Singapore Noodles... Yummmm

I've had this dish at a local Asian Fusion restaurant a few times and just loved it so when my hubby said Asian for dinner I had a spark of bravery and decided to give this a try. As dinner time grew near, I got nervous for what I had gotten myself into, but trusted my culinary skills and went for it. We were both glad that I did, it was delicious. Not quite as good at the restaurant but close. And with a few tweaks next time I think it will be even better.

First, I will say that like most Asian dishes, this dish moves FAST!!! My arm was tired by the time I was finished. You have to prep everything in advance, and even with that I forgot two ingredients. Hence, part of the modifications for next time, include everything on the recipe, LOL!!!

The other thing I will change next time is the addition at the end of tossing the pasta with a little oil to add a little moisture. This is a "dry" noodle dish but even still, I would like just a little more moisture.

So here it is... recipe courtesy of the Food Network.

1 pound thin rice noodles, soaked in cold water for 2 hours, and drained2 skinless chicken breast, 1/4-inch strips
1/4 cup white wine
2 tablespoons thin soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
Canola oil, to cook
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1/2 cup scallions batons, 1-inch lengths
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 pound bean sprout, picked
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 onion, julienned
2 eggs, lightly scrambled
2 tablespoons Madras curry powder
Salt and white pepper to taste


Marinate shrimp and sliced chicken together in soy sauce, wine, cornstarch and white pepper for 20 minutes. In a hot wok coated well with oil, stir fry ginger, scallions and garlic. Add marinated shrimp and chicken to oil and stir fry quickly for 30 seconds to one minute. Remove shrimp and chicken and set aside. Use same oil to stir fry bean sprouts, peppers and onions. Season and cook for 1 minute and set aside. Wipe out wok and coat well with oil. When oil is smoking hot, add 2 beaten eggs and rotate the pan so as to quickly spread the eggs into a pancake shape. While the egg is still partially fluid, add rice noodles to the wok. Stir and fold noodles and the eggs should be broken up into small pieces and dispersed uniformly. Continue to stir to avoid noodles from sticking to the pan. Add curry powder and check for seasoning. When noodles are steaming hot, add back shrimp, chicken and vegetables to the noodles and continue to mix and stir until everything is steaming hot.

Pickled Hot Peppers

This weekend I just couldn't resist the lovely basket of peppers at the farmers stand. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do but I new they were too nice and too cheap to pass up. Just one of the many benefits of country living, local seasonal produce from May to October.

I've been going to Evergreen Acres for many years. When we moved into our house this farmers stand was a little shed along the side of the road with two little tables and an always friendly Mennonite girl behind the register.

It has since grown into a large barn with a beautiful display of produce all season long. Often when I'm there I see the man of the house gathering produce from the garden beside the barn to bring inside for sale. I've seen the horse drawn wagon bring corn freshly picked from the field. It's a lovely place. Fall is no different at Evergreen Acres. But with fall comes the slight sadness that the season will soon come to an end.

 So back to the peppers. I saw this bucket and knew I could do something with them. They were going home with me!!!

So I pickled them. This was very easy and my only wish is that I could have found the lids for my medium sized canning jars but I made do with what I had.

What you will need:

3 c. white vinegar

2 c. water

3 cloves garlic

1 lb. hot peppers

Canning Jars and a big pot

*** I don't have the fancy canning equipment but it works just fine for this small amount of canning to use your stock pot.

Wash canning jars.

Bring water to a boil in large pot.

Add canning jars and lids all separate in the large pot to get nice and hot.

Bring water and vinegar to a boil. Add garlic (skins removed)

Slice peppers about 1/4" to 1/2" thick. You can keep the seeds or not, just watch out, they make your fingers hot for a long time. I hold the peppers by the stem and chop from the bottom up. This avoids touching the seeds. Or if you're more cautious you can use rubber gloves.

Remove your canning jars from the hot water (dump water out) and stuff full of peppers.

Pour the vinegar/garlic water into the jars to cover.

Add lids and screw tight.

Add jars back into large pot so that they are covered with water.

Boil for 10 minutes and then remove.

Set them onto a dish towel on the counter so they don't make a watery mess.

