tinykitchenbigbites

Author: Danielle Ruiz

  • I Did an Experiment

    Howdy, everybody! Hope y’all’s week went well!

    Like the title to this post says, I decided to do a little experiment this past week. And I enlisted the help of…..dun dun dun…..ChatGPT to do it. Randy and I are on a weight loss journey. And I really didn’t feel like looking up and deciding on recipes or things to make this week. So I asked AI to help me plan a week’s worth of meals based on how many calories we need to lose weight, our budget for the week ($100) and just some personal preferences, for example, we don’t really eat pork. Oh, and I also told it where we typically like to grocery shop.

    And I have to say, it did pretty good! We even managed to stay under budget!

    It gave me several base recipes to prep for the week, which I did on Sunday. For example, the upper middle picture shows two base recipes, one for some baked chicken, and the other for roasted veggies. Now, we had that as a meal a several times during the week, but we also transformed the chicken into things like the chicken salad in the last two photos. And it tasted great! Of course, I made sure to wash any raw veggies really, really well, what with the current nastiness going around.

    And the breakfasts it gave us, I have to admit to being surprised, even Randy tried them….and LIKED them! The peaches and hard-boiled eggs ended up being a great on-the-go breakfast. It had been so long since I’d last had a peach….and it was perfectly ripe and juicy and oh-so-good.

    And I transformed that bowl of plain Greek yogurt into vanilla (no added calories) with a splash of vanilla extract and a little no-calorie sweetener. Add blueberries and a little cinnamon and you’ve got a winner! AND… Randy requested this breakfast again!

    This weekend, we went our own way, though.

    When we went to visit Randy’s mom this past Friday, we always stop to bring lunch for her and us. We found this place called “Mediterranean Grill and Grocery”. We’ve been there twice now and they have not missed. This time I got their lamb kabab platter with roasted veggies and stuffed grape leaves. It was DELICIOUS.

    Now this plate was a conglomeration of 2 meals. I made Randy some General Tso’s chicken cause he’d been craving it. And it actually tasted pretty solid! Close enough to take-out General Tso’s to be satisfying. Here’s the link to the recipe I used in case you want to try it…General Tso’s Chicken – RecipeTin Eats

    Randy had also defrosted some leg quarters, so he decided to fry the tiny ones and make some gravy to go on top. And that was dinner! And it was good!

    Usually when we make breakfast, we do the whole shebang…. eggs, sausage/bacon and pancakes. But we just didn’t feel like all that. So, I made us each little sausage and egg sandwiches using the sunny-side-up eggs as the “bread” or “biscuit”. Inside was a sausage patty and some cheese. Very tasty.

    On another note, Randy and I just got these lapel mics! They weren’t expensive and they work great! So, you will be seeing us on YouTube in the near future! I’ll let you know when we post our first video!

    And now, let’s settle down and get cozy on…. THE POPCORN COUCH!!

    This one was…. not bad. I really like Fassbender, and he did good in this one, too. It reminded me of a mix between “John Wick” and “Hitman”. Overall, a decent movie, but at the same time, nothing special.

    It was ok. There were lots of twists and turns in this who dunnit. The ending was decent. And I do wish we got to see more of the cab driver. He was the best or at least most likable character in the movie.

    I really liked this one. And it’s not just because it has a Hollywood crush of mine in it. I don’t know what it is about Benicio Del Toro, but, sigh. Chef’s kiss. I really liked his relationship with his wife in this. I liked all the different characters/suspects. Not a lot of action, but just a good detective story.

    And for this week, that’s all, folks! Hope you have a great rest of your week and I’ll talk to ya next time! Love ya!

  • A Pretty Chill Week

    Hey guys! It’s been a couple of weeks since I last posted. But WE’RE BACK!

    I really don’t have too much exciting going on right now. I mean, I do, but I didn’t take as many pictures as I meant to. But here we are.

    Isn’t he handsome? Pictures like this just bring me joy lol so I have to share them with you.

    But we have had some good eats this past week….

