"No Sugar Added" .... Don't Be Fooled!!!

So lately I have been noticing that many food products say one thing on the front of their packages, but the nutrition labels tells a different story. I thought I might share some knowledge with those of you who have been fooled by pretty labels.

The biggest myth or false advertisement of them all is "No Sugar Added" in juice brands. WTF!!?!?!?! Whoever came up with this idea totally sucks. If you read the nutrition label on those brands, it STILL has about the same amount of sugar as the regular version. (ex, reg 33g sugar, "no sugar added" 27g sugar) The difference is pretty much nonexistent.

I searched long and hard for a juice that didn't scream DIABETES!!! After much searching and nutrition label reading, I finally found a juice that I can feel good about drinking. It is the DIET version of  Ocean Spray Cranberry. It still taste delicious, but it more healthy for you. And get this, even though it has only 2g of sugar per 8oz the label does not say "no sugar added". Pay attention to what you are drinking and what you give to your loved ones, especially those with health problems. Sometimes taking the extra minute to read can make all the difference between living a healthy lifestyle and killing yourself slowly.

Pork and Apples are happily married.

So  my cousin, Deidra, got on me about how she is disappointed that I haven't been writing on my blog. Made me feel really bad :( But honestly, the creative juices have left the building. I think they are on the way back soon though. Just the other day I was thinking about adding new foods to my life and one of the foods that I rarely eat, other than bacon (delicious!!!!!!!!) is pork. So I thought I'd give it another try today.

Now-a-days most chefs will say that pork is a lean meat and now can be eaten when cooked to medium. I'm not quite sure about the lean part and I definitely don't suggest or recommend anyone to eat their pork under well done #ImJustSayin. Despite all that I bought some thin pork chops and decided to cook them today, and since pork and apples make a good combo, I tried a version of my own. Here's what I did.....

4 Thin Cut Pork Chops
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Garlic Salt
1 tsp Seasoning Salt
1 tsp Paprika
1 1/3 T Cinnamon
1 T Sugar
2 large apples peeled and cubed
1/2 cup Water
2 T Olive Oil

Firstly, make sure the pork is clean and patted dry. Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat with 1 T OliveOil. Mix together 1 tsp of all the spices except the sugar. (Save the rest of the cinnamon and sugar for the apples) Sprinkle both sides of the pork with the mixture.

While waiting on the pork to marinate a little bit, in a small pot, add the apples, water, sugar and cinnamon. Turn on high heat and cook until apples are tender. Very careful add the mixture to a blender and blend until you have apple sauce. (Word of caution, hot mixtures and blenders don't usually mix, but make sure you have a towel over the top of the blender so the top doesn't come popping off from the steam.) Set to the side. (Also if you don't have a blender, you can serve the apples as a thick, syrupy, chunky sauce. Might be even better :) Just add less water to create a thicker consistency.

When the pan is hot enough, add the pork and cook for 5 mins on one side. Drizzle the other 1 T of Olive Oil over the top of the pork when you are ready to flip. Flip and cook for another 4 mins.

When plating you can either spoon the apples sauce on top of the pork or on the side is a dipping sauce. Good either way :)

Homemade Strawberry Vinaigrette

So I woke up one morning and had the strangest craving for a strawberry salad with walnuts and blue cheese crumbles, but I didn't have any dressing to top it off with so my creative juices got to flowing.

I decided to try my hand at making a vinaigrette. Here;s what I did:

1/4 cup  Sliced Strawberry
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Canola Oil
2 T Balsamic Glaze
1 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Sugar
1 T Apple Cider Vinegar

Simply blend in a blender until smooth and just a little runny. You may need to add more or less oil for the perfect consistency, and there you have it, Your own Strawberry Dressing!!! Yummy :)

Father's Day Meal for Trent

So I thought I would prepare a meal that all men should love, Steak and Potatoes, lol. Good idea too, becuase Trent loved it!! Here's what I did......

I made Sirloin Steak with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes and Garlic Roasted Asparagus Spears.

I cut some Yukon Gold potatoes into 1-inch pieces and boiled them for about 5 mins. I then put them in a casserole dish with Olive Oil, Onions, Rosemary, Garlic Salt, Onion Powder, and Pepper. I baked them for about 40 mins.

For the Asparagus, I simply seasoned with Olive Oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper, and roasted for 10 mins.

The steak was easy as well. Simply pat the steaks dry with a paper towel then season with whatever you have. Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Add olive oil and cook steaks on each side for about 5 mins to reach medium well temp. This is the most important tip of all. When you take the steak out of the pan LET IT REST. Meaning, do NOT touch it, cut it, poke it or anything!! Let it rest on the cutting board, loosely covered with foil for about 5-10 mins. This will help the meat stay moist and redistribute the juices.

All in all  this was a pretty easy meal to cook and does not take a lot of effort.

P.S. I start my new schedule at work and I'm super excited about it!!! :) AND I go home to Memphis in 5 days for my Baby Showers!!!! Yay!!!!

