CuteKittyPunk

I got the recipe from an Arizona friend. People in Arizona just know Mexican food a little bit better than people else where - some of the best Mexican food I ever had was in Phoenix. Anyway, the thing that makes this Salsa different, is that it's partially cooked - and that makes it smoother and tastier in my opinion. My  husband also really likes it and that says something because he doesn't like the 100% raw salsas - this one is more like store bought - but cheaper because you make it yourself. It could last up to 10 days in the refrigerator... but it won't last that long because if there is a bag of tortilla chips nearby - it will be devoured quickly! Easy Arizona Salsa 1 can chopped tomatoes 1 bunch (handful) fresh cilantro leaves (aka coriander) 1 medium onion, peeled 1 medium green bell pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil 1-3 teaspoons garlic salt (or 1 Tablespoon garlic powder + 1/4 teaspoon salt) red pepper flakes to taste (Sambal to taste) Directi...

Yesterday I decided to share my week's menu and I noticed that one of my favorite meals: Chickpea Burrito's was not only - not on my blog - it's also not to be found online - anymore. I found the original recipe via Vegweb.com and now when I go back to that site to search for it - I can't find it. It's as if the original submitter of the recipe, took it down.  I don't know why - it's delicious - and a great alternative to black bean or pinto bean burrito's. The original recipes was submitted by user kelly.elly and called it Refried Garbanzo Beans with Sauted Veggies Burrito . You can see why I shortened the title. I had it added at one time in my WW recipes list and it's about 4 PTS. per burrito (but I used lots less olive oil then - and had to steam my veggies instead of saute them in oil). The original recipes says it serves 3.... but from my experience it serves about 8. So, I will give my version of the recipe - which is almost exact - ju...

I like this salad because it has a nice presentation, it's easy to make and it's so delicious. I made it for a church potluck - but I'd totally make a smaller one plate version for myself on a daily basis - it's so yummy and a good way to eat tomatoes in the raw - which is something I don't normally do... so this one was a good way for me to eat my greens (reds in this case). Tomato Salad for 4: 4-6 ripe tomatoes in thin slices about 100 g black or green olives (pitted) 1/2 green bell pepper, sliced thin juice from 1/2 lemon 1 garlic clove, pressed 75 ml extra virgin olive oil, cold pressed Pinch ground cumin Salt and Pepper to taste 1 small red onion, thinly sliced in rings 2-3 stems parsley, finely chopped or 1 teaspoon dried parsley Preparation: Arrange the tomato slices in a circular pattern on the plate - two to three layers thick. Place the olives around the tomatoes one by one. Make a dressing from the lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, and sa...

This is one of the recipes from my grandmother. It comes from her Santa Monica Relief Society Cook Book p. 90. And it was a long time ago that she lived in Santa Monica, California. Probably from the 1960's. So, someone has been making this recipe for quite a while. It's good. I remember the first time having it. Oh yum. Cheesy, spicy, good. Yes, it's good, I know I'm repeating myself a bit, but it's good and easy to put together.  I had a friend from Mexico that liven in my area that would go to Utrecht sometimes to this Spanish-imports market and she got me a can of green chile poblanos. I had that can for two years, saving it for the day I'd make these stuffed green chiles. I was hoping to have a nice Mexican feast - maybe do it for Christmas or something. But that day never came so I just decided to bake them for myself one day and then I ate the leftovers over the course of a week.  I love this recipe but I live in a house full o picky eaters. So, I ...

Sometimes I post recipes to Food.com - just to see how many calories or grams of protein a recipe has, etc. And in the past I've shared some recipes live - because that's what I do. Anway, it's always really exciting when I get an email in my inbox that says someone has reviewed one of my recipes... and I'm even more excited when I see they gave it 5 stars. Woot! So, here in my vanity I gotta post a screen shot of my reviews :) Only 3 reviews... but they all gave me or my recipe rather, 3 stars. Yes! This is one of our family favorites. I have also Primalized this recipe. To do it, use sunflower seed butter in place of peanut butter. I also sometimes add extra spinach... but I like to follow the 80% rule of the primal blueprint - and I often use home-made peanut butter and pita bread when I serve this meal - that's just the way I like it. Here is the original recipe on my blog - African Peanut Soup . And on food.com - it's here .

