Spicy fish Taco with cilantro and avocado dressing

Hi Everyone,
Lately I’ve been having an affair with Tacos, specifically fish tacos to be precise. Several eateries have opened up in the Asian section of Orlando Tako Cheena




Spicy Fish Taco
For this dish you can use a variety of
Fish from Tilapia, Basa, Grouper,
Red Snapper, Yellowtail Snapper.
If you are the adventurous type Bacaloa will be perfect.

Ingredients

2 cups water
1 tablespoon butter
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
4 grouper fillets 1 1/2 lb.; thawed
Juice of 2 limes, divided
1/2 teaspoon adobo seasoning (Spanish seasoned salt)
1 cup red and green peppers dice
1 1/3 cups roma tomatoes dice
4 (10-inch) low carb tortillas
1/4 cup Mayonnaise

1/4 cup red onions dice

1/4 cup mild salsa
1/4 cup olives dice

1/4 cup seeded jalapeno

1/2 teaspoon cumin, and pepper

1/4 teaspoon olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Dice avocado

Prep

• Preheat a pan with olive oil, add the butter
• Clean fish, wash with water, sprinkle  1/2 of the lemon juice onto the fish, season with salt and pepper, set aside
• Chop all the vegetables including the cilantro into a bowl add the remaining lemon juice, cumin, pepper, mix well so all the vegetables are coated with the spices
• In a blender, liquefy mayonnaise, 1/2 of the jalapeno, olive oil, cumin, pepper to create the dressing, set aside

Directions

• Sautee the fish in the preheated pan for 2 minutes on each side, remove from heat to a plate to let cool
• Once cool dice the fish set aside
• Clean pan, return to medium heat stack the tortilla to warm
• Remove the tortilla spoon the vegetables onto the tortilla, add fish
• Sprinkle the jalapeno mayonnaise on top, add dice avocado, garnish with cilantro

You can also add dice queso blanco if desired for more textures.

This is a perfect meal for small gathering for games served with a light beer or cider beer.

Have a great,

Maggie

PS don’t forget to follow my pinterest boards

Spicy fish Taco with cilantro and avocado dressing

Pumpkin Cupcake with Mascarpone bourbon frosting!

 

Hi Everyone,

Today is my friend’s Daphne Birthday and my ex-husband. Daphne will be celebrating at Epcot Food and Wine Festival all week long, I made their favorite scrumptious Pumpkin Cupcake for their birthday.

As y’all know I’m not fond of frosting, so I use my favorite cheese (mascarpone) to frost the cupcakes.

 

 

Pumpkin cupcake with Mascarpone bourbon frosting!

Ingredients:

1 box of Pillsbury Sugar free moist yellow cake
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon Splenda
1/2 cup canned pumpkin purée not the pie filling kind (stay away from those)
6 ounces mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon bourbon
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. line  muffin tins with paper liners

2. In a bowl whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Add the cake mixture and stir until combined

3. Add batter to prepared tins bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when tested

4. Let cool for 10 minutes before frosting

 

Mascarpone bourbon frosting

1. In a bowl cream the mascarpone cheese and butter until smooth. Slowly add in the bourbon,vanilla extract, and splenda mix until smooth

2. Spread the frosting on the cupcake using a frosting bag or a Ziploc bag, sprinkle cinnamon over the frosting

 

Happy Birthday my friends :)
Have a great week,
Maggie

Pumpkin Cupcake with Mascarpone bourbon frosting!

Happy Birthday to me with a savory cupcake!

Hi everyone,
I woke up today one year older, and with more grey hair and aches and pains. As you know a year ago I told you about the back pains I was going through. However what you didn’t know was 2 months ago I was diagnose if the medications didn’t work I might become paraplegic.
I’m happy to tell y’all the inflammation is almost gone and the meds work. I’m happy to be able to cook and celebrate with all of you.


Savory eggs bacon cupcake


Ingredients:
Eggs
Smoke bacon dice
Roma tomatoes dice
Red onions dice
Springs of cilantro
Tbsp. jalapeno, seeded and diced
William Sonoma smoke salt
Madagascar pepper
Salsa
Muffin tin
Olive oil

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F

• Coat muffin tin with olive oil,
• Add tomatoes, onions, jalapeno, bacon onto muffin tin
• Crack an egg into each tin.  Season with pepper
• Bake on the middle rack in the oven  for 10 minutes

• Remove from muffin tin
• Plate, add a tsp. salsa and cilantro on top before serving

Savory muffin/cupcake serve with latte.

