Baked Pork & Rice

OMGOMGOMG. You know the baked pork chop rice you can get at Hong Kong style cafes? I LOVE that dish! I've always gotten it whenever I go to these little cafes and I love it. Absolutely love it. It can be a little annoying because the pork chop is cut into strips so you still have to cut them smaller or use your teeth to tear them apart. Kinda neanderthal-ish. But I'm used to it so it doesn't really bother me that much. Just a little inconvenient but easily solved by slicing everything up on a side plate. :)

So my sis and I were talking about our love of HK style cafes and how our spouses don't care for them at all (the horror), and she suggested that I just try making this dish on my own. So I did.

I wouldn't call this a fail, since it's so yummy. But it's definitely not as sweet and tangy as the dish we'd get at the restaurants. This sauce is much more meaty. And I cut the pork chop up into bite sized pieces before baking. Then I don't need to do any extra cutting. Just shovel the food into my mouth. My favourite way to eat things. LOL.


Baked Pork & Rice
(serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups day old cooked white rice
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3 boneless thin pork cutlets
• 2 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 2/3 cup ketchup
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 Tbsps sugar, divided
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 4 Tbsps canola oil, divided
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a Ziploc bag or shallow dish, mix together 1 tablespoon of sugar, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Add in pork cutlets and marinade for 15-30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 375F.
3. In a wok or frying pan, heat up 2 tablespoons of canola oil on medium high heat. Stir in eggs and mix around, breaking it up into small pieces of scrambled egg. When egg is half cooked, add rice and stir. Season with salt and pepper. Stir fried rice until rice is heated through and eggs are cooked. Transfer to a 1 1/2 quart oven safe dish. Set aside.
4. In a frying pan, heat up remaining canola oil on medium high heat. Place pork cutlets in hot pan, reserving marinade. Cook 2 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Transfer to a plate.
5. Add onions and tomatoes to the pan and cook until tomatoes and onions have soften. Add in garlic, ketchup, water, remaining sugar and reserved marinade. Scrape up any brown bits on the bottom and lower heat to medium low. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes.
6. While sauce is simmering, cut up pork cutlets into bite sized pieces. Transfer the pork cutlet pieces, along with any juices that have leaked out onto the plate into the sauce mixture. Stir to combine. Season with salt, pepper and sugar (if too tangy) to taste.
7. Turn off heat and pour pork and sauce mixture over the fried rice. Sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is nice and bubbly.
8. Serve with a side salad and/or soup.

Update: Corrected a typo. Sugar should've been divided otherwise it'll burn the wok or pan when cooking the pork chops. I made this again and just cubed the pork chop first to make it cook a little faster and have more seared surface area. Easier and just as yummy. :)

Frenchy Twice Baked Potatoes

Mashed potatoes can get kinda boring so I wanted to try something new. We always love the Keg's twice baked potato, so I thought I'd try it out. With a twist! The twist being that I'd use a french onion dip in place of sour cream. LOL. The things I do to try to use up leftover dip...Luckily it turned out nice! :)


Frenchy Twice Baked Potatoes
(serves 10-12)

Ingredients:

• 8 baking/Russet potatoes, washed and scrubbed
• 3 Tbsps canola oil
• 1 cup French onion dip
• 2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 green onion stalks, finely diced
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place potatoes on the parchment lined baking sheet and rub with canola oil. Bake for 1 hour, or until potatoes are fully cooked. Give the potatoes a squeeze and if it has a little give, it's done.
3. Lower oven temperature to 350F.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine dip, cheese and green onions. Set aside.
5. Using a sharp knife, cut the potatoes in half. Use a spoon to scoop out the filling into the dip mixture, leaving about 1/4 inch of rim on the potatoes intact for support.
6. Use a potato masher to mash everything together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Scoop filing mixture back into the potato shells so that they're heaping full. You may not use all the shells, but that's okay. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops start getting brown.
8. Serve with grilled chicken or alone with a side salad.

Peanut Butter & Banana Dog Biscuits

First time making dog biscuits and it was a roaring success! M really loved these. I think she loves them more than her Greenies. Sweet! Some of the pups at work really like them too so that's definitely good.

Since having K, I've actually enjoyed baking. And since I've been baking for humans, I thought I'd try my hand at baking for pups. I like it. Maybe I'll make different kinds of biscuits next time. :)

M is a pretty small dog, so I shared most of her goodies away with friends' and neighbours' dogs.

You can probably turn dough onto a floured surface, but I'm a freak and like everything neat. That being said, I just roll it out onto wax paper to keep flour from getting everywhere. Lol.


Peanut Butter & Banana Dog Biscuits
(makes about a pound of biscuits)

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
• 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour, more if needed
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• Olive oil (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Stir together the egg, peanut butter and banana in a medium bowl; blend thoroughly. 
3. Stir in the flour and wheat germ and mix well. Dough should smooth and elastic. If dough is sticky, just add a touch more flour. If dough is crumbly and not holding together, then add a little bit of olive oil.
4. Place smooth dough onto wax paper and roll to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes with a cookie cutter, place on parchment lined baking sheets.
5. Bake biscuits in preheated oven until dried and golden brown, about 30 minutes, depending on size. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
6. Store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Hot Chocolate Mix

Hot chocolate!! It's definitely one of the best things about Christmas. Loads of hot chocolate. I actually quite like this recipe. It's very chocolatey.

Honestly, you can add hot water or hot milk in it. I find that if you make this with hot milk it's a lot creamier and less likely to clump than when I made this with hot water. Sorry Alton. :P


Hot Chocolate Mix
(makes 5 1/2 cups of mix)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred)
• 2 1/2 cups powdered milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsps cornstarch
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients until well incorporated. Mix can store indefinitely in an airtight container in the pantry.
2. To serve, scoop 1/3 cup of mix into a mug and pour in 1 cup of hot milk/water, stirring vigorously to combine.

