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The yummiest pasta a la norcina recipe ever!

by with No Comment DIYfoodlifestyle
Yes, I dare say yummiest! This dish is a creamy Italian sweet sausage pasta sauce over al dente rigatoni, and it’s the comfort food to end all comfort foods. Deeeliishhh! It’s day 3 of our 6 courses in 6 days and this won’t fail to impress! So grab your vino and meet me in the kitchen! 

This dish takes you all the way to Italy and back again! Thanks to Fr. Leo for creating this 6 course meal in 1 day! So today is day 3 and you’ll find that the creaminess of this sauce meets the savory notes of the Italian sausage, and your taste buds and house guests won’t believe it’s real! It seems too good to be true, but it is… mind blown, I know.

So for the sweet sausage pasta sauce you’ll need: 

– sweet Italian sausage– 1/2 cup of finely chopped white onion
– one clove crushed fresh garlic
– white wine (compliments the sweetness of the sausage)
– pinch or two of crushed red pepper
– 2 tablespoons of salted butter
– 2 tablespoons of flour
– 1/2 cup finely cut fresh parsley 
– 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
– sea salt
– fresh cracked black pepper
– rigatoni pasta (cooked al dente)

Cut each Italian sausage length wise just deep enough so that you’re able to remove the outer casing. Drop the sausage into a sauce pan and cook on medium heat. As it cooks it will crumble a part, when you see the sausage is just about done, add in the onion and garlic. 

Stir. Then add in JUST enough white wine into the pot to cover the sausage and let the wine cook out over HIGH heat. It will boil, let it cook for about 7 minutes and then lower the heat. Slowly add in the flour (dusting it in) and stir, this will thicken the mixture. Add in your butter and fresh parsley, and then add in the heavy whipping cream and turn the heat to LOW so that you don’t cook the cream out.

Sprinkle in the salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and allow the mixture to come to a soft boil over LOW heat. 

Remove from heat after a few minutes of boiling, and then pour on top of a bed of al dente rigatoni pasta! Try not to get too addicted to this sauce and want to put it over everything! I know I did!

Sending out a big ol’ hug to Fr. Leo for making my bday night so incredible with all this food! 3 more days of this! Be sure to check out Grace Before Meals for more recipes and I’ll see you right back here tomorrow for another mouth watering recipe! 


Have a delicious kind of day yo!

xoxo

porkblogpic2

Bacon wrapped pork tenderloin with mango chutney recipe!

by with No Comment DIYfoodlifestyle

Oh it tastes even better than it sounds! Welcome to day 2 of our, 6 courses in 6 days, menu extravaganza! Today we’re making a bacon wrapped pork tenderloin with rosemary and cumin, a top a bed of creamy coconut rice, and then topped with mango chutney! Mango chutney! I mean, I can’t even describe how delicious this dish is! When people came over I kept blurting out what it was before Fr. Leo even got a chance to plate it! So wipe the drool and grab a fork, here we go! 

So start the rice first so that by the time everything is prepared, you can just let it sit in the pot or in the rice cooker until you’re ready to plate this amazingness! The coconut rice is so complimentary to the savory bacon wrapped pork tenderloin, and the sweetness of the mango chutney just puts it right over the edge. This is great for a dinner get together, or in my case, a birthday dinner!

So for the coconut rice:
-2 1/2 cups cooked basmati brown rice (you can use whichever rice you prefer)
-1/2 can full fat coconut milk
-1 teaspoon sea salt
-1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
-1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Cook the rice how you normally choose to do and then when it is done, add in all of the spices and coconut milk and stir. Set this aside until everything is ready. 

For the bacon wrapped pork tenderloin: 
-Pork tenderloin
-4-5 slices bacon
-1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
-2 teaspoons rosemary (adds the woodsy- piney flavor)
-salt
-fresh cracked black pepper

Crack the pepper over the pork tenderloin, sprinkle on the cumin, rosemary, and sea salt, and rub it all into the tenderloin. 

