sweet and sour pineapple chicken

remember my not-so-fried orange chicken? this is a sweet and sour version of that. i really like asian food, but i really don't like how greasy it is. this version is delicious with almost no oil... it doesn't just taste good, but it will make you feel good too.

sweet and sour pineapple chicken
4+ large servings

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

stir fry in:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons pineapple juice (from the can of pineapple)
1/2 teaspoon sugar

sauce:
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon ginger
rest of the juice from the can of pineapple (minus the above 2 tablespoons)

1 20 oz can chunk pineapple
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, sliced thin
2 carrots, julienned
1-2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 medium yellow squashed, thinly sliced

cornstarch

1. combine flour, salt and pepper in a bag. add chicken pieces and mix them around to coat.

2. combine 2 teaspoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 2 tablespoons pineapple juice (from the can of pineapple) and 1/2 teaspoon sugar in large skillet or wok. heat for a minute.

3. add flour-coated chicken to skillet/wok. stir to coat with sauce. let chicken brown on one side, then stir and let brown again. repeat until chicken is almost done inside. add the pineapple, garlic, green pepper, carrots, onions and squash. stir to coat then cover and let steam for 2-3 minutes.

4. combine all sauce ingredients (ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, ginger, pineapple juice) and pour over contents of skillet/wok. let sauce get hot and help finish cooking the veggies until they are crisp-tender.

5. add cornstarch a little at a time to thicken sauce.

6. serve with steamed white rice.

fresh ginger: a lesson learned

so, i'm too cheap to buy fresh herbs (except garlic of course, oh and i grew my own basil). there, i said it. sad, i know. but when you've got two kids and your hubby isn't quite done with school it's a mentality you must embrace. well, hubby's done with school and i keep hearing people rave about fresh ginger and what a difference it makes in your food. so i decided to give it a go now that i'm among the working, adult class (not that my food budget is different, but i gladly spend the entire thing every month instead of trying to scrimp every last penny... you should see my food storage!). good news is, it really isn't that expensive either! WOW!!! i can't believe what i've been missing out on all this time. fresh ginger really does make a huge flavor difference in my food. lesson learned.

this is one of my favorite fresh ginger dishes we've eaten lately. my bff made it for us when we visited them (and disneyland!) in california last month. she got it from her friend. it's pretty high ranking on the favorite food list right now. soooo good, easy and quick!

thai peanut chicken wraps
6-8 big wraps

sauce:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons olive oil (next time i'll try no oil here, i don't think it needs it)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

6-8 eight to ten inch flour tortillas (yummy on wheat!)
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (or a bit more fresh garlic instead and add some salt)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
12 oz boneless skinless chicken breast meat, in chunks or slices
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 cups packaged broccoli slaw ($1.68 at my wal-mart, my bff gets it at trader joes)
3/4 medium raw red onion, cut into thin wedges
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1. for peanut sauce: combine all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring frequently. set aside.
2. wrap tortillas in foil. bake in 350 degree oven about 10 minutes ot until heated and softened. meanwhile, combine garlic salt, pepper and chicken.
3. in a large skillet, heat the 1 teaspoon olive oil. cook and stir seasoned chicken in hot oil over medium-hight heat until cooked through. remove chicken from skillet; keep warm. add broccoli, onion and ginger to skillet. cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. remove from heat.
4. to assemble, top tortilla with chicken and vegetable mixture. spread each tortilla with about 1 tablespoon + peanut sauce. roll up each tortilla, securing with a wooden toothpick. serve immediately with remaining sauce.

recipe of the week: steph's asian beef and broccoli

this dinner was awesome. my friend steph passed along her super easy and delicious recipe and i made some very minor adjustments... and viola! soooooo good and soooo simple. and i love it because it is adjustable to however much you want to make!

steph's asian beef and broccoli

about equal portions:
broccoli florets, steamed to crisp tender
very thinly sliced beef (i used london broil - it's the leanest!)

equal amounts of:
soy sauce
sugar
water

cornstarch

optional:
green onions
red pepper flakes

combine enough soy sauce, sugar and water (equal amounts of each) to just cover the meat in a bowl. marinate at least 1/2 an hour (i marinated mine for a few hours). mix in a few large spoonfuls of cornstarch to thicken the sauce a bit.

