Arroz Con Pollo Recipe...

I HATE GETTING RECIPES TOGETHER! I just don't cook with measurements...it's so hard figuring it all out...but in the end...as promised, I present to you a RECIPE, AND A VIDEO "HOW TO"! hahahahaha The video is just for my geekness. Please keep in mind; Latino food is super forgiving; it doesn't take French culinary precision! It's pretty much suited for your own likes and dislikes. Add spices you prefer, add olives, pimento, ham, hard salami...the possibilies are endless. The best way to finish off this dish is with AVOCADO! And us younger generation loooove it with KETCHUP! lol Just don't let any vieja's find out!

Arroz Con Pollo a La Lucena-Matos

Ingredients:
1/2 Boiled Chicken- Keep Broth (skinned, and boned if you prefer)
16 oz. Chicken broth (be sure to skim excess fat from broth before using)
3 cups Rice (brown or white, your preference)
2 tbs Adobo (amount is your preference)
1/4 tps Oregano (amount is your preference)
2 Sazon Packets (amount is your preference)
4 cubes Sofrito (amount is your preference) *HOMEMADE RECIPE TO COME!
1/4 cup Tomato Sauce
3 tbs Olive Oil

Instructions:
Cook chicken, set aside. In pot (rice will be cooked in this pot, so make sure it's big enough for chicken and rice to be added) heat olive oil. Then add tomato sauce, sofrito (if frozen, wait until defrosted before adding dry ingredients), dry ingredients, and simmer for 2-5 minutes on med/high heat. Add rice, stir, and then add chicken and broth. You may add water if not enough broth. Use your spoon to feel for the surface of rice beneath water. Water should be about 1/2 deep for white rice, and 3/4 for brown rice. But again, this depends on your preference. Turn up heat to high, and simmer until water is almost completely evaporated. Turn heat down to low, stir, cover. Cook on low for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, check rice by folding from inside out. This brings any uncooked rice to the center, while bringing cooked rice from the bottom of pot to the top. Re-cover and cook until done- 5-10 mintues. Remember, brown rice has a longer cook time. PS This recipe is pretty big...latinos always cook for leftovers and an army! lol So trim as you like.

¡WATCH THE VIDEO "HOW TO" HERE!

My Amazing Toddler!

My little girl is so amazing! She's singing, talking up a storm, counting, and pretty much telling us who's the boss. She's definitely going through the terrible two's, and I guess we couldn't expect anything less than perfection...I mean, she IS great at everything she does, so why would the terrible two's be any different. She's just really good at it!

Hippe Town USA- Portlandia...

Yes I've been watching Portlandia on IFC and it's HILARIOUSLY FUNNY (so happy IFC is picking up a second season..woo hoo.)! Not to mention, sooooo dead on! I HAVE to take pictures of all the birds here..."Put A Bird On It" is no joke in PDX!

But this post is about something else. A whole lotta hippies goin on here and it totally rubs off on us less hippyish types. So here's proof that I live in Portland and have hippie tendencies...

1. I am reusing my daughter's (who, buy the way is two years old and has not drank formula in over a year) formula holder for my home made trail mix.

2. I reuse pasta jars or any kind of jars for my lunch- yogurt & yummy wheat germ :o)

3. I reuse pasta jars or any kind of jars for my to go beverages.

I'll fill you in if I start reusing bread bags for sandwiches. Don't laugh. There was a guy in one of my classes who was eating his trail mix from a reused Dave's Killer Bread bag. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE Dave's Killer Bread, but not sure about reusing the bag. Just make your own bread dude.

Next assignment...bread making 101.

Peace, Love, & Light from PDX

One Night Stand...

the excitement

the sheer euphoria of gluttony

the sun sets, the moon rises

as the night turns black

the repenting begins

vows to never fall again

disgust

self loathing

the sun rises, the moon sets

there is light

and with the new day comes forgetfulness

of the night before, and we begin again


*what the hell is it about food that makes me feel like I've just had a one night stand*

SHUT YOUR...

PHONE OFF! Yo, seriously what the hell is wrong with people today and their stupid ass phones!? I mean seriously, listening to the latest rap song (while singing the horrendous lyrics!) on your phone WITHOUT headphones (not that that matters, because even when they do use them I CAN STILL HEAR THAT A MILE AWAY!) is not cute. Not to mention the fact that you look stupid sitting there with this tiny little thing up to your ear...it's not like the 80's when the originators lugged around whole boom boxes! It's also HELLA disrespectful to everyone else that is FORCED to listen to it! It just makes me so angry! All it does is show all of us how ignorant you are, and how little social skills you possess!

YOU'RE WACK! GO READ A BOOK IN SILENCE!

Arroz Marrones Con Pollo!?

I can still hear my mother's voice when I told her for the first time that I make arroz con pollo with brown rice...there was silence (all I heard were coqui's)! "You make arroz con pollo with BROWN RICE?!", "Yes Ma." Even when she came to visit she didn't let me use brown rice! She went to the supermarket and bought a huge bag of white rice...just for her cooking.

I hate writing recipes, but I'll get around to this one because it's just too damn good!

Recipe to follow this weekend, so check back!

Baby's 2nd Birthday Cake!

Finally getting around to this post. For baby's 2nd birthday I wanted to make it special. Now that she's older, and has a pretty good idea that birthday's are loads of fun from reading birthday books, it just made sense to make a big deal over it! lol I wanted her cake to be larger than life for her, something she could enjoy taking apart! So I decided to make it myself...a big...fondant covered...monsterpiece! Well, not actually a monster, but a pretty princess looking cake. I've never made homemade cake before, let alone fondant! I found this Wilton recipe for marshmallow fondant and added almond extract. It seemed pretty easy after reading it, but once I was actually doing it, it got sticky (in every sense of the word!). In the end, the fondant worked- or at least did what I wanted it to do. It was a little too stiff and I didn't roll it out thin enough, but what the hell! It tasted great! The cake was this one from Martha (probably should have used this simpler one), and the frosting I chose was this Hershey one (I added almond extract...hands down best frosting ever!). Hershey Especially Dark Chocolate Cocoa is what I used for the cake as well as the frosting. I guess I wasn't thinking, because I didn't make the frosting layer thick enough, so it was mostly cake and fondant! What a debacle! It was tough, but worth every bit! Brianlily loved it, and I felt so accomplished (not to be confused with "I'll do this again next year").

Battlestar Galactica...

I've been going through withdrawls recently. I mean, I was years late in begining to watch, but when I did finally come through (thanks to my apple tv and netflix) I dedicated hours and hours to watching every single epsiode of every single season. So when I began to get the icky feeling inside about a week ago, I realized it was postpartum depression of the worst kind- the BSG kind. I've just been searching the net trying to quench my thirst, really hoping I don't start watching all over again (because that's actually what I really want to do). I came across this blog post and had a warm fuzzy moment. Plus all the obsessing over Starbuck and Katee Sackhoff. I swear I'm Starbuck. Like Katee is actually from my neck of the woods, and after visiting her blog found out that we both wanted to be marine biologists as children! lol Little obsessed. It's all good.



[EDIT] Great Portlandia Depiction Of How It All Began...