Jalapeño Poppers

The internet is such a marvelous place, isn't it? I love finding inspiration in the most unlikely of places. Buzzfeed is one of my favorite sites (I'm totally addicted to the quizzes), so when I found this list of 33 Genius 3 Ingredient Recipes, I knew I couldn't pass it up.

If you've been reading, y'all will know that I'm a fan of all things spicy. Jalapeños are the love of my life, and this recipe is no different. 

Ingredients: 

12 wooden toothpicks 

4 ounces (113 grams) Philadelphia chive and onion cream cheese, softened

6 jalapeño chiles halved lengthwise, seeded

4 slices of bacon

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375° F (190° C). Line cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper. Soak toothpicks in small bowl of water to prevent burning.

2. In a small bowl mix cream cheese. Spoon into chiles.
3. Cut each bacon slice crosswise into thirds. Wrap 1 piece of bacon around each stuffed chile half; secure with soaked toothpick. Place onto cookie sheet.
4. Bake 25 minutes or until bacon is crispy and chiles are tender. Serve warm.

When I say that these are positively divine, you have to believe me! A little fresh cilantro or parsley added for garnish kicks up those intense flavors even more. If you're still wanting some more spice leave a few of the seeds in and the membrane intact. These awesome hors d'oeuvres are sure to leave everyone wanting more. And with only 3 easy ingredients there's no reason for you not to try it!   

The Incredible Hulk (part 1)

Happy Monday lovers! I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter and Passover weekend. Now that lent is over I'm back to blogging and back to life. During my mini break from the internet I've had a lot of time to pray, reflect, and watch movies of course!

The Avengers franchise is the most successful superhero franchise in history, not to mention one of my favorites. (go Captain America) and I'd seen all the movies except one. I finally got around to watching it and fell in love. So for today's Monday movie I've chosen The Incredible Hulk.

We all (hopefully) know the story of Dr. Bruce Banner, the brilliant scientist who turns into a big, green rage machine when his pulse gets too high. In this adaptation we find Edward Norton as doctor Banner, living on the outskirts in Peru, seeking solidarity and validation while desperately attempting to find an antidote for his "condition" so he can return to his life and his love Betsy Ross (beautifully played by Liv Tyler). However, he is captured by General "Thunderbolt" Ross, and his worst nightmare is reincarnated when power-hungry soldier Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) becomes a similar, more evil version of himself. Check out the trailer for The Incredible Hulk below:



As I was growing up, I remember my dad being enamored with the Incredible Hulk, but after the 2003 film I was only left disappointed and longing for more. The CGI was just awful, I didn't care for Eric Bana's Hulk at all, and the movie was just downright a depressing snoozefest. This reboot brought The Hulk back to life for me. I much prefer Edward Norton (although Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers was even better) to Eric Bana and the adaptation of The Abomination made me squeal. Tim Roth was absolutely perfect for the role of the classic supervillian.

Norton's take on Banner was an excellent installment of just one superhero film in what was to become The Avengers. Even with the seriousness of his character he was still able to throw in some witty one-liners that made me giggle and lightened the tone of the movie a bit. In my opinion he brought a little humanity to the monster and paved the way for Ruffalo to make even better Hulk movies in the future.

The Incredible Hulk is now available on blu-ray and DVD, and as always don't forget to check back on Thursday for part two of this post.

P.S. Go see Captain America: The Winter soldier in theaters now! It's truly the best Marvel sequel ever.