Florence, Italy

Last weekend, We went for an adventure and went to Florence!

We took a train and it was so much fun. 

It was definitely not as perfect but sometimes its the way to learn things.

You just have to go for it, be flexible and not worry so much.

We made it in Florence before lunch and I'm so glad that we got to check in right away.

We stayed in a hotel called S.Giorgio olimpic and it was right outside the train station.

It was perfect because we didn't have to walk 30 minutes with our luggage and babies.

It was about 5 minutes walk.

 After relaxing for a little bit we went out to explore Florence!

The walking around was not bad. 

Just like any other Italian cities it was a little bit busy. 

But, It's beautiful everywhere!

The walk to the Pizzale Michelangelo was a bit struggle for us since we had stoller with us.

But, it was worth it.

It was beautiful.

I definitely recommend going here if you are going to Florence.

You can see the whole Florence up here and the weather was perfect too.

After our walk at the Piazza we took a little break and had drinks!

How good this drink look?

Spritz is one of my favorite drink these days and this is probably the fanciest Spritz I've had so far.

We continued walking and one thing I noticed about Florence is that..

You don't even need to go inside museums.

The whole city is like museum.

Statues every where.

It's just amazing!

The Piazza

The church.

Definitely  the second best I've seen in Italy.

The first is still Milan Duomo.

Busy streets.

If you like to take pictures with no one in the background

Definitely come out early.

Such a beautiful church.

I stopped by at the Asian store and I'm so happy to find these!

Korean Soju!

It's been a while.

After walking all day we hangout at the hotel

Relaxed before we went out for dinner. 

Great day in Florence so far.

Ciao!

In today’s rush...

“In today’s rush we all think too much,
seek too much, want too much 
and forget about the joy of just being.” 

Pot Roast (Crock pot)

Weekend is here!!

What is your plans for the weekend??

I am so excited for our weekend. 

Hopefully everything will go smoothly.

Anyways, Sunday's are usually my favorite days to make Crock pot meals. 

But, Fridays seems to be better to make Crock pot meals.

We love having good Friday night meals while watching our shows

and this meal is just so perfect especially with the weather now.

It has been so cold!

I mean who doesn't like a classic Pot Roast. 

This is perfect cooked in Crock pot.

Slow cooked, making the meat really soft and full of flavor.

Let me know what you guys think!

First, Pan-Sear the meat.

This is such a good step when cooking meat in a Crock pot

so don't skip it!

Then mixed the Veggies. 

Look at the colors! Yum, Yum.

I highly recommend this recipe guys.

Let me know what you think.

Crock pot Pot Roast

Ingredients

• 2-3 lb Beef Roast
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp Salt
• 2 tsp Pepper
• 1 tsp Thyme
• 1 tsp Tarragon
• 2 tsp minced Garlic
• 1 lb Carrots
• 2 lb Potatoes
• 1 large Onion
• 32 oz Beef Stock
• 3 tbsp Cornstarch

Instructions

• Peel and cut carrots into 1-3" pieces.
• Peel and cut onions into 1-3" pieces.
• Wash and cut potatoes into 1-3" pieces.
• Mix together salt, pepper, thyme and tarragon.
• Rub roast with olive oil, garlic and cover with about 2/3 of spice mix.
• Heat skillet over medium high heat and brown on all sides.
• Transfer roast to slow cooker.
• Lightly coat vegetables in olive oil and season with remaining spice mix.
• Transfer vegetables to slow cooker.
• Add some stock to skillet and stir to deglaze.
• Pour liquid into slow cooker.
• Add remaining stock to slow cooker.
• Cook on high for 5 hours or low for 10 hours until vegetables are tender and meat pulls apart easily.
• Transfer meat and vegetables to serving dish.
• Pour liquid in sauce pan. and heat.
• Mix cornstarch with an equal amount of water and stir until well blended.
• Add cornstarch mix to sauce and heat, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens.
• Pour sauce over meat and vegetables

Have a good weekend guys and enjoy!!!

xo

-Jen

Pesto Tortellini with Fresh Mozzarella & Grape Tomatoes

The other day I made this delicious Salad ( Tomato Avocado Mozzarella Salad )

I'm obsessed with fresh ingredients lately so I made a different version of it.

I added Pasta.

 I have been going to Italian store every week and I love it. 

So.. I'm going to try to make more good Italian dishes every time I get a chance.

Anyways..

It's crazy, we've been here for exactly one year. 

Where did the time go?

I will definitely share a little bit of how the one year went.

But, I hope you guys enjoy this recipe as much as I did.

Buon Apetito!

Pesto Tortellini with Fresh Mozzarella & Grape Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS

2 (8.8-ounce) packages Ricotta-Spinach Tortellini 

1/4 cup  Pesto Sauce

1/4 cup  Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

3 cups of fresh cherry tomatoes 

2 cups of mini fresh mozzarella balls  

DIRECTIONS 

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook tortellini according to package instruction, about 14 minutes. Drain.

2. Meanwhile in a mixing bowl, whisk together olive oil and pesto until well combined. Add cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and cooled pasta to bowl. Toss to coat. Stir in salami if desired. 

3. Serve chilled 

Enjoy!

xo

-Jen

Yes I can, Yes I can.

Yes I can, Yes I can...

       And I will.

Boston Cream Poke Cake

I made a lot of Pumpkin dessert lately.

So I decided to give Pumpkin a break and make something else last weekend. :)

I've been wanting to try to make Poke Cakes.

I had it one time when I went to a house party and it was so good.

So moist! You don't need Ice cream for sure.

This cake needs to be kept refrigerated.

It taste better after it has sat in the fridge overnight.

