Ginger Glazed Chicken

I found a recipe  online on how to  make a Ginger Glazed Chicken and  I am glad that I did because the kids and hubs loved it.


Doesn't it look yummy?  Here's how (recipe not mine).  I put some  spin of my own to it but won't tell you lol.

Ingredients
3/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup thawed orange juice concentrate
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 broiler/fryer chicken (3 to 3-1/2 pounds), cut up
1/3 cup butter, melted

Directions
In a small bowl, combine the first four ingredients; set aside. Grill chicken, covered, over medium-low heat, turning and basting with butter several times, for 30 minutes. Then grill, uncovered, turning and basting with orange juice mixture several times, for 20-30 minutes or until juices run clear. 

Homemade Tomato Sauce

I got  enough amount of  ripe tomatoes to can so I decided to  make tomato sauce   last week with the help of my kids.

Procedure:

• Gather the tomatoes you want to can.
• Boil a big pot of water.
• Drop the tomatoes  in  the super hot water.
• The skin will crack after few minutes.
• You can start  peeling them off.  Just be careful as the meat  would be hot.  

My kids love peeling off the skin.

1. When the skin has been removed, remove the core as you don't want it in your sauce.  
2. After that,   slice them up according to your desired size.  I like chunks of tomatoes in a sauce so I slice them a little bigger.

See the pile of the skin?  That's how easy it comes off when the water is boiling hot.

• When you are ready to cook the sauce, put them in a big  pot, add water and  the spices that you desired.  I add, onions, sugar, salt, black pepper, oregano, olive oil, and sometimes  I also add  bell peppers but this time, I did not add bell pepper.  

I put Newman's Own Organic Olive Oil to use.  We made six and one half quarts that day.  I usually  use  the half bottle  in spaghetti right away.  Make sure to sterilize your bottles before  storing your sauce.

Another  exciting part that the kinds look into the process is hearing the  lids popped, which means that it is sealed already.

I have  a basket full of ripe tomatoes again ready to be canned, I might do it in a couple of days.  So there you go Chefs,  my homemade tomato sauce from my homegrown tomatoes. Nothing can bet  that!

Grill & Chill @ DQ Maryland

When we had our  second road trip, we stopped by at  Dairy Queen somewhere in Maryland  because  Mr. Burrito  had to use the restroom.  We ended up  ordering something because the smell of the food and the ambiance inside Dairy Queen is  so inviting.  Just by looking at the  setting, the DQ is very new.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take photos inside because I left my camera inside the  van, sigh.  When we got out, I took a snap of their sign.

Old Photos and Sauteed Mung Beans

Whenever  I am watching a band play, I am always drawn to the drummer.  For me it's the most dynamic part  among the band because he plays  so many things.   I always admire their talent and skills in  beating  those drums beautifully.  Hubby used to play bass when he was younger.  I always giggle whenever I see  their old photos.

Anyhow, I have to go to bed now as I have to wake up early again tomorrow.  I am leaving you with this sauteed mung beans that I  made for dinner.  We ate it with rice.

Playing Guitar and Fresh Snacks

My husband used to play bass guitar in  a band during his teen years  I am encouraging him to  play once again.    I think that if he decided to play again, it would encourage   our son to play it too.  It would be nice if both of them can play a guitar.  I can imagine  my husband teaching  our son how to  change or replace guitar strings  or  that kind of stuff.  Boys  stuff is  very different than girl stuff and I can't wait to see the boys do their own kind of things.

On the other note, sharing here are the fruits and veggies that I cut up when we went to  the Headland beach in Ohio during my daughter's birthday this year.



Ain't those appetizing?

Fur Elise

I asked my daughter's piano teacher if she has a music  sheet for Fur Elise because my daughter really  love that one.  She has been learning  some parts of it through watching the videos online but it's hard for her to really play it without the music sheet.  The teacher told me that it would be  in the next books that she will be purchasing for Ms. Burrito.  Below are the  books that she  got for this month and  the little Miss was  disappointed that Fur Elise is not there yet.  Meanwhile, I ran across the  Guitar Amplifiers at musician's friend and though of my son who really love to learn how to strum a guitar.  Unfortunately, the instructor said that my kids are still too little to  learn it.

Pizza Hut for Dinner

My Burritos had a fun night camping in the backyard with their friend Izzy on the 9th of August.  We bought the $10 box pizza deal at Pizza Hut for  dinner.

Inside the box are slices of pizza, gralic bread sticks, and cinna sticks

Cinnamon Sticks or CinnaSticks as my kids call it

Garlic Bread Sticks

The happy diners.  They filled up before they went to their  tent.

I will post a separate one for their  camping experience.

DeeJay's BBQ Ribs and Grille

Instead of cooking at home, we decided to have dinner at DeeJay's BBQ Ribs and Grille here in our area.  We never  eat there before so we figured to try them out on our special occasion.  DeeJay's is very famous for its BBQed  ribs but we never tried it because it's a bit expensive for our budget.

My first impression when we went inside is "Wow!"  I like their  setting, the ambiance is very relaxing with its tropical theme.  I was however disappointed that  the two receptionist they have in the front desk were not friendly at all.   They never said hi or welcome to us which  I think is not a good thing for a restaurant like this.  They should hire someone that would make their client  feel welcome.