Yellow Wine Chicken

I made "all" this yellow wine over the summer and still haven't used it for anything more than marinades and sauces. I've been meaning to make Yellow Wine Chicken, and so I finally did. I normally don't like it at all, but I liked this one. Probably because it wasn't so strong that it could kill someone and wasn't so weak that it makes you wonder where the wine went. :P

The broth is very good for you, so don't waste it!


Yellow Wine Chicken
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken legs, thigh and drumstick separated
• 1 inch knob ginger, sliced
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups yellow wine

Directions:

1. Place everything in a medium pot and bring to a gentle boil. Lower the heat and simmer covered for 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
2. Serve alone or with rice.

Mushrooms & Chicken

Typical simple dinner fair. It's almost all in one! If you don't have carbs, then yes it can be. Otherwise it's a pretty standard dish to eat with rice. Yum. Rice. Seriously there is no food better than rice and some sort of dish to eat with it. Either that or just rice. But this was pretty good. K ate all the peppers and mushrooms in his bowl and then ate more of it the next day for his lunch. So proud that he eats so much veggies. I hope this lasts. >_>

Anywho, you can also make it vegetarian by using medium firm tofu instead of the chicken. It's what I'd do if it was just K and me eating. But Hubby needs his meat. Meh.


Mushrooms & Chicken
(serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

• 1 large or 2 small chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 bell pepper, cut into strips
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 2 green onion stalks, cut into 2 inch long pieces
• 1 inch ginger, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 dash Maggi Seasoning
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp water
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 Tbsps canola oil

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a wok on medium high heat. Toss in chicken and cook until meat starts turning opaque.
2. Add in ginger and mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms start turning brown. 
3. Stir in garlic, bell peppers, Maggi, soy sauce, sugar and cook until peppers are tender crisp.
4. In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in water. Add to wok. Toss in green onions and stir until sauce is thick.
5. Serve with rice.

Mexican Meatloaf

So meatloaf reminds Hubby of dog food. WOW. Seriously? This delicious piece of meat. Dog food?! AIYA.../facepalm

He still ate it so it's all good and this means more leftovers for K and me! :D

I had no ground beef in the house so I had to make do with some ground pork. Good thing cuz I think I like it better when it's with ground pork. It reminds me of the "meat cookie" that my mom always made when we were kids. My mouth is salivating just thinking of it. Yum yum yum.

I assure you that this definitely didn't taste like "dog food". I liked it quite a bit and so did K. I can tell cuz he doesn't usually eat meat but he ate this and ate it for daycare the next day. Yes! /pumps fists


Mexican Meatloaf
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean ground pork
• 2/3 cup cheddar cheese, shredded (I used a pre-shredded Mexican blend)
• 1/2 cup fresh salsa
• 1/2 rolled oats
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp chili powder
• Salt and pepper, to taste (at least 1/2 tsp of each)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine everything and mix well.
3. Transfer meat mixture onto the pan and shape into a loaf. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160F. If the top starts to burn, just lightly cover the top with aluminum foil.
4. Take the meatloaf out and let it rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
5. Serve with rice and soup or salad.

Nutfree Toddler Granola Bars

K loves his cereal bars. We buy the organic ones from our grocery store all the time for him. But from the way he was devouring them, we were going to either go broke (haha not really cuz we're not that poor) or he'd  go crazy from all that sugar. That got me wondering about the possibility of making my own granola bars for him to take to daycare. It's a nut-free facility so I had to make sure there wasn't any nuts in the product. Poor guy. K loves his peanut butter but basically can only have it at home. Oh well.

Of course I researched and then decided to make these granola bars instead of the cereal bars where I have to ground all the stuff into flour. Good thing cuz I'm too lazy to do all that extra work. This turned out pretty well. But I think I'm going to use a bigger pan or split the mixture in two and make two separate dishes worth so that the bars wouldn't be quite so thick. And maybe add some applesauce to it so that it's less crumbly.


Nutfree Toddler Granola Bars
(makes 12 thick bars or 24 thin bars)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins
• 2/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a 8" x 8" square baking pan (for thick bars) with parchment paper. Line two pans if you want thinner bars. Make sure there's some parchment paper hanging over the sides so you can use them to pick up the slab of granola later. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (oats, raisins, cranberries, chocolate chips, wheat germ, flours, sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg). Once mixed well, stir in honey, oil, egg and vanilla extract until everything is mixed very well.
3. Transfer mixture to your parchment paper lined pan(s) and use your hands or a spatula to smooth out the top so that it's nice and flat.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes (thin bars) or 18-20 minutes (thick bars), or until the sides start turning golden brown.
5. Let the slab(s) rest out of the oven for about 5 minutes, then lift them out of their pan(s). Using a sharp knife, cut the slab(s) into bars.
6. Let the bars cool down completely before storing in an airtight container or a large Ziploc bag to keep the bars chewy.

Steamed Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce

This dish totally reminds me of home (except my mom would always put leftover plum sauce from take out into the marinade). I used to love eating these spareribs and then using the sauce to douse my rice. Heck, I can just have mostly rice and sauce with a couple of pieces of the spareribs. Childhood memories are pretty awesome, eh? Somehow mine just always revolve around food. I guess maybe I've always been addicted to food...


