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!!!

Customize your Casserole

Casseroles make easy and quick dinners, not to mention tasty! Honestly, do you want to know how casseroles were invented? Some Mom out there had no clue what to make for dinner so she threw what ever she had in a Pyrex and threw it in the oven and called it good...true story. Seriously, though its that easy. Here is an awesome chart for you to make your own custom casserole!

CHOOSE ONE INGREDIENT FROM EACH COLUMN

Protein Food 1 ½ to 2 cups	Sauce 2 cups white sauce seasoned OR 1 can condensed soup + 1/3 cup liquid	Cooked Vegetables 1 ½ cups	Cooked Pasta, etc. 1 ½ to 2 cups	Topping 2 – 4 Tablespoons
Cooked ham, slivered Cooked or canned chicken or turkey Cooked beef, veal, lamb or pork Hard-cooked eggs Frankfurters Cheese Canned tuna or salmon Canned luncheon meat	Cream of celery & milk Cream of chicken & buttermilk Cream of potato & sour cream Green pea & tomato juice Cheddar cheese & vegetable juice Tomato & water Cream of mushroom & cream	Cooked or canned green beans Cooked or canned peas Cooked or canned carrots Cooked or canned asparagus Cooked broccoli	Noodles Rice Macaroni Potatoes Spaghetti Corn Sweet potatoes Cooked Beans	Crushed potato chips Fresh bread crumbs Fried onion rings Pine nuts Potato sticks Cracker crumbs Slivered almonds Crushed stuffing mix Crushed corn flakes

EASILY SERVES 8 PEOPLE                               Bake 30 minutes @ 35

Happy Eating!!

Panda Express Orange Chicken Copy Cat Recipe

As I promised here is my recipe for Panda Express Orange chicken!! I have been dying to post this recipe and have finally perfected it I think!! I hope you all love it and try it. This recipe took me about 45 minutes from start to finish!! Not quite 30 minutes, sorry, but I do have some some quick 30 minute recipes coming up this week! By the way my husband LOVES  this recipe, he said it was better than Panda, I'm not quite sure about that (I am a HUGE Panda fan), but I'll let you decide!

Copy Cat Panda Express Orange Chicken

Ingredients:

  

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
pepper
oil (for frying)
1/2 cup cornstarch, plus
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tablespoon ground ginger (or fresh; ground is sometimes easier to find)
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (I use the dried flakes; more or less depending on how spicy you want it)
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Slurry

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Orange Sauce:

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons of brown sugar
5 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate

1 tablespoon Orange zest (optional) plus some for garnish  

Directions:

1. Place chicken pieces in large bowl. Then (in a separate bowl) stir in egg, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon oil and mix well.

2. In a separate bowl mix cornstarch and flour together.

3. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture. Then, add chicken pieces, stirring to coat. Stir until all the chicken is coated well. Some pieces will stick together. Pull them apart so that each piece is covered well and not attached to any other pieces of chicken. This will make them easier to fry and better to eat. 

                                                

4. Heat oil for deep frying in a sauce pan so that you have enough oil to cover the chicken completely. I usually use about 4 inches of oil in the pan. Heat the oil to about 375 degrees or until it reacts to chicken when the chicken is put in.

Don’t let the oil smoke, the oil is too hot if the chicken browns on the outside and it isn’t cooked inside. This step take a little trial and error, you have to get a feel for the heat of the oil. You want the inside and the outside of the chicken to cook at the same rate. I recommend trying a piece when you think your oil is hot enough, when the test piece looks cooked take it out and cut it open. This will help you see if the inside and outside are cooking the same. If your oil is too low the chicken will soak up too much oil and will take a REALLY long time to cook. You should get it to the right temperature pretty quick, don’t worry, it isn’t as hard as it sounds. You will pick it up rather easily.

5. Cook small batches of chicken at a time, frying should take about 3 to 4 minutes each or until golden crisp and cooked all the way through. Try not to overcook your chicken, but just do your best! This isn’t a test! P.S. failure is the best way to learn in cooking. Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels; set aside.

                                              

                                             

6. In a separate saucepan combine the ingredients for the orange sauce. Put this pan on the heat and bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. Set aside.

7. In a clean wok and heat 15 seconds over high heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil add garlic and green onions. Stir-fry until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add ginger and crushed red pepper; let cook for a few seconds. Then add the rice vinegar and stir for 3 seconds. P.S. take a whiff at this point! It smells amazing and SUPER strong!

                                             

                                             

8. Add Orange Sauce and bring back to a boil. Then, add the cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed.

9. In a small bowl stir water into 1 tablespoon cornstarch until smooth and then add to chicken mixture. Stir continuously until sauce thickens. Stir orange zest if desired.

