Walnut Raspberry Spinach Salad

I love how it taste with the crunchy walnuts, sweet tender plump raspberries along with the spinach and a couple of vegetables.

It is great along with any grilled meats. It's a very simple meal as well.

All you need is:

Spinach

Walnuts

Raspberries

Chopped cucumbers and celeries

Any dressing of your choice

Salt and Freshly Grounded Black Pepper

Just throw it altogether into a plate then enjoy it!

Black Bean Barley Soup

I was hosting a party one day and I wanted to cook really simple vegetarian so I looked up the vegetarian magazine. It caught me a glimpse of some kind of other dried grains but I couldn't find it at the supermarket so I decided to use the barley instead.

It was so delicious for everyone to enjoy it. I added shredded carrots as decorating to make it look beautiful. I took that picture when I was saving for leftover next day. It does have the burst of flavor by using the secret ingredient, LIME to make it more tart and enjoyable too.

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked barley

Couple stalks of celery, finely chopped

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1 can of black beans, drained

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 zucchini, finely chopped

Couple of carrots, peeled and finely chopped

Couple squirt of freshly squeezed lime juice

2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf, discard once the soup is done

Quart or a few cans of vegetable broth and add more water ( use the can to do a few fill ups)

Throw it altogether and cook throughly until the vegetables become tender and barley plumps up cooked too.

Sweet Plantain Bread

I saw that on the blog of the photographer, Cara Reynolds so I decided to follow her recipe of this. She was following it by using all of Organic products. I don't have it so I use the regular ones instead.

Amazing it tastes so wonderful and something different since it's a traditional cuban bread.

It's not like very sweet like a regular banana bread but it's more like crispy typed tropical bread. It would be great with a spread of butter and a cup of java or tea at same time to enjoy the gorgeous view of the outside.

Ingredients:

1 large ripe plantain

1 tsp butter

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter at the room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon juice

Butter and Flour for greasing the loaf pan

Cut the plantain into 1 inches and saute with 1 tsp butter. Cook it for 2 to 3 mins then transfer into the mixing bowl and mash it. Add those remaining wet ingredients before transfer to the dry ingredients to mix it altogether.

Pour into the loaf pan.

This recipe is for 2 loaves. If you have a large loaf pan, then can use one instead of two.

Bake it at 350 for 1 hour or toothpick or a clean knife by insert in the center until it comes out clean.

Key Lime Bread

As you know there is a famous Key Lime Pie but I wanted to do something by trying by creating a bread.

It came out pretty GOOD and tart like lime! I didn't add more glazing but you should add MORE glazing on the top, just for your information.

It's a great to have it for freshly toasted one with butter on it along with a cup of java or tea.

I love to have the slice of that bread for my breakfast along with a cup of tea- YUM

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 eggs

1 whole lime peel

1/3 cup milk

2 limes, freshly squeezed

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

You can add chopped walnuts (1/2 cup) if you want to.

Just mixed the wet ingredients (milk, eggs, lime peel, freshly squeezed lime juice, vanilla extract and oil.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to mix it altogether. If the batch gets too dry, then add a little bit of milk.

Transfer to a greased 9 in x 5 in loaf pan.

Bake it at 350 for 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick or a clean knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing the pan on a plate to cool completely.

For glazing,

Couple tablespoons of powdered sugar

Couple of fresh squeezed lime juice

Mix it altogether.. For more glazing, it should be like 4 or 5 limes, depending how much tart you like :D.

Pour the glazing on the top of the cool bread.

Holiday Corn Chowder

It surely brings me a lot of memory about this.

I had made that when I was a college student living in an apartment and I still remember that recipe for years and years.

My girls loved it and asking for a second bowl of it.

I really love the simple foods because it is not too hard to make it and makes it more decent foods to enjoy it!

Ingredients:

2 cans of corn (white or yellow)

1 can of creamed corn (white or yellow)

Ham steak, diced

Couple stalks of celery, chopped

1 medium sweet or white onions, finely chopped

1 cup of milk

Cook the onion and celery with a little bit of butter for like 2 to 4 minutes in the pot. Then pour the rest ingredients.

Cook until the vegetables become tender.

You can add a little more of milk if you feel it's not enough.

Add Salt and Freshly Grounded Black Pepper for taste

Country Ham Casserole

I do remember one day when I visited my mom.

I noticed that my mom was creating that dish and saying me that I would love this.

So I had tried this and it was pretty GOOD. I asked her what was it. Amazing it was pretty simple by adding a few ingredients that's all.

So I had made that during the cold season to enjoy the warm decent meal. If you already have those ingredients then go for it to make one!

Ham Steak, chopped

4 or 5 potatoes, peeled and chopped

Fresh Green Beans, break into halves and remove the ends

Cook it altogether in a large pot until the potatoes becomes tender. Drain it into the drainer.

Mix that 3 ingredients with one can of cream of mushroom into the casserole pan. Bake at 350 degree for like 15 mins or less until it becomes bubbly and hot.

Ground Beef Vegetable Soup

One night, I was trying to think what to cook so I invaded into my refrigerator, freezer and pantry shelves to see what I have so far.

I thought of why not to use ground beef, frozen mixed vegetable, a can of tomato sauce and uncooked pasta to make it as a soup.

So I just threw it altogether and it came out pretty good. You never knew what you have in your fridge, freezer and pantry shelves by threw it altogether to create a good meal.

1 pound ground beef or turkey, fully cooked and drained

A bag of frozen mixed vegetable

1 can of tomato sauce

Use that tomato sauce to get a few fills of water

Any spices that you have it on your shelf (salt, black pepper, garlic and etc)

Any shapes of pasta that you have it on your shelf (cook it in a separate pan)

Just throw it altogether and becomes a soup!

Enjoy it!

3 different toppings on the french bread

You can create any different kinds of toppings on the grilled french bread.

This ones I liked the best which it has more burst of flavors to enjoy during the light meal to dine in or something that you don't want to cook but want to serve with other people to enjoy with glasses of wine.

Slice the french bread. Spread a little bit of olive oil on the both side and dash of the sea salt.

Bake it at 400 degree until it becomes golden brown.

For the toppings:

1- guacamole spread with cooked shrimp

2- Salsa spread with sliced of mozzarella cheese and cooked shrimp

3- Any flavor of cream cheese spread with fresh basil leaves and sliced halves of grape tomatoes.

Add the freshly black pepper all over it.

