nap-Time Creations, Pint Sized Baker, Lady Behind the Curtain, Ducks' n a Row, Fluster Buster, The Taylor House, Ginger Snap Crafts, Diana Rambles, Sweet Haute, Juggling Real Food and Real Life, My Turn (for Us), Craft Dictator, Tatertots and Jello, Rain on a Tin Roof, Huckleberry Love, Craft-O-Maniac, Skip to my Lou, Say Not Sweet Anne, Alderberry Hill, Boogieboard Cottage, Mad in Crafts, Frugality Gal, Carrie This Home, Smart School House, Kleinworth & Co, Homemade Ginger, Memories by the Mile, All She Cooks, Kitchen Meets Girl, My Girlish Whims, Pink Recipe Box, Artsy Fartsy Mama, The Best Blog Recipes, Craft Dictator

Fall Apple Cake Recipe

Hola Amigos: I'm guess I'm feeling daring with my oven lately! So far no fails and I hope I don't jinx it after this one.
We had a lot of apples in this house this year, maybe because my little one likes to take one to school everyday, maybe because a nearby neighbor lets us go into her yard and pick as many as we want or maybe no matter where we go we get a box full of free apples! Who am I to complain about this! The more the merrier and free makes them taste even sweeter.

But after a while...what am going to do with all of them? way too many in just one week, here comes girlfriend with her tried and tested Apple Cake recipe, and even though I panic every time I'm baking sweets I have to mix myself, she told me there was no way I could mess this one up.

Wow was she right! It was good...too good I would say, because half of it got eaten by a pack of hungry teenagers before I could take a pic of the entire thing. You can picture right now my expression when I came to take the pics and half the cake was gone!!!!!! <-----insert the "Home Alone Plus" face here.

I'm sure you've tried this recipe before, it was my first time and it won't be the last!

Of course, as tradition mandates, well at least tradition in my house, if it's called cake, it needs Ice Cream, and caramel and, well I was out of chocolate this time, but you get the idea!

Thank You for visiting the blog today! Are you having an abundance of Apples as well? What do you do with all of them, care to share? Remember my friends, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Fall Apple Cake
Ingredients:
2 Pounds Apples (like 4 medium), chopped
2 Cups Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Butter
2 Eggs
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 TBSP Apple Pie Spice
2 1/2 Cups Flour
Topping
2 TBSP Brown Sugar
2 TBSP Flour
2 TBSP Butter
1 TBSP Apple Spice
1 Cup Chopped Pecans
Directions:
Preheat your oven at 350 degrees. Grease your baking pan. Set aside.
Bet together your wet ingredients (now that sounds professional right?) brown sugar, butter and eggs. Once everything is mixed using your spatula, add apples, flour, baking soda and apple spice. Pour this mix on your greased baking pan. For the topping mix all the mentioned ingredients and sprinkle over the mix. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Serve and Enjoy!

Prep Time 10 minutes                                Cook Time 35-40 minute                   Serves 10

Sharing my Sweet Apple Pie at these Fabulous Parties:

Sweet Haute, The Brambleberry Cottage, Lamberts Lately, The Mandatory Mooch, Katherine's Corner, What's Cooking Love?, The Crafty Blogstalker, Saving 4 Six, A Glimpse Inside, Made in a Day, Simply Dream and Create, Consider me Inspired, Artsy Fartsy Mama, Living Well Spending Less, The Inspiration Network, Gingerly Made, White Lights on Wednesday, The Girl Creative, The Answer is Chocolate, Becoming Martha, The Best Blog Recipes, Tidy Mom, French Country Cottage, My Turn (for Us), 504 Main, Home Maid Simple, The Shabby Nest, The Pin Junkie, The Craft Dictator, Living Better Together, Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, In the Kitchen with Jenny, The 36th Avenue, Today's Creative Blog, The Crafty Allie, Cheerios and Lattes, Made from Pinterest, Twigg Studios, Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Life on Lakeshore Drive, I Should be Mopping the Floors, Will Cook for Smiles, Titi Crafty, 2 Crochet Cooks, My Mixing Spoon, Two It Yourself, The Chicken Chick, Under the Table and Dreaming, Coastal Charm, Between Naps on the Porch, The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen, Cooking for the Seven Dwarfs, A Pinch of Joy, Create with Joy, The Tumbleweed Contessa, Kathe with an E, Feeding Big, Home Stories A to Z, Hun...what's for dinner?, Our Table for Seven, The View from 510, Mandy's Recipe Box, Nap-Time Creations, Chef in Training, Pint Sized Baker,Lady Behind the Curtain, Ducks' n a Row, Fluster Buster, Taylor House, Ginger Snap Crafts, Diana Rambles, Juggling Real Food and Real Life, Rain on a Tin Roof, Huckleberry Love, Craft-O-Maniac, Skip to my Lou, Say Not Sweet Anne, Alderberry Hill, Boogieboard Cottage, Mad in Crafts, Frugality Gal, Carrie This Home, Smart School House, Kleinworth & Co, Homemade Ginger, Memories by the Mile, Kitchen Meets Girl