Wrap the tenderloin in the bacon by laying out the bacon horizontally next to one another and then placing the rubbed tenderloin at one end of the bacon, and wrapping it to the other end until the tenderloin is fully wrapped in bacon. 

Pre heat your oven to 500 degrees and allow the tenderloin to cook for about 10 minutes and then drop the temperature to 350 degrees and cook for an additional 20-25 minutes until the bacon is nice and crisp. Set aside. 

Now it’s time for the topping, the mango chutney! You’ll need: 

-2 mangoes
-2 oranges
-red wine vinegar
-1/4 cup of VERY finely chopped red onion
-freshly chopped cilantro 
-freshly chopped parsley (this combined with the cilantro will be about 1/4 cup)
– 2 teaspoons sea salt
-cracked fresh black pepper
– 1 tablespoon olive oil
– 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar (this cooks the onion down)

Cube the mango and scoop out the squares into a bowl. Add in the finely chopped onion, and the rest of the spices and herbs. Almost done! 

Now for the plating of it! Slice your tenderloin and place a few slices on top of a mound of coconut rice, and then top it with a generous scoop of the mango chutney and enjoy devour! This is what it will look like! Mmmmm mmm mmmmmm!!!

This dish was sweet and savory, had a tropical twist with the coconut notes in the rice, and filling but not enough to where you’re gonna want to un button that top fly button! Give this a try and when you do tag me on Instagram and Twitter so I can drool over this food porn photo! I mean, I think this is by far one of my most favorite dishes ever. So tropical, so yummy, so enjoy!!!

Big huuuge thank you to Fr. Leo for coming out and cooking for us all, check out his site, he’s the best cook! I mean he beat Bobby Flay!!!!! haha 😉 http://gracebeforemeals.com/


Love to you, 

Jess


asiansliders1

Asian Sliders With Homemade Cilantro Aioli Recipe!

by with No Comment DIYfoodlifestyle
It’s cook out season! The air is cooler and fresher, and it stays warmer out longer, thanks to Mr. Sun not going away too quickly these days. So what better way to kick off the weekend than with an Asian slider recipe on toasted buns, and home made cilantro aioli! So it was my birthday last week and our dear friend Fr. Leo came by to treat some friends and I to this incredible 6 course meal! So grab your appetite and lets start cookin because today is day one of six!

I’ll be giving you one recipe daily so that each night you’ll have a treat to cook! These were incredible! I mean Fr. Leo did beat Bobby Flay!!! Haha, can’t wait for you all to make these! 6 courses in 6 days! So hold on to something because these are amazing! They were crunchy yet moist, salty yet sweet, refreshing AND satiating!

So what’ll you’ll need for the Sliders: 

1 TBLspoon Olive Oil
1/2 White Onion
Sea Salt
Cracked Black Pepper
1 TBLspoon Garlic Powder
1 tspspoon Ground ginger
2 TBLspoons brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce 
Ground beef (I used 80/20 lean portion)

Saute half of a finely chopped white onion in olive oil, then roll it into the ground beef, add in all the spices, and fry on a pan. You’ll fry them dry since there’s fat in the beef so no oil is necessary.  

For the bun, simply take some hot dog buns and cut them in half, this makes them ‘mini’ buns. Then drizzle the inside halves with olive oil and lightly sprinkle them with sea salt, and bake them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 7-10 minutes. Just until they are crisp (not burnt) and set aside. 

For the aioli: 
2 cups mayo
3 TBLspoons sea salt
Sprinkle of fresh cracked black pepper
1 1/2 TBLspoons old bay seasoning
2 Teaspoons garlic powder
Fresh Cilantro (de-leaf whole, you’ll want the leaves to top off the sliders)

Mix all of the ingredients (except for the cilantro) together in a bowl and whisk well. Put each slider onto a toasted mini bun, swipe on some aioli, sprinkle with the fresh cilantro leaves and ENJOY!!! Badabinggg badaboom!!!

