Spice it Up Lettuce Wraps

So last night I decided to mix it up a bit and make Asian food!  This is a recipe I've made many times before, and it was actually made for me first by my husband!  We also collected enough coupons from United Supermarkets to get a free Wok so I have been itching to try it out!  I promise we have made this before using a regular saute pan, so don't let my Wok comment scare u off! One thing about Asian food is there are alot of ingredients but don't let that scare you away, most of it is inexpensive and some is even optional!!  We made this recipe last night sans chicken, but you can definitely add the meat of you choice if you are so inclined, but like I've said in previous recipes, I highly doubt you will  miss the meat!! I served with this meal spring rolls (from a box but I am determined to make these myself soon!) and brown rice just to add some hearty-ness to it!  I hope you enjoy!!  Also, I've set up a poll to the right of this post, vote to let me know what type of food you would like me to make next!! So here it goes! Asian Lettuce Wraps......
**I have been taking these picture with my Iphone by myself so don't judge them hahaha it's harder than it looks to take pictures of yourself cooking, pouring, stirring, etc!


Asian inspired ingredients....

 Heat your pan to a medium-High heat and add 1TBS sesame oil and 1TBS olive oil (or whatever light colored oil you have on hand) Sesame oil is the ingredient that I think most makes it taste Asian....

 Add your veggies, I bought a fressh "stirfry" veggie mix and added carrots, garlic, and onion (the stirfry mix had shredded carrots, broccoli and snow peas...) and Add about 1/4c of Soy Sauce (mine says Shoyu but that just means "organic" soy sauce)

 Drizzle with Agave nectar or honey....about 1 and 1/2TBS

 Next add grated ginger, I found already grated ginger in the Asian foods section....Now let your veggies saute for about 10 minutes.....

 Add 1TBS of rice wine vinegar (I think Apple Cider Vinegar would work too)

 1TBS of Rice Cooking Wine (optional)

 While vinegar and wine cook down with the veggies, mix 1/2tsp cornstarch with 1/2c water and after 5 minutes add to veggie mixture....

 Continue to cook your veggies for another 10-15 minutes or until veggies are your desired softness....

 And serve in romain lettuce with rice and springrolls!

 I made tofu for mine inspired by a recipe on the Tofu box (email me if you want the recipe).....haha I know some of yall think I'm weird.....

 Ben definitely thought it was weird...so he opted to eat his with just veggies.....Enjoy!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

1TBS sesame oil (plus a drizzle for later if you prefer)

1TBS olive oil (or light colored oil)

(whatever mix of veggies you prefer)
Two large carrots sliced on the diagnoal
1/2 white onion sliced thinly
3 cloves of minced garlic
Bag of stir fry veggies consisting of snow peas, broccoli, and shredded carrots
1/4c Soy Sauce
1 and 1/2TBS of agave nectar or honey
1tsp minced ginger
1TBS Rice Wine Vinegar (or apple cider or white)
1TBS Rice Wine (optional)
1/2tsp corn starch
1/2c water
Whole romain lettuce leaves
Fresh Green onions for garnish (optional)
Sweet chilli sauce for dipping (optional)

Heat your Wok or Saute pan to medium-high heat.  Add sesame oil and olive oil.  Add all veggies and let saute for about 5 minutes.  Add soy sauce and ginger and Agave nectar (or honey) and let saute for another 5 minutes.  Deglaze (add haha) the pan with vinegar and rice wine and let cook another 5 minutes.  While cooking mix 1/2tsp corn starch with 1/2c water. Once dissolved, add mixture to veggies and let it cook for 10-15 minutes until mixture has thickened and veggies are cooked to desired tenderness.  Top romain lettuce with stir fry veggies and garnish with fresh green onions and dunk into your favorite asian dipping sauce!! 



Treat for the other family members aka The Pups!

So I have been doing so much cooking lately for Ben and I, that I have neglected the other members of my family Rosie, Eleanor, and Woodrow (okay so they are dogs but we refer to them as children)!! I was given a recipe for dog treats by my dear friend Lacey, so I decided it was time to show the pups alittle TLC.  I also had leftovers from the night before and who are we kidding, I needed to kill some time before "Real Housewives of New York" came on at 9pm!  So I gathered all my igredients up, and as a side note, you can use regular milk in these treats, but my little Westie, Woodrow, has a very sensitive stomach so I used half soymilk and half water (the original recipe calls for 1 cup milk) I think 1 full cup water would work too!  Hope your Pups enjoy! I know mine did!!!

A few ingredients...........

 Add 1c peanut butter chunky or smoothe to your flour and baking powder......

 add your milk, water, or 1/2c soymilk and 1/2c water...........

 Put dough into a ball.........

 Roll out and cut into shapes with your favorite cookie cutter.....

 Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes and Voila! Dog Treats.....

