My First 5k Run...Supporting Seattle Children's Hospital

I've been toying with the idea for a year or two to push myself to do a 5k...so I'm hitting the ground running and registered for my first 5k to raise money to benefit uncompensated care at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Join me and donate what you can to this worthy cause and support me as I enter into a new realm of fitness and fun!

My 5k FirstGiving Fundraising Page

Wrap up - meal planning Month One

As you can see I haven't posted about all the meals I planned to cook. This didn't necessarily go as planned this month but...I have learned what I would like to do for the month of June.

First, why didn't I didn't follow the plan. My husband would say it's because we never stick to a plan, but honestly I did not want have soup on a hot day. We had a week or two of hot weather here in the Pacific Northwest and it was the last thing on my mind. I am proud to say that we didn't just go out to dinner those nights we chose not to have soup. We had left overs (because I didn't factor in how fast my fridge would fill up after some of those freezer meals) or sandwiches (nothing like having a cold tuna sandwich on a hot day).

So I plan to do this meal planing again for the Month of June with some hot/cold weather options and still working on clearing out some of the meals I've put in the freezer. The first hiccup is that I am going to be gone friday - sunday on my "weekend off." I am checking into a hotel in Seattle and vegging out without distractions of toddlers or husbands, or roommates. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my time yet...but I'm certainly looking forward to it!

Okay...back to working on our grilling dinner of Antelope burgers with homemade buns (they are rising a second time right now) and corn on the cob (from my Bountiful Baskets Co-Op). 

I will admit to making one spur of the moment dinner for my husband on Saturday for his birthday. I bought salmon and asparagus and we had Sauteed Citrus-Herb Salmon with roasted asparagus and vegetable Quinoa (this was used with vegetables and quinoa from my pantry and fridge). DELICIOUS!

Okay so today is a brief departure from otherwise planned meals for the month. Our power went out at 5:45 and I didn't want to open the fridge for the chicken sausage and zucchini and squash.  So we went to Taco Bell. I'm writing it here because I feel like mis-steps are things people need to know about in challenges.  Tomorrow...tacos to celebrate Cinco de Mayo

Day 2 and 3

Day two of my challenge has me making Chicken Alfredo with home made Alfredo Sauce.

I used the Food Network recipe found fettuccine-alfredo.  Now the recipe doesn't have many ingredients but I found it a bit difficult to get the thickness I wanted without over-doing it. It tasted okay. I added a few crushed garlic cloves to the cream while it cooked for added flavor and then fished them out before pouring it over the chicken and pasta.

 I knew I was going to cook either broccoli or asparagus for the side dishes (turned out to steam both) and I was thinking what else I could do that would be easy and fun.  I came across this recipe Home Made Olive Garden Breadsticks, which were just what I was looking for. They tasted delicious and next time I might not cook them as long because I think they would have been even better!


So the first day and then again here Day Three I tapped into previously prepared freezer meals to stick in the crockpot from this BLOG. Today was Teriyaki Chicken. I had previously added yellow and orange bell peppers and an extra 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce and just put it in the crock-pot and left it.  I decided to again have some more steamed broccoli and asparagus and some long grain rice. This was a very good recipe. I'm excited to have it again near the end of the month. Here is a picture of my plated food:

The rice I shaped by using molds that have placed to press on in the back to help pres them out. I have to confess that I'm usually not very good at cooking rice. The rice you see in the above picture is long gain rice, not Minute Rice, not Boil-a-bag rice...but actual cooked on the stove rice. It turned out amazing like sticky rice. 

Tomorrow is suppose to be Spaghetti. I just realized I don't have any ground beef but right now I'm thinking maybe just boost the veggies with yellow squash, zucchini, and use some chicken/mozzarella sausages.  As a quick note I'm three days in and I'm already thinking about what to plan for next month...I like knowing what we are having and knowing that half my meals are easy to throw together!  Until tomorrow when I report what I did with the spaghetti.

Challenge - Month of May!