I've been seeing a lot of  Poke Cake recipes. 

I will definitely try the other ones.

Enjoy!

Boston Cream Poke Cake

Ingredients

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• ingredients needed to make cake; eggs oil and water
• 2 3.4 oz boxes instant vanilla or French vanilla pudding
• 4 cups milk
• 1 tub chocolate frosting

Instructions

1. Make cake mix according to directions and bake in a well-greased 9 x13 pan.
2. When cake is finished, while still warm, poke holes all over cake (about 1-inch) intervals using a wooden spoon handle or other similar size object.
3. You want the holes to be fairly big so that the pudding has plenty of room to get down in there.
4. Be sure to poke right down to the bottom of the cake.
5. In a bowl, prepare pudding.
6. Whisk together instant pudding mix with 4 cups milk.
7. Whisk until all the lumps are gone.
8. Pour pudding over cake. Taking care to pour it right into the holes as much as possible.
9. Spread it all out and using the back of the spoon, gently push pudding down into the holes.
10. Put the cake into the fridge to set and cool (about 2 hours).
11. Remove the lid and foil covering from the tub of chocolate frosting.
12. Pop it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds.
13. Stir with a spoon.
14. It should still be a little thick but pourable - not bubbly hot.
15. Pour chocolate frosting on top of pudding.
16. Spread frosting evenly over cake starting in the center then spreading it towards the sides.
17. Allow to cool on the counter for a few minutes, then put into the fridge to fully cool and set up.

Tomato Avocado Mozzarella Salad

Happy Monday everyone!

I hope you all had a good weekend.

I love, love Monday's 

Fresh start and perfect time for a Reset.

I definitely enjoyed a lot of good food this weekend and this Salad is just perfect.

Good to make for Appetizer, Side dish or however you want it.

Let me know what you guys think!

Salad ingredients:
• 1/2 pound (2 cups) red grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 avocados, diced
• 8 ounces small fresh mozzarella cheese balls

Dressing ingredients:
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons honey, warmed
• salt, to taste

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients, except Mozzarella cheese balls. That is, combine halved red  grape or cherry tomatoes, diced avocado.
2. In a small bowl, combine all dressing ingredients: whisk olive oil and honey until nice and smooth.
3. Add the salad dressing to the large bowl with salad, sprinkle with a small amount of salt, and toss to combine. Taste and season with more salt, if needed. Add Mozzarella cheese balls on top. Enjoy!!

Have a great week!

xo

-Jen

Surround yourself...

"Your soul is attracted to people

The same way flowers are attracted to the sun,

Surround yourself only with those

who wants to see you grow."

Beef Tips and Gravy (Crock pot)

Happy Friday!!!

How was your week?

I hope it was short and good. 

Hubby has been so good with joining me with my Vegetarian diet.

Especially during the week.

During the weekend though we still do eat a little bit of meat.

I think that's okay..

I mean, Balance.. right??

This Dish is so..soo good guys.

I usually feel like crap every time I eat meat but this one

Not really. 

So comforting, Perfect when its starting to get cold outside. 

I love love my Crockpot.

Highly recommend making this. 

Let me know what you guys think!

Beef Tips and Gravy (Crock pot) 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs beef chuck roast 

1 1/2 tbsp lemon pepper seasoning (optional) 

1 package of dry onion soup mix 

1 10.5 oz can of cream of mushroom soup lower sodium 

1 14 oz can of beef broth low sodium 

Instructions:

1. In a 5 quart slow cooker, combine dry onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup and beef broth. Whisk to combine (don't worry if there are lumps, they will come out as it cooks). 

2. Cut beef into about 1 1/2-inch cubes. 

3. Sprinkle lemon pepper seasoning on beef. 

4. Add meat to crock pot and give it all a good stir. 

5. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. You can serve this up just as it is when it is ready or you can easily thicken up the gravy part. 

6. In a medium pot, melt two tablespoons of butter. 

7. Once it is melted, add in about 3 heaping tablespoons of flour. 

8. Whisk it together until smooth. 

9. Then pour in 2 cups of the beef broth mixture into the butter/flour mixture. 

10. Whisk it again until smooth, then bring the heat up to high (while whisking briskly the whole time.) It should quickly begin to thicken. 

11. Once it gets to your desired thickness, take it off the heat and pour it back into your crock pot. 

12. Then add the beef tips back in. 

13. Served with Mashed potatoes or rice. Enjoy!

Quinoa Fried Rice

This week has been one of the busiest.

That just means not much time for cooking.

So glad, There's so many recipes that is easy to make and healthy at the same time.

The other day I made this really simple Quinoa Fried Rice.

Definitely healthy and so good.

Don't forget to make Quinoa a day ahead or in the morning if you are going

to make it for dinner.

Let me know what you think!

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Cooked Day Old Quinoa*
• 1/2 Teaspoon Minced Ginger
• 1 Medium Carrot minced or shredded
• 1/4 Onion minced
• 1/2 Cup Frozen Peas
• 1/2 Cup Frozen Corn
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Plus 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon of Soy Sauce

Instructions

1. Scramble the 2 eggs into a bowl
2. Using a skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of sesame oil over medium high heat
3. Add the scrambled eggs and let them cook. Remove from heat and chop them in pieces
4. Pour the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat and cook the onions, carrots, and ginger for 2-3 minutes
5. Add the cooked Quinoa and stir until combined. Add the soy sauce and mix everything together. Add the cooked eggs
6. Add the frozen peas and cook one minute more until the peas are heated through
7. Enjoy

Enjoy!!

xo

-Jen

Trust the Process.

"Hold the vision,

  Trust the process."