Hello everyone, I’m so sorry I haven’t been posting. Asides from being super busy we’re working on a new website layout for FoodForStartups, this one is very annoying and I don’t think very user friendly since the recipes are not organized.

Anyways, J already purchased a layout (or something, IDK) and now we’re working on re-writting the recipes, organizing the photos, categorizing etc. But hopefully it’ll be up and running before the first week of April. 

The good part? I already have looots of recipes lined up perfect for making ahead and now I will also be including juice recipes. Those you can make ahead as well and take to work as a great meal replacement especially if you’re watching your weight. We’re doing research as how to make juices/smoothies with the correct amount of proteins, nutrients and vitamins so KEEP POSTED !! 

I’ll keep everyone updated as we go along with this. Thank you for your patience. We’ll be back better than before.

Hugs to all,

A

I make a lot of pastas I know but let’s face it, they’re very versatile and great for re-heating. Also, cooking for 3 grown men is a bit more challenging than you might expect when it comes to eating vegetables. So, I decided on a classic alfredo pasta dish and added broccoli. Shrimp is one of my favorite proteins and in my supermarket it’s not very expensive if you but the frozen pre-cooked shrimps. Great alternative, they thaw in minutes and very inexpensive. This recipe serves 4-6 and is great with some garlic bread or salad. 

Ingredients

1 package of whole wheat linguini (13.25 oz)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped white onion
6 basil leaves, thinly sliced
8 oz. cooked, peeled and devained shrimp, tails removed  
1 teaspoon EVOO
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp. fresh Parmesan cheese
1 cup frozen broccoli florets
15 oz. Alfredo sauce 

 Procedure

Thaw shrimp under cold water for 5-10 minutes. Once thawed remove tails and set aside. Set pasta water to boil with a dash of salt. In a large pan sauté onions and garlic in EVOO with 1 tsp. salt. Once the onion is almost translucent add the shrimp and frozen broccoli, turn up heat to medium high, add pepper. Water should be boiling by now so add linguini. While the pasts cooks keep an eye on the shrimp, add basil leaves and sauce. Mix thoroughly, drain pasta and add to pan with 2 tbsp. pasta water. Mix well add remaining salt and parmesan cheese.

Tips

• I use whole wheat pasta whenever I can but I understand that it’s rather expensive and not everyone likes it. Feel free to substitute for your favorite pasta.
• Alfredo sauce! Use your favorite, my favorite jarred sauce is Bertolli and this is my go-to Alfredo sauce recipe for years (I add 1/4 tsp fresh nutmeg to the homemade version, it gives it that extra kick). Both are delicious, I prefer the second but if time is an issue buy the jarred and just thin it out with approximately 3 tablespoons of milk. 
• Remember, if you need to thin out the pasta when reheating add small amounts of milk (tablespoon by tablespoon) and then add some more Parmesan cheese or pepper to make up for the milk added.

Hey everyone! I’m terribly sorry I haven’t been posting as much. I have my job, college, practice and a “life”. Hopefully I’ll behave better from now on, at least one recipe per week until things settle down a bit and I can start making 2-3 meals on Sundays which is the original plan for FFSU.

BUT! I won’t lie, I hate the design of FoodForStartups, I finid it incredibly annoying having to click “previous” endlessly to find previous recipes and tips. I talked to J about it and he seems to have found some sort of template to organize recipes and GREATLY improve this “project”. Hope it’s soon, I’ll keep you guys posted. Oh and huge, huge props to Raúl for volunteering to make our logo since Giova is really busy…it’s okay, I’ll still make food for him even though. It’s still on the works but I’ll wait :) since my creativity is -0 when it comes to that, very appreciative. 

Thanks to all who keep following. 

Happy President’s Day everyone! Today will be a bit different, since J will only go to the office I think maybe 1 day and half of another I won’t cook for the week. But, I’m still making lunch and dinner today so I will still post. 

This min-sub is great for lunch and CAN be made ahead for the week. Just make the steak beforehand, take the shredded cheese in a small container and buy the baguette the same day or day before. If you don’t have a kitchen space in your office just cut the bread at home and assemble there, everything will fit in a large ziploc bag so don’t worry, no need to get the cooler from the garage. Let’s get started. 

