Butternut Squash Soup

Hope you’re all staying warm in this frigid weather! This weekend was insanely cold and all I wanted to do was stay in bed. Needless to say, I’m so ready for summer.

I made this easy butternut squash soup to stay warm. It’s super creamy and naturally sweet I could practically eat it for every meal. Did I mention it’s healthy too? It’s filled with veggies- you won’t even notice. MmMmm!

Ingredients
2 tb butter
1 onion diced
1 stalk celery chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 sweet potato cubed
1 butternut squash (about 3 lbs), peeled, seeded, cubed
2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large pot. Over medium heat, cook onion, celery and carrot for 5 minutes or until onions are lightly browned. Add sweet potato, butternut squash and chicken broth. Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes until vegetables are tender.
2. Transfer the soup to a blender in batches and blend until smooth. Return to the pot and season with salt and pepper.

Note: For a deeper flavor, drizzle olive oil, sprinkle salt and roast butternut squash in the oven at 425 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Mashed Potatoes

Ever since I bought my stand mixer back in December, I’ve always wanted to make something with it that wasn’t sweet. Desserts are yummy, but I wanted to see the mixer make something savory.

I decided to make mashed potatoes using the paddle attachment and it worked wonderfully! The paddle attachment was able to mash the potatoes like a traditional handheld potato masher, but with much less arm work. You can also switch to the whisk attachment after using the paddle attachment to achieve fluffier potatoes.

Here is a simple and versatile mashed potato recipe. Dress these taters with roasted garlic, chives, bacon or cheese for extra flavor!

I used russet potatoes but feel free to use red or Yukon gold.

Ingredients:
1 lb russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 tb butter
1/2 cup milk
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes; drain.
2. In a small saucepan heat butter and milk over low heat until butter is melted. Using a potato masher or electric beater, slowly blend milk mixture into potatoes until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Yields 2 servings.

Original recipe from All Recipes

Easy Asian Recipe: Stir-Fried Tomato & Eggs

Tomato and eggs is one of the easiest Chinese dishes you will ever cook.  This classic dish is made from juicy tomato slices, scrambled eggs, and simple seasonings.

Even though this dish is simple, it is important to not overcook the eggs or tomatoes.  Overcook the eggs and you will have rubbery pieces of egg.  Overcook the tomatoes and your dish will turn into mush.  In my recipe, I added two tablespoons of Shaoxing rice wine into the egg mixture to make it fluffier.  The wine gives the dish an interesting flavor profile.

I used tomatoes from my garden.  The juiciness and sweetness from tomatoes created the perfect sauce to spoon over a bowl of rice.

This tomato had a tumor.

This humble dish is great for a quick dinner.  Enjoy!

Stir-Fried Tomato & Eggs

4 eggs
2 tb Shaoxing rice wine or water
3 tomatoes sliced into wedges
2 cloves of minced garlic (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup water
3 tb vegetable oil
Chopped scallions

1. Crack the eggs into a bowl, add 2 tb water, and whisk.
2. Heat a skillet and add 2 tb of oil.  Add eggs and let a thin film form on the bottom of the pan.  When eggs are partially cooked, break into smaller pieces.  Once cooked, remove from pan and set aside.
3. In the same pan, heat 1 tb oil and add minced garlic.  Sauté garlic until fragrant, then add tomatoes and stir-fry for 2 minutes.  Add salt, sugar, and water and stir for 30 seconds.  Add scallions and cooked eggs.  Stir-fry for 1 minute and serve.

Homemade Chipotle Burrito Bowl

Let’s face it, Chipotle knows how to make good food. Their simple menu, assembly line service and fast casual concept draws loyal fans.

Diners prefer Chitpotle over other fast food chains because they can customize their orders and it’s “healthier.” But beware, once you add the guac, cheese and sour cream, the seemingly healthy meal can turn into a calorie bomb.

Even so, there is no denying that Chipotle’s menu is delicious and addicting!

The other day, I was craving a burrito bowl – my go to selection at Chipotle.
Instead of driving ten minutes to the closest location, I decided to make my own.

I mean, how hard can it be? Rice, beans, chicken and chopped vegetables is all you need.

Besides, making your own is more economical. For the price of one Chipotle meal, you can make this recipe instead and feed up to four people.

It’s so yummy I could eat this every day!

Season your chicken generously! I included measurements of the spices for the sake of this recipe, but honestly I just evenly sprinkle the spices directly from its container onto the chicken. When it comes to cooking, you don’t have to be as precise as you do in baking.

If you’re looking to reduce your carb intake, you can totally skip the rice and just make a burrito salad.

Hope you enjoy and satisfy those Chipotle cravings!

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Homemade Chipotle Burrito Bowl

For the rice:
2 cups long grain rice
4 cups water
Juice of one lime
Chopped cilantro
Salt to taste

For the chicken:
1 lb boneless chicken breasts
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic salt
black pepper
1 tb canola oil

Toppings:
Fresh limes
Chopped cilantro
Shredded cheese
Guacamole
1 can corn
1 can black beans
Diced red onion
Diced tomatoes
Chopped lettuce

Directions:

1. For the rice: Rinse excess starch from the rice and cook with water in a rice cooker. Once rice is cooked, fluff the rice using a fork with lime juice, cilantro and salt.
2. For the chicken: Season chicken breasts generously with spices. Heat a skillet with canola oil and sauté chicken until cooked through. 8 – 12 minutes depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts. Once chicken is done, let rest for 5 minutes then dice into cubes.
3. Assemble the burrito bowl by spooning rice into bowls, adding your favorite toppings and placing the chicken on top.

Red Velvet Pancakes with Coconut Syrup

Happy 4th of July!

I love Fourth of July barbecues, festivities and fireworks. Luckily, I live near a park and on a hill so I watch the fireworks on my front porch. It’s really convenient because I get to avoid the crazy traffic and crowded park.

My family doesn’t celebrate Independence Day because they’re always working. So, I get super excited when I get invited to a party!

Recently, I came across these red, white and blue pancakes on Pinterest. I used my favorite pancake recipe, but you can use store bought pancake mix. Just add some cocoa powder and red food coloring.

I have to admit, making pancakes from scratch is so easy that you don’t need to buy pre-made mix! This recipe is foolproof.

The key to making pancakes is to not overmix the batter. Overmixing will cause the gluten in the flour to develop and result in a rubbery and dense pancake. That’s not what we want!

We want FLUFFY, LIGHT, MELT-IN-YOUR-MOUTH pancakes!

Mix the ingredients until just combined and don’t worry if there are lumps in the batter.

I added coconut syrup and blueberries to complete the red, white and blue theme. If you don’t have coconut cream, use milk and powdered sugar instead. You can even top your pancakes off with cream cheese frosting!

Make these for breakfast tomorrow!

Pancakes:
3/4 cup milk
2 tb white vinegar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tb cocoa powder
2 tb white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
2 tb melted butter
red food coloring
1/2 cup blueberries

Syrup:
4 tb coconut cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. For the pancakes: Combine milk with vinegar in a bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to curdle. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Whisk egg and butter into milk mixture. Add food coloring to desired color. Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture and whisk until moistened. Don’t worry if there are lumps! Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat with cooking spray or butter. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto skillet and flip when bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake. Cook until browned on the other side.
2. For the syrup: Mix coconut cream and powdered sugar until smooth.
3. Serve pancakes topped with coconut syrup and blueberries. Yields about 8 pancakes.