#CarnavalMiami2015 - Charity Cha Cha Cha

#spon

HolaHolaHola My Beautifuls!!!

The craziness of Carnaval has started to pick up steam in Miami. Mira el schedule.

Wow and Woah. Quite a list verdad? 

That's a lotta action going on, and as BB mentioned in the last post, it's organized by a staff of 4 and countless volunteers of the Little Havana Kiwanis. So there's the charity Cha Cha Cha, a lot of bailando for a cause they believe in. ALL these events are organized by the Little Havana Kiwanis to benefit the underpriviledged of the community.  Si, these are all fun, but they're fundraisers too. 

Babushka's very honored and proud to be one of the Carnaval Miami VIP Bloggers. 

Si, very honored to help this great organization and their cause and hope you join us in some of the activities.  If you can't come in person, please help us spread the wonderful events they have by tweeting #CarnavalMiami2015 and if you see #CarnavalMiaVIP you know it's one of the bloggers chosen for the varied categories, so a RT would be mucho appreciated. In another post Babushka will detail all the other wonderful reps of Carnaval Miami. For now, know that BB's tema is Cultura/Culture. Quee? JU SO FONII!!! No, they're not saying BB's cultured, just that she knows about the Culture of Calle Ocho, Little Havana.

Por supuesto, a big part of that is food, so you KNOW Babushka's not missing this one!

"Emceed by nationally acclaimed personality Chef Pepin, the cooking contest is judged by catering managers and local television personalities instructed to select the winning recipes based on the originality, presentation and flavor of the dish.

The contest presents cash awards to top three choices within the categories of General Public, High School and Vocational Education students."

Hope to see you at the event or Tweety, 

where Babushka will be sharing the delicias the judges are tasting.  

#CarnavalMiami2015

#CarnavalMiaVIP

#CarnavalCooks

BB2U

Sweetie's New Outlook- Probiotics & Lifeway Foods @Lifeway_Kefir #shop

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. 

All opinions are BB's,Si, because Sweetie's a smart man and his opinions are the same as Babushka's. 

; )


HolaHolaHola My Beautifuls!!!

"Every cloud has a silver lining." "No hay mal que por bien no venga." 

My Dear Sweetie had a scare, pero ahora he's eating healthier.

Winn Dixie and Kefir Lifeway Products are part of that new mindset.

During one of my June trips to Miami Babushka got one of those calls we all dread. "Honey, I'm in the emergency room at the hospital." For one of the few times en mi vida, the world stood still and BB felt totally helpless. Sweetie's job does a monthly well check on its' employees and apparently his blood pressure was through the roof, and even though it's an assisted living facility, they have medical supplies and such, but they couldn't lower it sufficiently. A trip to the emergency room was ordered, and so was a new way of living.

Sweetie's slim but that's a deceiving way to measure wellness, because that man can eat! Apparently being slim is a family trait- but so is high blood pressure. His mother would always remind him to check his pressure (proof again that moms are always right) and to control his salt intake. My dearest had the habit of putting salt on his food without even trying it and practically lived on soda. After that emergency room visit, he's turned his lifestyle around. He's running again, doing exercise, and most importantly gotten rid of his bad eating habits and incorporated good new ones. He was more excited than BB when Collective Bias asked me to write this post and was looking forward to learning more about Kefir Lifeway Products.

So off we went to our local Winn Dixie Store to check them out.

El Dr. and BB in front of the Crawfordville Winn Dixie. He fell in love w/the shopping carts, and vowed he'd fit...
 kinda like Babushka and her clothes.

Babushka and El Dr. found the Kefir smoothies quick enough, but Sweetie needed to be sure that his newly rediscovered shrine wasn't going to be mucked up with "gross stuff", so he wanted to read for himself the ingredients and benefits. Him taking his 2nd chance lightly? JU SO FONII!!!

" Lifeway Kefir is a smooth, tart, refreshing cousin of yogurt, often thought of as the “Champagne of Dairy.” Originating in Eastern Europe over 2000 years ago, kefir’s probiotic cultures have long been enhancing feelings of well-being. Lifeway Kefir contains 12 live and active Probiotic cultures that support the immune system and balance digestive health. It is naturally Gluten Free, 99% Lactose Free and contains No Artificial Sweeteners and is rich in Calcium. Lifeway also only uses milk that comes from cows that are not treated with pesticides, antibiotics, or synthetic growth hormones. The cows are grass fed and GMO free."