 Good Boy Woodrow! He is patiently waiting for the treats to be ready.....

 And who are we kidding....with a few yummy additions.....

 You can feed them to your husband as dessert!! No joke! So I guess the are dog/human treats!

Oh, and the "Children" liked them too!!

 And I was happy because now, it's time for ME!!.......Well hello Real Housewives of New York, oh how I've missed you all.........

Dog/Human Treats (I believe this recipe came from barkbites.com)

2c Whole wheat flour

1tsp baking powder

1 c water or milk (or 1/2c soymilk and 1/2cwater)

1c Peanut butter, chunky or smoothe

Preaheat Oven to 375, mix all ingredients together in large bowl.  Roll dough out and cut into shapes. Lay onto greased cookie sheet and cook for about 17-20 minutes....let cool and serve! If you are a human eating these, add some preserves and fruit and you have one hell-of-a dessert!

If at first you don't succeed try, try again! Spanish Rice take two!

So last night Ben actually requested "Black Bean Tacos" (I posted about these last week if you would like the recipe), so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to try my hand at Spanish Rice again (if you have been reading you know that I tried this last week and it went down the disposal). Let me just give you alittle backstory on this "recipe". My husband's side of the family is Mexican so let me say that we have the MOST DELICIOUS Mexican food when we are together, so there is alot of pressure for me to figure out how to make these dishes, so I can one day pass them onto my family! When we first got married, I called Shelly and asked her for her rice recipe and her words were, "there isn't a recipe, I'll just have to show you how to make it, like I was shown how to make it!"  So, I went to her house and she showed me how make rice like Augustina, Ben's grandmother, showed her. I took down a few notes and have successfully made this, but it's been a while....like over a year...until last week when I tried and failed miserably! Another important factoid is Shelly uses Comet Brand rice, and I tried to healthy it up by using Full Circle organic brown rice, which is great, but maybe not so great for this recipe--however, I did use the brown rice last night and it turned out pretty close to Shelly's version.  So now you have the back story to the "no recipe" Spanish Rice-- that I am trying to create a recipe for so you all can make it too!  The main trick to this recipe is making sure it doesn't get dried out before it gets totally cooked so you definitely have to keep an eye on it!  I know, I know that was alooooottt of rambling, but a backstory is important when the dish doesn't have a recipe!! So here it goes....Spanish Rice!!


Okay, here we go again! Rice ingredients.....

 Pour rice, water (use the H2O specificationson your rice package) and one 8ounce can of Tomato Sauce...

 Add your spices....1tsp garlic salt...

 1TBS of Chili Powder and 1TBS of Cumin.......Bring to a boil..

 After it is boiling, reduce to a medium-high simmer and cover! Do not peek for at least 10 minutes, then check the rice but DO NOT STIR to see if it needs more liquid.  Do not let it dry out before it is fully cooked!

 May I suggest passing your time with an ice cold beer with lime.....

 And Voila! Once rice is cooked, garnish with fresh cilantro (this is not how Shelly does it...just my artistic liscense....)

 And serve with your favorite Mexican dish!!

No recipe, recipe, Spanish Rice

2TBS Olive Oil

1c rice (i think white will take less time, but I used organic brown)

1 8ounce can of tomato sauce

Water (for your rice specifications...mine called for 2/12c to 1c rice and I ended up using about 6c total until my rice was cooked....keep an eye on it)

1tsp garlic salt

1TBS cumin

1TBS chili powder

fresh cilantro (optional)

Michelobe Ultra with a Lime (optional)

Begin by preheating your pan to medium high heat  with your olive oil.  Add 1c rice and stir until rice browns just slightly (doesn't take long!).  Add your tomato sauce, water, garlic salt, cumin, and chili powder and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a medium to high simmer and cover tightly with lid.  (Drink your Michelobe here if you desire)  Check  rice after ten minutes to see if it needs more liquid and add liquid in 1/4 to 1/2c increments until rice is fluffy and cooked through....fluff with a fork if necessary but do not stir or your rice will get gooey (thats what my mother in law told me so I'm telling you!).  Garnish with fresh cilantro and the other half of the lime you used for your Michelobe and serve!!! 

**This is the way I made it last night and is as close as I can get to a recipe the way I learned...maybe one day Shelly will have us all over and she can show us!?!....or better yet, maybe I will video this and we can continue to improve upon it!

