Chicken Salad

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast
• 1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup of romaine lettuce, chopped
• 2 radishes, thinly sliced
• 2 Campari tomatoes, quartered
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Season the chicken breast with salt, pepper, smoked paprika and garlic powder.
2. Sear over high heat on both sides and cook until no longer pink, then set aside.
3. In a bowl, toss together lettuce, tomatoes and radishes.
4. Top it with chicken chunks.

For the dressing, I drizzled honey mustard over the top of the chicken salad.  Low carb, tasty and filling!

Steam Egg Custard w/ Ground Pork

This dish hold a special place in my heart...

This is such a simple dish and was one of my favorite growing up.

This is usually steam in the rice cooker but I do not possess one.

This was delicious but not the same as the ones my mom made.

 

Ingredients

For each 10 oz ramekin, you'll need...

• 3 tablespoon of ground pork
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon light soy sauce
• dash of white pepper

Directions

1. Season the ground pork with sesame oil, white powder and light soy sauce.
2. Place the pork at the bottom of the ramekin.
3. Then pour 2 beaten eggs on top of the pork.
4. Steam for 20 to 30 minutes until the egg is set.

Serve this with a side of rice.

Mushroom Pocket

This is going to be very tasty...

Saute until golden brown...

I love Pillbury's Pie Crust, they make things so much easier.

Press the side and use the fork to crimp the edges.

Golden brown...

 So yummy!

Ingredients

• 8 oz. button mushrooms, chopped
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• half a sheet of Pillbury Pie Crust
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Melt butter and oil and saute mushroom until it is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Season with sprinkle of salt and pepper.
3. Add garlic and saute for another 5 minutes.
4. Add onion and saute for another 5 minutes, season with a little more salt and pepper.
5. Taste the filling to see if you need any more seasonings. Cool the filling for a few minutes, then place filling on one end of the pie crust.
6. Crimp the edges and bake for 25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

I absolutely love mushroom, they are so tasty if it is cooked right. This is exactly like the Mushroom Tart I made months ago but in a pocket form.

Pear Vinaigrette

 

I got this recipe on Allrecipes.com , the only thing I changed for this recipe is the balsamic vinegar.  It asked for balsamic vinegar but I only have the regular ones. It came out very tasty.  I will definitely make this again.  I will try this recipe with apple next, that should be interesting.

 Ingredients

• 1/2 ripe pear - peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Direction

Blend the pear, white wine, garlic, Dijon mustard, white balsamic vinegar, black pepper, and sea salt in a blender until well combined; drizzle the olive oil into the mixture in a thin, steady stream while continuing to blend. Blend a few seconds longer until the salad dressing is thick and creamy. 

Steak, Fennel & Radish Salad

I have never had fennel before and wanted to try it.

Thinly slice the fennel and radishes.

 On a bed of romaine lettuce, fennel and radishes, add 3 strips of grilled thin sliced steak.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of romaine lettuce, sliced
• 1/5 cup fennel, thinly sliced
• 2 radishes, thinly sliced
• 3 strips of grilled steak
• salt and pepper to taste

Direction

Toss everything together.


I served this with pear vinaigrette.  It was tasty and filling.  The fennel itself is a bit like black licorice.  When tossed together in the salad, it taste sweet.

Butternut Squash Soup

 I have tasted butternut squash soup in a box before.  It was pretty tasteless and there was no aromatic smell to it.  I decided to make some myself and I had the surprise of my life.  When I cut open the squash, the whole kitchen smelled like cantaloupe melon.  The smell was absolutely amazing, I would have never believe that it came from the squash if I had not been the one to open it.  You need a very sharp vegetable peeler and knife to cut this because the flesh is very hard. This have become one of my favorite soup, it came out so sweet.

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 4 soup carrots, chopped
• 2 cans of 14.5 oz chicken stock
• 1 cup onion, chopped
•  2 tablespoon butter
• fresh ground nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In  large stock pot, saute the butternut squash, potatoes, carrots and onion for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
3. Lower heat to medium low and simmer for 40 minutes.
4. Blend the soup with an immersion blender or a regular blender until the consistency you desire. if you are using a blender, be careful not to over load it or the hot liquid might explode outward.
5. Garnish with a little of freshly grated nutmeg.

