Lemon Pepper Chicken

Ingredients:

2 lbs of split chicken breasts

garlic powder

sea salt

1 lemon

black pepper

1/2 cup of chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup of olive oil

Goya Adobo All Purpose Seasoning

1/4 cup of Mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)

Preheat oven 350 degrees. While it is heating up put all the chicken pieces in a large mixing bowl. Pour in olive oil and Mirin. Next roll a lemon back and forth on your counter applying pressure. This will make it easier to squeeze the most juice from it. Cut it in half and squeeze both halves all over the chicken and toss them with spatula. This is to make sure the chicken has been coated evenly. Then place chicken on a non-stick pan pour any left over juice over the meat. Season each side to taste with garlic, pepper, sea salt, and Adobo. I was very liberal with it. Lastly sprinkle the chopped cilantro over top the each chicken breast and garnish with the two halves of lemon.

I set my timer for 45 min to start. Keep in mind my chicken breasts were huge like OMG thick pieces! (Dang mutant chickens) After the 45 mins I checked it by cutting it with a knife and gave it 10 more mins and it was done. So you may have to adjust time based on if you have thinner/thicker pieces. It was moist, flavorful and best of all NOT overcooked!

**I say this cause no matter how good you season chicken breast if you overcook it and it’s dry everyone’s going to think it’s trash. Lmaooooooo sorry but it’s true…

May 13, 2018 0

Fish Stew

So this was my first try at making a fish stew. Now I’ve heard rumors about it won’t be a good fish stew without having shellfish and the like in it. I feel that this is false. I think that you can actually make a very good fish stew without having unclean meats in it. I set out to prove my points. This time I decided to definitely bring out the big guns and by the big guns I mean spices that are just out of this world. They can seriously can turn a cup of poop into I don’t know a great mousse. Wait… What??

Wow… I just got the visual on that one but you get what I mean. LOL.

So I decided to let the food do the talking. Let’s get these fresh vegetables popping, a great meaty fish, and power spices like anise and cumin to have a unique flavor.

Ingredients:

32 ozs of Pacific whiting fillets sliced in 1 inch cubes

2 cans of chicken broth

Sea salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons of paprika

2 cans of stewed tomatoes

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 onion chopped

1 leek sliced

2 bay leaves

8 cloves of garlic chopped

8 red potatoes chopped 1 inch cubes

1 green pepper chopped

3 star anise

1 jalapeño sliced

2 packs of Goya Sazon

Water 3/4 filled in a stock pot

Now one of the best things about this recipe is the fact that once you throw everything in the pot you are pretty much done!! Go have a glass of wine and sit down some where. The most work of this recipe is honestly just the prepping and chopping the vegetables and fish. You set the heat on medium-high. Combine all the ingredients in a stock pot and then let it cook for about an hour and a half. As the meal is cooking make sure to taste it! You may make some adjustments adding a little more. I tasted and stirred periodically. Just added a little salt and pepper while I was watching Netflix. 😂

Warning:

*** DO NOT remove the skin or you will have shredded pieces of fish all throughout the stew. ***

FYI: Goya is my freaking favorite. I would have added fresh cilantro but I ran out. Sorry didn’t feel like driving back out. 🤷🏽

May 5, 2018 3

Chicken and Cabbage

Okay so what inspired me for this recipe? Meh… is just the fact that I think I don’t eat enough cabbage LOL. Yeah there was nothing profound about it. I just was on a big timecrunch because I had gotten off work a bit later and still had to go grocery shopping, cook dinner all before Sabbath. So while I was at work I compiled my grocery list to cut down on the shopping time. Then came the big question what do I do with those boring chicken strips that have unthawed in the sink? 🤔

Hmm… Time…time..

Got it!