I use tongs to remove them from the pot.

Let sit until you hear the lids pop. This tells you they are sealed.

Let cool completely.

They are safe in the pantry for 1 year.

Some ideas to use your peppers...

Chili, Nachos, Quesadillias, really any recipe that calls for hot peppers

I have an awesome recipe for Jerk Pork Nachos and these work perfect.

Pulled Jerk Pork

Diced Pineapple

Diced Pickled Hot Peppers

Cheddar Cheese

Tortillia Chips

Put under the broiler for a few minutes to melt the cheese and serve with sour cream. 

Yummo!!!

Freeze Cookie Dough

Who likes fresh baked cookies? I do, I do!!!

Who needs the four dozen cookies that a batch typically makes? I don't, I don't!!!

This weekend I made a super yummy cookie from Six Sisters Stuff,
Oatmeal Banana Chocolate Chip

But I decided to bake half the batch and freeze the rest. This is super easy and nice for the weekend when you want a little treat but don't have the time.

Scoop cookie dough onto a lined cookie sheet. This time I used wax paper but you can really use anything, saran wrap and parchment paper work fine too.

Put the cookie sheet into the freezer and let the balls freeze completely.
I typically let them in overnight.

Then dump into a freezer bag.

And write the cookie name and baking directions on the outside of the bag.

Done. Cookies anytime!

Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Homemade Croutons

This weekend was a cooking marathon. It was wonderful spending so much time in the kitchen. I'm not sure why but this time of year I love to cook, and bake, and cook some more.

Yesterday I finally bought the Alabama Shakes album so this afternoons cooking marathon was even better while jamming out to some new tunes. You can check them out here.

One of the new recipes I tried was this delightful soup. It was a recipe from Closet Cooking.

I changed it slightly because I didn't have aged white cheddar but the result was delicious!!! I also made some croutons with the left over bread from my overnight french toast which was Sunday mornings breakfast.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

1 head cauliflower

Wegman's basting oil (or olive oil, garlic salt, pepper)

1 onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

fresh thyme, minced

3 c. chicken stock

milk

1 c. cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss cauliflower and oil on a baking sheet and spread to a single layer. Roast for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, sautee onion and olive oil on medium until soft.

Add garlic and thyme and stir for 1 minute or until fragrant.

Add roasted cauliflower and chicken stock to pot. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Puree. You can use a blender or a hand held blender. If you use the regular blender make sure you remove the center of the lid and place a towel on top. Hold the lit tightly or the lid will blow right off making a huge mess!!!

Pour back into your stock pot and add milk to the desired thickness.

Stir.

Add cheese, and stir.

Homemade Croutons

Stale french bread, cut into 1" pieces

1/4 c. butter, melted

fresh herbs

garlic

Toss on a baking sheet.

Bake at 325 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes

Stir every 10 minutes for even browning.

And having a helper is always fun!!!

Homemade Chicken Stock

Oh the many uses of rotisserie chicken.

Today I made chicken wing dip for the Penn State game and the fastest and easiest way to do that is with a rotisserie chicken. Once I was finished I was left with a pile of skin and bones which is perfect for homemade chicken stock.

Making homemade stock is so tasty, easy, and thrifty. Not to mention the fact that you can control what goes in the stock.
When you make it at home you know it's natural and not filled with a bunch of preservatives and salt.

What you need...

Large stock pot
Chicken carcass
3 - 4 celery ribs, broken in half
3 - 4 carrots, broken in half
1 onion, cut into wedges
5 - 6 garlic cloves, pealed
handful of peppercorns
herbs (I used a handful of thyme)
salt (I sprinkle one full circle around the pot)
water

Dump all of your ingredients into the stock pot and fill pot 3/4 full of water.

Let simmer for 2 - 3 hours and it will turn into this...

Then remove all of the large pieces and pour through a fine strainer into a large bowl.

At this point you need to do something with this large bowl of liquid.

I like to freeze mine into small portions which makes it easy to use as needed.

I saw this great idea on Pinterest to freeze soup in a lined muffin tin so you can defrost exactly what you need. This works great for stock!!!

