Menu-Planning Fail

Although, it can't actually be qualified as a Paige-fail because I was in the hospital.

Basically from Saturday, October 20 until Wednesday October 24, I was in the hospital getting my gall bladder removed. Wasn't planned, but apparently it was required. So I didn't cook at all that week, or the next week, but we cleared out all of the freezer leftovers!

This week will be better. I've got a plan that I'm going to stick to, and will make sure to take all the photos and give comments like I have in weeks before.

Week Two

Sunday: I didn't make anything because it was Thanksgiving (yay!)

Monday: Again, I didn't make anything because we had another Thanksgiving supper at the in-laws.

Tuesday: Green Eggs & Ham Quiche, Hashbrowns
The quiche was SO good. If I've learned anything about AllRecipes, you check the comments before making whatever recipe you've printed off. Why? Because 9 times out of 10, someone made an AWESOME suggestion to change things up and make the recipe outstanding. The recipe originally called to use the food processor on the spinach and basically blend everything into one green mess. Someone commented and said they left everything as a rough chop, so I did that. I also added bell peppers (about a cup) and green onions (about a quarter cup). I used 6 eggs instead of the 4, and then added an additional 1/4 cup of bisquick to compensate. Seasoned with salt and pepper, a bit of garlic salt & seasoning salt, and the teensiest bit of thyme. The result was flavourful and oh so tasty, not to mention quiche apparently freezes well so what we have leftover after a day or two (um, hello breakfast tomorrow!!) I'll toss in the freezer to reheat later.

Wednesday: Crispy Garlic-Ginger Chicken on Rice Vermicelli with bean sprouts and carrots
This chicken wasn't crispy at all. And mine turned out a totally different colour than the picture. I marinated it from about 2 until 6, unlike the 30 minutes it said to. Combining 3 tbsp of cornstarch with one single egg white is not fun. I minced my garlic and ginger rather than leave it as sticks, and I think that was key. Having a bite full of those would have suuuucked. Overall, I don't think I'd make it again despite Tyler saying that he liked it.

Thursday: Coconut Chicken with Sweet Chili Sauce, Rice
We decided to have potatoes instead of rice, and I added peas (how could I have forgotten a vegetable?!). This chicken was FANTASTIC. So so good. Nice and crunchy with a subtle coconut flavour, and when it was dipped into the sweet chili sauce... droooool. Tyler liked it even without the sauce, so that was full of win. I don't know why I put off buying Panko crumbs for this long. They just make things so deliciously crunchy! This recipe is a keeper :D




Friday: Chicken Fingers, Zucchini Sticks, Sweet Potato Fries
Okay. Friday was a fail. We had leftovers from Thursday that Tyler wanted to eat and the zucchini my mom had given me had gone spongey by Friday. So, we had leftovers and sweet potato fries. 
I didn't actually use the recipe. I mean, I used the timing and temperature of oven, but other than that I just made them how I would normally make fries... Toss in oil & a bit of seasoning salt and garlic salt, then onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Did 20 minutes, then turned them over and baked for another 15. They were okay. The flavour while eating was good, but I did not like the after taste of sweet potatoes. 

Hopefully week 3 will be better, a lot less recipes, a lot more of what I kind of throw together. 

Week One

Week One of the "official" meal planning went well. I had been doing meal planning for the couple weeks leading up to the first week we put everything on the website, but at least here I was taking pictures!

Sunday: General Tso's Chicken, peas, and rice. 

 Comments: So I ended up making peas to go with it, and hot damn. That chicken was delicious. Even my picky husband liked it. I have issues with this guy's sauces, in that they never turn out in the consistency that I think they should. Not to mention the 'make a caramel' step backfired and I burned my hand haha. So I ended up adding more water, and then put the chicken in a 8" glass dish, poured the sauce over it, and baked it in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes. OH and I only put in 1 1/2 tbsp of the chili paste. I felt it better to have not enough spice than to have too much. And for us, it was perfect, but if you like it spicier then adding the full 2 tbsp would have been good.

