Happy Hump Day! 

I hope you all are doing great.  There is one thing I find myself doing a lot more since being in “quarantine” (and apparently the rest of the world is doing it too) and that is eating. Yes, we have been finding ourselves making extra trips to the kitchen and apparently that is the only thing we talk about. 

What are we having for breakfast?

What’s for lunch?

What’s for dinner? 

Is it snack time? 

What are we making tomorrow? 

And one of the things I have been asked to share more on my channel are recipes so I thought it would be totally appropriate to share something we make almost every.single.week. 

That is Pico de Gallo. 

Now, I am from Puerto Rico and my husband is from El Salvador and honestly, I don’t know if this is the authentic way of making it. However, this recipe holds a dear place in our hearts because 12 years ago went to Mazatlán, Mexico and got engaged. 

A year and a half later we got married in the Riviera Maya in Mexico as well. 

One of the things that we remembered most about our first trip to Mazatlán was the all-you-can-eat Pico de Gallo you were served when ordering a bucket of Corona beer at the poolside (yes, the irony).

It was the best ever! 

And we left wondering what it was that made it so special. We spent the next months trying to replicate that amazing taste in a Pico de Gallo so we could enjoy it time and time again. 

Well, we finally figured it out and it was so simple it will make your head spin. So I thought I would share it with you in case you too are wondering what to make for dinner tonight, or tomorrow, or Friday. 

So this is how we do it (and remember you can always add or reduce the amount of ingredients to your liking depending on how much you want to make and how strong you like the flavors).

We are a family of 5 and everyone loves this recipe so this makes a pretty good size bowl, so I would encourage you to try it with these measurements first and  go from there.

1. 5 ripe medium tomatoes (we use  the kind on the vine)
2. 1/2 of a large yellow onion (or a whole medium one)
3. Cilantro (1/2 of one of those sprigs you get at the grocery store… yes, it’s a lot)
4. The juice of 2 fresh limes
5. 1 tsp of salt
6. 1 tsp of cumin – YEP, that’s the ingredient right there!!!!!

***If you want spice…. 1 fresh serrano pepper (optional) – we don’t include this ourselves because of the kids, but if you like it spicy go right ahead. I would suggest to start with 1/2 of one and go up from there.***

• All you do is finely chop all the tomatoes, onion and cilantro and add them to a medium to large bowl. I actually remove a lot of the seeds from the tomatoes to reduce the amount of liquid in the sauce.
• Squeeze your lemon juice onto the veggies . 
•  Then add the seasonings, mix it all up and viola! You have some awesome-sauce right there…..

Eat with homemade tortilla chips or add it on top of steak tacos! 

My kiddos love this stuff! You can see their reactions in the video below. They’re quite hilarious. ?

You can also watch how I prepare it myself and see some fun pictures from our trips to Mexico in the video below. 

So that’s it folks!

You know I like to keep things short and sweet.

I hope you will try this awesome recipe that not only tastes good, but is diet friendly too (ya know, for those of you still on track with that resolution thing despite staying at home and eating all day).

I will see you in the next one. 

Until then… adios! 

Did you every go to a party, eat some food, LOVED it and then when you asked what was in it you totally gasped!?!? But then kept eating it anyways, cause it was that good?

It’s happened to me a few times and I am just about to do it to you…

Welcome to Day 5 of the Fourth Annual 12 Days of Christmas Series!

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It’s Day 5 and we are sharing Holiday Party Food Ideas!

Puerto Rican Mini Party Sandwiches

So as some of you already know, I am originally from Puerto Rico and we love to have family get-togethers with a TON of food. And it never fails that they are usually potlucks with everyone usually specializing in a specific dish every time.

While I wouldn’t say I “specialize” in this, I will say I am usually bringing these mini sandwiches along with something else every time. I swear I know how to cook, but this recipe requires no cooking, no prep and absolutely no skillz…. you may even laugh a little.

However, I SWEAR that if you ever go to ANY Puerto Rican get-together you will see these little sandwiches and they are usually the first appetizers to go. No lie!