Steamed Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce
(serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs pork spareribs, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1-2 packets of plum sauce from Chinese takeout places (optional)
• 2 Tbsps black bean sauce
• 1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 Tbsp ginger, minced or grated
• 2 tsps cornstarch
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp canola oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 pinch black pepper

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix everything together until every piece of sparerib is covered in sauce/marinade. Transfer into a shallow, heatproof pan or plate with high sides (like a pie plate that you bake pies in or a cake pan). Let marinade at room temperature for half hour or cover and marinade overnight in the fridge.
2. Set a steamer rack on the bottom of a large pot or wok with enough water so that the dish is suspended above the water surface. 
3. Bring water to boil. Place dish on the steam rack and then top it with a flat plate. Cover and cook for 20 minutes on medium high heat.
4. Serve with rice and some steamed/stir fry veggies.

Andouille Sausage and Linguine

Pasta pasta. I always used to have lots of pasta. It was one of the easiest things to make for dinner after work. Somehow I just stopped making pasta and eating more rice. Meh. Rice is pretty darn awesome. I can eat it all day every day. As long as there's something to eat with it of course.

Well I had andouille sausage and no clue what to do with it. Brain fart. So I went with my old stand by when it comes to a quick pasta dinner.


Andouille Sausage and Linguine
(serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb linguine
• 2 Andouille sausage links, sliced
• 4 bacon slices, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, cut into strips
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Boil salted water in a pot and cook linguine while you get the rest of the dish ready. Make sure linguine is cooked just under al dente.
2. In a large skillet, cook bacon. Transfer bacon pieces to a towel lined bowl or plate. Set aside.
3. Toss in sausage, onions, bell peppers, garlic and chili flakes. Cook until sausage is golden brown and veggies are tender.
4. Using tongs, transfer just under al dente linguine from pot to skillet. Stir in bacon pieces, salt and pepper and mix well. If the pasta seems dry, just add a bit of pasta water to loosen things up.
5. Serve with a side salad and/or soup.

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Christmas is coming! This means I'm probably going to start making a bunch of little goodies for friends and neighbours. Family gets the turkey dinner. ;)

I like giving baked goods and treat as gifts rather than going out to buy something. It just feels more personal. It has nothing to do with the fact that crowded malls irritate me more than nails on a chalkboard. Nope, none at all............


Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
(makes 2 dozen cookies)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsps packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.
3. While the mixer is beating the liquids, whisk together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl when the liquids are smooth. Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined.
4. Stir in oats and raisins until just combined.
5. Spoon about a tablespoon of batter onto the cookie sheets, setting them about an inch apart. Chill cookies in the fridge for a few minutes while you preheat the oven to 350F.
6. When oven reaches 350F, take cookies out of the fridge and bake for 10-12 minutes, turning and rotating halfway if necessary, or until the edges just start to get a little golden brown.
7. Cool for a couple of minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.
8. Serve warm with coffee or milk or cool completely to package with other goodies.

It's not really necessary to chill the batter, so you can always preheat the oven in the beginning. It's thicker if you chill the dough though.

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.

Hungarian Goulash

Honestly I have no clue how authentic this is. It probably isn't, but I don't care. It's yummy and it's something that goes awesome with the Fluffy Whole Wheat Rolls I made specifically for this.

I used beef shank cuz it was on sale, but honestly any cheap cut of meat/muscle would go well with this. The awesomeness of braising and stewing makes any meat super tender and fall-apart-y. This is definitely a dish that best utilizes those cheap tough meats. :D


Hungarian Goulash
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb stewing beef, cubed
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsps paprika (Hungarian is best)
• 3/4 cup beef broth or water
• 2 Tbsps tomato paste
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsps canola oil

Directions:

1. Heat oil on medium high heat in a medium pot or Dutch oven. While the oil is heating up, add flour and season it with about 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a medium mixing bowl. Toss in beef cubes to coat evenly.
2. Sear beef cubes until they're nicely browned. Sear in batches, if necessary. Transfer beef to a bowl or plate. Set aside.
3. Stir in onions, garlic, paprika and tomato paste, scraping up brown bits as the onions releases its juices. Cook until onions start to soften and garlic gets fragrant. Add the beef back in, including any juices that may have run and beef broth or water.
4. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to the lowest setting. Cover and simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until tender (beef falls apart when poked with a spoon).
5. Serve with Fluffy Whole Wheat Rolls and a side salad.

You can always make this into a one pot meal by adding some root veggies in the beginning to stew and then adding in some cooked quinoa at the end.

Fluffy Whole Wheat Rolls

It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!! >_<

Seriously these are fluffy. I think I've found my go to bread recipe for all soups and stews. Woohoo!

I gotta try making this into a loaf. Or a giant bread bowl for my French Onion Spinach dip. OMG or even use it as a soup bowl. I wonder if the bottom would be sturdy enough. Or make mini french bread-ish loaves for sandwich making. Or add some spices/herbs to make it into a fancy kind of bread. Oh the possibilities...


Fluffy Whole Wheat Rolls
(makes 16 small rolls)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 Tbsp instant yeast
• 2 Tbsps sugar
• 2 Tbsps canola oil, plus more for greasing
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg, beaten + 2 Tbsps water (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl (I used my stand mixer's bowl), stir together warm water, yeast and sugar. Let stand for a couple of minutes while you get everything else together.
2. Add in the oil, salt, whole wheat flour and 1 cup of all-purpose flour. Using the dough hook on your stand mixer, mix on low. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn it on medium speed and let it knead for about 8 minutes until smooth and elastic.
3. Pull the dough ball up using one hand and the other to lightly oil the bowl. Turn the dough around to coat in oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until the dough doubles in volume, about an hour. In the mean time, two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
4. After an hour, uncover the dough and punch out all the air. Separate the dough into halves until you get 16 equal sized pieces. Form into round balls and place 8 onto each of the parchment lined sheets, spaced evenly apart. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth and let it rise while you preheat the oven to 400F. This should take only a few minutes but if you have time, let the rolls rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. (Optional) In a small bowl, mix egg with 2 tablespoons of water and brush on top of rolls before baking to have a nice shiny top.