Anyway, despite the  negative vibe that we  received from the  receptionist, we went ahead and ordered our food.  Our server was very friendly so that offset  what we had at the reception area.  I  had their Tiki Tilapia, it was good but I wish that they serve rice for  a side dish.  My husband had  a greek menu (Jyru).  Their steamed veggies  is a bit rubbery but the coleslaw is good.

If I have to rate them in scale of 5, it would be:
Price :  2, very pricey
Food: 3, taste is good but the selection of side dishes are limited.
Ambiance: 4
Customer Service: 3 overall (receptionist is 1 and  server is 4)

I  would take Eat n' Park in a minute over DeeJay's because the former's  price is very  reasonable, customer service is great, and the selection of fresh food is not limited, plus you get a great ambiance  as well.

Why Choose Pasta Salads?

Pasta salads can be prepared easily and quickly. It is not as difficult to prepare like other tasty recipes with meats, spices and special sauces. Pasta salads can be either healthy or unhealthy. It depends on the ingredients and how you prepare the pasta salad. The best healthy pasta salad recipe should compose of whole grain pasta, lean white meat, fruits, vegetables and your favorite sauces to make it tasty and delicious. 

There are many nice pasta salad ideas and one simple recipe can include a mixture of cooked twist macaroni pasta, some vegetables like coleslaw, sliced cucumber, sliced apples, sliced carrots and thousand island dressing sauce or honey mustard sauce. This simple recipe when mixed properly gives you an energy-packed and healthy meal or snack. 

You can create your own nice pasta salad ideas by just using your imagination and your creativity. The final result will still be a healthy pasta salad meal for you and your family to enjoy.

These are some of the health benefits of eating pasta salads:

1.      Pasta salads boost your energy. Since pasta is a carbohydrate-filled food with fiber content, it can give you more energy for your daily routine. It will also improve your bowel movement especially if you use whole-grain pasta. Most runners do carbo-loading before their exercise routine or before the race and most of the suggestions to eat for carbo-loading is to eat healthy pasta meal the night before the race day and 4 hours before the race.

2.    Pasta salads are also filled with vitamins and the necessary minerals especially if you mix vegetables and fruits in your recipe. Pasta salad can become a full healthy meal because you can get the necessary nutrients in every pasta salad meal.

3.      Eating pasta salads with tuna or lean white meat will give you the daily protein that your body needs for the repair of your stressed muscles after a day of work. But it keeps you away from eating too much fat because pasta salad is not fried on oil and you use lean white meat instead of fatty red meat.

So, enjoy life! Eat healthy; live healthy with your pasta salad meal. 

Zone Perfect

I was very surprised when I saw four boxes full of goodies was in our doorway the other day. ZonePerfect sent me  four varieties of of flavors of their energy bars.  I received:

• 4 boxes of Fudge Grahams with 5 individual  packs  each box
• 4 boxes of Kidz Zone Perfect  cupcakes (5 bars each box)
• 3 boxes of Perfectly Simple Toasted Coconut energy bars (each has 12 bars)
• 3 boxes of  Greek  yogurt vanilla berry (each has 12 bars) 

My husband  like this fudge graham.  He said that it fills him up when he  is at work.  He munch on him during break time.

My sweet tooth son love this  "bar cakes" as he calls  it.  I also gave our neighbor's granddaughter a box and  her Mom told me that they looked for it in the store as her daughter loved it but they couldn't find it.

My daughter and I love these  toasted coconut bars!  They are nutty and delicious.  It has roasted  almonds in it.  Each bar  contains 10g of protein and  it is gluten free.

My husband also loved these Greek Yogurt Vanilla Berry.  I tried it and I agree with  him, it's so good!

So are you ready to  fill your  zone with wellness and happiness in one?  Why not try these nutrition bars from Zone Perfect.   It has the protein that your body needs and the  flavor that you would surely love!  ZonePerfect  definitely has the nutrition to help you stay in your zone.  Thank you, Zone Perfect!

Disclaimer:  The author of this blog was NOT financially compensated in writing this review.  The products mentioned above  was provided for FREE for evaluation purposes.

My Friend's Place

Yesterday was our wedding anniversary.   Few days  before that, I was  browsing around to see which  god  dining place  could we go to  so I don't have to cook during our special day.  As much as I would like to cook and celebrate it at home, hubby suggested that we should enjoy it  without having to worry of cooking at home so we  did went out and dine at a local restaurant here in the area.  Anyway, one of the  food places that popped up in my search is the "My Friend's Place" which website can be found at myfriendsplacedeli.com.  They  have  different variety of  fresh-looking foods!

I like places like them who   aims to serve fresh foods  as part of their goal of contributing a healthy lifestyle to their diners.  We have one like that here  that's why we love going there and eat because all their veggies and fruits are grown by their own company.  You can tell just by looking at the photos that their foods  are fresh and  looks very  delicious. 

 I will be  posting our  first time experience at the BBQ house where we went to  last night for our anniversary  dinner.

This post is  brought to you by our friends  over at "My Friend's Place".