Pad Thai

 I have a confession to make. I've only ever eaten Pad Thai once, and that was at Thai Express. I don't often consider fast food restaurants to be a really good indicator of what a food should authentically be like so...yeah.

I decided today, when at the grocery store trying to figure out what to make for supper, to try my hand at Pad Thai.

I think I did a pretty good job. So does Alex. He wanted to eat the entire pan, but he was good and stopped himself. He told me to make it again whenever I wanted to. I'd say that's a win.

Here's the crazy thing. The jar of VH Pad Thai sauce I bought didn't have an actual recipe. It just gave a list of ingredients. So...I had to wing it. I added one ingredient (some green onion) and omitted two (the coriander leaves and the lime wedges).

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, diced

1 large white onion, chopped

1 cup bean sprouts

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 package (8 oz) rice noodles, cooked and drained

1 jar VH Pad Thai stir-fry sauce

1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped

1/3 cup chopped peanuts

4 lime wedges

Heat vegetable oil in a wok or large frying pan. Saute chicken until white on all sides and almost all cooked. Remove from pan and place on a plate.

Add the white onion, red onion (and half the green onion if you use any) and the bean sprouts to the pan and fry for about 5 minutes or until tender. Add the rice noodles (and for the love of god cut them or break them apart before you cook them because it's darned near impossible to do it once they're cooked) and mix, cooking for 2-3 minutes. Add the VH sauce, and the chicken and mix well. Continue to cook for about another 5-10 minutes, until chicken is fully cooked.

Garnish with the remainder of the green onion and some chopped peanuts. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings. 

Alex's Bread Rolls

I'm not going to say much about this, because it's not my recipe, it is Alex's. He wrote it out and I'm going to copy and paste and put it here, with his humor and all. But this is a fantastic recipe for rolls/bread and I know a lot of you want it, so here we go!

OK, disclosure, I have pop-eye forearms and no mixer so I actually hand kneaded this. I’m going to try and optimize for a Kitchen-Aid Mixer with a dough hook.

You will need!

1 cup of 85 Fahrenheit water.

2 ½ teaspoons of quick rising yeast

2 and ½ cups of flour. All purpose or bread if you can find it.

¼ cup of milk powder. Whey works. Muscle powder also works if you have unflavored or maybe vanilla however I did not try this, it “should” work.

1 tsp salt

¼ cup of sugar, you can omit if you want to cut down on it.

¼ cup of shortening or lard. I love grease and fat and look it, you can cut this in half if you want to limit. Three to five tablespoons of vegetable oil can work also.

As you can see, these are all basics we should have.

Mix your water, yeast and sugar together and set aside.

In your mixing bowl, put your shortening, flour and milk powder. You can sift it if you want to, I don’t.

OK your yeast mix should have a beery smell by now, pour that in and mix on low for about ten minutes.

Keep an eye on it, add flour if it’s sticking to the sides, but let it go for a couple of minutes first. Add warm water if it’s too stiff.

What you are going for is slightly softer than play dough. However if it’s stiff that’s OK too, as long as it’s uniformly mixed. It will just take longer to proof.

For those without a mixer, mix by hand and knead for ten to eight minutes.

Right, now for your primary fermentation.

Take the ball of dough out of the mixer, clean and lightly oil the bowl. Put the ball of dough back in and cover with plastic wrap. What I like to do is boil a liter of water, pour that into a separate bowl and put the dough in with it into a TURNED OFF oven. This is a makeshift proofer. Or just cover in plastic and put it somewhere warm.

Wait about an hour or until the dough is doubled and a bit in size. This takes longer the colder it is.

Now for forming and secondary fermentation. This makes one dozen rolls.

I flatten the dough out and divide it into twelve equal pieces with a knife on a lightly floured counter.  Sorry I don’t have the weights.

Hand roll them and put them on a parchment papered or lightly greased cookie sheet with about an inch or so between them. Myself, I actually like it when they rise into each other.

Cover with plastic or put them into your makeshift proofer oven for about another hour.

TAKE OUT OF OVEN. PUT RACKS INTO MIDDLE. Not yelling, this is just for emphasis.

Preheat oven to 350 Farenheit.