Enjoy,
Have a great week!
Don’t forget to follow my boards on Pinterest :)

Happy Birthday to me with a savory cupcake!

Spicy shrimp en Papillote

Hi Everyone,
My mother is the most creative woman I know from the kitchen to mix media art. I’ve discovered a lot of her techniques are actually becoming very mainstream. Example I grew up with my mom smoking bone marrows, only to discover a celebrity chef Norman is now serving this dish as a delicacy of 4 small bone marrows for $27.00.
One of the ways my mom love to steam shrimp is by using an aluminum foil as a pocket or en papillote. Hold and be hold this technique is called in French Papillote.
I’m sure you are wondering what is en papillote cooking?
It’s a simple technique meaning to cook in a pocket using parchment paper, tightly for baking. In France the chefs always use parchment paper. However my mom always use aluminum foil, when I asked her why she told me it was what she had in the kitchen, and also she can grill it, as opposed to the parchment paper that can only be baked.
Today I continue the tradition in my own kitchen,of using you guessed it :) ALUMINUM foil!


Spicy Shrimp en Papillote



Ingredients:
Shrimp, deveined, clean
Roma tomatoes dice
Red onions dice
Celery dice
Jalapeno pepper seeded dice
Olives
William Sonoma smoke salt
Madagascar pepper
Ancho Chili powder
Cilantro
Smoke pepper bacon
1/2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
Aluminum foil

Instructions:
Heat oven to 450 degrees F.

• Mix olive oil with salt, pepper, Ancho chili powder in a bowl
• Add shrimp,jalapeno, celery,onion, tomatoes,coat all ingredients well with the spiced oil
• Lay 2 15-inch-square pieces on top of each other, so it will be sturdy on the counter
• Add coated shrimp onto the center of aluminum foil, add cilantro, bacon, olives on top of the shrimp
• Pull the sides of the aluminum foil fold together to create a tent pocket, place in the center of the oven for 10 minutes
• Let cool on a cutting board before opening the pocket

Here’s a video on the techniques of Papillote

Enjoy,
Have a great week,
Maggie

Spicy shrimp en Papillote

Strawberry champagne preserves

 

Hi Everyone,

I made it to the farmers market very late, but it turned out to be my lucky day. There were a few baskets of strawberries left that started to sweat and the vendor marked them down to $1.00 a basket. However being the savvy shopper that I am, I bargained I will take the whole lot for .50 cents a piece.

 

Now the proud owner of 8 baskets of strawberries, It occurred to me they will be best as preserves. 

 

Strawberry Champagne Preserves

Strawberries washed and pitted

2 cups of Champagne

1/3 cup of Splenda baking sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mason Jar

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 300F

• Hull, wash, and slice strawberries, mix in a container with the champagne, let stand at room temperature for 2 hours
• Cook on medium heat, stir continuously until it baubles and then lower the heat and cook for another 10 minutes, until the juice have reduce to half
• Add the cinnamon,mix well let sit for 1 minute

 

 

Clean mason jars, place into the oven for 2 minutes

 

• Remove jars from the oven, pour strawberry champagne onto jar
• Place jars into the oven and turn off the oven, let cool in the oven for 45 minutes

 

 

 

Voila! Preserves that is diabetic friendly

 

A few more ideas: this is perfect on crostini with mascarpone, or better yet spread it on brie and bake for 10 minutes.

Enjoy,

Maggie

Strawberry champagne preserves

Blueberry Banana Cupcake/muffin

 

 

Hi Everyone,

As we say goodbye to Blueberry season, I want to savor these fresh blueberries one last time before moving on to Pears, Plums and Pumpkins.

As you know I’m not a fan of frosting, however you can create a flavorful maple syrup mascarpone frosting to add more flavour and textures.

 

Banana Blueberry cupcake

 

1 box of banana bread

2 eggs

1 pint of Blueberry

1/4 cup extra virgin Olive Oil

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

 

 

Directions

• Separate the eggs and in a clean bowl, beat the eggs, add the oil until well mix
• Add the vanilla and cinnamon
• Pre-heat the oven to 350 F
• Add the banana mix a little at a time to avoid lumps,mix well
• Coat a muffin tin with oil
• Add the batter
• Sprinkle the blueberries evenly over the top of the batter
• Bake at 350F for 25 minutes

 

 

 

Serve with a touch of butter with espresso!