    We went to our local Mediterranean market/deli/restaurant and got this meat pie to try. It was really good and flavorful and the crust was soooo thin. It actually reminded me of my abuela’s meat pies/pastelitos she used to make. She would roll the dough out herself and grind her own meat and it had a similar flavor profile.

    Made some more pepper sandwiches and fries for lunch the other day and boy are they good. We discovered this new deli meat called Basterma at the Mediterranean market and it’s pretty great. It’s like a beef prosciutto it the best way I know how to describe it. But it’s really salty and rich in the best way.

    Here we had a leftover Scotch egg, some curly fries and sauteed carrots. Under all that avocado was some chicken breasts.

    We also wanted to try this egg curry seasoning packet we had. Easy to make, just hard-boiled eggs, mix the sauce packet with some tomato sauce/paste and voila! Served it with rice, broccoli and paratha bread. It was good, just a little spicier than I expected. So I ended up grabbing some tzatziki sauce to put on the side.

    I’d say we did a pretty good job recreating this Peri-Peri Chicken from the cookbook Randy got me! The recipe in it was based off Nando’s Peri-Peri Chicken. Now, I’ve never had Nando’s before, but the chicken we made tasted pretty darn good! And I think it looks pretty darn close to the picture in the cookbook (of course our lighting isn’t the best, but still). Huzzah.

    We also had some good food out and about this past week. We went to Biggby Coffee and got “Butter Bear” coffees, one iced and one frozen. They were really good! And it was my SIL’s birthday last month so we all went to this new pizza place called Dino’s. I got eggplant parm, and Randy ordered their spicy artichoke pizza (which was amazing). Both were really good! I’d go there again for sure.

    And finally, doesn’t that salad look delightful? Chicken, romaine lettuce, avocado (which, the recipe actually calls for bell pepper, but I ran out), tomato and cucumber with a Dijon vinaigrette. I have to say very satisfying and filling.

    And now that our bellies are full, it’s time for some popcorn and good? movies.

    First up is “Voces” aka “Don’t Listen”. This was a creepy movie. I had my hand shield up several times. SEVERAL unexpected moments in this movie. It’s in Spanish so you’ll need subtitles if you don’t speak it. Did NOT expect the ending. At all. But it was good. I’d recommend it.

    This one was good! I liked the next-door neighbor. Is the guy really stalking her? Is he really a serial killer? Or is she just crazy? Kind of a slow burn, but still intriguing.

    That’s all for this week y’all. Next week I’ll be sure to include some more recipes for you. I’m actually doing an experiment, so I’ll talk about that more next time, too! Later, gator!

  • An Average Week

    Wassup good people?!

    I don’t really have too much life update to talk about today. I was sick pretty much all of last week, well since Tuesday evening anyway. So of course that means workouts didn’t happen like I wanted them to. But I’m back on track today and feeling better!

    But the main thing (fun thing) that I did this week was go see my mom! (She’s the best.) We both enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles and we’ve been working on one for a little while now. Every time I come over we get some more done. Well, this time….we finished it!!!!

    Isn’t it cute?! I love this puzzle. It was fun to put together while still being a challenge and I mean, the dog’s faces are adorable and funny, and they have Pennywise in there! What’s not to love?

    We did cook some goodness, though!

    Like this delightful dinner of an asiago bagel with cream cheese and lox, a little leftover stir-fried bok choy and a summer roll. This was so satisfying and filling.

    Randy came up with this, and let me tell you….it was really, really good. That Paratha bread I think might be my new favorite bread. It was so flakey and buttery and just yummy. Randy marinated some chopped up chicken breast and we cooked it in a pan. I cooked up some cabbage and the last of our bok choy and some basmati rice. We used the sauces you see in the middle picture (I think that chili oil crunch is my new addiction). I would definitely make this again. It was too good.

    I’ve wanted to try Scotch Eggs for a while now. So, I made some! It was easier than I thought (and even tastier than I expected).

    First, hard-boil some eggs and pat them dry with a paper towel. Dredge in a bit of flour.

