~ The Crystal Dish ~

First for foremost, I wanted to apologize to all my viewers to not providing you with a new recipe in a while.... Lets just say, Life happened... times got super busy... Our third child was born in August... A beautiful baby boy. Now at 9 months old, I have made a commitment to myself to start blogging more often. I need to for me, I mean, why should I not blog.... I am doing what I love.... I love to cook, I want to share with all of you my passion for cooking, my newest recipes, the recipes of others that I have tried. I'm excited to move forward with my blog and with all of you... we're in this together. Here is one of my newest recipes I have tried. I found this recipe on Pinterest. Originally, the recipe called for Mangos, however the mangos were no good at the stores when I was shopping... I'm a little OCD when it comes to my produce. I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as we all did. Chipotle Cod Burrito Bowls with Coconut Cilantro Lime Rice and Spicy Straw

Cauliflower is one of those forgotten vegetables.... its so versatile... I eventually want to cook my way through cauliflower and eat cauliflower for 30 days.... I'm looking forward to when I get the opportunity to start that challenge. The kale in this recipe was amazing... I'm always trying to push kale on my hubby because it has so many great health benefits, but again, this recipe was no different... kale was a no-go for him... Can't blame a girl for trying, right? I hope you all enjoy this one. It was easy to cook and the entire family loved this recipe... Even my 9 month old devoured the food!!! Ingredients For the Cauliflower Mash 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets (about 6 cups) 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup milk 3 cups vegetable or chicken broth 1 14-ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained ½ cup cornmeal ½ cup shredded cheese, like sharp cheddar or havarti 1 teaspoon salt For the Kale 1 tablespoon bacon fat

Over the past week has definitely been a busy one. My grandma underwent knee replacement surgery, so the kids and I have been staying with her and helping her recover. She's doing freaking amazing though. I'm so thrilled with how fast she's healing. I keep joking that she's going to be running a marathon in a week because of how fast she's been moving around the house. My girlfriend Sarah posted a similar recipe for this dish online that showed a video, but of course, I just winged it and made my own, not looking at the recipe and this came out AMAZING!!!!! I of course made enough for a small army, but hey, would you expect anything less coming from me when I cook? Those of you who have eaten at my house know that when I cook it's GO BIG or GO HOME! I love love love entertaining and giving people the gift of good food to nourish their bodies..... this was definitely a good nourishing meal. I probably could've eaten 2 bowls and if you want to be bad, but c

This dish right here is truly one of my specialties. I love making this dish. If it’s for Jacks Birthday, Valentine’s Day, or just because we want something fancy. Usually I just do the Filet with shrimp or lobster and topped with holandaise and asparagus, but this Valentine’s Day I decided to elevate my recipe a little more and try something new and this is what I came up with. I hope you all enjoy and if you have someone special, try it!  Steak Oscar for Two Ingredients: For the Steak: 2 Filet Mignon Steaks 1 tbs .   Himalayan  Salt 3 tbs .  fresh cracked black pepper 2 tbs .  avocado oil For the Hollandaise: 2 egg yolks 1 stick butter Juice of 1 lemon Salt and pepper to taste Dash of fresh tarragon minced For the Crab Cakes: 1 Dungeness crab   shelled,  and cartilage removed 1 tbs .  fresh lemon juice 1 egg 1 tsp.  himilayan  salt 1 ½ tsp .  cracked black pepper 1 tbs. fresh parsley, finely minced ½ cup fresh grated parmesa

Saturday Mornings are the best. The days the kids sleep in, the days for morning snuggles, the mornings for morning cartoons together, the mornings for special breakfast requests because we have those extra moments together. Saturday mornings are the moments of endless possibilities. Saturday mornings are when anything is possible... Some Saturdays may be as simple as pancakes or waffles and then there will be some complex Saturdays with some homemade eggs Benedict and you know I can never refuse to put my own little twist on it so we've pretty much tried them all from traditional Benedict's to crab, shrimp, lobster, spinach, asparagus..... oh yea, we're talking about WAFFLES today... Sorry, I get a little carried away when I start thinking about Benedict and what goes into making that buttery succulent Hollandaise sauce... Thinking about it just makes my mouth water..... So for Waffles... Waffles are always so much fun to make. I have definitely been creative wi

Ok, so I don't know about y'all but I love love love breakfast and everything it entails. Well, after a long week, I knew breakfast was just the answer my hubby needed. Breakfast seems to just bring everything together. If you've had a rough week, make breakfast! If you've had a rough day, make breakfast! Yes, the answer is always, Make Breakfast. So I wanted to try something a little fun. WE love those fast breakfasts on the go, but don't always want all those carby calories, so I wanted to find a low carb way to do it, but something that still tastes good and I came across this... A Low Carb McGriddle, which by the way, I'll be honest, the McDonalds Mcgriddle is actually one of my favorites. That savory with a little sweet... OMG!!!! Party in your mouth!!!! Jack kept coming into the kitchen as I whipped up this breakfast and I wouldn't spill the secret of what I was making. I didn't want to tell him. I wanted it to be a surprise and a surprise indeed

It use to seem so natural when Jack would leave for work. I would say a prayer at night and pray for the safety of the officers he's with and all those on duty at night. Tonight was quite different. Two months ago when he took his new position, I was like, "Oh Yay! I'll get him every night now." Unless of course something big happens. Well that night was tonight.  The kids had just finished eating dinner tonight. Brooklyn had some make-up work to do for school and Nicholas I knew was tired already.  And Jonathan was playing with a Build-A-Bear saying it was my bestie's new baby.... "That's baby Forrest!" he would say and then he would wrap him in his Paw Patrol Blanket and give him a kiss on the head. I just love when he does pretend play... It's so cute.  It was a little after 8 o'clock when he received the call. There was an officer involved shooting, so Jack was to come in and assist the officers. I had never seen him get ready so

Day 8 of 365: Today was the kids first day back to school from Winter Break.  I would be lying if I said getting out of bed was super easy this morning. Since we returned from Hawaii, the kids sleep schedule has been a bit off, so last night I wanted to make sire we were all up in time, so I got a little OCD and setup multiple alarms. 6am rolled around this am and it was the ole, "Why are we up this early mom????" for the first 30 minutes. I guess the kids really were enjoying that beauty sleep they had been getting the past 3 weeks. Well, that time is over now kiddos!!! LOL Thank goodness I had the kids get their clothes ready last night cause getting dressed this morning was super easy and I even had some extra time to do breakfast requests. Brooklyn wanted an over easy egg with a side of apples, Nicholas wanted the homemade granola I made the other day and Jonathan spent the night at my parents last night so he had no requests for me this am and when I swung b

Day 7 of 365: I could not agree with this quote more and I just love Ina Garten. I love watching her on show and yes someday, I will be going to The Hamptons, but until that day, I will daydream a bit....  Cooking is definitely one of my greatest gifts. I love cooking and love serving my family. No matter how crazy our day may be, I always find myself at almost a place of meditation while I'm in the kitchen cooking. I'm in my own world, in my own thoughts and it just comes natural.... with every stir of a spoon, every chop of a vegetable.... as I bring the tasting spoon first to my nostril to smell the essence of what I'm cooking and then to my mouth to indulge.... and today the indulgence was worth it.... Jack was pleasantly surprised when he got home and I had this meal ready when he walked through the door. And for a man who's pretty picky about vegetables, he devoured his bowl!!!!  Tonight was a night of savory indulgences.... a night of yumminess,