It's practically winter here and cold most of the time, so it's hard to find a warm place to let any dough rise. But I always have my microwave! It's the best place for keeping your dough when you want it to proof. Just cover it with a damp cloth, shut the door, set the timer and remember not to touch that microwave door for the next hour. As long as the door stays shut, it is THE BEST place for the bread to rise. It works every time. ;)

You can also just stick all the bread rolls onto one parchment lined baking sheet if you don't mind the sides sticking together.

Oh oh and the water temp. I'm too impatient/lazy/whatever to bother testing the temperature for the water. My rule of thumb is to just stick a clean hand or a couple of fingers into the water. If it's just a little warmer than me, then it's good to go. Human beings tend to be about 96F degrees and the water is supposed to be 110F degrees, so if it's a little warmer than I am, then I'm golden. This method hasn't failed me yet!

Summer Limeade

So the weather has been cold and dreary. Typical around this time of the year and very depressing. Thank goodness for summer drinks! This limeade made it less dreary.

I love this drink. And evidently so does K, since he bit onto the straw pretty darn hard when I tried to remove it from his mouth. It was tough trying to pry it from his grip without splashing it all over the place. That kid drank almost half my drink! Crazy...

It's even better with a shot of tequila but ssshh....K is not to know about this until he's a lot older. ;)


Summer Limeade
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lime juice (about 10 limes)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups water, plus more
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pan, dissolve sugar in 1 1/2 cups of water to make a simple syrup.
2. In a 2 gallon or 4 liters pitcher, combine lime juice, syrup, salt and enough water to fill the pitcher.
3. To serve, fill glasses half way with ice cubes and pour limeade over the ice. 

The limeade is pretty tart stuff, so the ice shouldn't water it down. If you find that it's too tart, just divide it into two pitchers and fill with enough water to your tastes.

Honey Garlic Wings

So one of Hubby's favourite wings is just good old plain salt and pepper wings. I, on the other hand, love saucy wings, so my go to is most definitely honey garlic. That day when I made the Roasted Salt & Pepper Wings, I also made a honey garlic sauce to go with it. It was just a tad salty, so I'd suggest that if you're going to slather the honey garlic sauce over these wings, you'd make the wings with less salt.


Honey Garlic Wings
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 3 lb Roasted Salt & Pepper Wings (made with less salt), or any cooked wings
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 Tbsps cornstarch
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

1. In a small pot, combine sugar, water, honey and garlic. Bring to a boil and let it boil for about a minute while you make the soy slurry. 
2. Dissolve cornstarch in soy sauce in a small bowl and whisk into the sugar mixture. Keep whisking until it starts to thicken. Turn off the heat and pour over cooked chicken wings. Toss to combine.
3. Serve as is as an appetizer or with some rice and veggies as a meal.

Roasted Salt & Pepper Wings

I have not had wings in a while. Pre-K we'd go for $0.39 wings (or something like that) at the pubs and stuff. But since K, we haven't gone to any of those places anymore, thus no cheap wings. Since we haven't had any in a while and wings were on sale, I decided to just go for it and make my own. I made these for K's first birthday and they were all gone, so they couldn't have tasted too bad. ;)

Hubby and I had these for lunch and it was more than enough. I think if you were to make them as appies for a party or something, they'd stretch a lot further.


Roasted Salt & Pepper Wings
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs wings, split and tips removed
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450F and line 2 shallow roasting/baking pans with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine olive oil, salt and pepper together. Toss in wings and mix thoroughly.
3. Spread wings onto parchment lined pans and roast for 20 minutes. Flip wings over and cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until wings are cooked through and golden.
4. Serve as is or with your favourite dip/hot sauce.

Braised Pork with Apple & Onion Gravy

First time ever combining apples with pork. It's pretty good. It's weird that I've never tried this before, but it was pretty good. I think I prefer the roast pork from Hong Kong style BBQ places though.

This made a lot of gravy (could've used more flour to make it thicker, but meh), which I then stored in the freezer for future pork chop uses. I wouldn't call this a traditional gravy though. More like a sauce? Oh the identity crisis...


Braised Pork with Apple & Onion Gravy
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 5 lb pork shoulder, cut in half
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 3 medium (or 2 large) apples, cored and sliced into wedges
• 4 cups apple juice
• 1 cup beef broth
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tbsps canola oil (or bacon grease)

Directions:

1. Heat up the bacon grease or canola oil in a large Dutch oven or pot on medium high heat. Rub a generous amount of salt and pepper onto the pork shoulders. Carefully place one into the Dutch oven and sear all sides. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the other one.
2. Transfer the second piece onto the same plate as the first. Stir in onions and apples to the Dutch oven and sauté, scraping up the brown bits as the apples and onions start releasing its juices.
3. Return the pork shoulders back into the pot, cover with apple juice, broth and two bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover and lower heat to the lowest setting simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
4. After 2 1/2 hours, transfer pork shoulders onto a plate to rest. In the mean time, crank up the heat to full blast and let the sauce reduce to half. In a small bowl, mix the flour and water to make a slurry. Once the sauce has reduced to half, whisk in the flour slurry and heat thoroughly. The oniones and apples should've disentegrated by now. If not, just use the whisk or a spoon to smush it all up.
5. To serve, slice pork shoulders and pour gravy over the slabs of meat, accompanied with some wild rice.