Photo credit: Mock "Indian Butter Chicken" Curry You see, this is why I prefer the Primal Blueprint to the Paleo thing... What's the difference... Cheese, cream, butter... fat!   Mmmm yummy :) Tonight I tried a recipe from Mark's Daily Apple - it was a reader submitted recipe - I was so excited to try it what with all the butter, cream and Greek yogurt in it. And I was really disappointed... and also at the same time very happy to find out that I already have the best recipe for Indian Butter Chicken - created by yours truly :) I did a search of my blog and I've found that this recipe - that I make at least 3 times a month - is not on my blog - and that's just wrong! This is definitely one of our family favorites - something I call real comfort food. I must share this delicious recipe with the world. The original recipe I got from a friend of a friend - and I liked that she put cashew butter in it - but it had way too much Garam Masala in...

Wow, I feel totally great right now! Why you might ask? Well, for the last several weeks I've been exercising and tonight was the first night that I didn't want to exercise... but I planned it in and decided to do it anyway...  I'm so glad that I did because not only did I have an amazing work out - but my ability to stretch further has increased, and I can all of a sudden to that jack knife "sit up" that I couldn't do before and I did more push-ups than I was able to do last time... so in that sense I don't feel so "green" anymore - you know green like -a newbie! So, I finally got a crosstrainer - the one I got is a Kettler Mondeo. It's awesome. It's great being able to have a really great workout where I sweat a lot and I don't have to go to a gym. This is great for me because for one, I'm not really able to go to a gym because I have children at home asleep in their beds and I can't really be going to the gym... an...

I've tried many versions of Orange chicken, this one was pretty good - just made  a lot of sauce... a lot! I used vegetarian chicken pieces, and no one was the wiser... original recipe found here at Local Kitchen . The deep fried "chicken" in it's batter tastes very good on it's own... reminds me of popcorn chicken from KFC! yummy... i gotta make it again soon :) This is pretty much the same way I make my sweet and sour pork - I use this same vegetarian "chicken" and then instead of the orange sauce - I use this recipe's Sweet and Sour Pork - with one minor adjustment - I used 1/2 cup tomato sauce and 1/2 cup vinegar instead of the 1 cup vinegar - comes out perfect every time... ok, almost every time, I also like to add a bit more cornstarch because I like my sauce very thick and syrupy - not runny. Okay, that's two favorite family recipes we like at this house... and I gotta make it more often!!!

At the end of May, I shared with blog-world - an amazing and delicious little cookbook, and in that blogpost and in that cookbook is this recipe for Banana Loempia's which have become a delicious little treat that we just adore at our house.  The recipe adapted as follows: 5 layers phyllo dough 2 bananas, diced 1 leek + 1 oz. bean sprouts OR 1 package (250g) Nasi/Bami groenten 2 tablespoons peanut sauce (Satay sauce) 15-30 grams butter, melted (about 1-2 tablespoon) Sweet chili sauce Defrost phyllo dough according to package directions. One sheet of the phyllo dough I used was quite large, so I had to cut them in half. So I used a total of 10 phyllo sheets - making 20 mini loempia's. Have a towel nearby to cover unused phyllo dough while you work so it doesn't completely dry out.  Pre-heat oven to 200-C or 400-F degrees. Wash and cut up the leek and bean sprouts. Of course, I like to use the pre-cut and pre-washed Nasi/Bami groenten. It's a real ...

Well, some of you may be wondering what is the future of Sweet Rolls that Rock - my other blog dedicated to making awesome sweet rolls? And, to be honest, I'm kind of wondering about that as well. I think, perhaps we could get some guest contributors? Anyone interested? I'm also thinking about tweaking some of my recipes to include more protein. For example, this morning I read that you can use protein powder in baked goods. You can replace up to half the flour content with a protein powder. Here is something interesting I read in Little Sugar Addicts . Do not use soy-based powders or soymilk with children. Does that set off an alarm bell for anyone? As a "mostly" vegetarian - we like to follow the Word of Wisdom in our house - we eat a lot of soy. But we do drink cow's milk. Anyways, I ask why not use soy for children? Then I read that the estrogenic properties of soy can have hormonal effects on growing bodies. Increased estrogen levels can cause ear...

I bought this book - Your Last Diet... and it's not really a diet at all. It's a way of healing from sugar addiction. It's very interesting so far. The thing I really like about the "program" is that you can take as much time as you need to work through every step. The recommended time is six to eighteen months - yes 18 - not 8. I like that. Because I don't want to quit sugar like - cold turkey. That would be not possible for me. This morning I was feeling a little bit "blah" - like not overly depressed or hopeless - just "blah" and then I grabbed a couple of Twix bars (white chocolate - limited edition) and whalaa! I was UP. I felt so good. I felt very sociable and nice to be around. I was dancing and playing with the kids. I was feeling like I'm such a cool person. And I'm such a cool Mom! And then I grabbed the book - Little Sugar Addicts (because I bought two books by the author Kathleen DesMaisons) And I read something and ...

