Pork Tacos

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

Tacos. Can we all just agree that they are the greatest invention ever? You know in Shrek when Donkey says parfaits are the best thing on the whole damn planet? He lied. Tacos make the world go round. I've had Mexican food on the brain a lot lately, but I've been kind of torn on hosting a Cinco de Mayo dinner this year. We'll all be fully vaccinated by then, but I'm still treading extended family gatherings with caution. One option would be to have it outdoors, but my sister-in-law always makes fried tacos, which requires the use of my stove since they need to be eaten hot out of the pan, so I don't think that's going to work for me. But, I've also been thinking we could make these Pork Tacos from Golden Blossom Honey ahead of time and just keep them warm in a slow cooker by running an extension cord from my kitchen to my patio.

 

I made these for Jason and Allison earlier this week and they were a huge hit. If you have a good veggie dicer, there isn't much involved in the way of prep, which easily makes this an under 30 minute meal idea. I do think they will retain their flavor and moisture quite well by keeping them warm in a slow cooker, so if you need to make these ahead of time, no need to worry about them drying out or getting a rubbery texture if they can't be eaten right away. The recipe says to serve with a side of black beans, but for vegetarians, you can substitute the pork portion with black, garbanzo or pinto beans and serve with a side of rice for a great meat-free alternative.

Ingredients

1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat and cut into thin strips
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY, divided
1 cup onion, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 cup plum tomatoes, chopped (about 3 large)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
8 (6-inch) flour tortillas
1 avocado, sliced

 

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest!  

 

 

 

Will you be celebrating Cinco de Mayo this year?

 

 

 

 

 

And Into The Redwood Forest I Go...

Happy Earth Day! In honor of this holiday, I'm sharing one of my favorite west coast adventures with you today. On our road trip last January we thought we were going to have time to stop at Redwood State Park, but it ended up being a little out of the way from our route. I've had an odd obsession with trees since I was a little girl, so I was NOT leaving Cali without driving through some redwoods. We did a quick search while heading up the coast and discovered that Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park would be a doable stop while sticking to our itinerary. 

The first thing we wanted to see was this beautiful teal river that we noticed on our drive in.

We were lucky to have this part of the beach almost exclusively to ourselves, besides a few fly fishermen down the coast and a boat passing though every now and again. 

 

After a few peaceful moments rest by the water, Allison and I were itching to hit the trails. But, since Jason was exhausted from driving through most of the night before, he wanted to rest by the water in the RV while we explored. And into the forest we went, just the two of us. 

Because I have the worst sense of direction, I worried there for a minute that we were going to be one of those missing persons cases you hear about on the news where you find the people many days after they've gone missing. But thankfully the trails are pretty well marked, so we didn't wander off to our doom never to be heard from again. The trees were everything that I hoped they would be and more. You truly feel microscopic standing amongst them!

This beast fell over at some point and we couldn't get over how huge the base of it was up close!

On our hike, we noticed they do have spots for tent camping. There were also plenty of clean bathrooms nearby. However, we were here before Covid, so if you're wanting to plan a camping getaway here, make sure you check to make sure they have opened the grounds back up for overnight stays. 

Even when we weren't admiring the big trees, the foliage was quite beautiful to gaze upon. Especially since our landscapes here in Indiana don't compare to the beauty you find in California. 

Allison tried to channel Wonder Woman and thought she'd be able to kick over a redwood LOL

And she succeeded! Just kidding. But she did have fun testing her upper body strength by doing pull ups on this downed tree.

Since we needed to get on the road if we were going to make it to Oregon that night, we didn't spend more than 2 hours in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, but given the chance, I'd love to camp here for a few days on our next visit. 

Even if you don't live near the redwoods, get out there and hug a tree today. Nature is beautiful! Happy Earth Day!

Have you ever seen a redwood in person?

Tomato Tortilla Soup

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

It's soup weather. It's not soup weather. No wait, it's soup weather again. Mother Nature needs to calm down and stick with one season. I eat soup year round, but more so when there's a nip in the air.  After a few glorious weeks of heat, we're back to sweater weather and that means that I'm pulling out my soup pot more often these days. I had some avocados that were getting a little too ripe earlier this week and knew that I needed to find a recipe to use them in pronto. My search led me to this Tomato Tortilla Soup recipe from Golden Blossom Honey.

