Thursday, May 27, 2010

Arroz con Gandules

This is by far my favorite recipe and it is a staple in our cute little house.  It's a recipe for a traditional Puerto Rican rice and could literally be a commercial for Goya.  Check it out....

It really is served with just about everything in Estevan's family and we cook it pretty often as well.  It's just so dang easy and the flavors come together so well that it could be served with just about anything.  And like nearly every other Puerto Rican dish, it is not spicy in the least... just flavorful!  I've edited the original recipe by taking out a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, the Adobo is plenty salty enough.  I also increased the amount of liquid from 2 cups (water and gandules liquid combined) to a bottle of water and gandules liquid.  Maybe it depends on the type of pot being used but I found that I just kept adding more and more water previously.  Enjoy a taste from Puerto Rico!



Arroz con Gandules

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large, sweet onion, roughly chopped
1 package Sazon
1 tablespoon Recaito
1 tablespoon Adobo
1 can Gandules Verdes, reserve liquid
16.9 fl. oz. (0.5 L or 2 1/4 cups) water 
1 jar sliced pimientos, drained
2 cups rice

In a large skillet or cast-iron pot, sautee onion in olive oil until tender.  Add the water and reserved gandules liquid, Sazon, Recaito, Adobo, gandules, pimientos, and rice.  Bring to a boil and stir for 3 minutes.  Cover, reduce heat to the lowest setting (seriously, I mean it, the heat must be low) and let cook for about 30 minutes.  I try to only stir it about 2-3 times while the rice is absorbing the liquid.

***Tip:  If you need to serve it a little later, take off heat, cover with paper towel and recover with lid.  This helps to catch any of the excess moisture so that you don't end up with mushy rice.
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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Lemon Rosemary Chicken

I'm very happy right now that I made this meal not too long ago and I still have leftovers because.... drum roll please.... I broke my first bone!  (Funny side note: when I told my dad he thought I said "phone" and then asked nonchalantly, "You do have a warranty right?" to which I just dumbly sat silent and tried to process why my daddy was making a joke about his only child breaking a bone. LOL)  It's a fracture on the tip of my ring finger on my right hand.  How did I fracture the tip of my finger, you may ask?  It's a bad combination of me being stupid, watching two classes at the same time, and a child who didn't see me there.  I was standing in front of a door jam between two classes holding onto the side which the hinges are and leaning into one of the class rooms.  A student from the other class didn't see me and slowly closed the door which my finger happened to be near the hinges... neither one of us realized what was happening until I heard the cracking of my nail and bone.... "AAAHHHHHH, OPEN THE DOOR, OPEN THE DOOR!"  Instant blood and guts and tears (ok, maybe not the guts part, but it was traumatic for both me and the poor child).  Now my finger is in a splint and is all sorts of interesting colors, according to the doctor it should be all better in a month.


This too shall pass.  Now onto happier things!  Sorry about the weird intro.  

This is an incredibly tasty and easy meal, I'm so happy that I became a follower of Annie's Eats because every recipe that I've tried from her blog is absolutely as advertised: delicious!  Seriously, you should stop by her blog soon, it's incredible.  I made this with her recipe for Garlic Rice Pilaf....YUM!

 (Love my new photogenic counter tops!)

Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. lemon zest (1 lemon)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2-3 lemons, at least the way I hand squeeze)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp. fresh rosemary leaves, finely minced
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2-4 lbs. of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or drumsticks
2-3 tbsp. melted butter
Thinly sliced lemons, for garnish

Directions:
Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper in a large zipper-lock plastic bag.  Seal the bag and shake well to blend.  Place the chicken pieces in the bag with the marinade, pressing out excess air and sealing once more.  Refrigerate and let marinate for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 425˚ F.  Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and transfer to a baking dish, skin-side up, reserving the leftover marinade.  Brush the top of each piece of chicken with melted butter.
Bake for 50-55 minutes, until the skins are crispy and well-browned.  Halfway through baking, pour the remaining marinade over the chicken pieces in the baking dish.  Once fully baked, cover loosely with foil and let rest 10 minutes before serving.  Transfer to a serving platter, garnish with lemon slices and serve.

Source: Annie's Eats and adapted from Simply Recipes Pin It Now!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Remember me?

Hello, you may remember me... I'm the person who occasionally writes on this blog.

Wow!  It has been incredibly long since I've sat down with my computer to post anything here.  Thank you for sticking around during my blog hiatus, I'm hoping that it will be over soon! 

Some yummy recipes and delicious photos are coming soon! Pin It Now!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Driving Range

We've been living in The Woodlands for almost a year and let me tell you, there are golf courses everywhere!  On a preliminary search on Google, I came up with at least 10 different courses in The Woodlands alone.  WOW.  About a month ago, Estevan and I decided that we needed to start.  We did some research and found some excellent deals on Craigslist, one of which panned out for both of us.  We went to a house looking to just purchase men's clubs and walked away with both the husband's and the wife's set of clubs.  Boo-ya on taking full advantage of rich people's need to upgrade!  Then, a few weeks ago I went to Ladies Night at a local golf store and scored a bag of free goodies including balls and a $10 gift certificate... oh and FANTASTIC DEALS on clearanced out clothing.  And it all comes together to make this......


Oh yeah.  I'm talking at least $300 in savings in this photo!


What really made the day great was running into these guys at Chic-fil-a beforehand.

We had a great time at the driving range.  Maybe we weren't all that good but it's only going to get better.  
Let's face it, we can't get that much worse!
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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

New Place

Holy moley!  What a whirlwind couple of weeks!  We've finally got everything in order at our new place and the rooms are starting to take on that old familiar, homey look.  This is the first flat that Estevan and I have ever lived in and I have to admit, we are are really liking it.  And yes, I'm taking on the European model of calling our apartment a flat.  Sounds so much cooler and sophisticated, right?  =)  We chose a complex that is very freshly built, we are actually the first ones to live in our unit, and it's on a lake!  The transition from house to apartment has been surprisingly easy.  Even Java is adjusting amazingly well!  Java has made many new friends here, one of which is named Belle.  I'll have to take my camera out more often because it's the funniest thing when Java and Belle meet... they stand on their back legs and hug each other!  So funny.

Ok, so on to the main show.... here's some pics of the new place.  Enjoy!

Granite counter tops throughout the flat.  LOVE THEM!

We were so shocked that this table set fit.  Super cute.

Our place faces East.  Awesome morning light and it remains bright throughout the day.

This in one of two built in bookcases.  I think I'm done fiddling with the arrangement.  Maybe.
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Saturday, May 1, 2010

All moved in!

We've finally finished moving and almost all the boxes have been unpacked.  I'm hoping to be up and blogging soon.  Keep posted! Pin It Now!
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