This recipe is so incredibly delicious and if you make it for a dinner party or get together you WILL be the coolest and best cook at the party! So give these a try and let me know what you think! 

Tag me on Instagram and Twitter when you do! Here’s another photo of the yumminess you’ll put in your tummy, and of the night Fr. Leo cooked for myself and 9 of my loves! Check out the site for more recipes including the original one of this one! 



Happy week to you! 

xo

J

smoothieblogpic

The super fruit, super charged, energizing smoothie!

by with No Comment DIYfoodlifestyle
I’ve been on a smoothie kick lately, just throwing everything I have into my blender and enjoying these yummy treats for breakfast or as post workout recovery fuel. Today’s smoothie recipe is my new all time favorite. I used Pitaya which is a super fruit… dragon fruit! We’re getting fancy! This antioxidant rich, vitamin packed, energy boosting recipe will leave you feeling refreshed, refueled, and re-energized! Isn’t the color just so pretty!? Go grab your blender and run to the kitchen!

I had some Pitaya packets in my freezer and decided to make a smoothie with this superfruit. 

The yummies:
– 1 packet of Pitaya (superfruit, purges harmful toxins from your body, high in fiber, low in sugar, jam packed with antixidants, vitamins, and promotes healthy skin)
– half of a banana (potassium, magnesium)
– 1 TBL spoon unsweetened coconut shreds (fiber, vitamins, minerals, calcium)
– 1 cup almond milk (iron & riboflavin which aid in muscle growth and healing)
– 3 to 4 strawberries (antioxidants, vitamin C, heart healthy)
– handful of blackberries (Vitamin K, reduces inflammation)
– few mint leaves (aids in digestion, great source of several essential minerals)
– 1 TBL spoon chia seeds (rich in antioxidants, minerals, fiber)
I put everything into the blender, blended until smooth and then topped it off with some more coconut shreds and mint leaves. No ice was needed since the Pitaya packet came straight from the freezer and I freeze my bananas so they make my smoothies extra creamy! Try that trick out! The smoothie was sweet enough as is, but if you wanted to drizzle in some agave for added sweetness, I think it’d be the bees knees! 

This was really yummy, filling, and the mint made the taste even tastier than I thought. Try it out, let me know your thoughts, and if you make this or make a version of it, tag me on Instagram or Twitter 😀 Jess_Lizama 

A very healthy, happy day to you!

Jess
foodblog3

Making eating healthy easy!

by with One Comment DIYfitnessfoodlifestyle

I don’t know about you, but when people say ‘eating healthy’, I automatically think “oh yum, rabbit food! Salads! No sugar! No carbs! Ummm… no thanks!!!” 


I personally love to cook, even more so I love to bake! I like when food tastes good, and I like food in general, don’t we all? I mean, social events revolve around food and we celebrate all things in life with food – all the foods. So thanks to a few of my friends’ different recipes, today I give you the yummiest dish to make for lunch or dinner, and this super healthy dish makes eating healthy, super easy.


Now I’m not one to eat salads, I don’t love them, I don’t think they’re filling at all, and I don’t particularly think they’re tasty at all. If I eat a salad it’s because it’s healthy for me and I’m perpetually trying to be ‘healthy’. This salad however is so good, since I’ve discovered it, I literally have it now four to five times a week, thank you Miya! It’s a citrus spinach salad with fresh grated parmesan cheese on top and it’s so flavorful and tangy! 

Next to the salad is the salmon I roasted. I probably make salmon or some kind of fish at least three times a week. Not because of the health thing but because of the taste thing, I’m Islander and I love sea food. But the benefits we get from fish is also a plus. This is the best marinade and you can hardly taste the ‘fishy’ taste with it. 

The coconut quinoa with cilantro is everything! Also from Miya, this recipe is beyond yummy and anything with coconut I am alllll about! And the refreshing water tastes like a vacation and is an awesome detox beverage! 

