My last recipe of How To Make Tamales was posted up just a couple days ago. I’ve tried to be pretty consistent with my recipe posts and I think I’ve done a decent job with it. I noticed that I’ve been doing a lot more family style dinners lately and to be honest, I’m okay with it.

Easy Shepherd’s Pie Recipe

Shepherd’s pie was not really a recipe that I grew up eatting too much of as a child. It was a dish that I grew fond of in my adult years after eating it for the first time during a pot luck. My husband and I later tried to replicate the recipe ourselves from home with pretty decent results. Not really sure what I can say I like most about the shepherd’s pie. The savory filling, the potato crust or the light feeling I get while eating it.

I like to consider today’s recipe of the shepherd’s pie to be a bit basic. Throughout the years, I’ve noticed that some variants of it doesn’t include peas or has corn instead. While I do love corn, I don’t think I enjoy this recipe as much without peas in out. If you’re not a fan of peas, then I welcome you to try it out with corn instead.

Preparation

You’ll want a basic potato peeler for peeling the potatoes with. Another thing you’ll also need is a large casserole dish to bake the entire shepherd’s pie in. This recipe feeds 8 so you’ll want something that can hold all of the ingredients in. I recommend something between 12 and 13 inches and somewhat deep. Make sure you also have a sauce pan (I have this cast iron one by Bayou Classic!)

One other smaller thing you’ll need is a pot to boil your potatoes in. Once you have all of your cooking tools ready, you’re ready to begin!

How To Make Shepherd’s Pie Cooking Instructions

Dowan 13 inch Baking Casserole Dish

Bayou Classic Cast Iron Saucepan

Cooking Instructions

1.) The first thing you’ll want to do is peel your potatoes to start. After you’re done peeling the potatoes dice them. They don’t have to be super small, but no more than half an inch for each piece. Place them in to a medium pot and boil water on high for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft enough to crush. *Note: You can start making the meat filling while the potatoes are cooking.

Mashing the potatoes

2.) Place half and half as well as the butter in to a saucepan and heat for around 2 minutes. You may also put the half and half with butter in the microwave. If you’re using the method, place them in to a microwaveable dish and microwave for 30 seconds.

3.) Start mashing the potatoes and pour in the melted half and half with butter, salt, pepper and egg yolk. Mash the potatoes and ingredients until smooth.

Preparing the meat filling

4.) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.

5.) Heat olive oil in the sauce pan over medium high heat. Place onions and carrots in the saucepan and cook for 3-4 minutes.

6.) Add ground beef, salt and pepper to the mixture and cook until golden brown.

7.) Sprinkle cooked meat with all purpose flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add beef broth, tomato paste rosemary, thyme and worcestershire sauce to the mixture and combine ingredients by stiring together. Bring mixture to a boil and cover. Lower the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until sauce in mixture thickens.

8.) Add peas to the mixture and combine ingredients together.

9.) Pour the cooked mixture in to your casserole baking dish in an even layer. Top the mixture with the potato filling. Place in the oven and bake in the middle of the rack for 25-27 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown in appearance.

10.) Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes on a cooling rack before serving. Enjoy!

I also have some awesome framed kitchen and recipe wall art that you can purchase directly on the site. Decorate your kitchen with some of my very own illustrated recipes in the link below!

Delicious Pork Tamales Recipe

Hope you guys enjoyed my mac and cheese recipe last week. Today, we’re gonna be delving in to something a little different. I grew up in a Panamanian-Carribbean household, being raised by my mother.  With that said, beef and pork tamales with pilaf rice was a regular dish in my household. Shredded pork tamales were my absolute favorite! The meat was always a little more tender than the beef variant, although I could safely say that I appreciated both kinds.

Although my husband and I enjoy tamales for dinner from time to time, we’ve always found that we end up making more tamales than we can eat between the two of us. I tend to save this recipe for when relatives come over since it yields a lot. You’re free to scale the amount of tamales you’d like to make, but this typically gives you about 30-34 tamales. Worst comes to worst, hubby and I end up saving some for leftovers the next day or we end up sharing the remaining tamales with friends that visit.