So as I was working on finances with my husband I realized that we had spent too much money this month. Nothing super drastic but it's easy to do if you aren't diligent.

So I started thinking about ways I can help cut back. Particularly I think I spend too much money at the grocery store and then eating out instead of cooking things. So I decided to plan out 31 meals using as much of what I had at home as I could.

Luckily I had just made 8 freezer meals for the crock-pot that have 4 servings a piece. So I was a bit ahead of the game. I added in a few favorites and what we have in our chest freezer!

Then I planned them out so we repeat each meal a second time during the month.  Next was plotting out how to make these meals so they weren't the same meal back to back. I did leave 2 days to have special eating out dinners because 4 of the 5 of us in our house have birthdays this month.

Today is day one. I have Savory Ground beef soup on the menu. It's on the counter thawing so I can get it out of the freezer bag and into the crock-pot.

Lunches are going to be primarily leftovers, salads, and sandwiches with what we have at home.  The goal before Saturday is to finish looking at my meal plan and make a list of what foods we still need to finish the rest of the meals. I'm going to get bulk meats and freeze them for the remaining meals and Produce from my weekly produce Co-op (Bountiful Baskets) to fill the meals and snacks in. I am hoping a side effect of this challenge will be more fruits and veggies eaten and hopefully healthier outlook on life.  I'm also going to keep doing this next month to see how much we can save and change up the meal plan with favorites not on the list yet.


Here goes my adventure! Wish me luck!

Caramels!

Here is a break from the coupon adventure for a recipe that has been requested that I post (Hi Sue!):


Granny's Caramels

This recipe was introduced to me through my husband's Grandma.

1 lb (4 sticks) butter
2 lbs light brown sugar (1 bag)
2 cups white Karo syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Butter a 9x13 inch pan (or a long cookie sheet with at least an inch high edge.
Melt the first two ingredients in a heavy kettle (needs to be deep because it bubbles up).
Add 2 cups light corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk.
Cook until candy thermometer reads 245 degrees F. (do not go below 240 or above 250 degrees)
Carefully pour mixture into buttered pan. Cool mixture in the refrigerator.
Take out 30 minutes before cutting, Wrap in waxed paper.

Tips to take into consideration: It takes a few makings to figure out your stove and how much to heat these caramels to. The candy thermometer is very important because it is your key to either caramel sauce or hard HARD caramels.
This recipes does make roughly 250-275 caramels depending on how big you wrap them. You should keep that in mind when you see how much butter and sugar is in this recipe.


I love this recipe. When I need to wrap these I put a movie on, and sit at the table and wrap, wrap, wrap (and try very hard to not eat them all.)

Couponing this weeks meals - Working out the Kinks - Week 1

Okay so a few friends asked me to post a blog about my attempt to keep our weekly food budget at the grocery store under $25. This is week one...I like to call it working out the kinks...

So We've run into a rough patch with money this month between paying for a couple vacations from previous two months, car problems, and probably some unchecked spending. As a stay at home mom, there isn't much I can do to help bring in more money so I decided to help where I could.

First, I decided to take a month off my ballet classes (a whopping $165 a month savings) because yes I love it but I'm hoping to figure out how to work at the studio to earn some free classes to go back. I also decided if it's just a month or two it's ok. I can do my ballet at home and maybe take a class here and there. I'd like to mention this was voluntary as my husband did say I should keep going. I feel that it's an extra splurge at the moment.

Second, I have been dabbling in couponing since july and decided I could "kick it up a notch" and really try to spend only $25 dollars at the grocery store for a weeks worth of food. This week happened to be the best week for it as our local grocery store, Albertson's, had twice the value coupons in the sunday paper. They will double a coupon up to a dollar making some items on sale free.

For those not new to the best way to use coupons, here's a quick run down. Manufacturer's put items on sale. They also send out coupons weekly in papers they have contracts with. Your best bet is to match the coupons up with the sale (which makes things WAY cheaper than just using sales only or coupons only.)

