Roasted Congee

I don't roast a lot of things, but when I do, I keep the carcass for congee the next day. Why waste it? The carcass typically has lots of roasted flavour from the roast, so it gives the congee a nice mouth feel and TOTALLY makes it less boring. Plus when I debone the roast, I don't have to stress over leaving too much meat on the bones. It wont' matter since it'll go into the congee the next morning. >:)


Roasted Congee
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• Leftover bones from a roast (e.g., prime rib, chicken, turkey)
• Water
• 1 cup uncooked white rice
• 4-5 cups water
• 2 thick slices of ginger
• Salt & pepper, to taste 

Directions:

1. Wash rice until water runs clearish. 
2. Combine rice, water (4 cups for thicker congee and 5 cups for a looser congee), ginger and leftover bones into the instant pot pot. Press the congee button. 
3. Once the machine beeps, wait 15-20 minutes before lifting lid. Remove the bone and separate any remaining meat from the bones. Place meat into the congee. Season with salt and pepper. 
4. Serve by itself or with green onions and Chinese donut. 

Baked Blueberry Cinnamon Croissant French Toast

I bought all these little micro croissants cuz I just really wanted some. I had a feeling I'd have leftovers and wouldn't know what to do with them and man was I right. Luckily I have some guests over so they can be guinea pigs for this dish. I had considered just making French toast out of them, but then decided to bake it so it'd be ready for everyone at the same time without needing to keep the earlier cooked ones in the oven.


Baked Blueberry Cinnamon Croissant French Toast
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 14 micro croissants (or 4 large croissants)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:

1. Place croissants in a 8" x 8" square glass pan, squishing them all in one layer. Set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt. Gently mix in blueberries.
3. Pour mixture over croissants. Place a plate on top of the croissants and press down so that they're fully submerged in the custard. Chill in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350F. Lift the plate off of the croissants and bake for 30-45 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.
5. Serve with maple syrup or whipped cream, etc. and coffee.

Ham Hash

I've been watching a lot of Chopped on the Food Network and noticed that a lot of times when contestants didn't know what to do with some leftover meat ingredient, they'd just make a hash. That got me thinking when I had leftover ham steak. So I guess watching TV does teach you stuff, eh? ;)

Sunny side up eggs always look best when you cook them properly. But sometimes I'm in a rush or just impatient so I'll use a lid to cover it when frying it so that it cooks quicker. You'll notice that if you do that, the yolk won't look as golden yellow as if you finish the cooking without a lid.


Ham Hash
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 2 small russet potatoes, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup ham, diced
• 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsps canola oil, divided

Directions:

1. In a skillet, heat up 2 teaspoons of canola oil over medium high heat. Toss in potatoes and Cajon seasoning and cook until potatoes are browned and tender.
2. Add in onions and ham. Cook until onions are soft and ham is heated through.
3. Stir in tomatoes and use the liquid to deglaze the pan. Cook until tomatoes are soften. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to two separate serving dishes.
4. Wipe out the skillet and heat up the remaining teaspoon of canola oil over medium low heat. Fry up the eggs and season with salt when the eggs are about cooked. Top each dish of hash with a fried egg.
5. Serve with coffee, milk or juice.

Easy Lo Mein

So it has occurred to me that I've never posted a Lo Mein recipe here. WTF?!!??? It's one of those things that I like to make as a quick snack. Mind you, it almost always turns into a meal just by adding some veg and some leftover (roasted) meat.

My mom always made it super simple for us for breakfast. Just cooked hot oil with soy sauce. Believe me, it's worth it to heat up the oil. I remember sometimes she didn't have time to heat up the oil and it just never tasted the same. :(

But, of course, Hubby likes it with spice. Meh. I'll eat it whichever way. I love it all!


Easy Lo Mein
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 bundles dry thin shrimp egg noodles
• 3 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp canola oil
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 red chili pepper, diced (optional)
• 1 green onion stalk, finely diced (optional)

Directions:

1. In a small pot, bring water to a boil. Add in the bundles of noodles. Cook for 5-7 minutes, or until al dente, using chopsticks or tongs to separate noodles from their bundled form.
2. Meanwhile, mix remaining ingredients in a microwaveable bowl. Cover with saran wrap and cook on high for 20 seconds. Carefully uncover the bowl.
3. Using tongs or chopsticks, transfer noodles into the bowl of sauce and mix. Some of the residual noodles water will help make the noodles saucier.