heat your wok or large frying pan on low and add the meat in the sauce with a dash of red pepper flakes if you'd like. when the meat looks 70% cooked and the sauce is gelling to the meat, toss in the already steamed (crisp tender, not soggy) broccoli (with a bit of water if you feel like your sauce is getting too thick) and a few chopped green onions (optional) and mix around so the broccoli absorbs the sauce too. cover with the lid and let it simmer until meat is completely done.

serve over white rice.

recipe of the week: not-so-fried rice

i know.... more asian food. i think it's a pregnancy thing. my dad makes the most amazing bacon fried rice. the only problem is i don't feel amazing after i eat it because it is definitely super greasy. this fried rice is super yummy like my dad's but without the grease (and it has veggies)!! enjoy!

not-so-fried rice
makes a huge wok full (about 6 servings)

2 1/2 cups uncooked white rice, cooked according to directions (i want to try it with brown rice, but i was afraid of husband mutiny against the brown. hehe.)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 of a medium onion, chopped
1 1/2-2 cups (or more if you aren't using meat) veggies of choice (i used carrots and broccoli)
1 1/2 cups cooked cubed turkey or chicken - optional (i used some leftover from a huge turkey breast i roasted a while ago and froze)
5 eggs, scrambled
3-4 tablespoons soy sauce
green onion tops, chopped

1. heat oil in wok on high. add onions and sautee 2 minutes or until soft. add veggies and sautee until whole mixture is damp from oil. cover and let steam until veggies are crisp-tender (open wok and stir once in a while). about half way through steaming, add meat (optional) and let sautee with the rest of the mixture.
2. add cooked rice to wok and pour soy sauce over the top. mix well. scramble eggs and add to wok. add green onions. mix well again. cover wok and let heat for a few minutes until hot throughout.
3. top with extra soy sauce if desired and very optional... tabasco - i love tabasco on my fried rice. strange i know! hope you like it!

recipe of the week: filipino chicken

my mom used to make this when i was growing up, and since my husband spent two years of his life in the philippines on an LDS mission i'd thought i'd try it out on him. he said it tasted just like the real thing. it was sooooo yummy, cheap and healthy! even my daughter, who we can rarely get to eat meat, loved it! (if you don't like vinegar, i wouldn't suggest this one, but if you do you'll love it!)

filipino chicken
6 servings

1 5lb chicken, disjointed (or cut into pieces)
1 1/2 teaspoons peppercorns
3/4 cup cider vinegar
6 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 bay leaves
6 medium cloves garlic, chopped

1. simmer all ingredients in a covered pot for 2 1/2 hours at low temperature. serve with rice (i used brown, but white is more traditional) and steamed/cooked veggies of choice. pour sauce over rice and veggies (i did carrots and green beans because it is what i had!) when serving.

crockpot option (more expensive): 4-6 breasts cooked in crockpot on low.

the rating system

fairly early in our marriage, we instituted a rating system for my cooking at my request. now, this may sound masochistic to some of you who aren't confident in your cooking yet, but i wasn't confident in my cooking at that point either. consider the following benefits of instituting your own rating system:

• it can help your cooking confidence - it will help you realize your strengths and your weaknesses in cooking so you can magnify the 1st and work on the latter.
  
• you'll never make anything (twice) your husband doesn't like - i would hate to love something and find out after years of making it once a month that my husband only thought it was a 5 out of 10. bummer.
  
• it gives you a goal - it's no fun to just cook day after day and never have any feedback or anywhere to improve or anywhere to go. i had a week of all 9's once. it was amazing!! what a cooking rush. i felt totally motivated to keep creating.
  

in addition to the benefits above, here are a few tips for creating a rating system:

• have tough skin - just because your husband didn't love something you cooked doesn't mean he doesn't love you. he just didn't like that dish. it's okay - just make something different tomorrow!
  