 
 Monday: Strawberry, Spinach, Pecan (and Chicken!) Salad
Comments: I just made a giant chicken, spinach, strawberry, and pecan salad with the balsamic vinaigrette in the recipe for the salad, rather than double up the balsamic. I did, however, season the chicken (I sliced it into strips and cooked it with a bit of olive oil in a frying pan) with poultry seasoning and salt and pepper, which kept it from being too plain. Tyler enjoyed it, so I'd say it's a win!

Tuesday: Baked Spaghetti
Comments: I added a couple pinches of cinnamon to the sauce (as I do with all of our tomato sauces) and then used more cheese throughout the casserole. All in all, it was delicious. I agree that it made a lot of food, but I was able to share it with friends/family that live close to us. So win/win!

Wednesday: Turkey Chili and Biscuits
Comments: Okay. I failed on making biscuits because of sheer laziness. It was a grey day, weather wise, so I was just sluggish and tired as a result. As for the chili, I only loosely followed the recipe. I added coloured peppers (about a cup worth, and I used red, yellow, orange, and green), did two cans of kidney beans, two cans of Heinz beans in tomato sauce, two cups of chicken broth (although next time I'd reduce to 1 1/2 cups) and a bunch more spices than this called for. With all the additions, it definitely will serve 8 people. I just don't really like the chunks of tomato (I thought I had crushed tomatoes in my pantry but I've only got the diced) so I wanted to make them few and far between :DFor my first time, ever, making chili, this was an epic success.


Thursday: Broccoli & Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts, Quinoa, Steamed Broccoli
Comments: For our first time eating quinoa, it wasn't too bad. This recipe was actually pretty tasty, although I did alter the cooking method a bit (in that I put the garlic, thyme, and salt into the pot with chicken stock so that the flavours were absorbed better). The only issue was that it made a LOT. I don't know how they determined that it was 4 servings, but with Tyler and I each having a moderate amount, plus leftovers set aside for the next day, there was still probably another two servings in there. So next time, I'd definitely cut it in half.

Meal Planning

Um. So Paige fail at updating. I'm blaming baby and the fact that it took me a LONG while to get back into the swing of things, cooking and baking wise. Only within the last month have I had an inkling to bake, and I went full into it. I've got a freezer full of cookies to prove it. Okay, I lied. It's not FULL of cookies.

One thing I failed to take into account when I was pregnant, and then a new mom, was cooking. I guess I just assumed that making meals would be as easy as before, in that I could just kind of zone out and get it done. Boy, was I wrong. And I know, you're all laughing at me because this should have been a common sense moment. But trying to cook intricate things with a baby who is awake and/or demanding attention is just SO tough. Thankfully, Olivia is 6 months now and a lot easier to leave on her own. It sounds odd, but newborns are just SUCH a time suck. Now that she's older, I just plop her on her mat (or in her Jolly Jumper or Exersaucer or MamaRoo) and check in every 5 minutes as I do shit in the kitchen. Or put her in the high chair so she can watch.

But I digress.

This last month has been about getting back into my groove. With cooking and baking, sure, but also just with life. Getting into habits and routines with Olivia, and with myself. After Olivia was born, my number 1 concern (after recovery and taking care of an infant) was to not get PPD. I know that it's not something that can be willed away, but I like to think I was able to. By keeping a positive attitude even at 3 in the morning with a crying baby.

Low Fat General Tso's Chicken

I belong to this group of mom's on Facebook, some of which I know in real life and others that I feel I should know in real life (trips across Canada will happen!), and we recently decided that maybe meal planning is something we should get into. We talked about it for awhile, but nothing really came of it. So I,  with my uber-Type A personality, took it upon myself to create a website where we post what we're making each week along with comments on what worked and what didn't. We've also got a chat room where we discuss recipes for the following week. This week was the first one that we actually did that in (past 2 weeks I've just been doing it myself) and I think this is going to be awesome.

Today's dish (that I made) was Low Fat General Tso's Chicken, served with plain rice and peas, recipe courtesy of Rock Recipes.  This guy has AMAZING recipes. Last week we tried the Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken Breasts and mmmm.

Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken

I've found that I have issues when making his sauces, in that I think they should be thicker than they're turning out for me, but I've solved that issue by just putting the chicken in an 8x8 glass dish and baking for about 15 minutes in the oven. Allowed the chicken to soak in some of the sauce and allowed the sauce to thicken.

I think my plan for this blog is that I'm going to condense from having two blogs that I never update (my personal one and then my food one) and just kind of... mesh the two together. No one really cares about the stuff in my personal life anyway, or I just update Facebook and Twitter with it and call it a day. Either way, I'm hoping to take a photo of all the meals I make while doing the meal planning, and at least keeping in touch that way.

Recipes Ahoy!

With what I'm hoping will be an influx of traffic to this blog, I am going to post a couple different recipes.  I may or may not have set an entire group of 80 pregnant women drooling with my incessant photo posting... But I blame the one who started the photo album! I was just answering the call!

Chicken Lemon Orzo Soup
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
2 cups low fat/reduced sodium chicken broth - Just my preference, so use whatever you normally would
6 cups water
3/4c lemon juice
3/4c orzo noodles
sprinklings of thyme and celery salt
1/4 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste



1. In a large pot, simmer all ingredients except the noodles for half an hour.
2. After 20 minutes, add noodles.
3. Thicken with 1 cup milk + 2-3 tbsp cornstarch.

Maple Apple Crumble

4 cups sliced apples
1 tsp cinnamon
½ cup maple syrup

Topping
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ cup butter
¾ cup flour

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9x13 pan

2. Place apples in the pan, sprinkle with cinnamon and toss with syrup

3. Cream sugar and butter together, add flour and spices. Sprinkle over apples.

4. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes, until apples are tender and crust is browned. 

Turkey & Chicken Shepherd's Pie

1 package ground turkey or chicken
2 chicken breasts
4-6 potatoes, depending on size
2 c veggies that you want to add into the innards (I use frozen Green Giant ones)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 small onion, diced
ground thyme, salt, pepper, basil, oregano
2 cups chicken stock OR 1 ¾ c water + 2 tsp chicken bouillon powder
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 can creamed corn

1. Preheat oven to 375°

2. Boil potatoes until tender.

3. As potatoes are boiling, cook chicken breasts and brown the ground meat (I like to use a Foreman grill for the chicken) with your onion.  Once breasts are finished cooking, cube and toss into the mix with the ground meat.  Season with spices that you like, making sure to add a liberal amount of ground thyme (I use garlic salt/powder, seasoning salt, ground black pepper, and thyme).  Dump the meat into the dish you plan to bake this in (I use a 3quart Corningware baking dish, one of the weird oblong ones), along with veggies.

3. In the same pan you seasoned the meat in, combine chicken stock/water + bouillon and bring to a boil.  Dissolve cornstarch in a small amount of milk, and add to the stock.  Add a healthy dose of thyme, salt, and pepper, along with some basil and oregano (couple sprinkles of each).  Whisk until thickened, and then add the meat and veggies into the gravy. 

4. As you’re letting your meat, veggies, and gravy get acquainted, your potatoes should be done. Drain them, and then mash them to your heart’s content. I like to add a bunch of milk to make them really creamy (and, truth be told, the runnier they are, the easier they spread).

5. Before transferring meat to the dish again, add your can of creamed corn. This sounds weird, but it totally makes it that much more awesome. Pour the meat/veggies into the bottom of the dish, and top with the potatoes, as evenly spread as you can make it. Sprinkle with cheese, then bake with the lid on for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are lightly browned and the cheese is a-bubblin.

Asian Inspiration

Yeah yeah. I know. It's been forever since I last blogged. I can't even claim that I've been busy, I'm just going to say that laziness took the front seat. And the fact that I was so super boring that I couldn't even lie my way through a blog. But I'm back, with some very tasty recipes!

