Stir Fry

I had a friend over for lunch the other day, and by the other day I mean it was probably 2 months ago now. My how time flies! When I asked if there was anything specific that she wanted to eat, she said that she had really enjoyed the curry I made, so maybe something like that. I decided to make stir fry, mostly because I hadn't made it in a rather long time, and it sounded good to me.

Stir fry is super easy to make and can be altered so easily to fit different dietary needs. It is also super healthy and delicious.

Start by setting your rice to cooking because that will take the longest. I made sushi rice with coconut milk.  Next cook a couple of chicken breasts that have been cut into chunks. I cooked these in a little coconut oil and seasoned with curry powder, turmeric, cayenne pepper, garlic salt, cinnamon, and pepper. When the chicken is finished cooking set aside and keep warm.

Add to the wok cut up veggies of your choice. I think I used onion, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, asparagus. It is best to use fresh veggies. You can also use bell peppers, zucchini or yellow squash, green beans, peas, really any vegetables you like. Allow these to cook until they are a little soft, but not all the way cooked. This gives you a nice crunch. Add the chicken back in and cook just a little longer.

Serve with the rice and eat right away. You can also use some soy sauce if you want that flavor.

This is a really great meal to make because it is fast and easy, but can be easily modified to suit almost anyone's taste buds. It is also really easy to make this a vegetarian meal.

Quick Fixes

I am big on quick, easy to throw together meals because let's face it, life is crazy. As much as I would love to spend all day in the kitchen making meals that require my time and attention for multiple hours, I just don't have that luxury at this time in my life. Therefore, I like making meals that I can make in a short time that are still delicious and healthy and homemade.

Chicken is such an easy to make and versatile food to make. (Confession: I'm pretty sure I made this last summer and I'm just getting around to blogging about it. . .oops!) I love to use the grill (when it's summer), so I grilled this chicken breast, and added a pasta and white sauce on the side.

To make white sauce (not from a can. . .have you ever actually read the ingredients on a sauce can?) start with a couple of tablespoons of butter (or olive oil or other type of oil depending on the flavor you want) in a saucepan. Allow this to melt, and then add a couple of tablespoons of flour. I prefer to use unbleached all purpose flour for something like this, but you can use whatever you feel like. Stir this. It will be sticky. Add in half and half (or milk or almond milk) and continue stirring. You do not want this to boil or it will be scalded. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens. If you want it to be thicker add a little more flour, but be careful that it doesn't clump. Add in whatever seasonings you like. I like to add basil and Italian seasonings to mine, but it's your preference. Herbs of Provence are also good in white sauce (this is a premixed seasoning that you can fine at most grocery stores or international food stores).

White sauce makes a great base to which you can add many things. I usually add in green peas, carrots, and asparagus which I have cooked until soft along with pasta. For the final product, mix together cooked pasta and veggies with white sauce and toss until coated. You could also cut up the chicken and toss it with this, or you can leave it on the side like I did here.

And there you have it! Delicious, nutritious, and easy! Enjoy!

Cali-NZ Chicken

I was looking for new recipes to try, and I came across this recipe for California chicken. I made it for my roommate shortly after I returned from a trip to New Zealand. She then asked me at a later date to make New Zealand chicken. I was confused about what she was wanting me to make until we clarified that New Zealand chicken was California chicken. So now we just call it California-New Zealand chicken. It's delicious and easy to make.


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook a chicken breast (or however many people you are trying to feed). Don't cook it all the way, just partially. Season it with whatever you feel like. When it is partially cooked and properly seasoned, put it in an oven safe dish. Top with sliced tomatoes and a slice of cheese and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is melted. Top with sliced avocado and serve with sweet potato and green beans. Delicious!!

honey-dijon glazed grilled chicken

I saw this recipe when I was looking through my family cookbook to make meatloaf and thought it sounded so good. So I decide to try it with my own little spin on it.

Honey-Dijon Grilled Chicken
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2-4 Tbsp. butter
2-4 Tbsp. dijon mustard
about 1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp. salt
2 ish tsp. curry powder
sprinkle chili powder, cinnamon and turmeric

Before you start on the chicken, you should start by placing a sweet potato or two in a pot of water and setting it to boil. This is a delicious accompaniment to the chicken, but takes much longer to cook than the chicken does. If you don't like sweet potatoes, you can skip this, but you will be missing out let me tell you.

Start by melting the butter.


Then add in the rest of the ingredients except for the chicken and allow to cook for a minute to combine the flavors and make a nice sauce. Now this is important. Stick your finger in the sauce and then lick it. To make sure the seasonings are correct. Repeat as many times as necessary to make sure that the sauce is perfect. Confession: I could take a bath in this sauce it is that delicious. Please, please love this bit of deliciousness.


Then pour the sauce over the chicken breasts. Allow this to marinate for a little while. If you want to make this ahead of time and allow it to marinate overnight or for several hours that would be okay as well.