• make your system consistent - my husbands 1 to 10 system is based not just on taste, but on how often he'd like to eat it. sushi is a 10 for him and he'd eat it every day (and no, i've never gotten a ten - he's totally obsessed with sushi), but i've gotten lots of 9's that i think hold their own against sushi. :)
• ask for the rating, and then for feedback - it helps you learn to take constructive criticism. i love to ask my husband what i could do to make an 8 into a 9.

i've been really craving asian food for some reason (making my hubby thrilled to say the least), but i've never really cooked anything authentically asian until this. it was so worth the extra ingredients i bought (and will definitely keep using - i'm hooked!). this one got a 9!!

chicken lo mein
mostly based on recipes here and here
4-6 servings

marinate 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast sliced into small pieces in the following for at least 1 hour:
3/4 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/8 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1 tablespoon chicken broth

sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 lb linguini pasta, cooked
2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic
crushed red pepper (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
1 red/orange bell pepper, chopped
4 green onions, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
(change up the veggies according to what you have - you can use anything that sounds good. mushrooms and snow peas are two others i'd suggest)
1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
cornstarch
1 teaspoon sesame oil


1. after marinating chicken as instructed above, combine all sauce ingredients in a medium bowl. in a separate small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch with some of this mixture and slowly add to the bulk of the mixture, stirring well. set aside.
2. heat 1 tablespoon olive oil with a dash of crushed red pepper (optional - may leave out or adjust depending on how spicy you want it) in a wok or large saucepan over high heat until it starts to smoke. add the marinated chicken and leftover marinade from chicken and stir-fry for 4 to 5 minutes, or until browned. add your garlic and veggies (the ones above or your choice) to wok. mix well and then stir fry veggies for a few minutes.
3. add the reserved sauce mixture and oyster sauce. simmer until the sauce begins to thicken and veggies are steamed to your liking (i like them crisp tender, about 3+ minutes). when veggies are done, you may add a few teaspoonfuls of cornstarch to thicken sauce.
4. add the cooked pasta and 1 teaspoon of sesame seed oil over the top of the pasta. toss gently, coating everything well with the sauce.

adventures in family-friendly cooking

so last week i was in las vegas babysitting my niece and 2 nephews in the afternoons while their regular sitter (a.k.a. grandma) is out of town. i decided it would be fun to be their personal chef for the week (or "auntie chef" as the kids are now calling me), but it has been more of a challenge than i thought it would be cooking for 3 kids and 2 adults that don't necessarily eat the same way i do. i had some success... and some failure and just thought i'd share my adventures with you.

first of all, a quick bio on my eaters last week:

jeremy: my brother, definitely a picky eater, a very finicky palate, often tough to please, spent most of my summer cooking trying to figure out how to do just that
melissa: my sister-in-law, good eater, not tough to please
jacob: nephew, 12, likes plain noodles, plain rice and chicken - as long as you don't season it wrong
emma: niece, 7, can "pound the sushi", a more adventurous eater than i, unless you venture into the realm of "healthy" (which i often do!)
abe: nephew, 4, funniest kid you'll ever meet, prefers hotdogs and doughnuts above all else

next, my menu with reviews (recipes will be last or click links for recipes):

monday: easy baked pasta
jer, mel and jacob: m.i.a.
emma: loved the meat, got sick of the noodles 1/2 way through her plate
abe: hilarious. kept telling me he wouldn't eat it because "i tried it 20 times" and "i don't like it". i promised him i'd make him something else as long as he tried it. he tried it, admitted that he liked it, then caught me in my own promise by reminding me i only said he had to take one bite and then opting for the previous night's pizza in the fridge. funny kid man.

tuesday: turkey chili and corn bread (thanks to abe for "making" the corn bread. he's the most fun cooking buddy i've ever had) (yummiest corn bread ever. seriously. email me for recipe if you're dying for it. it can't go on skinny bovine because it is not... i repeat, not, good for you. :) )jer: liked the chili, loved the corn bread
melissa: loved both
jacob: m.i.a.
emma: loved both - even had seconds of the chili!
abe: loved his corn bread. wouldn't touch the chili. he's 4. what do you expect?

