Fried Rice Yum Yum!

Fried Rice is definilty a Fish Fam Favorite!

It's quick and simple to make and so delicious. It's best made with leftover refrigerated rice. Today I made it for breakfast. This recipe is vegetarian, but I at different times I do add in cooked chicken, beef, or spam. I don't have an exact measurements of ingredients because it's usually just what I have on hand and make necessary adjustments. But, generally here's what I  do....

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups leftover rice
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4-1/2 cup corn and peas
• 1 green onion stalk
• 1 Tbsp. avocado oil

• Avocado Oil (enough to keep it from burning)
• White Pepper ( a few dashes
• Soy Sauce (more than less, but don’t over do it)
• Sesame Oil (not too much)
• Rice Vinegar (splashes)

Directions:

• Finely chop garlic cloves and dice onion. Heat up avocado oil in a deep cast iron pan on med. high heat. Not too hot because the garlic burns easily. Add garlic and stir. I like to tilt the pan and have all the oil and garlic to one side so the garlic can infuse in the oil without burning. Then I lay the pan back on the burner and add the onion and stir the onions and garlic around and cook until onions are tender. Then I put the onions and garlic in a serving dish.
• Next I turn down the heat to low medium heat and add a little more oil to coat the pan. I crack my eggs and mix/beat them with a fork. Then pour them into the pan and make scrambled eggs. The eggs cook better on low heat. I add the eggs to the serving dish with the onions and garlic. 
• Turn up the heat and add more oil to generously coat the bottom of the pan. I add in all the rice and use the spatula to break it up the rice. I add in the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, white pepper, and a little bit of water. Mix it until it is well incorporated. You can put a lid on it to let the moisture break up and soften the rice. Watch the heat. 
• Add in the onions, garlic, eggs, corn, and peas. Mix it all together. Let it cook for a few mins and stir occasionally. If you want a crispier rice add more oil and turn up the heat a little watching carefully and stirring the bottom of the rice to the top. *More oil makes crispier rice. But just don't add too much.
• Chop up some green onions an toss them in pan at any point or just at the end of cooking.
• Transfer fried rice into the serving dish and enjoy!!

Yum Yum!!

Udon Noodle Dish

My husband said this was one of the best noodle dishes he's ever had.

Ha, I'm not so sure about that. But, he definitely lets me know what is good, great, or awesome. Or what is just okay, mediocre, or maybe I shouldn't make that again. Luckily, "maybe you shouldn't make that again" has been rare.

I got the recipe here, but as usual changed it up a little bit.

All the sauce sunk to the bottom of the bowl, so it doesn't look as good as it really should. 

*Which I will eventually get a better picture up sometime.

Just make it and try for yourself....

Ingredients:

- 1 T Oil for frying

- 2-3 cloves of garlic

- Small Onion

- 7 oz Mushrooms

- 1/2 tsp. fresh ginger or 1/4 tsp. ground ginger or to taste.

- Salt & White pepper to taste

- Tofu 1 pkg

- 1/2 Chicken stock

- 3 T Soy Sauce

- 1 tsp Sesame Oil

-18 oz Udon Noodles

- 1 head of Broccoli

Directions:

1.  Chop/mince garlic, onions, and mushrooms.

2.  Peel and grate ginger if you use fresh ginger. 

3.  Heat oil in pan. I used Avocado Oil.

4.  Add the garlic first and let it infuse in the oil 15-30 sec. don't let it burn.

5.  Add fresh ginger or sprinkle ground ginger all over.

6.  Add onions next and sprinkle salt over them while they saute.

7.  Add mushrooms. Stir-fry for a few minutes.

8.  Add the stock, soy sauce, sesame oil, tofu, and green onions, and simmer.

9.  Cook the udon noodles in a pot of boiling salted water for 1 minute. 

10.  Drain and add to the skillet. 

11.  Stir-fry over high heat until heated through. 

13. Steam broccoli florets and add to dish.

*The tofu and broccoli soaked up a lot of the sauce so I made more sauce, but the second time I added 1 tsp cornstarch to thicken it a little bit. If you use cornstarch to thicken just make sure you add it to the cold chicken stalk and mix, then add to pan, and stir it around.  

*Also, gauge your timing with boiling the udon noodles and steaming the broccoli. If you don't want to be waiting for them to cook and add to the dish. 

  

Butternut Broccoli Pasta & Salad

This dish is quick and easy! 

Boil the noodles, lightly steam the broccoli, add the sauce, and spices (Organic No Salt Seasoning, Cayenne Pepper, and Peppercorn.) With a yummy salad...lettuce greens, celery, carrots, and green peppers.

