What is cooking?

I have always had a love for cooking. For me it has always been a time to relax and try new things. After Jace and I met it also became a time when we both could share our day and could try a million different foods. Yes, you have guessed it we loooove food. Let's be real cooking at home is much cheaper and healthier than going out. After Jace started chemotherapy, I started cooking non-stop but these meals were very bland :( Things have changed a little since the middle of May when he started the new chemo cocktail, now we are back to cooking all kinds of meals. This past week, we were able to share a few meals with some lovely friend and they loved the following, so here are a few pictures and recipes for you to try!

Stuffed Bell Peppers
 

What do I need?
4 green or red bell peppers
1 lb flank steak
1 medium onion
2 Tbsp olive oil
Provolone or mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper

How do I make it?
1. Cut a side of each of the bell peppers, take out all the seeds (I take out pretty much everything from the inside to have as much space for the meat). 
2. Mince the onion.
3. Cut the meat into small strips, season the meat with salt and pepper (if you want more flavor use a spicy rub from any grocery store).
4. In a pan (medium to medium high heat), saute the minced onion in the olive oil, add the flank steak and cook for a few minutes.
5. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
6. Put a little cheese in the bottom of the hollow bell peppers, add the meat mixture until they are pretty full, and then add another layer of cheese on top.
7. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Greek Style Tomato and Feta Tart

What do I need?

Phyllo pastry sheets (5 to 10 sheets per tart)

Red and yellow cherry tomatoes about 1 cup.

Feta cheese, crumbled

1 Tbsp of chopped fresh oregano

A few sprigs of fresh thyme

Melted butter

Salt, pepper, and garlic powder

How do I make it?

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Follow the instructions on the phyllo pastry sheets package to thaw it.

3. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half.

4. Use about 5 to 10 sheets of phyllo per tart. As the package explains you must use one sheet, then brush melted butter on the sides of the dough, then add another sheet until you are done with the amount of layers you would like.  Then brush melted butter on the top of the whole last layer and fold the sides.

5. Put the dough in a baking sheet, sprinkle the tomatoes, oregano, feta cheese, sprigs of thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic powder on top of the phyllo dough.

6. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown. 

**This recipe is great for a summer night, because it is very light.  

I hope you enjoy making and eating these recipes!!!!

  

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Well here I am...

So for a couple of years I have been following many blogs and I love going through my daily routine of reading blogs and feeling like I know the individuals. Sometimes I have even told myself meeting this person would be awesome! So after thinking about it for a few months and going through what seems like a hurricane in my personal life I have decided to start my own.

So for those of you that wonder what kind of hurricane here is a little recap: I have been in graduate school doing my doctorate for the past 4 years - I am almost done, no worries! I have been married for almost 4 months (it was a wonderful wedding in COSTA RICA where I am from). About two weeks before our wedding we were given the news that my husband's cancer had returned grrrr! So after our honeymoon, he would have to start chemotherapy. After two months of chemotherapy, we were informed that the tumors had continued to grow and we would be doing something else. After some very scary deliberation, they decided to change the chemotherapy cocktail, I like to think about it as switching from a Piña Colada to a Mojito which I like way better). So here we are a month later trying to stay strong and positive despite all the negativity that the world can give you. In a month we will also be taking another step by moving to another city in Texas, so I can finish the last year of my degree (yay!!). So I like to think of all of these experiences as challenges that we must get through, but I am hoping in the next couple of years we can have a reward or two.

So now I just want to let you all know that for me and my husband, we choose to see the good in daily life and we choose to be happy. I truly hope sharing and being real allows me to continue getting stronger and growing because I feel we all constantly need that.