If you don't want to use the microwave, just mix all the ingredients, except for the noodles and oils. Heat up the oils in a wok or pot and then pour it over the sauce mixture and then mix in the noodles.

Quick Breakfast Wrap

Believe it or not, this was easy enough for me to make during a weekday morning. I'm sure it's not THAT difficult to get yourself and a toddler ready in the morning and then cook breakfast and feed the pets at the same time. For most people. But I'm not most people. One of the most "elaborate" breakfasts I typically make on weekday mornings consist of sunny side up eggs with pre-cooked bacon that I can just nuke in the microwave. Teehee.

But this wasn't bad...I left the ham and peppers to cook on the pan while I took K to the potty (we're potty training and it's just oh so much fun) and luckily nothing burnt. YES!


Quick Breakfast Wrap
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 10 inch flour tortillas
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 leftover ham steak, diced (or equivalent to about 1 cup of diced ham)
• 2 green onion stalks, finely diced
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp canola oil
• Salsa (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat up oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add in ham and cook for about a minute so the sides start to brown up a bit. Toss in peppers and cook until peppers are tender crisp.
2. Mix in beaten eggs and stir until eggs are almost no longer runny. Toss in green onions and season with salt and pepper. Take the pan off the stove.
3. If you have a gas stove, just lay the tortilla over the gas and let it warm up the tortillas. It'll only take about 3-5 seconds per side, if even that, so keep an eye on those tortillas.
4. When tortillas are warmed, lay them on two separate plates. Divide the filling in half, spooning half onto the center of each tortilla. Top with some salsa, if desired. Tuck in the ends and roll into a wrap.
5. Serve with coffee or milk.
6. If you're taking it to work with you, just use aluminum foil that's been lined with wax paper and wrap. It'll keep the wrap warm for about an hour or so.

Quick Cream of Chicken Soup

Oh leftovers...They're usually pretty great. But when you have something like 3 tablespoons of chicken pie filling, it's hard to figure out what to do with it. I figure I'll just make a quick soup for Hubby. Weird as a breakfast item, but MEH! His throat was sore and I wanted to get rid of it. TEEHEE. :P


Quick Cream of Chicken Soup
(serves 1)

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsps or so of leftover chicken pie filling
• 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups milk
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a small pot, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour until all the flour has been absorbed by the butter. Mix in leftover chicken pie filling and combine well.
2. Slowly whisk in milk until the soup is a little more liquidy than you'd like. Heat through while stirring occasionally to prevent soup from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
3. Season with salt and pepper. The soup will get thicker as it cools, so making it a little more liquidy than you'd like will usually yield the consistency that you like by the time it's cool enough to drink.
4. Serve with toast.

Omuraisu (Fried Rice Omelette)

I've always seen this in Japanese and sometimes Korean restaurants, but never thought to try it. Honestly, it doesn't seem that interesting to me. But I do love having ketchup with my fried eggs, so why not? It's also an excellent use of leftover or fresh fried rice. I think having it with Kimchi Fried Rice is the best though. ;)

Rolling the omelette off the pan and onto a plate can be kind of tricky with such a thin omelette. You can always use more oil to help it out. Or, just make a dome out of the rice and then cover the dome with the circular egg and top with the ketchup. The presentation will be different, but it's all the same in the end. :)


Omuraisu (Fried Rice Omelette)
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs, beaten & divided
• 2-4 Tbsps ketchup
• 2 cups fried rice
• 1 Tbsp canola oil, divided
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat up fried rice, if necessary, by adding 1 teaspoon of oil to a small hot skillet over medium heat and stir frying until heated through. Transfer to bowl and wipe down the skillet.
2. Return skillet to the heat and add another 1 teaspoon of oil. Let it warm up a bit over medium low heat before adding 1 of the beaten eggs in. Tilt the skillet to ensure egg is evenly distributed in the pan to make a very thin omelette. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 cup of rice in the middle of the omelette. Fold one of the sides over to partially cover the rice. Gently roll the omelette over (the half with the rice onto the non-wrapped part) and off the pan and onto the plate to make a rolled omelette. Top with half of the ketchup.
3. Repeat the process with the next omelette.
4. Serve hot with soup or coffee.