How did I figure everything out? Well luckily there have been a couple ladies who live in my are on the show Extreme Couponing and they actually make things easy for me. They figure out the ads and coupon match ups and even highlight those items that are best to "stock up on".

DISCLAIMER: I do love to watch Extreme Couponing but I am not of the opinion to get something I don't need because it's free. I like to think of what I am doing as realistic couponing. I stock on the items my family uses and try to work off my stockpile when money is tight (such as now). Also stockpiles take time to create, unless you have buckets of money laying around, try just using $25 aside from your weekly budget to add new items to your stockpile (anything left over from that $25 you can add to next week's $25 stockpile budget.)

Anyway...So I used my favorite site Coupon Connections and made a list of things I would like. A few months ago I had a friend (Hi Becky!) send me her spreadsheet on how she lists out her trip to the grocery store. It helps me figure out where I'm using coupons, how to maximize any Catalinas that print for "future" purchases (coupons that print when you check out good on your next purchase), and what my total might be.

I must tell you I went back over that list 3-4 times trying to make sure all my math added up and I was making the smartest choices. So Jeremy, my husband, went with me last night around 10:30pm because I was afraid a couple items I wanted that would actually make me $3.00 would be sold out at midnight and that would blow my budget. (when I have money makers that expands my budget without costing me more.) I was working on getting those items that would make me the $3.00 and asking the nice cashier if the items I got matched my coupons when we found out the store actually closes at midnight...well darn...

The nice, nice, nice cashier told us we could still shop for our items and she would put them in the freezer/fridge and we could pick them up today!

So we did that, I came home, secure in my purchases...and then I woke up and checked back on my favorite website to make sure one last time that things added up. Boy am I glad I did...i almost didn't make the extra $6.00 because I failed to put 4 items in one transaction...so I quickly re-organized and added a couple free products I found I had coupons for and off I went.

I had a total of 5 transactions (normally unless you find a cashier as nice as I did, the store says 3 transactions per store trip.) Plus one transaction at a different grocery store yesterday for some produce and things.

Here's a list of what I bought:

1 French's mustard
3 20 oz Heinz Ketchup
1 Kroger's brand Aluminum Foil 75 feet
1 bag pinto beans
2 Hass Avocados
4 roma tomatoes
1 2lb bag carrots
1 gallon 1% milk
1 box Loaded Mash Potatoes
5 Loaded Chicken and potato TGI Friday meals for one
2 heads of iceberg lettuce
3 Steak Fajita TGI Friday meals for one
3 Bird's Eye Steamfresh Frozen broccoli and rotini with cheese
2 Bird's Eye Steam fresh Frozen penne and veggies
3.29 lbs chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
1.27 lbs broccoli (bunch of three heads)
1 loaf bakery cinnamon bread (this was free from a coupon I had from a previous purchase)
1 5 oz kikkoman soy sauce
6 jello puddings (2 chocolate, 2 vanilla, 2 butterscotch)
2 jello - strawberry
2 Dreamfield Pasta spaghetti (this is pasta good for diabetics - very expensive normally)
1 small Morton's sea salt
3lbs 85% lean ground beef
1.48 lbs Honey Crisp apples
1 Sara Lee Whole Wheat Hearty and delicious honey bread
2 Beechnut Baby Oatmeal Cereal

Total retail value: $134.60
Total paid : $60.44
Total saved: $74.16
Percent saved: 55%

So I ended up getting more meat and chicken then I was planning on because the cost was better and I can roll that meat over into next week's meals. Best things I got for free: 2 boxes of Baby Oatmeal for Lucas, 1 loaf of cinnamon bread (which I used to make yummy french toast for brunch), and the pasta which is normally $2.79-$2.99.

Things I learned: My grocery store closes at midnight. I need to patiently look at the deals from the website to make sure I put my transactions in order. Have transactions as low as 67 cents is pretty awesome when the retail value is $25.