Pollo a la Brasa with Potatoes

I was looking at this Peruvian restaurant's menu. I've never had Peruvian food before, but I'm always up for trying new cuisines, so I was intrigued. I hadn't a clue what I'd order if I went to the restaurant, so I did a little research.

One of the least adventurous dishes was the pollo a la brasa (Peruvian roasted chicken). I thought it looked yummy so I went and looked up some recipes and came to this one. I don't know how authentic this is but it was indeed yummy. Of course I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I tried. I really did, but I hate water brines, so I didn't do that. Instead, I had planned on marinating the chicken over two nights rather than just one. But then I got impatient and wanted to eat this. Next time I'll marinate it for two nights because the flavour didn't really get all the way into the chicken. Oh wells.

And it's easier to roast a chicken after it's been cut into 8 parts, so that's what I did. Hah. :P

I think this can be a dish that I could just serve on plain white rice rather than the potatoes. Or wild rice. I love wild rice.....or a rice pilaf! Oh the possibilities...


Pollo a la Brasa with Potatoes
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 1/4 cup canola oil/extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 3 medium russet potatoes, cubed

Directions:

1. In a large Ziploc bag, combine oil, vinegar, garlic, chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, paprika, oregano and soy sauce. Toss in the chicken pieces and massage until well coated. Marinade in the fridge overnight (or 2 nights).
2. Preheat oven to 375F. 
3. Add potatoes into the Ziploc bag. Massage until potatoes are well coated. Pour everything from the Ziploc bag into a roasting pan, arranging chicken to rest on top of the potatoes, skin side up.
4. Bake for 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through (165F when tested with a thermometer). Rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
5. Serve chicken with the potatoes and a side salad.

Update: You can always freeze the chicken pieces for up to 2 weeks in the freezer and then take it out the night before you want to bake it to defrost in the fridge.

Carrot Cake Thumbprint Cookies

There was a cookie bake-off at work and you get points for creativity. At first I thought "what can be more original than carrot cake cookies!?" Oh how wrong I was. After some research to try to find the right "formula" to turn a cake recipe into a cookie one, I found out from a friend that there already are people making these. Doh.

At first I was a little disappointed that someone already had "my" idea, but then I got over that pretty quickly when I realized that I could just do what I normally do with recipes - research a bunch of them and then do my own thing! :D

These cookies are like little cakes. They're super soft and cake-like, especially during the second day. Good if you like the cake-like cookies. Not so good if you're looking for something crunchier.


Carrot Cake Thumbprint Cookies
(makes approximately 4 dozen)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups coarsely grated carrots (approximately 2 medium)
• 1 cup raisins
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 cup honey

Directions:

1. Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375F.
2. Whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in carrots and raisins at low speed. Scrape down the sides and mix on high for a couple of seconds to make sure everything is well incorporated.
4. Add flour mixture and beat until just combined.
5. Drop 1 tablespoon batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total.
6. While cookies are baking, whip cream cheese with honey until smooth. Spoon into a Ziploc bag. Set aside.
7. Take cookies out of the oven and use your thumb or a wooden spoon to press “thumbprints” into the center of the cookies while they’re still warm. Cool cookies on sheets for a minute.
8. Snip off a small corner of the Ziploc bag and pipe cream cheese filling into the thumbprints.
9. Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely before storing away or eat immediately while still warm with coffee or milk.

Sticky Sweet & Sour Chicken

I love sweet and sour pork whenever we go out to Chinese restaurants. Either that or the Peking Style Pork Chops. They're similar but different. K loves the pineapples int he sweet and sour pork dish and I love the meat. I wanted to make it at home, but without the deep frying, since I don't do that at home.

I haven't a clue where I got this recipe. I was just flipping through one of my older notebooks when I came across this one. It is indeed sticky and saucy.


Sticky Sweet & Sour Chicken
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
• 1-2 bell peppers, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 2 Tbsps cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp canola oil

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine sugar, vinegar, water, ketchup, soy sauce and cornstarch. Mix until cornstarch has dissolved. Set aside. 
2. In a wok or large pan, heat up oil on medium high heat. Brown chicken until opaque. Stir in peppers, onions and garlic. Cook until onions just get soft.
3. Add the mixed sauce. Cook until sauce has thickened and chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally. 
4. Serve with rice.

French Onion Spinach Dip

It's a cheat, but it's my go to dip. It's simple and it goes well with chips and sourdough bread. It's awesome for parties. :D

It might be better if you use your own French onion spice mix but I don't make this enough or use French onion spices enough to validate making a big batch of spices so I just use the packets. Bad, I know but there's spinach in this, so I'm going to consider it "healthy" with giant quotes. :P


French Onion Spinach Dip
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 1 10oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 28g packet French Onion soup mix
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together soup mix, sour cream and mayonnaise until well blended. Add in spinach and mix well. Season with some freshly ground pepper.
2. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours for flavours to meld.
3. Serve with chips, crackers or in a bread bowl with the top and dug out pieces chopped into cubes.

Pork Dressing (Stuffing)

So I found out that apparently stuffing isn't called stuffing unless it's stuffed in something while it cook...and if you don't do that it's called dressing. How strange. I suppose it makes sense to not call it stuffing, but it's weird to call it "dressing". Am I supposed to use it to "dress" the food on my plate? Hmmm...English can be such a funny language sometimes.

