Hoisin Pork with Rice Noodles

I am in love. Not only do I cure my Asian/Chinese craving with this recipe but I also get my pasta fix. Both with a lot less guilt.

 

• Pork Tenderloin, cut into thin strips
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• 1 tbsp of fish sauce
• 3 tbsp vinegar
• squeeze of lime juice
• 5 cloves finely minced garlic
• 2 tbsp of fresh grated ginger
• 1 jalapeno, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp of hoisin sauce
• 3 tbsp peanut butter (optional)
• 2 large carrots, grated 
• 2 Bell peppers, sliced thin
• 2 bunches of green onion, chopped
• chopped peanuts & fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)
• 1 package of white or brown rice noodles, cooked

1. Whisk or blend, all of the sauce ingredients together (soy sauce, water, sesame oil, honey, sugar, fish sauce, vinegar, lime juice, garlic, ginger, hoisin sauce, peanut butter) Marinate pork in the sauce for at least 3 hours, or overnight.

2. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat and stir-fry the pork until browned on the outside, and cooked through. Add in the carrots, peppers and green onions. Saute for a few minutes, then add the noodles, stir to coat. Dish into bowls and top with chopped peanuts and fresh cilantro.

Cookies & Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies

Do you like Oreo cookies?    Yes!?

Do you like chocolate chips cookies?!!   Yes?!

Then you will LOVE these cookies!

It’s like the two cookies got together, and this recipe is their love child.
Thick, chewy chocolate chip cookies with chunks of double stuffed Oreos…I can die happy.

• 2 ¼ cups of flour
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• ½ cup of butter
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 cup of packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup of sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup of milk chocolate chips
• 10 -12 double stuffed Oreos, broken into bite sized pieces and frozen

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking sheet and set aside.

2. Cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar until fluffy. Mix in the eggs and vanilla.

3. Beat in flour, baking soda and salt. Fold in the chocolate chips and Oreo pieces. (Freezing the Oreos will ensure they don’t break and crumble into the dough when mixing)

4. Drop spoonful’s onto baking sheet. And bake for approx. 10 mins. The trick to these cookies is to slightly under bake them. There should just be a small hint of golden around the edges and tops of the cookies. They will firm up when cooled. This will ensure they are moist, soft and chewy.

Pesto Pearl Couscous Salad

I just discovered pearl couscous, and I’m really excited about it! I came across a recipe for a pearl couscous salad online and was intrigued but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Then all the sudden, when I wasn’t looking for it, there it was right in front of my face at good old Super Store!

So what is it? Pearl Couscous (also known as “Israel Couscous”, “Jerusalem Couscous”, or “ Ptitim”) is a small, whole grain food made from semolina or wheat flour. It’s basically a little round pasta. It can be interchanged for pasta, rice, regular couscous or orzo. I just think it’s fun just because it’s a little bit different.

Pesto Pearl Couscous Salad

• 2 cups of pearl couscous, prepared
• 1 red pepper, diced
• ½ cup of Kamala Olives, diced 
• 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, quartered
• ½ cup of Basil Pesto (I used the stuff from a jar)
• 1 tbsp of Olive Oil
• 2 tbsp of Kraft Parmesan cheese
• Salt & Pepper, to taste

1. In a large bowl, toss together the couscous, pepper, olives, tomatoes with the olive oil.  
2. Add the pesto until everything is evenly coated. Sprinkle with Parmesan and salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Slow Cooker Beef Tips

Hardly a summer meal, I know. But crockpot meals are a nice change from our summer staple which is BBQ. And using the crockpot doesn’t make the house hotter than it already is and I can throw it together in morning, go out and enjoy the day, and come home to a made meal. It’s actually pretty amazing.

I can’t even tell you how delicious this recipe is! I normally don’t like to use prepackage soups and ingredients that often as they aren’t as healthy and I think they never taste as good as home made, but this recipe is the exception. It is one of the best slow cooker recipes I have made to date and tastes better then scratch gravy, no lie.

• 2.5 lbs of beef tips, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 can of condensed mushroom soup
• 1 package of dried onion soup mix
• 500 ml of beef broth
• 1 tbsp of butter (must be butter not margarine)
• 1tbsp of gravy flour or corn-starch
• Salt & Pepper

1. Place the beef tips in the bottom of the crockpot, lightly season with salt pepper.

2. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the mushroom soup, onion soup mix and beef broth until well combined. Pour over beef tips. Add butter, and cook on low for 6-8 hours. (The butter will help tenderize the meat while it cooks)

3. Use the gravy flour to thicken up the gravy before serving. To do this, I usually dish out some of the gravy from the crock pot into a small measuring cup, add the flour and mix until smooth, then add it back into the crock pot to thicken up the whole batch. This method will avoid any flour lumps. Serve over mashed potatoes. Makes 6 servings.