So what you’ll need:

The Citrus Spinach Salad
– spinach (I usually use an entire bag)
– juice of 1 1/2 lemon
– fresh cracked pepper
– a pinch of sea salt
– 1 cup grape tomatoes cut in half
– 1 Persian cucumber sliced 
– red onion (just a few very thinly sliced long pieces)


– 1/4 cup olive oil
– drizzle of vinaigrette 
– fresh grated parmesan cheese

What you’ll do is throw the spinach into a big ol’ bowl, toss in all of the other ingredients and give the salad a good mix and set aside for 15 minutes to allow all of the flavors to infuse the leaves. Then before serving, grate the parmesan over top and enjoy!

Spicy salmon in tomato lemon juice

– 1 to 2 pieces of salmon
– 1 lemon
– fresh ground pepper
– cilantro
– Himalayan sea salt
– paprika
– olive oil
– tomato paste
– 1 medium sized jalepeno 
– 1/4 cup red onion finely chopped

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a baking pan drizzle some olive oil on to the bottom. Rinse off the salmon and place them into the pan. Drizzle the tops of them with olive oil, some ground pepper, a pinch of sea salt, and sprinkle some paprika on top. 

In a small bowl combine some finely chopped cilantro, the juice of one lemon, a bit of olive oil, a squeeze of tomato paste, half of a medium sized jalenpeno finey chopped, and the red onion. 

Pour this mixture on top of the salmon, cover the baking pan with foil, and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until cooked in the center. This is even more yummy if you allow the salmon to marinate in the sauce over night. 

Enjoy!


Coconut Curried Quinoa

– 2 cups quinoa
– 1/2 finely chopped red onion
– sea salt
– freshly ground pepper
– 1 bay leaf
– 2 cloves fresh garlic
– 1/4 cup chopped baby kale
– 21 salute seasoning
– cumin
– tumeric
– 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
– 1 can coconut milk 

In a pot add 4 cups water, one bay leaft, quinoa, salt, pepper, cumin, and let cook. 

In a pan on the stove drizzle some olive oil and add the red onion, garlic, salt, and pepper and let the onion saute. 

When the quinoa is done, add it to the pan, along with the coconut milk, cilantro, tumeric, cumin, 21 salute, kale, and some more pepper. Let this mixture simmer together for about 5-7 minutes and then remove from heat. 

Enjoy! This is the best!!!!!!!!! 😀 



Detox water

– 3-4 strawberries
– half cucumber
– 1 small slice of lemon
– water
– ice cubes

In a jug, combine water, ice, chopped strawberries, cucumber slices, and the slice of lemon. Let this sit for a few hours in the refrigerator and ENJOY! So so so delicious and good for you! I hate plain water, I don’t know why, and this makes drinking a JUG of water super easy!


Hope you enjoy these recipes and your day!!!

hugs,

Jess













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Angeles State Park Adventures!

by with No Comment DIYfitnessfoodlifestyle

I love LA but sometimes you just gotta get away and enjoy some fresh air, and unplug for a while. This weekend we took a trip to Angeles National Park and hiked the most beautiful 6 miles I’ve seen in a long time, picked pine cones bigger than my head, and had a picnic outside with the birds and the bugs. It was awesome!



Angeles National Park is about an hour (with the drive up the windy beautiful mountain) outside of Los Angeles. As you drive up the windy road you realize that you’re breathing clean air, I mean my lungs were in shock haha. You also realize that your phone says ‘no service’ which can give you a slight heart palpitation if your job is to be online at all times. But getting away from the noise and hustle and bustle of it all can be such a good thing for creativity. 


So once we got to the trail head of one of the many trails around the park, this was the view. Trees, sand, bushes, and more trees. The trail is pretty clear though we deviated from it for a bit, I mean you have to be adventurous, people. And it was lovely, lots of open land to see, lots of nature sounds to lull you away from reality for a bit, and lots of pine cones! Ahhh pine cones! The smell of it all reminded me of being back in South Carolina as a child where the smell of pine cones and wood chips filled the air. 