They only require 3 ingredients:

• Sliced white bread
• Cheez-Wiz
• Potted Meat

I can already hear you saying “WTH?”

Yep I know….

But just hear me out. The marriage that these 3 ingredients create is something that all Puerto Ricans go nuts over. Don’t ask me how it came about (I’ve never looked it up).

And just like my Coquito recipe (ya know, the drink that knocks out Eggnog every time) it’s always a hit and it’s always at every holiday party.

Here’s how you make them.

Take equal parts of potted meat and Cheez-Wiz and mix them in a bowl.

Here’s a visual… in case you’re confused. ?

You mix it up and spread it on a white piece of bread…. (oooooh, ahhhhh)

Then you put another piece of bread on top… here comes the tricky part….Cut off the brown border and cut it into 4 triangles…

And voila! You have the best little sandwiches ever!

I swear these are so good! And as you just witnessed, the easiest appetizer ever (besides cheese and crackers).

So, there you have it!

My “Is that what that is?!” party food. LOL!

Please tell me, I am not the only one!

Oh an don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel to see other great Christmas DIY’s!

Scroll down for many more Holiday Party Food Ideas for your holiday season!

Some of the links below are affiliate links for your convenience. For my full disclosure, click here.

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July! It was just us and the kids this year and my husband and I spent half the day tending to the yard and making some small repairs around the house. However, we did end up having a great dinner together and then later we watched as our neighborhood lit up the sky with fireworks. 4th of July was on steroids this year and it seemed to last for hours!

My kids loved it.

One of the other things my kids absolutely love is tortilla chips and cheese dip. And I am so happy I have my girl Carissa over at Thrift & Spice because if it wasn’t for her I would have never even thought to make my own!

They are super easy and taste great! You will never buy tortilla chips again!

I haven’t… seriously! 

Here’s how you make them:

All you need are corn tortilla chips (these are my favorite):

Cut the tortilla chips into 4 pieces…

Fry them on medium heat for a few minutes (I used corn oil)… If the edges start to brown you have fried them too long.

Then lay them on paper towels to drain any remaining oil and add salt. That’s it!

These chips are super crispy and you can eat them with your favorite cheese dip or homemade pico de gallo.

Shop this: Square white serving bowls

Now I make sure to have corn tortilla chips stocked all the time and make them fresh to order. You cannot go wrong with this super easy treat! Make them for your family or your next gathering. They are sure to be a hit.

Related: Strawberry Mojito Recipe

Related: The Best Steak Tacos

For more tasty treats and drinks check out Carissa’s blog! There are mango popsicles (paletas) I am dying to try out!

Be back with more stuff soon!

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Happy Monday!

I cannot believe it is already May 1st! Wow, this year is flying by! However, I cannot complain too much because this means gorgeous weather, barbecues and eating outside. And with that one of my favorite times to celebrate outside is on Cinco de Mayo…. and no, we are not Mexican, but just like every other Latin American culture we love any excuse to party with good food and drinks…

So, if you plan on staying in or getting together with friends and would like to show out like the hostess with the mostest, these Steak Tacos are for you (seriously, they are the best steak tacos for Cinco de Mayo or any occasion… cause who needs an excuse to eat tacos, right?!)

Just as a heads up, these are not authentic Mexican tacos, nor are they Puerto Rican or El Salvadorian for that matter… my husband and I just started experimenting with flavors one day and came up with this amazing combination of flavors that has been a topic of conversation during events we have hosted in our home. So why not share it with you! 

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs of Cecina Steak (traditionally this beef is salted and marinated and laid to dry somewhat in the sun). We buy ours in a local Mexican supermarket we have really close to home. The meat that we buy is however, fresh and not marinated nor dried.  If you don’t have a Mexican supermarket nearby, then you can go to your local butcher and request really thin sliced fajita steak meat.
• Corn tortillas, we like this brand.
• Pico de Gallo, we use this recipe that I shared a little while ago, it’s da bomb!
• 1 Medium Onion
• Sazón (every Puerto Rican home will have this stuff, just sayin!)
• 1 Avocado (optional)

FYI… not that we are a “gluten free” family, however, I did want to mention that these are gluten free so more people can enjoy them. Yay!