Today, I want to introduce to you guys a really delicious tamales recipe. The best thing about tamales is that they are not only delicious, but they are super affordable as well! This is a great recipe for family’s on a budget since all of the ingredients are very inexpensive. You may have some of the ingredients in your pantry already.

Preparation

The main component in this recipe is a large cooking pot. You’re going to want a really big pot for steaming your tamales in. I recommend this one steaming pot by Norpro personally. In all actuality, any large sized pot will do the trick.

Shredded Pork Tamales Cooking Instructions

Norpro 4-Quart Steamer Cooker

Cooking Instructions

1.) In a large cooking pot, submerge the corn husks in warm filtered water. Soak the husks for around 30 or so minutes or until the husks are soft.

2.) Combine corn masa, baking powder, salt and cumin in a large bowl. Mix ingredients together using a whisk. Add oil and broth in to the mixture and mix ingredients with a hand mixer or stand mixer. 

3.) Cover the masa dough with a paper towl and refrigerate for the time being.

4.) Add cooked shredded pork in a bowl and combine with salsa. Mix ingredients to use for tamale filling.

5.) Remove soaked corn husk from the pot and place on a cutting board or other flat surface. Spread corn masa on to the husk. 

6.) Add your filling to the center of the masa. You’ll only need to use about a tablespoon of the filling for each tamale.

7.) Wrap the corn husk with the dough inside. Start folding the corn husk in half long ways. I have provided an image to give a good idea of how to fold each tamale. 

8.) To keep the tamales in place, you may tie the tamales with baking string or with skinny pieces of corn husk. Add water to the bottom of the large pot and add a steaming rack above it. Place your tamales in to the steaming rack. Steam tamales for about 30 minutes or until the masa is solid and fully cooked.

9.) Remove tamales from steamer and serve. I like to put extra salsa on top of my tamales. This is a personal taste thing, but it is honestly so bomb and delicious if you do try it! Enjoy!

Baked Mac And Cheese Recipe

Growing up, my family didn’t really have a lot of money or resources. I distinctly remember eating a lot of boxed mac and cheese in my youth, think Craft brand folks! While I can appreciate the occasion lazy meal of boxed mac and cheese or hamburger helper, I will always prefer whole ingredients 9 out of 10 times. I know this has been said before, but there is nothing like a wholesome, homemade meal. Oven baked mac and cheese is far superior to the stuff you can get in the box. Let’s just keep it real here!

I don’t think I had oven baked mac and cheese for the first time until home economics in highschool. In class, my group was tasked with making a full thanksgiving meal from and baked mac and cheese was one of the menu items. To be honest, after eating my first bite of this mac and cheese, I instantly thought ‘where has this been all my life?’ Since that day, I almost always baked my mac and cheese as opposed to just boiling it over the stove.

By the way, if you haven’t seen my last recipe post for How To Make Chicken Noodle Soup, you can find it here!

Preparation

The first tool you will need in your arsenal is a decent sized cooking pot. This pot from Cook N Home is affordable and does the trick, so if you don’t already have one, you can pick this up at Amazon. You will also need a 3qt sized baking dish for when we get to the oven portion of the recipe. You’ll want to make sure that your dish is oven safe, glass or pyrax. Lastly, you’ll need a way to melt and combine ingredients, I recommend a small saucepan for this. 

Baked Mac And Cheese Cooking Instructions

Cook N Home Nonstick Stockpot with Lid 10.5-Qt

Bovado USA 9″ x 13″ Inch Glass Oven 3Qt Baking Dish

Cooking Instructions

1.) Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Coat the baking dish with olive oil and set aside.

2.) Boil water in a large cooking pot and add elbow pasta. Add salt to the water for additional taste. Cook pasta according to the directions provided on the package.

3.) Using a sauce pan, melt butter at medium heat. Combine flour and milk, pour the milk in slowly while whisking. Cook until the mixture is a thick consistency.