I used organic noodles mixed in with this gluten-free noodles. I really like the tru Roots brand that I find at Costco. I also like that it's from Italy. One of my Aunt's daughters has celiac disease and she said one of her friends also had celiacs and said that when her friend went to Italy she said she was just going to eat all the pasta she wanted! Come to find out none of the pasta there bothered her tummy! Our bodies genetics know that "ancient grains" or "ancient seeds" are clean, pure, and nutritious. Our bodies have become sensitive and intolerant to too many foods that man has altered, especially here in the United States. The US is one of the world's top leading producer of genetically modified crops.

This sauce is really good! 

I get a pack of two at Costco for around $6 or $7 (Costco always gets it on and off, so I stock up when I see it.) I saw it was at our local grocery store for just over $6 for one bottle.

Aparagus & Pasta Green Salad

Last night I went to my grandpa's 80th bday party! One of my Aunt's made an awesome pasta salad tomatoes, red onions, olives, raw asparagus, freshly diced garlic, whole wheat noodles (or some kind of gluten-free noodle), and a little bit of Italian dresing. I took some home and today for lunch mixed it in with my salad greens...organic red leaf and green leaf lettuce, organic parsley, and I can't leave out the fresh avocados! Wow, this was really good! Thanks Aunt Nita for the inspiration!

凉粉 Liángfěn

Chinese cold noodle with soy sauce/vinegar/sesame oil/garlic and peanuts. A friend from China made this and brought a plate full over...my husband says, "太太 Tai Tai! Learn to make me good Chinese food!" Ummm, I wish I could, it's hard to get the sauces just right! He knows what good Chinese food is since he practically grew up in Taiwan. I have much to improve on! Thanks 王晓莉 Xiaoli!

Here's the best recipe I found for this....My Cooking Hut: Cold Mung Bean Noodle

Whole Wheat Waffles & Non-GMO

This picture and whole wheat waffle recipe is from Vitamix.com. I've used many recipes from their website to make things in my Vitamix and they have all turned out great!

 My mix of dry ingredients...

1 cup Organic Whole Wheat (Bob's Red Mill)

1 cup Organic Unbleached White Flour

1 tablespoon Baking Powder (Rumford Aluminum/GMO Free)

1 teaspoon Sea Salt

Then all the wet ingredients for the batter go straight into the blender...

  I used...

2 cups Unsweetened Almond Milk

2 Organic Eggs (egg substitute chia seeds, etc.)

2 tablespoon Raw Organic Honey (Honey down below is so so good!)

4 oz Organic Tofu (You ALWAYS want GMO free soy!)

Click on the highlighted links for good information on why to buy GMO free, especially soy...USDA Organic Soy & GMO's = not good.

Top Genetically Modified Foods...Corn and Soy are ALWAYS at the top of every list and also in just about every single piece of processed food you buy cereals, chips, popcorn, granola bars, crackers, baby foods, baby formula, pre-made mixes, animal feed, dairy, etc. Check out this list of more GMO foods. These kinds of foods are especially harmful to kids. The government is allowing so many more GMO foods. Would you ever think Sugar Beets (one variety of beets) to be a GMO food? Beets have the highest content of sugar of all vegetables, all natural, but when it's processed into refined sugar it loses all nutritional value and is just plain sugar and no bueno for our bodies. All of this GMO stuff is terrible, just terrible! The best way to avoid GMO foods/products is to make your own food and know what you are feeding your body. Also, a lot of health foods will definitely say right on their product "Non-GMO." I'm not saying you should never eat gmo's, but it should be very minimal.

Then take out the plug on top of the lid and put the dry ingredients into the batter and let it mix.

Put some frozen or fresh berries on top and enjoyed this nice & simple meal!

Taco Bell Veggie Cantina Burrito

If i eat fast food it's one of two things veggie burrito or salad. Taco Bell has an awesome new burrito the Veggie Catina Burrito, also comes with chicken or beef. It's made with fresh avocados in a pico de gallo, also has no cheese. It's super good!I also go to Del Taco or Taco Time and get their veggie burritos with no cheese or sour cream. Other awesome burritos places are Mountain West Burrito (I like their advertisement..."we don't own a can opener." Also, El Gallo Giro super good Mexican Grill, they have the best freshly made guacamole. Check out Taco Bell's website to see a much better picture, list of the ingredients, and the recipes...

