Authentic Mexican Rice

I LOVE this recipe! It is super simple (especially if you minute rice) and it tastes really yummy. Some of my favorite food is Mexican, and you just can't have a Mexican recipe without rice and beans. Here is half of that combination.

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked minute rice
1 cup warm water
1 tsp Caldo de Tomate or Caldo de Pollo
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp chili powder

Directions:
In a small sauce pan whisk together water, Caldo de Tomate, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and chili powder. Bring to a boil. Add in the minute rice, cover, and take off the heat. Let sit for five minutes until cooked, and fluff with a fork when done. Serve with your favorite mexican dish and Enjoy!

Caldo de Tomate gives you the authentic red color of Mexican Rice as well as a tomato flavor. Caldo de Pollo gives it s chicken taste that is also really good!

Recipe Source:
cookingclassy.com

Blackened Fish Tacos with Avocado-Cilantro Sauce

This recipe has been a go-to for fish recipes. If you don't like fish very much, this recipe is for you. When cooked with all the blackening spices, the fish no longer tastes like fish and has a great crunch on the outside. I have never made the slaw with this--I usually just put lettuce on the top. The avocado-cilantro sauce makes a lot so you may need to adjust or just not make it. I have even made my own container of the spices already mixed together that way when we get a hankering for fish, I just have to thaw the fish out in the fridge overnight and the next day prep is a breeze. I usually make this with the Mexican Rice recipe. Also a breeze. Enjoy!

For the Blackened Fish:

• 1.5 lbs tilapia fillets
• 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 12 corn tortillas

For the Slaw:

• ½ red cabbage, sliced thin
• ¼ green cabbage, sliced thin
• ½ medium-sized onion, diced
• ½ cup cilantro
• Juice of 1 lime

For the Avocado-Cilantro Sauce:

• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 ripe avocado, pitted and skinned
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 jalapeno, chopped and seeded
• Salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, combine the smoked paprika, garlic powder, dried oregano, onion powder, cumin, salt, brown sugar, and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle the mixture over both sides of your tilapia fillets, and then rub the seasonings in.
2. Combine all of the Avocado-Cilantro Sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender. Pulse until well-combined.
3. Combine all of the Slaw ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
4. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Once heated, add in the tilapia (a few at a time if you can't fit them all at once). Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until the outside is blackened and the fish flakes apart easily.
5. Remove the fish from the heat, and if desired, warm the corn tortillas in the same skillet over medium heat, cooking for about 30 seconds on each side.
6. Break up the tilapia into 2-3" pieces. Stack the tortillas in twos. Distribute the fish evenly between the 6 sets of tortillas, and top with Slaw and Avocado-Cilantro Sauce. Serve.

NOTES

Blackening spices are very fragrant, so turn on your overhead fan while you cook the fish. 

Recipe Source:

hostthetoast.com

Beef and Broccoli

I have always loved Asian food although it is not Stephen's favorite. This recipe is one that we both enjoy and is quite easy to prepare. Serve with rice or make your own favorite side dish to compliment.

Prep Time: 10 minutes + 1 hour marinade
Cook Time: 8 minutes

First marinate the meat (I like to use stir fry beef or flank steak)

• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 lbs flank steak into thin strips

Whisk together the baking soda, sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce, water and vegetable oil in a large bowl. Toss the steak with the marinade to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour, then continue.

• 1/2 c low sodium soy salt (DO NOT use regular)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 heads of broccoli, crowns only

1. In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and flour until smooth. Set aside.
2. In a large wok or sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil over high heat until shimmering. Add broccoli and sauce 3 minutes, stirring often. Transfer broccoli to a plate.
3. Reduce heat to medium-high. Carefully add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the hot pan. Add the marinated meat and half of the sauce mixture and sauce for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until meat is cooked trough and no longer pink. Stir in the broccoli and remaining sauce. Sauté 1 minute more. Serve and Enjoy!

Recipe Source:

rainydaygal.com

Camilla Baby!!!

It's a girl!!!! Oh how surprised we were! Stephen and I both just wanted a happy baby but both thought we would be having a baby boy. When the ultrasound tech told and showed us that we were having a girl, we were pleasantly surprised. A baby girl! Ah!

We have decided to name her Camilla. It is a name Stephen and I both like. No family connection, although I had a really good friend from my singles ward relief society presidency days whose name is Camilla. If my baby turns out anything like her, she will have a wild and carefree spirit and I will be one lucky momma! 

It has been fun for everyone to know she is a she and that we are going to name her Camilla. Co-workers and family alike are already referring to her by her name and it just makes her seem so real now (beyond the fact that I can feel her every time she moves and wiggles around.)

Stephen has been so cute about it 😄 He has only recently been able to feel her move--and that was a fun experience. I think he puts her to sleep, or else she is shy of her daddy because it seems like she does complex gymnast routines until he's paying attention and then she stops. I also love how cute he is with her already--saying I love you and rubbing my tummy. It has been the best and is only getting better-- and bigger!

It's a . . . . BABY!!!

Yesterday, Stephen and I had the amazing opportunity to have our very first ultrasound of Baby. A week ago, when I had one of my many prenatal appointments, I told my doctor that the date they had in the system for my last period was wrong. It was ten days later than my actual period. The doctor told us we needed to see if we could reschedule our ultrasound to an early date--as early as we could. So we did--it moved up a whole week and two days!!! We were worried about traffic getting up to the University Hospital because it is always crazy when we are going to my appointments. The appointment was scheduled for 10:30am and we decided to leave by 9:30am to give ourselves plenty of time. And plenty of time we had. By the time we were done checking in, it was 10:15. So we waited for fifteen minutes before we were even scheduled to be there. The technician didn't come and get us until 10:45-50. She took us back in to a darkened room with an examination table, and a couple of monitors--one connected to all the equipment and one on the wall that we could look at. She had me lay down, expose my tummy, and we got to work!

She took pictures of everything! Feet, femurs, lower extremities, gender parts, spine, head, heart, arms, hands, lips. etc and then each of those from various views. She also looked at my health--how the cervix was, the placement of the placenta, etc. It was so exciting to see the little human I was growing inside come to life even more that it already had. It now had a form, a little body with arms and legs, and a heart that works! We were also able to see what we were having--a little. . . .baby! We aren't going to tell anyone until our family gender reveal party tomorrow night. It would have been sooner, but Stephen had night classes last night and tonight, and I close at work tonight as well. So Thursday is the first day the both of us are available to reveal together to everyone. That post yet to come!

I am so excited to be a mommy! It has become more and more real. I can start to picture myself with this loving little baby going on walks, playing in the living room, cuddling and rocking to sleep. I see myself with a cute toddler learning to walk, saying it's first words, and playing catch. I see a young child going to school for the first time and learning to read. I see a strong teenager learning to navigate the crazy world we live in. And on and on. Kinda crazy as this is only my first, but I can see a whole future a head of us--and what a marvelous future it is.