    Divide around 10oz of sausage (breakfast sausage) in to 4 round balls. Set aside a bowl of flour, an egg (scrambled), and a bowl of panko.

    Flatten each sausage ball on a piece of parchment paper.
    Wrap each egg in a flattened sausage ball.
    Dredge the ball in flour.
    Then in egg (make sure to shake off the drippings)
    And finally, in the panko.

    Air fry (I did it at 400 degrees for around 15 minutes. And they turned out crispy and perfect! Served them with…..

    Seasoned fries (also air fried)
    and Bell pepper sandwiches!

    Oh, and make sure y’all are cooking your veggies for now. Don’t want to catch that nasty sickness that’s going around. We actually baked those bell pepper sandwiches instead of having them raw. They still turned out great (even better, really).

    Now, as you’re getting your popcorn ready for our movie reviews…

    Try putting a little of this on it. It may not be healthy, but it will make your popcorn feel like movie theater popcorn for sure.

    And now……we’re doubling up on our movie reviews this week!

    Looks like they got Biff McHardslab as the main character. Antiestablishment vibes. Subliminal messages. I have to say, I want a pair of those glasses. And love the look of the aliens. Why the hell do people announce they can see things they’re obviously not supposed to see? His insults were pretty hilarious, though. All in all, I liked this one. The growling and snarling through the LONG fight scene were pretty funny, too.

    That nightmare was creepy as hell. I love the substitute teacher. It was very dark, visually, I mean. The parents were the creepiest thing about this movie. Otherwise, I didn’t find it really scary.

    This was strangely fun. Not as gory as the 2nd one (at least to me). And I like that it had the same characters as the 2nd one. More of a solid story, if you can call any of these films as having a solid story. It’s all about the deaths. Again, not really scary, but definitely nasty.

    And finally, this one wasn’t bad. It was kind of messed up what he did to Jeremy, even though Jeremy was being a bit of a dick. The ghosts were creepy. I don’t entirely get the ending scene. Does he see her? Does he not? I don’t know. But overall, an interesting movie.

    Alrighty guys. That’ll do it for this week’s episode. It’s been fun! Let me know if you’ve tried any of the recipes I show or seen any of the movies I’ve watched! Until next time! Love ya!

  • Looking Back

    7 years. It’s hard to believe that’s how long it’s been since Randy and I got married. Our anniversary was on the 9th, and it seems like it was just yesterday, but a lifetime ago at the same time. We’ve both grown and changed so much. Our LIVES have changed so much over the years. We’ve gone on so many adventures, and we don’t plan on stopping any time soon. No matter what life holds for us.

    We got married on a cruise ship! Royal Caribbean. It was an amazing time and thankfully most of our family got to go with us. It was simple, beautiful, and not stressful to plan! Really, you give them some preferences, and the cruise wedding planner pretty much does everything for you! Gosh I’m ready for another cruise now that I’m thinking about it.

    And speaking of anniversary happenings….

    Randy got me a new notebook to put my favorite recipes in, AND a copycat restaurant recipes cookbook! I’m so excited!

    I also got to go with him on his local truck route the other day and we stopped by this little, I guess you’d call it a road-side grocery store and fish market? Eagle Island Fruit and Seafood. They had fresh produce, seafood and a little bit of everything else in there.

    I got this “Mango Joe Tea”, and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting much. I was worried that it would taste like they put lemon in their sweet tea (yuck). But I was pleasantly surprised! They have a lot of different flavors. If you’ve ever tried it, let me know your favorite.

    We also decided that we were both going to pick something we really wanted to cook/eat and make it this weekend.

    Randy used to like the jalapeno double cheeseburger from McDonalds. So, we made our own! Cut a beef patty in half to make 2 patties, put green onion cheese (from the Eagle Island store) in between them, added pickled and crispy jalapenos and mayo! As you can see, I got into mine before I remembered to snap a picture.

