OH SUSHI how I love thee!

I had never tried sushi until a few months ago. Honestly, they looked like miniature, rubbery yoga mats to me. And the thought of eating raw fish… *shudder*

I actually still feel a little queasy when I eat it, but the immediate ecstasy of the taste immediately drives all concerns away. Oh my word, this stuff is so good!!!

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Tonight, I tried some raw fish on rice. YES! I did it! Previously, I’d only been brave enough to eat seaweed, rice and veggie sushi and maybe small portions of eel mixed in. But tonight I hankered down on a bit of raw salmon, eel and lobster. *faints from delight* Smeared with a little wasabi sauce, the stuff is AMAZING!!!! I love Japanese food. Wow.

How about you? Have you ever tried sushi? Do you think you’d like it?

The dish uses all leftovers. The daughter quickly steamed some broccoli and kale, and placed it on a plate of leftover Jasmine rice. She dribbled a little bit of leftover pot roast broth and a dash of soy sauce on the rice. She toasted some leftover Panera bread and buttered it with garlic butter. Voila! Instant, super-healthy lunch. It was so good, and so filling.

Chili in a Wok
Olive oil
Boneless pork steaks, cut into strips
White onion, diced
Garlic, chopped
Canned beans: I used 1 can of kidney, 1 can of northern, and 1 can of garbanzo.
Kale, chopped in small sections
1 small can V-8 tomato juice (8 oz)
Chili powder
Cumin
Salt

In a wok, heat up the oil. Toss in the pork. When it starts to cook through, add the onion and garlic. Allow the pork to cook entirely. Open the cans of beans and drain the liquid entirely. I also rinse them to remove the goopy liquid. Add the beans to the wok, and gently stir.

Add the tomato juice, kale, and seasonings. Cook, stirring, until the kale begins to soften.

Serve with jasmine or basmati rice.

Now, my dish was a little on the spicy side because I used a lot of chili powder and cumin. You can adjust the recipe according to your likes.

So while this dish won’t win any beauty contests, it’s great comfort food for a cold, nasty day (which it was, that November evening). It’s easy to make and so healthy! I’ll be doing this one again.

What can you make with eggs, meat or poultry, vegetables and a starch?

Hm.

Stir fry! Emphasis on the vegetables, though. Here’s one that I like. Use ONLY fresh vegetables and it will be goooooood.

Vegetable Stir Fry with Chicken
Chicken strips, cooked until tender

Peanut or olive oil
Water
Broccoli florets
Sugar snap peas
Red pepper strips
Bamboo shoots
Baby corn
Celery stalk, chopped
White onion, sliced

Hot cooked rice
Egg, scrambled and cooked
Soy sauce or duck sauce

It’s very important to quickly cook the vegetables, and not to overcook them. I start with a big wok, heating the oil a bit. I cook the chicken and set it aside. Then I throw the broccoli into the wok and let it heat up for about 3-4 minutes. I then add all the veggies all at once, add a little water, and keep things stirring until they are *just* starting to soften. If you overcook the vegetables, the stir fry will come out mushy and tasteless. I think the secret to Chinese cooking is to keep everything moving, and add water where needed to avoid burning. And this recipe is a much healthier alternative to the restaurant, take-out stuff that is loaded with chemicals– that may be fitted for best hemorrhoid treatment or something, but I am eliminating as many chemicals in my diet as possible.

So after your veggies are steamed, stir in some sauce, and set aside.
Add the egg to the rice, and add the veggies in or on top of the rice. Serve with more sauce. I think it’s yummy!

THEN I got a rice cooker, and I love it. My rice is now 800% better than it ever was.

BUT… and this is a small but, but it’s a but nonetheless… the rice cooker rice was a tiny bit mushy, still. I could allow the rice to cook longer, but the top always dried out before the rest.

So I tried something on a whim, nothing ground breaking like green tea diet pills or anything. But it made the rice turn out so well that I thought I’d mention it here:

Coat the rice with olive oil before you add the water to the rice cooker.

For 5 cups of rice, I’d say I added about 2 teaspoons. I didn’t measure, I just drizzled oil in, so don’t quote me on that. But what you basically want to do is coat the rice before you cook it. And that olive oil did JUST the trick! Yay!!

My rice is softer, fluffier, and fell apart like beautiful little snowflakes. *beaming*

My recipe makes use of budget meat, packaged dried beans (although you could use canned), and bulk rice. It’s a very budget-friendly meal. I nabbed up a large package of Southern Style pork ribs at my local supermarket– they have them on sale for $1 a pound! The dried beans cost me $1.20, and the rice (5 cups) probably cost me around .50 because I buy my rice in bulk. So for feeding six adult-sized portions, this meal cost me about $5.70 to put on the table. And we still had leftovers, after that. I did add a salad, which raised the price of my meal, but you could add something like apples and oatmeal mixed together, or sliced fresh peaches, and that would drive the cost down. This is also a recipe that keeps well, so you could make two casseroles and serve one of them later in the week.

Here’s a quick and easy (what else?) recipe that’s perfect for a chilly winter’s day. This would probably be a great meal in the summer, too!

Wow Chow Pork and Beans Bake
serves 6-8

2 Tablespoons olive oil
3-4 pounds Southern Style pork ribs (bones removed and fat trimmed, cut up into large cubes)
1 bag dried black beans boiled/prepared to package instructions (or 3 12oz cans, drained)
1 small can tomato soup (save the can, you’ll need it to measure water)
1 tablespoon Adobo seasoning
Minced garlic (according to your liking)

In a large skillet, heat up the oil and sear the meat. Add the Adobo seasoning and cook a little longer. Once the meat is almost completely cooked, place the pieces into a large casserole dish. Pour in any remaining juices from the skillet.