 

http://www.cantinabell.com/#burrito

http://www.cantinabell.com/#ingredients

http://www.cantinabell.com/#recipes

Mesquite Veggie Breakfast Burritos

I made these for breakfast this morning and they were good! I had leftover chopped up veggies from the pizza toppings, so I came up with this. Veggies: Onions, olives, red & green bell peppers, and zucchini, awe should have added fresh avacados. I cooked them and then added organic eggs and a mesquite seasoning I have from Costco. Serve with raw tortillas heated up in the pan!

I also added salsa. Sorry for the unfocused pics I was too hungry to mess with the aperture and light settings.

Rice Paper Wraps

 Another one of Agong's great creations! Rice paper, mayo, kale from his garden, organic azuki breans, and a pickle!

It's good stuff!

Macadamia Nut Crusted Ono Fish

 

Hawaii surely has the best fish! I'm definitely going to try to re-create this Ono fish we had the other day at an awesome cafe!

Veggie Kabobs

These veggie kabobs were so good! We went to a friends BBQ the other week and she went all out with good quality food. I came to the party super hungry and was so glad they had so many vegetarian options. She had this cilantro chutney that was incredibly good. I have since made my own veggie kabobs. They weren't as good as these kabobs, next time!

Veggie Stir-Fry

We love making stir-fry dishes. I basically stir-fry any veggies I want. I add some water and soy sauce (I also use Bragg Sauce) then put a lid over it to let it steam for a couple minutes. I add eggs, a little more soy sauce, a little vinegar, sometimes just a tiny bit of sweetener (sugar, agave, etc.). Let it all cook and put it over rice!

Homemade Veggie Pizza

My kids love helping make homemade pizza and even better they love eating it! On half of the pizza I put a little cheese and the other half no cheese. Topping are onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, fresh basil, and zucchini really, the options are endless with toppings. For the crust I've done white and whole wheat, both tasting great. Just get online and test out different recipes. Making the dough isn't as hard as I thought it would be, but then using my Kitchen Aid mixer helps a lot! If you do make whole wheat crust just be prepared to wait about two hours for the time it takes to rise! Here is the whole wheat recipe I've used and here is a fast and easy recipe, I got from a friend, for the white crust...

Basic Pizza Dough

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

1.  Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl, cover, and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.   (If you'd like add 1 teaspoon of sugar to this just to make the yeast lively)

2.  Mix the oil, honey, salt and yeast mixture in a large mixing bowl.  If using a food processor, add 1 cup of flour at a time, up to 3 cups, mixing well after each addition.  You may have to stir in the third cup of flour by hand, depending on your machine.  Or mix in all 3 cups of flour by hand with a wooden spoon.

If the dough seems too wet, mix in more flour, 1/4 cup at a time until the dough is soft.  Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead in more flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough is moderately stiff and somewhat firm to the touch, about 6 minutes.

3.  Lightly grease pizza pan with oil and roll into shape desired or breadsticks etc.  Let rise a couple of minutes before putting toppings on.

For breadsticks:  roll into sticks and brush with butter and garlic salt.  Let rise for about 15 minutes and then bake at 425 for 10 minutes, brushing with more butter/garlic halfway through.

This is a very soft but not sticky dough.  You could probably do this in the bread machine as well.

***I've substituted the oil with applesauce and the honey with agave. Tasted great!  

Long Bean Tofu Stirfry

 I love making stir-fry's and after living in China for a while I quickly learned American Chinese food and China Chinese food are so so different! Chinese food made in China is really really good. After we moved back from China I got pregnant and all I craved was veggies and rice like I had in China. I frequently made this dish. It's also a good thing my husband knows how to cook and does an amazing job at imitating our favorite foods in China!

When I first started cooking I hated that I had to chop up so many things. Then I said to myself, "You know what I need to get over this feeling and be happy to do it because if I want these fresh veggies in our food then I'm going to be doing it day in and day out for a really long time and I need to be able to enjoy it!" I'm happy to say that I really enjoy chopping up veggies...haha, it has become a way to de-stress.

I fry the garlic and onions first until the onions are mostly cooked I add a little soy sauce as well, add the mushrooms and green beans w/a little bit of water and cover the pan. After a couple of minutes I put in hoisin sauce (found in Asian stores or maybe in the Asian isle at your local grocery store), a little vinegar, and maybe a little sugar just right in the pan. I go with whatever amounts I feel is best. Then Lastly I add the tofu and let it if cook for a minute. I like the beans to still be a little crunchy and not soft, cook everything according to how you like it. 

*I have a ton of juice pics to post, but I just have to get them off of my FB page and put ALL of them on here. :)