A quick sautee with vegetables and rice boom! So here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 lbs chicken strips cut into inch chunks

1/2 a red onion chopped

8 cloves of garlic halfed

1 jalapeño chopped

3 carrots sliced

1/2 head of cabbage sliced in strips

1 cup of sliced mushrooms

3 tablespoons tumeric

Sea salt and pepper to taste

1/2 can of chicken stock

1/2 cup of Mirin or a white wine you have handy

olive oil

1 cup of water

Add olive oil liberally to coat bottom of wok on medium heat. Add garlic, red onions, carrots and jalapeños. Stir and let cook for about 3 minutes. Then add chicken and Mirin. Begin adding salt and pepper to taste. Stir occasionally. Cook until chicken is halfway done. Then add cabbage, mushrooms, chicken stock, water, tumeric, and stir. Mix the ingredients well. Then leave to simmer 20-25 mins. Stir occasionally. Again add salt and pepper. Once the cabbage has cooked down and the chicken is cooked through you can serve. I paired it with rice and that was a win!

May 5, 2018 0

Pho-Sho

When I first came to Killeen, Texas of all the places in Texas, I was ready to throw myself out of a window or even drink bleach. 😩 This is for many reasons. Back in 2003 or 2004 it developed since the 80s (I give it that) but compared to me leaving the Tidewater area in Virginia it was like a dust bowl. Food-wise it was about as diverse as Burger King and KFC. It had your usual offenders like Red Lobster and Olive Garden but it took years to get to the point where now I don’t have to drive to Austin to get something that’s ethnically diverse and tasty. Back then even the Chinese places was limited and not very good. Yuck!! 🤢

One of my bestfriends who used to stay with me is Cambodian. Mannnnn!!! I was eating all kinds of Asian food and got exposed to so many spices I wasn’t used to working with myself. When I had tried Pho for the first time, I immediately fell in love.

Pho is a very satisfying and simple Vietnamese noodle soup. I go with the beef pho due to my dietary restrictions. All that means is that this is a beef broth base. When making pho, Anise is bundled with other herbs/spices in a spice bag and cooked for hours. Anise is the mystery flavor that immediately sticks out when tasting pho. Various thin, tender cuts of beef are added in along with noodles when served. You’re presented sides and additional herbs to add in based on your liking. Pictured here is thai basil, bean sprouts, cilantro, jalapenos and limes to squeeze in.

Also you’re given sauces like hoisin, soy, and chili paste to add additional flavor or heat. After eating so much fo you do start to get a little bougie in your expectations. But after carely research *cough* eating, I have found the best Pho restaurant in Killeen and that is Pho 9.

Pho 9 is one of the best restaurants in town!!! It’s located in downtown Killeen on Veteran’s Memorial Road/Business 190 close to where it intersects Ft Hood Road. The size of it is more than enough space and seating where you’re don’t feel crowded and you don’t have to wait to be seated. Even though it’s near post, it’s still not crazy busy during lunchtime and food comes out really fast. You can be in and out if you need to. It’s also good to take for low-key dates because your typical bird’s I never see there. #stoolyalert LOL just being honest. And it is pretty quiet. Also someone made an effort in the decor so its ok to look at.

The service aspect is pretty interesting. It’s not that they don’t care. It’s just that once you order your food you’re getting your food and no one’s going to check on you a million times. So if you need something just go up to the front and ask. Don’t wait for a check. Go to the front, pay and be out. Now the benefit of this is that you shouldn’t have to drop a whole bunch on the tip.

Prices?

Now price point-wise if you don’t watch out you can easily end up spending a lot of money in there. Average prices are going to start at least $8 and up for dang near anything on the menu. So all those yummy looking appetizers can get you messed up quick. Like dang what happened??!! 😂

Is it worth it? Yes it is!! If you don’t want Pho there is still a lot to choose from. Even if you bring the most basic tastebuds … (You know the one who really doesn’t dive off the cliff of ethnic eating) they still can find something there. The menu has pages bruh! And pics too!