Recipe for 1 mini sub.

Ingredientes

2.5-3 oz of shredded steak (about 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon Jamaican rub hot sauce
1 teaspoon chili flakes
2 strips of bacon, cooked and drained
1 tablespoon shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon dried cilantro (or fresh if you have some)
Small piece of french baguette (about 4 inch piece)

Procedure 

Heat on medium heat a small skillet. Cut baguette lengthwise and spread butter evenly among both sides, add cilantro. Heat butter side down for 1-2 minutes, do not toast/burn it since the bread will be heated again. In the same skillet add the shredded steak, Jamaican rub sauce and chili flakes. Heat bacon in a side of the skillet. Remove all form heat. Form mini sub, add bacon, steak, cheese and heat in covered skillet to melt the cheese. Top with baguette top.

Have I mentioned I’m in love with Pinterest (You can find me here)? And that love has grown even fonder after I tried one of the first recipes I pinned there which was cake batter cookies. I purchased chocolate cake mix instead of vanilla and bought Sugar Free instead of regular since my “mother-in-law” is diabetic. Also….the original recipe from Stephanie Cooks calls for 10 minutes, mine stayed 20 and came out FANTASTIC!

These are incredibly easy to make and a great project for the kids…or like I did, for “Mr. Padilla” to take to the office with him.

Ingredients

1 box Sugar Free/Reduced Sugar Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Procedure

Pre-heat oven to 350*F. In a large bowl mix cake mix and baking powder, stir and add eggs and oil. Whisk together making sure there isn’t any visible cake batter (the light brown powder). It will be a VERY dense batter/mix/whatever you wanna call it. Add chocolate chips and get your hands in there (I decided to let my “nephew” help me with this, he had a blast and I didn’t get cake batter in my nails, win-win!).

Use 1.5 tablespoons of batter approximately to form cookies and place in a greased cookie sheet.

My “cookie sheet” is a baking tray and it’s rather small so I had to make bigger ones (perhaps that’s why they took longer). Anyhow touch them after 10 minutes in the oven, if you like them very soft remove and let cool; if not, let in for another 10 minutes and cool for 10 minutes afterwards. 

I made this a while back way before FoodForStartups was created and I can’t think why I had yet to make them again. For some reason when I made them last Sunday I added some taco sauce on top with some shredded cheese; it was a total impulse move. You can do so if you like but that would make them Southwest Chicken Enchiladas when they’re supposed to be wraps that you can eat fork-free. However, they taste great either way.

Recipe is enough for 4-5 people. Makes 8 wraps that you cut in half when ready to eat.

Ingredients

2 cups shredded chicken (I used 98% Fat Free canned Chicken Breast in water)
1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup corn kernels
1/2 cup black beans
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 cup onion, diced (about 1 small-medium sized onion)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (3 if they’re small)
1/4 cup taco sauce or fresh salsa
1/4 cup Mexican style shredded 2% cheese
1 tbsp. chopped jalapeño, seeded and washed
8 large, whole wheat high fiber tortillas

Spices:
1 tbsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. red chili flakes (omit if you don’t like spicy foods)
1 tsp. dry parsley

Procedure

Thaw spinach in microwave for 30 seconds, place in colander en leave draining. In a large skillet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray cook on low heat onions and tomatoes for 3-5 minutes and garlic and continue to cook for 3 minutes. Add shredded chicken and mix well, add beans, corn, cilantro, jalapeño and all spices. Mix well. Turn up heat and add sauce or salsa; add little by little, if it’s too run-y for you you can always add more spinach. Once seasonings are okay, turn off heat, add cheese and mix. Place 2/3 cup of the mixture into each tortilla, fold as you would a burrito and cut in half diagonally.

If you were to add sauce and cheese do so after they’re made and place in broil for 3-5 minutes. Keep an eye on it.

Tips

• If you’re preparing this a few days ahead don’t cut in half. Pack them up as a whole and cut when you heat it up at the office (or at home during the week)

Remember…these are not meant to have cheese and sauce on top. Forgive me…but like I said, they’re great either way.

