Shrimp and Tofu Pad Thai

Hey everyone! I know its been a  like a month since my last post and I apologize it has been a crazy few weeks! First of all I had finals and then graduated!! Then about a week after I graduated by Brother-in-law got married and I helped my mother-in-law put that on. Then a week after that we went to Hawaii!! We got home about a week ago and I have been settling in to my new life :) It has been tons of fun! I am back now and back to a schedule and back to the blogging! 

Ok so at the end of June for one of my classes I had to throw a international dinner party. I went all out using my best china I got for my wedding a few years ago and decorated the tables and my awesome friend Lindsey took so beautiful photography for me! She did an amazing job, I was grateful to have her there because I had no time to take pictures with all the cooking an I wouldn't have even thought to do it! 

Over the next few days and weeks I will be sharing all six dishes and the drink I made. All Thai food so I hope you love Thai food because I do!! The first dish I want to share with you is Shrimp and Tofu Pad Thai. One of the best things about Pad Thai is how adaptable it is. You can change your meat, take out the tofu, or go meatless. It is all up to you!

P.S. for all of you that live in remote, tiny parts of the country and think you can't get these ingredients think about this: I live in Idaho and bought everything I needed at WinCo Foods!! If I can get it, so can you and sometimes you just have to make a substitution (easy pesy).  

Shrimp and Tofu Pad Thai

Recipe adapted from RasaMalaysia.com

Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients:

 Pad Thai Sauce:

4 tablespoons store-bought Pad Thai paste

2 teaspoons tamarind paste/concentrate ( I couldn't find this, so because Tamarind is a sweet and tangy flavor I used half brown sugar ad half lime juice There was still something missing, but I did the best I could)

3 tablespoons fish sauce

3 teaspoons sugar

2/3 cup water

1-2 teaspoons chili powder

Other Ingredients:

8 oz packaged Pad Thai noodles

3 tablespoons cooking oil

2 eggs

1 lb. peeled and deveined raw shrimp

1 tablespoon minced garlic

A small bunch of chives (cut lengths)

1 cup bean sprouts

1 lime, cut into 8 wedges

1/2 cup coarsely chopped unsalted roasted peanuts

2 blocks pan-fried Tofu

Method:

Soak the rice noodles in hot water for about 15 minutes or until they soften. Drain and set aside.

Combine the ingredients for the Pad Thai sauce in a bowl.

Heat up a wok and add oil. When the oil is very hot, add the minced garlic and do a few quick stirs. Add shrimp into the wok and stir until half cooked and then add the fried tofu pieces, noodles and Pad Thai sauce into the wok and stir continuously. Push the noodles to one side and crack the eggs into the wok, break it up by stirring and wait for 10-15 seconds, and then stir in the noodles. Add bean sprouts and chives into the wok, stir for 1 minute, dish out, sprinkle some peanuts on top and serve with a wedge (or two wedges) of lime. 

                                                                     Done!!

Here are more pictures of the final product! One of the greatest things about thai food is that they have (for the most part) very simple and quick cooking methods. Of course this is a trade off for having lots of different ingredients which gives Thai food its flavors. Thai food is known for having many flavors being brought together and harnessed in a beautiful way and maybe thats why I love it so much!  

                                                                Happy Eating!!!

Best Rice Pudding Ever!

Do you love rice pudding? Or better yet, do you HATE rice pudding? The this recipe is for you! Let me tell you, I never liked rice pudding. When I found out it was the hubs favorite desserts besides apple pie, I almost cried. It was a disgrace toCrème brûlée and all other amazing desserts! Well I took this class called Practical Homemaking (i know, i can here all you feminists cringing, but it is one of the finniest classes I have taken in my college career!) One portion of the class was cooking and we had a day were we talked about food storage foods. Back story: about 1 year ago I bought 25lb bag of rice from WinCo trying to save money and we still have it! (oh, that wasn't nearly as long of a story as I thought it would be. ha!) So I try to cook a lot of rice.

Like I said, the hubs loves rice pudding and for the last two years of our marriage the only way he got it was if he combined leftover rice, milk, sugar, and cinnamon...um gross. He basically was eating a sweet rice cereal, it doesn't sound as bad as it looked! Trust me, ok? So when we made this in my class, I tried it (for the hubs and because I have this thing where I always try the foods I make. I refuse to dislike something without trying. I know it’s ironic because I wouldn't try the hubs nasty rice cereal...thank you). So I tried it...and I LOVED IT!! So I had to make it for the hubs and I swear when I said the words "Hey, how about I make some rice pudding tonight?" He literally has this look that was somewhere between crying and unbelievable excitement...it was adorable! So after that huge story...here is the recipe for the amazing rice pudding!

RICE PUDDING

¾ c. uncooked white rice
2 c. milk, divided
1/3 c. white sugar
¼ t. salt
1 egg, beaten
2/3 c. raisins
1 T. butter
½ t. vanilla


In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

In another saucepan, combine 1 ½ cups cooked rice, 1 ½ cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining ½ cup milk, beaten egg and raisins. Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm.

HAPPY EATING!!

  

Pico de Gallo

As I promised I have the Pico de Gallo! I know I said I would post this a few days ago, but things have been crazy! I feel like my weekends are sometimes busier than the rest of my week. I threw this dinner party Saturday, it was basically my final for my International Foods class. We had to cost out, decorate and throw an international dinner for 6 people. I chose Thailand and it was so much fun! I will have recipes and pictures for you next week and I will go more into everything I did then! Anyway I spent most of Friday and Saturday prepping for that. I did most of the cooking myself! Like I said...crazy!

                                       

So Pico de Gallo....easy peasy (spelling? I don't think I've ever written that out before haha). Here is the most simple recipe you will ever encounter!

Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:

5 jalapenos-chopped

                    seeded or not. your choice. Seeded will make it less spicy, but where's the fun in that?

3 tomatoes-chopped

1/2 white onion-diced

1/4 bunch cilantro-chopped

1-2 cloves garlic-minced

garlic salt to taste

1 lime juiced

1-3 cubes of ice

                  depending on how big your cubes of ice are. The ice is the key to enhancing the flavors. It helps bring everything out and just taste amazing!

Alright..here's the hard part....

Directions:

Add all the ingredients to a bowl and stir. Let sit for 10-20 minutes in the refrigerator. 

 AND...done. Told you it was hard! (yes, there is heavy sarcasm there). Seriously easy and seriously amazing. Try this tonight!

HAPPY EATING!!