Deli Salad

Actually it can be for the summer to eat the salad but it doesn't have to stop eating any kind of salad during the 4 seasons, right?

It's a healthier version to enjoy the deli salad into the same concept of having a deli sandwich.

You can have it with a slice of french bread or any choice of yours.

It's pretty simple and easy to make by just throwing some kinds of ingredients.

All you need is:

2 kinds of cheese, diced

2 kinds of deli meats, chopped (it can be ham, turkey, salami, pepperoni and etc)

A bag of spring mix salad

Couple dollop of mayonnaise

Any spices as you like on it

Pretty simple eh?

Enjoy it!

Puerto Rican Fish Stew

For the traditional Puerto Rican Fish Stew, it's called Bacalo which it has the salted dried codfish.

I saw the website (Lifescript) that were alternating it to have the healthier version by using the fresh white fish instead.

I decided to add those shrimps for more kick-in flavors. You can add any seafoods as your choice if you like to. I did a little bit alternating this recipe :).

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound of any white fish, your choice (cut into 1 inches cube)

1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes

1 jalapeno, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

2 tbsp green olives, finely chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup water

Throw all of the ingredients into the big pan and let it cook until the white fish becomes flakey. The sauce itself will thicken up too.

You may add chopped avocado as a topping if you like to.

Enjoy the cuisine of the tropical island in Puerto Rico :D

Spaghetti Squash with white fish and tomatoes

It's Fall already- squash are IN!

My friend saw that spaghetti squash and was telling me that she had saw it at the restaurant that served the white fish on the top of the squash.

So we created the dish at her place~ it was so delicious so I had made this for a second time at my house. It is so easy to make and very simple as your "dinner".

Spaghetti Squash has enriches in vitamins and minerals. Plus it's less CARBS so perfect to eat if you are trying to avoid the CARBS.

White Fish do have OMEGA-3 and it's very good for your heart-

Cut the spaghetti squash lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Put couple of butters on it. Bake it at 350 degree until it becomes wilted that can be easy to shred with the fork. Don't scoop it all out. Leave that squash to show the pretty demonstration.

Pick any white fish as your choice. Bake that fish in the foil along with some spices as your choice and slices of limes or lemon. Bake it until it becomes flaky with your fork.

Put the white fish on the top of the spaghetti squash and decorate with couple of fresh grape tomatoes. Season it with salt and fresh black pepper.

Voila~ it becomes your meal. Really simple eh? Yeah it is!

Enjoy it!

Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip with toasted tortilla chips

Do you love spinach?

Do you love artichokes?

If two of those that you really love- then it's a great combination to dig with the tortilla chips.

I usually buy a big container of the spinach and artichoke dip at the store but never had to finish it all up. I thought myself why not to make those homemade dip by using a few ingredients. It works!

Spinach and Artichoke are enriches in Vitamin C, magnesium and fiber that help to fight heart diseases and lower blood pressure.

My eldest daughter couldn't stop eating it and barely saved some for me *teehee*.

Ingredients:

1 box of frozen chopped spinach or handful of fresh spinach.

2 stalks of green spring onions, finely chopped

1 (14 oz) jar of artichoke hearts, finely chopped (I prefer the marinated since it has some flavors inside but if you prefer the plain one then use that)

Half of the shredded mozzarella cheese

1 bag of shredded parmesan cheese or you can grate the freshly parmesan cheese

Mayonnaise - Couple dollops of it but you may want to add more.

Salt and Fresh Black Pepper

Couple of garlic cloves, minced

Some people usually mix it with sour cream and mayonnaise or cream cheese- use that whatever you prefer. You can combine 2 of them or just one.

If you plan to use the frozen spinach - thaw it and squeeze the water out (you don't want those soggy spinach in that mixture). For using the fresh spinach, chop finely- not chunky ones.

If you see your mixture becomes dry- ADD more mayonnaise or sour cream.

Bake it at 350 degree until it becomes very bubbly and cooked entirely.

For toasted tortilla chips with drizzle of olive oil and sea salt:

You can use some of the flour tortillas and cut into the wedges (8)

Drizzle it with a little bit of olive oil on it and sprinkle with sea salt

Bake it until it becomes toasty.

Tostones with Garlic Dip

When I went to Puerto Rico back in 2001 for the first time by visiting the family and explore around too.

I fell in love with Puerto Rican foods especially with tostones and sweet soft plantain (forgot what it was called). I alway wanted to learn how to make this but never had the chance to do it. Later, I moved to Virginia Beach from Colorado and it has a couple of Puerto Rico restaurants especially one place that happens to be in the "bad" area neighborhood but those puerto rican foods was so DELISH. They did served those tostones with garlic dip. It was so heaven for me!

Finally, I had learned how to make those tostones by frying those plantains and smashed it by using the bottom of the plastic or glass cup. Later my best friend bought me a wooden tostonera that she found it while she was in Puerto Rico visiting her family over there.

I discovered by experiment myself with the garlic by using minced garlic mixed up with olive oil and little bit of salt just exactly the restaurant back in Virginia Beach that I usually go there.

You may find the plantains nearby the banana area or at the international food market. You may want to find plantains that are a little bit firm to use. If it's being ripe already, it would be great for sweet plantains. You don't want to use if it's green because it's not ready yet. Yellow with little bit of black would be great for tostones while completely dark like brown and some blackish that would be very ripe since it's a starchy which it considers as a vegetable that produces some "sugary" that would be good for dessert like sweet ones.

To peel the plantains by cut each ends and make a slit down which it would make the peeling more easier.

You want to cut into about 1-2 inch (es) diagonally of each plantain. Heat the pan with some of vegetable or canola oil. You can use a wooden cooking tool to "test" if the oil is ready or not by insert the end of the wooden cooking tool into the oil. You will know when it's ready by seeing it bubbly or sizzling.

Put those sliced plantains and cook on each sides until you see a little bit of golden then flip it over. Put those it on the paper towel plate to dry it up then smash it with tostonera or bottom of plastic or glass cup. You can sprinkle a little bit of salt if you like to.

Garlic dip:

Some of olive oil

4 to 6 minced fresh garlic

A little bit of Salt

Mix it it up into a serving bowl along with those tostones.

Enjoy it!

Potato Apple Latkes

Since I bought the 22 lbs of champagne apples from Dixon Apple Farm on last month.