4.) Remove from heat and add half the grated cheese (cheddar and gruyere) to the mixture. Stir until cheese is melted.

5.) Remove pot from heat. Drain the pasta and combine with melted cheese in to the pot. Stir until ingredients are fully combined.

6.) Add mac and cheese to baking dish and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake in the oven for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot and enjoy!

How To Make Chicken Noodle Soup

Learn How To Make Chicken Noodle Soup with me! It’s almost soup season so this recipe was definitely something that we needed!

This recipe on How To Make Chicken noodle soup features all original art created by me! If you’re new to my blog, one thing you should know is that I love food and art just as equally! If you like coloring pages, then you’ll love these food and recipe based coloring pages. You can find them here or in the link below. My coloring pages are great for children and adults of all ages. I have something in my shop for everyone who loves a good coloring page!

Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

Chicken noodle soup is one of those highly celebrated recipes that we can all remember having back in our youth. I remember my mom preparing it for me and my sibblings whenever we’d fall ill with a cold or flu. No matter how sour my tastebuds were when I’d get sick, my mother’s soup could somehow still penetrate my taste buds. The flavorful chicken broth and seasoned chicken breasts were the two things I could recall most clearly in that soup!

Today, I’m going to be sharing with you not only this awesome recipe that got me through the worst of sicknesses. But I will also be showcasing yet another illustrated recipe which can be found just to the left of my writings!

Preparation

This recipe serves 8 so as you could imagine, you’ll want to use a large cooking pot if you plan to do the full serving amount. If you don’t already have one, there are some really affordable and decent stock pots on Amazon that won’t break your bank. Allow yourself about an 1 to 1 1/2 hours to prepare your soup. It’s a super easy recipe but when you account for prep and cooking time, I wouldn’t say it’s a quick one!

Chicken Noodle Soup Cooking Instructions

COOKSMARK 11-Inch Copper Griddle

Cooking Instructions

1.) Dice onions, celery and carrots and place in bowls.

2.) In a large stock pot, melt the butter at medium-high heat. Add the diced carrots, celery and onion to the pot and stir together with butter until tender. Stir in garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.

3.) Pour chicken stock in to the stock pot and stir. Add bay leaves, salt and pepper with whole chicken breasts to the pot and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and simmer for 35-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked. 

4.) Remove chicken from the pot and allow to cool. Shred the chicken and place in to a bowl.

5.) Stir in chicken and cooked egg noodles in to the stock pot of soup. Cook on medium-high for 7-8 minutes or until noodles are tender. 

6.) Add chopped parsley to the pot as well as salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze lemon juice and stir. Serve hot and enjoy!

How To Make Stuffed Peppers

Here’s a classic recipe for How To Make Stuffed Peppers from your home kitchen. Keep reading to see the recipe and illustration to go with it!

This recipe on How To Make Stuffed Peppers features some of my own original artwork! In case you didn’t know, my love for art is just as strong as my love for food! If you like coloring pages, then you’ll love these food and recipe based coloring pages. You can find them here or in the link below. My coloring pages are perfect for children and adults of all ages so there’s something in my shop for everyone!

Stuffed Peppers Recipe

If you can’t already tell, I’ve been on a roll with getting more blog posts out there. My issue is not only finding the time to write them up, but also making the art for them! My last two recipes for avocado toast and quesadillas were released within days of one another, so I’m trying to do the same here.

Before I really got in to cooking, I’d always considered stuffed peppers to be more ambitious and intimidating than other recipes. But when I learned how to prepare them, I found that they are not at all difficult to make! I tried to make this recipe as easy to undestand as possible, even for a novice cook. There are several different ways of preparing a stuffed pepper, but I decided to go with the classic style with the peppers up right.

Preparation

The three main components needed for this recipe are going to be your oven, a good quality skillet (AKA Cast Iron if you know me) and a rice cooker. I use the Yum Asia Sakura Rice Cooker, but most any one will do for this recipe.

