Saturday, January 14, 2012

Ode to the pizza cutter

Dear Pizza Cutter,

It's been a great 4.5 years.  
You were a good friend.  
All those wonderful pizza's, quesadilla's, and the like. 
I have enjoyed every moment.  

.....................................

But another cutter has entered my life.  
I can't help it.  
I'm weak.

"KA-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"


I hope we can still be friends!

Take care!
Love, Erin

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Asian night with the Bobs

I wish I could say it was 100% homemade, but there were a few things out of a box.  Oh, well.  

Course 1 - Potstickers.  

Ling Ling brand chicken potstickers.  I found the best way to cook these is to put about 1/4 cup water in a large frying pan and a tablespoon of sesame oil and a tablespoon of vegetable/olive oil, for cooking 8-10 potstickers.  Put the pan on medium-high heat, cover with a tight fitting lid and let the potstickers steam for about 8-10 minutes (depending on how frozen they are).  Take the lid off, let the steam evaporate and lightly brown with the oil in the pan.  

Dipping sauce - 1 teaspoon minced garlic, two tablespoons reduced sodium tamari, a few splashes of mirin, a quick sprinkle of ground ginger and a few shakes of crushed red pepper.

Main course - teriyaki chicken.

Brown rice in the slow cooker.  
Bite size chicken marinated in a mix of reduced sodium tamari, brown sugar, minced garlic.  Heat a mix of sesame oil and vegetable oil over medium high heat and add the chicken and enough marinade to half-cover.  Cook until browned on one side (brown sugar should help it carmelize a little), then stir around and continue to cook until chicken is fully cooked through and marinade remnants have reduced down to a nice coat over the chicken.  Serve over brown rice.

Side dishes (probably for later in the week)
Thin mein noodles (10 oz) boiled, drained and mixed with one bottle House of Tsang Peanut Sauce.

I also made an extra batch of rice (about 4 cups cooked) to make fried rice tomorrow.  That will contain green onions, diced carrots, a mix of soy and sesame oil (for stir-frying), and pork.
Pork for fried rice - cut boneless pork loin into small pieces (about quarter size)  and toss with about 1/4-1/2 cup reduced sodium tamari, a few splashes of mirin, a few loose crumbles of brown sugar, a healthy drizzle of sesame oil and chili oil.  Marinate for about an hour.  Heat a large pan over medium high heat, and cook like the chicken above.  

There'll be more adventure later - with homemade wontons and egg rolls, but not tonight.

One of the next things to make again will be this sweet and sour chicken from Brown Eyed Baker.

Monday, January 2, 2012

January (& hopefully longer) freezer cooking

Holidays are over, back to a normal routine, thankfully. 

Starting some hardcore cooking for the freezer tonight.

Pork loin in the slow cooker for BBQ pulled pork.
Cheeseburger soup simmering on the stovetop.
Homemade enchilada sauce thawing and taco-seasoned turkey cooking for ground turkey/bean enchiladas. 

Later in the week - creamy chicken & rice, chicken/potato/spinach stew, chicken parmesan, Italian pork with a bacon-infused red sauce. 

All of these will be finished and pre-packed into portion-controlled (and freezer hogging) Gladware containers.

In addition, we have about two and a half pounds of ground turkey that we should be able to get about 10 quarter-pound turkey burgers stored away.  Old-school Tupperware burger stackers are amazing!

Links and recipes coming soon.  Stay tuned!