Kimchi Fried Rice

One of my favourite foods in the world for sure! I love a runny egg with almost anything. Seriously. And I love fried rice. And have you TRIED kimchi paired with rice and a runny egg? OMG it's to DIE FOR.

You could make this vegetarian or with any kind of protein. I made mine with leftover diced deli ham, but I've tried it with diced spam. HELLO...loving it. But I do love my spam, so meh! :P

This really is an awesome dish to use up leftover kimchi and leftover rice. You can even make it using leftover fried rice, which makes this dish even easier than it already is. :D


Kimchi Fried Rice
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup kimchi, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups leftover cooked rice
• 3 Tbsps kimchi juice
• 1 heaping Tbsp gojujang
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 lb diced spam/ham/cooked chicken/beef strips/bulgolgi/firm tofu etc.
• 2 green onions, finely diced
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 tsps sesame oil
• 2 eggs
• Toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large pan, heat up 1 teaspoon of canola oil. Add mushrooms and cook until caramelized. Add kimchi and stir fry until heated through.
2. Add in protein and rice. Using a spatula, break up the clumps of rice, while stirring everything so it doesn't stick to the pan too much.
3. Pour in the kimchi juice, gojujang and water. Stir until well combined. 
4. Drizzle in the sesame oil and add in green onion. Stir to loosen up everything. Take off the heat and place into 2 bowls. Set aside.
5. In a small skillet, heat up the remaining canola oil over medium low heat. Gently break the eggs into the pan and cook until almost cooked through. Season with a little bit of salt and continue to cook until all the whites are cooked through. Cover the pan with a lid if you want to cook it faster.
6. Slide one egg each over the bowls of kimchi fried rice. Garnish with sesame seeds, if desired.
7. Serve with a side of seaweed salad, pickled radishes or alone as is.

Ham & Peas Pasta

This can be a pretty soupy pasta, which is pretty nice. I just tend not to make it very soupy for K cuz I don't want him making too much of a mess. Plus he's not really that fond of drinking any soups after having pasta. But he loves soupy noodles. What the heck?! O.o

You can always add more or less water. Season it more or less to your liking. Don't like peas? Then don't add them! The green onions do give a nice fresh taste though so I wouldn't leave that out. Unless your toddler doesn't like green onions. Mind you, most toddlers don't like peas either but K loves both peas and green onions. I try to lure him to eat more of the pasta and ham by putting the peas and green onions toward the back of the spoon so he has to eat a full spoonful before he can get to the peas and green onions. Devious? I think so! But totally required...

My mom used to make this for us all the time as kids. It's one of the easiest things to make in the mornings for breakfast before school. Good for leftover ham too. :D


Ham & Peas Pasta
(makes ~2 toddler meals)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry macaroni, small shell or any small pasta
• 1 slices of ham, finely diced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 small stalk green onion, finely diced
• Salt, to taste
• 1/2 pinch chicken bouillon (optional)
• Water

Directions:

1. In a small pot, bring 3 cups of salted water to boil. Add in dry pasta, ham and chicken bouillon, if using. Simmer until pasta is to the texture your toddler likes.
2. Turn off heat and stir in peas and green onions. Taste. Add more water if you want it more soupy and adjust seasoning if needed.
3. Cool to room temperature and serve.

Chicken Pie Turnovers

Okay, confession: I hate using eggwash over pastry. I love the look of it and everything. But I hate having to brush it over the pastry and then having leftover egg and no clue what to do with it afterwards other than making a puny little "scrambled egg".

This is where K comes in. He's small and still eats smallish meals (smaller than ours anyway). So I end up making steamed egg for him with the leftover egg wash. LOL. He likes it and it gets rid of the excess eggwash, so why not?

Anywho, Hubby loves these chicken turnovers. Mainly because he loves chicken pot pie but always complain that he doesn't get enough puff pastry (I like to steal most of it cuz it's my favourite part of a pot pie too :$). So one day I just decided to make the chicken pot pie into a turnover. SUCCESS!

