Avgolemono - Lemon Rice and Chicken Soup Recipe

Hola Amigos! How is this Polar Vortex treating you? Today was supposed to be back to school after Christmas vacation, but school was cancelled leaving kiddo more time to do this:

With temperatures getting lower literally by the hour, only something hot and creamy will do the trick to bring the body back to an "I'm ready to go outside and do more shoveling" state of mind!

This is one of my favorite soups and the I get it every Friday (the only day they prepare it) at the Farmer's Restaurant by my house. I'm not 100% sure my version has all the "magic" ingredients they put on theirs, but is quite close, and will do for as long as we remain snowed in!

You can have it with pita bread on the side or like me, open your oyster crackers and have fun. I always keep a big bag or 2 at home.

My soup has a bit more rice therefore thicker than the Farmer's version, but as you all know, I just love rice, maybe as much as I love chocolate , lol...crazy I  know!

I sure hope you are not part of the 140 million Americans feeling the effects of the "Freeze" as the Weather Channel reports. But if like me you are stuck right in the middle of the whole thing, this is your soup to have! Trust me, you will thank me after several bowls! stay safe, stay warm and remember everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Avgolemono - Lemon Rice and Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

1 Large Whole Chicken Breast,  Chopped (around 1 1/2-2 cups)

5 Cups Chicken Broth (for more wholesome flavor use the broth where you cook your chicken)

1/2 Cup Rice (I use 3/4 Cup since I like my soup thick and with lots of rice)

1 TBSP Butter or Olive Oil

1 Cup Onion, Diced

1/2 Cup Carrots, Diced 

1/2 Cup Celery, Diced

3 Eggs

1 Large Lemon, Juiced

1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

Salt to taste

Lemon slices for garnish

Pita Bread or Oyster Crackers 

Directions:

In a pan, melt the butter on a little bit of oil for it not to burn or heat olive oil alone and saute veggies until onions and celery are translucent, around 5 minutes. Set aside.

On a large pot add chicken broth bring to a simmer and add rice. Cook until rice blooms (opens), add sauteed veggies and chicken. Add red pepper flakes and salt if needed. Keep cooking for flavors to integrate, about 5-10 minutes.

Now comes the tricky part, in a separate bowl beat eggs and while doing this add the lemon juice. Keep the whisking going, now slowly add a ladle at a time of the soup mixture to temper the eggs, you don't want to end with an omelette in you soup. Add one or two ladles full, I don't mind if rice or veggies get into it, the idea is to bring the eggs at the same temp of the soup in the pot.

Pour the egg-lemon mixture into the soup pot keep  mixing  and remove from heat. Serve hot with lemon wedges, oyster crackers or pita bread, enjoy!

Prep Time: 10 Minutes                           Cook Time 30 Minutes                            Serves 6

Sharing my tangy hot soup at these Fabulous Parties:

Smart School House, Ginger Snap Crafts, All She Cooks, Lady Behind the Curtain, Ducks' n a Row, Kitchen Meets Girl, My Girlish Whims, Memories by the Mile, My Snippets of Inspiration, Gina's Craft Corner, Little House Living, Feeding Big, Love Bakes Good Cakes

13 Most Wanted Recipes of 2013

Hola Amigos!!!! Wishing you all a happy, healthy and peaceful last day of 2013! What a year it has been! So many happy memories, tasty recipes from fellow bloggers, fun crafts but above all, priceless new friendships made all over the globe!
It was a lot of fun at the blog too!  with a fairly good amount of cooking and calories gained here and there, lol...looking forward to do it all over again, God willing, this new year almost knocking at our door! Here are some of the most popular of 2013

Very Berry Kool Aid Cheesecake

Black Forest Bars

Marbled Deviled Eggs

Jell-O Poke Cake

Death By Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Cherry Cola Smoothie

Easy Ravioli Lasagna

Sharknado Cupcakes

Maple and Toffee Autumn Muddy Buddies

Spiked Monster Halloween Cocktail

Wild Turkey Thanksgiving Cocktail

Holiday Chocolate Flan

My Favorite Recipe for 2013

S'mores Pizza

Thank You friends for a year full of fantastic moments I will always share deep in my heart for the rest of my life! Even though lately I haven't been around much, I always carry your sweet thoughts and comments with me to get me through everyday unexpected challenges! 

