#24 Not Your Average Chicken Stir-Fry

Tonight, my mom came over for dinner (and to watch Survivor, obviously).  We decided on a chicken  stir-fry for dinner, so I wanted to do one that had a bit more... zip.

Seeing as I didn't have the majority of ingredients, I whipped on over to the grocery store, only stand in the aisle, googling "What is the difference between clear honey and yellow honey", and also "Sunflower oil vs vegetable oil".

Sadly, this is not my first time having to google something since I started this challenge, but it's all part of the learning process!

I settled on this "Zingy Chicken Stir-Fry" from the BBC Good Food site (http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8260/zingy-chicken-stirfry ), but as usual, I tweaked it for my own dinner.

You'll need:
Egg noodles (I used 3 bundles of them, per the photo below)
2 tsp sunflower oil
2 boneless chicken breasts, chopped
1 cup shredded carrots
2 tbsp honey
3 - 4 splashes of lime juice
Coriander leaves

1. Boil the noodles, then drain - add 1 tsp of oil
2. Heat 1 tsp of oil into a pan and add the chicken.  Brown.
3. Add the carrots, honey, soy sauce and lime juice, letting it bubble
4. Add the noodles, mix well
5. Sprinkle some coriander on top and serve!

First tulips of 2015! Thanks, Mom :)

Easy and delicious!!

xo

#20: Sassy Homemade Lasagna

I jumped into the deep end with this one.  I have never made lasagna, nor could I even guess at how to make it [oh hi, thanks Google!].

Thanks to Allrecipes.com, I used the 'World's Best Lasagna' as a guideline, and tweaked it as necessary.

You'll need:

1 lb extra lean ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
2 cans tomato paste (6 oz)
2 cans tomato sauce (6.5 oz)
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp white sugar
Sprinkle of basil

Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
4 tbsp parsley
12 lasagna noodles (I used raw, then cooked them, but you can buy them fresh as well)
16 oz ricotta cheese
1 egg
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese


Directions

1. Pour a touch of oil into a frying pan and add the onions and garlic.  Add in the ground beef and brown
2. Add in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce and water.  Stir in the sugar and basil.
3. Simmer for 20 minutes

4. In another pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil before adding in the lasagna noodles (if you bought the noodles fresh, ignore this step!)
5. Once the noodles are cooked, drain and rinse with cold water

6. In a mixing bowl, mix the ricotta and egg together.

Now, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

7. In a 9x13 pan, put a cup of the tomato meat sauce on the bottom of the pan

8. Lay the noodles down lengthwise

9. Spread about a cup of ricotta cheese mixture on top of the noodles
10. Sprinkle some mozzarella cheese on top
11. Repeat steps 8-10

12. Put in oven and bake for 25 minutes, with foil on top.  After 25 minutes, take the foil off and bake for 25 minutes more

I sprayed the bottom of the foil with bakers spray, just so it wouldn't stick to the cheese.

Get in our bellies!  I wish I caught Ken's face on camera when he took a bite.  I was quite proud that this turned out so well!  I could chalk it up to beginner's luck, but I guess we'll find out next time...

xo

265 Meal Challenge

I'm not one to set resolutions for the new year, but as 2014 had been a pretty fantastic year, I wanted to make a challenge for myself, for 2015.

This past year, I've started to really enjoy cooking.  There is just something so relaxing about it.  So, I decided to incorporate my newfound interest in cooking with a personal challenge.

My challenge is to cook 265 meals this year - old, new, breakfasts, lunches and/or dinners.  And of course, I'll aim to cook as healthy as possible (but who am I kidding, I do love a good pizza).  That leaves 100 days for meals out, holidays, and just the odd time that we like to order in.  By jotting it all down in this little spot on the internet, I am hoping that it will hold me accountable to actually doing it.

I am a total beginner - a rookie cook.  And so I am hoping that this challenge will give me some fresh new moves in the kitchen.

Seeing as Jan 1st was already a day off from cooking, today marks Meal 1.


Chicken Stirfry

I pretty much eyeballed everything and so I don't have any measurements. 

First, some extra virgin olive oil was heated up in a frying pan, before adding the chicken.  Some chives and garlic went in next, along with some yellow onions; letting it cook all together. 

While the chicken was cooking, I chopped some fresh veggies.  Broccoli, red and orange pepper, red onion and  brussel sprouts.  Since both Ken and I are big fans of onion, I added some green onion to the mix.  

Once all chopped, the veggies were added to the chicken, along with VH Orange Ginger sauce. 

 After letting it all simmer together for about 5 minutes, we put it into bowls and enjoyed!  

The fact that this whole dinner took only 15 minutes to make, is the cherry on top... especially since the puck was about to drop on the Team Canada game!!