Open the tomato soup can and pour all over the meat. Fill up the can twice with water, and pour it in the casserole.
Take your boiled beans and pour them on top. Add the minced garlic. Chop in the beans just a little, to mix with the liquid.
Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour; then, turn your oven down to 325 and bake for 3 more hours.
The house will smell GREAT.

Serve with rice and green salad or a fruit salad.

Quick Fake Spanish Rice

5 cups leftover rice
4 cups ground beef, cooked and drained of fat
1 can (24 oz) spaghetti sauce (I used Hunt’s “Four Cheese” flavor)
1 1.25 envelope Taco Seasoning Powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat up the cooked ground beef and rice in a large pot on the stovetop. If the rice is dry, add a small amount of water to keep the rice from burning. Add the Taco Seasoning packet, the garlic powder, and the salt; mix well. Add the can of spaghetti sauce and mix again. Allow the sauce to heat up but don’t let it burn! When sufficiently heated, turn the mix into a large bowl and let the kids go at it. Even better, give them paper plates and disposable cups, too! Make yourself a peanut butter sandwich and surf the Net.

Well, over the summer, I discovered the wonders of pre-packaged seasonings! I recently did a post about Sun-bird Seasoning packets at my Freaky Frugalite blog. Although it was a sponsored post about Sun-bird, it was sheer joy to write a promotion for them. I love Sun-bird seasonings– they are very inexpensive and they are everywhere, even my local Walgreens. I always try to have some of the packets as a staple in my pantry. I visited the Sun-bird site and found a very good recipe for basic Stir-Fry. As usual, I am always customizing recipes, so here is my altered version. This will serve four hungry people. I also include meat in this recipe, but we have gone meatless with it and the dish is marvelous. Also, if you like your stir-fry very savory, add two packets of Sun-bird seasoning. I like only a little seasoning, so I have one packet listed here.

Stir-Fry Veggies

1 pound boneless chicken or beef, cut into strips (optional)
1 envelope Sun-bird Stir-Fry seasoning packet
3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons sugar (optional)
2 Tablespoons oil
1 Pepper (Red, Yellow, or Bell), cut into thin strips
1 onion (I recommend Vidalia or Red), cut into thin strips or diced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced (I slice them at a diagonal angle)
1/4 pound broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)
1/4 pound cauliflower florets (fresh or frozen)
1/4 pound button mushrooms, sliced
1 can baby corn, drained

In a separate bowl, combine the Soy Sauce, the sugar, the Sun-bird seasoning packet, and the water, and mix briskly. Set aside.

In a large wok or frying pan, heat up the oil. Add the meat and saute quickly until browned. Add all the vegetables EXCEPT the mushrooms to the wok. Cook, constantly stirring, until the carrots are tender. Don’t overcook. Just before the vegetables are done, add the mushrooms and the Soy Sauce mixture. Stir it in and cook for another minute or until thickened. Serve with 5-6 cups of steamed rice. Serve with Soy Sauce to pass around. Yum!

You can also use pre-packaged frozen vegetables if you wish- just be aware that this may slow down the cooking time. You can also experiment with your own veggies. I sometimes add snow pea pods and water chestnuts, which are heavenly!

Super Easy Chicken Florentine
serves 6-8

Chicken breasts, boned, skinned, and cubed
2 cans Alfredo sauce
1 28oz. can spinach -or- three handfuls of raw baby leaf spinach
Parmesan cheese
Paprika

optional: shredded mozzarella cheese

The chicken can either be cubed into chunks or left whole in the casserole dish. I vary from week to week, depending on if I am feeling lazy or not. One of the many great things about having teenagers is that you can sit down and just EAT DINNER. You don’t have to go around, plate to plate, cutting everyone’s meat. But sometimes I pre-cube the chicken, sometimes I throw the whole breasts in the dish and let the family hack it out. Whatever floats yer boat.

One tip: cut the chicken while it’s slightly frozen. Completely thawed chicken is jiggly and squirmy. I pull my chicken out of the freezer and thaw it on the countertop for about two hours before slicing. I know “they” say you aren’t supposed to thaw meat on the counter!! I live dangerously, I guess.

So, put your chicken in the dish. Open the can of spinach and drain it thoroughly. I do the canned spinach in the winter, and the raw spinach in the summer (from my garden). If the raw spinach has large leaves, shred them up by hand into smaller pieces. Lay them on top of the chicken.

Open up the Alfredo sauce jars and pour both on top of the spinach.

This is where it gets fun: mix with your hands!

Yum! OK, if you are squeamish, go ahead and use a spoon. Fraidy cat. I grew up in an Italian home, where we loved to dig into the mixture. My kids think I’m weird, but…. it’s kind of fun.

After you’ve mixed it, sprinkle some Parmesan cheese to the top. Not too much! Just enough to give the sauce a little kick. At this point you can add a little mozzarella cheese if you wish. Don’t add too much, because the dish will become too cheesy. Just a small handful of shredded cheese will do. I prefer to make the dish without the cheese, but some of the kids like the cheesy taste. Sprinkle paprika for color.

Place the dish into your oven, 350 degrees for an hour. If you are using whole chicken breasts, make the time about an hour and a half. You’ll know it’s all ready when the sauce is bubbling and the top of the mix is golden brown. I almost always check one of the breasts, to make sure it’s thoroughly done inside.

Like I said, you can serve this with rice, egg noodles, pasta. It’s delicious! You can serve this with a side dish of steamed broccoli florets or small pre-cooked carrot slices. Yummy!