"Skinny" Pot Pie

So last night was a great night because my husband was actually home! No work, no school, no homework, no studying, just a night to hang with me!! I looked at the night as the possibility of what could be when this journey called Law School ends in May...oh and when the BAR is over July...(I have a feeling May to July will be worse than the three years of school combined).  So to celebrate the togetherness, we decided to have a meal together and thankfully Ben really loves to help me cook, he is definitely the best Sous Chef a gal could ask for.  We could not let the night go by with the usual "I'm eating by myself" can of soup (which I eat in front of the TV and he eats at his desk), so I went to the store and decided to make what I am affectionately calling "Skinny Pot Pie".  It is a revamped version of Chicken Pot Pie (I looked up alot of pot pie recipes and decided to make my own using a few measurement cues from allrecipes.com), minus the chicken and heavy on the veggies, I promise you won't miss the meat!  Let me just tell you, it was delicious!! It still had the same savory chickeny taste but minus the calories, and I actually made my own Pie crust with whole wheat flour (word to the wise, it is harder to tell when the crust is done because the Wheat crust is already "browned").  If I can roll out home-made pie crust in my tiny kitchen, any one can (although I did roll it out on my dining room table which isn't technically "in" my kitchen, but you get the idea...) So here you have it, "Skinny Pot Pie".


Get all of your ingredients together...
                                     

 Mix your dough in a food processor and roll into a ball...let chill for 30 minutes and then roll out to fit your pie dish....

Saute garlic, onion, and mushroom until clear....

 Add your carrots, celery, potato, and whatever combination of veggies you like, I added green lentils (because I already had them) and canned corn...peas would also be a nice addition...

 Combine 1TBS corn starch with 1/4c water to let it dissolve.....

 Add 3c vegetable broth along with your mixed corn starch, then add your spices....Salt, Pepper, ground thyme, and two bay leaves...

 Pour your thickened mixture into your pie pan and cover with crust....YES I I KNOW...mine isn't very pretty but practice makes perfect right??...

 Bake at 425 for 30-40 minutes or until crust is sufficiently browned.....

 There you have it!! "Skinny Pot Pie"

 Although, I'm not sure how skinny it is if you and the person you eat it  with finish off the entire pie....OOPS!

Whole Wheat Pie Crust

2c Whole Wheat Flour

2/3c Vegetable Shortening

1tsp salt

7-8TBS ICE COLD water

In a food processor or mixer, blend together the flour, salt and shotening.  Add 7TBS of water and if you feel the mixture is too dry, add another tablespoon.  Once combined, pour out onto a floured surface and make into a ball. Cover in wrap and let chill for 30 minutes.  After chilled, roll out onto a floured surface until it is about 1/4in thick and will cover your baking dish.  Bake over your dish for about 30-40 minutes or until crust is "browned" (IE more brown than it started :) )

Skinny Pot Pie Mixture (remember you can use whatever veggies you prefer)

3TBS extra virgin olive oil

1/2 Large White onion diced

10 large Mushrooms diced (I used whole white mushrooms)

3 garlic cloves minced

2 Carrot sticks diced

2 Celery Sticks diced

1 russet potato diced

1/2c Green Lentils (or peas or whatever)

1/2c golden corn kernels

3c vegetable stock

1TBS corn starch

1/4c water

2tsp ground Thyme

2tsp salt

1tsp pepper

2 Bay Leaves

Preheat large skillet to medium High heat.  Add oil to pan.  Add onion, mushrooms, and garlic and let saute about 3-5 minutes until clear.  Add carrots, celery, potato, lentils, and corn and saute for about 5 minutes or until barely softened.  Add vegetable broth and let mixture come to a boil. In a separate containe add cornstarch to water and mix together so the corn starch does not have clumps.  Add cornstarch/water to the vegetable/broth mixture.  Turn mixture down to a simmer and add thyme, salt, pepper, and bay leaves.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes or until the mixture has begun to thicken.  Add to your pie dish and cover dish with pie crust.  Cook in preheated oven at 425 for 30-40 minutes and serve!

Is it the weekend yet??? "Pantry-Only Brunch"

Well, I have definitely got a case of the "Monday Blues" today.  It has just been a typical Monday where something seems to go wrong and make you wish you had just oneeee more day of weekend bliss...but then I guess Tuesday would be the new Monday, right?  Well I had a fabulously relaxing weekend and actually spent Saturday morning with my husband!! So, we decided to make brunch together, whole wheat pancakes and my mom/aunt's famous hashbrowns! YUM!  The best part of this brunch was we came to our menu soley based on what was already in our pantry! I think that made my husband the happiest because he is usually (and by usually I mean always) the one who has to run to the store to pick up at least one of the missing ingredients.  Not this time!!  In fact, none of the ingredients even required refridgeration, so it was a pantry-only meal! Gotta love easy! So here you have, it my "Pantry-Only Brunch"....


The morning's brunch playlist--"Something's Gotta Give" soundtrack....my alltime favorite...

Pantry ingredients (except for the water)

Sift your dry ingredients....

Make a well in the center of the sifted dry ingredients...and pour in your wet ingredients....

Grate one whole potato...

Heat your oil at a medium-high heat....

Make an even layer of your grated potatos let cook, then flip until desired crispiness is reached...