Food to make this week:
Chicken Stir-Fry (from fridge and pantry - rice and veggies, chicken from fridge as well)
Roast with potatoes and carrots (roast and potatoes in the fridge already)
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup and bread bowls (from stock and from my list)
Tacos
Pot Roast Pot Pie (from stock and fridge Items)

Planning already for next week:
Juicy Lucy burgers (from stock)

So there is my adventure.

Things I need to buy next week:

Dish soap if on sale
Vanilla extract
Butter

Last thoughts: I usually spend between $150 - $200 a week - this weeks purchase was a 70% savings. I think that works for us.

Baltimore Beef Sandwich

So after letting the piece of top round beef marinate for two days we finally took it out of the fridge and grilled it up for sandwich meat.

This is from an episode of Guy's Big Bite where he was making a Baltimore Beef Bad Boy.
My brother, roommate, and I drooled over what he did to this piece of meat. So I thought I'd try making the meat at least. I'm not a horseradish person so I figured we could make our own sandwiches out of the beef.

First and for most...when marinating this meat with the spices - know that when you open your fridge you will smell the seasoning...and it will happen when someone else opens the fridge and you are across the room and you will smell this deliciousness. It's a big tease for how it will smell when cooking it.

Side note - make sure you have enough propane in your tank before you start your grill...we ended up bring this in and cooking it over our stove top grill board.

It's juice and delicious and each of us in the house made it a bit different on our sandwiches. There isn't much left.

Cooking marathon continued

What else have I been working on you say?

Oh well I made some of my standard dessert recipes.
Peanut Butter Balls and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

Both of the middle part of these yummy treats comes together very quick. What is the most time consuming is the dipping of the balls in Candy-quick/Almond bark like yummy coatings. They are really easy desserts that take time but usually have a wow factor when you bring them to a get together.

What else can I say - they are both very rich desserts and I love them.

Roasted Chicken - Just a little note

I've been cooking the last two days. I haven't really taken any pictures but I can tell you what I've been doing and some successes I've had.

First the biggest success. I have been dabbling in couponing. Not the Extreme couponing you can see on tv...but realistic couponing which scales down extreme couponing to have a nice stock at home for 8-12 weeks until the product goes back on sale.

In this endeavor I found chicken thighs and legs on sale for 88 cents a pound. So I got one of each plus an extra package of legs for a BBQ I was invited to. The last time we had a gathering at this friend's house she had "marinated" her chicken legs in buttermilk before grilling them. I have never done that nor have I actually cooked thighs or legs aside from the Thanksgiving turkey.

So I do what I always do when I'm experimenting in the kitchen...I went to the net for inspiration. I finally settled on a recipe from Nigella Lawson found here.

It was a very simple recipe and I dove right in did this recipe with all of the chicken I had in the home - Two packs of ten chicken legs, one pack of ten chicken thighs, and four boneless chicken breasts. I used garlic powder instead of bruised garlic, I also added Lawry seasoning, and used some Maple Syrup from my hometown that has been in my fridge for a long time.

The trick is to let it brine for 2 hours if you need to cook it the same day. It was very quick to get all this chicken in their plastic bags. When these chicken pieces started cooking I could start to smell the seasonings...oh man...it was smelling delicious and my brother could smell it downstairs so much that he commented on it on facebook.

This recipe makes such juicy roasted chicken! It's now going to be a staple for me to cook a bunch of chicken quickly and deliciously. Today we had the second chicken legs over the grill at the BBQ and oh man...soooo good. I'm looking forward to using this chicken meat in other dishes this week.


On a side note: When I'm feeling down...I cook and invariably I feel somewhat better.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

So I was thinking of other ways to make my dinner cooking faster this week (working 10 hour shifts makes this pregnant momma super tired and not ready to tackle dinner after work). I do know that making food ahead has helped me have time relax and get my dinner in my belly on time for

I'm in love with cream based soups, however I'm also diabetic and pregnant and my husband is lactose intolerant...so I'm looking for ways to have comfort food that fits into my restricted diet and won't hurt his stomach. I found this recipe here and adapted it to what I can eat (the low carb pasta and lactose free milk for my hubby.

