30 Days of Me: Day 24

What ever tickles my fancy:

I LOOOOOOVE food... if I haven't made that clear... and if there is one thing I love more than just food its, food from all over the world! I am incredibly thankful to Air Force for sending us to Fort Gordon, Georgia... not because it was heaven on earth (because it most certainly wasn't... no, no we all know that's Hawaii LOL!) but because I have made the best friends there... my best friend, who just also happen to be my back door neighbor (and trust me at 2am that was incredibly convenient) also happens to be Cuban! She is an amaaaaaaazing cook and I could eat her food everyday, all day and weight 400 pounds and be completely happy LOL! One thing she taught me how to make was Picadillo, which is my favorite out of all her dishes and thankfully for me is easy to make! Whenever I'm missing her and the family (because were at the point were we feel like were related) and trust me I miss them ALOT, I just make us some Picadillo and some Plantain chips. Today is one of those days... Its been crazy busy around here lately and I need some comfort food. :)

So how do I make said scrumptious food you wonder? Like theeeeeese....
(yes, theeeeeese... because when your making Cuban food you need to speak in an accent! LOL!)


1 lb. ground beef
1 large onion chopped (I like to use scallions)
2-3 garlic cloves chopped
1 small can (plain) tomato sauce
1/4 cup dry white wine
Pimento stuffed Olives (I love olives so I use the whole jar)
and then I add more pimentos :D
2 packets of Goya Sazon Seasoning
1 pair of Spanish Chorizo cut up
1/2 a small bushel of fresh cilantro

In a large skillet brown meat adding onions and garlic.
Once meat is browned turn down to medium low, Add tomato sauce and the wine.
Add olives (its ok if the some of the brine gets in) pimentos, Goya Sazon seasoning, Spanish Chorizo and let simmer for until mixture is mostly dry.

Serve over fluffy white rice with black beans or use for Pastelitos!

I also like to serve this with fresh plantain chips which are also pretty easy to make

just slice up (very thinly) 2 plantains and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. Salt to liking.

I also like to make salsa for my plantains and this recipe is really the shiz!

If you want to make a lot of it, I recommend using a whole pineapple but since its just us 3 I use the a can of crushed pineapple.

Heat olive oil over medium heat add 2/3 cup of red onion stir 3-4 mins. just until soften not browned. Add 2 table spoons of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of red bell pepper stir for 1 minute to combine. Remove from heat add pineapple, 2 table spoons fresh cilantro, 2 table spoons fresh lime juice and stir to combine. Its best if you make it ahead of time and let it sit in the fridge so all the ingredients blend together... oh its so good!

Girls Night Out

Tonight was girls night out!! YAY!! I think it was well deserved and in order since Ive been working so hard on school work, I really kinda needed the break. It was nice to just get out and relax with the girls a bit. We went to dinner, just chick-fil-a but it hit the spot, those wraps are so yummy! Then we went to the movies to see Dear John, which I loved and made me ball my little girlie eyes out tear up a bit.

I loved the movie and loved the actors but was slightly disappointed in the ending, I just felt a bit blank, I felt like I needed some closure. Other than that it was a great movie. I mean how could you not love 105 mins of Channing Tatum hottness!! He sure makes that Army uniform look incredible…

The deployment scenes were almost a little too realistic, one in particular where I think just about every military wife, fiance, girlfriend or signification other that was sitting in that theater jumped outta their skins. And other parts were so shocking it left you totally open mouthed.

All in all it was worth the time to take to see and I will probably own it once it comes out on dvd.