This recipe is a total cheat though. Seriously. The truth of it is that I just threw all these leftover bits and turned it into a turnover. Smart, eh? ;)


Chicken Pie Turnovers
(serves 6-12)

Ingredients:

• 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded (or more or less equivalent in leftover chicken)
• 1 large carrot, finely diced
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup leftover/ready made gravy
• 3 sheets all butter puff pastry
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add in carrots and onions. Cook until onions are translucent.
3. Stir in frozen peas, chicken and gravy. Mix and cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Take off the heat.
4. Roll out each sheet of pastry so that they're each 12" x 12" or so. Using a knife, section each sheet into 4s (aka cut down the middle vertically and then cut down the middle horizontally) to make 12 square puff pastry sheets. Lay the squares on the parchment lined baking sheets.
5. Spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons of filling on one of the squares. Fold over to make a triangle. Use the tines of a fork to press down on the edges, sealing the turnover. Repeat with the other 11.
6. Use the fork to poke a few holes on the tops of the turnovers and brush with eggwash. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
7. Serve with salad and soup to serve 12, or only soup or only salad with 2 turnovers to serve 6. Alternatively, you can have just one with a salad or soup for a light lunch.

Eggnog Panettone Bread Pudding

I've always had a distaste for raisins in my food. I don't know why. I don't mind them when I eat them separately. I just don't like them in my food. It feels weird. But then I had some Afghan rice at some vegan restaurant and it was so yummy. Mind you, it's rice, so I'll almost always think it's the most amazing thing I put in my mouth. Rofl. Seriously though, I started thinking that maybe it's not so bad.

This Xmas we had Panettone bread and I've realized that I don't like eggnog that much by itself. Shocking. Kinda but not really. I've always mixed my eggnog with milk because I found it too sweet. In any case, so we had extra of both, so I made bread pudding. K loves it. I put it in his lunch for daycare and he ate all of it. Sweet. (Almost) Nothing makes me happier than when I see him polishing off food I make. :)


Eggnog Panettone Bread Pudding
(serves 6-9)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb panettone, cubed
• 2 cups eggnog
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 8" x 8" pan. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggnog, eggs, sugar and cinnamon. Toss in panattone, raisins and cranberries, making sure the bread is soaking up all the custard.
3. Pour into the pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the middle is set.
4. Cut into squares and serve with ice cream and coffee.

Ham & Pepper Fried Rice

OMG we always have so much leftovers after a Christmas dinner. Same for Thanksgiving too. Maybe next year I'll just make turkey for Thanksgiving and ham for Christmas. I really actually only like the ham. Hubby used to love turkey but he prefers ham now so really it's just the extended family that likes turkey.

I gotta say though, it's pretty amazing when you present a nicely cooked turkey to a big group of people. Makes you feel accomplish. ^^

Anywho, I used deli ham for the picture cuz I forgot to take a picture of the one with real ham and sometimes I need to get rid of deli ham quick. But who cares. It's still the same recipe. Only it tastes way more amazing with real ham that you've cooked using a picnic shoulder. Drool....


Ham & Pepper Fried Rice
(serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cold leftover white rice (1-3 days old)
• 1/2 lb ham (or any cooked meat or medium firm tofu), finely diced or crumbled
• 1 bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 - 2 Tbsps ginger, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 green onion stalks, finely diced
• Salt or soy sauce, to taste
• 2 Tbsps canola oil

Directions:

1. Heat a wok on high heat to warm up canola oil. Add in ginger, garlic and ham. Stir fry until ham starts to caramelize/brown. Add in eggs, stirring vigorously so that it doesn't burn and scrambles into tiny pieces.
2. When egg is still a little runny, add in bell peppers and rice. Stir to break up all the rice. Season with salt or soy sauce. 
3. Once the rice softens and is no longer in clumps, turn off the heat. Stir in green onions.
4. Serve with soup.

Eggnog Panettone French Toast Bake

Someone at Hubby's work gave him a Panettone for Xmas and told him that they make great French toasts. Excellent. I love French toast! I just don't like making them for more than 2 people since there's always someone who'll get cold or overcooked French toast from staying in the warmer too long. That being said, I wanted to make a baked French toast casserole thing with this instead of the traditional sliced breads.

