Take Out

Jake and I are both exhausted! We worked are butts off helping unload the Uhaul, it was for a great cause. My sister and her boys (and yes her husband) are back to stay. We have missed them so much. It was just so great sitting around outside talking, joking, and giving each other a bad time. It was like relief that they are back, but at the same time it was almost as if they had never left, except for all those boxes that need unpacking. In the end we got 3/4 of it done and we all called it a night. We finished with some take out (chinese). I know what most of you are probably thinking, this is bad for Jake. But I have promised him until his biopsies come back he can have soy and limited dairy. He is really enjoying these foods and will be disappointed if they are effecting his EGID, for now I have given in. Anyways how can a parent really control what a kid that will be 17 yrs. old in 15 days puts in his mouth? It's not easy and there is usually none in my house.

Chicken and Rice

I thought I'd do a little experiment tonight. Prep was chopping carrots, scallions, and spinach. I started with some Jasmine rice, pour 2 cups of water, into a pot, add the rice, 2 chopped scallions, and 1 tbls butter/margarine, bring it to a boil, turn down to low, cover, and simmer for about 18 minutes. When the rice is done fold in the chopped spinach.

Meanwhile heat 2 tbls oil (I used canola) in a large skillet, sprinkle chinese 5 spice on boneless skinless chicken thighs, place in a hot skillet, let it sear for about 5 minutes per side, remove from pan, in the skillet add 1 more tbls oil, add the carrots and scallions, cook until tender, then add 2 tbls flour and stir, cook for 1 minute, whisk in 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, 2 tbls worchestire sauce, 2 tbls soy sauce, 1 tbl balsamic vinegar, a about 1 tbl sriracha(omit if you don't like spicy). Cook until it starts to boil reduce heat and add chicken back into pan, cook for about 3 minutes.

There you go, Jake said it was good. Oh speaking of Jake, who else has noticed that this cooking with Jake thing has turned into just me? I understand this week he had the baby project, and last night he spent the whole night walking for Relay for Life. He walked a total of 13 miles! I am sure I will get him cooking again soon.

Not dinner tonight

Since Jake is gone for the night doing Relay for Life I am not going to cook for myself. I thought I would share some recent pics of his herb garden. He's doing a great job with it, even though some of them have not sprouted after our weather changing so much, from hot to cold and back to hot. Through it all these are what has survived, flat leaf parsley, chives, rosemary is just starting to sprout, and his garlic(he only planted 4 cloves to see if it would work.

rosemary

chives

garlic

parsley

Breakfast for Dinner

I was trying to think of what I wanted for dinner and nothing really sounded good to me. I was looking in all the cabinets and fridge for ideas. My eyes made contact with the potatoes, eggs spinach, scallions, and cheese, so I finally had an idea. I had laid out some pork chops so it had to fit in. Prep was to chop the scallions, spinach, and to peel and grate the potatoes for hash browns. I know as soon as I can fit it in my budget I am investing in a food processor, I hate using a hand grater. This is where Jake comes in handy, but tonight wasn't such a night, him and his "baby" were hanging out at House of Brews for open mic night, again I was on my own.

I love the muffin pan omelets, they are very easy,  you don't have to worry about turning them, and they don't fall apart. I mixed 6 eggs, a little milk(lactose free), chopped fresh spinach, and scallions(salt and pepper to taste). Grease or spray the muffin tins, pour the eggs in about 2/3 full(you will get approximately 8 omelets), then I added some grated rice cheese. Place in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile I seasoned the pork chops with salt and pepper, and cooked them in a large skillet sprayed with cooking spray(canola). I also started the hash browns (note after grating the potatoes soak for at least 5 minutes in water so the don't turn brown, and make sure to place then in a clean dish towel and squeeze out all the water) in a non stick skillet with the spray.

Finally I put some toast in the toaster.

Pasta, Steak, and Veggies

I knew after a crappy day yet again I need some comfort food, so I thought of pasta and I had some small cheap steaks laid out. I just didn't know what kind. Off we went to the store Jake, the "baby", and I. Right off I spotted some spinach, mushrooms, scallions, zucchini, and red bell pepper, I also picked up grated parmesan.

I started off starting a pot of water to boil, then in a large skillet with high sides I heated 2 tbls canola oil(I am out of EVOO), then added all the veggies thinly sliced,  1/2 tsp dried thyme, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, salt and pepper to taste

and 4 cloves of garlic chopped. Cook until tender, I then added 1 tbls of tomato paste, deglaze the pan with white wine, let that cook out for about 1 minute, then add 1 cup of beef broth, simmer until reduced by 1/2.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta, I used shells(that's what I had), next I sliced the steak thin, and cooked in a skillet until done. Add the pasta to the sauce, toss, then I added some chopped fresh spinach after turning the heat off. It will wilt from the heat of the sauce and pasta. Serve with the sliced/cubed steak, and  the parm cheese

Chicken Strips and Potato Wedges

Tonight I had to cook what I cut up yesterday, so I was thinking what would be fast and easy. Fast and easy seems to be my new dinner saying. I think I am so ready to get this school year over. I am tired and just plain exhausted!

