Lemon-Herb Marinated Chicken (Served with Tri-Color Penne & Spinach Salad)

   This is delicious lunch if I do say so myself, and I do! haha!  ;) Not difficult at all! I just marinated the chicken for about 30-40 minutes in the refrigerator while I did other things. After, you take it out of the fridge it takes about 15-20 minutes cooking. You choose whether you want to throw in the marinate along with chicken into the pan or simply the chicken. I opted to toss it all in, and it's no big deal if you are considering the oil, because it all stays in the pan; and you end up with nice crispy bits. Yumm! So, are you ready? Here it is:

2 lbs- Chicken Breast Steak/Fillet
3/4 Cup -Olive oil
 1- Squeezed Yellow Lemon
1 tsp- Lemon Pepper
1/4 tsp-Ginger (ground)
1/2 cup- cilantro cut roughly
1/3 cup- Onion sliced (white)
1/2 tsp- Salt
1 tsp- Chili flakes
2- Garlic Cloves Minced

Prep the Marinade:
Add olive oil, lemon, lemon pepper, ginger,cilantro, onion, salt,chili flakes, and garlic(wisk/mix all together) into a container that you can place your chicken to marinate for a good 30-40 minutes. Place your clean (cut if necessary) chicken breast into the marinade and combine well. Cover your container and let sit in the refrigerator. That's it! Now just wait....

Once, the marinated chicken is ready just put it on a hot pan. I decided to use all of the marinade in the pan as well so, I had no need to add any extra oil. I just turned it over a few times, waited for the liquid to evaporate. Then, it started taking a bit of browning-that's what we like! When it's ready just take it out, you'll see all the oil will be in the pan so not very much is absorbed and it is delicious.

I chose to use a Tri-Color Penne with the chicken, but you can add any pasta or rice if you would like. Honestly, the tri-color element is just for visual effects and doesn't change the flavor of the pasta. I boiled a pot of water with a generous amount of salt. I then dropped in 1 box of pasta and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Follow the instructions on your package for best results. Then, rinsed out the water-I added salt, pepper, and a bit of "fake butter".

For my salad I chose spinach, you know you have to get those greens in your diet! I just grabbed a big bunch of baby spinach, and added sliced red onion, tomato, and avocado. Finally, drizzled a bit of ranch dressing!


This is a very easy prep type of meal and you are rewarded with just delicious flavors. By the way it is not spicy at all, but feel free to change any of the ingredients to your liking! Happy cooking!

Beef Soup/Stew (Caldo de Res)

                                                                                                                                                                 


Hello! So, today I have made beef soup/stew or caldo de res. I'm not sure if it can definitely be considered a stew because stews are usually thicker, but I do know it's a great soup that will warm and fill you up. I have done it a few different ways over the years, and I think I'm happy with this recipe. It's not difficult at all;it simply takes time to get all the lovely flavors to combine together.

 2 lb. Beef Shank-Chamorro de res
4-5 Carrots peeled & sliced med cut
3 potatoes peeled & cubed (not too small)
2-3 whole fresh corn-cut in half
1/2 small cabbage cut roughly in large sections
2 Mexican calabacitas or chayote (today I used the calabacita) Mexican squash
2 tomatoes sliced
1/4 onion sliced
2 springs of peppermint-yerba buena
1 large clove of garlic
1 Jalapeño or 2 Serrano chiles sliced (if you like heat keep seed)
Salt to desired taste

I purchased my meat in two chunks, but you can ask your butcher to pre-cut if you prefer. After, rinsing/washing your meat place it a large pot with plenty of water, a large piece of onion (extra from what is listed above), the garlic clove, and just a little salt. I don't like to use a lot of salt in my food, and specially with something that will boil so long it's easy to over do it with salt, so take it easy( you can always add more later but you can't take away).

 As the meat begins to boil, a brownish foam from the meat forms above (it's normal)-Just take your spoon and clean that out so that your soup will look clear/clean.

As I mentioned, my pieces of meat were whole, so as they had cooked I took them out and cut them into small chunks. I left the meat outside the pot while I added the other stuff. This is done so that your meat doesn't fall apart, and it was pretty much done.

I did however, put back in the bones from the meat because this essentially flavors your soup. I added the sliced tomatoes,sliced onion, and the halved corn. I also took out the piece of garlic, and the first onion piece I put in. I added two sprigs of peppermint or yerba buena, and left it alone until the corn was done.