 

Is it too early to be thinking about Cinco de Mayo? Not in the Mahoney household since Mexican food is life for our family. If you're like us, you'll already be planning or pinning to your fiesta board in preparation for the upcoming holiday, and this recipe needs to be right up there with the rest of them. I'll admit, I wasn't quite sold on this recipe at first since I've always been more of a taco soup kind of girl, but once you add in the toppings, I think I just might like this recipe more. If you want to keep the soup meat-free, black beans are an excellent substitution for the chicken. The only change I would make to this recipe is by adding in more than just 3 of the fried tortilla strips at the end. It gives it an extra boost of texture, plus, who doesn't love fried tortilla strips hot out of the pan!?

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
1 (28 ounce) can tomatoes, drained
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
4 (6 inch) corn tortillas, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
8 cups chicken stock
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 Tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
1 Tablespoon parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 bay leaves
salt to taste
Toppings:
3 (6 inch) corn tortillas, cut into strips, sauteed in oil and drained
2 cups cooked chicken, diced
2 avocados, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
sour cream

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest!  

 

 

 

Do you eat soup year round?

 

 

 

 

 

Green Beans with Roasted Onions

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

Green Bean Casserole, what do we think of it? For me, it's a no. I know it's a staple at many holiday meals, but to me it just looks like a pile of mush. We decided to push our Easter dinner until this weekend with the kids since nobody was going to be able to make it home for actual Easter. I sent the kids a dinner request text and got a request back from Mariah's boyfriend for.... green bean casserole. Ky, it's not happening. Sorry. BUT, something like Fresh Green Beans with Onions is totally doable! 

 

 

This recipe from Golden Blossom Honey is great for any holiday meal or for the upcoming summer months where *hopefully* we will all be able to resume backyard BBQ's with our loved ones. It has minimal ingredients, but is super flavorful. And it's so much healthier than a dish smothered in creamed soup! The recipe says the onions can be roasted a day ahead of time, but if you're like me, you're going to want to top your green beans with the onions piping hot right out of the oven. Also, if you're like me, you're going to want to make a double batch because it's going to be hard to want to share this delightful dish!

Ingredients

2 medium-large yellow onions, peeled and cut vertically into 8 wedges
2 tablespoons butter, melted
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest!  

 

 

 

Green Bean Casserole, yay or nay?

 

 

 

 

 

JoJo's Shake Bar Brings Me To The Yard

We'll be heading to Chicago on Friday, and when it's for a scheduled doctor visit, Jason treats me to some of my favorite Windy City cuisines afterwards. However, I still haven't decided where we'll dine this week yet. I mean, I usually  never say no to Giordano's deep dish pizza, but I also have a soft spot for JoJo's Shake Bar. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll see that their freakshakes are my jam! 

If you live in the Chicagoland or surrounding areas, you'll see a lot of advertising for JoJo's on your social media. Pictures of their milkshakes are drool-worthy (and enough to send one into a diabetic coma, I'm sure), but are they worth the social media hype? If you ask me, I'll tell you I'll make the 2 hour drive from my house just for a milkshake. If you ask Jason, he'll tell you he has no desire to ever step foot in there again.  So, I suppose it depends on how much you love milkshakes and sugar?

Let me start my review by saying that I had someone on Instagram send me a message after I posted my freakshake pic and tell me that I need to eat better. Not that I have to explain my eating habits to anyone, but JoJo's should be treated as a special treat, not for every day food, which is what I do. I've been 3 times in 2 years, so mind your own business and move along if milkshakes and candy aren't your thing. For those of you who are interested, continue on :)

Before the pandemic, we got to dine indoors. Y'all remember those days? JoJo's Milk Bar is an Instagram worthy little eatery with a full menu consisting of grub like sandwiches, tacos, lasagna, biggie shakes and hot cocoa, and my personal favorite, cheese fries. Vegetarian or Vegan? Not an issue! They can accommodate your dietary needs. 