It's yummy though! Especially if you "dress" it with gravy. HAHA. Or I suppose you can. >_>


Pork Dressing (Stuffing)
(serves 10-12)

Ingredients:

• 2 lb lean ground pork
• 3 apples, cored and diced
• 1 onion, sliced into strips
• 1/4 loaf of bread, cubed (I used Cheddar & Jalepeño)
• 2 cups bread crumbs (I grounded up the Cheddar & Jalepeño bread)
• 2 Tbsps fennel seeds
• 2 tsps dried oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• 2 Tbsps canola oil (I used bacon grease)
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat up oil over medium high heat. Brown ground pork wish fennel seeds, oregano, cumin and red chili flakes.
3. When the pork is no longer pink, add in apples and onion strips. Cook until onions are soft and meat is cooked through.
4. Stir in bread and season with salt and pepper.
5. Transfer to a casserole dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the top layer is golden and crispy.

Brussels Sprouts & Bacon

People are weird. Or maybe I'm the weird one. Yes, I'm sure that's it. But I love brussels sprouts. Sure they've got a cabbage-y taste. But that's really what they are - tiny cabbages. They're even better when deep fried and sprinkled with Parmesan. Yum. I don't deep fry stuff at home, so I'll go out for that.

In any case, I made some brussels sprouts with bacon for Thanksgiving. I think it was a hit. At least people ate it. So that's a win, for sure.


Brussels Sprouts & Bacon
(serves 12-14)

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs brussels sprouts, washed and cut into halves
• 1 lb bacon, chopped
• Juice of one lemon
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• Water

Directions:

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, throw in the chopped bacon and cook on medium heat until bacon bits are crispy. Transfer bacon bits onto a towel lined bowl or plate. Set aside.
2. Drain off all but 1/4 cup of bacon grease and return pot to the stove. Turn the stove up to medium high and add brussels sprouts. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they're tender crisp (about 10 minutes). Season with lots of salt and pepper.
3. Take the pot off the stove, or just turn off the heat. Mix in bacon bits and lemon juice.

I like to dump my bacon into a cold pot and then turn on the heat. Starting with a cold pot ensures that I'm not gonna get splashed with grease the moment raw fat touches a hot surface. You can also add a splash of water to start the cooking process.

Cranberry Sauce (with Apple Juice)

I love cranberry sauce with my turkey. There's something about the tartness that makes it yummier. Mind you, I prefer chicken to turkey so MEH! What do I know? Lol.

Anywho, this was actually a second batch I made. I previously made one using my usual recipe which calls for orange juice. But I was told that I'd probably need way more cranberry sauce, so I made anther batch. Only to find out I have no more oranges left. Whoops. Whatever. I'll just use apple juice instead with less sugar. >:)


Cranberry Sauce (with Apple Juice)
(serves 8-12)

Ingredients:

• 1 12oz bag fresh cranberries, rinsed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup apple juice, not from concentrate

Directions:

1. In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, mix everything together and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally. Use a spatula to squish the cranberries, if desired. Remove from heat and place sauce in a bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

Cranberry Sauce (with Orange Juice)

So this is the recipe I usually use. It's super easy and it tastes yummy. The amount of sugar kind of scares me, but I only have this with turkey around Thanksgiving and Christmas, so who the hell cares, right? :P

It's pretty standard but I like using freshly squeezed orange juice rather than the stuff in jugs/cartons.


Cranberry Sauce (with Orange Juice)
(serves 8-12)

Ingredients:

• 1 12oz bag fresh cranberries, rinsed
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Juice of 1 orange

Directions:

1. In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, mix everything together and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally. Use a spatula to squish the cranberries, if desired. Remove from heat and place sauce in a bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

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.

Korean Chicken Stew

Sometimes I totally crave some Korean food but am too lazy to drive out there to get some. I hadn't made this stew in a while and was wanting to make some, so that's what I did. It's spicy, so K isn't allowed to eat much. Although he did he some carrots and potatoes. That kid loves carrots. Hubby on the other hand prefer different flavours.

It's a challenge trying to find some sort of Korean dish that he likes other than pork belly wraps, BBQ and sashimi, but meh. Sometimes I just make foods that I like and he has to deal with it. And he does. He's awesome. :)


Korean Chicken Stew
(serves 4-5)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, broken down into 8 pieces
• 1 bunch green onion, cut into 2 inch pieces & white parts separated
• 1 inch knob ginger, sliced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 medium russet potatoes, chopped
• 3 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 Tbsps sesame oil
• 2 Tbsps gojujang
• 2 Tbsps hot pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 1/2 cup water
• Sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat sesame oil on medium high heat. Add in ginger, garlic, white parts of the green onion, sliced onions, gojujang, and hot pepper flakes. Stir until fragrant.
2. Toss in chicken until well coated with the spice mix. Deglaze with soy sauce and water, scraping up all the bits on the bottom and sides of the pot.
3. Add in carrots and potatoes. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
4. Uncover and stir. Simmer for another 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender and chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally. 
5. Turn off heat and mix in green parts of the green onion.
6. Serve with a side of rice with sesame seeds sprinkled on top of everything (optional).

Cheddar & Potato Perogy Soup

I wanted to make a baked potato soup, but I think it ended up being more like a perogy soup because of the cheddar. It turned the soup into a beige/light orange colour. It's very filling, that's for sure. Perfect for cold Fall/Winter nights. :)

K really liked the soup. The little weirdo didn't care for the bacon so he would spit it out. Otherwise he ate everything that was in his bowl (see picture) and more! Note to self: don't let him feed himself soup. It's a mess waiting to happen. =|

I have bacon fat again from making this. I'm so happy. It's liquid gold man. LIQUID GOLD!