Bake in oven for about 18-20 minutes. If you have a good kitchen thermometer, check for 195 Fahrenheit on a sacrificial roll. Make sure it’s in the middle. Old schoolers will thump or check to see if anything sticks to the probe.

Brush the tops with butter or margarine.

Cool on a wire rack.

You can omit the lard and milk powder then add five tablespoons of Olive Oil. You’ve got yourself my favorite pizza dough! Just do the primary fermentation and it should be good to go.  Makes about an 18” pizza or Twoish 12”.

Salsa

Salsa is a big deal in my house. We eat tacos, nachos, chicken fajitas and salsa chicken with a lot of regularity, so having salsa on hand is really important.

I usually just buy jars of salsa. But last summer when I had a huge abundance of green peppers and cherry tomatoes from our garden, I decided to try making some. I found a fantastic recipe online and it was awesome.

But I didn't write it down.

Fast forward to last week when I had a bunch of tomatoes and wanted to make salsa. And no recipe. But luckily, it's not a hard recipe so I was able to recreate it. Although now, I'm writing it down for other people to use too! :)

2 cups tomatoes (I use cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes)
1 onion
1 green pepper
1 1/2 jalapeno pepper (use more if you like it spicier)
3 garlic cloves
2 tbsp lime juice
Salt and pepper

I literally throw everything in my Tupperware Power Chef and dice it until it's the consistency I want. Use a food processor if you don't have a Power Chef. Store in the refrigerator for a few days. It might last longer if you store it in an airtight jar but it doesn't usually last that long in this house so I don't know. Haha.

Teriyaki Beef Stir-fry

Alex loves teriyaki. I've never had it outside of the teriyaki sauce they have at Subway, which I didn't like. So I was always hesitant to try it. But, we had some steak that needed to be used up, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a shot. I went on google and found a recipe that looked decent enough, and decided to give it a shot. I wasn't disappointed. The website I found the recipe on is tasteofhome.com and I literally only did two things differently (besides marinating the beef for like 5 hours instead of 1). I omitted the mushrooms and broccoli because we didn't have any, and I used ground ginger instead of ginger root. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly.

1/2 cup water
1/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1 beef flank steak (3/4 pound) cut into thin strips
2 teaspoons canola oil
2 cups broccoli florets
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped green pepper
1/2 cup coarsely chopped sweet red pepper
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 teaspoon cornstarch

1. In a small bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Pour 1/2 cup into a resealable bag; add beef. Seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade.

2. Drain and discard marinade. In a large nonstick skillet or wok, stir-fry beef in batches in oil for 2-3 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove and keep warm.

3. Add broccoli, onion and peppers to the pan; stir-fry for 4 minutes. Add mushrooms; stir-fry 1-2 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. Return beef to pan. Combine cornstarch and reserved marinade until smooth; stir into beef mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened.

Serve over rice or noodles if desired.

Blueberry Cream Muffins

Last week, Charlie and my parents went and got a bunch of blueberries. I wasn't expecting it, but Charlie came home with a big basket of them (one pint? two? I'm honestly not sure, there was a LOT). I'm not a fan of blueberries unless they're in a muffin, so I went looking for an awesome blueberry muffin recipe.

And I found it. It's on allrecipes.com and it's insane, but it is literally THE best blueberry muffin I've ever had in my entire life. It made 24 good sized muffins and was a hit in my family. I'm glad I've got more blueberries, so I can make more!

4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sour cream
2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease 24 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, gradually add sugar while beating. Continue beating while slowly pouring in the oil. Stir in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda.

Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture alternately with sour cream. Gently fold in blueberries.

Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

**As usual I didn't use the required amount of salt. But I never do, you should all be used to that by now. I always use less than it calls for. They turned out absolutely amazing. Everyone in my family loved them and so did my coworkers.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

We planted a garden for the first time this year and the first thing that was ready (no surprise) was zucchini. I'm not a fan of it, so I have to mix it with other stuff in order to eat it. Today I made chocolate zucchini cake (recipe earlier in the blog) and this evening, I tried my hand at chocolate zucchini muffins. I used a recipe I found on http://mybakingaddiction.com and we are super happy with it.

1 1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups finely grated zucchini, slightly drained
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with paper liners.

In  large bowl, beat together the sugars, oil, eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined.

In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and cinnamon.

Gradually add the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture and mix until just combined.

