food crush

barbecue ground pork sliders with cilantro asian pear slaw💛

  *serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

slaw:

 2 cups thinly sliced cabbage (about a 10 oz. bag)

 1/8 cup mayonnaise

 1/2 tablespoon milk

 3/4 teaspoon white wine vinegar 

 1 & 1/2 teaspoons sugar

 1/2 cup finely shredded carrots

 1/2 cup diced pear

 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

 1 thai chili or jalapeño, minced   (optional for a little heat)

 salt and pepper to taste

     note: If you prefer a creamier slaw, increase mayo to 1/4 cup, milk to 1 tablespoon, and white wine vinegar to 1 & 1/2 teaspoons

barbecue sauce for burgers:

 1 cup tomato-based barbecue sauce 

 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

 1/4 teaspoon cayenne 

 1/2 teaspoon salt

burgers:

 2 pounds ground pork

 4 tablespoons of your  barb-b-q sauce

 2 teaspoons salt

 1 teaspoons pepper

 2 tablespoons cooking oil

 16 mini burger buns

food crush

creamy corn fettuccine with blackened sea scallops and fresh tomatoes-n- basil

INGREDIENTS:

 SCALLOPS AND BLACKENING SPICES

12 sea scallops

 salt to taste

1 tablespoon smoked paprika 

2 teaspoons dry mustard

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon celery seed

1 teaspoon dried thyme 

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

PASTA AND CREAMY CORN SAUCE

8 ounces fettuccine

1 cup fresh corn kernels, cobs reserved (2 ears of corn)

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup onion, diced

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

1/2 cup corn cob/pasta water

1/4 half n half or heavy cream

1 teaspoon sugar 

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 thinly sliced fresh basil

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 

3 teaspoons grated parmesan 

salt and pepper to taste

food crush

       

Pan seared fish with shallot caper beurre blanc sauce & roasted asparagus atop of lemony baby arugula 

INGREDIENTS:

FISH 

4 fillets of fish like sole or branzino

salt and pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons olive oil

SAUCE (MAKES 1 CUP)

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup white-wine vinegar

2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

2 sticks(1 cup) butter, cut into tablespoon size pieces and chilled

2 tablespoons capers

salt to taste

ASPARAGUS 

2 bunches of fresh asparagus, ends chopped off

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

ARUGULA

10-12 ounces arugula tossed with fresh lemon juice & salt to taste

cozy journey

                                       relax and just be you....

                                         

 Early on as a stay at home mom and wifey, I sort of came up with this gold standard of how I thought I should conduct myself and run my household.  I used to think my house, at all times, needed to be spotless, laundry always in check, with dinner promptly on the table by 6, followed by an extensive kitchen clean up by yours truly. Moreover, my body needed to stay in shape, the kids should always be comfortable, and the hubby "taken care of" in and out of the bedroom…you get the idea.

 Im not sure where I came up with that unsustainable ideology, or even what century I thought I was living in. (perhaps it was due to an acute misunderstanding of my religious background coupled with my obsessive compulsive personality) Though it gradually became my norm. Somehow I did everything in my control to keep up with that ideal, and I actually became quite good at it! For many years I felt like I had the perfect and comfortable routine, until I became a slave to it. My self professed “organized” way of living steadily became quite constricting, and the purest form of me had been diluted to nearly none. The girl I once knew as easy going and carefree soon became a real hot, anxious mess.

  I suspect it’s only a matter of time before your mind and body give out and decide that enough is enough. Although it took nearly a year and many tear-filled therapy sessions to recover, I am now very thankful for all of those anxiety ridden days that followed, and while I still try to do my best at my job, I realized that I can't please everyone all of the time and that being myself is key. If I were you, I just might want one of me around too!  💛 -jess xoxo