coming soon - crunchy chocolate peanut butter chip cookies

Your classic peanut butter cookie, but with a hint of chocolate, crunchy pretzels, and many creamy peanut butter chips laced throughout, stay tuned for the recipe!

meatballs & marinara - juicy balls of deliciousness

If you're an atheist, vegan, or Indian (from India), you should probably shield your eyes from what I'm about to say. Thank you God for making cows edible. Amen. I guess I should be thanking him for pigs too cause these are beef and pork meatballs, but then I'd have to list every ingredient and then the "Indian" criteria wouldn't really work. Analogies, can't live without them, can't form all-encompassing logical statements with them. 

The interweb is inundated with meatball recipes. In fact, unbeknownst to me Foodnetwork just came out with an edition entirely dedicated to the little balls of meat. Yet, there's been this void inside me that has been pecking at my sanity ever since I started this blog. A meatball shaped void that when filled I can finally call this "thing" a food blog. Plus, it was an excuse for me to make meatballs. Mmm meatballs. Meatballs. If you're uncomfortable with the word you should probably stop reading now. 

coming soon - meatballs & marinara

Juicy balls of meaty marinara-y deliciousness. 

vanilla cupcakes + sour cream chocolate ganache frosting

As said to me by my filipino gardener, "These cupcakes are good. Better than sex." For those imposter bloggers who throw around the term #foodporn willy nilly, don't listen to them anymore. This recipe is literally food porn. (it gave this man a foodgasm!)

In today's world, where the temptations of pretentious cronuts and yuza matcha pavlova ice cream sandwiches bombard us from twitter and instagram, sometimes it's nice to take a step back and reminisce about good ol' times. Those days when we happily nibbled on vanilla cupcakes and overly sweet chocolate frosting, not because they were even that good, but because that's all we knew. The only difference is this time it's going to taste good. I mean so good, you're going to find yourself having to make another batch cause you somehow ate a dozen cupcakes in the span of writing a short paragraph. 

coming soon - easy vanilla cupcakes + sour cream chocolate ganache frosting

Super easy and totally delicious. Sometimes all you need is a little chocolate and vanilla in your life. 

fire roasted pepper salsa - {fire}sta time!

No, no you don't need a blowtorch for this recipe. The truth is, if you have a couple veggies and a stove, you've got everything you need to make this bright & delicious spring dip! This salsa is perfect for parties and potlucks. And the best part is you can make this hours, even days in advance and it'll be perfect, maybe even better as I'll explain later. 

Roasting the peppers and the tomatoes (and even the limes) not only gives this salsa a better texture, but it makes it sweet and fruity. I know fruity is a weird adjective to describe salsa, but it's all my sleep deprived mind can produce. Get it. Produce. As in fruits and vegetables. Okay, now I'm just freestyling. Combined with the acidity of the limes and the spiciness of the jalapenos, I haven't found a salsa that is more balanced or delicious than this one. Chowtinue reading for the directions and recipe!

coming soon - fire roasted pepper salsa

No I did not mess up. Fire roasted really means scorched and burned. Try this deliciously sweet and spicy dip that'll spice up your party spread. Coming soon!

fried shrimp w/ sweet & spicy blood orange sauce - happy chinese new year!

As many of you know, my mom, a.k.a. Munchy, a.k.a. Momma, a.k.a. Eileen from accounting, is the best chef I know in the entire world. Although my older posts (because they're blurry, dull, poorly written, and structured) do not exemplify the true quality of her cooking, you can click here for more of Munchy's signature dishes. Not only are her favorite recipes delicious, but they're also quick, often times requiring less than 20 minutes to put together. Straight from the cookbook of a working parent, rest assured this recipe is simple, quick, and super delicious, tailored to the busy parent lifestyle. 

