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The changua, the soup that is served for breakfast by cundiboyacenses, can restore even the most tired person’s strength. A mix of ingredients that no one would ever think would be so good, having milk as it’s main ingredient, it is guaranteed to blow you away.

I have been familiar with changua since I was little because in my family, being from Bogotá, it was not uncommon to see it on the table in the morning, especially on a very busy day.

The people who enjoyed it the most were my mom and my grandma. You could always hear them expressing their changua cravings. The next day there would be a bowl of hot milk with bread, eggs, and cilantro served on the table.

Changua can be made in less than 10 minutes, giving it another reason to be a breakfast favorite. All you need to do is mix an equal amount of milk and water in a pot, adding salt and pieces of green onion (optional if you are not a fan of onions, but the original recipe includes it), and then you let it boil before you add the eggs. It is then supposed to be served with toasted bread and chopped cilantro.

The changua has been a saving grace during quarantine (and always). These are difficult times and this is a great way to start the day. One bowl of changua immediately gives your mood a boost and brings a smile to your face. Natural medicine, according to many grandmothers. That’s how I like it.

Milk is a crucial part of the nutrition of families, and because of the difficult times we are facing, The California Milk Processor Board (the creators of Got Milk? and Toma Leche) and the California Milk Advisory Board, representing California dairy farm families, are partnering with Feeding America to help provide 1 million meals and 1 million servings of milk to feeding programs throughout California with their new campaign, #FoodForThought.

Until September 30^th, every time we post a beautiful message or an act of kindness on social media and tag @gotmilk, @tomaleche, and #FoodForThought, it will help generate a donation towards the goal of 1 million meals to help those in need.

If you need a little push toward participating, in our Instagram account, we are hosting a giveaway for a $100 gift card.

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When I think of homemade food, the first thing that comes to my mind is Colombian chicken and rice. A favorite for people from the Colombian countryside, this is also craved in parties and gatherings with many guests.

Not only because of its delicious flavor, but this dish also looks very presentable, and it is very easy to make, and it is super affordable. Whenever I prepare this, I add an extra cup of rice, and that way I can use it for empanadas or just to enjoy with a sunny side up egg.

There are numerous ways to prepare rice like this. I like to start by sautéing the chunks of chicken that have been previously marinated in garlic. Then, you add the vegetables and sauté them for a quick amount of time. It is then mixed with water and rice and seasoning.

In Colombia, we usually serve this with a piece of lettuce and decorated with some tomato sauce. Many people like us like to mix this sauce with rice and accompany it with french fries.

How do you like to serve Colombian chicken and rice?

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I LOVE STUFFED POTATOES!! I think they are very similar to empanadas, but because the potato dough is very easy to manage, you can add so much more filling!

I prepare them when I have many guests over and I serve them as an appetizer accompanied by ají. Yes, that sauce that is made of tomatoes, onion, and cilantro we Colombians use for everything (recipe here). If you think about it, it might go well with avocado sauce.

There is no difficulty in preparing stuffed potatoes. It starts by cooking the potatoes and then making them into a dough, and then you fill the dough with ground beef, tomatoes, cumin, more spices, and most important of all, chopped hard-boiled egg. In Colombia, hard-boiled egg is known as huevo duro.

You can also add some rice or replace the meat with chicken if you want to. However, my favorites will always consist of ground beef, tomato, a bit of rice, and the huevo duro!

Do you like Colombian stuffed potatoes?

Would you like to try some in the future?

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People have asked me this question many times: ‘What is your favorite Colombian dish?’ My answer has always been and will be: Ajiaco. I am sharing the recipe my Abuelita Lucrecia made for me, and it is the best I have ever tasted.

I love it so, so, so, so much, that I sometimes end up eating three bowls in a row. One day, my Abuelita prepared this, and I had bowl after bowl, and I ended up apologizing because I couldn’t eat anymore.

This weekend, I asked Chef Lucrecia (my Abuelita) for the recipe so I can share it with you. Since I don’t live in Colombia, it is nearly impossible to find the exact ingredients, but specific alternatives work just as well. I present to you, the Colombian Ajiaco!

Note: the grated arracacha is utilized for adding a thicker consistency, one of the many pieces of advice my Abuelita gave me. The guascas I used weren’t fresh; they were dehydrated, but they tasted so good.