Ingredients

Butter, salted, 2 tbsp
Onions, raw, 1 cup, chopped finely
Carrots, raw, 2 medium
Garlic, 2 cloves
Chicken Broth, 32 fl oz
Water, tap, 1 cup (8 fl oz)
Poultry seasoning, 1 tsp
Roasted Chicken, light meat, 2.5 cup, chopped or diced
Flour, white, 0.125 cup (2 Tbsp)
Milk, nonfat, 0.5 cup (I used Lactose Free Milk)
Dreamfields low carb penne rigate, 3.25 cup (the box)

Directions

In the soup pot, add butter, onions and carrots, pinch of salt, on medium high heat. Cook until carrots are tender. Add in garlic, broth, water, poultry seasoning, chicken, heat until boiling then add noodles. Cook noodles the amount of time specified on package. Ladle out 1/2 cup broth into small bowl and blend in flour until smooth, no lumps. Add back into soup pot and cook for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and slowly stir in milk.
Optional: Serve with warm French bread. (This is very good the next day, too.)

Number of Servings this makes: 6 (roughly two to two 1/2 ladles full)

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 6
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 304.5
• Total Fat: 7.4 g
• Cholesterol: 57.7 mg
• Sodium: 724.1 mg
• Total Carbs: 38.7 g (my restriction is for 45 g of carbs for lunch or dinner)
  
• Dietary Fiber: 4.1 g
• Protein: 23.1 g

What I loved about this recipe. It is a creamy soup. It's warm and comforting and the pasta I use is processed in a way that make it react more like fiber than carbs (which is why it's low carb pasta) .

What I would do different next time? Probably cook the pasta separate. The pasta soaks up the liquid broth and water. I knew this but decided to go with the recipe at the time to see how it would turn out.

What the food critics in my house thought (husband and brother): They both loved it. My husband had 2 bowls (because he had missed lunch and was still wanting to eat both lunch and dinner).

Grilled Chicken Tacos with Pineapple, Strawberry, and Red Pepper Salsa

Well since the last time I posted I have had a bunch of things happen in my life. Namely I am pregnant and expecting a little boy at the end of May. The first half of my pregnancy has been quite blissful however I just was recently diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and what that means for this sweet tooth is a diet over haul and monitoring my blood sugar levels. Tonight I hemmed and hawed about what to make for dinner after my ten hour shift.

I chose this recipe from Spark Recipes because of the low carbs (what I have to keep an eye on) and it sounded very interesting. Here's a picture of how mine turned out:


So what I didn't follow in the recipes...well I didn't remember to buy fresh mint or red onion or lime...so how did I make it my own?

I mixed the strawberries and pineapple with half a red pepper and used lemon juice instead and finally I sprinkled Red Cayenne pepper in the salsa for a kick (beware...it can get spicy). I then took the chicken and diced it up when it was done and served it taco style on two six inch corn tortillas that I ended up spraying a pan with cooking spray and cooking the tortillas until warm/brown. I added lettuce to the mix as well for a taco feeling.

The whole recipe nutritional information breaks down like this for a serving size of two tortillas heaping full:

337 Calories
40 grams Carbs
7 grams fat
30 grams protein.

It falls 5 grams short of my limit for dinner carbs. and the verdict around the house is that it is "very flavorful" and that it was "really good" with "the right amount of spice." Until next time with another Diabetic friendly recipes...have something sweet for me.

The Great Donut Experiment

I find inspiration for cooking/baking from many places: T.V., friend's recipes, what people are talking about eating of facebook, and from FoodGawker and Tastespotting websites. I particularly like these websites because they have pictures for the recipes and food topics. While browsing through Foodgawker this last week I came across this website Honey Butter that talked about Chocolate Glazed Donuts. Man do I love donuts.

I remember growing up and getting up early to go with my grandpa to the doughnut shop and having a plain glazed doughnut with orange juice while he had coffee and a doughnut. Whenever things are gloomy some in my family turn to donuts (doughnut holes, cake donuts, glazed, you name it.)


