Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge: Tres Leches Cake

If you are a Pinterest addict like I am, you'll know that sometimes you pin ideas that you, for all intents and purposes, plan to try at some point. My recipe board, Nyam, is full of those. I decided that this summer, I'm actually going to make use of this board and try these recipes out. My goal is 1-2 recipes per week, and I'm calling it my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge. You can find more of my challengers here.

 

So here we go - my finale: Tres Leches Cake.

I've heard about this cake in the past, but for some reason assumed that it would be too difficult to make. On the contrary, it's really simple. This recipe is brought to you by the fabulous Pioneer Woman, whose blog has made her way into my daily blog digest. This is my first recipe that I'm trying out from her, but I've got my eye on a few more that I'll be checking out in the future.

I made this cake for my littlest brother's 21st birthday. I had been trying to find an excuse to make this cake (making it just for a family dinner didn't seem to be justifiable) and I don't even know if my brother knew what tres leches cake was, but too bad - I was commissioned to bake the cake and so I got to choose what kind. So there!

You will need:
1 cup of flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
5 eggs (don't crack em til I tell you to!)
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup of milk
1 can of evaporated milk
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream

Icing:
1 pint of heavy whipping cream
3 Tbsp of sugar
optional: maraschino cherries

You will do:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non stick spray.
3. Crack those eggs, divide the yolks and whites into separate bowls.
4. In a small bowl, beat the yolks with 3/4c of the sugar until it's well mixed.

stiff peaks

5. Add vanilla and milk to the yolk mixture.
6. In a large bowl, combine your flour, baking powder and salt.
7. Slowly pour the yolk mixture into the flour mixture, mix well.
8. In a separate small bowl, beat the egg whites until peaks form. As you continue to blend, pour the remaining 1/4c of sugar into the whites. You'll want the peaks to stand stiffly, but don't over beat because the whites will "break."

9. Gently fold the whites mixture into the rest of the batter. Don't mix for too long, just long enough for it all to get combined well. You will want the batter to be fluffy and airy.

when done, the cake will smell a little "eggy"

10. Pour the batter into the baking dish, pop into the oven for 35-45 minutes (mine took exactly 35 minutes). Stick a toothpick into it to make sure it's done, if it comes out clean you're good to go.

11. While the cake bakes, combine your evaporated milk, condensed milk and 1/4c of heavy whipping cream. Mix well.  I also added a teensy tiny splash of Bailey's - after all, it was for a 21st birthday cake!

12. Turn the cake upside down into a rimmed platter. Let it cool (20-30 minutes).
13. While the cake is cooling, start the whipped cream topping - on high speed, mix the one pint of heavy whipping cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar, until it's gorgeously whipped. Refrigerate until you're ready to serve the cake.

14. Take a fork and begin to poke holes into the cake.











15. Ever so slowly begin to pour the milk mixture onto the cake. You don't want to dump it all out at once, the idea is to have the cake soak up the milk uniformally. So drizzle in a design, watch it get soaked up, be sure to get all parts of the cake. Don't worry if it seems like the milk is going straight through the cake and pooling around the edges. Pour the entire mixture and come back in 20 minutes, it'll have soaked up all that sweet goodness.

16. When you're ready to serve, spread the prepared whipped cream over the top of the cake. Cut it into squares, serve with a maraschino cherry on top if you like.

 

And that, my friends, is the end of my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge. Sound off - which recipes did you try?

The -would be-final Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge: Gnocchi Mac n Cheese (a pictorial fail)

If you are a Pinterest addict like I am, you'll know that sometimes you pin ideas that you, for all intents and purposes, plan to try at some point. My recipe board, Nyam, is full of those. I decided that this summer, I'm actually going to make use of this board and try these recipes out. My goal is 1-2 recipes per week, and I'm calling it my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge. You can find more of my challengers here.

With much anticipation, summer is finally drawing to a close! Don't get me wrong, I love summer, but I love all more. And I think that overall I'm in love with the first half of every season. After that, it's just old.

