About: Alyssa

Alyssa

Author Archives: Alyssa

Chile, South America

Chile was one of our favorite countries to travel in. We really enjoyed the beauty of the country and saw some incredible places! These are some of our highlights. You can check out more in depth our travels and what we saw when traveling in Chile at Uneven Sidewalks .

4 Week Itinerary for Chile

Santiago

Our first stop was Santiago. We flew in around mid-day and must admit, I was a bit surprised by the dryness of the city. However, once we got into the downtown area, it was so full of color and people I almost forgot about it. Except when it got so hot, then I remembered it was desert haha!

santiago-chile-city-view

 

Siete Tazas Waterfalls

Siete Tazas was one of our extreme adventures in this country. We hitchhiked about 120km to get to these falls and what an experience it was! We met lots of nice people who helped us out and must say that Chile had some of the nicest people we had ever met! We were so happy that our trip started out right, even though this was a risky adventure!

Siete Tazas Waterfalls Chile  Velo De La Novia Waterfall at Siete Tazas Chile

 

La Princesa Waterfall

On our way to see some National Parks, we stopped to see this waterfall called La Princesa. It was off the beaten path and seemingly not a really popular destination but we loved it! Places are always better when they are not super tourist driven. This was such a quiet little place and beautiful scenery, we wished we had a picnic!

salto-de-la-princesa

 Parque Conguillío

Parque Nahuelbuta and Parque Conguillío are a must to see!  It’s so beautiful to see the snow covered volcanos and shimmering lakes!  There are lots of different hiking trails and roads to drive around and explore. We loved these parks!

parque-conguillo-flowers

 

Bus Rides

We took soooo many long bus rides in this country (and by long I mean 30 hours…) We loved the country we saw and wouldn’t have changed our method of traveling for anything. There is so much that we would have missed if we would have taken a plane. One of our long bus rides was from a town called Osorno that we took down to the southern part of Chile called Punta Arenas. This bus ride was our favorite of our whole trip because we passed literally right through the Andes Mountains and got to see so much.

Bus Ride to Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas was cold! We were not prepared for the cold weather but bought some gloves and beanies and then we were much warmer! I basically layered all my shirts and all my jackets to stay warm because we did pack light!  We took a day trip out to an island that is full of penguins! It was so fun! The babies are these super fuzzy little things! The penguins all live like families, it is the cutest thing!

penguin-with-funny-look

Torres Del Paine National Park (Our 50 Mile Hike!)

We heard about this hike when we were in Punta Arenas and decided to give it a go. We hit up the local mall for some new shoes and gloves, and set out! Good thing we got our waterproof Columbia Shoes or we would have been up to our necks in mud! This hike was the highlight of our whole South America trip. We saw lots of cool things but this place has a majestic feel to it, almost untouched. It was in our opinion, Mother Nature at her best (or that we have ever seen) We saw icebergs, ice fields, snowy mountains, flower meadows, avalanche, creeks, etc… It was amazing! Check out our full hiking trip here!

Hugs at Glacier Grey

 

 

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Camera Spy Lens

We finally purchased this camera lens that has been on my husbands wish list for a while! Especially being in Central America there is always that really cool old looking cowboy, typical National Geographic picture that I would love to have but how awkward is it to whip out the camera and take a picture of another person. Right? So check this out! So cool!

 

You can purchase this awesome lens here! Polaroid 58/52mm HD Right Angle Mirror (SPY) Lens

By the way, Photojojo has some of the neatest things on it! It is such a great place to get gifts too!

Check out some of the pictures my husband got with this lens! I’m so excited!

 

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Tommee Tippee Travel Bottle Warmer

Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Travel Bottle Warmer

Tommee Tippee has a lot of really nice products for moms on the go. This product is one of my favorites!

Tommee Tippee Bottle Warmer

This travel bottle warmer is super convenient. One of my daycare parents would bring this when she was only bringing her son for a short period of time. I had a supply of frozen milk for her in my freezer and could easily warm up the milk using this bottle!

Tommee Tippee Thermos

The bottle keeps water very hot (like a thermos) and all you have to do is pour it into the clear bottle (lid) to warm up the bottle. So nice and easy to use!

Check out the Tommee Tippee Travel Bottle and Food Warmer!

They have so kindly sent me a sample of this wonderful product and I can say first hand it is amazing! So compact and very handy to have when on the go!

 

Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature

Check out Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Bottle Warmer our for all your on-the-go moments! You will love it!

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Mommies No comments

Passion Fruit Crepes

It’s passion fruit season! A sweet and tart passion fruit syrup goes great with these crepes! Crepes are just one of those things I always think of last. I don’t know why because they are soo much more fun than pancakes, they are so delicate and the filling choices are endless! I’ve been anxious to try something with the passion fruit growing right outside our door so I came up with a Passion Fruit Syrup for these crepes. A very delicious combination with the sweet and tang of the seeds. I’ve had this syrup before where it is blended so there are no seeds but I really enjoy the crunch of the seeds so I chose not to blend it this time. Totally a personal preference!