Cheddar & Potato Perogy Soup
(serves 6)

Ingredients;

• 1 lb bacon, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 4-5 large russet potatoes, diced
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 3 cups whole milk
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 cup sour cream or french onion dip
• 1 bunch green onion, finely diced
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, cook bacon until crispy. Transfer bacon bits onto a paper towel lined bowl or plate. Set aside.
2. Pour out all but about 1/4 cup of bacon fat.
3. Whisk in flour to form a roux. Add onions and garlic. Cook until roux and onion mixture is golden in colour.
4. Gradually whisk in chicken broth and then milk. Add diced potatoes and simmer for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender.
5. Use a potato masher and roughly mash potatoes. Turn off heat. Add cheddar cheese, sour cream (or french onion dip), green onions and reserved bacon bits. Stir until cheese has melted. Season with more salt and pepper, if necessary.
6. Serve with salad, sandwich, bread or by itself.

Jerkless Chicken

Hubby loves to call this my "Jerkless Chicken" so hence the name. It's got the seasonings (kind of but not really) but I oven roast it instead of putting it on a grill and turning it over and over and over again until it's cooked through. Lazy? I know...but it's how I cook! And it tastes good enough that Hubby wants it weekly so it's all good.

Typically I'll use lime juice in place of (really sour) orange juice and some sort of hot chili pepper in place of the Sriracha, but I didn't have any so I just experimented with this instead. It seems to have been well received. Good thing too cuz that bag of oranges I got that other day was just way too sour. I had to figure out how to use it up before they all went bad. :\


Jerkless Chicken
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 4 skin on boneless chicken breasts
• 1 large bunch green onions, chopped
• 1 Tbsp allspice
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 Tbsps brown sugar
• 2 tsps Sriracha
• Juice of 1 small sour orange
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves

Directions:

1. Place chicken breasts in a large Ziploc bag. Set aside.
2. In a food processor, puree everything else until smooth(ish) to make a marinade. Pour into the Ziploc bag over the chicken. Zip up and massage to get everything coated. Marinade for 8 hours or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 375F.
4. Pour everything into a baking pan or low sided casserole dish, with chicken skin side up - I use a 8" x 8" square Pyrex dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
5. Serve with rice.

Cheddar Mac & Cheese

I'm sorry, but Hubby and I don't really eat mac and cheese. We did need another side dish to go with the ham for Hubby's birthday dinner so I went with this! It was a lot more liquidy after I made it, but it sat for a few minutes before everyone started eating so that's why it looks so much more stiff.

It's pretty good. Very rich says my Sis. Meh. That's what mac and cheese is supposed to be, right? Lol. Who knows. I'm the type who would rather eat the Kraft kind in a box than ones made from scratch. Blasphemy (is what most people would say but I don't care)!


Cheddar Mac & Cheese
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups dry macaroni pasta
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3 cups whole milk
• 5 cups cheddar cheese, grated (or more if you want)
• 1 1/2 tsp salt (more to taste, if needed)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp mustard powder

Directions:

1. In a large pot, cook macaroni in salted water until al dente and drain.
2. In a separate large pot or dutch oven, melt butter on medium low heat. When butter has melted, whisk in flour to make a paste. Sprinkle in nutmeg and mustard powder. Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes or so.
3. Slowly pour milk in a bit at a time while whisking constantly to break up any lumps. Add salt and pepper. Whisk until smooth and mixture has thicken (sauce will leave a trail when you dip a spoon in to drizzle sauce on top of the sauce in the pot). Reduce heat to low.
4. Stir in cheese and mix until all the cheese has melted. Season with more salt and pepper if needed.
5. Pour in the cooked macaroni and mix until every piece is well coated. Add more milk if it's too dry.
6. Serve immediately if you like it very creamy, or let it sit for a few minutes, if you like it less creamy.

Sweet Honey Mustard Glazed Baked Ham

Ham ham ham! That's basically what Hubby said (okay maybe not with that sort of excitement) when I asked what he wanted for his birthday. The guy loves ham. I'm not sure why. Sure it's juicy, tender and is a big honk of meat but it's ham. It almost always feels like I'm just having the ham from my sandwiches but thicker and warm. Okay, fine it's pretty glorious. Lol.

Don't mind the burnt fat on the top picture. I actually just sliced all of it off. It was only fat anyway. Only. All the important parts were moist and juicy. Yum. I'm so making this for Thanksgiving this year.


Sweet Honey Mustard Glazed Baked Ham
(serves 8-10)

Ingredients:

• 1 smoked pork picnic shoulder (approximately 7-9 lbs), rinsed and patted dry
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp dijon mustard

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Line a 9" x 13" pan with aluminum foil. Set aside.
3. Using your fingers, separate the tough skin from the fat of the picnic shoulder. Remove the skin and discard. Place picnic shoulder on the pan with the fat side up. 
4. Using a sharp knife, make a crosshatch pattern on the fat. Try not to cut into the meat.
5. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, honey and mustard to form a paste. Using your hands, smear it all over the top side of the picnic shoulder, making sure to get into the crevices.
6. Cover the picnic shoulder using aluminum foil, making sure to seal the pan well.
7. Roast for 20 minutes per pound, or until internal temperature registers 140F. Uncover and roast for another 10-15 minutes until everything is nicely caramelized.
8. Let the ham rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing.
9. Serve with mashed/scalloped potatoes and veggies.

