Sesame Chicken

I haven't posted in a while...life got crazy. I made this last week and it was so easy and so yummy I just had to share. Parker loved it so much that he was asking to have it again the next night after he took his first bite. The "sesame" part was a bit of an exaggeration because I doubled the sauce ingredients and I rant out of sesame seeds. Kevin asked me to make it again this week. I think this time I'll toss the sesame seeds in after the sauce has started to thicken so it doesn't get lost in the sauce and then sprinkle a little extra on top of each serving. I'm also making more for leftovers for lunch! I loved this recipe in part because I had all the sauce ingredients and if I didn't, I substituted with ingredients I already had on hand.

                                 

Gather it:
CHICKEN
1.5 lbs chicken (I used boneless skinless thighs); cut in 1" pieces
1 egg
2 Tbsp flour
Salt and pepper
~ 2 Tbsp vegetable oil for frying

SAUCE
4 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
4 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
4 cloves of garlic (we love garlic)
3 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp water

Make it:
1) In a large bowl whisk flour, salt and pepper (I eyeballed this) and eggs together. Place chicken in bowl and coat with egg mixture.

2) Over medium high heat, heat vegetable oil in a large skillet. Cook chicken, stirring occasionally to brown all sides and cooked through.

3) While chicken is cooking, combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl except for the sesame seeds.

4) Pour sauce mixture over the cooked chicken. Combine and toss the chicken to coat in the sauce, which will start to thicken. Turn off heat and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Serve with rice and top with a little more sesame seeds and scallions! Enjoy!!!

Stir Fried Spicy Eggplant

I made this dish last night after trying it out at PF Chang's on Friday during a girls night out with some of my sorority sisters. I normally get their Almond and Cashew Chicken or Orange Peel chicken or beef, but I had ordered some crispy green beans (I must look for a recipe b/c this was delicious!) to go with our wine while we sat at the bar and waited for the other girls to arrive. Then Lauren ordered some edamame after we got seated at our table and waited for a couple more girls to arrive so I wasn't that hungry when it was time to order our entrees. Lauren and I sometimes order 2 different entrees and then split it...that's what we did Friday night. I shared my eggplant dish and I had some of her Kung Pao Chicken. Both were delicious!

I decided to find a copy cat recipe and found this recipe. The picture looked like the dish I had so I decided to try it. I had to make a trip at the Asian Market to buy a couple things I didn't have like chili paste and ground bean sauce. It took forever because I didn't have any idea what I was looking for and the lady just pointed to the Siracha when I asked for chili paste. I was looking for something that actually said chili paste and not just a hot sauce type of condiment. Thankfully my mom brought oyster sauce with her the last time she was down so I didn't have to look for it. I knew I had sesame oil already at home, but wasn't sure how much I had left so I just grabbed it since I found it fairly easily. 20 minutes later, Avery and I found our 2 "mystery" ingredients!

This dish was so good and despite all the ingredients and more steps than I normally like, it was fairly easy to make...and fast too! Kevin said he really liked this dish, but wants some sort of protein to go with it. I think I'm going to mix in some stir fried chicken or beef next time. I think it will go great with the sauce!

I made a few tiny changes to the recipe. Here's my version:

Gather it:
2 large eggplants, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
3 tsp garlic, minced (you can do less, the recipe calls for 1 tsp, but we love garlic)
1/2 Tbsp corn starch, mixed w/ 1 Tbsp water to make a paste
1/2 cup vegetable oil, halved

Gather it for the Spicy Sauce:
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 Tbsp soy auce
2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
1.5 tsp chili paste (the original recipe called for 1 tsp, but mine wasn't that spicy)
1/2 tp ground bean sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil

Make it:
1) Combine all Spicy Sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.

2) In a wok, heat 1/4 cup of the vegetable oil over high heat. Stir fry half of the eggplant for 4-5 minutes until tender. Remove eggplant and drain on a plate with paper towels.

3) Add remaining vegetable oil and repeat #2. Two eggplants seem like a lot, but they shrink a lot! I was originally only going to do 1 eggplant, but then I realized it wouldn't be enough for Kevin and me so I decided to do both eggplants.

4) After cooking eggplants, remove all but ~1/2 tsp of oil from wok. Stir fry your garlic for about 5 seconds over high heat then add the spicy sauce.

5) Reduce heat and let sauce simmer for about 20 seconds. Add all of the eggplant and simmer for another 20 seconds.

6) Stir in cornstarch paste a little bit at a time until your sauce is to your desire consistency. I used 2 spoonfuls (regular sized dinner spoon). Serve immediately over a bed of rice.

I decided to take Avery with me to the Asian Market after she woke up from her nap...she was excited to go

I'm 100% Filipino, but was so lost at the store! 

Both my ingredients were in the same aisle and on the same side, but it still took me 20 minutes to find them!

Avery found Hello Kitty cookies! She started liking Hello Kitty when I bought her an FSU shirt w/ HK on it and then she got sparkly HK tennis shoes from her cousin. Funny enough there was a lady wearing a HK costume at the mall earlier that day doing a promo for a store. She kept yelling "Hello Kitty!" for about 10 minutes and yet wouldn't go anywhere near her. 