I let the chicken marinate in 2 beaten eggs mixed with sriracha for a couple of hours (skip the sriracha if you don't like heat).  I then took the potato wedges placed them on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray(canola), then drizzled them with EVVO, then sprinkled a mix of garlic pepper and paprika. I put them in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or until tender. Next I took the chicken and tossed them in flour that had paprika and the garlic pepper in it. I placed them on a cookie sheet(with a cooling rack in it), drizzled with oil, and put them in the oven for 20 minutes or until chicken is done and crispy. The corn was frozen so I cooked it on the stove top. Garnished it with fresh flat leaf parsley out of Jake's garden, and served with sauce of your choice, I had blue cheese dressing and Jake had bbq sauce.

Subway

Another very long day at work, but I came home and prepped for dinner. I had cut up some boneless skinless chicken and slice potatoes into wedges. That's what I was planning to do anyway.

At 4:30 I got a txt from Troy asking for a ride home from work. Of course I couldn't say no. I picked him up and he said if I took him to Safeway, home to take a shower, then to his girlfriends house he would buy dinner. How could I pass that up especially having trouble walking, my feet and knees are swollen(I don't know why). He bought us subway and I enjoyed it, I even have half a sandwich left for tomorrow for lunch. He even threw in a diet pepsi :-).

So tonight I thought I'd throw in a couple of things that really bother me about people who eat not only at my house but any where. My number one thing that tics me off, is when you serve dinner and someone puts salt, pepper and other seasonings on their food before they taste it. Come on give me some credit, I know how to season food. I have to admit there has been a time or too I purposely added to much salt or other things just to show someone that they should taste first. The other thing is don't say you don't like something before you have even tried it. I have proved to someone not to mention names(Henry) that you are wrong. The man now enjoys, brussel sprouts, asparagus, and sushi to name a few.

I guess my rant is over.

Pot Pies

I am just flat lazy and felt no where like cooking tonight. Long day at work and Jake brought home his Child Development project home, a crying baby. He says he can't cook because the baby might cry and he'd have to stop to take care of it. I then gave him a nice talk about how it was for a mom to take care of a 5 year old and a new baby with medical needs. I hope he got the point. But any ways, there were a couple of Marie Calendar's pot pies in the freezer. All I had to do is open them and put them in the oven. Didn't I do a good job...lol

Stir Fry

Tonight's dinner was thought of because of once again watching Food Network. This time it was Guy. I happened to turn the TV this morning and that's what channel it was on. He was making mu shu chicken, it looked wonderful. The only problem was I didn't have any of that stuff in the house except for the chicken. So once again I got a little creative. I looked in the cabinet to see what I had. I found some oyster sauce, soy sauce, and other spices. In the freezer I had chicken thighs, and stir fry veggies, so there I was what I was going to fix for dinner. I had planned on making rice with that but that didn't happen, not enough rice. So what did I find ramen noodles.

I skinned, and deboned the chicken, and sliced it thin. I marinated it in the oyster sauce, soy sauce, garlic, scallions, and cayenne pepper (oh tip, make sure the shaker top is on the top of the cayenne before you pour it on what your cooking), because I added too much cayenne I also added a tablespoon of sugar.

After marinating I put the chicken in a large hot skillet and let it sit there until it got a nice brown color, then I stir fried it. I then added the thawed stir fry veggies. I also cooked the ramen noodles. When everything was cooked I tossed it all together.

I guess it tasted good because Jake actually had seconds, excluding the veggies.

Meat and Potato Casserole

It's been a hard month in our house with having to get the car fixed so I have had to get a little creative with what we have. Tonight we had to see what we could do with ground beef and potatoes.

I cooked the potatoes by boiling them whole. Then I let them cool, peeled and sliced them. Meanwhile I cooked 1 1/2 pounds ground beef with salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and ancho chili powder. I then sliced and cubed some of the daikon and 4 cloves of garlic. I heated a large skillet with 2 tbls olive oil. Cook the daikon and garlic until tender, then deglaze the the pan with about 1 cup red wine, let it cook off about a minute, I then added about 1 1/2 cups of the broth from the chicken soup with the carrots, add 2 tbls tomato paste, dried time and chives (salt and pepper to taste). Cook to reduce by 1/2. I left to take Troy to work so Jake finished it off. He added the meat back in the pan. He then layered the potatoes into the casserole dish and poured the meat and sauce over it and put it in the oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

Chicken and Rice

No pic tonight. I have been sick for that few days so not much cooking going on. Last night was a rerun of Wednesday night's dinner. Chicken soup is always good when you're not feeling well. I was feeling better tonight and there is nothing fast(microwaveable) left in the house. I asked Jake if he felt like cooking, he said he'd find something later. I decided to look and see what there was.

