Spring Roll Salad

Pin It Now!

Working full time again has made it hard for me to keep up with my blogs!!  I feel so behind...but teaching again has really kept me busy and here in Saudi, that's such a good thing.  I must admit, I am amazed at how difficult it is to be a mom, wife and full time teacher.  Talk about trying to find balance in your life!  I'm so thankful I have a husband who is supportive and helps out...a lot.  
Of course, it's also taken a toll on my cooking style.  Thankfully, another lady who recently moved sold me her crock-pot.  What a lifesaver!!! (they don't exist here in Saudi...trust me, I've looked and looked!)  I've been scouring the web for amazing slow cooker recipes. 
In the meantime, I will try and get caught up with past recipes that I've been making.  

Another fab find from Pinterest.  It's my go-to cookbook now.  :)  
This was a great salad.  I made it to take to a pot luck and there wasn't nothing left at the end.  (which made me kind of sad because I was hoping for leftovers)
I had to alter the recipe based on what I could actually find here, but the end result was still delish.  

By the way....what's your favorite slow cooker recipe?

Balsamic-Honey Chicken Drumsticks

Pin It Now!

I love chicken wings as much as the next gal.  When we were in the States a fave treat was hitting up the local BWW.  (aka Buffalo Wild Wings) A yummy, sticky mess of wings and a nice beer.  sigh...
Okay, so no luck with the beer here, but I can make some sticky chicken!  Found this great recipe and didn't hesitate to give it a try.  
Beyond easy to make...through the ingredients in a bag, marinate for 2 hours, drop the legs on a baking sheet and 30 minutes later you've got a killer dinner.
This would make a great dish for your upcoming Super Bowl party!  (oh man, now I really miss the States...we're hoping to possibly get the game here, but well, we'd also have to get up at 2:30am to watch and not all that sure if we'll get the commercials here)
By the way...these legs should get even the pickiest eater to chow down!  (my little one sure loved them...see picture after recipe!)
Happy Cooking!

Kale and Beef Stir-Fry

Pin It Now!

Okay, so if you're paying any attention to the latest food trends you'd know that kale is one of the new "it" foods.  What is kale?
Kale is a leafy green.  There are three different kinds.  Russian Red, Dinosaur Kale (aka tuscan kale), and the most popular Curly Green Kale (this is the easiest to find).  
Kale is a great brain booster and is rich in B6 vitamins and alpha-linolenic acids (building blocks for creating new brain cells).  It is also a great fatigue fighter because it can absorb iron from chicken, fish or beef and help supply more oxygen to your muscles.
When preparing kale, make sure to cut out the inner membrane (the stiff piece that goes up the middle of the leaf) and discard the stems.  
There are tons of recipes out know for kale.  In my Smokey Minestrone Tortellini Soup I add it at the end for some extra veggie punch.  This stir-fry recipe turned out great.  It's super easy to make and you can tweak the recipe to what you have on hand.  Through it over some steamed white rice and you're good to go!  

Oma's Egg Rolls

Pin It Now!

My mother-in-law is in town and the first thing my husband had to say was..."will you make me egg rolls??"  20 plus years ago she took an oriental cooking class and made the rolls for the family.  She received rave reviews.  Shortly after, my husband decided that he wanted those egg rolls every year on his birthday and it became a tradition.  (however, his two other brothers were never so lucky...Matt's the baby of the family) 

As I'm typing this post...the meat for the rolls is cooking in the background.  My goodness, my house smells amazing!!!  The process is a bit time consuming (chopping up all the veggies and what not), but so worth it.  Another part to note is that the meat freezes well, so you can make the amount listed and if you find you have extra meat...pop it in the freezer till next time!  :)

Tuesday: Steak Stir-Fry

Pin It Now!

Sunday found my family at the local farmers market.  First time in the two years we've lived here...how could we have waited so long?  I went with the sole purpose of buying eggs.  There is nothing like the taste of fresh eggs.  I left with some great finds...but no eggs.  Yep, got so wrapped up in all the other great stuff, I forgot the eggs.  Well, not totally, I did buy some quail eggs.  I've been dying to try them and no stores sell them around here.  I'll post more about these lovely little eggs later.
  
One of the stands was just overflowing with all sorts of leafy greens.  Half I'd never even heard of.  They had lemon basil (that smelled just like a fresh lemon), purple basil (no idea what to do with that either.  I ended up buying some Thai basil, which I now realize it's what I have it growing like a weed in my backyard...(I knew it was some kind of basil!)  And also two new greens:
Phak Boong, “Morning Glory”  ...it took me the better part of a half hour to find this on the web and figure out what to do with it.  It's going in my stir fry.  
I also purchased Methi aka Fenugreek (googled this one too).  I'll post more about these two later on.  


So, once I realized that I could throw the morning glory into a stir-fry, I decided to just make a nice beef stir-fry dish.  The recipe is for the sauce...I'm just going to add a bunch of veggies and mix it all up!  What's your fave stir-fry sauce?

Menu for April 11-15 *Budget Week* Monday: Sesame Soy Meatballs

Pin It Now! Each month, I am going to do a very budget friendly weekly menu.  Each dish claims to feed a family of 4 for $10 (per meal)  I'm sure some will depend on what is on sale at the store, but so far, I think most will stand up to the hype.  I do; however, plan to double some of the dishes in order to have leftovers for lunch the next day.  Looking forward to a week full of new recipes!  Happy cooking!