I wanted to created some dishes related with the apples. First thing it came up in my mind by saying " why not to make something with potato and apple but what kind?". Later, it came up in my mind something related with the latkes.

Mostly people make the latkes by using the potatoes only or mixed with shredded vegetables like zucchini or carrot.

I thought of grating the apples to mix the potato to make it more sweeter and it does.

2 potatoes, grated or a bag of shredded potato

2 apples, grated

1 egg

Salt and Pepper

Some of flour~ I would say about few tablespoons

Mix it altogether. For the flour part, I usually use few tablespoons of the flour like 2 or 3 by using my judgement by feeling the texture by seeing how it stick together. If you don't see anything that stick up then add a little bit of flour.

Heat the pan with some of vegetable or canola oil. Drop a little bit of the latke mixture by seeing if the oil is ready for frying.

Dollop the mixture into the pan and spread it out a little bit to make it look as latkes. Frying on each side like 5 mins or so before flip over AND you want to make sure that inside is completely cooked too.

Enjoy serving it with sour cream or apple sauce as your choice :)

Green Chile Stew

When the chiles are "in" for the season, I always love the scent of the roasting of the green and red. New Mexico is famous for that by asking "Red or Green" when ordering the mexican dishes at the restaurant.

Chiles are fat free, low on calories, almost no cholesterol and has lots of fiber which it's great benefits to have it on your dishes.

Green Chile help build up the immune defense system because it loaded up with lots of Vitamin C~ MORE double than an orange. For those red chiles, it's loaded with Vitamin A too.

Even those ancient people like Mayans had used the chiles for their "medicines".

I tend to order or made the green chile stew every time when I have a cold- great medicine for me.

That day when I brought a big bag of roasted green chiles to load up into individual sandwich bags into the freezer. I said myself, why don't I make those green chile stew with pork. It was cooking at same time I was busy to finish it up. It was so delicious even my eldest daughter had some of it too.

It's really simple and easy to make. If you don't have those fresh roasted green chiles then get the can of hatch peeled green chile (mild or medium as your own choice).

Ingredients:

1 pound of cubed pork (boneless ribs or loin)

1/2 onion (white or yellow), finely chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

3/4 tsp garlic powder

7 or 8 Roasted Green Chiles, finely chopped or 15 oz can Hatch Peeled Green Chile (you can even add more than 1 can itself)

1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes

Cook the pork and onion with a little bit of olive oil to cook until the pork is about done and the onion becomes transparent. Then add rest of the ingredients except the crushed tomatoes to heat it throughly. Add the crushed tomatoes and simmer for at least 1 hour.

If the stew is becoming thick, you can add some bit of the water to reduce it.

Loaded Potato Wedges with French Onion Dip

Does it look so YUMMY? I betcha :D

My eldest daughter was asking me what I would make for dinner? I told her that I would make the potato wedges with crumbled bacons, sliced olives and cheese. She was jumping high and down and said "YES, I miss that eating that!".

Smart lil lady, my own favorite food critic!

Grab like 4 to 6 potatoes, any choice of yours- cut into the wedges.

Put those potato wedges on the baking sheet and sprinkle some of salt. Bake it at 350 degree until the wedges becomes soft by insert the fork into it.

Sprinkle some cheddar cheese on the potato wedges then bake it until melt. Take it out from the oven and cool it off a little bit.

-crumbled bacons, any of your choice (you can cook those bacons while potato wedges are in the oven baking)

-finely chopped green olives

-some of dills, finely chopped

Put those on aside then assemble yourself with those 3 things on your potato wedges.

French Onion dip:

1 medium sweet yellow onion, finely chopped

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup mayo

some of chopped dill

couple dashes of garlic powder

couple of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Cook the onions with a little bit of oil until it becomes caramelized. Let the onions cool it off then mix with rest of the ingredients. Sprinkle with couple of crumbled bacons, olives, dill and freshly black ground pepper.

Enjoy it.

Quinoa Salad with Green Olives, Red Onions and Oranges with Orange Cumin Dressing

Do you ever think that green olives, red onions and oranges would be great combinations along with the orange cumin dressing?

To be honest with you, it does! It gives more flavors to mix up with those quinoa. I made it at the pool party and everyone loved it! A friend was asking who made this and discovered it was me. She was telling me that it was something different that she never had it before and really enjoyed the savory of the tastes.

It's a healthy vegan dish to dine~ If adding those feta cheese, then it would be a combination of dairy and vegan dish even thou :).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup of quinoa, a choice of yours- red, black or white or mix it together as two or three

3 cups of water

Cook it as what you normally cook for the rice until it becomes transparent white curly

1/2 cups of finely chopped green olives

1/2 cups of endamames or golden raisins

1 medium red onions, finely sliced

2 oranges, peeled and finely chopped

handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1/2 cups of feta cheese, if you want to add it or not

Orange Cumin Dressing:

1 cup of orange juice

1 zest of orange

1/2 cups of olive oil

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, toasted and crushed

Mix it altogether. For the dressing, you may want to pour the oil slowly while whisking to make it look like a dressing.

You can put it in the refrigerator for couple hours before serving.

Enjoy it!

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Zucchini ROCKS! I meant it! I wanted to use up my last one for something delicious.

My friend was asking if there is a recipe of zucchini cookies so I thought why not I make it that it would be delicious enough for the children even Adults to enjoy it.

I was amazed to see my girls wanting it more and LOVED it. I told them it was zucchini- even those green vegetable inside. They was like "wow" with their biggest eyes! LOL

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg or cloves

Wet Ingredients:

1 cup peeled and grated zucchini

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature or a little bit melt

1 bag of chocolate chips

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to mix it all together. Fold the chocolate chips.

Grease your cookie sheets then make a dollop of the batter.

Bake it at 350 degree about 12 to 15 minutes, depending - Keep your eyes open when it's all ready by showing some golden color.

Cool it off on the counter or rack

It's GREAT for kids who are not fancy with the green vegetable so you have the perfect opportunity to have them to eat that without any knowledge :D..

Enjoy it! Again, Zucchini ROCKS!

Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake

This is a perfect vegan dish!

I just had that for dinner and it was so DELISH! While it was baking in the oven~ I could smell the aroma of the cheese, dill, zucchini and lemon all way from the upstair while I was coming down.

It melt into my mouth with those burst of flavors - so heavenly! It's more healthier to dine in at same time great timing to eat vegetables as well.

Definitely I will have this again for my breakfast tomorrow morning with a nice cup of hot tea :D!