So as you might have guessed, yes, I'm disclosing another chowfidential family recipe. This time I'm showing you how to make the most delicate fried shrimp, and a sweet and spicy blood orange dipping/drenching/drinking/socially acceptable to chugging sauce. Traditionally, this recipe doesn't have any blood oranges in it, but I had them and I thought, what the heck. Shrimp look orange (actually they're more like pink, but who cares), citrus and seafood go well together, this could work. Even without the orange, whenever my mom makes this it's instantly gone the second she turns her back. This recipe is a killer for any of you in the market for a delicious party hors d'oeuvre, or if you're looking for something a little more adventurous for Chinese New Year. Nevertheless, you don't really need a special occasion to make this. I don't care if today is a tuesday in the middle of a cloudless day in Kansas, go buy yourself a bag of oranges and a sack of shrimp cause it's fried shrimp w/ sweet & spicy blood orange sauce time. I've got to learn how to shorten my titles. 

coming soon - fried shrimp w/ sweet & spicy blood orange sauce

Not only am I going to show you one of mom's signature recipes, but the sauce--previously chowfidential--is also part of that deal. Check back regularly, I'll have the recipe out soon. Like in less than a week. Really soon. Fine, three days. You want shorter. Okay two, tops, that's it. Count it down like it's New Years. See you soon. :-)

mini pear 'n banana breads // for ALOHA

I was inspired by ALOHA to write a post about staying healthy throughout the colder months, but I have to be honest I was genuinely stumped. One has to realize that the healthiest post I've ever written is probably the time when I made that chocolate chip cookie cake. Nonetheless, it posed a serious culinary question to me. Can something be easy and healthy, and taste good at the same time? The surprising answer is...yes! I know, I was skeptical at first too. 

In this week's post, Chow Creations is teaming up with ALOHA to spread the happiness of healthy eating via banana bread. Not only do these mini pear 'n banana breads taste and look amazing, but they have no butter in them, 50% less sugar, and are laced with flavor packing nutrition bombs such as ginger and cinnamon. Benefits of which I'll go more into detail down below. 

coming soon - mini pear 'n banana breads

Coming from the blog that brought to you white chocolate oreo cheesecake bars and portuguese egg custard tarts, the latter actually fried in it's own fat, comes a recipe that is actually good for you! These individual/mini pear 'n banana breads are packed with fruit and require no butter and 50% less sugar than the traditional banana bread! The post will be out soon!

roasted garlic fondant potatoes w/ homemade mustard aioli

What is a Fondant Potato? Fondant potatoes are potatoes that are trimmed into the shape of eggs, fried in butter, and then baked. I made mine into the shape of, what I like to call, half of a potato. French cuisine purists, this is where you stop reading. For the rest of you, this new/old potato cooking technique is a tasty and unique way of serving potatoes at the dinner table, while avoiding the commonly mashed, boiled, and baked culprits.  

Traditional fondant potatoes are served plain as a side dish, but, I wanted to put the ol' Chow Creations' spin on the thing and make a homemade mustard aioli to dip them in. My inspiration for this dip is the Spanish dish, Patatas Bravas, which are fried potatoes served with a Tomato Aioli. I thought, though, that a tomato aioli would be too safe, and the combination between garlic and mustard would be perfect to cut through that rich garlicky potato. I'll explain what an aioli is below and how you can turn this delicious side dish into a killer Superbowl Party hors d'oeuvre. Chowtinue Reading. 

coming soon - roasted garlic fondant potatoes w/ homemade mustard aioli

Oh my goodness you guys are going to love this!!! If you like mashed potatoes and baked potatoes, this is an awesome technique of enjoying both at the same time. Creamy, buttery, crispy, and those roasted garlic cloves add a delicious herbaceous touch that is so good! Check back soon!

5 minute weeknight alfredo sauce!

Not only should everyone have a quick and easy, go-to, weeknight recipe, but it should be something delicious and not something that comes from a can, bag, cup, or liquor store. Don't deny it. It's close to your house and they have occasionally good sales on stale cookies and offbrand colas. But, that is all in the past, today I'm going to show you how to make a weeknight alfredo sauce which has been rumoured to cure everything from marriages to cancer. However, rumours are rumours and if those claims turn out to be false, rest assured you still have a killer sauce that you can drown pasta and rice in for a quick and easy weeknight dinner. 

Oh, and did I mention this recipe has 50% less heavy cream and 75% less butter than its predecessors. So yeah, it does cure cancer.