Tag Archives: carrots

Takeout Timeout

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Guys, who doesn’t love some Sunday night lo mein or kung pao chicken. However, after eating like crap all weekend or spending too much money going out it may be best to just cook your Chinese take out staple at home. It is a lot healthier and tends to be more wallet friendly as well. I hooked up some stir fry and fried rice for the boyfriend and I last weekend, it was tre yum. Check out the fried rice recipe below and see if you enjoy it as much as we did.

  • 1/2 cup mirepoix mix (pre diced celery, onions, & carrots. You can obviously do this yourself but its just more time away from laying on the couch and watching football).
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • salt & pepper to taste (I would add at the end only because soy sauce, even the low sodium stuff is pretty salty tasting so you don’t want to over season).
  • 1 tbsp. minced garlic paste
  • 1 tsp. minced ginger paste (if you don’t have garlic or ginger paste, the powder would work too)
  • 2 tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1 tsp. sambal oelek (it’s an Asian chili oil but a few squirts of siriacha would do if you didn’t have any)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup boiled rice
  • 1 tbsp. butter (I add it just at the end, before serving. It melts into the rice and adds a nice soft texture to the dish, but feel free to leave out).

Heat the oil on high in pan or wok, while cooking the veggies, paste & spices. Don’t add the rice or soy sauce just yet. Cook till translucent/tender. Then crack the two eggs into the hot oil, veggie, spice mixture. Start scrambling, this is when you add the rice to incorporate everything together. Lower heat and stir in the chili oil & soy sauce.

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It came out so legit, I didn’t even miss having a post meal fortune cookie. I may permanently be on a time out from my take out spot.

Happy Eating, XO.

Melt In Your Mouth Brisket Sandwich

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Guys, it’s officially brisket day! In honor of this yummy day, we’re giving you a damn delish brisket sandwich that’s drool-worthy. No need to give up your crock pot just yet. These melt-y, gooey sandwiches are really worth it. Trust me. And they’re perfect for company (or, you know, when you throw a party for brisket day). We’ve started a Tuesday night tradition with some friends to watch Game of Thrones (obsessed), and with these cooking all day while I’m at work they’re super easy to throw together before show time.

If you’re starting this in the morning before work in the morning, give yourself a little extra time as you need to pre-cook the meat. I had three false-start mornings because I was trying to do this while running out the door.

  • 3 tbsp oil (olive or vegetable)
  • 2 lbs. beef brisket
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 1 large yellow onion, quartered
  • 4 medium potatoes, quartered
  • 4 carrots, chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 cups beef broth
  • 2 cups dry red wine
  • Enough water to cover
  • Burger buns (potato buns are the best)
  • Thinly sliced swiss (parmesan would be amazing too)

Over medium heat, add the oil to a skillet. Really lay on thick some salt and pepper to the beef, then place in the pan. Brown on both sides (but don’t cook it, the crock pot will do that). Place all of the ingredients in to the crock pot, with the brisket on top and cover with all of the liquids (broth, wine, and water). Cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 6.

When you’re ready to make the sandwiches, set your broiler to low. Using two forks, begin to pull apart the beef right in the crock pot. Scoop out the beef on to the buns. (If you’re feeling adventurous, you can put some carrots and potatoes on the sandwiches too.) Lay the swiss cheese on top and place in the broiler until melted. In small bowls on the side of each plate, spoon out the beef broth from the crock pot to use as the “au jus”.

French Dip Sandwich

Happy Eating, XO.

Chicken Soup (for the Soul)

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Cold season is in full swing around our neighborhood. People are coming down with it quicker than you can sneeze. My husband happened to bring it home last week and by the end of the week I had caught it too. I can honestly say in all the time we’ve been together we’ve never been sick at the same time. Who was supposed to take care of who?!