Meanwhile, I cut all the other vegetables. Once, the corn is done, go ahead and take it out or leave it a little longer if you want. Drop in the potatoes, carrots, and cabbage pieces. If you choose to add chile, you can add it at this time. For a milder taste just take out all the seeds, it still flavors your soup nicely.

Watch your potatoes because you don't want them to fall apart. When they are nearly done, put your meat back in the pot and let them boil together. Lastly, add your pieces of calabacita; but if you're adding chayote then you'd have to add before the potatoes because it takes longer. Where Mexican squash falls apart very easily. At this time taste for salt and add if you would like.

So, this is the way I do this soup-it works for me. And I feel that since everything is done in stages all the veggies turn out very nice and nothing falls apart. I hope it turns out delicious for you.

Once you serve add all your veggies and a little bit of the meat, and your corn- you can also add squeezed lemon.

 Thanks for stopping by! I do recipes once in a while on this blog but if you'd like to see a bit more of me check out my beauty channel ;) B3beautybyblanca on Youtube!! (click here) or  Find me here on Facebook (Click Here)

Dealing with Anxiety,Depression,Panic Attacks

Hello friends...

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO HERE

I have seriously debated about making this post public because in my personal life I'm extremely introverted and resolve to dealing with any problems privately. Apart from family and a couple close friends I usually don't discuss my problems with others. Because I feel that sometimes people only ask things so that they will know some of your weaknesses and be able to hold them over your head. I know that this sounds really insecure, and I guess that even at my age..I am that insecure girl.




Well, I'll start by telling you that I have had anxiety since I was about 18; I will be 33 this June, so for about 15 years anxiety has been the constant,unwanted companion by my side. It's sad to say but it has controlled my life and lifestyle so much that there are so many things that I have avoided doing or simply made 101 excuses as to why I could not do them. I'm naturally an introvert and I do enjoy being alone for the most part, however I also have to say that I many times avoid social settings because I feel awkward and out of place. I think that I could probably even trace feeling out of place back in high school, I didn't feel smart enough, pretty enough, or even bad enough to really fit into any group. It is true that life's problems and stresses usually make anxiety worse. Although, I have had good times in between the not so good, last May 2013 was definitely the worst of all.

I would define it as having a nervous breakdown, as awful as it sounds to admit it to you who is reading this. Because to a certain level it does make me feel ashamed to feel and to know that my insecurities, issues have broken me so much. I can tell you that it was the worst thing ever, it made me doubt myself so much. I felt like my constant panic attacks were getting worse each time, until I ended up going to the emergency room thinking I might be having a heart attack. If you have not ever experienced anxiety to such a severe level, I should explain that usually what happens is that your mind, negative thoughts take over;essentially it's you fighting against yourself once those thoughts turn into real physical symptoms.

Because my anxiety turned into something that I could not control at all for the first time I resorted to taking medication. This is something that I had always avoided because I din't want to be dependent on a drug. At this point I couldn't walk outside without feeling an extreme fear and feeling dizzy every time.

Sometimes people think, well how can you be so weak minded and not be able to control this? I would have to answer by saying that I don't consider myself weak minded. I have tried to learn, teach myself methods/techniques in order to make myself better. However, once you do everything possible and like I mentioned, it might help at times, but then you know you will never completely rid yourself of it. I have cried,prayed, talked it out, tried to escape, hide out so many times and then it's there. I really wish I could be that carefree person that does as they please without worry to repercussions, but I have never been that person. I am the person that over thinks every situation/conversation, and then over analyzes all the factors. If it were as easy as just not being a worrier, I suppose it would be more simple but this is not the stress free world that we live in.

I accept that I am a completely flawed person, not for my issues and insecurities-rather because my fears have taken over of my potential happiness. To me this is the one most-important thing in life "happiness"; it seems that we should all be entitled to sheer joy of life but sometimes working at being happy gets so hard. I doubt myself so much because I constantly remember past mistakes, memories, what I could-should have done, and what I fear I may never be able to do. I'm fully conscious that my past is gone, the future feels further from my wishes because living the present can get quite difficult. I should clear up that I'm not that dark-depressed person, I love to laugh all the time. But when it gets down to being alone then we have to listen to ourselves and face our problems and simply live the life we have been dealt with. I know that this may be sounding like the lamest post you ever read about, but I'm a real person and I have real problems.