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The sancocho is a traditional soup that we share with different countries in Latin America, but depending on the region it is prepared in, it has some variations.

It could be made with fish, beef, pork, chicken, and it lets us cook red meats and white meats together. We will make one of the simpler ones, the chicken sancocho.

Also, the sancocho actively represents Colombian countryside gastronomy, and it is prepared at gatherings along the river. It is usually accompanied by white rice, avocado, and our typical guiso made of tomatoes, onion, and cilantro. What is your favorite way to enjoy chicken sancocho?

If you want to feel more adventurous, you might want to try the Sancocho Trifásico.

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In many Colombian regions, it’s very easy to find beef and potato empanada stands, the favorite of many people. I love them, and that amazing mixture of flavors in every bite. They sometimes taste better when accompanied by ají (view recipe here), and I like them with some lemon wedges.

These empanadas can be made using beef or pork meat. Use the one you like better or the one that you have. In the recipe I’m sharing with you today, I used shredded pork, and I prepared it in advance. It has an amazing flavor!

You can also prepare a large quantity of these empanadas to later wrap and store them. That way, whenever you start craving, you can just pop it in the oven or frier.

Other empanada recipes:

Colombian Empanadas

Chinese Fried Rice Empanadas

Hawaiian Empanadas

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Colombian ají is one of the most notable spicy condiments in our kitchen, because of its strong, amazing flavor and for every single soul who will taste this sauce, this will leave them standing in amazement. It goes perfectly with a number of Colombian dishes that are usually served as appetizers, such as amazing patacones, and crunchy empanadas.

Preparing ají is really easy. This sauce is made by combining tomato, green onion, cilantro, and chopped jalapeños — any spicy pepper will work–, use a white vinegar dressing, lime juice, a touch of oil, water, and salt.

Ají can be refrigerated in well-sealed jars and stay there for some time. It stays conserved for when you prepare patacones, grilled meat, and some salted potatoes.

Which one of these appetizers would you accompany with the ají?

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Have you tried hot chocolate with cheese? Like how we enjoy it in Colombia? If this is the first time you have heard of this tradition, it is when you put little cubes of cheese into your hot chocolate. This is what we do when we are in cold cities like Bogotá, we serve this for breakfast along with some scrambled eggs or as a snack along with some bread.

It is ideal to use a creamy yet firm cheese for this, and it should taste good and melt easily. Fortunately, I found the ideal ingredients at ALDI after such a long time. In this, I used a Havarti cheese that says ‘CREAMY’ on its packaging. This really helps me satisfy my craving for double cream cheese that I always ate in Colombia; it melts perfectly in the hot chocolate and in the aguadepanela with lime (a hot drink made with brown sugar). You can’t imagine how good it is with a piece of bocadillo (guava paste). So yummy!

The recipe says that as soon as your chocolate is super hot, you should add many cubes of cheese and accompany it with some bread on the side. You should also dip the bread into the hot chocolate. With the help of a spoon, fish out the pieces of melted cheese one by one.

Enjoy!

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Absolutely every recipe I publish on this blog is the result of my cravings, and today’s recipe is no exception. Since a few weeks ago, I remembered when I got some Hawaiian empanadas at a restaurant called Primo’s in the city of Neiva, a place we went twice a week.

Although the menu at Primo’s was full of variety, I always ordered the same three things: Hawaiian empanadas, chicken on a stick, and chocolate cake. I had the advantage of being thin back then, and eating all those calories didn’t affect anything. Good times!

When I made this recipe, I had to choose only one kind of empanada. I chose the Hawaiian empanadas.

They taste very similar to Hawaiian pizza, but the difference is that the crust that surrounds the empanadas is much more delicious, the toastier, the better.

For this opportunity, I had traditional Maseca, and to give the crust a little more yellowish tinge, I added a bit of coloring: using turmeric or achiote when preparing the dough. If you want to skip this step, just use yellow Maseca.

They aren’t served with any sauces, but the juice they emit when cooking makes them even more delicious. For those that are used to spicy flavors, you can add a few drops of ají.

I’m thinking about making these again soon, and I have to make lots of them because every member of the family eats at least two. How many would you eat?

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