Rice Cooker: Yum Asia Sakura

If you don’t have a rice cooker, a good ol’ fashioned cooking pot will do the trick. Just be sure to read the instructions on the rice for pot cooking.

Stuffed Peppers Recipe Instructions

Instructions

1.) Be sure to have your rice prepared. Cook rice according to the directions provided on the package. Chop the removed tops in to small pieces and place them aside on a plate

2.) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

3.) Grab the 4 bell peppers and cut in to the step part of each vegetable at the top. Remove the tops of each pepper and clean them out thoroughly.

4.) In a skillet, cook the meat on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the chopped onions and chopped bell pepper tops in to the mixture and cook until golden brown. Pour in the cooked brown rice, diced tomatoes and garlic as well as the tomato sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes or until hot.

5.) Put the peppers in to a baking dish and pour the cooked mixture in to the peppers.

6.)Pour the leftover tomato sauce on top of the peppers.

8.) Cover the stuffed peppers with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Remove the foil and add cheese to the top of the peppers. Bake in the oven for an additional 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

*Small tip for the baking

If you like to have the cheese melted on the pepper, you should add it on top before baking it completely. Alternatively, you may sprinkle the cheese on after if you do not want to melt it. To add an additional baked quality to the peppers, you can pre-bake them for about 5 minutes before stuffing them and placing them back in the oven. I do like an extra baked stuffed pepper from time to time.

How To Bake Salmon in the oven

Wanna know How To Bake Salmon in the oven? Just read through this illustrated post to learn how to make this dinner recipe!

Firstly, I want to just start this post off by saying that I LOVE seafood! More specifically, I love salmon in all forms. Smoked, oven baked, air fried and fried. You name it! When coming up with ideas for recipes, I instantly thought of salmon. Speaking of which, this recipe is based on mine and my husbands favorite way of preparing oven baked salmon.

Oven Baked Salmon

This recipe is so easy that even baking newbies will have no trouble making it. Much of the recipes that will be found on this blog will be quick and easy. I have a pretty busy schedule so I try to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible at the end of the day! So if you have a spare 15-20 minutes in your day and you love a good seafood dish, then this recipe is perfect for you!

Like in the previous recipe post for pico de gallo, today’s recipe will also be featuring step by step illustrations. The image to the left serves as a chart for the ingredients needed for the recipe. In addition to the ingredients list, I suggest the use of a good quality baking pan to place underneath the aluminum foil. To be frank, I actually have a set of 3 baking pans I switch between depending on how many servings of salmon I plan on making. Today’s recipe is for a single serving, so I suggest using a medium size pan like the one found in this pan set.

Be sure to also have some good old extra virgin olive oil in your cabinet as well. I like to buy olive oil in bulk since I go through the stuff so quickly otherwise!

Oven Baked Salmon Recipe Instructions

Instructions

1.) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Be sure to have an oven wrack in the middle portion of the oven.

2.) Line a medium sized baking sheet with aluminum foil. You will need to use a larger baking sheet if you’re doing 2 or more filets. To keep your salmon from sticking, coat the aluminum foil with a layer of extra virgin olive oil.

3.) Place the salmon and bunch of asparagus on top of your baking sheet. Sort the asparagus out so that they are no more than 2 layers stacked on one another. Rub the salmon and asparagus with a light coat of olive oil and begin to add the salt, black pepper and minced garlic on to your salmon filet(s). Get your butter and have it ready in slices or spoon fools to place on top of the salmon and asparagus evenly.

4.) Crinkle the edges of the foil before placing the baking sheet in to the oven. Bake the salmon for about 12-15 minutes. Depending on the thickness of your salmon, you may need to adjust the time. Be sure to check that the salmon & asparagus is cooked all the way through.

5.) Once finished, take the salmon and asparagus in foil out of the oven and transfer to a plate. Optionally, squeeze lemon on to the salmon for additional flavor. Add your sliced lemon and parsley garnish to complete the dish!