So I had planned on my final Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge to be somewhat fall inspired. It was actually my first pin EVER and I finally got the gumption to do it. And oh my gawsh, it met and exceeded everything I had hoped and dreamed it would be.

I'm speaking of this fabulous Gnocchi Mac n cheese.

If you're unfortunate enough to never have heard of (or tasted) gnocchi (pronounced "nyo-ki"), my deepest sympathies for you. Gnocchi consist of potato dough and are tiny little dumplings, usually the size and shape of the top digit of your thumb.  Being the Polish girl that I am, I have grown up with potatoes alongside almost every meal. We Poles even have a version of gnocchi, called 'kopytka', which translates to 'hooves' because I suppose they sort of look like a part of a cow's hoof. For the Germans, spatzle would be something like gnocci.

I can't remember when I discovered that gnocchi and kopytka are the same thing (just different shapes), but I pretty much insist on having gnocchi at least once a month. Usually just sauteed lightly with some traditional red pasta sauce thrown on top.  But this time, oh man.. this recipe called to me in ways that gnocchi has never called to me before.  Because this recipe features tasty, aromatic cheeses..which I'll admit I'm a total sucker for.

Now that I've gotten you drooling, I have a confession. I've let you down. I made these dish for dinner a couple weeks ago, took spectacular pictures, but somehow the little Canon elves/gnomes/trolls invaded my memory card and ate the images. I guess it was so delicious that mythical, completely made up by me creatures had to destroy the evidence so that perhaps I should make it again.

Alas, Canon creatures, I can't make it again so soon because we're still recovering.

Nonetheless I couldn't blog about this amazing recipe and not share. So here we go, just forgive me for the lack of pictures.

Edit: after posting this earlier today, I decided that it just wasn't right to post without a picture.. so .. I whipped it up for lunch.

You will need:
1 pound of premade or homemade gnocchi (I have my own gnocchi recipe, which I may blog about in the future.. for this time, I used prebought)
2 T butter
2 tsp minced garlic
1 T flour
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon of any fancy mustard - I used a spicey hot mustard that my mom found at a winery :)
1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1/4 cup shredded Fontina cheese
1/3 cup of shreddd parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste

You will do:
1) Spray a medium sized casserole dish with nonstick spray. Prepare gnocchi by boiling in salted water until they all float. Drain and place into your casserole dish. Preheat oven to 375 deg F.
2) Slowly melt the butter on a skillet. Add the minced garlic, let it simmer for about a minute.
3) Whisk in the flour to thicken it up, break up any lumps. Add mustard and milk. Keep on low heat, continually stirring until the sauce thickens.
4) Slowly incorporate shredded cheeses, continue to stir as the cheese melts.
5) Taste test - then add salt and pepper if you wish. So good!
6) Pour the sauce over your gnocchi, top with the parmesan.
7) Bake until cheese is bubbly, about 15-20 minutes. Rest for a few minutes before serving.

We served this with some steamed broccoli and sourdough bread.. OMG! YUMMERS!!!

One more recipe to go.. I apologize for my absense these last couple weeks.. had some big stuff brewing - we sold our home! Post with details to come :)

Guest Post at That Mama Gretchen: Zucchini Cakes

Today you'll find my guest post over at my good friend Gretchen's blog while she is on her maternity leave with her little man. Gretchen and I go waaaaaay back to our high school days working at a local coffee shop, dreaming about one day owning a coffee shop of our own that is space aged and provided lattes on conveyor belts. LOL! It's so funny to think about us as giggling high schoolers 10 years ago...and here we are fellow mamas in the blogging community. Back then if you had asked me about a "blog," you would have gotten a really blank stare in return. Ps, I feel old that now I can say things like "10 years ago" in reference to my life.

Anyways, like I was saying.. as summer draws to a close, check out my second to last Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenger on her blog today - Zucchini Cakes. These are like crab or salmon cakes, just with zucchini. YUM! We paired them with stuffed salmon, grilled shrimp and a strawberry salad. A perfect summer dinner.