    Now my pick was a little more complicated. I wanted to make something like a hotpot, but with a thicker sauce instead of a broth, some summer rolls with peanut sauce, miso soup, and garlic fried chicken with spicy mayo. Come on this culinary journey real quick with me…

    First I made this sauce for the “hotpot”. It’s milk, cream, garlic, mozzarella, parmesan, tomato paste, gochujang (a Korean chili paste) and some Complete Seasoning. I didn’t use measurements really, I kind of just eyeballed everything and tasted as I went. It turned out really good!

    On to the “hotpot” ingredients!

    I used these bean curd sheets (kind of like tofu skins) that you have to soak in cold water for 1-2 hours before putting in the broth/sauce. I just really like their texture. And they soak up the sauce really well.

    I stir-fried some baby bok choy as well for some veggies and crunch.

    I added these imitation lobster balls
    Which I boiled to make sure they were cooked through
    We also tried this brand of sausage we got from Lidl
    Cooked them in the air fryer
    These vermicelli went in both the “hotpot” and the summer rolls
    I just followed the instructions on the back of the package
    And I also added some mushrooms

    I’ll show you the finished product at the end.

    I made the summer rolls with the vermicelli shown above, shrimp, Thai basil, scallion and wrapped it all up in rice paper. I meant to add lettuce, but I forgot.

    I made a spicy mayo sauce for the chicken with mayo, gochujang, and chili oil crunch
    Marinated the chicken in soy sauce, milk, egg and spices
    Coated it in flour and cornstarch and fried it up!
    After frying, I coated it in garlic powder and pepper
    Close up of deliciousness!

    Oh, yes, and I made Miso soup as well!

    And here’s the finished plate!

    I made a valiant effort to finish all this, by the way. But alas, it was not to be. Leftovers are a beautiful thing.

    Of course, throughout the week we did eat other, healthier things. For the most part.

    Sunday breakfast was a bacon egg and cheese croissant (really filling so I only ate 1/2 of mine). We had 4th of July dinner with my parents, Randy made marinated baked chicken, I made BBQ meatballs and mom made mac salad, baked beans and corn on the cob. It was sooo good! And finally, this last one has become somewhat of a staple meal for us during the week. Lettuce wraps with avocado, egg and sardines with whatever sauce we want to put on it. It’s actually really good and satisfying.

    Ok guys….it is time! Do you have your snacks and frosty beverage? It’s time for the popcorn couch! (I might change the name to include the book review we’re doing sometimes, but I’m not sure yet. Any suggestions let me know.)

    I loved the main character’s voice. But she talked to her sick husband like he was a child. Ew. I didn’t find it scary or creepy at all, really. The house was gorgeous. I actually kind of liked Mags. Gave me a “The Picture of Dorian Gray” type vibe. Especially at the end. Not a scary movie, but interesting.

    This was a mix between “Saw” and one of those escape room games/movies. If those movies were about dating. It was entertaining. The kills weren’t anything special, more the things they had to do to get to the next room were interesting. I did like the ending. Half expected it but also half expected it to go another way. This was fun!

    And finally,

    Now I grew up (and still am) Catholic. Went to Catholic school and all that. But I realized how surprisingly easy it can be to lose sight of the basics as you get caught up in life. To put it simply, this book reminded me of what I believe and also answered some questions I forgot I had. I LOVED the writing style, and he made everything clear and logical. I almost feel like, even if you weren’t Christian, this book would have you questioning things.

    Okey dokey people. I think that’s all I’ve got for this week. Until next time! Love ya!

  • Back in Action!

    Written by

    Danielle Ruiz

    What is up everyone?! Long time no see! A lot of you probably didn’t even realize the previous blog existed, but that’s ok. Welcome. Here’s a picture of a stud muffin to make your day brighter…..

    There you go. Feeling better?

    Anyway, let’s move on, shall we?

    So, I have a lot to talk about today. It’s been an interesting month. June, that is. This post will probably come out around July 1st. But anyway, Randy, (the stud muffin in the picture above), his 40th birthday was in June. Anyone else a Gemini out there? So guess where I took him?