I bought this small recipe magazine at the checkout by my local grocery store back in 2003. It’s by Gold Medal (flour). This is another thing I miss about living in the U.S. I miss those cute little recipe books that you can thumb through while waiting your turn to check out. This book has lots of festive ideas for the holidays. I’ve made this one a few times. I’ve been thinking, I could easily top any of my favorite cookies with this marshmallow and fudge frosting... maybe even cupcakes... and sweet rolls! I think it would go fantastic with PB Criss Cross cookies or pumpkin chocolate chip cookies or Snickerdoodles! Gold Medal uses cocoa cookies - I made mine with a pumpkin variation of this recipe - adapted... I think I just used 3/4 cup pumpkin puree in place of the butter and 2 extra tablespoons flour in place of the cocoa. I put some cinnamon in as well - about 1/2 teaspoon I think and that worked pretty good. This is also one of those recipes that the kids can help out with... my...

So, good news - my brother who had spent the last year or so in Afganistan away from his wife and little girls - and a few years before that in Iraq... made Sergeant and I am so happy for him - he deserves it and also because that means - he gets a bigger paycheck! With good news like that I felt like making some cookies - specifically his cookies. My brother was always baking these cookies growing up - almost every Sunday night and we couldn't stop eating them... which is why they always seemed to disappear. He actually calls them: Vanishing Oatmeal *Chocolate Chip* Cookies. One time I ate so many of them... well, maybe that isn't the right story to tell... the point is that these are addicting - because they are so SO so good. Here is Sergeant York's cookies - in his own words he says “This is the recipe I use for oatmeal cookies. It actually calls for raisins, but I use chocolate chips instead, cause I'm not a big fan of raisins, and chocolate is always good...

Best Ever Hot Cocoa Mix Oh my! This is THE BEST. I was laying awake last night trying to decide what else I can give to my in-laws for Christmas... I know... it's only 2 days away... and I really wanted to come up with something that is like something I would give and that they would use . I realized I could give hot cocoa mix together with some hard candy dipped spoons - they could use this together instead of stirring those into coffee or tea. So, I opened up my Make a Mix cookbook this morning and saw the Hot Cocoa Mix recipe there. I was thinking, I've tried this before and it wasn't that good. So I got online and went to recipezaar.com . I looked through almost all of the mix recipes they have listed there when I came across two that used white chocolate chips - and specifically said to use the mix with hot milk - not water. I thought on it for a while and went with this recipe - even though there were only 3 reviews - they were all good reviews. Then after I was finis...

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake I know a lot of people like cheesecake and to be honest, I was one of those few rare people who did not. I even have a best friend who use to work at the Cheesecake Factory in Baltimore, Maryland and she worked in the dessert section. So I had access to really good cheesecake but I never ate any. I think that is because there are two kinds of cheese cake. One kind of cheesecake is made with cream cheese and it tastes good. Then there is this other kind made with a different kind of cheese and it's more crumbly - less smooth and that is the kind I did not like. So, in 2007, I was visiting the U.S. and we were there for my brother's birthday. He is one of those guys that doesn't want a traditional birthday cake. He got a Cheesecake Factory sampler from Costco Wholesale and everyone had a good time. Initially, I was not going to have any... but then someone mentioned the words: White Chocolate Raspberry... and I was like - I'll give tha...

I DO! I've already blogged about this recipe... but I decided to revisit it again... today while making Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy (VWAV)- I was reading the recipe notes and the author says "You will make this at least once a week. I just know it." And I thought... wow, she's right... we have had this at least once a week. It's become quite the staple in our home. I always follow the recipe exactly - except that ever since I ran out of nutritional yeast, I've had to use up some Parmasan cheese - I can taste that the gravy is cheesier - it's still delicious to me... I don't think Mark has noticed the cheese... at least, he hasn't said anything... it would be nice if you could buy nutritional yeast in a regular grocery store because I haven't managed to go across town to our local health food store to get more... 37 weeks pregnant... will do that to you :) This gravy is amazing, but cannot stand on it's own - in my humble opinion... I was on t...