The nutmeg add a little spice to it.  This soup is absolutely delicious and is sweetened by nature. Throw away the box ones, even the one I bought from Whole Foods can not compare to the fresh butternut squash soup.

I got this recipe on Allrecipes.com but tweek it to what I like.  Some people suggested sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes.  I might try that next time, it would definitely makes the soup sweeter.  The potatoes makes this soup heartier and all you need is some toasted baguette and you are set for dinner.




Some people said that it was too hard to peel the butternut squash because it is so hard so they suggested that you bake it in the oven before cooking it in soup.  That is such a waste of energy and money so why not use a very sharp vegetable peeler? I have this Oxo vegetable peeler that is super sharp and the grip is amazing.  I am a very clumsy so this works great with something so hard to peel.

Beef & Broccoli

This is great for dinner for tomorrow packed lunch.  Easy, fast and cheap to make.  Most importantly it is tasty!

Ingredients

• 1 pound of ground sirloin beef
• 1 head of broccoli
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 2/8 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
• 1/3 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• white pepper to taste

Directions

1. Season the beef with 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, sesame oil, 1 teaspoon soy sauce and sugar.
2. Saute garlic for about 5 minutes then add the beef and brown.
3. When the beef is cook through, add the broccoli and 1 teaspoon soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce.
4. Cook until the broccoli is to the way you like it.

I like my broccoli to be bright green and not too mushy.  That only takes about 6 minutes to cook without overcooking the broccoli.

Turkey Chilli

I finally made great turkey chilli! The first year of making turkey chilli and following other people recipes resulted in some bland chilli.  So I finally dump every kind of spices I had to the chilli and doubling some spices. I usually like to serve this with rice or with tortilla chips.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pound ground turkey
• 1/2 cup white beans
• 3/4 cup red and orange bell peppers, diced
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 2 roma tomatoes, diced
• 3 cloves, garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 tablespoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon chilli pepper
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup marinara sauce
• salt and white pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions

1. Brown turkey in pot then add garlic and cook for another 5 minutes, breaking the meat apart as you go.
2. Season the meat with 1/2 tablespoon salt oregano, parsley, smoked paprika, coriander powder, garlic powder, cayenne and chilli pepper.
3. Saute for about 5 minutes to wake all the spices up.
4. Then add tomatoes, onion and bell peppers to the pot.
5. Add the chicken stock and marinara sauce and bring to a boil.
6. Lower heat to medium high and simmer for 45 minutes.
7. Add the beans and simmer for another 30 minutes.

I like to add the beans last half hour because I don't like the beans to be mushy. You can add the beans in the beginning if you like but the stock do get too starchy for my taste.

Chicken & Broccoli

 It's funny how I hated bell peppers when I was younger.  I love all of them, especially the red, orange and yellow.  Now it is a staple in my home.

 Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast & 2 boneless thighs
• 1 bell pepper, julienne 
• 1/2 onion, julienne
• 1 head of of broccoli
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/5 cup rice wine
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• salt and white pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and season it with sesame oil, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce.
2. Sprinkle the flour over the chicken and mix.
3. Saute the garlic for 5 minutes and then add the chicken.
4. Cook the chicken until it is no longer pink, then rice wine.
5. Add the peppers and onion, cook for another 6 minutes.
6. Then add the broccoli and the rest of the oyster sauce and saute until the broccoli is cooked to your liking.

Some people like their broccoli over cooked, while I like mine to still have a bite to it.  I really do not like over cook vegetables.

Banana Muffins

This is a great way to get rid of over ripe bananas.  Who can finish a bunch of bananas before they become overripe?

I usually have everything else in the pantry or fridge anyway, so when I have too many bananas, I either turn it into banana bread or banana muffins.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 large bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat muffin pans with non-stick spray, or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2. Combine bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl. Fold in flour mixture, and mix until smooth. Scoop into muffin pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven. Bake mini muffins for 10 to 15 minutes, and large muffins for 25 to 30 minutes. Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped.

This recipe straight from Allrecipes.com, The only thing I did differently is in a small bowl, I added 3 tablespoons of butter cubed, 3 tablespoons, and 3 tablespoons of Quaker oats.  Mix this with a fork or fingers and sprinkle them over the muffins.  This gives them the sweet crumbly top.