Instructions: 

1. The first thing I create is our Pico de Gallo, once that is prepared, I cover it with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge so that the flavors can marinate.
2. Next you want to prepare the meat. There’s really not much to it. For the 3 lbs you will want to use 6 packets of the Sazón. Just sprinkle the seasoning evenly over all of the meat (caution: this stuff is highly pigmented so try not to get it on your clothes). 
3. Cut the onion really thin and lay them on top of the steak to soak up the seasoning.
4. Set your grill to 375 degrees (just use the thermometer on the grill’s lid).
5. Once it’s up to that temperature, set your steaks one by one (or two by two, depending on the size of your grill) and cook them 2-3 minutes on each side on direct heat. At this time you can cook the onions on the side as well.
6. Once you are done cooking them on each side move them to an area on the grill where they can still get indirect heat while you continue cooking the rest. You can stack them as you go if you don’t have a lot of room. This takes about 25 minutes or so depending on the amount of meat.
7. Toast the tortillas on a skillet at medium heat, make sure you do both sides. 
8. Slice the avocados and sprinkle a little salt over them in order to bring out their flavor.

Then once everything is cooked, it’s time to assemble!

Lay your tortilla, add the meat (you can shred it with your fingers or cut it with a knife), add the onion slivers, pico de gallo and a slice of avocado to top it off!

And boom!

You have yourself a killer taco that will be the talk of the fiesta!

My 5 year old daughter also “styles” her food and she made me promise to share it on the blog as well, so here is her dish (Love you Natalia!)

I hope you like these and if you try them out, you must let me know how it goes!

¡Buen Provecho!

P.S. For more recipes and tips like this, subscribe below so you’re notified as new posts are added!

As you know swimsuit season is just around the corner and I, like many other mommas out there, have been trying to get my butt back into shape. So, a couple of weeks ago I posted this image on my personal Facebook page with a small caption saying that I had lost 5 pounds in a week drinking my detox smoothies that my hubby makes me and who would have thought it would get so many comments… mostly “share please!!!!”

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>>>Para obtener instrucciones sobre cómo leer esto en español, haga clic aquí.<<<

But I just wasn’t quite ready to share the recipe because I needed to make sure it wasn’t just “water weight” and since I am not a health nutritionist, I felt a little hesitant… that being said, I ended up losing 8 pounds in just 2 weeks with those smoothies and people are still waiting so I thought I could finally say it does work and no it’s not water weight!

Woot woot!!!!!

Plus they taste really good and are easy to throw together, AND they are made with things you already have in your pantry (no crazy trip to any expensive health food stores… another win in my book).

Since I do several different kinds, I plan on doing a series with different recipes and here is your first!

I will include the exact instructions I used to lose those 8 pounds. This was one of the first recipes we created.

The following will actually make 2 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1 small tomato (approx. 5 oz)
• Cucumber (approx. 9 oz)
• Spinach (approx. 4 oz)
• 4 Medium Sized Strawberries (approx. 3 oz)
• 1 Medium Carrot (approx. 9 oz)
• Blackberries (approx. 3 oz)
• Blueberries (approx. 1 oz)
• 2 TSP raw agave* (1 tsp is added after each detox smoothie is blended. Just stir or shake it in)

In order to track consumption and calories better we use this food scale since it is inexpensive and measures in kilograms, pounds, grams and ounces. 

Instructions: 

1. Divide all of the ingredients equally in half and blend in a blender. The Nutri-Bullet  is what we use and it is great for this because it makes just the right amount for your serving. Plus the motor is strong and has a good bit of blending power and can be easily stored away.

2. Once blended the smoothie will be pretty thick so go ahead and add 1/4 cup of water to the mixture and blend some more. You can add the 1 tsp of raw agave here. (The goal is to not take the smoothie with agave, but if you have a diet high in sugar or carbohydrates, your body will crave the sugar and make you feel terrible at first. Adding a bit of raw agave can calm those cravings and make you feel better while you get used to the detox smoothies.)