Bacon and Cheese Cornbread Recipe

Hola Amigos! For the next couple of weeks it's most likely we will be eating a lot of  corn bread! All kinds of cornbread, some spicy, some sweet, some that are hard as a rock and best fed to the birdies in the yard, corn bead in  stuffing, in muffins you name it! This is my super easy and savory recipe with a twist from all the other corn breads you will have these season.

There is no flour measuring, no creaming of the corn or using the can stuff, just mix a few ingredients, most of them in your pantry at this moment, bake and enjoy.

It has the things my guys love to no end, bacon and cheese! I added the things I love a bit of smokiness spicy and broccoli! I know it's different, but so good!...believe me when I say this was one veggie that wasn't picked out of the plate like it happens almost on regular basis here by my little one

Give this Corn Bread a try and mix in the elements you love the most, if you are not a fan of broccoli, leave it out and substitute it with your favorite one or add corn! This is a very flexible recipe and that's what I love about it, gives you the foundation for you to do it your way and make it your own.

Thank you for your visit today, I hope you include this quick recipe as one of the many holiday dishes you will have this season! Remember my friends, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Bacon and Cheese Cornbread Recipe
Ingredients:
2 (8.5 oz) Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
1 (8 oz) Package Cottage Cheese
1 Cup Cheddar Cheese
1 TBSP Chipotle in Adobo Sauce
4 Eggs, beaten
4 Strips of Bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 (8 oz) Package Frozen Broccoli 
1 Small onion, chopped 
1/2 Cup Butter + 1 TBSP extra
Directions:
Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees. Melt butter in a 9 x 13 inch pan. 
In a medium skillet melt 1 TBSP butter and saute onion until transparent. Remove from skillet.
Mix all the ingredients and add saute onions. Add this mix to the previously buttered baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm and Enjoy!

Prep Time 5 minutes                                                                 Bake Time 45 Minutes                          

Sharing my Savory Corn Bread Recipe at these Fabulous Parties:

The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen, Between Naps on the Porch, Feeding Big, Watch Out, Martha!, A Southern Fairytale, The Gunny Sack, Our Table for Seven, Hun...What's for Dinner?, Chef In Training, Home Stories A to Z, Nap Time Creations, Mandy's Recipe Box, Sugar Bee Crafts, Cozy Little House, Ginger Snap Crafts, My Sweet Mission, Lady Behind the Curtain, A Bright and Beautiful Life, Gina's Craft Corner, Sweet Haute, The Brambleberry Cottage, Lamberts Lately, The Mandatoy Mooch, What's Cooking Love?, Katherine's Corner, The Crafty Blogstalker, Saving 4 Sx, A Glimpse Inside, Made in a Day, Simply Dream and Create, Consider me Inspired, Artsy Fartsy Mama, Living Well Spending Less, Gingerly Made, White Lights on Wednesday, The Girl Creative, The Answer is Chocolate, Becoming Martha, The Best Blog Recipes, Tidy Mom, French Country Cottage, My Turn (for Us), Juggling Real Food and Real Life, Home Maid Simple, 504 Main, The Shabby Nest, The Pin Junkie, The Craft Dictator, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Living Better Together, In the Kitchen with Jenny, The 36th Avenue, Today's Creative Blog, Cheerios and Lattes, Made from Pinterest, Twigg Studios, Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Life on Lakeshore Drive, I Should be Mopping the Floors, Will Cook for Smiles, Titi Crafty, 2 Crochet Hooks, My Mixing Spoon, Under the Table and Dreaming, The Chicken Chick, Create with Joy, The Tumbleweed Contessa, Kathe with an E, The Taylor House

