This year we decided to stay home on Easter and spend time with the kids. Usually we go out to an Easter egg hunt, go to church (a rarely thing) or go to family’s house. We knew it would be a beautiful day in New York but we were in the mood to just relax before the hectic week of going back to the grind of school and work.

We colored and decorated eggs and watched movies.  It was an awesome and peaceful day.

For dinner, we ordered Domino’s Pizza and it was superb.  They definitely changed their ingredients and recipes. The food was great, fresh and hot.  I can really tell the difference because the last time we ordered Domino’s was when we first moved into our house, which was 9 years ago! The reason – it was gross! I’m so glad they made the change.

Anyway, I just wanted to wish everyone a safe & Happy Easter, a Happy Passover y Feliz Pascuas!

“This is the best day ever, Mom!”

That is what my 5 year old told me right before she met Chuck E. Cheese.  She was so excited to have her 5th birthday at one of her favorite places.  I’ve been hearing a lot about a Chuck E. Cheese party for months now but I was reluctant because the place can get kind of “wacko” with all the kids running around.

Let’s not forget about the parents – who can also get “wild” too. Have you heard about adults fighting at Chuck E. Cheese? I could not believe it either.  You can do a search on Youtube and find quite a few wild cat fights at CEC.  It’s pathetic if you ask me.

But being that we had our party start at 10 am, we had the whole place to ourselves.  About 12:30 pm, we decided we had enough (it was starting to get a bit crowded) and went home.

It was a fantastic day!! I HIGHLY recommend having a party at Chuck E. Cheese at 10 am because you’ll definitely beat the crowd!

I have a confession to make – I’m a Latina and I love food! 

I can’t help it. I love to taste and experiment with foods from other cultures and countries.  I love all types of foods from all over the world. What can I say, I’m a big time foodie! My top favorites are Italian, Chinese, Jamaican, Irish and Indian food.  My husband’s brother-in-law is Irish and his mother is one of the best cooks I know and the sweetest women you’ll ever meet too. She loves to cook and can make a mean Irish Soda bread, stuffing, Guinness Cake (with a whole bottle of Guinness beer!LOL) and of course, Shepherd’s pie. She even taught me how to make those delicious recipes but the one dish that I continue to make in my home is Shepherd’s pie, but with a Latina flair! And my kids LOVE it!

It’s really easy to make and the best part is that you can sneak some veggies into your child’s meal too.

Here’s what you need:

5 pounds of potatoes (Russet or Idaho works great for mashing)
2 pounds of lean ground beef
1 bag/box of frozen mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, green beans, peas)
1-2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour (it depends how thick you want it)
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of tomato paste or sauce – which ever you have on hand.
Seasonings that you would use to season meat.  I use a packet of sazon, adobo, pepper, cilantro, sofrito, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, oregano. (I like my foods well-seasoned )

Steps:

Peel and cut potatoes as you would for mashed potatoes. Dont’ forget to place the potatoes in cold water. You don’t want your papas (potatoes) to be hard on the inside.

While the potatoes are boiling, Brown the meat in a pan and add seasonings while you are browning it. I think if you season the meat while it browns, it makes the meat more flavorful because the seasonings has time to marinate with the meat.

Drain the meat if it’s too greasy.  Add your flour by sprinkling it over the meat. 

Stir. Then add your paste/tomato sauce.  Add the veggies and mix it around. 

Place your meat/veggie mixture into a casserole dish and set aside.

When the potatoes are done, drain it and place them back into the hot pot.  Add your ingredients that you would use for mashed potatoes. I use warm milk, butter, cream cheese and mayonnaise.

Once the mashed potatoes are done, place the potatoes over the meat & veggie mixture and place it in a preheated oven set to 350 degrees for 30 minutes and voila! You’ve got dinner.

Serve it with some dinner rolls and a nice salad and you’ve got yourself a well-balanced meal for you and your family.

Buen Provecho!! Happy Eating!!

Here we are once again - The Three Musketeers. Me, Dad and my sister.

I found this picture just a few days ago. I really don’t remember taking this picture but I’m so happy I found it. I must’ve been 12 or 13 years old so it was probably in 1989. I wish I could remember taking this photo but I can’t. At least I have the photo to prove it!

From our family to yours, hope you have a fantastic holiday!

It’s hard not to like Martha Stewart.  You’re bound to buy something that has her name written on the package.

Why?