Grill the chicken breasts basting with the glaze every time you turn the chicken over. Don't overcook the chicken as it can easily dry out if you cook it for too long. Then check on your sweet potato which should be done about now.


So delicious! Also if you are not starving as I was at this point you could make some green beans to go with this meal and it would be perfectly complete.

chicken curry

Thai food holds a very special place in my heart. I love Thai food. I am blessed to have a good Thai restaurant (or a couple) in my town. However, I have never made Thai food at home. Today I did, and it was delightful!! My friend, A, came over to cook lunch with me today. When I asked what she wanted to eat, she replied something with chicken. Since I have been craving curry lately, I decided to try my hand at some chicken curry.

I used this recipe as inspiration and then proceeded to do exactly what I pleased. I started with 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and cut them into nice sized chunks, not too big, not too small, just nice. Then I cooked them in a skillet with some olive oil, minced garlic, diced onion, and a bit of fresh ginger as well as garlic salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, turmeric, curry powder, thyme, and a touch of cayenne. Once again, do what you like with your seasonings. Get a little crazy with it. Once the chicken was cooked through, I removed it to a plate and poured some chicken broth into the skillet along with a little more olive oil. While I cooked the chicken, A was graciously cutting up the veggies for me.

We added a red bell pepper, a yellow squash, a zucchini squash, some onion, and a carrot. We let this cook for a little while and then added a mango and some fresh pineapple as well as a can of coconut milk to the mix. Then came a second round of seasonings. Lastly we threw in some fresh cilantro because I had some on hand. Check the flavor of the sauce and adjust seasonings as desired. I think I would add some more curry and a touch more spice to this.


Serve with rice. I picked up some sweet black Thai rice the other day at MJ's and was eager to try it. It adds a nice color variation and has good flavor. I did cook it kind of fast (because I forgot to put it on before we started the curry), so it was a little crunchy, but all around good.


We had a delightful lunch at the table in the backyard. Thanks A for coming over and having lunch. I loved having you to cook with!!

sweet and sour chicken

Fun fact about Me #57: I love sweet and sour chicken. I, in fact, crave it at least once a week and could probably eat it every day if it was in my budget to do so. However, sweet and sour chicken is full of things that my roommate is allergic to. Which is sad because she too loves it. So I decided to make my own version that she could eat. I made this while she was gone so that I could experiment with it a little and see if I could get it figured out so I could make it for her sometime.


An important part of sweet and sour chicken is rice. Sushi rice on to boil. Yum.


I diced up 1 chicken breast into bite sized chunks. (Okay, pet peeve, I don't understand Chinese restaurants who give you five huge chunks of chicken that could easily be three bites each.)


Then I prepared my breading. I used oat flour, water, and perhaps a little almond milk (I don't for sure remember). I think I also seasoned this with a little salt and perhaps some curry powder and ginger.


Toss the chicken pieces until they are completely coated.


Then place in hot oil and turn until golden brown and cooked through. I removed them to a plate that I covered with paper towels to drain just a bit.


While the chicken was cooking, I started on the sauce. I started with a mixture of pineapple juice and water which I heated and then added tapioca flour to to make it thicken. This was a bad idea as the flour just clumped and I had to toss it out and start over. Word of the wise: first mix the tapioca flour with some water and then pour it in.


Once it had thickened, I added some diced yellow pepper and pineapple chunks. I used yellow pepper here because I had some and my roommate doesn't like it. If I were fixing this for her, I would probably add carrots instead. Hey if you like both, throw it all in there, the more veggies, the merrier. I also added some lime juice because the sauce didn't have enough "sour" to it. Most sweet and sour recipes call for vinegar (which my roomie is allergic to), so I am a bit muddled about what to put in instead. I also added some ginger to this.


All around, this was a decent first attempt. I was pleased with the chicken, but not so much with the sauce. It wasn't sweet or sour enough. I have a few ideas in mind of what to try next time, so we shall see what attempt number two brings.

chicken and mushrooms

I went to the True/False film festival this last weekend. It is all documentaries, and my favorite was one called El Bulli: Cooking in Progress. It has given me so much inspiration to be creative and try new things. Tonight for supper, I decided I wanted to try a chicken and mushroom dish with Marsala wine thrown into the mix.


I started with some butter, minced garlic, onion, and fresh ginger in a sauce pan. I wanted the onions to caramelize a bit, so I let them cook for a little while before I added some sliced mushrooms to the mix along with some Marsala. I let that all cook for a while. . .with these seasonings.
Note my lovely glass of red wine in the background. . .I always think that having a drink while cooking makes the experience even more enjoyable.

Some rice cooking for an accompaniment for dinner.

I love the Spanish tradition of eating late at night. . .still cooking dinner after 9 o'clock means dinner at 9:30. . .so much fun!!


Then I moved the onion and mushroom mixture to a plate and put the chicken breasts in the same pan with some more butter, Marsala and ginger and these seasonings.

The finished plate. Chicken and mushrooms with rice and a nice salad with feta, blueberries and cucumber. . .Delicious!!