Recipes: Guatemalan Chilaquilas

One of the hubby's favorite foods are Guatemalan Chilaquilas not to be confused with Mexican Chilaquiles.  The only problem was that my mother-in-law did not want to give me the recipe so I Googled it and found it.  This recipe is really good and very easy to make.

Recipes: Carne Molida con Papas (Ground Beef & Potatoes)

One of my favorite meals my mom used to make for me when I was little was Carne Molida con Papas (Ground Beef and Potatoes).  Now that I'm older and I have learned how to make it I've added my own twist to it.

Recipes: Calabacitas con Queso (Zucchini with Cheese)

In my last post I mentioned that I was going to start a new series called Mexican Mondays.  If you've been following my blog then you should know that I'm Mexican American and I've realized that it would be fun to feature some recipes that I grew up with.  For my first post I'm featuring one of my favorite recipes and one of the easiest one to make, calabacitas con queso (zucchini with cheese).  My mom used to make this recipe for me when I was little and my grandma used to make it for me when I would go visit in Mexico.  When I had this dish at my grandmother's house she would make it with vegetables that were grown in their farm and with homemade cheese. 

Sweets: The Best Pancakes...

...well at least thus far.  Growing up as a child my mom used to make us pancakes on the weekends, the box kind.  When I worked at the "Happiest Place on Earth" everyone used to eat pancakes at the restaurant where I worked but I used to get them from the employee diner, the pre-made stuff. Now as an adult I decided that it was time to kick the box and pre-made habit and make them from scratch.


I searched all around the web until I found a recipe that I believed deserved some attention and where I can use up some buttermilk I had.

Recipes: Glazed Brussels Sprouts

I went to do my monthly grocery shopping the other day and I found myself standing in the produce section looking at recipe cards the grocers have for customers to take.  I grabbed one that said Glazed Brussels Sprouts  and I headed on my way.  Please keep in mind that I had never purchased this vegetable or even tasted it.

Today I prepared them and to my surprise they were pretty tasty. My hubby liked them but didn't love them.  I'm trying to expand our palate and as I do that I will share with you my experiences.

Food: Why microwave at all?

When we were registering for wedding gifts everyone assumed that one of the first things we were going to register for was a microwave oven but to there surprise that wasn't the case.  According to this 75% of people with lower income to 93% of people with higher income have microwaves in their households.  Wow! Those numbers are high.  So, why don't we own one? Is it the cost? Our health? Environmental reasons? No not really its simply because we don't need one.  There has been a couple of times that it seems that it would come in handy but for the most part its not a necessity for us.  When we have friends or family members come over for the first time they are usually shocked not to find one in our kitchen and are surprised when we tell them we don't plan on buying one. My mother-in-law has even offered to buy us one and we turned it down.

The reason we don't need one is because I usually do all the cooking at home so why would we need to reheat something in a microwave oven when we could use the pot/pan I cooked it in.  For leftovers we bring from restaurants it might come in handy but since I like to jazz things up a bit the food ends up tasting better being reheated on the stove.

The reason I bring this up today is because earlier tonight my hubby was looking for a snack in the pantry but since we don't really have "snack" like food in there (no chips, no cookies, pretzels, etc...) he asked me if I could make some popcorn.  The normal American would simply throw a bag of popcorn into a microwave oven, set it, and take it out when the house begins to smell like butter and the kernels stop popping.  Since I just mentioned we don't have a microwave I do it the old fashioned way my mom used to make it.  We had a microwave in my parents house when I was growing up but my mom always made it the same way.

Popcorn Recipe

• 3 tablespoons of cooking oil
• 1/3 cup of popcorn 
• Salt to taste

• Put the oil in a 3 quart or larger pan with a lid (make sure it has a lid that fits)
• Pour in the popcorn making sure its only one layer in the bottom of pan
• Cover pan and place it over medium high heat
• Gently shake the pan allowing all kernels to get coated with oil
• Keep shaking pan and slightly let some of the air get released from pan so that the kernels don't get soggy
• Once the oil gets hot enough you'll begin to hear a symphony of popping coming from the pan 
• Keep over heat and gently shaking (With all the shaking I'm sure your arm is tired)
• Once the popping begins to slow down remove from heat
• Don't open the lid until it sounds safe
• Once you're sure they stopped popping place in bowl and add salt to taste and enjoy

If you want a similar recipe but a different technique please go check out this recipe.  I haven't tried it for myself yet but next time I definitely will.  Her followers have also made suggestions on toppings that are worth a try.

Here is another site dedicated to popcorn or just google it.

The best part about homemade popcorn is not only the cost but that you can control how many calories it has depending on the toppings you add.  

Everyone tells me that once I have a child I will definitely get one but until now we haven't had a need for it so I doubt we will ever have one.  I'll keep you guys posted if we ever do.

      
My question for you today is do you have a microwave and if you do how often do you use it?  If you don't why not?  How do you make your popcorn?