Because she is everywhere and she can decorate your whole house with her line of EVERYTHING!  Believe me, she has some great looking towels, tablecloths, curtains, bedspreads, kitchen stuff, bedroom stuff -  the list can go on and on and on.

Today, I received an email from Sirius radio that I wanted to share with all of my readers.  Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner, there’s lots of planning going around for almost every family.  If you don’t have any ideas of what to cook, I have a special treat for you all.

Thanks to Martha Stewart, click HERE to download a free Thanksgiving Hotline Cookbook filled with recipes from the most famous, top chefs around.  You’ll find recipes for Soups & Starters, Sides & Salads Turkey & Entrees, Desserts, Wine, Liquor and Entertaining.

That pretty much sums it up for all your Thanksgiving needs and much more!

So go check it out, save it on your computer and start planning your menu!

***On Sirius radio, you can hear Martha on Channel 112.

August 18, 1994

That is the date my father passed away.  15 years ago. I still can’t believe he’s gone.  No one knew it was coming; it was a very sad surprise. He died exactly one week after we came back from Orlando, Florida. A vacation he planned for a couple of years for my sister and I.

After his sudden death, the whole family was stunned.  We couldn’t help but wonder why he died so suddenly.  It turned out after his autopsy, he had diabetes.  No one knew.  He probably didn’t know either but I knew something was wrong when we were in Florida.  He was urinating all the time.  That was not normal for him.  Being that he wasn’t taking the needed medications to live, his organs disintegrated.  He had no chance of living.

It still seems like yesterday.

People say it’ll get better but it doesn’t. You learn how to deal with it but that’s it. The pain will always be there, no matter what. I go about my day but when I think about him, that’s it! The tears automatically come rolling down without any warning.

My father was a good man, the best father and an all-around great person. His heart was huge and people that knew him agreed.  He had many friends, family and associates.  If someone needed his help, he was always there to help out.  No matter what.

That was the kind of man he was.

I miss that about him.

I also miss him.

Enjoy the  few of many photos I have of my Papi.

*There’s more to this tribute but I couldn’t handle the memories. It’s just too much. After all these years, I still can’t believe the pain feels so fresh.  Hopefully I can continue his tribute for his birthday, September 16th.  Until then, enjoy your loved ones because life is too damn short not to.

Happy Easter everyone.

I am exhausted from yesterday’s trip to the city. We were at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and it was FANTASTIC!! We loved it. My kids are already asking me when we can go again.

I have tons of posts to write and I don’t even know where to start. I’m just overwhelmed but I’ll get there. Kids are back to school on Tuesday but hopefully I can start before.

So please stay tuned because I have a giveaway (I know it’s so late), a review (& tons of pics to share) about the 1-800Flowers Mom Event (I had a ball) & the Circus review (We took so many pics).

Thanks for being patient. I will have those posts up on my site this week.

Until then, have a great day!! Even if you don’t celebrate Easter.

Lately, I have been totally addicted to Bakerella. She has the most amazing cupcakes, cake pops and goodies you could ever imagine.  I wish I was there to taste each and every goodness. So since I can’t be there, I tried to be Ms. Bakerella for several hours and made this:

(Cake Pops)

and this:

(Cupcake Bites)

It took me about 4 hours from start to finish.  It wasn’t that difficult to make but since it was my first time making them, it took awhile.  It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun.  She makes it easy because she has great tutorials.  I think I’ll make these again real soon.

I decided to make these scrumptious treats especially for my sister’s 28th birthday yesterday. I wanted to surprise her with these treats. She had planned to take the day off so she can relax but I wanted to cook her dinner, make her cupcakes, make her the cake pops & the cupcake bites and bring it to her for her very special day.  At first, I felt like I was imposing her relaxing day but she can relax another day, right? I won’t be able to see her for two weeks because she’ll be away on business.

Anyway, when we got there, she had no idea I was bringing any food or even a cake so she was definitely surprised and happy we were there. Good thing because I thought she would be a little upset being that I didn’t call her to let her know I was “stopping” by.

She was indeed very happy we were there.  It was like the “party” came to her.  It was my grandmother, my mom, my other two sisters and us (me and my 3 kiddies).  We had a blast.  Talking, eating, goofing around, surfing the web and eating some more.

Overall, it turned out to be a great day. We all had a wonderful time celebrating my wonderful sister’s birthday.  She’s a great person, great friend, and of course the best sister in the world!! I wish I could give her the world because she’s that great!

Hope you had fun Jess ! Love ya!