Please, please don’t hate me. The two recipes I had for today will be posted during the week. Hear me out…got home and in between my ” mother-in-law” , ” brother-in-law”, “sister-in-law”, ” nephew”, 1 boyfriend, 2 Miniature Schnauzers, 1 Husky and 1 mixed breed it’s safe to say that there’s a mess in the house between the pool, washing cars and waiting for the Super Bowl, they opted for hamburgers and I wasn’t going to spend the day in the kitchen, soooo….I decided to whip up a yummy Balsamic Pasta Salad. It’s sweet, delicious and above all super easy to make; you’ll be out of the kitchen in less than half an hour. This serves 6-8 and goes great with some grilled chicken or flank steak or as is (that’s how I had it). 

Ingredients

Pasta Salad

1 13oz box of whole wheat penne rigate 
1 cup, chopped red onion
1 cup, chopped green pepper
1 cup, chopped tomato
1/2 cup shredded carrots
8 fresh basil leaves, rolled and thinly sliced

Vinaigrette

1/2 cup Light Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 tbsp. aged Balsamic Vinegar (or regular, aged has a stronger, richer flavor)  
1 tbsp. Dijon Mustard (I used Grey Poupon)  
1 clove garlic, very well chopped
1 tsp. sugar
3 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper

Procedure

Chop onions and peppers, shred carrots and cook in a small skillet on low heat for 2-3 minutes just to eliminate that raw onion flavor you still want them a bit crunchy. Set aside. Cook pasta according to package, drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process immediately. In a measuring cup add all vinaigrette ingredients and whisk well, it will be thick.  Mix pasta with vegetables, add half of the vinaigrette and stir; add basil and remaining vinaigrette.Taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Allow to chill in refrigerator for 1-2 hours. 

Ready for #SuperBowl Sunday? Here’s a healthy, inexpensive and error proof recipe that will have you cheering for it more than for the teams. This salsa is truly delicious, it’s very chunky so it won’t make your chips go soggy and it’s also great inside or on top of some chicken quesadillas. It’s all vegetables so you don’t have to feel guilty about munching down this Sunday. You can make ahead of time as well so make it the day before if Sunday is going to be 100% football. Enjoy.

Ingredients

3 small cans of black beans (or 2 big), drained
1 can Mexi-Corn, drained
2 cans diced tomatoes with green chile (10oz.), drained
2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 red onion, chopped and cooked for 2-3 minutes
1 1/2 tbsp. lime juice or the juice of 1 lime
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Optional: 1 jalapeño, seeded, washed and thinly chopped

Procedure

Drain beans in a colander until the water runs clear, leave aside to dry (put a towel underneath to absorb any liquid that may fall). In a medium bowl mix corn (drained), diced tomatoes (drained), 2 tomatoes with their juice, green onion, cilantro leaves and beans. In a small skillet heat through 1/4 cup onions until they’re a bit translucent but still crunchy (if you don’t mind the raw onions don’t cook them). Add onions and mix well, add jalapeño and remaining ingredients. If the taste of lemon is too overpowering for you add some more salt and pepper.

Tips/Options

• Use crushed red chili flakes in place of fresh jalapeño to save a few $. Roasted Poblano peppers or chopped Serrano chiles are a great option too.
• I use Tostitos Scoops, they hold chunky salsas better.
• I’m VERY, VERY, VERY, bothered by people who double dip so serve this with a spoon or spreading knife in order to avoid the situation.
• Can’t find black beans? Small red kidney beans could work as well.
• Can’t find Mexi-Corn? Buy 1 can of regular corn and mix in 1/4 cup cooked green bell pepper.
• If you do not like chunky salsa, here’s what you need to do !!!
  
  1. Drain corn and black beans, set aside.
  2. In a food processor “chop” drained canned chopped tomatoes, seeded fresh tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, half of the green onions and 1 tsp. lime juice. Pulse carefully since you don’t want baby food. Generally 3-4 pulses in the food processor is all you need.
  3. Once done, pour in a bowl and add corn, black beans, remaining green onions, cilantro, another teaspoon of lime juice, salt and pepper.
  4. Taste, adjust S&P according to taste. If you taste too much lime juice follow the same tip listed above in the procedure.