Hope your New Year is full of Happiness, Love, Family Union and Health! From my family to yours HAPPY 2014!!!! and keep in mind this new year that everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Sharing my Most Wanted at these Fabulous Parties:

Love Bakes Good Cakes, Tartertots and Jello, The Best Blog Recipes, Home Maid Simple, The Shabby Nest, Six Sister's Stuff, What's Cooking with Ruthie, Made from Pinterest, Sew Licious Home Decor, Becoming Martha, Flamingo Toes, 504 Main, Will Cook For Smiles, Nifty Thrifty Things, Twigg Studios, Suburbs Mama, Navy Wifey Peters, Lines Across, The Chicken Chick, This Gal Cooks, I Should be Mopping the Floors, Smart School House, Ginger Snap Crafts, All She Cooks, Lady Behind the Curtain, Ducks'n a Row, Ducks'n a Row, Kitchen Meets Girl, Feeding Big, The Silly Pearl, My Girlish Whims, Memories by the Mile

Smothered Fiesta Chicken Recipe

Hola Amigos: This is an easy chicken recipe that will set your taste buds on  a party mood! It's tender, juicy and spicy, just like a festive meal should be!

It also uses very inexpensive chicken quarters, but certainly you could use any chicken cuts you have handy! I think that is why we all love chicken! it's so versatile!

When it comes to the ingredients, there are very few, corn and black beans take center stage, highlighted by a few spices and a whole lot of flavor! It's smothered in a delicious tomato based sauce where all the ingredients combine and become one with the chicken! You can hardly see the chicken...but it's there, under all that goodness!

It goes in the oven leaving you plenty of time while it cooks to get some things done around the house.
I personally love the bright colors, the combination of textures and of course the flavors!. Serve it with some white rice or flour tortillas and dinner would be memorable!

Thank you so much for your visit to the blog today. I hope you are able to prepare this flavorful and frugal recipe and bring share with your family this festive meal! Remember my friends everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Smothered Fiesta Chicken

Ingredients

4 Chicken Leg Quarters

1 Can Black Beans

1 Can Sweet Corn

1 Can Diced Tomatoes with Jalapenos

1/2 Can Chicken Broth

1 1/2 tsp Minced Onion

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Ancho Chilli
Pinch of Coriander

1 1/2 Cup Shredded Cheddar Jack Cheese

Oil for browning

Directions:

Season chicken with salt & pepper or seasonings of your liking. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes. (marinating overnight is always better). 

Preheat your oven at 365F . 

In a large very hot oiled  sauce pan, brown the chicken, skin side down. Once all the pieces are browned transfer to a baking pan. In the same saucepan add chicken broth to deglaze it, scrapping all the bits and juices left from browning. Add diced tomatoes, corn, beans and spices. Cook for 5 minutes and cover chicken with this sauce. Cover you baking dish with aluminum foil or a lid and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese and let it melt.

Serve with white rice or flour tortillas. Enjoy!

Prep Time: 5 minutes                                           Cook Time: 35 minutes                  Serves 4

Sharing my simple easy meal at these Fabulous Parties:

Made from Pinterest, Be Different Act Normal, Classy Clutter, Serenity You, Twigg Studios, Your Homebased Mom, Angels Homestead, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Navy Wifey Peters, Will Cook for Smiles, Flamingo Toes, Create with Joy, My Mixing Spoon, Frugal Foodie Mama, The Chicken Chick, Twelve O' eight, Claire Justine, Love Bakes Good Cakes, Tatertots and Jello, The Best Blog Recipes, Home Maid Simple, The Shabby Nest, Six Sister's Stuff, What's Cooking with Ruthie, Sew Licious Home Decor, Becoming Martha, 504 Main, Suburbs Mama, Nifty Thrifty Things, Lines Across, Smart School House, Ginger Snap Crafts, All She Cooks, Lady Behind the Curtain, Duck's' n a Row, Kitchen Meets Girl, Feeding Big, The Silly Pearl, My Girlish Whims, Memories by the Mile

Baked Cod with Lemon and Orange Recipe

Hola Amigos: Today I'm sharing with you a recipe using a sometimes overlooked fish, Cod! This mild flavored fish is so  inexpensive compared to others and rich in vitamins A, C and D as well as Omega 3's that we should all included on regular basis as part of our diets.

Back in my country is very popular in it's dried salted version. I remember the semi lengthy process my mom used to go through every time we had it for dinner. It was well worth the effort,we loved it there,  but oh boy, you won't find this girl doing all that work  now, just thinking of trying to "fish" for all the tiny needles even before starting cooking it, makes me want to open a can of tuna instead, also there is the matter of  the "fishy" smell salted dried cod has, that alone will make all my guys run out the door in panic,lol. Don't get me wrong, it's delicious just like lox, but it takes a lot of work to prepare.

No problem with fresh cod filet though, it's mild flavor allows this fish to wonderfully take any flavors you want to add. This time we added citrus notes of lemon and orange!

Also as you all know my favorite method of preparing seafood is to steam it in a bag and then quickly crisp it and brown it for  a few minutes outside the bag and preparing a little sauce with the delicious juices rendered in the cooking process.