I'm bad. Because we like meat just barely cooked, I will take it out once it hits 135F and then let it cook in the oven to get to 140F uncovered. That's why sometimes it'll turn out all burnt on top. Mind you, you can always loosely cover the top with foil if that happens. I just forgot. Whoops...absentminded much, eh? =\


August 17, 2014 Update: Updated the picture to a much prettier one. I didn't even need to uncover it this time! But forgetful me mixed up the measurements too so I ended up with 1/2 cup of brown sugar with 2 tablespoons each of honey and mustard. Lol. :D

Stir Fry Green Beans

Lots of green beans! Yes, we got more from my mom in law. Organic and right from her backyard. You can't ask for any better. Except if it's from my mom. HAH! Kidding. They're the same. :P

Regardless, it's definitely better than the stuff you get at the grocery store. I dunno why. It's just sweeter. I like it more. In any case, I already had a protein to go with rice so I just quickly stir fried this to go with it. I'm surprised. Hubby actually ate quite a bit. K on the other hand...he was too busy flinging his food everywhere. In fact, I think we're going to stop letting him feed rice to himself. I don't think Hubby can take cleaning it off the floors one more time. Lol! So cute but so messy. :)


Stir Fry Green Beans
(serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb green beans, cut into 2-3 inch pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 inch knob of ginger, sliced into slivers
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsps canola oil
• 1/2 tsp sugar

Directions:

1. In a wok on high, heat up oils. When smoking hot, toss in garlic and ginger. Stir until fragrant.
2. Toss in green beans. Mix well. Add soy sauce and sugar. Cook, stirring frequently until beans are tender crisp.
3. Serve as a side to a protein dish and rice.

Sesame Chicken

It's always scary to try out new recipes. Scarier when I get them from Pinterest. It's probably because I'm always seeing articles like this one. Granted, some of these people may be messing up on purpose (cuz it's so funny), but still. It could happen!

The chicken definitely didn't turn out as dark as the pictures on Pinterest but meh. It still tasted good. I probably could've added more sugar but I cut some of it out. And I didn't add the sesame seeds (cuz I forgot) but I did add it later. Lol! And of course I didn't have any rice vinegar so I just substituted with red wine vinegar...maybe I should've used white instead. I was having just one of those days. Thank goodness everything turned out yummy. O.o

I'm going to have to do this recipe again one day with either rice vinegar or white (and take a better picture without the shadow of my hands and phone)...but below is what I did.


Sesame Chicken
(serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb skinless boneless chicken thighs, cubed
• 1 egg
• Salt & pepper, a pinch of each
• 3 Tbsps cornstarch, divided
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 inch knob ginger, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 green onions, diced
• 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 Tbsp canola oil

Directions:

1. In a small/medium mixing bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, salt & pepper in with the egg until all the cornstarch has dissolved. Toss in chicken and mix until chicken is well coated.
2. Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, water, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a small bowl until cornstarch has dissolved. Set aside. 
3. In a large skillet, heat up canola oil on medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until chicken is brown and cooked through, stirring occasionally. 
4. Pour soy sauce mixture over the chicken and toss until sauce thickens and coats all the chicken pieces. Turn off heat and stir in green onions.
5. Transfer onto a serving plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve with rice and veggies.

Taco Lasagna

Got leftover sour cream? My first choice is always to make Mexican or Tex Mex food :P

I got a little salsa crazy too. Hence the lil pool of liquid at the bottom there. OH WELL. I just used a slotted spatula to scoop everything up. No harm done. :)

Good dinner that was done relatively quick. I did get a little distracted with K eating (read: flinging) food while I made this. He's cute, but crazy messy while he's learning to feed himself with utensils. My poor floors...


Taco Lasagna
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 9 6" flour tortillas
• 2 cups cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 2 lbs extra lean ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 436ml (15.5oz) jar salsa
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cayenne powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In a large skillet or pan, cook ground beef. Season with chili powder, cayenne powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper.
3. Stir in onions and cook until onions are soft. When everything's cooked, turn off heat, drain excess fat, and set aside.
4. In a 3 1/2 quart casserole dish, spread 3 big spoonfuls of salsa on the bottom. Layer with 3 tortillas. Top with half of ground beef mixture. Top with 1/2 of remaining salsa. Top with half of sour cream. Top with 1/3 of shredded cheese. Top with 3 tortillas. Repeat.
5. Layer last 3 tortillas and top with remaining cheese.
6. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until cheese is all bubbly.
7. Serve with a side salad.

Soy Poached Chicken

Teeheehee. So I LOVE love love a good roasted pork (belly) and Char Siu and the sausages and the duck you get at Chinese BBQ places. There's always the Soy Poached Chicken but it was never anything special to me since my mom made the most amazing soy poached chicken wings. But now that I don't live with mommy, I don't get to eat much of it anymore. Moreover, Hubby only likes the crispy versions of chicken wings (PFFT.....) so there wasn't a reason to make them at home.

HOWEVER! I recently got some roasted pork belly from my favourite Chinese BBQ place so it reminded me of this chicken. Well......whole chicken was on sale for $1.98/lb (and that's cheap here since it's usually around $2.69/lb) so off I go to the grocery store to pick up two chickens (one for poaching and one for roasting). WAHAHAHAHA! This works because Hubby likes chicken breast and as long as it's moist and I have some sort of dipping sauce for him, he'll eat it. ^^v


Soy Poached Chicken
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 small whole chicken (2 1/2 - 3 lb)
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup dark soy sauce
• 1 cup shaoxing wine
• 6 cups water
• 3 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 large rock sugar (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 1/2 inch knob of ginger, sliced
• 2 green onions, cut into 2 inch long pieces
• Sesame oil (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine everything EXCEPT the chicken in a large pot or dutch oven. Bring to a simmer (and simmer) for 10 minutes.
2. Place chicken, breast side down, into the pot. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook on the lowest heat for 25 minutes. Using tongs and chopsticks/fork/something, turn the chicken around so that the breast is up. Cover and simmer for another 10-15 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 165F.
3. Transfer chicken onto a serving platter and brush with sesame oil to give it a glossy shine (optional; I didn't do it, but you can!).
4. Cut into sections and serve with rice, steamed veggies and a dipping sauce.