Well, as a die hard foodie (and both of us being too sick to go to the store), I stepped up to the bowl (haha?) and made us some homemade chicken soup, for the soul. (Because you can’t say chicken soup without thinking “…for the soul”). Now guys, if I can make this soup while wrapped in a snuggie, you know it’s easy.

  • 1 box of chicken stock or chicken broth (if you want to know the difference btwn the two, check this out. I used chicken stock for this recipe as I like the bolder flavor.)
  • 2 diced chicken breasts
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 turnip
  • 1 leek
  • 1 parsnip
  • 1 piece of celery
  • 1 small onion
  • 2 tbsps of parsley
  • 1 tbsp of dill
  • 1 bag of egg noodles or 2 bags of rice (I prefer rice, but either works)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the chicken in the skillet until slightly brown. Be sure not to over do it it as it’ll continue to cook once added in later with the vegetables. Once done, plate the chicken and cover with foil to keep it warm.

Dice all of the vegetables and spices and place in the skillet you cooked the chicken in. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Let the vegetables cook for 15-20 minutes or until soft. Add in the chicken and let sit for a couple of minutes to soak in the soup. Get well soon!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Happy Eating, XO.

Chicken and Dumplins’ Y’all

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Dust off the crockpot guys, this is a Northerner’s solution to the Southern classic.
  • 4 frozen chicken breasts (I love this, I always forget to defrost my meats and then am stressed out that I don’t have food to make, this can go straight from freezer to crockpot, no defrosting needed)
  • 1-2 cups of the mirepoix mix (See its used for things other than the meatloaf recipe. p/s I added some frozen corn too because I love it and can’t put it enough recipes, Id say 1/2-1 cup)
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup (if you’re like my sister and hate mushrooms, just use another can of chicken soup)
  • 1 can biscuits (I usually just dice up 4-5 biscuits into small pieces since they expand when cooking, but shit use the whole can if you want, I don’t judge)
  • 1 can of low sodium chicken broth (you can use water instead, but I like the flavor of broth)
  • Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and black pepper (all to taste, no measurements, just eyeball it. I also add a dash of hot sauce to this as well)
Layer the chicken and seasoning at the bottom of the pot. Then toss in the veggie mix and soups. Stir and let cook on HIGH for 6 hrs, yes for that long, remember how the chicken is frozen, remember how undercooked chicken is deathly. However, at about 5 to 5.5 hours in, add the chopped up biscuits (take the biscuit and cut into quarters) throw on top & re-cover with lid for the remaining 30-45 minutes. Yup, total time on high for 6 hrs. take a nap, clean, watch a movie, do whatever you want for those 6 hrs 🙂
Happy Eating, XO.

Muffin Mania Part I

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OK so sometimes I buy way too many veggies in attempt to eat healthier. Now we are at that moment in which they will go bad if not consumed soon and I just cant finish all of this myself. So, juicing is usually a good fallback option however I sold my juicer in attempt to buy a new pair of shoes, so there’s that. Good old Pinterest to the rescue. I searched for a recipe that would use ingredients I already had in my pantry/kitchen. What a yummy way to eat my veggies and a resolution to my overabundance problem!

  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour (I used all purpose because that’s all I had lying around)
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled (I forgot this, that’s what rushing to take photos does, don’t forget it, seems to be the element that adds a certain richness)
  • ½ cup pure maple syrup (I would also add a tbsp. of sugar because I don’t think they were sweet enough)
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup grated zucchini
  • 1 cup grated carrot (original calls for 1/2 cup but I think it needs 1, came out too doughy)
  • Original recipe had raisins and nuts (walnuts or pecans would work best), I left out but its a good idea to add some more oompf to the muffins.
Preheat oven to 350°F and place rack in the center of the oven, and coat a mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the butter, maple syrup (& sugar), egg, and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir together until just barely combined. Add the zucchini, carrot, and stir gently until just distributed. Fill each cup in the mini muffin pan approximately ¾ full (my tins were only half full) Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
photo
Happy Eating, XO