Green Tea Waffle

I love waffles and warm syrup!  What is better than waffles, warm syrup, bacon and eggs as breakfast?  I like the Aunt Jemina Buttermilk pancake mix.  For this morning breakfast, I decided to add some matcha green tea powder into the mix.  I only added a tablespoon of matcha green tea powder and the waffles didn't really taste as I thought it would.  Next time I would add two tablespoon and hope it will taste like green tea.  It was pretty green color though.

Another weekend is here and a big breakfast with green tea waffle, scramble eggs, and bacon is a must.  This time I added double the amount of green tea matcha powder into the batter ( 1 1/2 tablespoon ) than I did the last time and the waffle came out much greener and you can definitely taste the green tea flavoring!  I do not put a overflowing amount of batter on my waffle maker because I hate the mess and the exposed part of the waffle shows off the color!  I do eat with my eyes too.

Chickpeas Salad

I love chickpeas and this salad could not be any easier to make!  It is great for summer because it is best chilled.  Most of the other chickpeas salad includes oil in it.  I love to eat and I love to eat a lot, so when I don't absolutely need it I don't include oil.  This is a filling side and this is great for picnic too.

Ingredients

• 1 can of Chickpeas
• 1 Roma tomato, diced
• 3 tablespoon diced onion
• 2 teaspoon of dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Rinse the chickpeas under cold water until the water runs clear and add it to a mixing bowl.
2. To the mixing bowl add the rest of the ingredients and mix.
3. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

I didn't have any fresh herbs so I used dried parsley instead and I also did not have fresh lemons therefore I used concentrated lemon juice.

Mix Beans Soup

This is a great quick hearty soup. All the ingredients in this recipe are a staple in my pantry so when I need a quick meal, this is one of my favorite.  You just throw everything into one pot and boil, there is no searing and no oil splattering everywhere.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Krasdale Latin Mix Vegetables
• 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 stew tomatoes
• 1/2 can white beans
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a pot combine broth and water, bring to a boil. 
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.
3. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Krasdale Latin Mix vegetables is the frozen mix that consist of black beans, sweet corn, onion, and peppers.

Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cupcakes

I like red velvet cake but I have to admit I am certainly not a baker when it comes to making a cake.  So I would never try to make cakes from scratch.  So when Duncan Hines Red Velvet first came out, I had to have it.  To make it more chocolaty, I add about two tablespoon of cocoa powder to the mix.  It is so much cleaner if you put the batter into a bag and snip one corner to push the batter out since I am making such small cupcakes.

Pepper Steaks

Bell peppers are so expensive when they are not in season so when it is in season, I take full advantage of it. The yellow, orange and red peppers can go up to $3 + for one so when it is in season it comes in a bag and they are about 2 inches long. The 1 pound bags consist of red, orange and yellow for just $5. A great steal!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

•  1/2 pound beef, thinly sliced
•  1 red pepper
•  1 green pepper
•  1/2 cup sliced onion
•  1/2 tablespoon flour
•  2 tablespoons water 
•  1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
•  2 cloves garlic
•  1/2 tablespoon oil

Directions

1. Brown meat with garlic. 
2. Add julienne red and green peppers and saute for a few minutes.  
3. Mix flour and water, pour over meat pepper mixture. 
4. Add soy sauce, cook until the peppers are tender crisp.

Bbq Chicken, Kale and Jasmine Rice

I had leftover BBQ sauce that I made so I used it on my oven baked chicken.  I was baking chicken legs at 400 degrees in the oven and I started to base the chicken with the sauce every 15 minutes when it was half done. The caramelized sugar from the sauce on the chicken was so good!  I served it with sauteed garlicky kale with Jasmine rice.

Apple Crumbles

There was an abundance of apples at home and no one was eating them.  I decided to make apple crumbles.  The recipe I found on Allrecipes.com was so easy and I had all the ingredients on hand so I decided to make it.  It turned out great except I will not add the maple syrup the next time I make this again.  It was too sweet to my liking however the crumbles were amazing! It was sweet and crunchy, pair it with vanilla ice cream made it even better.

Peppers and Italian sausages

I love Summer, it is when the peppers are in season.  There is a secret to a no mess cooking of this dish.  Cook the sausages in the oven at 400 degrees until they are brown all over.  It is so much cleaner and easier cooking it separately.  I may seem like there is a lot of peppers and onion but they really do cook down to nothing.

Ingredients

• 8 Italian sausages
• 1 red pepper, julienne
• 1 yellow pepper, julienne
• 1 orange pepper, julienne 
• 1 onion
• 1/2 tablespoon Italian seasonings
• 1 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. When the oven is heated to 400 degrees F, cook the sausage in the oven for 25 minutes then turn and cook for another 15 minutes until all sides are browned.
3. While the sausages are cooking, saute the peppers and onion.
4. After about 10 minutes, add the Italian seasonings, lower heat to low and cover with a lid. Cook for another 20 minutes.
5. After the sausages are cooked, add them along with their drippings to the peppers and onion mixture.
6. Cook for another 10 minutes to combine the flavors.

If you like the peppers and onion crisp, then I suggest you only saute them for 15 minutes.  I like it to be overcook in this dish because when I make a sandwich out of them, it reminds me of the sausage sandwich in NYC street fairs.

BLT

To make an exceptionally great BLT, you must have crispy bacon, sweet Roma tomatoes and fresh lettuce.  I like it on slightly toasted white bread with tons of Hellmans mayo!

Oven fried chicken, stuffed mushrooms and kale.

Of course no one can replicate the taste of fried chicken in the oven.  But hey this is good, season the chicken as you like and dip it into beaten eggs.  Coat the chicken with seasoned bread crumbs. Bake it in the oven for 425 degrees until the juices runs clear.  I love it with kale.  I'll post another time for the stuffed mushroom recipe.

Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits

 

The only thing I like from Red Lobster is their biscuits.  They are absolutely delicious but it is kind of silly just to go to a mediocre place that is overpriced and overcrowded for their biscuits.  So I decided to try to make them myself.  These are made from Jiffy's biscuits mix, sharp cheddar cheese, parsley and garlic powder.  They are good but not nearly as good as the restaurant because I can't bring myself to add the amount of butter as the restaurant do.  It is so easy to eat out because the food is so delicious and you don't really know how much of the bad stuffs are in.  However when I am cooking, I can not bring myself to add so much sugar, butter or oil into my food.