Tuesday, I decided that I really wanted some chili-lime chicken. Kaalyn and I, a couple weeks ago, decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and hit up some patios.  We went to O'Sheas, where we weren't even offered menu's despite every customer our server went to after being offered them. So we had our drinks, and then waved them off in search of some delicious appetizers. We went to Moxie's, where the patio had a 20 minute wait and the restaurant was empty. Upon remembering that the last time we were there, we had horrid service and the food was kinda gross, we hopped in the car again to search out the next establishment. Beily's was completely empty during our drive by. In fact, it looked like they didn't even open the patio yet that day.  Boston Pizza... just hells no. Original Joe's is right beside the Boston Pizza, and their patio was full of sun and only half full of people. So we copped a squat, and it was incredibly worth it.  Our server was great, and we had the best chili-lime chicken I've ever had. (Note: don't order the Red Pepper Spinach Dip. It's mostly cheez whiz).

Now we're on to this Tuesday. I reeeally wanted to be able to make the deliciousness that is chili-lime chicken, and I succeeded in that it tasted similar. Mine was made a little more low-fat, but hey. Whatever.

What You'll Need
chicken breasts, cut into strips - I purchased chicken breasts that were already cut into strips (they called them filet's, but Co-op can be weird), and used 8 strips
Cornflake crumbs, or your favourite bread crumbs
Basic spices - I used sea salt, black pepper, and thyme
Crunchy chow mein noodles - approx. 1 cup per serving (or more if you're like me and love chow mein noodles)
Green onion, chopped
Baby spinach - approx. 1 cup per serving
1 bottle of Thai Sweet Chili sauce. There are many brands, and varying levels of heat. Choose what you like.
Lime juice and/or fresh limes. Completely your choice.
Foreman grill - If you don't have one, may I suggest purchasing one? Otherwise, bake the strips in the oven.

1. In a bowl, combine enough Cornflake crumbs to coat your chicken strips with your desired spices.
2. Allow Foreman grill/ oven to preheat.
3. Coat chicken strips with Cornflake crumbs, put on grill/cooking sheet and cook through. (Just remember: because they're cut into strips, they will cook a lot faster than a full breast)
4. Once chicken is cooked, cut into small bite-sized pieces.  I say to do this after they're cooked because it's less gross, and the pieces can be more uniform.  I also find it easier to dice cooked chicken than it is to try to do it with raw.
5.  In a bowl, combine about a 1/4 cup of Thai Sweet Chili sauce with approximately a tablespoon of lime juice (or a single lime, if you're going that way). I say this as approximations because it'll all depend just how much you're cooking, and how much of the sauce you want as extra.
6. Toss chicken and 3/4c. of your chow mein noodles in the sauce.

7. To serve, line up your spinach in a straight line down the centre of your plate. Top with the remaining 1/4c. of chow mein noodles. Place the sauced up noodles and chicken on top of that, and sprinkle with green onions. Buon appetite!





Wednesday (being today), I was in the mood for a rice noodle bowl.  Mind you, I had to prepare ahead of time because the beef needed to marinate, but I definitely could have changed my mind and made the steaks as their normal steak selves.  I went with a teriyaki marinade, found on Allrecipes as the "Easiest Teriyaki Marinade Ever". While I may not think that it's the BEST ever, it certainly was easy. So I let the steaks I picked up (labelled as grilling steaks by Co-op. Man, their labels are weird) marinate overnight, and then went from there.

What You'll Need
small steaks, one per serving

one package rice vermicelli noodles
julienned carrots, cucumbers, or whatever you want to go into the noodle bowl
shredded lettuce - enough to cover the bottom of the bowl/plate you're using to serve
sesame seeds, for garnish
chopped peanuts - the one thing that I didn't have and that totally makes the dish. Sigh.

1. Marinate your steaks. I can't stress this enough. This way, you get a good flavour base even if you plan on bumping it up a notch while you're cooking.

2. Chop your lettuce and vegetables, placing them in to separate bowls. This way, if you have picky eaters, they can choose what veggies go into their noodle bowl.