Just line a muffin tin with saran wrap (I like "Press n Seal") and then cover the muffin tin with another layer of saran wrap and freeze. Notice the lovely pile of leftovers in the background!

Once frozen I pop them into a ziplock freezer bag and pull out what I need when I need it!

Each muffin tin is a heavy 1/2 c. of liquid. I typically put them into a glass measuring cup and defrost them in the microwave.

Enjoy!

Spicy Sausage & Rice Soup

My very most favorite time of year is fall. There are so many wonderful things about fall in the North East... jeans & flip flops, pumpkin anything, humidity free days and chilly nights, and a rekindled love of my stove. It seems at the first sign of fall, without any planning, I find myself making soup. The other weekend I made three kinds of soup!!! I just couldn't stop myself.

One of the reasons I love making soup is the flexibility you have when making your brew. You can take a look at what you have on hand, gather complimenting indgrediants, and throw them in a pot. Viola, soup!

Of course there are some basics that I try to keep on hand through the fall - onion, celery, carrot, garlic and chicken stock - to name a few. With these basics you can develop just about any soup.

This weekend I had all of the above and some Hot Italian Sausage that I wanted to use up.
And just like that, Spicy Sausage & Rice Soup was born.

Spicy Sausage & Rice Soup

3 celery ribs
3 carrots
1 onion
3 T. basting oil from Wegman's ( grapeseed & canola oil, dried thyme, oarsley, garlic)
4 hot Italian sausage links
1 large can crushed tomato
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
1 c. rice

Dice extra small - celery, carrot, onion. Saute in stockpot with basting oil until soft.
In fry pan, cook sausage through breaking into small crumbles. Drain.
Cook 1 c. rice with 2 c. water for 20 minutes or until water is absorbed. Let cool.

Add cooked sausage, tomato, and chicken broth into veggie mixture. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Add cooked rice to soup when served.

** Do not add all of the rice to the pot if you are not going to serve the entire batch. The rice will continue to absorb the liquid when stored and become soggy.

S'mores on a Stick

I have really developed a wonderful problem. Like so many, I am totally addicted to Pinterest! It is the greatest thing ever and I think nothing of spending an hour "pinning" while my hubby watches a crappy football game. And now that football season is over there will be even more opportunities for pinning during basketball, golf, PSU wrestling, oh my!

So I decided to try these cute little s'mores on a stick for Nathan's first sleepover. It really wasn't a sleepover but they pretended with jammies, movie, popcorn, video games, stay up late, and then parents came to take them home to their beds. It was genius really.

This idea was pinned from Pretty Foods & Pretty Drinks blog, check it out!

So gather some marshmallows, chocolate wafers, graham crackers, lolly pop sticks, and your favorite helper and have some fun!

Dip the lollipop stick into the melted chocolate and then press into a marshmallow. This will keep the marshmallow on the stick when you dip it into the chocolate to coat.

Use a piece of Styrofoam to hold your pops as you work.

Once you're finished with the first step let the chocolate harden. Waiting is tough! I popped them into the freezer to move things a long for a few minutes.



Then dip the marshmallows into the melted chocolate. We sort of rolled them against the edge of the bowl to get the excess chocolate off. Otherwise they dripped and made a tasty mess.

Immediately roll the chocolate covered marshmallow into the bowl of graham crackers. I kept the crumbs coarsely chopped for a more chunky look. It was also nice because you got more graham in your bite!

Enjoy!!! And watch out for the helpers, they're sneaky.

Chocolate Frosting

It's hard to believe but my baby is turning one year old!!! This week has been full of party planning, lists, decorations, and gifts. Tonight was the night for daycare treats. I decided on chocolate cupcakes, in part because that was the box mix I had in the pantry, and also because as much as I wanted to give into my laziness and go to the store, it was cold and rainy and I just didn't feel like making the drive.

For the frosting, I have tried many recipes. In years past I've opted for a cool whip style frosting because I like that it's not too sweet. Tonight I decided to again attempt a butter cream style frosting. I think I just may have come up with a combo that I really like - sweet but not too sweet, chocolaty but not too rich.

Here's my recipe...