The little sauce I created has a hint of tangy ginger to complement the citrus fruity flavors already in the fish.
A super quick and healthy recipe for times when we are all busy trying to catch up with office parties, hosting our own or just trying to get from one place to another with heavy holiday traffic! 20 minutes in the oven and enjoy!

Thank You for visiting the blog today! Hope you enjoy this quick and flavorful recipe and give it a try next time you see this nutritious and  tasty fish at a store near you! remember my friends, even the most humblest of foods taste better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Baked Cod with Lemon and Orange Recipe

Ingredients:

12 oz Cod Filet

1 TBSP Fresh Lemon Juice

1 TBSP Fresh Orange Juice

1/2 tsp Lemon Zest

1/2 tsp Orange Zest

1 tsp Seafood Seasoning

Onion Powder, Garlic Powder and Lemon Pepper to taste

1/2 Small Red Onion, Sliced

3-4 Thin Orange Slices

1/8 Cup Ginger Ale

1/2 tsp Cornstarch 

Directions:

Marinate your fish with the fruit juices, juice zests and seasonings. Let the fish marinate for 15 minutes only since we don't want to cook it in the citrus mix. 

Preheat oven at 425F. Cut a long piece of parchment paper and another one the same size of aluminum foil, to go right under the parchment one.

Remove the fish from the marinade, place on the parchment paper sheet. Add sliced red onions and orange slices to cover the fish. Wrap the parchment around the fish and seal this inner bag with an aluminum foil one. Bake for 15 minutes. When time is up, open the bags and bake for another 5 minutes so the fish browns.

Remove from oven. 

For the sauce, place rendered juice on a small saucepan, add cornstarch dissolved in ginger ale and cook for a few minutes until it coats the spoon. Serve over the fish and enjoy!

Prep Time 15 Minutes                               Cook Time 20 minutes                       Serves 2

Sharing my easy and frugal fish dinner at these Fabulous Parties:

Made from Pinterest, Be Different Act Normal, Classy Clutter, Serenity You, Twigg Studios, Your Homebased Mom, Angels Homestead, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Navy Wifey Peters, Will Cook for Smiles, Flamingo Toes, My Mixing Spoon, Create with Joy, Frugal Foodie Mama, The Chicken Chick, Twelve O' eight, Claire Justine, Love Bakes Good Cakes, Tatertots ad Jello, The Best Blog Recipes, Home Maid Simple, The Shabby Nest, Six sister's Stuff, Becoming Martha, What's Cooking with Ruthie, Sew Licious Home Decor, Walking on Sunshine

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta Recipe

Hola Amigos! This is the season for shorter days, long lines, big traffic jams, hustle and bustle, so why not take it easy in the kitchen and make a delicious easy dinner to feed our families with as little effort as possible. But don't get me wrong, not because it's easy means tasteless, au contraire mon cheri, lol! Since we are using just a few ingredients we are going to use good quality and get the best flavors out of this meal!

This is basically a deconstructed classic, chicken cordon bleu we all love but sometimes we don't have all the time in the world to prepare, roll the chicken breast, breading it, browning and baking.

All the ingredients are present on this dish, and if you are missing the carbs from the breading, you get the pasta to complement it.

It's creamy and cheese, no room for dry chicken here! And of course, since everything tastes better with bacon, it has a bit of the good stuff to gives us some unexpected flavor and crunch.

I hope you enjoy this dish, it gives you plenty of time to cook it, enjoy it and head out again to join the shopping crowds, hanging decorations or enjoy a nice relaxing evening by the fire. Remember my friends, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

Ingredients

6 Slices Bacon, Chopped

1 Lb Chicken Tenders, chopped

1/4 Lb Smoked Ham, cubed

1/2 Cup White Wine

8 oz Sliced Mushrooms

2 Cups Bechamel Sauce

1/2 Cup Peas

1 Cup Shredded Swiss Cheese

Your favorite Pasta

Directions:

In a large hot skillet brown chopped bacon until fat is rendered. Add chopped chicken and saute until cooked and no longer pink, like 8-10 minutes. Add ham and mix. Add white wine and let the alcohol evaporate, like 3 minutes. Add bechamel sauce and mushrooms, mix well until everything is coated with the bechamel sauce. Remove from heat. Before serving, add peas. Serve over pasta and top with shredded Swiss cheese. Enjoy.

Prep Time: 10 minutes                               Cook Time: 20 minutes                     Serves  4

Sharing my tasty  quick meal at these Fabulous Parties:

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, Sweet Haute, My Mixing Spoon, The Chicken Chick, Twelve O' eight, Claire Justine, Walking on Sunshine

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