Crockpot Beef Stew

I threw this meal together before work yesterday...in the 10 minutes I had to chop and dice everything. It was so easy and I got a text from Kevin while I was still at work saying that it was really good. Both kids gobbled it up too! I made a large meal out of it so that we could have leftovers and dinner tonight too since I knew it would be crazy hectic tonight.

Gather it:
2 lbs of cubed beef stew (or you can cube up your own large hunk of meat)
4 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
4 large red potatoes, quartered
1 medium sweet potato, quartered
4 celery stalks, large half moons
32 oz carton of chicken stock (beef probably would have been better, but I didn't have any)
dried parsley
freshly cracked black pepper

Make it:
1) Place all veggies, parsley, and black pepper in crockpot and cover with stock.

2) Place beef on top of veggies.

3) Cook on low for 8 hours.

We ate it with rice and it was delicious. Make sure to scoop up some of the broth to go over the rice...YUMMY! Oh and Kevin and I added a bit of salt and more black pepper to our dishes.

Note: Next time I will add onions and garlic, but I'm all out. Also, the sweet potatoes cooked a lot faster than the other veggies so next time I'm going to cut it into larger chunks since it kind of fell apart.

Chicken Taco Salad

I had nothing to do with this meal...it was all the hubby. When I get home from work the kids are usually already bathe and in their pajamas and I just spend time with them before they head off to bed. Well my wonderful hubby fixed this up while I was busy racing Lightnight McQueen in my left hand and holding Goodnight Moon on my right hand and ready while Avery sat on my lap. This dinner takes me back to when I was little and my mom and I used to make taco salads for dinner. I have not had a homemade taco salad in forever! Super easy...of course it was...I didn't do anything! lol



Gather it:
flour tortillas
rotisserrie chicken, shredded
yellow rice, cooked according to package directions
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 large tomato, diced and seeded
1 small red onion, diced
fresh cilantro,
shredded cheddar cheese
lime wedge

Make it:
1. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Arrange tortilla in an oven safe bowl that is deep enough to create a "bowl" for your stuffing. Bake  until edges are golden brown and crispy...let's ignore the burn section of my tortilla bowl!

2. Scoop a little bit of everything into tortilla bowl and squeeze lemon juice over everything.

Hubby also used his special sauce...a must try!!!

Fried Rice

I'm Asian (duh!)...Filipino to be exact and rice runs through my veins. I can eat rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and I LOVE fried rice. I think the first time my mom made fried rice for breakfast using up left over rice and meat, Kevin was like: "Where's the pancakes?". lol But now, he doesn't bat an eyelash when my mom whips it up and eats it up. My mother in law also makes fried rice but with Rice A Roni - it was a very popular meal for the Sunday dinners we used to have. Both are delicious and I've combined both moms' fried rice technique with a little bit of my own. I tend to use left over rice and meat - it's a good way to eat up the left overs!

FYI this makes a large batch, but we like plenty for leftovers. I've adjusted it to make a smaller batch before. It's a very forgiving recipe - just go easy on the soy sauce - you can always add more after you've plated your serving. My husband has made this fried rice before and has added scrambled eggs - my MIL's fried rice includes scrambled eggs. I'm not a fan of eggs in my rice (I mean I'll eat it if someone else cooks it, but I prefer not to add it when I'm cooking), but Kevin and the kids LOVE scrambled eggs. I truly forget to add it - I don't omit it on purpose! Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:
- 4 cups of cooked rice
- 1.5-2 cups of cooked bite sized pieces of meat (hubby likes a lot of meat - I used left over Adobo Chicken that my mom made)
- half of a large white onion, diced
- 5 cloves of garlic, minced
- frozen veggies (I typically use frozen carrots, corn, and peas, but I was all out of peas and only had a little bit of carrots. I tend to use a lot of veggies to up our veggie intake so put as much or as little as you want.)
- dried parsley
- freshly ground pepper (to taste - I didn't use much since the Adobo had a lot of pepper in it already)
- soy sauce, to taste (I don't measure this, but I don't use much since the kids are eating it too. I probably use about 4 Tbsp. I also didn't add any extra this time around since Adobo is cooked in soy sauce.)
- about 1.5 Tbsp oil (I used coconut)
- about 2-3 Tbsp butter (optional, this is my mother in law's contribution - her fried rice is so good b/c she puts butter in it....like 1 whole stick!)

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a wok or a large skillet under medium/high heat. Saute onion until slightly softened. Add garlic - do not let it brown.

2. Add rice and toss it in oil, onion, and garlic. Add butter. Let it "fry" for about 5 minutes - stirring every now and then to evenly fry the rice.

3. Add frozen veggies and meat and let it warm through. Also add parsley, pepper, and soy sauce. Stir everything together.

Avery ate a big bowl...

she was literally scraping her bowl and asked for more

Parker scarfed his big bowl down before I thought about taking a picture. Hope you enjoy!!!

fish stick tacos

I've never been a fan of fish sticks, but my cousin used to eat them all the time. When trying to get Parker to try new things and eat more fish as a toddler, I remembered my cousin eating fish sticks so I decided to give him some. He LOVED them! Parker has a pronunciation issue and calls them "sh!t d!cks". I died laughing when I first heard it. Anyway, for dinner last night I decided to make fish sticks for the kids (they don't like tortillas) and fish stick tacos for Kevin and me. Don't say "Eww!". Try it! It was super easy and yummy!