Egg Tofu with Pork

I love the rich flavor of the egg tofu.  

 Ingredients

• 1 tube of egg tofu
• 1/2 pound of ground pork
• Corn starch for coating
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 2/8 teaspoon sesame oil 
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• green onion for garnish
• 2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• salt and white pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a bowl, season the ground pork with 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, sugar, soy sauce and sesame oil.
2. Cut the egg tofu to one inch slices and evenly coat the tofu with corn starch.
3. Pan fry the egg tofu, use more oil if you need to.
4. After it is browned, take the tofu out and place them on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.
5. Add 1/2 tablespoon oil to the same pan and brown the pork.
6. In a small bowl, add 1 teaspoon of corn starch and dissolve in 3 tablespoon of water and add to the pork.
7. Add the tofu back into the pan and toss lightly, season with 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, salt and white pepper for another 8 minutes. Garnish with green onion before serving.

This is so yummy, I do not know why people think that tofu is disgusting.  If you cook it correctly, they are absolutely delicious.  Especially the egg tofu, they are much tastier than the regular tofu. You do have to be careful with the egg tofu because they are very delicate and will break easily if you do not handle lightly.

Kielbasa Pepper Soup

This is a lazy one pot meal.  I was tired from work and just basically threw everything that I had into the pot to make a hearty soup. Good thing I had some kielbasa in the fridge. I always have Latin blend frozen vegetables, canned tomatoes, bell peppers and chicken stock.  Those are my staples and they have saved many nights when I do not feel like fast food and do not feel like going out to the grocery store. I have my many lazy moments and these things have saved me from a peanut butter sandwich for dinner.

The only thing that you really need to do is chop the kielbasa and bell peppers. Add whatever you want to the pot. Sometimes I add canned tomatoes, but I didn't feel like the tartness of the tomatoes.

Ingredients

• 1 link of kielbasa
• 1 cup of Krasdale Latin Blend Frozen Vegetables
• 1/4 cup bell red pepper, diced
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

Direction

Add everything to the pot and boil for 40 minutes.

I usually brown the sausage and add them after the soup is done.  Like I said, I was being lazy and did not feel like cooking so I just dumped everything and boil.

*The Latin Blend frozen veggies are basically frozen corn, onion, black beans, red and green peppers.  You can use frozen vegetables and canned black beans or whatever beans you like.

Bacon Zuchinni Frittata

Why was I ever afraid of making frittata? They are so easy!

With breakfast/brunch like this, you don't need to pair anything with it because it is that filling. I like to crumble my bacon on top so that it will stay crispy and the cheese on top of the bacon so that it will not burn.  Season with a little salt and tons of fresh cracked peppers and you are good to go!

Ingredients

• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup zuchinni, diced
• 1/4 cup bell pepper and onion, chopped
• 3 slices of crispy
• 3 tablespoons cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Melt butter in a cast iron pan, then pour in the eggs.
3. After a minute, pour in the vegetables.
4. Crumble the bacon on top and sprinkle the cheese over the whole thing.
5. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until it is set.

The reason why I do not saute the vegetables because the cooking in the oven will cook it to perfection.  I do not like my vegetables overcook, I like it to still snap when I bite into them.

Eileen's Cheesecake

Eileen's pumpkin cheesecake was rated one of the top 3 pumpkin cheesecake during fall of 2011. I absolutely love their cheesecake and always get the plain or strawberry cheesecake. This pumpkin was cheesecake was absolutely DIVINE!!! If you like pumpkin pie, you will love this.  This is like pumpkin pie times ten. 

Fried Egg on Toast

Back to the basic, fry eggs on toast.

Yum, I love the crispy edges!

I love the runny center on the toast.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon butter
• salt and pepper
• 2 toasts

Directions

1. On a very hot cast iron pan, melt butter and fry one egg at a time.
2. Do not over cook, the center must be runny for this recipe.
3. Season with salt and fresh cracked pepper.

I like to break the yolk before I start to chomp on it.  It is an amazing quick breakfast and very filling.

Ranch Dressing Seasoned Pork Chops

 Ingredients

• 2 1 inch pork chops
• 1/2 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing & Seasoning mix
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Season with salt and pepper and coat the chops on all side with ranch mix.
3. Bake for 30 minutes or until the meat is 160 degrees F.
4. Turn once so the other side can brown during the cooking process.