Fold in zucchini until it is evenly distributed into the batter, then stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared muffin tin and bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes.

NOTES: As always I didn't use the full amount of salt. And if you're wondering, one decent sized zucchini was enough for the two cups the recipe called for. Also, because I sell Tupperware, rather than grating the zucchini, I used my Power Chef to cut it. Worked perfectly. :)

Berry Smash Muffins

The last thing I made with the berries were strawberry muffins, which just came out of the oven. Alex just tried one and said they're really good.

1 2/3 cups fresh strawberries
2/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425F

Grease just the bottoms of 12 muffins tins (or put paper baking cups in them)

Slightly smash berries with a fork in a large bowl (I used my Tupperware Power Chef and almost pureed them)

Stir in sugar, oil and eggs until mixed

Stir in other ingredients just until moistened

Spoon batter into muffin cups

Bake 15-18 minutes or until light golden brown or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (it took 18 minutes for my oven)

Cool 5 minutes

|Remove from pan to continue cooling on a cooling rack

This recipe is actually from The Rainbow Bakery Children's Cookbook by Gold Medal. I found it on www.food.com

Strawberry Lemonade Ice Pops

We haven't figured out how these are yet, because, well, they're still in the freezing process. Haha. But Charlie's always asking for popsicles, so I figured I'd make popsicles out of some of the berries we got.

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com using the same title I have for this post. :)

1 12oz can of frozen lemonade concentrate
3 cups cold water
16oz strawberries

In a large pitcher, stir together the lemonade concentrate and the water.

Place strawberries in a blender and puree until smooth (I used my Tupperware Power Chef because my blender isn't big enough to blend berries). Pour some of the lemonade in if necessary to facilitate blending.

Stir the puree into the lemonade.

Pour into molds and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.

Strawberry Jam

Do you know how hard it is to find a recipe for strawberry jam (or any jam, really) that doesn't include pectin? Or doesn't include huge amounts of berries? Ridiculously hard. However, I managed to find both!

16oz strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice

In a saucepan, mix berries, sugar and lemon juice.

Stir over med-low heat until sugar is dissolved.

Increase heat to med-high and bring mixture to a rolling boil.

Stir frequently, mashing the strawberries as you stir, continuing to boil, until jam is thickened and bubbles completely cover the surface of the jam (about 10 minutes).

Transfer jam to whatever container you're putting it in (I used a large Tupperware snack cup because I sell TW and have it everywhere) and let cool to room temperature.

Store in refrigerator for about 10 days (or freeze).

That's it! Seriously! So easy. I'd never made jam before, but this might be a yearly thing!

I got the recipe from http://scatteredthoughtsofacraftymom.com/quick-homemade-strawberry-jam/

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken

Every single time I cook a whole chicken in the oven, I never cook it long enough and end up having everything else ready but not the chicken. Annoying and irritating to say the least. So when I got a whole chicken on sale recently I decided that when the time came to cook it, I was going to do it in the slow cooker.

I found this recipe here: http://www.thelittlekitchen.net/whole-chicken-in-a-slow-cooker/ and I modified the ever living crap out of it. What I'm going to post is what I actually did. I can't say if the original recipe is good or not, but I can say that what I did is absolutely amazing and I will do it again.

1 whole chicken
1 onion, diced
4 carrots, peeled and cut into inch-long halves/quarters
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

1. Put onion and carrots in the bottom of the slow cooker.

2. Rinse chicken in water (clean insides if necessary), pat dry with paper towel. Put the rub all over the outside of the chicken.

3. Place chicken on top of onions and carrots. Cover and cook on low for 4-8 hours (I cooked mine for 6 and the leg meat was falling off the bone).

4. Transfer chicken to a baking dish and broil in the oven for 5 minutes to crisp up the skin. Allow chicken to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Herb and Spice Chicken

We found this recipe in the December 2014 issue of Today's Parent magazine, decided to make it today and absolutely LOVED it.

2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 chicken legs (or 6 thighs)
1 500g bag baby red potatoes, scrubbed clean
4 large carrots, peeled and chopped.

1. Stir brown sugar with salt, oregano, paprika, garlic and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Rub mixture all over chicken, pressing gently so spices stick to skin.