So I decided that today was the day to do this. I mixed the dough using my bread hook in my kitchenaid mixer (I like to find ways to use it) and put the bowl over my oven as I preheated it for making lunch. Lunch was Cresent Roll Wrapped Turkey dogs. I love using this method to proof my dough. I have found it works well for bread and pizza dough as well. Once the time had passed I rolled out the dough and used a metal doughnut cutter to make about one dozen doughnuts, doughnut holes, and used a small pumpkin cookie cutter for the left over dough. I laid them out on two cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and put them on the "proofer" once again.

I did follow the recipe precisely for the doughnuts and the chocolate glaze, but I am a sucker for plain glaze as well. So I used The Pioneer Lady's recipe found here reduced quite a bit. I was also thinking about a white chocolate type of glaze...and when I went to get more butter from the fridge I saw a bunch of packages of raspberries from Cost-co staring at me so I also made this White chocolate Raspberry Frosting recipe as well.

So how did they turn out? Great - My husband scarfed a few up and so did I. I have a plate on the counter for my brother and roommate to try. I think that the Chocolate Glazed ones are the most successful, and the rolled in sugar ones.

What would I do different next time?
Well I definitely think that frying doughnuts is an art. It will take a few tries to get the right amount of browning on them. I would also try more ways to make glazes where I am satisfied with them. The Plain glaze doesn't look so good once it dries and the raspberry glaze I would have like to be more like a frosted than glazed. But they taste great and now I have left over glaze to figure out what to do with! Also what I might try next time is something like the VooDoo Doughnut's Maple Bacon Bars if you haven't tried one and are in Portland, Oregon - you need to have one.

On a personal note...I know this is the first post in a long time. I am thinking of future posts and hoping that they will be more frequent than the length of time between this post and the last. Hope you like the new background as well.

edit: I will add photos in a while. Now it's time to make dinner...

Asian Inspirations

So I tackled making pot stickers and home made fried rice tonight.




I filled the pot stickers with ground chicken, cabbage, beansprouts, fresh ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice wine, dark sesame oil, salt, pepper, and white pepper. I also made a dipping sauce for these bite size scrumptious delights. The sauce consists of soy sauce, rice wine, dark sesame oil, chili paste, salt, pepper, and a dash of white pepper.


I found that this time folding the wrappers was very much easier and they turned out more uniform. I also added less water to the pot stickers when steaming them and also letting them fry a bit longer after steaming them to make them more crisp.

I ended up with 59 potstickers and 30 of those are now in the fridge waiting for the next time someone to be hungry.

My first turkey

My first turkey, originally uploaded by Elisabeth Scherer!.

Here is my first ever turkey. I stuffed the inside with Onion, carrot, celery, an apple, rosemary, sage, and a cinnamon stick. Then rubbed under the skin of the breasts - butter with rosemary, sage, and minced garlic. I then put it in an Reynold's Oven bag and baked it for 2 1/2 hours at 350. This was a fresh 14 lb turkey.

My ham was also in an oven bag and I put two oranges chopped into wedges in it. I highly recommend this because it infuses into the ham and the smell and taste is amazing!

cooking

I have been cooking but I haven't gotten to posting about these dishes. I have made Rye bread, whole wheat pizza, sugar cookies with frosting, and enchiladas.

Yes lots of cooking, very minimum photos, and no posts or recipes...I hope to get there...some time soon. If not I will take pictures the next time I make these...since all were so good I will be putting them in my file of stuff to eat!!!

Twice-Baked Garlic Loaded Potatoes

I have been making this recipe for a while. It started when I half-hearted started using weight watcher recipes. I found this because as a foodie I am drawn towards potatoes! You cook them - I'll eat them....my favorite is the fried potatoes that my grandpa used to make me (that his sister now makes me identically). But I like them mashed, fried, french fried, baked, hash browns, au graten...in soup...yummmmmmm!