Ranch Salad Dressing seasoned String Beans

After the pork chops are done, I placed the string beans on the same foil and sprinkled about 1/2 tablespoon of the same ranch mix on it and broil high until it is done.  About 6 minutes, tossing once. I absolute love the string beans more than the pork chops, it was so much tastier.

Collard Green

Collard green is definitely one of my favorite vegetables.  The are so so hearty and delicious, I can actually eat a whole big bowl on one sitting.  When paired with crispy bacon or kielbasa, I can literally eat the whole pot! Collard green two ways...

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of collard green
• 3 slices of raw bacon
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 4 cloves garlic smashed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 slices of crispy bacon for garnish

Directions

1. Bring broth to a boil and add everything to the pot.
2. Season with salt and fresh cracked pepper. 
3. Boil for 45 minutes or more if you like it cooked till it is really soft.
4. Serve with crispy bacon on top

 People like to cook collard green until it breaks easily.  I like mine a bright green and still a little chewy.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch collard green
• 1 link of Kielbasa, diced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 cup of chicken broth
  
• 4 cloves garlic smashed
  
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions

1. Brown the kielbasa in oil then take half out to set aside.
2. Bring broth to a boil and add everything else.
3. Season with salt and fresh cracked pepper.
4. Cook for about 45 minutes.
5. Mix in the other half of the sausages.

The reason why I reserve half of the sausages is because when you boil the sausages with the green, you boil all the flavor out of them. That's why the green is so tasty but leave the sausages on the tasteless side.  So I serve the other half with it at the very end. I do have to admit that the kielbasa is on the greasy side but I still enjoy it very much.

Spinach Frittata

Yum! If the cheddar cheese is not brown enough from the baking, broil it for a minute or two.

Ingredients

• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup baby spinach
• 1/4 cup bell peppers, chopped
• 1 tomato, seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons onion, chopped
• 4 strips of crispy bacon, chopped
• 3 tablespoons cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Heat cast iron pan and melt butter.
3. Pour egg and let it stand for a minute before pouring in the rest of the ingredients with the exception of the cheese.
4. Sprinkle the cheese on top.
5. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the egg mixture is set.
6. Season with salt and pepper.

Baby spinach was on sale so I got 2 bags of it to make fresh salad with.   So while making breakfast, I decided to throw a hand full of fresh spinach into the mix. Came out very tasty!

Grits

 I've always wanted to try grits, so I finally bought some instant Quakers Grit.  It was definitely one of the weirdest things I have ever tasted. I will try with cheese next.

Green Tea, Earl Grey & French Vanilla Cupcakes

I am not much of a baker so when I feel like baking, I use a little help from Duncan Hines.  This is French Vanilla, I also flavored it with green tea and Earl Grey.

One flavor is so boring...

So I added Earl Grey to 1/3 of the batter.

Since I love green tea, it was added to 1/3 of the batter.

 I made regular muffins and tiny muffins.  By the time I was finished baking, I had muffins all over my counter.

My Thanksgiving Menu

I remember the first turkey I made for Thanksgiving.  I listened to Alton Brown and did not cover my turkey with foil.  Big mistake, two hours into cooking my bird, the skin started to burn but it was no where near cooked.  I freaked out and called my friend  and she told me to cover it with foil.  He also said that the bird will cook in less than the time that it needed to cook.  It took forever to cook, a few hours more than what he said would need! My turkey came out amazing though!   The meat was juicy because I put herbs butter between the meat and skin before cooking it.  I stuffed the chicken with rosemary, thymes and tarragon.  I also stuffed it with carrots, quartered onions, and celery.

I like to remove the breasts and cut it into thick slices instead of the thin slices that some people like.

I also cut the thighs into chunks, this is much easier to transport with then bringing the whole turkey to my dad's place.

I love collard green and in keeping with the theme, I bought a smoked turkey wing to cook the collard green with.

 I did not make stuffing this year, I made my tomato cobbler instead.  What is thanksgiving without mashed potatoes and mac and cheese? So I made tons of those so there will be left over.  To lighten up everything, I also made cole slaw. I used Heinz Beef gravy, they are absolutely delicious. Besides I don't really know how to make it from scratch and there were already so much to do. Yum!