To see my other posts on the recipes I've tried out this summer, check them out here.

 

 

Thirsty and Hungry.. What gives?

When a mama's body knows, a mama's body knows, right? For the last week, I've been extra thirsty, hungry for protein and fiber, and on a whim started taking fenugreek again. I didn't feel like I was getting low in supply, but just felt like I should take some.

Then, towards the end of last week, Penny started acting not quite like her usual joyous self. A little more whiny, needy, pushy, grabby, chompy. Bored easily. Nap and sleep schedules were a little off, too. I figured that we had been traveling a lot, been out and about during the day and it was just taking its toll. Heck, it was taking it's toll on all three of us. Adam did the math and he's commuted (via car or bus) over 30,000 miles in the last 10 months. He is tired. So I decided that that this past weekend would be a break for our little family and hopefully everyone would feel rejuvenated afterwards.

It helped, but not as much as I had hoped it would. Penny is still "off." I've come to the realization that teething isn't as much to blame for it as I've been thinking.. The little sugar is on a growth spurt. I don't know why I ignored the signs, but cluster feeding sessions from this morning is what finally turned the light bulb on for me.

What truly amazes me is that my body knew before my mind would accept it. It's so convenient that my body and hers are still so in tune with each other, even after the separation of birth. I've read a few posts in the last week or so that exemplified this connection, Lautaret Bohemiet's being my favorite. In Western culture we try to disconnect the mind and body so much, to the point where we just don't trust or listen to our body's cues. Some might think it's a bunch of psychic mumbo jumbo, but I'm a believer.  There's stuff going on beneath the surface that we aren't acutely aware of, but our body is working away 24/7.

the remains

One of the things I've been craving this past week were avocados (but, lets face it, I'll eat avocados any day, I don't need craving to be an excuse). So in a hurry, I pulled this recipe out of my Nyam Pinterest board and whipped it up for lunch today. It was whipped so quickly and efficiently, there was no time for pictures to justify one of my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge posts.

On that note, tonight's dinner is BBQ Pork Pizzas, with dough made from scratch and the pork roasted at a friends' party over the weekend. Again, not a Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge post, but I hope that it will be worthy of some bragging about later ;)

Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge: Red Velvet Brownies

If you are a Pinterest addict like I am, you'll know that sometimes you pin ideas that you, for all intents and purposes, plan to try at some point. My recipe board, Nyam, is full of those. I decided that this summer, I'm actually going to make use of this board and try these recipes out. My goal is 1-2 recipes per week, and I'm calling it my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge. You can find more of my challengers here.

I've never had "from scratch" brownies before. It's one of those foods (sort of like mac n cheese) that I always assumed began it's life in a box. To no one's surprise but my own, a lot of our quick and easy, "junk", out-of-the-box, traditional American foods really did come from home cookin'. Yes, I was impressed.

So then I find a combination for my love of brownies and red velvet. I love red velvet cupcakes, cake, you name it. I know that for the most part many red velvet recipes are just chocolate cake with red food coloring added.. but maybe it's all about presentation for me. I bet if someone were to give me a "blue velvet" cake I'd be just as in love. The greatest common denominator = chocolate. Hence, I just love chocolate. (ps- that wasn't a secret by any means!)

I present to you the love child from two of my favorite desserts:

You will need:

1 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 1/2 cups of brown sugar

red food coloring*

4 teaspoons of vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups of flour

6 teaspooons of unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

*The original recipe calls for 2 oz of red food coloring. As I was making the batter, I did a double take and realized.. HOLY CRAP that is a lot of food coloring and I don't have that much! So, I used up my one bottle of 1 oz of red food coloring. See below for results.

You will do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

2. My little trick for bringing butter or eggs up to room temperature without having to wait a very long time is to put them in a bowl that is filled with slightly hotter than luke warm water. You don't want to put them into hot water because then your butter will melt and your eggs will cook.

3. Cream the butter and sugars.

4. Add one egg at a time, mix well between eggs.

5. Add vanilla and red food coloring. Be sure to scrape down the sides of your bowl as you go to make sure that you're mixing the color in completely into the batter (unless you want swirly brownies!).

6. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder and salt. Mix together.

7. Slowly incorporate flour mixture into red mixture. Scrape down the sides often.

8. Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for about 30 minutes.

Verdict: If you're looking for the all American brownie flavor that we've all grown to know and love, get the boxed version. But if you're looking for something a little classier, not necessarily middle school dessert style, go for these. They were oh-so-moist!



This recipe is brought to you by:



ps: weird Penny fact:

she *loves* sleeping with something partially covering her face. ??

Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge: Sour Cream Banana Bread

If you are a Pinterest addict like I am, you'll know that sometimes you pin ideas that you, for all intents and purposes, plan to try at some point. My recipe board, Nyam, is full of those. I decided that this summer, I'm actually going to make use of this board and try these recipes out. My goal is 1-2 recipes per week, and I'm calling it my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge. You can find more of my challengers here.

I know, it's been overdone.. Everyone's got their own version of banana bread that is to die for. But, over the last couple years I've learned to give sour cream the respect it deserves in the baking world. So, I gave this banana bread a shot. And I've officially dumped my old recipe and am keeping this one for the recipe book. Ah-may-zing!

You will need:
non-stick cooking spray
< 1/4 c of sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 c softened butter (or 1/2 c Tropical Traditions Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil)
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas
2 c sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 c 1/4 flour

You will do:
1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
2. Spray 2 bread pans with your non stick spray.
3. In a small bowl mix the <1/4c sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Dust both pans with the sugary mix.

4. In a larger bowl, cream butter and remaining sugar together. Add eggs, bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Blend until well mixed.

Normally I use bananas that are 1/2 a step away from moldy..they are BLACK.
But this time around I used these guys.

5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly incorporate into the banana mixture.

6. Divide batter between your pans.
7. Bake for 50-60 min, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Normally I include a picture of my little helper(s), but today this was done during naptime.. so here's what these two crazy cousins were up to a few minutes before.

Try this with pumpkin too!

Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge: Creamy Avocado Pasta

If you are a Pinterest addict like I am, you'll know that sometimes you pin ideas that you, for all intents and purposes, plan to try at some point. My recipe board, Nyam, is full of those. I decided that this summer, I'm actually going to make use of this board and try these recipes out. My goal is 1-2 recipes per week, and I'm calling it my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge. You can find more of my challengers here.

Can I just say that I love avocados? I'll scream it from the roof tops, I don't care..

I LOVE AVOCADOS!

So when I saw this recipe on pinterest, it was an immediate pin. I'm surprised I've waited this long to try it out.

You will need:
(serves 2)
2 avocados (the original recipe calls for 2 avocados for serving 4, but I believe I love avocados more than she does so I gave it a shot)
fettuccine noodles
1 good squirt of lemon juice
1/2 c grated *real* Parmesan cheese (not the powdered Kraft kind!)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp minced garlic
2 T olive oil
2 vine tomatoes
*I omitted the pine nuts from this recipe, couldn't find any in bulk.

You will do:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Cut tomatoes into 1/8ths. Sprinkle with olive oil, lay on a pan and bake for about 20-30 minutes (until they look almost like sun dried tomatoes)

2. Boil the noodles until they reach al dente (be sure to salt the water a little bit, I forgot and my noodles stuck together!).
3. While the noodles are boiling, cut skin and pit the avocados.
4. In a food processor (or KitchenAid mixer, as I didn't have a food processor or blender available) combine the avocado meat, lemon juice, cheese, salt/pepper and garlic. Blend until smooth.  The original recipe has you sprinkle the Parmesan cheese last, but I liked it infused into the "sauce."

5. Don't forget your tomatoes! Take them out of the oven when they're ready!
6. Once the noodles are done, drain the water and portion the noodles out into two bowls.
7. Add sauce on top of the noodles. Sprinkle tomatoes on top and serve!

