Strawberry Honey Grass Jelly

Ever crave something sweet that isn't too heavy? Or something that just hits you just right? Well, you got to give this grass jelly a try. It's SUPER easy, no joke. So all you need 3 simple ingredients.

1. Grass Jelly
2. Strawberries
3. Honey or condensed milk
4. Mint (if you want to kick it up a notch)

Okay, so grass jelly a not the easiest thing to find. Where do you find it? Well, you can find it at you local Asian food market or more popular know 99 ranch market. It will cost you $1.00- $3.00. Pop the can open and dice away. You can do large cubes or small cubes. If you want to get fancy, you can even slice them and use a cookie cutter. But of course I just stuck to tiny cubes. Slice and dice some fruit and added some honey. I later decided to use condensed milk instead and…wow…I'm in heaven! So next time your craving something light and with a little tart kick, give this a try. Sweet cooking, enjoy!

Simple Minestrone Soup

I just got my braces this week, wooo ya! Not really :( and I have been struggling with what to eat. It has been a cold winter  so why not some Minestrone Soup? Well, I decided to give it a shot and it wasn't that hard to make. It so simple and it's such a great "pick me up". Never going back to can soup again.

Recipe: Minestrone Soup                   Portions: ~6

Ingredients:

Onions~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~half an onion diced

Garlic~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2-3 cloves minced

Celery~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~3-4 stalks diced

Baby carrots~~~~~3/4 cups chopped 

Tomatoes ~~~~~~~~~~~1.5 tomatoes diced 

Green beans~~~~~~~~~2/3 or 1 cup diced
Pasta ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1 cup

Chicken broth~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1 can

Kidney beans~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1 can

Dried basil, oregano, salt, pepper ~~~~to taste

Okay, it looks like a overwhelming list on ingredients, but i promise the hardest part is gathering them, once you got them you're on your way to a delicious soup. 

1. Mince garlic, dice the onions, celery, baby carrot, green beans and tomatoes.

2. Boil the pasta on the side while you cook your veggies.

3. Add a little oil to coat the pan, place the minced garlic, and onions into the pan. Sauté until translucent. 

4. Add in seasonings to taste (You will add it again later so don't over do it here).

5. Add celery, carrots, green beans and cook for a few minutes.

6. Check on your pasta and when ready, drain.

7. Now check if you veggies are all sautéed, if they are add diced tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.

8. Add chicken soup to the pot

9. Add kidney beans and bring to a boil

10. Season to your liking and "Voila"! Done!

Place in a bowl to serve or eat straight out of the pot. Take caution because it is hot. If you like your veggies softer or crispier adjust your cooking time to your liking. Don't forget that if you leave it for the next day it even better, but your pasta size will double from the soup absorption. Since I could chew most of the ingredients I added some more time to it and the second day it was so easy to eat :)

Time to warm your stomachs. Happy cooking and enjoy :)

UP! Nail Art.

Winter sickness is not fun, however, being bored and unable to do anything else, I needed a pick me up. Literally and pick me UP…hehe. Inspired by my all time favorite cartoon, UP, I painted away. Unfortunately there are no step to step photos, but a pretty simple design that any one can do. The hardest part was the house, but I do my best to guide you through.

First paint the background a light blue and let dry. Easy right? Ok, now here's the hard part I cut tape the shape of the house and and placed it on my dry nail, outlined and remove the tape when dry. Using a tooth pick to fill in the house and draw the details…the house was made. The rest was pretty simple. The balloons are just dabbed on with a bobby pin and the clouds were literally randomly painted with the nail brush. The clouds are supposed to be unorganized and random, so just go with it. Add a top coat and your done. It may take some practice, but once it is done, you love it regardless. These put me in a good mood everyday. Happy painting!