IMG_7806

For the Crepes:

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted (plus more for frying)
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 ⅓ cups milk
  • 1 large egg

Directions:

Melt the butter and let cool a little.

Put the flour, milk and egg into a blender to mix well. Pour into a jug and stir in the melted butter. Otherwise, just pour the flour into a bowl, whisk in the egg and milk and finally, just before making the crêpes, the melted butter.

Heat a pan and ladle 2–3 tablespoons of batter into the pan then quickly hold it up and swirl so that the batter forms a quick, thin pancake covering the base of the pan. This will cook in a minute so flip it and cook for 30 seconds to a minute on the other side, then remove the crepe. Continue with the rest of the batter.

For the Sauce:

1/4 cup sugar

plup of 2 passion fruits

1/2 cup of water

2 tsp cornstarch

Directions:

Place the plup, sugar, and water into a pan and heat until boiled. Once the sugar is dissolved, add more water or cornstarch to get to the right consistency. Serve warm.

 

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Breakfast Dishes Spreads/Syrups 2 comments

Another Pumpkin Wonder

This is not good… This makes me want to have a snack all day long. And usually it means bread.. uh-oh! But we did have this with our crepes and it was very yummy! This is a great holiday gift to give too! 

With just a small teeny tiny bit of pumpkin left over, I was racking my brain what I could do with it. Another issue was we were close to leaving for our South America trip so I didn’t want to make anything to big that we would have to eat up within a short time. This honey butter was the perfect solution! We were able to give the extra as a holiday gift too! This super fun recipe will make you look forward to your breakfast! or snack! or dinner! :) We had them with our crepes for breakfast, very yummy!

Pumpkin Honey Butter

 

Pumpkin Honey Butter:

1/2 stick (4Tbsp) of unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon honey
1 Tablespoon pumpkin purée
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a fork. Whip until well combined. You want it to be smooth so keep whipping! You could even use an electric mixer to really get it whipped up. Store in refrigerator. Spread on hot toast, a bagel, or pancakes!

 

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Spreads/Syrups No comments

Mexican Fiesta

We had company the other night and were offered the experience of “real” Mexican food. I was looking forward to see what kind of food she would come up with. It turned out to be enchiladas! Very yummy!

The Real Mexican Food!

The thing with real Mexican food is it is a lot smaller in terms of portions than what you would buy at a Mexican restaurant in the U.S. The Mexicans have no such thing as the HUGE California burrito. That’s a U.S. thing. So she was quite pleased we were taking pictures of the process so she was a great poser! Here we made chicken enchiladas and tacquitos.

Taquitos with Chicken and Cheese Real Mexican Cooking

 

Taquitos with Chicken and Cheese Real Mexican Cooking

 

Taquitos with Chicken and Cheese Real Mexican Cooking

Using corn or flour tortillas, spread shredded chicken and cheese in the middle and roll into a tight roll. Then place in a hot pan and cook until cheese is melted and tortilla is browned, this is the Mexican taquitio.

Chicken Enchiladas:

Chicken Enchiladas

For the enchiladas, place a tomato, garlic, and onion in a blender and blend until is is a thick tomato like sauce. Then place the pan in a hot saucepan and bring to a boil.

Chicken Enchiladas with cheese from Mexico

Once it is boiling, then pass a tortilla through the mixture to get it completely submerged in the sauce.

Chicken Enchiladas with cheese from Mexico

Chicken Enchiladas with cheese from Mexico

Pull it out of the sauce and place on a plate where you have room to fill with chicken. Roll into a tight ball and top with cheese.

Chicken Enchiladas with cheese from Mexico

Chicken Enchiladas with cheese from Mexico

Chicken Enchiladas with cheese from Mexico

Chicken Enchiladas with cheese from Mexico

“Real” Mexican Enchiladas

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

1-2 tomatoes

4 cloves garlic

1 small onion

For the filling:

2-3 cups shredded chicken

2 cups shredded cheese

1 cup sauteed onion

10-12 flour or corn tortillas

Directions:

In a blender combine, onion, garlic and tomato. Blend until resembles a tomato sauce. Heat a saucepan on high for 1 minute, then very slowly and carefully add the sauce to the hot pan. Bring to a boil. Once the sauce is boiling then submerge the tortillas one by one. Once the first one has passed through the sauce, then place on a plate and fill with shredded chicken and sauteed onion. Roll into a ball and top with cheese. Once all the enchiladas have been made, place in the oven until cheese on top is melted. Serve with sour cream and avocado.

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Chicken Soup – Perfect for Wintertime!

Nothing like a quick dinner fix than chicken soup! This recipe is great for tweaking how you like it and adding whatever you want! I added lots of veggies this time and it was very yummy!