Heat your pan for pancakes.....when heated pour 1/4c batter into pan.....

When all is cooked, Bon Appetit!

Whole Wheat Pantry Pancakes.....(inspired by on allrecipes.com)

1 1/4c Whole Wheat Flour

2tsp Baking Powder

2 TBS agave nectar (sugar works too)

1/2tsp salt

1 1/4 c water

1TBS Vegetable Oil

1/2tsp Vanilla

Pre-heat Griddle to a medium-high heat....and grease.

Sift together baking powder, salt and flour.  Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in agave nectar, water, oil, and vanilla. Whisk together.  Use 1/4c measuring cup to measure out each pancake.  Pour onto griddle, flip once the pancake edges begin to bubble and Serve!

Debra and Peggy's Hashbrowns

1 baking potato

1/4 c vegetable oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat skillet to medium high heat and coat the  pan with oil.

Grate one large baking potato, and add to hot oil in skillet.  Make an even layer and use back of spatula to press on potatos (thats how AuntPeg does it, my mom, Debra does not press on it).  Once potato side down is golden brown, flip the potatos to the other side until golden brown or your desired crispiness is reached.  Cut into pieces and serve!!



Black Bean Tacos...mmm mmm GOOD!!

Since I have become a "vegan" for lent I have been searching for good Mexican food recipes that do not have meat or the classic staple, cheese. One of my favorite on-the-go lunches has been the "Amy's" brand frozen burritos, they are so delicious! They are definitely big enough for a full meal, but I feel alittle guilty heating them up in the microwave and yelling to Ben in his office, "Honey, dinner is ready!"  So, I decided , surely I can recreate this meal using fresh ingredients, and anything home made has to be better than anything you can get in the freezer isle, right??  So I went on a mission last night to create a burrito inspired by the delicious frozen burritos I have been eating.  I decided to call them Black Bean Tacos...creative right?? If you have a better name, please feel free to comment on this post!  I thought that some mexican rice and chips with salsa would be good company for the tacos, too! Wait...did I say rice?? Well......scrap the rice, or at least scrap my rice "recipe" while I reconvene with my husbands hispanic side of the family for tips...I definitely did something wrong, ha! So for now, just grab the Old Elpaso Rice Mix, or use a recipe you already have!! At any rate, the tacos were a MAJOR hit, and Ben didn't even miss the cheese or sour cream (but he may have missed the rice, I know he had his heart set on his Mom's recipe...sorry honey)!  So here it goes, Black Bean Tacos!!

Start with fresh, simple ingredients.....

 Get all your pans pre-heated to medium-high heat.....(over on the right....RIP spanish rice)

Begin Cooking! (this is your rue for the Enchilada Sauce that will bind your ingredients together)



                                               
 Saute your veggies.....

 Combine Veggies and drained black beans with Enchilada sauce.....

 Top with fresh Cilantro......

 Es Muy Delicioso!!

Black Bean Tacos

2 15ounce cans of Black Beans drained

1/2 white onion diced

2 serano peppers, seeded, and diced

1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced

1 anaheim pepper, seeded and diced

(you can use any pepper combination you like, these happen to be my favorites)

2 TBS Fresh chopped Cilantro (optional)

1 tomato diced (optional)

Enchilada Sauce

3 TBS whole wheat flour (or regular flour, that works too!)

4 TBS Olive Oil

1 1/2 TBS Cumin

1 1/2 TBS Chili Powder

1/2 tsp Garlic Salt

1/4 tsp Corn Starch

1 1/2 c Vegetable Stock (or whatever stock/broth you have on hand)

Heat your oil over a  medium-high heat.  Using a whisk add flour and let cook for approx 30 seconds to 1 minute until flour begins to dissolve with the oil.  Add Cumin, Chili Powder, Garlic salt, and Corn starch with a whisk until a paste forms.  Slowly whisk in your vegetable stock, whisking while you pour as to not create any clumps in your sauce.  Continue to whisk occasionally while sauce thickens for approx 15 minutes.  (If you were to make the sauce for enchiladas, you would double this recipe and substitute half vegetable stock and half water so it is not too salty.)  For this recipe, you want it to be fairly salty so you do not add any more sodium once your black beans and vegetables are combined.  

While Enchilada Sauce is thickening....Add your diced veggies to a saute pan with about 2TBS heated Olive oil. Saute until soft.  Once sauce is thickened, and veggies are cooked, combine your veggies and drained Black Beans with the enchilada sauce.  Stir in and let thicken for approx 15 minutes (the longer it cooks the thicker it will become, if it gets thicker than you prefer, you can add water or broth to thin it out). Top mixture with fresh cilantro and tomatos. Heat your corn tortillas (or Flour tortillas if you prefer) and ENJOY!

Rice

to be continued after said meeting with Mother In-Law.....