So I've been wanting to make this for a couple of days and finally pushed myself into the kitchen and started the oven.

Twice-Baked Garlic Loaded Potatoes

Ingredients:
4 large baking potatoes, scrubbed
1 garlic bulb, point sliced off
1/2 cup skim milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 slices of microwave ready bacon (the pre-cooked kind is easiest).
pinch of paprika


Preheat oven to 425 degrees with rack in middle position. add potatoes onto a cookie sheet. Place garlic bulb cut side up in a piece of aluminum foil and close. Set garlic on cookie sheet and place in oven to cook for 50-60 minutes (until potatoes are tender and garlic is browned and softened. Let potatoes and garlic cool until comfortable to handle (about 15 minutes).

Halve potatoes lengthwise; scoop the pulp into a large bowl, leaving the skins intact. Squeeze out garlic into the same bowl add milk, Parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt and pepper into potato mixture. Stir and mash with a fort to desired texture then spoon back into potato skins; sprinkle with a bit more cheese and paprika.

Return to oven until heated through and cheese is melted (tops are slightly browned). Top with crumbled bacon and serve!

Now the Weight Watcher version uses 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth and 1/2 cup non-fat sour cream and the Parmesan just on top. 4 large baking potatoes would serve 8 with 3 points per serving...not including the extra cheese, milk or bacon of my recipe...but mine is a meal...yum!

Chinese Potstickers and Fried Rice

I have now made this recipe twice and it is quickly becoming a family favorite. The first time I made this because my husband and I were watching a random episode of Throw down with Bobby Flay and the competition in this particular episode was on Chinese dumplings, also known as Pot-stickers. Jeremy and I looked at each other and both craved them at the same time. The first time I made these I think I under stuffed them and I chose to boil them instead of pan-fry them. They turned out like a strange squishy ravioli with the wrapper part way to wiggly for my taste. Jeremy loved the flavor and proclaimed them tasting just like the Panda Express ones we had not long after.

Well yesterday I had another craving to make these treats. I wanted to better the recipe and have another go at making them properly. Jeremy quickly said, "Yes" to me making them and so we zoomed around the grocery store picking up the filling ingredients. To the produce department to by a small head of cabbage, a few green onions, a package of bean sprouts, a package of shredded carrots, ginger root, and two packages of dumpling wrappers (next to the wonton wrappers - but circles instead of squares). As I was gathering the last of the ingredients (a pound of ground chicken) I mentioned that fried rice goes really well with these, so we zoomed to the frozen food section to pick up a bag of peas and carrots. With everything else at home we headed there.

The other thing I wanted to change about the first time I made these is I made Jeremy wait way to long to eat (I started filling dumplings at like 4:30 or 5 and we didn't end up eating until 8:30-9p.m.) So I started around 2:30-3p.m. and we ate at about 6p.m. The recipe made about 90 dumplings, so I cooked half of them and froze the other half for later use!

Original Recipe of Dumplings


This is what I did:

Filling:
1 lb. ground chicken
1/2 cup of cabbage, chopped fine
1/4 cup green onions, minced
1/4 cup bean sprouts, chopped
1/4 cup shredded carrots, chopped
1/4 cup ginger root, minced
1/4 cup bamboo shoots, minced
1/4 cup water chestnut, minced
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. sesame oil
pinch of salt and pepper
dash of white pepper

Wrappers - 2 packages round pasta wrappers (the original recipe link tells how to make your own dough wrappers.)

Sauce:
3 parts soy sauce
1 part sesame oil
1 part vinegar
1 Tbsp ginger root, minced
1 Tbsp green onions, minced

Mix everything for filling and then take about 1 Tbsp of filling and place in the center of a single wrapper. fold the wrapper over and pinch in the center. pleat the edges over on one side all the way to the end, return to the other side of center and pleat it to the end of the other side. Seal edges with a bit of water on the tip of your fingers run across the pleats. Set on a grease plate and repeat until filling or wrappers are gone.