Some thoughts:

This really ended up being guacamole on pasta noodles. I'm not complaining, it was still delicious, but Adam and I agreed that this is an excellent base for a dish. It needs something more.  In the future, I might try adding shrimp or chicken, Adam suggested hot sauce (a weird combination, but we love toast with avocado and hot sauce in the morning!).

Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge: Bacon Egg and Cheese Ring

If you are a Pinterest addict like I am, you'll know that sometimes you pin ideas that you, for all intents and purposes, plan to try at some point. My recipe board, Nyam, is full of those. I decided that this summer, I'm actually going to make use of this board and try these recipes out. My goal is 1-2 recipes per week, and I'm calling it my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge. You can find more of my challengers here.

Today's challenger is for those who need to spruce up their breakfast routine.

I'm not too much of a fan of the Pillsbury line of doughs. Ever since I learned how to make bread from scratch, Pillsbury just isn't the same anymore. My husband's favorite breakfast of all time, however, are Pillsbury biscuits (buttered) with poached eggs, avocado and some Choloula. Honestly, it semi-breaks my heart because I'd totally be happy to whip up something completely home made, with zero preservatives too. But I suppose the heart wants what the heart wants and so every so often I grant him this wish.

But, with all snootyness aside, I decided to try this recipe out. It combines the All-American breakfast into one slice. Behold:

You will need:
(serves 4, 2 slices each)
1 can of Pillsbury Crescent dough (8 crescents)
5 eggs
8 Bacon
Your favorite breakfast cheese, shredded or finely crumbled
Salt, pepper
Just under 1/4 cup of milk
Extras: anything else you might want in scrambled eggs or omlettes, such as sausage, avocado, hot sauce, peppers, ham, olives, onions, salsa..a family favorite here is Portuguese Linguica.

You will do:
1. Prepare your scrambled eggs by mixing eggs, salt/pepper with the milk. Scramble in a frying pan or griddle until fully cooked through.2. Prepare the bacon (or sausage or Linguica) to full cooked-ness.
3. Lay out the crescent rolls in a circle with the pointy ends going outwards.
4. Pile on the eggs, bacon (any extras), top with cheese last. I found that you would have to break the bacon in half to effectively turn the dough in.
5. Bring each of the points over the toppings and back into the center. Press the tip down to to the center to seal.

6. Optional: brush the top of the dough with an egg wash or melted butter.
7. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the dough is fully baked.
8. Cut into slices and enjoy!

My trio of helpers: Penny, Zeke and Squirt (who has learned what the benefits of
waiting underneath a high chair means)

Variations:
Today we had several options-
Bacon, egg, cheese
Bacon, egg, cheese, peppers
Ham, egg, cheese, garlic salt dusted on top** my favorite!
Ham, egg, cheese

This versatile recipe could be adapted to almost any meal.. you could prepare is a Mexican dish (ground turkey, taco seasonings, salsa, top with sour cream), or try it as a dessert with sweetened cream cheese and dusted with cinnamon and sugar.  The possibilities are endless :)  Write a comment and share if you can think of any other yummy variations!

Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge - Olive Garden {copycat} Lemon Cream Cake

If you are a Pinterest addict like I am, you'll know that sometimes you pin ideas that you, for all intents and purposes, plan to try at some point. My recipe board, Nyam, is full of those. I decided that this summer, I'm actually going to make use of this board and try these recipes out. My goal is 1-2 recipes per week, and I'm calling it my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge. You can find more of my challengers here.

For my birthday this year we went out to the Olive Garden and I had a slice of this delicious lemon cream cake.. I love it because it was light in all the right ways. Light was the cake, light was the lemon flavor, light was the cream. So when I saw this on Pinterest, of course I had to pledge to try it out!