Happy and Satisfied, he picked the Strawberry/Banana flavor and we all went home to try out the Lifeway Kefir Lowfat Cultured Milk Smoothie and to see how many ways we could use it in our menus. We even filled out a request for coupons- http://lifeway.net/Store/UserAccount.aspx BUENISIMO!!

Hopefully it won't take a scare to get you thinking and drinking healthy.  

Check out the Kefir website and see all the different ways being healthy can taste good.

Take care of yourself My Beautifuls-

Que de las buenas quedamos pocas.

; )

BB2U

Winn-Dixie Wants Local Flavor for a Winning Holiday Recipe

"Winn-Dixie Wants Local Flavor for a Winning Holiday Recipe." What a mouthful huh? Bueno, considering it's about food, that's not a bad thing.  Babushka's a pretty decent cook and is known to have her mouth full from time to time. Queee? JU SO FONII!!!  Ok si, BB's mouth is full most of the time, pero who can blame me when I get fresh ingredients and it tastes so good??

What recipes do you use during the holidays?  Share your stories or recipes with Winn-Dixie for a chance to be featured in the e-cookbook Holiday Recipes to Impress  , shared on their Feibu page. Tienen de todo- they've got it all, from appetizers to desserts, you can browse or share family faves in the ebook. Go ahead, be curious, but don't be shy! After the holidays the top recipes will be selected and included in the completed e-book for everyone to download.

BB's looking forward to sharing my infamous "Tortilla de Platano a la Babushka" aka Spanish Omelette with sweet plantains a la Cubana- an exaggeration of extras. Now this is a recipe that's local to my original hometown of Miami, but since I can still get the ingredients in my local Winn-Dixie here, Up North in The South , I say it still counts as a "local" dish.  Besides, everyone who's eaten it here likes it so I'm pretty sure it will be a local dish soon enough.  As far as it being a "holiday recipe", even though this isn't the roast pork we actually have as a main dish, this definitely is a much asked for appetizer while the caja china is doing it's job.

Ingredients:

1 ripe plantain per person (si, exageracion- proof it's a la BB)
1 potatoe per person 
1 package of Spanish style chorizos- at least 3 chorizos
1 big onion
1 green pepper
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Eggs 2 at the least per person (further proof it's a la BB)
Milk- just enough to lighten the consistency and the color at least 3 shades

*Plate big enough to cover the pan opening.  


Instructions:

The plantains need to be fried, so while you're waiting for the oil to heat, cut everything into tiny pieces.  Tiny for BB = bite size, not stew proportions but not food processor either. By now the oil should be hot enough, and it's time to fry the plantains until they're nicely browned.

Once they're done they are transferred to a plate that is covered with paper towels.

That's to take out the excess oil and has been done this way by Cuban women for generations.

It is not to be changed or questioned.

The other ingredients should now be sauteed in olive oil- starting with the potatoes.

Babushka prefers her veggies slightly crunchy so after the papas, I cook the chorizo  and then quickly saute the veggies. 

Kinda like a Spanish stir fry.

At this point I heavily spray the pan I'm going to use so the eggs won't stick to it.  The eggs have been beaten and mixed with milk, adding salt and pepper to your liking.  Let the pan heat up a bit and pour the egg mixture into the pan.  Allow the eggs to cook at medium low for 2 -3 mins then add the other ingredients evenly throughout the pan.  Cover the pan and allow it to cook, being sure the middle cooks well- but don't let it dry out!  Appx 10 - 12 mins later (poke the middle to make sure it's not runny) loosen up the sides of the omelete so you can flip it over to quickly cook the other side. This is where the plate comes in.

This is what it should look like.

Nice, round, traditional.  

Now if it falls apart in the turn, don't worry about it- that's traditional too.

Doesn't change the taste, it's still DELICIOSO!

Photo courtesy of Maria de los Angeles

Also delicioso are the recipes and other goodies on the Winn-Dixie Holiday Website .

So don't stress the holidays nor the menu- check out the  Feibu page and join in on the food, fun and memories.  

Nos vemos alli- I'll see you there, with a mouthful.

; )

BB2U

Oye! Got hungry thinking about the tortilla and all the comida that I forgot to invite y'all to a Tweety Fiesta.  

Sorry, see food, s'long senses.

Join us- that's Winn-Dixie, the Niche Mommy Network & Conference, and a slew of excellent bloggers on Tuesday, December 18 E.S.T.

Please R.S.V.P. here: 

http://twtvite.com/WDLocalHoliday

Now having said that let me also say that this post was written in collaboration with Winn-Dixie and the Niche Mommy Network & Conference, y BB received compensation- pero the tortilla?  That's all BB's!

Te veo Tuesday in Tweety Land!