Taco ingredients:
fish sticks
tortillas
tomatoes, diced
red onion, diced
cilantro
shredded cheese
lime wedges

Directions:
1. Cook fish sticks according to instructions on box.
2. Once fish is done cooking, warm tortillas in microwave (cover with damp paper towel and nuke for ~1 min)
3. Pile fish sticks, tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, and cheese into tortilla and squeeze lime juice on top.

Kevin and I LOVE cilantro so I used almost half a bunch! I'm also a big tomato fan so I diced a whole tomato.

We had white rice and black beans too. We also love grilled fish, shrimp, and steak tacos, but those take a little longer and I wanted something super easy. Kevin and I def love us some tacos! We usually have it about once a week, but we haven't had it in a few weeks. I think it's gonna come back in the dinner rotation!

sorry for the bad pic...our dining room light gives my pics a yellow tint! 

Oh and in case you are wondering what that sauce is on my taco...it's the sauce from our favorite Cuban restaurant. For years Kevin tried to figure out how to make it and he finally figured it out a few months ago...or at least it tastes very similar. I'd give you the recipe, but I've never made it myself and Kevin doesn't measure anything either. I know it has mayo, mojo, lime juice, and cayenne pepper or hot sauce. I know it'll be hard to make not knowing how it tastes, but you should try. It totally makes the difference between a boring taco and a delicious taco. I've tried Google to find the recipe, but nothing! The consistency should be somewhat runny so alternate between adding more mayo or mojo if needed - Kevin and I do a few taste tests to get the right taste and those are the 2 things he usually adds. You should be able to taste the mayo, but it shouldn't be overwhelming. The lime juice is just a small wedge and the hot sauce or cayenne is however hot you want the sauce to be. Sorry I wasn't very helpful. Good luck! Let me know if it works out for you! 

Crockpot Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

After 2 failed crockpot meals (pineapple chicken and potato soup) due to not reading the instructions very well (cooking w/ 2 crazy kids including an 18 month old who keeps trying to get between me and the counter is tough) I decided it was time to try another crockpot meal. I will try those recipes again though. Anyway, I found this recipe at simplymadewithlove. She has lots of great recipes that I can't wait to try! Oh and I use crockpot liners for easy clean up! Whoever invented this is a GENIUS! I hate scrubbing burnt food on the sides of the crockpot! 

You might think this is just a regular chicken and rice soup, but the roux really makes a difference - it makes it thick and creamy. Kevin and I also added some extra pepper and a sprinkle of salt to our bowls (I tend to not cook with salt and also to limit the kids' sodium intake). The whole family loved it. Avery even had seconds when Parker finally decided he wanted to eat (he doesn't like to eat at 5:30 when we typically eat and instead eats around 6:45-7, which I'm ok with right now as long as he eats). 

I tend to tweak recipes and rarely measure (except for wet ingredients and stuff like flour)...here's my version:

Ingredients:

46.5 oz chicken broth (this is 1 carton and 1 can of broth)

2 cups water

3 boneless chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs)

2 pkgs of Rice A Roni long grain and wild rice

1/2 cup all purpose flour 

1/2 cup butter (per the recipe, but I used butter in a tub, so I "estimated")

2 cups half and half

half a bag of microwaveable carrots (found at Publix - these are smaller and thinner than baby carrots)

5-6 stalks of celery (cut in half moons - I used the inner stalks including the leaves)

onions - diced

black pepper - 4-5 twists of the grinder

dried parsley 

Directions:

Combine broth, water, carrots, celery, onion, parsley, black pepper, chicken and rice (including seasoning packet) in slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 4 hours. About 30 minutes before you want to eat, shred chicken in slow cooker - I used a pair of tongs and the chicken just falls apart. Replace lid.

*** I originally used only 1 carton (32 oz or 4 cups) of broth and the recipe called for 4.5 cups. I didn't want to open another box/can for just 1/2 cup. I figured I could add extra broth later if needed. I probably could have gotten away with it, but I needed to add more since I also added an extra package of Rice A Roni in the beginning. 1 package just didn't look like enough. This Asian girl forgot how much rice actually expands. I ended up adding 1 can of broth about 3 hours into cooking. This will make A LOT of soup. We have enough for left over lunch tomorrow and then some. Next time I'll follow the directions and use 4.5 cups of broth and 1 pkg of rice. lol ***

Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in flour by tablespoon to form a roux. Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Stir cream mixture into slow cooker and then let cook on low for 15 more minutes. 

*** left: butter and flour mixture; right: half and half added to mixture - it will resemble a pancake batter in consistency. As you mix the half and half in, it will clump up together. Eventually, it will thin out. You will be getting a good arm workout! ***

the roux mixed with the rest of the soup

all done! the lighting made the soup look yellow...it's not!

ENJOY THE YUMMINESS!!!