I found some boneless skinless chicken thighs in the freezer. I threw them in the microwave to defrost  But, still half frozen I seasoned them with salt and pepper and put them in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, I fixed a box of chicken flavored rice a roni. When the chicken was done I put some of my homemade bbq sauce on them and cooked for about 5 more minutes. There you go dinner.

Here is something I am proud of Jake. I got his progress report today. He has 1 B, and 6 A's. Not to bad, seeing the B is in Algebra 2. Because he is taking AP English he has a 4.0 GPA.

Pizza

Today has been a very long rough day, so I asked Jake what he was fixing for dinner. He replied, "How about I buy a pizza for dinner?" I was totally fine with that. The buying a pizza thing may end as soon as the biopsies come back. If his eosinophils are high then back to a very strict diet. I guess I should let him enjoy while he can.

Today Jake also got a letter stating he was getting the student of the month award from The Maywood Woman's Club. I guess the pizza was a way of celebrating this. I am so proud of him. Even though he deals with 2 diseases he still pushes himself to succeed in his education. He has a 4.0 GPA right now. He wants to do get his AA at the local college, Shasta College. He then wants to transfer to UC Davis to complete his dream of becoming a pediatrician. I do believe he will do it!

Any way thanks for listening/reading my ramblings.

Fish, Rice, and Carrots

Tonight was a great collaboration between Jake and I. I am not feeling well so I told him he had to help me.

I did the carrots. I rescued 3 small bags of carrots from some of the kids lunch at school. I hate to see packaged foods go in the trash. Real easy open and steam. The rice I did too. I took the leftover rice from the other night, from the pork chops and rice, added some more chicken stock and let it simmer.

Jake was responsible for the fish. He took a box of fish fry, added paprika, garlic powder, dried thyme, and ancho chili powder. He mixed it together, dipped the fish(tilapia)  in and fried it. I added the lemon slices and chopped cilantro.

I love cooking with him. Before we cooked dinner we spent some time over my sister's new house doing some cleaning.

Carne Asada with Baked Potatoes

It was a very lazy day. Of course I had to watch the Giants win and plus trying to finish this book I am reading. Then I got an unexpected phone call to meet the guy my sister will be renting from and get the keys. So I had to fix something fast.

I had some carne asada in the freezer that was already seasoned, I threw a couple of potatoes in the oven, and fixed mixed veggies. Quick and easy! I seared the steak and steamed some veggies. I did not like the steak it was way too salty, that will teach me not to buy anything already seasoned. I did put some of the fresh cilantro on top of the potatoes, that made it so much better. I am so proud of Jake for starting the herb garden. Of course the veggies were frozen. I totally forgot to take a pic.

Pork Chops and Rice

I was looking for something that didn't take a lot of work, used one pan and this is what I found. You start by cooking 4 slices or more of bacon until crisp, then place it on a paper towel.  Season your pork chops with salt and pepper. Use the bacon grease to sear the pork chops until nice and brown. Remove pork chops from the pan. In the pan add 1 cup of rice, 1/2 cup chopped scallions (the recipe called for 1 medium onion, I used what I had in the house), and 4 chopped cloves of garlic. Cook and stir that until onions are tender and rice has slightly browned about 5 minutes. Add 2 cups chicken broth/stock, the crumbled bacon and 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper( the recipe called for a full teaspoon, which I added and it was a little too spicy, so if you don't like spicy I would add a lot less), bring to a boil. Place the pork chops on top of the rice then sprinkle 1/2 tsp dried thyme and 1/2 tsp dried rosemary over the chops. Lower the heat to medium low, cover and cook until the chops are done and the rice has absorbed the liquid, about 20 minutes. This said to use 3 chops and it would serve 3 people. I cooked 2 chops, and there was enough rice for probably 4 people. I served it frozen mixed veggies with it.

This was fast and an easy clean-up.

Starting Over

I didn't want to do this but I am starting my blog all over. This blog will consist of telling basically what we are having/cooking for dinner. This is so special to me because most of the time I am cooking with my son Jake. Jake is almost 17 years old, he suffers from 2 life threatening disease, Hirschsprung's Disease(HD) and Eosinophilic Esophagitis Gastrtis(EGID). Due to the EGID he has food allergies. He has tested positive for all nuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and oranges. We also feel that soy has an effect on it too.Most dairy bother his GI tract too. He has had many surgeries and procedures(over 25). He is such a great teenager. So, together we take normal recipes and adapt them to his diet. We are currently letting him eat the dairy and soy until the last biopsies come back.

I love cooking with my son. We have such a special bond.