wednesday: chicken tacos and quesadillas
jer: loved them, even raved about them you might say - surprised me and opted for quesadillas, though
melissa: loved them. doesn't usually like chicken, but she loved this chicken. opted for tacos. jacob: m.i.a.
emma: loved the quesadillas. had 2.
abe: talked about the upcoming quesadillas all day, devoured his when it finally came and discovered a new love for sour cream

thursday: orange chicken (click here for recipe on previous post)
jer: m.i.a.
mel: liked it okay
jacob: really liked it
emma: liked it for the first 5 minutes and then changed her mind. haha.
abe: said it was the "best chicken i ever eat". :)

friday: homemade pizza (a frequent request. they love my pizza.) lots of variation is easy with this one to please different eaters - andouille sausage and kalmata olives for jer, chicken pesto for mel and i, and simple cheese for the kids
jer: has since declared this his "favorite food right now" and said he wouldn't hesitate spending another $250 bucks to fly me in if i made the pizza for him again
mel: loved it - "what did you put in that crust?"
jacob: loved it
emma: loved it
abe: loved it - and even had seconds despite the fact that he'd been begging me to make him "shells and cheese" for dinner

recipe of the week: not-so-fried orange chicken

i love the taste of orange chicken, but i don't like that it's all greasy and that there is hardly any chicken (mostly skin and fat) and that it's so fried and greasy. but how to keep that yummy breaded taste without just doing an orange glazed chicken that isn't nearly as good? try my not-so-fried version of this asian favorite made with boneless, skinless chicken breast and let your taste buds melt into oblivion...

not-so-fried orange chicken

(4+ servings)

2 chicken breasts, cut into large bite-sized pieces
1 cup flour
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 tsp olive oil
1 ½ tsp soy sauce
6 tbsp orange juice

1 cup green beans (frozen, french cut or fresh if they're on sale!)

1 or 2 yellow squash, cut into bite-sized pieces (depends on how big your squash are and how much squash you want in it!)

sauce
1 ¼ cup orange juice
2 tbsp + ½ tsp soy sauce
¼ tsp red pepper flakes (more if you want it spicier - i'm going to use more next time!)
1 ½ tbsp brown sugar

1 clove garlic, crushed or minced

1. combine flour, salt and pepper in a bag. add chicken pieces and mix them around to coat.

2. combine olive oil , soy sauce and orange juice in large skillet or wok. heat for a minute.

3. add flour-coated chicken to skillet/wok. cook until browned on outside and done on inside.

4. combine all sauce ingredients (orange juice, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, brown sugar, garlic) in a pot. heat through.

5. pour sauce over chicken and add green beans and squash to mix. heat until veggies are tender.

6. serve with rice.

my mistake with this recipe last time - i mixed it with the rice and used brown rice. it would have been better with the rice on the side and as much as i hate to admit it, the healthy way wasn't the yummier way on this one. i'll serve it with white rice next time. :)

bonus recipe: thai peanut pasta

just because it was so yummy night before last i thought i'd post this recipe. and it was soooo easy and sooooo cheap. see stats after recipe below!

thai peanut pasta

6 oz dried fettuccine or linguine (picture shows angel hair... i had extra in my fridge!)
1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen french cup green beans
1 chicken breast, cut into small bite-size pieces
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 clove garlic, minced

1. cook pasta.
2. cook chicken in a tiny bit of olive oil and lime juice. sprinkle with garlic salt and black pepper. add green beans when chicken is almost done.
3. for sauce, combine broth and peanut butter in saucepan and whisk until peanut butter melts. stir in soy sauce, lime juice, red pepper and garlic. heat through.
4. combine cooked pasta, chicken and green beans and sauce. eat and enjoy!

and like i said, this is totally skinny bovine-cheap. here are the stats:

1 chicken breast - bought at $1.69/lb - $ 0.93

pasta - $ 0.40

frozen green beans - $ 0.20

sauce ingredients (garlic, lime, broth, etc.)
a generous estimate - $ 0.50


total - 3 (big)/4 (small) servings - $ 2.03

$2.03!!!! yowsers, that is cheap!! love it!

this is a slightly modified version of better homes and gardens' "turkey and pasta with peanut sauce"