I’m a nature kind of girl – nature in that I love being adventurous and being outdoors, but the sun I can deal without. I’ll be the only girl on the beach with an umbrella, hat, sunnies, and a turtle neck! This kind of nature though, sun and all, is something I have to do every few weeks. The hike round trip was about six miles, which seems like a lot, but the trail is flat. There aren’t any crazy rolling hills, or steep mountains to climb, though there are on other trails if that tickles your fancy. It was just a nice chill, relaxing hike up to the ranger station where there are a bunch of open spaces for picnics and camping. 


I picked some herbs and dried flowers, I don’t know how legal that is, but there was a ton of white sage up there and I just wanted a sprig to remember, and some dried flowers I’d found laying around to keep in my pocket. I am going to make a picture frame collage out of them. I literally want to mod podge these all over my phone case! Hmmm maybe I will! Well they smelled divine, no matter what trouble it gets me into. 

We got a lil wild in the wild, stealing kissy faces next to the squirrels. How romantic to get lost together…..no? That’s just me? Okay, cool. Well we had a picnic outside and it’s the first time in a long time that I’ve heard true silence, where you hear nothing but wind, and birds, and the wrestling of trees and leaves. There were some families camping up there which I think we may do next time since you can get an annual pass at Big 5 Sporting Goods for $30, or opt for the $5 day permit. 



So we got to the park around 12:30 and ended up leaving around 4pm to head to the local pub just down the street from this trail. Some nice humans started a lovely cairn atop one of the tree stumps with two rocks. Our group decided to add to the merriment and leave our mark there also, by adding 4 additional stones. If you’ve ever played Jenga, this is what it feels like to me every time I have to balance my rock last. Do you build cairns when you go hiking or visit a place? Do you see them often because I feel like I do. Well this is what we contributed to the memory, and it only took me about 8 pictures to get the right ‘angle’ of this formation, I mean, Instagram is serious business man. 


And this was our group. Small but mighty we trekked through the woods. I love when you can be so comfortable with someone that you don’t feel the need to talk all of the time, just enjoy the silence, be present in the moment, and take in the peacefulness of it all, and that’s how I feel about these people in this photo. Nothing forced, nothing fake, just calm and chill, that’s hiking to me. 

I think we can get so caught up in the hustle of working and staying motivated that we forget to take time out for ourselves to decompress and chill out. I like chilling out, I think I’m going to do that more often. If you find yourself out hiking this weekend and you’re in the LA area, check out Angeles National Forest, there are dozens of trails to explore. 

Get dirty, get lost, have fun, and meet new people! Love that! Hope your day is wonderful, more posts coming soon <3 Go chill out


xoxo- Jess




















shepherdspie

Shepherd’s Pie and Irish Guinness Geniuses!

by with No Comment DIYfitnessfoodlifestyle

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I’m half Irish so this is my day to go around telling people that, whilst wearing green, dawning “Kiss Me I’m Irish” buttons, and consuming all things corned beef and green on this day! Oh and Irish jager bombs, must not forget those! So happy St. Patrick’s Day to you, cheers if you’re Irish, kiss kiss to you all, and today I give you the yummiest Irish Shepherd’s pie recipe. Paired with traditional Irish jagerbomb beverages but of course! I changed the name to Irish Guinness Genius because it has Guinness which is well genius duh.


So for the traditional St. Patrick’s Day festivities we made Shepherd’s Pie and had a few Irish Jagerbombs, but since we knew we’d be hardy-ing the night away, we started the weekend off with friends at Angeles National Forest.After hiking a good 6 miles and working up an appetite, we came home to make this scrumptious meal you see pictured above. 