Chicken Soup

 

Chicken Soup

1 whole chicken or 2-3 cups of shredded chicken

1 cup diced carrots

1 cups diced zucchini

2 cups diced potatoes

1/2 cup onion

oregano

3-4 bay leaves

salt

pepper

chicken bouillon – if not using a bone-in chicken you will need to add 2-3 cubes

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Place the chicken inside and boil until no longer pink. Remove the chicken from the water, and place chopped potatoes, onion, and carrots in the boiling water. This is now your chicken broth and at this point you can add some chicken bouillon if you like more flavor. Once your desired amount of chicken is removed from the bone, about 2-3 cups, add that to the boiling pot. Next, add the zucchini and spices. Simmer until veggies are tender. Enjoy with a warm piece of bread.

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Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Who wouldn’t want to wake up to this deliciousness!?? I thought I would just make some simple pumpkin pancakes to use up my leftover pumpkin, when I got the idea to try it out with the Cinnamon Roll pancakes that I make (and are well known and loved in our family :) It was a hit! We had to convince ourselves not to eat this whole stack! These would be a great hit with kids too!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls Pancakes

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls Pancakes

inspired by: Piece of Home

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pinch clove
1 cup milk
6 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 egg

Cinnamon Filling:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, just melted (not boiling)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Cream Cheese Glaze:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3-ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 milk

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl, combine the four, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, & salt. In a large bowl, combine the milk, pumpkin puree, butter, and egg. Slowly combine the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients while constantly stirring. Heat up two large skillets or a griddle, and place about 1/3 cup of batter per pancakes. When you see bubbles, add a swirl of the cinnamon mixture. Flip when pancakes is golden brown on the other side. Place in a warm oven until all pancakes are finished cooking. Serve with the cream cheese glaze.

Cinnamon Filling:

Melt butter and mix with sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Once combined, pour into a small ziplock bag and snip the corner so you can squeeze the mixture out onto the pancakes.

Cream Cheese Glaze:

Mix cream cheese and butter together until well blended. Add milk and stir until well blended (sometimes I just add a few tablespoons at first in case it gets too runny). Add vanilla. Then, while constantly stirring, add powdered sugar a little at a time until it’s at the right consistency.

This was a really exciting photo shoot! These pancakes were just looking so picture perfect hot off the pan! We had fun and had a yummy breakfast. These were pretty special! A perfect way to use some of that pumpkin! Another perk, they also work well for dessert hehe :) 

 

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Breakfast Dishes 2 comments

Caramel Filled Pumpkin Cookies

I have been craving something pumpkin, its allowed, it’s Thanksgiving/Fall time! There is no recognition of Thanksgiving around here in Costa Rica. Sooo… we managed to find a can of pumpkin, much to my delight, and I got to work! These were what were on my mind, and they didn’t fail me! So yummy! This is really a Fall time wonder! These cookies are absolutely delicious and their aroma is to die for. I was so excited to eat these, we had them for breakfast :) Yum Yum!

Pumpkin Cookies Final

The best part, this recipe is really easy! And no eggs! First mix the butter and sugar until well blended. Then add the vanilla and pumpkin. I had so much leftover pumpkin so I”m excited to try something else with my remaining pumpkin!

Step 1

Then mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt.

Step 2

Then slowly add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture. And mix until well blended.

Step 3

Next is the most boring part, put the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes  to an hour to let it firm up. Once the dough is firm, get to unwrapping those caramels! This is the fun part :)  Scoop a spoonful of dough and form the dough around the caramel.

Step 4

Once you have the cookies rolled into balls with the caramels in the middle then place the refrigerator for another 2 hours. When they are firm again, roll each cookies in the sugar, cinnamon mixture. At this point, my dough was still really sticky so I placed them in the refrigerator for overnight.

Step 5

So when morning came around, guess what we were having for breakfast!? We really did! Haha, I was so anxious to try them and who says cookies aren’t allowed at breakfast? My hubby sure didn’t complain :) While these babies were in the oven, I was so excited at the this point! I felt like I missed out on Thanksgiving so this was totally making up for it :)

Step 6

Yummy, Yum Yum! Delicious smells going on in our house right now!

Caramel Pumpkin Cookies

And this is the finished product! So in love! Perhaps a highlight of my week! (Also because we had fun taking the pics afterwards :)

Caramel Filled Pumpkin Cookies

inspired by: Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided

1/3 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1  1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 (14 ounce) bag Kraft Caramels

Directions:

  • Line 2 large cookie sheets parchment paper. (the caramels try to seep out the bottom sometimes)
  • In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and 1 cup sugar together on medium speed 2 minutes. Add the pumpkin and vanilla beat on low 2 more minutes.
  • In a small bowl whisk together the flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, cloves, ginger, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to the sugar mixture and beat on low just until combined. Refrigerate 30 minutes to an hour.
  • After 30 minutes/1 hour scoop up rounded tablespoons of the dough, stick a caramel in the center and roll into a ball. Set on one of the parchment lined cookie sheets.  Repeat until all the cookie dough is used up. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
  • When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup sugar with 2 tablespoons cinnamon in a wide, shallow bowl.
  • Working in batches, roll the cookies in the cinnamon sugar and bake 2 inches apart for 14 minutes. Refrigerate the unbaked cookies in between batches.
  • Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheets. Store in tightly covered containers up to a week.

Enjoy! This is a fall time wonder!

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