2. Arrange potatoes and carrots in a single layer in slow cooker. Place chicken on top of vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Let chicken stand at room temp for 10 minutes before serving with vegetables.

NOTES: I don't have kosher salt, so I used regular table salt and only used maybe 1 tsp. I did not have baby red potatoes, so I used 3 regular potatoes, peeled and cut into baby-potato sized pieces. I also did not have 4 carrots left, so I used what I had, which was 2. And finally, we prefer a crispier skin on our chicken, so Alex took the tip in the book and put the chicken under the broiler for about 5 minutes after it was done in the slow cooker.

Taco Meatloaf

Two taco recipes in a row? Sure...why not! This one was a complete 100% experiment and I had no idea if it was going to turn out okay or not. It ended up turning out AMAZING. Super easy, and I'll definitely do it again.

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup sour cream
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 cup crushed tortilla chips
1/2 cup (roughly) medium salsa
1 cup shredded cheese (I used marble but cheddar would work too)

In a bowl, mix the first four ingredients really well. Place in a loaf pan and shape. Cover with the salsa and bake in a 400F oven for about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and top with the shredded cheese. Return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes (until cheese is melted).

I served ours with a handful of tortilla chips and Old El Paso Mexican Rice. It was delicious and we have leftovers for tomorrow, yay!

Taco Bake

I'm sure everyone has their own way of doing a taco bake. Prior to doing this tonight, I've always used the Old El Paso taco bake kit. But I prefer to do things myself and not use a kit, so tonight I made my own. It turned out AMAZING.

1 lb ground beef
1 package of PC taco seasoning
1 small jar of medium salsa
2 cups shredded cheese
1 container of sour cream
3 soft tortillas (large)
4-5 hard taco shells, broken in half

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large skillet, prepare ground beef with taco seasoning according to the directions on the package of seasoning. Once cooked, add the jar of salsa and about 1/2-3/4 cup of the shredded cheese. Cook until cheese is melted and some of the liquid has been cooked off.

In a 9" round cake pan, place one soft tortilla, followed by 1.5 hard shells. Spoon about 1/3 of the hamburger mixture on it and spread it out. Spoon and spread about 1/3 of the sour cream on top of that. Repeat two times, so that all your mixture and sour cream is gone. On top of the last bit of sour cream, put the rest of the shredded cheese.

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted to your liking. Cool a few minutes before cutting.

Mom's Apple Pie

I really should have put this here AGES ago. It would save me from having to look through FB messages trying to find it whenever I want to make it.

7 apples
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 pkg pie crusts

Peel and dice apples. Mix with cinnamon, salt, sugars.

Place one pie crust in a 9" pie plate. Fill with apple mixture. Dot with butter and sprinkle with vanilla, then put the top crust on. Cut a cross in the centre and poke a few times with a fork.

Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then lower heat to 350F and bake for another 50 minutes, or until pie crust is golden brown.

Parmesan Baked Pork Chops

I have made this recipe twice now, and as something that everyone in my house will eat, I have to share it here. It's dead simple and so delicious.

To give credit where it's due, the recipe came from here: http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/main-course-pork/parmesan-baked-pork-chops.html?p=4

4 boneless pork chops (I use 3)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 cup italian bread crumbs
1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Combine the last four ingredients on a plate. Rub the pork chops with the olive oil and then thoroughly coat with the cheese mixture. Press them in the mixture, to ensure they are all completely coated. Line a pan with tin foil and spray with cooking spray. Place the coated chops on the pan and bake in a 350F oven for 40-45 minutes.

(Note: I generally don't use a 350F oven for cooking meat, ever, so did mine in a 400F oven for 35-40 minutes and they were perfect).

Oven Roasted Red Potatoes

First of all, red potatoes are my new favourite. They're so...creamy. Yes, really. I think they have a really creamy texture and I love them.

Second, I know everyone does roasted potatoes. I've done different variations of them myself, but tonight's were the best I've made, and I wanted to share.

4 medium red potatoes, cut into quarters (or smaller if you prefer)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon parsley

In a bowl, mix the oil and the spices. A few pieces (I did 4) at a time, put the potatoes in and stir until the potatoes are coated. Remove from bowl and place on a baking sheet lined with tin foil. Repeat until all your potatoes are on the baking sheet in a single layer. With a spoon, drizzle the remaining oil/spices over the potatoes.

