Marching forward

Is it March already?!?! Where has the time gone?! Well for me, it has been insanely busy! Completing Fall Semester of college, Starting Spring Semester of College, traveling to Parris Island #IslandofMarines hehehehe OH and my home state of Florida!

Bursting with blueberries!!!

There is something about blueberries I adore, especially when they are included in muffins!
Perhaps it's the juicy, warm texture...oh who am I kidding - I love the rich purple colour they develop once cooked!!!

Fiesta of Flavours

My most recent Mazola recipe was another success.  I chose to make the Sweet & Spicy Salmon with grapefruit salsa.  This recipe packs a zesty kick that is only enhanced by the grapefruit salsa. 

Mazola Food Rave!

To those who may stop by from time to time I will start with a simple apology for neglecting my blog for SO long!  December was crazy with cooking, parties, and presents; January was busy with multiple birthdays, and I also started a new semester of college!  February was a flurry of work, college class, college assignments and FINALLY the brand ambassador program with Allrecipes.com re-launched!!!!

Beautiful bison

Most people have heard of the phrase "Pork, the other white meat."  However, I'm not cooking with Pork today.  I'm cooking with Bison!  Meet the better red meat!
Have you ever had beef bison! Of course you have (unless you're a vegetarian). This month I was able to work with the The Bison Council, and if you've never had bison you're missing out on some yummy goodness!!  Often called Buffalo, Bison is the same.   

The folks at High Plains Bison shipped a package of their Bison top sirloin steaks to me, and the folks at Allrecipes.com requested that I make the Caprese Bison Sirloin Steak with Bow tie pasta using my bison.  At that point it was game on!
In making the suggested recipe I cheated.  Did I just say that?  Yes I did.  I didn't want so much pesto in my pasta so I reduced the amount to 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons of pesto.  It was MORE than enough.   Once my pasta was cooked, I allowed it to cool slightly and then mixed in my pesto.  I placed the bowl in the fridge to chill, while I did some research on bison.
In cooking with Bison you have to be aware of one extremely important factor. 
It is a lean meat!  For every 100 grams of Bison there is 1.35 grams of fat (contrast that with Beef which has 11.1 grams of fat per 100 grams)
What does this mean for the carnivore meat lover?   It means that it has a totally different preparation method!  It will take 1/3 LESS time, and 1/3 less heat.    The bonus:  You can now have your steak and eat healthier!  Remember how I said I cheated in making the suggested recipe?  I chose to marinate my bison steaks, in typical fashion. If you want the marinade recipe, click here.  After I allowed my bison to marinate and get happy, I cranked up the grill. 

In knowing that these steaks cook faster, and use less heat I made sure to keep an eye on them.  I'm typically a well done kinda gal, but for the bison I made an exception and cooked them to medium rare, meaning the internal temperature was about 110°-115°.   Don't the steaks look mouthwatering!

After letting my steaks rest for the nominal time, I then proceeded to slice them. One slightly important note to make.  This recipe calls for fresh mozzarella, so please don't use the brick stuff, use the fresh stuff.  Back to the center of attraction: Voila!  Bison Caprese Farfalle salad - it's the same recipe, just renamed *grins* doesn't it look yum!  The bison council twitter group thought so!!!

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The goodness of Goya®

In my shopping trips I've often passed by the international aisle, and while I love ethnic cuisine I've usually found myself avoiding products that I deemed different.  This is not the case for Goya®!

An apple a day

Recently I had an anonymous comment from someone who emailed the following question:  "How do you slowly make your cooking habits to the more healthy way of cooking.. without sacrificing the recipes you love"

Let's eat fish!

Fish is a food most people love to hate.  Typically it's the smell that creates the dislike.  Fresh fish tho has no "fishy" smell. If you're landlocked like me, finding a reputable grocer that has fresh fish is a challenge!