I’ve been cooking full meals since I was six years old. I am serious. One day, I tried to wake my mom to make me breakfast but she was tired and couldn’t get up. At the time we were living with my grandmother and my uncle was sitting at the table eating breakfast. I guess he was waiting for me to come ask him to help me make mine.

Instead I pulled a step to the counter and whipped up some pancakes, eggs and bacon and sat down at the table in front of a gobsmacked uncle. It was that day my love of cooking began. During lock down I was able indulge that love by doing a weekly live cooking show on my Instagram that I will start again soon. On Instagram I share recipes, some from my childhood, and others from my travels or Pinterest.

Easy: Southwestern Fried Chicken
One of my favorite recipes to make is my Southwestern fried chicken. I’m from Texas and there are four recipes that you must master early on, fried chicken, chili, tacos and bbq, specifically brisket, juicy not dry, and ribs. Honorable mention to sun tea, bbq sauce, pecan pie and homemade biscuits. The skin of Southwestern fried chicken is different from southern fried chicken because it is crispy kinda like Popeye’s. Southern fried chicken has a softer skin like KFC.

If you use a deep fryer the chicken is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside and it is delicious. Eventually, I’d like to try to use my air fryer so that it’s healthier. I use several herbs and spices that are similar to what is used in a lot of Indian food or in our case, BBQ marinades, but it makes the chicken *chef’s kiss* delicious.

Medium: Garlic Butter Lemon Parmesan Shrimp and Rice
I have been transitioning to a pescatarian lifestyle so I have been trying my hand at some recipes I have found on Pinterest but making them my own like this recipe. The recipe called for cauliflower rice and deveined shrimp but I used Basmati rice and red Argentine shrimp instead. I have made lemon garlic Parmesan shrimp before because I love authentic Italian/Italian-esque food as I lived in Italy for 3 years, but I never thought to add sriracha to it. Adding sriracha created a new flavor combo for my taste and turned the dish into an Italian-Asian fusion

It only takes about 30-40 minutes to make but it is worth the time spent in the kitchen.

Easy: Summer Zucchini Corn Chowder
Another one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen is make soups. Most people think soups are just for the cooler months and they are quite heavy. I beg to differ, there are a lot of spring and summer soups and chowders that are perfect for those hot summer days when you just want something light in your belly. This zucchini corn chowder recipe is amazingly delicious and I even got my mom hooked on it.

View this post on Instagram

#summersoup zucchini and corn chowder soup.

A post shared by Tanisha (@theahaexperience) on Jun 18, 2020 at 3:10pm PDT

Hopefully, you can take these recipes and tweak them for your own personal taste buds or make them as is. If you do make them feel free to tag us with a photo. Or you can follow me on Instagram where I will post many of my recipes as well as restarting my live cooking show again every Friday beginning next week.