4 c. confectioners sugar

4 T. coco powder

1 stick butter, room temperature

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 t. vanilla

1/3 c. milk

1 c. mild chocolate wafers, melted

In mixer, combine first 6 ingredients.

*** I measured out 1/2 c. milk and added it slowly to get the thickness that I wanted. I have learned from experience that it's very hard to thicken frosting once you've added too much liquid.

Then while mixer is going, slowly pour in chocolate and allow it to mix in thoroughly.

I used a piping bag with no frosting tip to get a nice thick swirl.

Enjoy!



Holiday Oreo's

For my son's Halloween party at daycare I signed up to bring cookies. I realized that weekend though that  I really didn't have time to mess with making something from scratch. So I opted to dress up some Oreo's with chocolate and sprinkles. This is something that he can help out with and we were finished in 15 minutes.

You will need:

Oreo Cookies
Milk Chocolate (wafers or chips)
Sprinkles
Wax paper, Saran Wrap, Parchment or Freezer Paper
Cookie Sheet

First, line a cookie sheet with paper you have on hand.

Next, melt the chocolate in the microwave. Stir a few times during the melting process to distribute the heat.

Get dunking...

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Here it is folks. A tried and true, super easy, homemade laundry soap recipe.

Now I've always been a liquid soap kind of gal but for cost savings and diy nature in me, I just couldn't resist giving it a try.

I can say that it has successfully cleaned the following...

     a load of whites
     a load of delicate work cloths
     a load of baby cloths
     a load of stinky hubby cloths

AND there was no irritated skin reactions, even from the baby!!! I think that was my biggest reservation of all.

This recipe uses 3 ingredients and takes no more than 15 minutes to whip up a nice big batch.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

1 c. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1 c. Borax

1 bar soap

Now I choose to mix the bar of soap and use 3 Ivory (for the gentle factor) and 2 Fels Naptha (for the stain fighting factor)

When I first was looking at these recipes I thought, where do I find this stuff???

Well, amazingly enough the Washing Soda, Borax, & Fels Naptha are all in the laundry isle. Who knew?!?! And of course you know where to find the Ivory soap :-)

I also went to my local Re-Uzit consignment shop to hunt for the perfect container. I figured my laundry room and blog readers deserve the best, tehe!!!

I got super lucky and found this great glass lidded canister with a nice vintage "Goodies" print in a pretty mustard yellow color for $4.50.

And I also splurged on a hand thrown ceramic mug for $.25.

So, let's get crafting...

First, shred the soap in the food processor. Just think of it as giving your food processor a good cleaning.

My dear husband came in and asked how I was making laundry soap with cheese. Silly hubby!!!

Then, mix other ingredients with shredded soap in large bucket.

Next, working in batches, add mixture back into food processor with the blade attachment and process until it is a nice powder. I couldn't get the Fels Naptha to completely turn to powder but figured it would all come out in the wash, hahahaha! I'm cracking myself up now!!!

As your batches are finished add into your pretty container and viola! Homemade Laundry Detergent!!!

If you decide to make the leap and DIY... use 2 T. of detergent per full load.

Homemade Baby Food

This weekend was filled with food. Saturday morning was spent shopping with Nathan. First we stopped at my favorite farm stand to pick up about 80% of the produce on the list (gotta love summertime!). Next, we went to Sharp Shopper which is our local discount grocer. Then finally, to the regular grocery store for the rest of the goodies.

On the menu this weekend, tons of baby food.

Of course I cooked for us too but I spent a good bit of time in the kitchen with the Magic Bullet. If you are going to attempt making your own baby food, I highly recommend this blender. I was lucky enough to get one second hand from a friend but if you pick one up in the store it will run you $50 or so. But do the math, I spent $1 on frozen peas which made 8 baby servings. Compare to $.69 per serving of store bought peas. The blender pays itself off rather quickly!

From left to right:
Chicken & White Potatoes
Carrots
Butternut Squash & Apple
Peach, Banana, Apple, Strawberry
Zucchini
Peas
Blueberry, Banana, Apple, Strawberry

And then the big people had meatball sandwiches. Mmmmmm, tasty!!!