 

 

 

Enjoy,

Have a great week!

Maggie

Blueberry Banana Cupcake/muffin

Fall is here finally!

Hi Everyone,

It’s with a sigh of relief from the scorching 96-98 degrees and 40% humidity we have endured this Summer. I am looking forward to the balmy 75-80 degrees this Fall and enjoy the pool more.

Since my daughter is in college now I no longer have a partner to go to the pumpkin patch with,luckily we have the flea market that carries smaller varieties that I can get and start putting my fall menu together.

Here are a few pics of what I’m going to be basing my menu on.

Have a fabulous week,

Maggie

 

Gorgeous peppers, that are perfect for cream cheese stuffing with shrimp.

 

 

Red delicious perfect for pickling or pies

 

 

 

Peppers perfect for stuffing with dirty rice, or jambalaya

 

 

 

Perfect for bars, or cookies

 

 

 

Pumpkin bars, cakes, cookies, pies and the list goes on and on :)

 

Fall is here finally!

Trendy Fashion clutch for under $5.00

Trendy Fashion clutch for under $5.00

 

I was looking at all the Fall 2012 fashion shows from the trendiest fashion houses, and found a number of the shows features clutches for Fall and Winter. As cute as they are I will never be able to afford not even the simplest clutch at $821.00. What is a girl to do in that situation? I’m glad you asked because as crafters there’s always a way to do something fun, creative by using what we have.
Today I’m going to show you how you can create one not even for $15.00 or 10.00 dollars, are you ready for this? $5.00. yep you read it right just $5.00.

This will make an awesome Christmas gift as well.

This was my inspiration @$821.00.

My version for just under $5.00




Supplies needed

• lined napkin
• Button
• Pins, Velcro
• Sewing machine
• Thread, needle
• Scotch fabric seal

Instructions:

• Remove any sticker from the napkin, spray with the Scotch sealant let dry for 30 minutes. It will keep the clutch from getting dirty too fast.
• Fold the napkin in 1/3 like below on the wrong side.

• Stitch each side, then turn inside out.
• Sew button by hand to the top flap, attached Velcro under the flap to top of flap and bottom to keep the clutch close.

 

Voila done, a trendy clutch for under $5.00.

Here it is again.






Have a great week everyone,
Maggie

PS don’t forget to add your projects to the linking party  here

http://www.passionatelyartistic.com/2012/07/fashion-trend-for-under-500-with.html

Blogger Labels: Trendy,Fashion,Fall,clutches,Winter,Christmas,gift,inspiration,napkin,Button,Velcro,fabric

Trendy Fashion clutch for under $5.00

Manicures and Audrey Hepburn!

 

 

hi Everyone,

"I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick." -Audrey Hepburn

To me there’s nothing more luxurious than a beautiful manicure, Aubrey Hepburn said it very well above :)

This is an easy way to have fun with your nails by using crackle. I’m loving the Hunger game line by China Glaze

Supplies:

• China Glaze hunger game line,
• Revlon Crackle duo nail polish,
• Sally Hansen Diamond finish clear coat.

First start by applying the base colour, let dry.

 

Apply the crackle finish, let dry.

 

 

Voila a fun way to apply texture and art to your manicure :)

Which hunger game colour will you be getting?

Have a great day,

Maggie

Manicures and Audrey Hepburn!

Fall, Pumpkins, PanPastels...OH MY

I confess, I am a fall-o-holic! I love any and all things having to do with Autumn. The colors are awesome, the air is getting cooler here in the mid-west and it is time for friends and bonfires!

So I decided to start a scrapbook page for me to fill in later. I used a great stencil from Dreamweaver...and I am enjoying them more today than I did the first time I used them.

Both of these designs were on one stencil. I placed the stencil in the bottom left corner and started layering on the color. I used the PanPastels by Colorfin for the rich deep colors. Rather than using the sponge applicators used in fine art I chose a regular small stencil brush.

These pastels really have rich pigment so a little dab goes a very long way. I just applied one color until it was all absorbed into the paper and then went back for a color to shade with or to change color. I then blended and went back over the image until I got the desired affect. I love starting with a softer color and building on top. These pastels are so smooth, that when you are done it almost looks like a painted image.