Ingredients:

2 cups zucchini, unpeeled and grated

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 shallots, chopped or red onion, chopped (that's one I had used for my dish)

2 cloves of garlic , chopped

1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped

Zest of 1 lemon

2 large eggs, well beaten

1/3 cup of either goat or feta cheese ( I use the feta cheese), crumbled

Drizzle of Olive Oil

Mix all of those ingredients except the olive oil. Pour those ingredients into a small baking casserole and drizzle some of Olive Oil on the top.

Bake it at 325 degree for 60 minutes. For me, it take little more than 60 minutes. So it's more like 1 1/2 hours of baking until it gets firm a little bit.

Enjoy this vegan dish!

Cheddar Basil Zucchini Muffins

Zucchini Rocks!

I totally MEAN it! I love eating those zucchinis while I was growing up. I decided to stop at the Wagner's Farm Market here in New Mexico and spot the huge zucchinis. I couldn't believe that 4 HUGE zucchinis for just a dollar- what a sweet price to pay those.

I decided to come up with a few dishes with zucchini and something really healthy to enjoy.

I came up the idea of making the zucchini muffins and why not to add the cheddar and basil to make it more burst flavors.

I had made those and it came out very delish. It would be great with butter or any kind of spreads you like on your muffins since it's not much high sugar which it's perfect. I had that for breakfast with nice cup of iced chai or hot tea. You can even enjoy it with a cup of coffee or any choice of juice.

It's really simple and easy to make :D..

Ingredients:

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon basil, finely chopped

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 cups grated zucchini

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix it all up and pour into the muffin cup or pan -whatever it works out best for you. Sprinkle some ground cinnamon on the top before baking for little bit sweeter if you want to! :)

Bake it at 425 degree for 20 to 25 minutes. Insert the knife to see if it comes out clean then it's all ready to cool it off..

Enjoy this! :)

Lemon-scented Quinoa Salad

Don't you love those scents of lemon and those zest on your quinoa salad? I DO. Those aromas are so ravishing to enjoy to dig into the salad.

It's really easy and simple to make. I had adapted from Cooking 101 blog by creating this dish.

It comes with a small bowl of Tahini Dressing with tangy flavor of lemons. Tahini is a sesame paste that you usually make the hummus. It's my first time trying that kind of the dressing and it's an excellent combination with the quinoa salad along with garbanzo beans, chopped red onions, chopped cucumbers, chopped cilantro and sprinkle of lemon zests.

You may want to SAVE those garbanzo bean juice because you might need to pour little bit if your Tahini dressing gets too dry. It will helps to make it smoothly.

Simply cook any flavors of quinoa as your choice as you normally cook for the rice. It's not really hard to do that.

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, any choice of yours

2 cups water

Cook it until it becomes curly and transparent.

1 can of garbanzo beans, you can even eat cold or warm it up a little bit

Chopped red onions, cucumbers and cilantro

Put the cooked quinoa on the side while put the garbanzo on the other side in the same bowl then put those chopped red onions, cucumbers and cilantro in the middle. Zest some lemon on it for more flavor.

Tahini Dressing (make it while you are cooking the quinoa)

1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped

1/4 cup Tahini (Sesame Paste)

Zest of 1 whole lemon

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

Sea Salt for taste

If your Tahini dressing gets too DRY- you may want to save the juice from Garbanzo beans to pour little bit to make it smoothly.

Enjoy those vegetarian dish!

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

I had been doing the experiments of attempting to make the right Pink Lemonade Cupcakes. Couple months ago, Sophia and I decided to make the batter by adapting the recipe from someone else's cooking blog. I decided out of the heck by adding more pink lemonade liquid from 3/4 cup to 1 cup to increase more burst flavors. After baking this, it turned out a BIG MISTAKE- Too tart and bitter flavor.

This time, I decided to try again by making the pink lemonade and chocolate cupcakes for Sophia's classmates to share to celebrate her birthday at the school. Sophia and I decided to decrease the pink lemonade liquid from 1 cup to 2/3 cup (not 3/4).

After baking this, we had tasted it and it turned out SO PERFECT! Oooo.. those sweet flavor of pink lemonade with white cake mix that blend together that created just so perfect!

After I picked up my girls at the school and was amazed that lots of kids LOVED the pink lemonade cupcakes even a few of boys too. It would be a great treats for all kids to enjoy those summery cupcakes. I would make it again for SURE ;).

It had created a shortcut to make it really easy and simple to make.

Ingredients for the cupcake batter:

1 box of classic white cake mix

4 white eggs

1/3 cup of vegetable oil

2/3 cup of frozen (thaw) pink lemonade

Couple drops of Red Color to make it as pink

Mix it altogether until the batter becomes smoothly. Pour the batters into the cupcake liners. Bake it at 350 degree until it's fully cooked (you will know by insert the knife and it comes out clean)

Frosting:

1 can of classic white vanilla frosting

Couple tablespoons of frozen (thaw) pink lemonade

Couple drops of Red Color (to make it as pink too)

Mix it altogether. You can slowly add couple few more tablespoon until reach the desire of the right flavor for you. I usually add like perhaps 4 to 6 tablespoons of 'em. It will looks like "glazing" when you spread it on the cupcakes but it will dry it up later in the next day.

Enjoy it!

Shepard's Pie

My eldest daughter has been begging for me that she is craving for the Shepard Pie for the dinner. Finally I decided to make it for her and rest of us too.

Really easy to make by throwing it altogether to create a simple dish without breaking any sweats in the kitchen.

You can either use the ground beef or turkey as your choice. For me I used the ground beef for more flavor along with two different kinds of broths (beef and vegetable).

You may want to cook the potatoes first then cook the ground beef or turkey until they re fully cooked. Potatoes takes a while to cook until they become tender. I cooked the ground beef with the beef broth until they were fully absorbed for more burst flavors then pour the vegetable broth to cook a little bit so you have some liquid.

For potatoes:

7 white or yukon potatoes, quartered, cubed or whatever you cut as your way

Fill the pot with the water and bring it up the boil water to cook until it becomes very tender. You want to drain it then mashed it with a little bit of butter, milk and some shredded cheese to mix it altogether. Put it aside until you are done with the ground beef or turkey mixture.