    “Wreck It Rage Room”! We had such a good time! It’s a 30-minute session and they give you a box of plates, windowpanes, a windshield, some home appliances and a dummy bust to smack around with the variety of tools they give you (bats, crowbars, sledgehammers, etc.). It was very satisfying, I must say.

    We celebrated his Birthday dinner with my family. Mom made a BEAUTIFUL Greek salad. I also made him a Chicken Cesar Pizza with a crust made of ground chicken (his request). It turned out so freaking good, guys, you have to try it! Especially if you’re trying to do low carb. Look up

    And then…..VACATION TIME!!!!

    My cousin has a beach house in Santa Rosa Beach that we use for a family reunion every year or so for a week. We got to go out on his boat twice while we were there and visited Shell Island! You can dock the boat pretty much right up to the shallow water where when you get out, you’re standing. The water was so warm and nice. Very relaxing, and we had an amazing time.

    And our adventures weren’t just on the boat….

    Still studious while on vacay
    Mexican Street Corn Salad I made for our Mexican themed dinner
    Pirate themed dinner and show
    Beach ready Randy
    Can you feel the peace and calm?
    Nothing better than sitting with a coffee and some new books

    In other words, we had a fabulous time.

    On our way back home we stopped in Savannah, GA. We found this cute place around the corner from the hotel and I got to fulfill my craving for fettuccini alfredo.

    And when we got back, we made some homemade hibachi that turned out great.

    And you can’t have hibachi without yum yum sauce.

    And now I’d like to share a recipe I made from Martha Stewart….Asparagus Timbale.

    This was my setup before I started actually cooking. My baking pan lined with a kitchen towel, my brioche mold lined with plastic wrap, a bowl of ice water, prepped veggies (spinach, onion, garlic, and asparagus), seasonings, cream, and eggs.

    First blanche your asparagus in boiling water and then dunk it in the ice bath.

    Then do the same with the spinach.

    Set aside your asparagus heads and chop up the stalks finely.

    Saute your onion and garlic in butter.

    Blend, blend, blend. I’m not gonna lie, I struggled with this part because I didn’t have a nice big blender, but I made it work.

    Add your eggs and seasonings and whisk it up.

    Heat up the cream and add that too, as well as the chopped asparagus stalks.

    This’ll be your set up when you’re ready to put it in the oven.

    When it’s done, this is the texture you want!

    And the final result!

    And here’s our final thoughts….A SUCCESS!! It turned out quite tasty! I would make this again for sure. It may be a little complicated, but not too bad. I’d say it was worth it.

    I’m going to try and do more of these kinds of posts, recipes and stuff (maybe a little more polished, but hey, gotta start somewhere).

    And now, drumroll please…..if you read my last blog you cozied up on the popcorn couch with me for our movie reviews. Those are continued now.

    So butter and salt your popcorn, grab a soda and watch with me.

    Disappearing bodies? Check. Creepy guy who lives at the hotel with a tragic past? Check. Detectives being told not to meddle? Check. Random supernatural entity that, for some reason, didn’t feel quite in place with the rest of the movie? Yup, it had that too.

    First of all, I LOVE the house they live in. I have to say though, I figured the movie out from the first. But I still liked it. Darcy was a very likable character. Why do people always tell the other when they’re going to leave an abusive realtionship or ruin someone’s reputation, etc? Do you think they’re just going to let you? Sigh. Anyway, kind of a satisfying ending.

    And occasionally we will be adding book reviews to this section.

    I ended up enjoying this book. The characters grew on me for sure. Enough for me to get a tad bit ferclempt at a specific part which shall not be spoiled for you (you MIGHT read this, you never know). It took me a while to get used to the characters speaking in “Shakespear” quite a bit, but it did end up adding to the story in a good way. Anyway, I do recommend this.

    Alrighty readers. It’s been fun. I’m glad to be back writing this blog. Hopefully you have fun reading it. Let me know if you’ve been any of the places I mention or try any of the recipes I post! I’d love to hear from you!

    Until next time! Love ya!