3. Slice your steaks as thin as you can. I suck at slicing thin, but it turned out fine enough.
4. Use a non-stick skillet, heating to just under medium heat. Trust me, because of the sugar content of the marinade I used, any higher would have had my touchy smoke detector going ape shit. At the same time, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
5. Place your steak slices on the frying pan, as many as you can fit. I had to do it twice, but that's just how it goes. 
6. Keep an eye on the steak, and when the water is boiling in that pot I told you to set up, dump in your vermicelli noodles. These noodles need a MAXIMUM of 2 minutes to cook.
7. Once the noodles are done, drain and allow to sit in the strainer/colander/sieve/whatever name you've given the large pot-type-deal with holes in it over the empty pot. This way, if any stray noodles decide that they want to make a run for it, you get to laugh in their face because they're in the pot and you can get them. Or at least I do.

8. To serve, place a layer of shredded lettuce on the bottom of the bowl/plate. Top with noodles, and then decoratively (or not, it's up to you) arrange your veggies. Top with steak, then sprinkle with sesame seeds and peanuts. I use extra soya sauce when I'm eating, because it gives the vermicelli just a little bit more salt. If you're like Tyler and don't care for sauces, it's perfectly fine to eat without.



I really wish that I had the forethought to pick up some spring rolls (and chopped peanuts >: | ), as that would have made the meal absolutely perfect. As it stands, I'll settle for top notch.

Experimentation Day

Tonight was one of what will be many nights of Tyler working the day shift and thus not being home for supper.  Or I guess he'll be home soonish, as he works until 730. But whatever, he has no say in what supper is.

That being said, I didn't really decide on anything specifically. I took out some ground turkey, thinking of pasta. And then the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want pasta. I was actually contemplating a supper of Cheetos. Instead, I did the right thing and started browning the meat. Then I though "Hmm, I have these Udon noodles in the fridge". And so, an idea was formed.

I have no idea what to call it.

So even though I don't know what I'm calling this dish, nor do I know actual measurements of what I added, I will give you the rundown. 

1 pkg ground turkey - I had ground turkey thigh, but I think they sell ground turkey breast too. 

2-200g pkg Udon noodles - Found in the refrigerated produce section

about a half cup-ish of frozen vegebles. Could probably use fresh too, if you had those (we haven't been grocery shopping oops)

2-3 tbsp Teriyaki sauce

1-2 tbsp Hoisin sauce

1-2 tbsp Soya sauce 

(Obviously, this is to taste. If you're not a saucy person, then don't put as much in)

1-2 tsp lime juice (this is actually pretty crucial to this recipe)

Spices:

Seasoning salt, minced garlic (freeze dried FTW!), chives (again, freeze dried), ground thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper

1. Brown your meat. No, that's not a euphemism. Turkey is pretty lean, thus there isn't as much fatty grease to rinse off the meat or the pan. What I did was dump it into a sieve, and then just left the pan as is. Having that little bit of grease on there helps to cook the noodles. 

2. As the meat is, uh, meating in the sieve, throw the noodles into your turkey-grease pan. You basically want them to warm up so that they separate. I'm sure there's a better way to do it, I just followed the directions on the back of the package. Actually that's a lie. I tossed them in the pan, got impatient, so I picked them up with my fingers and broke them apart. There were some small noodles in that there pan.

3. I put the meat into a smaller frying pan (above) so I could spice it. I added seasoning salt, thyme, and maybe a quarter teaspoon of minced garlic. As that was happening, I add the frozen vegetables, another half teaspoon of minced garlic, and a half teaspoon of chives. Kind of just let things chill for a little bit. 

4. After the noodles were warm and floppy, I added the meat to it and then the sauces. Of course, I just threw things in. I didn't measure, I did it all by "Hmm, that looks about right". As per usual, actually. When I'm not following a recipe, I just throw things in for good measure. That's how the lime juice got itself added! 

5. Let everything kind of sit and soak up the sauce. Allow them to become deliciously tasty friends. When you deem it done, sprinkle with sesame seeds. 

6. Serve it. Yeah, I don't have anything witty for that. 

I was apprehensive, if I'm being honest. Extremely apprehensive. I've had failures before and they were absolutely gross. Either I've gotten to be a better cook, or I've just gotten better at learning what goes together. Whatever it was, it was lip smackingly delicious. In an Italian way. Only with an Asian recipe.