Man, I really liked this. Hubby not so much but he almost never likes French toast anyway so that doesn't count. I only used half of our loaf so I'll have to make this again or find something else to cook using the Panettone. Hmmm...


Eggnog Panettone French Toast Bake
(serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb panettone, cubed
• 2 cups eggnog
• 6 eggs
• 2 Tbsps sugar
• 2 Tbsps packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Grease a 8" x 8" square pan and an aluminum foil that you'll be covering the dish with with butter. Set both aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except the panettone, until combined. Toss in panettone, making sure all of the cubes are soaking up the custard mixture.
3. Pour into the greased pan and cover with the greased aluminum foil. Set in the fridge overnight.
4. Take the pan out of the fridge and let it warm up for half hour before baking. 
5. Preheat oven to 350F.
6. Bake for 20 minutes with the foil on. Take the foil off and then bake for another 25-30 minutes, until the middle is cooked through.
7. Serve with bacon and warm maple syrup.

Everyday Omelette

Some nights I have no clue what to cook for dinner. Actually, that's a lie...Most days I have no clue what to cook for dinner. Or at least that was the case a while back.

Someone gave me the idea of have breakfast for dinner. So that's what I do now when I don't know what to cook for dinner. Breakfast foods are pretty easy to make, after all. Or at least the stuff we usually eat. Except for those bennies that I like so much.

Anywho...one of our old standbys are omelettes. We always have eggs, onions and some sort of cheese. When I have leftover bell peppers and mushrooms, I'll make a batch of the filling so that I can quickly make some omelettes over the next few days if needed. Sometimes we won't have bacon in the omelette if we don't have any raw bacon in the fridge but it certainly is awesome when we do.


Everyday Omelette
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 8 eggs
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 bacon strips, diced
• 1 cup cheese, shredded (any kind you like)
• 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 6 Tbsps canola oil or bacon grease

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, cook bacon on medium high heat until crispy. Transfer cooked bacon bits to a towel lined bowl and set aside. Drain grease, leaving about 2 tablespoons left in the skillet. 
2. Stir in onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, garlic and chili flakes. Saute until veggies are tender crisp. Mix in the crisp bacon bits. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer filling mixture back to the bowl. Set aside.
3. Add 1 tablespoon of bacon grease or canola oil in the skillet. Turn heat down to low-medium low. While the grease/oil is heating up, beat two eggs in a small bowl. Gently pour eggs into the skillet, covering the bottom. Sprinkle on a pinch of salt and pepper. Sprinkle on about 1/4 cup of shredded cheese all over the top of the eggs. By now the eggs should almost be cooked through (very little liquidy parts left when jiggled). Spoon about 3-4 tablespoons of filling onto one half of the omelette. Using a spatula, gently fold over the other side of the omelette. Let the omelette sit in the pan for about half a minute so that the warm cheese on the top starts adhering to the filling.
4. Slide omelette onto a plate and repeat with the other three omelettes.
5. Serve with a side of toast and maybe some hot sauce.

If your pan has hot spots like mine, just spoon the filling into the "rawer" half of the omelette since it'll continue to cook after the other half of the egg circle has been flipped on top. If the omelette is cooking too quickly (read: brown bottom but raw on top before cheese and filling is added) then turn your heat down. You can also add about a teaspoon of water after everything has cooked and cover with a lid to simmer. I find that it actually makes the egg a little fluffier after it has its little mini steam treatment.

Puff Pastry Chicken Pot Pie

OOOOH! Such a pretty picture! I can't believe I can actually take pretty pictures on my iPhone. I probably just got lucky. Hah!

I had previously made some roasted chicken and had leftovers. I had them for lunch and it was delicious! (I really can't get over how yummy that darn roasted chicken is). But anyway, we had some drippings but it was so good and with the bears all around lately, I didn't dare throw it out. Instead, I just put it in a little bowl and put it away in the fridge for the next day when I would defrost a couple of chicken breasts from the freezer and make chicken pot pie with soup. :D

I gotta warn you guys. Hubby and I LOVE love puff pastry, so I used a whole sheet for our four little pies. See how pretty the tops are? Please ignore the bottom cuz there was a little overflow in the oven. Whoops. At least I'm not stingy on filling? LOL!