For ground beef or turkey mixture:

1 pound of ground beef or turkey, cook until they are fully cooked then drain the grease. Pour the beef broth for the ground beef until they are fully absorbed (no liquid left). If you are using the ground turkey, you can use the vegetable broth too. Then pour the vegetable broth on the ground beef or turkey mixture along with a half of the bag of frozen mixed vegetables and cook it a little bit.

Dash some seasonings

~ Garlic Powder

~ Freshly ground black pepper

~ Dried Dill

~ Salt

In the small casserole pan, pour all of the ground beef or turkey mixture with the liquid. Spread the mashed potatoes on the top of it. Sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheese. Put in the oven at 350 degree until the cheese becomes gooey.

Enjoy those Shepard's Pie in the household! :D

Shopper's Guide to Pesticides

I want to share with you guys about the list that I saw it by googling regarding with the vegetables and fruits. There's a list of worst and best that consists the highest and lowest pesticides for those fruits and vegetables.

If any of the fruits and vegetables that has the highest pesticides then simply buy the organic ones to make it more safer.

Pesticides are any substances or mixtures intended for preventing, repelling or mitigating any pests.

Pesticides used are often absorbed into the plants which allows them to bind to the fruits and vegetables, making it impossible to eliminate their presence which means washing or peeling the fruits and vegetables that consists the highest pesticides won't guarantee elimination.

The lists of the vegetables and fruits that has the highest pesticides are the common that people eat daily so can replace it with organic only since we all can know that we can't afford to buy all organic fruits and vegetables of the times everyday unless if growing those in your backyard to save money- GREAT!.

Here's the Worst list:

1- Peach

2-Apple

3-Bell Pepper

4-Celery

5-Nectarine

6-Strawberries

7-Cherries

8-Kale

9-Lettuce

10-Imported Grapes

11-Carrot

12-Pear

Here's the Cleanest list that consists the lowest pesticides:

1- Onion

2- Avocado

3- Sweet Corn

4- Pineapple

5- Mango

6- Asparagus

7- Sweet Peas

8- Kiwi

9- Cabbage

10- Eggplant

11- Papaya

12- Watermelon

13- Broccoli

14- Tomato

15- Sweet Potato

Hope it help you to be aware about this and be a smart shopper when shopping for the fruits and vegetables :)

Enjoy!

Shrimp Quesidilla and Black Bean Salsa

After I made the cheese quesidilla for my girls since they don't like shrimps at all.

I thought why not to add those cumin flavored shrimps into mine -something different!

Also adding the black bean salsa surely bring a kick for more flavor with my shrimp quesidilla.

Easy to make the black bean salsa- very simple and same concept to make the salsa with tomatoes but a little bit different ingredients.

For shrimps:

Cook with the shrimp fully along with couple dashes of cumin powder and little bit of water.

On tortilla, sprinkle some shrimps and cheese until the cheese melts. Either way you can fold it into half or use two tortillas to flip over.

Black Bean Salsa:

1 can of black beans, drained

Some of thawed frozen yellow corn (no necessary to cook) or one ear of corn cob

1 or 2 stalks of finely chopped celeries

Half of finely chopped white onions

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped

Half of lemon, freshly squeezed

A little bit of salt and ground pepper for taste

That's really simple and easy to make! You can even find this cooking really simple than what you thought of! :D

Chicken Schnitzel

As you know once you heard the word, schnitzel meaning it has to be veal..

I don't have veal in my refrigerator except those boneless chickens. I thought myself why not to twist it up by doing the same method..

It turned out very tasty meal along with rice pliaf and vegetables. Squirt of wedge of lemon on it actually pop out the flavor into my mouth. My eldest daughter would squirt more of those.

For chicken: you want to butterfly those chicken by cut into halves and remove any fats. Cover individuals with the plastic wrap and smash it into thin with the meat mallet or another blunt instrument.

You may want to get 3 trays in order to dip those chickens into

Some of all purpose flour

2 eggs beaten

Some of breadcrumbs

You can season your chicken with some salt and pepper if you want to. Dip the chicken into the flour first then egg second then breadcrumb the last one. Don't press it too hard.

Heat the oil in the skillet and melt the butter (1/3 stick). Fry it until golden-brown then turn them over to fry the other side. Put it into the paper towel to dry it up.

For rice pliaf, use the box of rice pliaf and add some of frozen peas and corn to cook it altogether.

Cut those lemons into wedges. Enjoy squirting it on your meal! :)

Peach Compote

I was trying to think what to make something for my girls for their lunch.

I thought of why not making the buttermilk pancakes (from the box) and homemade peach compote (those fresh peaches that I had handpicked from the tree in my backyard).

My two daughters really liked it especially with whipped cream on the top.

Really simple to make.. You can even replace it with apples, blueberries, strawberries or any other fruits by adding 3 really simple ingredients!

A little bit of water

Couple dashes of ground cinnamon

1/4 cup of brown sugar, you can even add little more to taste more sweeter

That's all you need to do.. If you accident had a little much water then don't worry, add more brown sugar to thicken it up.

Mix those 3 simple ingredients along with any fruit of your choice. I put those peach compote underneath 2 pancakes and as for topping too. Really delicious and healthy!

No Knead Rosemary Lemon Bread

Yes, you had heard it right, NO KNEAD!

It's really simple to make it but it takes hours to wait for the dough to rise into double before baking but it's all worth of your time!

My girls loved it! I like to toast it and spread out with a little bit of butter and able to taste the blurst of lemony flavors into my mouth.

It would be great for breakfast or along with your dinner meals.

Ingredients:

3 cups of all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 whole lemon for zest only (no necessary to use lemon juice)

In the mixer or large bowl, combine all of those ingredients above. Add 1 5/8 cup water by pour slowly until blended. It would be a sticky one! Cover it with a lid or plastic wrap. Let dough rest at warm temperature (about 70 degree or leave it on the counter) about 12 to 18 hours.

Place dough with a little bit of flour to shape up the dough into a ball and cover with the cotton towel to let it arise into double size, approximately 2 hours.

Turn on your oven at 450 degree. You can either put it into a loaf pan like I did or 2 3/4 quart cast-iron pot. Bake it about 15 or 30 minutes.

Cool it a little bit before removing it from the loaf pan or cast-iron pot then take it off. Put it on the plate or wire rack to cool it off more.

Asian Beef Salad

That meal is so RAVISHING! I even ate ALL of it!!

It's a very simple meal that you can even make without spending hours and hours!

Simple buy the bag of Asian style salad that comes with its own sesame ginger dressing, dried pineapple chunks, crispy noodles and thinly sliced almonds.