Angeles National Forest adventure pictures and stories coming tomorrow, but for today, onward with the feast! Thanks to my great friend and fellow Irish girl, Sarah, we whipped up this yummy meal for everyone to dig in to. We made a 13×9 tray full of this goodness, so here’s what you’ll need: 

SHEPHERD’S PIE
– 1 lb ground beef (or ground turkey meat like we used)
– 1 TBL olive oil
– 3-4 medium carrots finely diced (or 2 big ones)
– 1 large yellow onion finely diced
– 1 1/2 cup peas (frozen or canned, but I love peas so I added in that extra 1/2 cup)
– 3 sprigs finely chopped fresh thyme
– 2 sprigs finely chopped rosemary
– sprinkle of kosher salt
– 2 teaspoon basil 
-1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
– 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
– 1 TBL butter
– 1 Guinness beer
– 1 large bowl of mashed potatoes (made to your liking, I used butter, milk, garlic, and sour cream)

  • Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
  • Saute the onion, celery, and carrots in the oil and then add in the ground beef and cook until browned
  • Add in your thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, and basil
  • Then add in the butter and peas
  • Stir in the Guinness beer and let this simmer for 5-7 minutes 
  • Remove from heat and spread the meat portion into a 13×9 pan and top it with the mashed potatoes
  • Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the top is crispy to your liking and serve
*cheese on top is optional and super yummy!*

Irish Jagerbombs which we’ll so aptly refer to as Irish Guinness Genius bombs- super bomb and delicious (I can’t even believe I just said super bomb, but they are so delicious dot com). You cannot go a St. Patrick’s Day without consuming one of these bad boys. But remember you have to drink it up before it starts to curdle.

What you’ll need: 

– 3/4 pint Guinness stout in glass large enough to hold the shot glass also
– 1/2 shot Bailey’s Irish Cream
– 1/2 shot Jameson Irish Whiskey


  • Add  the Jameson and Bailey’s to a shot glass layering the Bailey’s on bottom
  • Pour the Guinness into a pint glass only about 3/4 full and let it settle as you will dropping the shot glass in (very carefully of course)
  • Drop the shot glass into the Guinness and chugarooo! 

Such a yummy traditional Irish meal and beverage! Thank you to my Sarah bear who came over with her hubs and shared the weekend with us, this recipe was so fun and easy and YUMMY to make! 

Hope you enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day, have fun, be safe, and of course drink responsibly 😀

Love, your mom

xoxoxo
frenchtoastpicjess

Recipe to end all other French toast recipes

by with 3 Comments DIYfitnessfoodlifestyle

Ahoy! I have a blog now! Yes I am on Tumblr also, but here will be my words, my rants, my thoughts, my videos my blah blah blah. 

My first blog will be a secret recipe that my mom used to make and this recipe will beat  end all other French toast recipes. I mean it! And if you’re not into the baking of it all, click on the linkies above and it’ll take you to your desired destination. Disclaimer this whole code html updating stuffs is pretty new to me so my apologies if it takes you to a blank page, I’m workin on it 😉

Now please keep all hands and feet within in your box and lets start cooking! ps they may not look like the game changer to all breakfast plates…..but it is. 








What you’ll need: 

1 loaf of a Hawaiian sweet loaf ( I mean, I can’t even )
2 cups milk
4 eggs
juice of 1 orange
2 tsp vanilla
2 TBSP coconut sugar
1 TBSP cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
4 TBSP butter
maple syrup
powdered sugar -optional
unsweetened coconut flakes -optional but highly suggested
chocolate chips – optional but really a must


-Slice your loaf into big ol’ chunky rectangles 
-Place your skillet on medium high heat
-Combine all of your ingredients in a big ol’ bowl
-Dunk your bread into the mixture
-Put a slice of butter onto the skillet and melt
-Place dunked bread into the skillet and brown on both sides (about 2 -2 1/2 minutes or to desired golden-ness)

– Put the French toast onto a plate and sprinkle with coconut flakes and drizzle with maple syrup

ENJOY! 

this is my most favorite breakfast to make and to indulge in <3 My most favorite.