This recipe is enough to feed 2 people if you're only having pie but with soup and/or salad, it'll feed 4. :)


Puff Pastry Chicken Pot Pie
(serves 2 or 4 with sides)

Ingredients:

• 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cubed (or equivalent in leftover chicken)
• 3 small carrots, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
• 3 Tbsps flour
• 2 Tbsps butter
• 1 tsp sage & bay salt
• 1 cup leftover chicken drippings + chicken stock
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 sheet of packaged all butter puff pastry

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In a large pot, melt butter on medium high heat. Brown chicken in butter.
3. Add onions and carrots. Cook until onions have soften. 
4. Sprinkle in the flour, whisking constantly.
5. Gradually add in enough chicken stock and leftover chicken drippings to make 1 cup of liquids, whisking constantly. The gravy should be pretty thick but add more stock if you want it more liquidy.
6. Season with sage & bay salt and black pepper. Turn off heat and add frozen peas. Mix well.
7. Spoon pie filling into four 9 1/2oz ramekins, or a 1 1/4qt casserole dish. Set aside.
8. Lay the puff pastry flat on a floured surface or on the parchment paper it comes with. Use a knife to cut into whatever shapes you want the puff pastry to puff up to - I cut it into 9 squares and then cut the 9th square into fours for my 4 ramekins. Dock with a fork and lay over top of the ramekins or casserole dish.
9. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the pastry puffs up and is a nice golden brown colour.
10. Serve by itself or with soup and/or salad.

Cream of Chicken Soup

I have not gotten a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket in a LONG time. The reason being that usually it's all dried out and we like our chicken just cooked. Well...there's nothing like doing what you told yourself never to do again to remind you of WHY you told yourself that in the first place, eh?

I couldn't help myself and just bought a rotisserie chicken the other day while grocery shopping after work. "It'll make for a quick dinner!" I told myself. Sure...........Hubby and I had half a breast and a drumstick between the both of us. Yes. It was that bad. So I had all this leftover chicken...What the hell do you do with leftover dry chicken?! Make a soup of course! It'll be liquidy enough to counter all that dry meat. Let's throw in the last of our frozen veggies too. Real fresh veggies would be way better but I wanted to finish up that frozen stuff so that's what I went with.

Best part: both Hubby and K liked it. K actually finished half my bowl. YAY!


Cream of Chicken Soup
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup frozen veggies
• 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a medium/large pot, melt butter on medium heat. Stir/whisk in flour. Stir until a thick paste forms. 
2. Slowly whisk in milk so that no clumps form. Stir in chicken broth. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
3. Add frozen veggies and shredded chicken. Stir and cook until everything is heated through, about 3-5 minutes. Season wish more salt and pepper, if necessary.
4. Serve alone or with some crusty bread or a sandwich.

The longer you cook it, the thicker the soup is going to get, so don't cook too long. If you do, just add more chicken stock to thin it out. ;)

Pork Belly Claypot Rice

It's kind of deceiving since you're supposed to (I think) cook everything in the Claypot but I made the pork belly first and THEN cooked rice in the Claypot with the cooked pork belly, some of the sauce and veggies. Doesn't the pic just look AWESOME? Lol


Pork Belly Claypot Rice
(Serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups ready made braised pork belly
• 1/2 cup reserved braised pork belly sauce
• 1 cup uncooked Jasmine rice
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 4 stalks Shanghai Bok Choy, quartered
• 1 green onion, finely diced (optional)

Directions:

1. Wash rice a couple of times in cold water until the water runs clear(ish).
2. Put rice and water into a large Claypot. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Uncover and quickly put in the Bok Choy on top of the rice and top with pork belly and the sauce. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes.
4. Turn off heat and let stand COVERED for another 15 minutes before serving.
5. Mix everything together and then serve in bowls. Garnish with green onion (optional) and enjoy!

You can always drizzle more sauce over the rice before eating. It's so good!!!!! So very decadent. You might need a little more pork belly though with all that rice. Or you can just lessen the rice. I love rice, so it was good for me. But normally people like to eat more of the pork belly like my Hubby so then more pork belly or less rice would be a good idea.