And, where else are you going to get to dine with Biggie and The Queen, who both have milk mustaches!? 

The first shake I ever ordered was The Gold Digger. 

This milkshake is made with vanilla ice cream infused with caramel. It's topped with gold toned candies and cookies. But, as much as I loved the milkshake, I'll will agree with Jason and say that you're paying for the novelty of these shakes and they really aren't worth the $14 asking price. We split this one and I honestly didn't feel like the actual milkshake was enough to satisfy two people. We had the waitstaff box up the candy and cookie toppings so we could give them to the girls when we got home. By the next afternoon, the toppings were getting pretty stale and hard, so we ended up throwing them out since nobody wanted to eat them at that point.

While I was in Chicago in early December, Jason thought he'd treat me and my bestie to dinner at JoJo's. By treat, I mean drop us off at their outdoor dining winter wonderland and go find himself food elsewhere LOL. I had seen their special peppermint winter shake on their Facebook page and really didn't want to miss out on getting my hands on it before the season was over. Dining indoors was not (and to my knowledge, still not) happening, but they did set up a huge heated outdoor tent decorated in winter/Christmas theme for diners. Now, the setup was all kinds of adorable, but my excitement for my birthday meal went south rather quickly when the hostess told me there was a $20 SIT DOWN FEE. Like, what in the actual fuck is a sit down fee? She didn't tell me of any fee when we put our names on the waiting list and Jason had already drove off, so I paid the $20 just for the privilege of dining at JoJo's, which soured the birthday meal a bit for me. But, it was my bestie's first time here and I did love the decor, so I let it go. We both ordered the Winter Peppermint Shakes and cheese fries. Absolutely delish! 

But again, as much as I love the shakes and fries, our total with the sit down fees and tip came to $85. For 2 shakes and 2 baskets of fries. I didn't even pay that much for food in New York! 

I was going to wait until they took down their Christmas tent dining area to post my review since I didn't want to encourage anyone to show up and get blindsided with a sit down fee, but it appears that they have converted the area to a Candyland theme until the end of April, so I'm sure a sit down fee still applies if you plan to tent dine. For me, on top of the high food prices, tips and sit down fees, JoJo's is not worth the hype. But, the food is really good, so I personally won't stop patronizing them when we're in Chicago, but will place a curbside to-go pickup order for my future visits. 

If you like massive milkshakes/freakshakes, and if you're ever in the South Bend/Mishawaka Indiana area, I insist that you stop at Caracas Bistro. Their milkshakes are about twice the size of JoJo's and only cost $9. And are worth every calorie, imo. 

What's your favorite milkshake flavor?

Lemon Cream Pie

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

I saw a meme recently that said Adulthood Is Saying "Things will calm down after this week" over and over again. That's been me a lot this past year, but more so this past week. I did a huge craft fair last weekend, we've busted our butts trying to fix up the house before the appraisers came out for an inspection, and we finally got appointments for our first round of the Covid vaccine. I am beat! Allison though, in the midst of the chaos of it all, thought it would be a spectacular time to want to bake something. Normally I'd encourage her kitchen adventures, but my kitchen was torn apart since I was trying to get the cabinets and walls painted in a hurry. Teens, I swear! Once the kitchen was done and put back together, we did end up celebrating by making this Lemon Cream Pie, a Golden Blossom Honey recipe, for all of our hard work. 

 

I figured this is a really lovely springtime recipe to keep on hand for when the temperatures start to warm up a little. We had a few warm days here already, but I woke up to snow yesterday which almost caused me to have a meltdown lol. However, my mint is popping up in my garden already, as you can see in my pics, so that gives me hope that warmth and sunshine are on the way to stay very soon. This is one of the easiest pies I've made to date, so I'll be making another for our Easter dinner as well as keeping it on hand for any other events we have coming up this season. 

 

Ingredients

1 (9-inch) piecrust, unbaked
Fillling:
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/3 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup heavy cream
Garnish:
fresh blueberries or raspberries
whipped cream

 

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest!  

 

 

 

Are the temperatures warming up in your area yet?