3. Store in a 28 oz blender bottle: they are large enough and the mixer ball breaks up the detox smoothies as you drink, in case it thickens overnight if you prepare them for the following day, which is what we do. I like the one below and it comes in many different colors.

4. Drink the detox smoothie as a replacement meal for your breakfast and lunch. If you get hungry in between meals, eat a handful of almonds or 1 hard boiled egg to hold you over. Then eat dinner as normal, just a smaller portion than you normally would cause you don’t want to overeat and you want to get your stomach used to less food in it.

And that’s it!

By replacing my breakfast and lunch for 2 weeks straight I lost 8 pounds, didn’t get cranky because of the agave and my days were actually more productive because I already had made my detox smoothies the night before so I  saved time by not having to prepare any meals.

Some nutritious facts:

We aren’t health nutritionists, but there are specific reasons why we chose the mix of fruits and veggies that we did. Here are some of them:

Blackberries – Their dark blue color ensures that blackberries have one of the highest antioxidant levels of all fruit according to this article. Antioxidants are also known for lowering the risk of some cancers.

Blueberries – They aid in weight loss because they are low in calories and rank low on the on the glycemic index. What does this mean? This means they take longer to digest which means they are absorbed slower by your body, which in turn helps cut cravings. More on that here.

Strawberries – They are full vitamins, fiber, and even more antioxidants. They are sodium free, have no fat and no cholesterol.  Read more about them here.

Spinach – It is abundant in flavonoids which act as antioxidants to keep cholesterol from oxidizing in your body. It also contributes to your colon’s health and lowers blood pressure.

So there you go!

If you try this detox smoothie out,  I would love to know what you think! Also, I would love it if you shared it with your friends! Just pin it to Pinterest!

Obviously, drinking the same detox smoothie will get old so I will be adding even more versions of my detox smoothies in the next couple of weeks so stay tuned…

Cheers to losing those extra pounds!

And don’t forget to subscribe below so you can be notified when the new smoothies are added to the blog! 

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Happy Tuesday! Today I have for you the easiest donuts you can EVER make at home… No really, there is nothing easier than this and you will not believe how ridiculously good they are. Not only are they awesome-sauce, but they are SO INEXPENSIVE too! I got all them bases covered for ya! So, you wanna know how I make ’em? Of course you do.

So let’s get to those bad boys….

[Read more…] about Easiest Donuts Ever

Hello! Today’s post is a little home remedy that I thought I would share with you ladies out there since, ya know, we have ALL dealt with menstrual cramps at one point or another in our lives and frankly they totally suck. And, hey, even if you don’t suffer from them, perhaps you know a young lady who does.

So as you might have guessed by the title of my post, yes, I’m serious. Onion Peel Tea.

[Read more…] about Onion Peel Tea for Menstrual Cramps

I don’t know about you, but my 1 year old son eats anything and everything I give him, however my 2 1/2 year old daughter sometimes needs a little coercion, especially when it comes to breakfast.  I have to get really creative sometimes. One day, I felt a little adventurous and tried a little something new.  I love the Pillsbury cinnamon buns you can get at the grocery store, but my daughter not so much. So I thought, why not put them in the waffle maker and turn them into waffles?

I bought the following cinnamon buns (they are the smaller 8 count ones):

They are the ones with the cinnamon specs, not the cinnamon swirls.

I flatten them out a bit to get them a little larger.

I have the following waffle iron. I set it to 3 (or medium heat) spray a little oil on it and in a couple of minutes they are done. Much faster than waiting for the oven to turn on and heat up.

And viola! Instant breakfast that even my hubby enjoys!

My husband likes them with the frosting, and my kids like to dip them in syrup. Either way, it’s a win for me! They are good for on the go too, since they aren’t as large as regular waffles and if you use the icing there is no drippy syrup mess. Or you can always eat them plain.

I hope you like this quick and easy idea!

Your Latina,

Yami