Themed Gatherings and Party Foods

I absolutely love to host small gatherings with friends and family, especially at home with my mom! The two of us together can pull together a party fit for royalty in under an hour with the right planning and preparation. Since we've been doing it for so long, it's easy for us to plan because the you always have key items that will make the menu no matter what and then specialty items that fit the theme. For instance,  my mom and I are in the process of planning a baby shower for me, coming up really soon on June 24th. My lovely line sisters are planning a baby shower for me too for June 25! So I get to go home and have multiple showers! Yay!!! But any who, my mom and I are still working on the menu for the family shower.

So here are some of the ideas I had:

Essentials
1.) Fruit Tray
2.) Cheese and Cracker Tray
3.) Chips
4.) Some sort of dip, preferably 2 types
5.) Veggie Tray with different dressings

Needless to say you need beverages to accompany the food.

Some specialty items that may go along with the Hawaiian outdoor theme that I want to have are:
1.) Skewered Shrimp with Coconut Pina-colada Sauce
2.) Meatballs with a Sweet glaze
3.) Citrus grilled chicken wings

We may even do some snow cones!! But this is a pretty simplistic menu that will surely make people happy. :)
I encourage you to all throw a little party using the essentials and a few specialty items of your own!!

P.S. Shout out to my mom!! She is super excited to be a grandma soon. She bought like 15 outfits for Cristopher already and he isn't due until October :) Gotta love her :) And another shout out to all of my line sisters who are working really hard on a bay shower as well. I love you girls and appreciate all that you do :)

Shrimp Diablo

So I was watching Cooking Channel, Fresh Food Fast with Emeril Lagase, the other day and he made a really simple pasta dish that inspired me to create a twist to call it my own. I actually made this for dinner last night and Trent absolutely loved it. It's so easy to make and takes only like 10 mins at the most.


Angel Hair Pasta
2T chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1 can crushed tomatoes or can of diced tomatoes
1 T Siracha Sauce
1 lb Shrimp, Peeled and deveined


So this is how you do it, start by cooking angel hair pasta according to the package instructions. Enough for two people. Simultaneously, in a large skillet, heat about 2 T of Olive Oil to a medium high heat. Add the garlic and onions. Saute for 5 mins until onions are soft. Be sure not to burn the garlic!! Add the Red Pepper Flakes along with the tomatoes and siracha sauce. Cook for 10 minutes. If sauce is getting to thick, add just a little water or seafood stock to thin it back out to the consistency of a sauce. Add the shrimp in the sauce and turn off the heat. It only takes 2 minutes for shrimp to cook. At that time also add the pasta and coat in the sauce. Serve with sprinkles of fresh chopped parsley for color and flavor. Delicioso!!!

This meal will be a little spicy, hints the name, Shrimp Diablo, but anyone can enjoy this by using less of the crushed rep pepper flakes and the siracha sauce. :) Eat up!!

P.S. Today I am 23 weeks into my pregnancy. I'm feeling great and more and more excited to meet my little bundle of joy :)

Final Course and the NBA Finals!!!!!

There's always an opportunity to make a meal better if it didn't start off too good, but the final course has to be great, because it's the last thing your guest will taste. You want to make something that is fabulous, looks like you took all day to make, yet easy for you to prepare. Some really great dishes that are eye-catching and simple include: Cheesecake, Pie, Banana's Foster, Layered Fruit Parfait, Bread Pudding, and many more desserts. One of my favorites is Bread Pudding!!

Bread Pudding is simply pieces of bread mixed with an egg mixture and baked. The wonderful thing about it is, many people usually already have all of the necessary ingredients on hand to make it. For my recipes, I like to add a bit of raisins just to jazz it up a bit.

8 slices of  Bread cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 cup Milk
2 Eggs
1/4 cup Raisins
2 tbsp Cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut bread into cubes. Mix both Milks and beat in eggs, cinnamon and raisins. Spray a pan with non-stick spray and add bread. Pour egg mixture over bread and mix to ensure all bread in moist. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 mins or until golden brown and custard has set.

This recipe is even more delicious served warm with extra cold ice cream. Simple, yet tasty enough to be considered hard work, lol.

One really fancy light dessert that I think is really good for a hot summer's day is a Granita. Granita is Italin for fruit ice and originates from Sicily. To make this wonderful item simply add equal parts fruit juice and warm water to a shallow glass pan with half the amount of sugar. (ex. 1 cup water= 1/2 cup sugar). You don't want it to be overly sweet like a snow cone or anything. Mix these ingredients in the dish and freeze for at least 4 hours. To serve, just scrape the fruit ice with a fork and serve in a fancy martini glass with a sprig of mint as a garnish.

Whatever it is you're making, always try and make it your best dish ever!! :)

And about the Finals game last night between Dallas and Miami..... Wow!! I don't want to be too quick to judge or take sides, but I'm thinking that Miami may have the Finals in the bag. It was a good game, but I'm just anxious to see how the rest of the series will play out. There's always a chance Dallas could make it interesting and make it last til game 7!!! :)