I created my own marinade for the steak and left it overnight! Oh my! it was so perfect to combine with the asian salad!

Marinade for the steaks:

Couple squirts of Bragg's Alternative Soy Sauce

1 teaspoon of minced garlic from the jar or you can even minced the fresh garlic cloves (2 or 3)

Couple squirts of yellow mustard

Mix it altogether and put the steak for overnight to cook the next day. You can put it into a bowl with cover on it or ziplock bag.

Really simple, eh? It doesn't have to make your hands more slave. Very simple and quick dinner to eat!

Enjoy it!

Cuban Hamburger Sandwich

You don't need to travel to Cuba :).

Have you EVER tried the original cuban sandwich before?

I wanted to do something different by adding little bit twist to the cuban sandwich by adding a juicy hamburger on it.

It's really simple to assemble by adding the slice of ham, slice of cheese of your own and two thin slices of pickles along with a fresh roll spread out with mustard or mayo (your choice).

For the hamburger:

1 pound of lean ground beef

couple dashes of garlic powder

couple dashes of dried dill

couple dashes of cumin powder or grind the cumin seeds into "powdery"

1 egg

couple squirts of Bragg's Alternative Soy Sauce

Mix it up and shape it into patties. Grill 'em whatever you like.

You can start assemble by spread the mustard or mayo on the roll. Put the slice of ham and cheese on the bottom then pickle then hamburger then put the top roll on it! Bingo, you have the twisty cuban hamburger sandwich.

Buen Provecho!

Minty Cantopeachy Smoothie

When I was cleaning out the refrigerator and found a half of cantaloupe and thought myself why not to make for a smoothie with that!

Cantaloupe contains Vitamin A and C along with fresh peaches that I had pulled out from the tree in my backyard and fresh mint leaves that I handpicked from the ground.

It's an interesting taste, to admit that! It came out with beautiful spark colors of green, red and orange as you can see it on the picture on the left side. It's not very sweet like other smoothies usually are. It's a well-balanced and it's good for people who are not too crazy for sweetnesses but it comes with lots of blurst of MINTY into your mouth YUM.

I had spiked some Bacardi Rum into mine and it tastes so GOOD! My girls LOVED that smoothies (of course without that rum)- I was so surprised :D.

Ingredients:

Half of cantaloupe- scoop out from the skin and chopped into pieces

Some of fresh mint leaves

10 small peaches or 5 large peaches, pitted and chopped into pieces

Put it into a large ziplock bag and freeze it until it's all ready for making smoothie

Dump it into the blender and you can even add either way:

1 cup of pineapple juice

1 cup of frozen pineapple chunks

Blend it until smooth. If it gets too thick, you can thin it out a little bit by slow adding the pineapple juice.

You can even add Bacardi rum into yours to make it a summery drink. Just a little bit of it to taste.. If you need more then add little bit more.

Enjoy it!

Red Quinoa Salad with red onions, feta and endamames

I was in the mood for something really light for dinner last night.

I looked up in the refrigerator and found what I have was feta cheese, endamames, red onions, romaine lettuces, and grape tomatoes.

So why not to throw it altogether with those red quinoa?! It surely taste so good! You can create your own dressing or use the dressing that you have in your refrigerator.

I decided to use the vegetable stock to cook my red quinoa for more flavor. You simple cook the red quinoa as what you normally cook for white or brown rice in the pan or the rice cooker. Not really hard :D!

I saw that I have a jalapeno so I throw it in that salad to boost up little spicy. You can omit the jalapenos if you don't want any boost up the spicy in your salad.

Ingredients:

Romaine Lettuce, washed and shredded

1 small red onion, finely chopped

Feta crumbled cheese

Handful of grape tomatoes, cut into quartered

1 jalapeno (OPTIONAL)- seeded and finely chopped

For the red quinoa: 1 cup of that along with 2 cups of vegetable broth. Cook it until it becomes swirly and curl. Best to have it bring up a boil then cover the pan with a lid then lower to simmer - cook about 15 minutes or so (you will able to see when it becomes swirly/curly then you know it's all ready).

Put those cooked quinoa and mixed it up along with salad ingredients.

Steam those endamames then sprinkle it as toppings.

For dressing: your own choice or homemade -either way.. For me I usually use freshly squeezed lemon juice along with the apple cider vinegar and olive oil to mix it together along with freshly ground black pepper and little bit of salt to bring up the flavor.

Enjoy this! :D

Citrus Acai Watermelon Smoothie

My girls wanted me to make smoothies for them. They are totally hooked with my creativity along with the foods especially with the smoothies.

My second daughter wanted something with watermelon. So I was thinking "yeah, watermelon would work with a group of citrus like lemon, lime and orange to bring up more tangy flavors. However I don't have lime in my kitchen but lemon and orange would work it out.

I had bought a fresh seedless watermelon and cut it into chunks and freeze it. In order to make the smoothie with fresh fruits, it's wise to freeze it because if you are using fresh fruits that hasn't freeze then it wouldn't make great smoothie -would become mushy drink *you don't want that*. So freeze the fresh fruits acts like a second duty as being as ice!

I decided to add Acai into that smoothie. It's an excellent antioxidant!!! In case if you wonder what was Acai?! Acai is a berry type that is grown on trees mostly in warmer climates. It has many benefits like aging, cancer, detoxifying your body, boost up your energy, improving your digestion and etc.

You can find the Acai puree in the freezer section along with those organic fruits at the local supermarket where they sells the organic foods.

Ingredients:

Handful (1 or 2) of freeze chunks of seedless watermelon

1 packet of Acai puree

2 to 4 big scoops of lemon sorbet

1 lemon- freshly squeezed (make sure no seeds go into)

Blend it altogether and it will shows lots of clutters.

Slowly add some of orange juice while blending those fruits altogether until it becomes smoothly.

Not very sweet but just a perfect combination of sweet and tangy flavors!

Enjoy the tangy drinks!

You can double it to make that smoothie :D

Soy Sauce

I had wondering if soy sauce is good and healthy for us?

I had googled myself and find it really simple answer: "Moderate amounts of dark soy sauce can help prevent heart disease but it can be unhealthy in large quantities due of high sodium".