                                             

                                           

                                            

                                           

TADA!!! I hope you enjoy this! It is SO yummy!!! Make it and let me know how it went! I would love to hear about some of your experiences with this dish!

Happy Eating!!

Panda Express on a Dime!!

Do you love Panda Express as much as the rest of us?!? Do you crave it, but can't afford to go out to Panda Express EVERY night?!

                                     

Well why don't you try out my version of Panda Express Orange Chicken?! 

This picture was taken with my iPhone and has NO ALTERATIONS! Yup its just looks that good, and let me tell it was even prettier in person and tasted twice as good as it looks!!!!



My recipe coming this Wednesday night!! Watch for it!!!

Update: This recipe has been posted!! Check it out here

Dinners in Under 30 Minutes!

So we are all busy right? Who has time to spend 4 hours on dinner? No one, that's who. Right now I'm in my last semester of college and it has been crazy busy. The first thing to always go for us is dinner. We start eating out or having boxed macaroni and cheese. Then, when either our wallet or waistline starts to suffer (usually both!) we reevaluate our eating habits.

Here is what I usually do: I go through my pantry and fridge and see what we have. I figure out what I can make from these things and what I need to make it quick and healthy. Then, I go shopping! Usually I make a list of meals and stick it on my fridge. Let me tell you, this takes time! So in order to make life easier I am going to do it for you! Lucky!

Over the next few days and weeks I will be posting meals that take 30 minutes or less to make that are healthy and pretty cheap to make!! Today is the first day!

 Our first quick, cheap, and amazingly delicious meal is......STIR FRY!

Stir Fry A LA quick and easy 

(can you tell I made that name up?) 

What you need:

a bag of frozen stir fry veggies

try something like this, I always stock up on these when I go to the grocery store especially if they are on sale (ps. they are like 2 bucks)

 

White rice

1 or 2 cups is plenty for two people and you will have some for left overs!

Frozen chicken or shrimp or whatever kind of protein you would like. This is really up to you--make it your own!

Teriyaki sauce or Soy Sauce of your preference

Salt and Pepper


Directions:

1. Defrost your chicken and cut in up into bite size pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Cook rice according to the directions on the bag or in a rice cooker.
2. Saute meat in a large wok or frying pan when chicken starts to turn white add your teriyaki or soy sauce to the pan. Coat the chicken well. Let cook until chicken has browned and cooked all the way through.
3. Next, add your bag of frozen veggies and add more sauce. Cover and seam with the water all ready on your veggies. DON'T DEFROST YOUR VEGGIES.  You want the ice that has frozen over on the veggies. This will help them steam correctly. If you defrosted your veggies don't panic, just add a 1/4 cup of water to the pan. Let cook until veggies are soft.
4. Serve over rice. I love to serve this with some sweet chili sauce.


THAT'S IT!! I'm serious! One thing I love about this recipe is that you can really tweek it to what you like and to what your family will eat. This recipe yields about enough for four people with each getting about an 8 oz portion. Try this! It literally takes 20 minutes. The longest part is the rice so get that going first!


Happy Eating!

Dinners on Sale!

This week Broulim's grocery store is having some awesome sales!! If you head over to my friend Caitlin's awesome blog on couponing  you can find more details. you can find her here. This is great news for anyone in the southeastern Idaho area who lives on a strict budget like me!

So some of the things they have on sale are Kingsford Charcoal Briquettes  Oscar Mayer Franks, Pace Salsa, and Johnsonville Bratwursts. Sounds like a meal to me! Now we want to get creative here, you could just have some awesome bratwursts on a plain 'ol bun....OR.....

Bratwurst with Caramelized Onions and Apples

Ingredients:

1 large sweet onion                                                      2 small Granny Smith apples

1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil                                               1/2 small green or Savoy cabbage head

1 Tbs. butter                                                                 1/2 lb. Bratwurst

8 C. chicken stock                                                        1/2 tsp. caraway seed
salt & pepper to taste

Chop the onion into chunks. Peel and core apples, Then cut into eighths. Brown the bratwurst for 10 minutes or so. Cut into 1/2 big pieces. Chop or shred the cabbage. In a large pan, cook the onions in the oil and butter over medium heat until browned, about 7 to 8 minutes. Add 2 C. of the stock and cook until nearly all the liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes or so. Add the apples and cook, stirring gently, for 1 minute. Add remaining 6 C. stock along with the bratwurst, cabbage and caraway seeds.Cook until the sausage is heated through and apples are tender, 7 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.