Next, I shifted the stencil to the top corner and started the process again. The result was this stunning leaf/acorn pattern in the corner. I could have done more, and I may go back in ad stencil some more once I get the photos added. But for now, I am very pleased with the look.

I did use a spray workable fixative to set the pastels. If you happen to have some stray dust...just erase it away!

Every time I use these products I am just happy! Jump on over to my blog where you can add a comment and become a follower for a chance to win a stencil.

If you liked my necklaces...when I reach 50 followers, I will do a drawing with random.org to give away one of my original wire wrapped creations. Check it all out http://www.kristiscreativecafe.blogspot.com/! Only about 3 more people to go to award the prize! Happy Creating!

Kristi

Fall, Pumpkins, PanPastels...OH MY

Create your own style with accessories! Fall into Autumn now!

Hi Everyone,
The temperature is finally going down, it was 93 today instead of 98 degrees, yet I'm feeling fall already...
Many of you mentioned you are just a tshirt and jean gal..not sure how to add to your wardrobe.

I'm not a stylist, but you can add some fun to your wardrobe by adding fun accessories, such as a fun funky purse, necklaces, rings those are accessories that are easy to add, and doesn't require quite a huge change..

Forever 21 makes accessorizing your wardrobe  easy, H&M have a great selection under $10.00, even if you just wear Jeans, you can update your style easily..

Revlon and OPI Nail color  has come out with fun sequin nail polish, another quick update..

 

Flower headband, you can create them following the directions in this post

This season is all about accessories, purses, scarves, chunky bracelet, fun whimsical rings..
See below:

Here are my accessories for today...

Sequin are all the rage for Fall, but when you have curves, it will accentuate curves you don't want to accentuate, it's best to go into moderation, such as this sequin shirt I am wearing today, with the shrug I showed you on this post..

My accessories are simple and fun.. chunky bracelet, Alligator ring, Smokey eye shadow, I'm set to go paint the town :)

Have fun, don't forget to let me know how you are updating your style?

Don't forget the giveaways for the Cricut Cartridges and the Gift Certificate to William Sonoma..
here

$10.00 Gift Certificate to William Sonoma  HERE

Sign up to be a follower :)

Have a great day,

Maggie

Let me know what questions you have? stay tune for tomorrow's menu.

Create your own style with accessories! Fall into Autumn now!

What is in your Closet? Styling with the 3 C's

Hi Everyone,
Happy Friday!
I picked up Vogue Magazine, Instyle Magazine, Claire Magazine, and was on inspiration overload. One of the quizz was about what is your style? Mine has always been minimalist, using Earth tone colours.
This fall the colour trend is Orange and vibrant hues according to all three I've read. I don't have any orange in my closet, however I will  venture to wear orange nail colour.
Yves St Laurent has comes out with some very very vibrant hues.

I've decided this week,  my mission to revamp my style, and my closet with the 3 C's where I feel confident, cute, and classy.
With that in mind I read from Kathryn at budget fashionista this concept of price versus how many times you will wear an item, to determine if the price of the item was worth the purchased? Which is a great concept, unfortunately I tend to be an impulse buyer..
I wish I could follow this concept for my crafting..

It helped me determine my purchased based solely on what I would wear over and over again.

Here is what I've added to my closet and will be wearing at least 10 times before December..

Did you know that Animal print is the hottest for Fall?
If you are curvy woman the style below will be very flattering on..

I also purchased in the brown..

I added a couple of shroud as well. not the dress..

This soft lacy shirt for a night out with DH, not the shroud..

I fell in love with this dress, it accentuate my curves ...

For accessories, I added this fun clutch in Fuschia...Guess what? It was only $5.00 now that scream bargain eh?

I luv long necklaces.. I had purchase a few items from Michael's to create jewelry, I will show you how I made those necklaces my own style..

What do you think? do you like any of my purchases?

How do you define your style? Do you devour the mags, do you mix and match what you already have in your closet with new items?

I made more flowers and I use Glimmer mist and a brad this time..I also sealed it with  triple thicke spray so it will not ruin my clothes.

Here's another view..

the tutorial is here

don't forget the 3 cartridges giveaway don't forget to leave comments and tell your friends... here 

Have a great day,
Maggie

PS. Here's today's new shirt and makeup :)

What is in your Closet? Styling with the 3 C's