I was reading the label of that two products from the picture I had posted on this blog. Kroger Lite Soy Sauce has 530 mg of sodium which it's about almost half lower than the regular soy sauce based on the label. The regular soy sauce has about 1,000 mg of sodium. Whoa, it feel like its eating salt straight! Bragg's Alternative Soy Sauce only has 160 mg of sodium. I did taste both of it and it doesn't make any difference but only was the sodium difference that's all.

Many people have their own preferences of what kind of soy sauce that they normally use.

What kind of ingredients does Soy Sauce have?

It is made with soy beans, wheat, salt and water, fermented.

What's so difference between fermentation and non-fermentation?

I have no idea so I decided to google myself and read this article that Cynthia McMurray, a natural health writer who had wrote:

Fermentation involves a long process which the carbonhydrates and proteins are broken down by microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts, and mold (YAY for chemistry and biology). Eating fermented foods is known to not only promote the growth of friendly intestinal bacteria that aid in digestion, but also boost immune function, which ultimately helps the body fight off harmful bacteria and disease.

Non-Fermentation are made by non-fermentated soybeans while these beans may be cooked, heated or even pasteurized. That's not same as fermented. It contains the phytic acid, a chemical that essentially binds with specific nutrients such as iron, vitamin B12 and calcium, inhibiting their absorption. What does it mean? It means that your body is not able to absorb those nutritions. It founds in tofu, soy milk, soy nuts, texturized vegetables proteins, meal replacement powders and baby formulas.

Maybe you have a better explanation about those twos then please feel free to leave the comments :D.

Have you heard Tamari Sauce?

As many of us know that Soy Sauce comes from China that had made maybe approximately two thousand and five years ago. Tamari has been envolved by the Japanese.

We already know what the soy sauce had made of. Tamari is the same thing but doesn't including the wheats. It has a very rich, smooth, soft and smooth/balanced flavors. Tamari will remains its full flavors after cooking while Soy Sauce looses most of its essential flavors when exposured to high temperature. Tamari has 37% more protein than soy sauce which it gives the unique flavors and it gives lighter taste which it can be easily use with sauces, gravies, casseroles and stir-fry dishes. Also it's a great marinade as well.

Alternative Soy Sauce

Not much difference at all. Just that using Bragg's Alternative Soy sauce is a healthy alternative to Soy and Tamari sauce. No table salt or preservatives added.

Bragg's is made with non-gmo (not genetically modified) soy beans and contains 16 essential and non-essential amino acids.

Amino acids is like the building blocks of proteins. It can be found anything we eat except oil.

It's non-fermenated too and it has a natural salt from the soybeans itself. It is between 100 to 115 mg per (meaning 1/2 teaspoon of salt). That's better to use less bit of salt and it's good for some people who want to have a lower-sodium meals as well.

I had learned a lot about the soy sauce, tamari and alternative soy sauce. I hope you learned something new about this. If you find something that it needs to correct me then please feel free to leave the comments :D.. I would love to learn something new from you too!

Spicy Ginger Cabbage Salad

Have you ever had a coleslaw from any restaurants or fast food place that was served that was already mixed with the mayonnaise? I never LIKE that and won't eat anything about this.

I do love cabbages! I grew up with that! Stuffed cabbage as a part of the polish dish! My mother and maternal grandmother always make that.. I would eat it up all of it!

Since I wanted something really LIGHT so I thought of why not to try that cabbage salad WITHOUT using any mayonnaise! I never liked to have one in my vegetables.. Only for sandwich or egg/chicken salad to mix it up altogether.

I know that I can be so weird! But that's ME!

Adding vinegar helps you to lose some weights, I swear! I used the Bragg Alternative Soy Sauce and Bragg Organic Apple Vinegar along with Olive Oil, freshly grated ginger and freshly ground black pepper to mix it altogether along with my salad with freshly squeezed lemon juice. It tastes so marvelously! I had learned from my good friend who used the Bragg produces and it's WORTH..

All you need is:

A bag of purple shredded cabbage

A bag of regular shredded lettuce

2 to 3 sticks of celery, finely chopped

1/2 of red onions, finely chopped

1 whole jalapenos, unseeded and finely chopped

1 ear of either yellow or white corn, scrapped uncooked one.. If you want the corn cooked, then grill it for a short time.

Handful of cilantros, finely chopped

One carrot, julienned

For dressing:

Bragg's Alternative Soy Sauce or any Soy Sauce of your favorite- Couple squeeze of it

1 tablespoon of Bragg's Organic Apple Vinegar

One or two drizzle of Olive Oil

Freshly Ground Black pepper for taste

Lots of grated ginger

Freshly squeezed lemon juice (Half goes into the dressing and another half goes to the vegetables to mix it up together)

Mix it altogether and have yourself to taste if anything need to add or enough about this.

Pour it into that salad altogether..

Enjoy this.. :).. It's like being served as a RAW salad! More nutritions to enjoy this..

Cranberry Beauty Smoothie

When I make this smoothie at the same time thinking should I name "Black Beauty" or "Cranberry Beauty". So I decided to go for Cranberry Beauty as the name. It does look almost like black but it's enriches of a dark plum color.

As you might know that blueberries do consists antioxidants along with cranberries and blackberries. Blueberries are considered the number one!

So it's a perfect antioxidant drink to enjoy this.

Do you know what an antioxidants are?

Antioxidants means a substance (as beta-carotene or vitamin C) that inhibits oxidation or reactions promoted by oxygen, peroxides, or free radicals. Free radicals (oxygen particles) can destroy or affect cells causing aging and cancer, so antioxidants help preventing this.

So is it wonderful to know?! I betcha!

Ingredients:

1 cup of Cranberry Grape juice (I use the light than regular)

1 1/2 cups of frozen organic blueberries

1 cup of frozen blackberries

Mix it altogether. That one serves 1 to 2 so you can double for if serves 4 or more.

Enjoy this! :D

Strawberry Salsa

Can you image having strawberry and salsa combined together? YES I can!

Just think that strawberry is being replaced with tomatoes so it's easy to make this just like what you normally make the homemade salsa.

It's a perfect topping for your grilled white fish, chicken or on the salad. When I put some on my grilled white fish with strawberry salsa and saw some leftover so I did add it on my salad- so refreshing YUM!

Ingredients:

A carton of strawberries, removed stems and finely chopped

1 jalapenos, remove the seeds and finely chopped

1/2 of red onion, finely chopped

1 medium avocado, finely chopped

1/2 freshly squeezed lemon juice

handful of chopped cilantros

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix it altogether and put in the refrigerator until ready to use as a topping on your meal or salad!