Challenger: Olive Garden {copycat} Lemon Cream Cake
You will need:
Batter:
1 3/4 cups cake flour*
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
6 egg yolks
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon zest
6 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 slice of lemon for garnish
Powdered sugar for dusting
Filling:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 1/2 cups lemon pie filling
*Note: when baking cakes, I always recommend cake flour. It is much finer and makes for a fluffier, lighter cake.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
You will need 2 greased 10" cake pans

You will do:
1. In your main bowl, combine cake flour, baking powder, salt, 1/2 cup of sugar. In a glass, combine the oil, yolks, water, zest. Then add the yolk mix to the flour mix, blend until smooth.
2. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar until peaks form (I'm no good at this, but the peaks are important so be patient!). Slowly add the 3/4c sugar, making sure your peaks stay constant. Beat until the peaks are stiff.
3. Gently fold in 1/3 of the whites mixture to the batter, then carefully add the rest until mixed. Do not overmix. It will still be fluffy and somewhat airy/bubbly
 4. Pour batter into greased 2 10" cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes** or until a tester toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let it completely cool. When cooled, use a rubber spatula and loosen the cake from the pan. Cut it laterally into two layers.

**I used the convection setting on my oven so that I could bake the pans at the same time. Timing will vary if you are using the normal bake setting. If you're not using convect, do only one cake pan at a time.
5. While the cake is baking / cooling, beat the whipped cream until you get stiff peaks. Slowly add lemon pie filling. Chill until the cake is cooled.
6. One the cake is cooled, layer the cream inbetween the two cake layers. Dust the top layer with powdered sugar, decorate with lemon slices.

Yes, my cake decorating skills could use some work..

My review...
This was a good cake, but it doens't shine a light to the Olive Garden version. Unfortunately, this is the only copy cat recipe online. But, with that being said - there wasn't any cake left at the end of the night. :)

Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge - Lime Cilantro Fish Tacos

If you are a Pinterest addict like I am, you'll know that sometimes you pin ideas that you, for all intents and purposes, plan to try at some point. My recipe board, Nyam, is full of those. I decided that this summer, I'm actually going to make use of this board and try these recipes out. My goal is 1-2 recipes per week, and I'm calling it my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge. You can find more of my challengers here.

 

Mmmm these make me yearn for summer! We're in the middle of our weird "Juneuary" season here in the PNW and I'm dreaming of warm weather and to me, nothing speaks more of warm weather than the combination of cilantro and lime (oh, and a beer too!).
For Father's Day weekend we spent the weekend down south in our home that's on the market and relaxed. The last 3 weeks have been so hectic, especially for Adam. He was away on business in Ohio for one week, last week he spent mostly up north staying with family, and this week he has been bouncing back and forth between his work's division and tech center offices, which are an hour and a half apart (and division is an hour and a half away from my parents' house, where Penelope and I stay). So, the poor guy definitely deserved a weekend of quiet and relaxation.

So this week's Pinterest Recipe Challenger is..

You will need:

Corn tortillas

2 T butter

1/2 tilapia fillet per taco

Dressing:

½ cup nonfat plain yogurt

¼ cup light mayo

1 or 2 limes

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1-2 chipotle pepper (in adobo sauce) **

½ tsp adobo sauce

pinch of salt

1 bag of coleslaw mix

1 cup matchstick (thinly sliced) carrots

fresh cilantro

avocado - save for last

** I found this in a can at Walmart in the Latino section.

You will do:
1. De-seed the peppers and cut into small pieces. If you are like me, 1 pepper is plenty. I'd say on a scale of 1-5 stars, 1 pepper would be 2-3 stars. I wouldn't dare try 2 peppers, but it's all about your own tolerance ;)

2. In a food processor or blender, mix the pepper, cilantro and adobo sauce. Add salt, rest of wet ingredients and the juice from half a lime.

3. Add 2-3 cups of slaw mix to the sauce.

4. Melt the 2 T of butter in a pan and pan-fry the tilapia until cooked all the way through, and crispy on the outsides.

6. Warm up the tortillas, add one piece of fish (squeeze some lime on if you wish), and pile on the slaw. Add sliced avodaco and you are all done! Serve with a margarita or your favorite cerveza and pretend you are on the Mexican Riviera.

I'd like to add a shout-out to my special little helper, who was so good and patient while Mama cooked away :)