The only negative thing I would have to say about Pho 9 is that I wouldn’t suggest delivery. I’ve tried their delivery service before a couple of times and it just seems like you get less food with it. I don’t know. 😖

**Last thing and it doesn’t happen very often but it does happen…

It is a small family-owned business so occasionally the family does go on vacation. The restaurant will be shut down until they come back. No big deal so don’t get out of pocket because you just happened to come at the wrong time. Other than that, I highly suggest checking it out. It is a very good place to eat and I will definitely be going back again and again. 😋

***Pho 9*** 👌🏽

921 W. Veterans Memorial Blvd #101, Killeen, TX

254-200-9020

April 18, 2018 1

Uncultured leads the Cultured? Who thunk it?

So to begin this story, I must let you know a little bit about my love life or lack thereof. I am the most non-dating chick that you have ever encountered. I dont have much leisure time. I hardly ever go on dates and I am fresh out of a Super Nightmare on Elm Street type, DEFCON 5, Hellraiser to the 10th power relationship. I don’t even mean to sound that drama-filled about it but it’s true. It’s until only recently since I’ve been on a quality date and I was married for 4 years. Yeah yikes! So I’m not used to even being around them outside of a friendship/work type capacity.

Then I end up meeting as me and my sister call him…. “Nature Boy”. He’s kind of what you imagine a Texas guy to be. Country music, hard-working, rugged and not familiar with the “Finer Things” in life. This is not because he can’t afford them. It’s honestly because he’s a very simple man. At first jump this was a little off-putting to me. I honestly wanted to tell him to shave our first encounter. Wanted to break the date actually. But something softened inside of me once I looked into his eyes. I saw a goodness behind his eyes. So even though our first date was utterly disastrous, I continued to see him. Lo and behold we have a lot of things in common. His rugged type of interests mirrored my own. So then our next few dates were fishing, walking in parks and nature hikes.

This allowed me to actually get to know him and him know me. Slowly, I developed a romantic attachment to him. Apparently he really likes me too because he’s made it known that he only wants to date me. Even wants to make it more of an official capacity like girlfriend status. BRAKES!!

At this point I’m not ready for all that. I like him enough to continue seeing him and so this is where we find ourselves up to this day. So yeah…. we are slowly taking our time to get to know and spend time with one another.

Yesterday I had a long day at work. Don’t get me wrong it was a good day but it was long none the less. I was freaking starving and all I could think about was what I could eat when I got off. Well he called me and wanted us to see each other afterward. He had planned a late night picnic!! 😁😁 So I went over to his place and he put some steaks on the grill. This was very romantic by the way. 😍😍 The stars were out he had the grill burning. Country music was playing and that’s not really my thing but it was romantic country music. LOL. So with the chill outside I threw on a blanket and watched in utter amazement while he was doing his thing on the grill.

He poured me a glass of wine to relax. Now If you know me you know I am soooo picky about my red wine. Some would say I’m a wine snob on a budget. LOL. Well broke people have the right to still be picky about what they drink!! Idc. 🤷🏽🤷🏽

So what is the perfect red wine to me? Well I don’t like sweet wines. I absolutely loathe Moscato. And that is I swear everyone’s go-to for wine. To me it’s like literally drinking sugar. I absolutely CAN’T stand it!!!! Now one thing I will say about Nature Boy is that he listens to me. I told him that l like reds that are LITTLE sweet with not so much bite. So the selection of the night was called Dark Horse Big Red Blend. He got it from H.E.B., our local grocery store chain. The price point was good too. $15 at most but can be found on sale all the time. I provided a link to the site below for you to read up more on it if interested. I really back this wine 110% and will make sure to keep some on deck moving forward!

http://www.darkhorsewine.com/wines/big-red-blend#

Also I provided some other links to my other runner-ups for ❤ FAVORITE ❤ Red Wine Blends for you to try with similar characteristics and price points.

No more than $15 bucks

Hope you enjoy your wine tasting!!

https://www.columbiacrest.com/our-wines/2014-h3-les-chevaux-red-wine

http://www.chryseia.com/wines/prazo-de-roriz/2015

http://www.3badge.com/leesefitch/blog/wines/2014-leese-fitch-firehouse-red/

April 18, 2018 0