Enjoy this :)

Limeade Watermelon Smoothie

That would be my 3rd homemade smoothie so far :D. I love learning to do my hand-on experiments by creating different flavors of smoothies. It doesn't need any more than tons of ingredients in order to put it altogether AND less cleaning to do!

I bought a watermelon (seedless) at the food store and came home to cut it up by remove the bottom green ones. I put all of the chopped watermelons in the ziploc bag and put it in the freezer.

It's wise to freeze fresh fruits that has been chopped (peaches, watermelons, plums, apples and etc) , non-chopped (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and etc) and pitted (cherries). It will help to make the smoothie to blend it together as it been treating as like ices.

I know that watermelon consists 90% of water- it's almost like drink some water :D. I used the can of limeade (found in the freeze juice section at the food store). Limeade needs water to mix it up to make a delicious limeade. So both have water included.

Lime and Watermelon do marry each other because it's sweet and tart at the same time! What a perfect combination! All you need was 3 ingredients- yea! 3!

Handful of freeze chopped seedless watermelon

Half of canned freeze limeade

Handful of freeze cherries

Adding those cherries helps to tone it down a little bit if you can't handle the tart of limes.

Put all of those 3 ingredients in the blender and make it smoothly. It serves for 1 to 2. You can double it to serve 4 or more.

Enjoy this! :D

Get Water-wise!

Yes, time to get a water-wise to learn about the proper hydration- NO matter your level of fitness!

Again, I was reading my local supermarket magazine and wanted to share with you' All how important the water is no matter how your life can be busy.

Whether you walk 15 minutes a day or run 50 miles a week, your approach to hydration should be the same: more water, more often. After all, every system in your body depends on this most fundamental of liquids: It regulates body temperature, flushes out toxins, carries nutrients, aid digestion, and more. So it's not surprising that dehydration can lower your exercise performance and muscle strength and even contribute to life-threatening heat stroke by inhibiting your body's ability to regulate its temperature through sweat. In fact, how good you feel during-and-after your workout begins hours before you ever lace your sneakers. Recovery needs to be an all-day, everyday thing- not just what you do postexercise.

Drink early and often:

Begin hydrating long before your workout to give your body a chance to absorb the liquid. More fluids if you plan to exercise more extremely and longer especially when it's hot! Drink a lot of water before the advance of exercises.

Replace what's lost:

The amount of fluids you sweat out during exertion depends on intensity, climate and individual metabolism. One thing is universal: When you sweat, you lose minerals such as salt and potassium along with water. When well stocked, these electrolytes keep your body's fluids in balance and keep maintain normal heart rate, muscle contraction and brain function. You don't need the extra carbonhydrates and electrolytes in sport drinks if there is low-intensity outings. You may need electrolyte-replacement drinks if there is an intense workouts especially in hot climates.

REMEMBER: if you wait to drink until your brain registers thirst , chances are you're already dehydrated!

Eat it up:

Your diet can supply much of your daily water needs-if you eat foods high in moisture. Soups, fruit, and vegetables replace the liquids and electrolytes lost after most workouts. Also, salty foods such as nuts work double duty by replacing sodium and stimulating you to drink more.

~ It was a very interesting article to learn about keeping your body hydrated and eat those foods that replaces what your body had lost during when you worked out or doing extremely active around at the house and etc.

Not just only for the workouts, water is extremely important for your health-wise. When I had a stomach health problems and it wasn't fun but was in pain. I remember my doctor told me that water is number one that would help to flush out the toxins, replace the minerals/nutrients that I had lost and etc. So I had listened to my doctor's tips and it helps a lot! I had learned to eat more healthy foods and of course lots lots of water to drink!

If you are not CRAZY about water then you can spice it up by adding fresh slices of citrus fruits like lemon, lime or orange. Or you can even add the slices of fresh cucumbers or mints! Also there is an alternative by trying drink the coconut water. Coconut water is a natural electrolyte -replacement drink.

For those energy drinks- you may want to read the label to make sure that it doesn't have any artificial colors or high-frutcose corn syrup and be sure to factor the calories of your energy drink into your regiment if you're trying to lose or maintain weight.

I know it's a long article but thought by sharing with you all about this. Enjoy reading this :)

FIBER

Go Fiber! Go Fiber! I'm rooting for F-I-B-E-R!!!

I had read the local supermarket magazine and wanted to share with you' All.

Fiber is so important in our healthy daily that we really need in our body! Fiber bulks up your stomach contents and help keep blood sugar levels even by slowing glucose absorption. Is that great?! Oh yea, baby! It's a very delightful for anyone to eat even vegetarian too!

There's 5 high-fiber choices make it easy to eat enough.

1~ Almonds - Almonds are among the most fibrous nuts, totaling 3 grams per ounce (about 24 nuts). They also are an excellent source of vitamin E, magnesium, manganese, and calcium.

2~ Artichokes - One medium artichoke offers 7 grams of fiber, comparable to a can of baked beans. This low-cal-veggie (about 60 calories each) contain vitamin C, iron, calcium, and potassium.

3~ Barley - One cup of this cooked grain provides around 25 percent of the recommended daily intake (RDI) for fiber, plus selenium, tryptophan, copper, and manganese. Studies also indicated that barley's high soluble-fiber content may substantially lower cholesterol levels.

4~ Lentils - Red, yellow, and black lentils boast nearly 63 percent of the RDI for fiber per cup. That same cup also includes more than 17 grams of proteins, as well as iron, B vitamins, and folate.

5~ Pears - One medium pear packs 5 grams of fiber- the same as a bowl of bran flakes- and is a good source of vitamin C, copper, and vitamin k (all for just 120 calories).

Now you know those 5 high fiber foods that you may want to stock up in your kitchen to enjoy those delicious foods.

Homemade Orangade

I love to make fresh lemonade and limeade.

Why not to make fresh squeeze orangeade?! Something different :D..

Really EASY to make:

All you need was 2 big oranges, sugar and water!

Squeeze those 2 big oranges (save those squeezed oranges to cut it up into wedges for decorations and more flavors)

Pour those squeezed orange liquid into the pitcher then add 1/2 cup of sugar and fill it up with water.

You can reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup as you wish. If you are a sugar-freak then 1 cup would do. You don't want it as "too much" sugar in your drink because oranges do have those natural sugar inside so it would be awesome to add less sugar.

It does look a refreshing drink during the hot weather :D