Monday:  This should be a fun, kid-friendly dish and simple to make.  According to the website, this dish should cost you $2.50 per person.  (again, family of 4)  I'm including a noodle recipe to go with it, so it might change the price just a bit.  You can serve these with rice, noodles, or all veggies.  A side of Miso soup would be good too (though high in salt)


*Kid Korner:  have your kids roll the meatballs

Beef and Bok Choy

Pin It Now!

Family All-Time Fave
We LOVE this recipe...I always make double the amount to ensure there are leftovers.  If you are carb-watching, skip the noddles..but I always use them.  :)  I could eat this every week...the only reason we don't is that flank steak tends to be pricey (check Costco, they have good deals though).  So, I try to make it twice a month!  LOL  enjoy!!   (by the way, this is a Weight Watchers recipe and is worth 4 points.)

Beef and Bok Choy

1 ½ pounds of flank steak

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/3 cup of low sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons chopped green onion

1 TBS grated peeled fresh ginger

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

2 garlic gloves minced

2 ½ cups thinly sliced bok choy

2 TBS sesame seeds

1 package Thai rice noodles (or other flat noodle) 

Cut steak diagonally across the grain into very thin slices and set aside. Combine vinegar and next 5 ingredients in a large Ziploc bag, add steak and seal bag...let stand for at least 10 min...longer if you want stronger flavor (I go for an hour or two)
About 10 minutes before you're ready to cook the meat, get a pot of water boiling and cook rice noodles according to package directions.

Heat large skillet over med-high heat and add steak AND marinade...cook 4 min or until browned...add bok choy, sauté 3 min or until tender.  
Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over noodles.  You can also spice it up with extra red pepper or Siracha.  :)

Menu for March 14-17 - Monday: Thai Peanut Butter Noddles with Chicken

Pin It Now!

Monday:  LOVE this dish!  Made it a couple of times already.  What I do is make two separate sauces, one for the kids and one for us.  That way I can spice it up...it tastes really good with a kick to it.  I use the Thai Rice noodles from Trader Joes.  You could also add some additional veggies...I tried broccoli, but I didn't care for it with the sauce, I did like red bell peppers though.  I serve it with a side of cucumbers (see recipe)...I slice my cucumbers thicker though and place everything in a plastic zip top to marinate while I cook the noodles.

Menu for Feb. 28 - March 3 - Monday: Caramel Pork

Pin It Now! Short week this week since I'm not cooking Fri night.  :)  Trying some more new dishes this week and one I've made before.  My girls really enjoy soup, so I try to find fun variations for them.  I'd love to hear from you about your cooking experiences!  Happy cooking!


Monday:  this was in the new issue of Cooking Light and it sounded really good and very easy to make.  I'm making a slaw to go with it.  (see recipe below)

Wednesday: Baked Teriyaki Chicken

Pin It Now! This is one of those dishes you know you shouldn't make everyday...even though you really (really) want to.  I think my kids would eat the sauce with a spoon.  Yes, there's a lot of sugar, but you can adjust that to your taste.  (some have also used brown sugar)  I like the good'ol white sugar.  And I LOVE the sweet-sticky mess that is this sauce.  I keep the skin on, for the simple reason that I love it.  If you're watching your calories and fat, feel free to take it off. 

Menu for Feb 22nd-25th... Tuesday: Crab and Asian Slaw

Pin It Now! So, I have been inspired by the great Julia Child.  I finally watched the movie "Julie and Julia" and I found myself wanting to rush out and by her book before the movie was even over!  The best part, is that I have learned that I have been making some mistakes in my cooking and through her, I'll be cooking better!  I'm going to try and create one dish a week from her famous cookbook.  This weeks will come on Thursday!  If you've made something you call a family fave, don't hesitate to share!


Tuesday:  great sale on Dungeness crab at Vons...keeping the crab simple, just going to re-heat (since already cooked) and serve with a side of melted butter and perhaps cocktail sauce.  Going to make this lovely sounding slaw for the side.

Wasabi and Panko-Crusted Pork with Gingered Soy Sauce

Pin It Now! Another week...another batch of fun dishes.  Had some meat in the freezer, so using up some of that.  Again, let me know if you cook any of these and how they turn out!  :)  And please, share your recipes with me!


I've made this dish before and the flavors are amazing!  And, the wasabi paste gives a great taste without the spice.  My girls really like this.  I'm going to make it with the cucumbers on the side.  (Maybe some rice for the girls)

Wednesday: Crispy Orange Beef

Pin It Now! Had some sirloin leftover from last week, so thought I would do something different with it.  I read the reviews and I'm going to make some modifications to the sauce (like cutting back on the sugar and ginger, and using fresh OJ instead of concentrated).  Serving with brown rice and broccoli and some pre-cooked egg rolls.

Friday: Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

Pin It Now!

Loved this the first time I made it, so...it's back again!  I added bok choy to it last time for extra veggies, going to do that again.  I may throw in some edamame as well.  You can usually find lemon grass in your produce section at the grocery store.  They look like bamboo sticks (kinda)  I didn't understand how to use the lemon grass and made the mistake of cutting it up into small pieces.  Had to pick them all out!!  They take a LONG time to cook to be edible.  Just peel the lemon grass into long pieces and then you'll remove them before serving the soup.  
Some great additions would be peas, corn, mushrooms, or water chestnuts.  Also, give it a great kick with some Siracha.