Poppy Seed Summer Salad

This salad is so fresh, it had to go live with its aunty and uncle in Bel-Air.

Haha, no? Well I thought it was funny. It’s sad to think that kids today will have no idea what the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is. Sigh. I feel old.

Anyway this salad is great, especially for the summer!

• 1 bag of butter lettuce
• 1 cup of Red seedless grapes
• 1 fuji apple, sliced thin
• ½ cup of walnuts
• Kraft Creamy Poppy Seed Salad Dressing

The Perfect Cesar

Have you noticed that when you order a Cesar these days, it pretty much comes with a meal made from garnish. I’ve seen them come with pepperoni sticks, shrimp, onion rings, even mini sliders, all protruding out of the top of glass. And while that’s all fine and dandy, what really matters is the taste of the beverage itself. With it being patio season I decided it was the best time to perfect this classic drink. And boy was it fun!

First things first, keep it simple.
I didn’t stray too much from an originally recipe, why mess with a good thing?
I also never rim my glasses with salt or other seasoning as I feel like it always makes a mess. But if that’s your thing, then I say go for it!
But most importantly, you MUST use Mott’s brand clamato juice. In my mind this is not negotiable. Not for any other reason than for the fact it just tastes the best. Just like boxed mac and cheese, it’s gotta be Kraft Dinner, and clamato juice has gotta be Mott’s.

• 1 oz. Of vodka
• 2 dashes of Tabasco Sauce
• 4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp of pickle juice (the secret ingredient)
• Celery Salt & Pepper, to taste
• 4 to 6 oz. Of Mott’s Clamato juice
• Celery Stick for garnish

1. Pour pickle juice into a tall glass. Add the Tabasco, Worcesterhsire, Celery Salt & Pepper, mix well.

2. Add the vodka, some ice cubes, and celery stick. Top the glass with Clamato until full. Enjoy!

Lemon Velvet Pie

For me, the most depressing thing about summer is not being able to bake as often as I like. When it’s 30 degrees outside, and even hotter inside, turning the oven on is the last thing I want to do.
However, this recipe looked so good, I bit the bullet and made an exception. (you actually only really bake it for about 25 minutes so it’s not that bad)

While shopping for ingredients I grabbed some Meyer lemons over regular lemons as they are in season. For this recipe you could use either. Regular lemons will give you a more tart taste, while the Meyer lemons will have a sweeter taste.

Overall this pie was the perfect the complement to our BBQ dinner. Sweet and refreshing.

Graham Cracker Crust

• 3 cups of graham cracker crumbs (I used a whole box)
• ¼ cup of sugar
• 1 stick of butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix together all of the ingredients until well combined, press firmly into the bottom, and half way up the sides of the 9’’ spring form pan. Bake for 6-8 minutes only. (We are slightly under baking the crust as it will be baked again once the filling is added in) Set aside to cool.

Filling

• 1 tsp of unflavored gelatin
• 2 tbsp of cold water
• 6 egg yolks
• 1.5 cups of sweetened condensed milk
• 3/4  cup of whipping cream
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 3/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
• Whipping cream and lemon peel slivers for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a small bowl soften gelatin for 5 minutes. Heat in microwave for about 14 seconds and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk. With an electric mixer, beat on high speed 2 -3 minutes until well combined. Beat in gelatin, whipping cream, and salt on low speed. Add lemon juice and beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Pour mixture into prepared graham crust.

4. Bake 22- 25 minutes or until center of pie looks set when gently shaken; cool on wire rack for 1 hour. Cover loosely and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

5. Top with whipping cream and lemon slivers before serving.

Baked Chicken with Peaches

I thought I would ease back into the blogging scene by starting off with an impossibly easy, not to mention healthy recipe. No oil, no fat, and only minutes to prepare.

Have you ever heard your parents say "Do as I say, not as I do"? Well, that expression applies here - I used canned peaches, as fresh peaches weren’t in season when I made this a few months back. But now that it’s summer, and peaches are at their prime, I highly recommend using fresh ones. Canned were good, but I think fresh would make this dish amazing!

• 4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1-2 Fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
• Salt & pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Lay the chicken in a glass baking dish. (I usually cut my chicken breasts in half to cut down on cooking time) Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and top with fresh peach slices.

3. Bake for approx. 30 minutes. Enjoy!

I Have Some Explaining To Do....

Oh hi there. Remember me? No? Well I’m the girl that started this blog, I’m also the same girl who went MIA for the past 2 months. Sorry about that! Life happened! Things got busy and it the blog took a nice cozy spot on the back burner!

But now I’m back in action, and so excited to share a bunch of new ideas and recipes with you! I also figured this was the perfect opportunity to give the site a little face lift, I hope you like it!