Cook in a 400F oven for about 40 minutes, or until done.

Chicken Soup

I've never made soup before. But this week I got a hankering for homemade chicken soup…so I made some today. I kind of made it up as I went along and both Alex and I were quite pleased with the result. It's a hearty soup and very delicious. Plus, what I did made a LOT.

4 chicken breasts, bone-in
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
3 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 onion, diced
1 900mL container of Campbell's low-sodium chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Put the chicken breasts in a large pot and cover with a fair bit of water. Boil for approximately 1.5 hours, or until the chicken falls easily off the bone. Remove chicken from the pot and debone it. Set aside.

2. Strain the water from the pot and put it back in. This is going to be part of the liquid in the soup.

3. Peel and dice the potatoes and carrots, and dice the onion. Add to the liquid in the pot along with the chicken. Then pour in the container of chicken broth.

4. Add salt and pepper (I did 25 shakes of each) and stir thoroughly.

5. Bring to a boil then lower the temperature and cook until the potatoes and carrots are done, about 15 minutes.

6. Serve. We had buttered homemade rolls with ours.

This made a very large pot of soup. To the point where I had a large bowl and Alex had two large bowls and there is still about half the pot of soup left over.

Braised Potatoes with Garlic

Today is Alex's birthday. He wanted to have t-bone steaks for supper. I agreed. I thought baked potatoes would be good, but he wanted to try this recipe he had found online. So I said sure, and did it. This is the recipe. He got it on this website: http://www.seriouseats.com and I believe they got it from a cookbook or something. Anyway, we LOVED it and would definitely try it again. We omitted the rosemary (because neither of us is a fan), but otherwise followed the recipe exactly.

1 1/2 lbs small red potatoes, rinsed
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chicken stock
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the potatoes in half and then place them into a pot where they will fit in a snug, single layer. Pour in the olive oil and the chicken stock. Add the garlic cloves and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper.

2. Cover the pot and bring the stock to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes.

3. Remove the lid, turn the heat to high and cook until the liquid reduces, becomes thick and starts to coat the potatoes. Stir occasionally. Plate the potatoes, and sprinkle with the chopped rosemary. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

Alex's Marinara Sauce

A couple of weeks ago, Alex made homemade marinara sauce and it was absolutely delicious. He made it again the other day and I asked him to give me the recipe so I could post it here. Below is the recipe as he wrote it, including his comments. I'm copying it word for word because it's kind of funny and cute.

Ingredients:

Blend:

6 Tomatoes
1 Onion
3-4 Cloves Garlic

(for those with smaller blenders, you can split things up.)

It is now a weird smelling light red tomato juice. Pour into saucepan.

Add

1/4-1/2 cup favorite red wine (colour)
1/4 tsp oregano (cliche)
1/8 tsp sage (secret ingredient, leave it out if it ain't your thang)
1/8 tsp dried bay leaves
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt (add to taste)
1-2 tbsp sugar

Now simmer to reduce it. This can take a while depending on how much attention you can give it. If you are watching it like a hawk, you can crank the heat and stir it constantly. However, like most people, I have other things to do.


Simmer at low heat for about an hour, stirring it up regularly. Until you have your desired consistency. If it's not zippy enough, you can add some cayenne or black pepper to it.

Serve with your favorite pasta, a meatball, or whatever.

Slow Cooker Lasagna

This recipe showed up on my FB news feed (a friend had shared it) and I immediately shared it on my own timeline so I could go back to it.

It came from here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/candaceshealthyfriends (not sure if it's elsewhere online or not, I'm trying to give credit where credit is due). And it's SO EASY AND SO DELICIOUS.

1 lb ground beef

1 can/jar spaghetti sauce

6 uncooked lasagna noodles

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese*

Brown ground beef and drain.

Spoon about 1 cup of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the crock pot. Mix the rest of the spaghetti sauce in with the ground beef.

Place 2 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce in the crock pot.

Spread 1/3 of the meat mixture over the noodles. Then spread 1/2 cup cottage cheese over the meat. Top with 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella. 

Add another layer of noodles, meat, cottage cheese and mozzarella, then do it again once more. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on the very top.

Cook on low for 4 hours. Do not cook longer than that, as it will get overdone.

*I actually used about 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. :)