quinoa salad with feta and butternut sqash

stuffed peppers!

You can stuff these peppers with many different types of cheeses... i like to stuff them with Jalapeno cheese because it takes the sweet pepper and makes it a little spicy.

Best Party Sangria Recipe

Don't believe anyone when they say they have the best Sangria recipe.. because the truth is.. I DO!

Apples and oranges cut small. (2 cups)

Red wine (1 bottle)

Orange juice (2 cups)

Sprite (1 Cups)

Brandy ( 1 cup)

Black Berry brandy ( 1 cup)

peach schnapps (1/2 cup)

triple sec (1/2 cup)

Mix all Ingridents into one pitcher and then chill. **

Cous cous.. well everyone seems to spell it different.. This cous cous is very easy!

Cous cous

red bell pepper

yellow bell pepper

green onion

mint

cilantro

Dried apricot

I also add some kind of homemade dressing to give it some more flavor and I top it off with salt. YUM. This is perfect for summer BBQs or formal dinner partys.

Guacamole

Sorry its a secret! Its the one recipe I don't give away... why because I don't have one.

But... The secret is mango:)

Candied Walnut Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups raw walnut halves
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt

Add this to salads or just to grab a handful of complete yummyness!!! They are so good and so easy to make.. you just need walnuts and sugar... and a lil salt. ;)

braised squid with shishito peppers

Bolognese! aka heaven

Ingridents
2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 celery ribs, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 pound pancetta or slab bacon, ground by butcher or thinly sliced and pulsed in food processor until finely chopped
1 pound ground veal
1 pound ground pork (not lean)
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 cup whole milk
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup water
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper Read More

Banana Cream Pie

Ingredients
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
4 bananas, sliced

* I also like to make a Graham cracker crust which is so FAB! You can also add chocolate...

Paella ~Z's way

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons dried oregano
salt and black pepper to taste
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups uncooked short-grain white rice
1 pinch saffron threads
1 bay leaf
1/2 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 quart chicken stock
2 lemons, zested

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 Spanish onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 pound chorizo sausage, casings removed and crumbled
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

Mediterranean Food

I love Mediterranean food!! Its so good and most of the time its really healthy.

This meal takes about 30 min to make from start to finish.

Cooking for friends

If you love to cook, you should cook for your friends. The love you put in your food will go into your friends. :)

CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES

Chocolate covered strawberries... YUM.. They are so good and SO easy to make. You can make them with Milk chocolate, Dark Chocolate and white chocolate.. You can add nuts and even make designs.

16 ounces milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening
1 pound fresh strawberries with leaves

CCC

These were a lot of fun to make because they are so unhealthy you wouldn't even know it. I first took two cubes of butter and softened it and added my sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking soda, and chocolate... So Damn easy and So Damn Good.

A healthy lil Snack

Steamed Green Beans, Raw Mushrooms, Cherry tomatoes, Homemade Hummus, Nuts, Balsamic Dressing (also homemade) and Pita Chips... One of my GF's was coming over to watch the grammys and I was trying to think of something yummy yet healthy for us to snack on and I came up with this.

XO

Almond Butter

Almond butter is a great lil snack...

YES I love food..

I'M in love with Thai food... If I have someone coming over I always want to cook Thai and I don't know why.. could it be the sweetness of the coconut milk or the strong ginger and Garlic?

Ingredients:

6 cloves Garlic

Ginger

Veggies of your choice

EVOO extra virgin olive oil

3 limes

5 chilies

2 Tablespoons Green Curry paste

3 cups coconut milk

1 Tablespoon garli powder

1 teaspoon salt

I love to cook

Tasting is learning...

Its Easy TASTE IT!! LIVE IT!!LEARN IT!! OWN IT!!

Chocolate banana walnut cake

All I can say is YUM YUM YUM.... this yummy little cake was so fun to bake.

Seriously I just added flour, baking soda, milk and eggs to Chocolate, bananas and walnuts and this is what it made... Sometimes you have to just cook how you feel and the rest is history.

Cheesecake...

I was looking in my fridge and wanted to make something Healthy, fun, and really yummy for a good friends birthday... so I thought whats better then cheesecake?.... not many things. How can cheesecake be healthy? Good question...Cut the Cream Cheese to 1/3 and the remainder 2/3 Greek Yogurt.

Ingredients:

whipped cream cheese 8oz

Greek plain yogurt (fat free) 16oz

1 cup Splenda or sugar

3 eggs

1 tea spoon Vanilla

1 cup raspberries

All ingredients besides the raspberries in a bowl... mix together. Preheat oven to 225.

poor ingredients from bowl into pie pan and then add raspberries. Let It bake for 1 hr 30 min. Let it cool for 1 hr then cover and put into the fridge.

Setting the Table

Setting the table properly is very important... you need to make sure everything is set how you like it.. everyone has a different style...make it your own and OWN it.

brussel sprouts

YUMMY... If you haven't... YOU must... these are the best Brussel sprouts.

First I steam them for 20 min. Then I sautee them in truffle oil, Garlic and salt until golden brown. These make a wonderful side and they are a party in your mouth.

Baked Ziti

Baked Ziti is something almost everyone likes including me. I was trying to think of something easy and tasty to make for a side and this came to mind.

I first made the pasta sauce baking the tomatoes with garlic, olive oil, and salt for 1 hr @ 350. Then I add it to the blender, after putting it in the blender I put it on the stove and add olives, Basil, mushrooms, and fresh tomatoes. I let it simmer for about 30 min until the pasta is done... poor the sauce over the pasta add fresh basil and mozzarella bake for 30 min @ 350.

Always having fun in the Kitchen...

Girls Dinner

Having Girl time is very important! Girls need to stick together no matter what.

Red Snapper for Dinner anyone.

While cooking in Jimmy's I become very creative... I have never cooked Red snapper Before but it looked so fresh at the farmers market it was a MUST.

I took the Red snapper and covered it in a red pesto.. what is a red pesto? It is made from garlic, tomatoes, and basil. After I covered it in the red pesto... I made a row of cherry tomatoes down the center cutting them in halves.. my favorite tomatoes are cherry tomatoes..so sweet and succulent and perfect for baking. Then I topped it with pesto and fresh basil then baked for 25 min at 350.

If that's not enough... When it got out of the steaming hot oven...I covered it in lemon sauce.

The two sides are garlic sauteed spinach and baked peppers with garlic salt.

The perfect snack...

I love Cashews because they are sweet and nutty at the same time. They also taste excellent with wine and Cheese.

Thai Red Curry.. SO FAB..

The Versace Butterfly Set is fabulous and timeless.

Salt & Pepper

Two things I can't live without.

Mini Cornbread Muffins with Agava

My Pantry...Don't Envy

One of the things I like about having a well organized and labeled pantry is that it makes it easy to find things.

It feels good to get everything refreshed,polished, and organized.

Mexican Soup*