Now because there are only two of us, I took half of the dumplings and froze them before they were cooked. I placed the dumplings on a cookie sheet (not touching each other) and placed them in the freezer. After frozen through, place them in a freezer bag and back in the freezer for later use!

Pan frying them: coat the bottom of the pan with oil and set dumplings down in a single layer on medium-high heat. Fry until bottoms of dumplings are golden brown. Add 1/3 cup water (pan will sizzle), cover with vent for steam to escape. Once water has halved, turn heat down to medium. Once water has evaporated, uncover and let dumplings cook for 1 - 2 minutes more.

While the water was cooking down, I made a pot of rice.

Fried rice recipe:

2 cups jasmine rice
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
dash of white pepper
1 10 oz bag of frozen peas and carrots
4 eggs + white and pepper
2 tsp table sugar
3 3/4 cup water
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil

Bring water to boil, add rice, oil, and salt. Cover and bring to a boil again. Let water cook down.

...Now this is where I pause in my directions: I used the pan I fried the dumplings in for the eggs and the fried part of the rice...

scramble eggs, then add a bit more oil to the pan and add the rice, sugar, peas and carrots, soy sauce, sesame oil, and dash of white pepper, salt and pepper. Fry until desired quality. Serve warm!


Second time around critic:
Very good, filling was much more satisfying, and the pan fry made the dumplings crunchy enough to give eating them an extra depth! Frying the rice in the dumpling pan added a nice flavoring for rice and pulled the meal together.

I served the dumplings and rice with the dipping sauce and a pot of Ceylon Orange Pekoe Tea and a fortune cookie each.

My husband's reaction: so good he had two helpings and I had to cut him off.

Fan Tan Rolls

Sunday I made another round of Foccacia Bread (sadly forgetting to take pictures of them). After that I decided to try my hand at making rolls. I picked Fan Tan Rolls. My Great Uncle had these at his house when we visited him at the beginning of June. He served them with home-made raspberry jam. I wish I had more of that home made jam...

This is how they turned out! Don't they look good?

Ingredients:
2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
1/3 cup table sugar
2 packages active dry yeast
2 tsp salt
6 1/2 cups of flour
2 eggs
1/3 cup shortening
butter, melted (for brushing on dough)

Directions:
combine water sugar and yeast and stir until dissolved. Add salt and 2 cups of flour. Beat for 2 minutes with electric mixer then add eggs and shortening. Beat for another minute and then work in remaining flour (4 1/2 cups). Cover and let rest in bowl for 20 minutes. This makes the dough easier to handle.

Shaping:
1. Divide dough in half and roll each into 9 inch square. Brush with melted butter; cut into six
strips.
2. Stack strips on top of one another. Cut into 1 inch widths. Place in greased muffin pans, cut
side up.
3. Cover and let rise in warm place for 40-45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes.
Brush with melted butter for last five minutes of baking.


What I would do differently Next time: I'm not sure I would actually put six strips together in a muffin pan...maybe four instead. This one, as you can see, exploded! Still yummy but way over proofed. Probably was too hot in the house and didn't need the full rise time.

Pineapple Upside Down Muffins

Recently I took out a box from our spare bedroom that contained my grandmother's recipes. I was searching for good bread recipes. I had just made a fantastic Foccacia bread and I will make it again (and take pictures). Anyway, I know my grandma had many breads, rolls, and muffin recipes. As I flipped through one of her home-made books.


I came across a recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Muffins. They sounded so good that on my grocery list went Crushed pineapples.

I had everything else at home...

They were so good! When they came out of the oven I flip them them over onto a cookie sheet. This is the point where I would change what I did...I just flipped them over, next time I would put the cookie sheet or cooling rack right on top of the muffins and flip them so nothing spilt as much as this first time. Here's how they turned out:


I am going to make these again. It's a nice dessert that doesn't have chocolate in it. One thing I did different than the recipe was added 2 - 3 teaspoons of cinnamon in with the dough.

It's a nice way to make personal signed cakes for a dinner! Try the recipe and I know you'll love it!