Wild Turkey Thanksgiving Cocktail Recipe

Hola Amigos! We all know Thanksgiving is that time of the year when we officially give thanks for all the blessings we have received all year long. We're thankful for our health, we are thankful for our friends and family and for the happy joyous times we have shared all these months! But let's face it, it could be stressful too, all the cooking, the cleaning, the tidying up, people staying over messing with your stuff, the eternal house decor critic, your in laws not quite happy with your stuffing, the nosy aunt trying to teach you how to raise your kids...and too many to mention without getting palpitations right? So on Thanksgiving we are Thankful for some "High Octane Encouragemnte!!! lol

This is my Thanksgiving cocktail (or should I say one of many I would be indulging that day). Very simple indeed, one less complicated thing to have that day!

If you love Tequila Sunrise, you're going to enjoy this one too!. It's a use what you have handy kind of drink, so no special trip to the store to prepare this one, unless you want to escape the madness for a few.
I know you are seeing 4 little shot glasses instead of the 3 listed here, keep reading, I can explain!

I hope you enjoy this little cocktail ad that you get to enjoy a few, I promise...after the 3rd one you won't even care about your cousin implying your turkey is dry. Remember my friends, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love! (and on Thanksgiving, a drink in hand).

Besitos,

Lizy

Wild Turkey Cocktail 

Ingredients:

3 oz Sunny Delight

2 oz Pineapple Rum (or any other clear rum)

1 oz Grenadine
1 oz whiskey (optional)

Ice Cubes

Directions:

Using a highball glass, add some ice cubes.In a separate mixing glass, pour the Sunny D and mix it with rum. Add to the Highball glass and slowly pour the Grenadine on the edge of the glass.This is what will give the drink the pretty effect. Now...I said I had some explaining to do..If Aunt Ursula is really getting on your nerves, add 1 oz of whiskey (hence the Wild Turkey name of this cocktail)  before you add the Grenadine, it will give it an additional layer of color and a new taste note! . Drink up and enjoy!

Prep time 3 minutes                                                                                             Serves 1

Sharing my most needed cocktail at these Fabulous Parties:

Lemon Paper Designs, Twigg Studios, Suburbs Mama, Nifty Thirfty Things,Life on Lakeshore Drive, Flamingo Toes, SerenityYou, I Should be Mopping the Floors, My Mixing Spoons, This Gal Cooks, A Pinch of Joy, Lines Across, The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen, The Chicken Chick, Between Naps on the Porch, Feeding Big, Watch Out, Martha!, A Southern Fairytale, The Gunny Sack, Our Table for Seven, Chef in Training, Home Stories A to Z, Nap Time Creations, Mandy's Recipe Box, Sugar Bee Crafts, Cozy Little House, Ginger Snap Crafts, My Sweet Mission, Lady Behind the Curtain, A Bright and Beautiful Life, Gina's Craft Corner, Sweet Haute, The Brambleberry Cottage, Lamberts Lately, The Mandatory Mooch, What's Cooking Love?, The Crafty Blogstalker, Saving 4 Six, A Glimpse Inside, Made in a Day, Simply Dream and Create, Consider Me Inspired, Artsy Fartsy Mama, Living Well Spending Less, Gingerly Made, White Lights on Wednesday, The Girl Creative, The Answer is Chocolate, Becoming Martha, The Best Blog Recipes, Tidy Mom, French Country Cottage, My Turn (for Us), Home Maid Simple, 504 Main, The Shabby Nest, The Pin Junkie, The Craft Dictator, Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Living Better Together, In the Kitchen with Jenny, The 36th Avenue, Today's Creative Blog, The Crafty Allie, Cheerios and Lattes, Made from Pinterest, Will Cook for Smiles, Fluster Buster