Stir Fry Sauce

I've always had a thing for stir fry. It's been a messy relationship, and it's been rather hot and cold, but my love for stir fry lives on. Tonight I threw together a stir fry sauce that was something of epic tastiness:

(no measurements....it's a taste test recipe--live a little and get creative!)

• Lemon juice (don't use too much, the pure stuff is s.t.r.o.n.g.)
• Sesame seeds
• Sesame oil
• Rice vinegar (just a little)
• Soy sauce (low sodium)
• Minced garlic
• 1/4 cup water (the only real measurement you'll get out of me)
• Brown sugar (a couple pinches)
• Honey

Mix the ingredients and add all in the final minutes of cooking to your delicious mix of veggies and/or protein, serve over some brown rice...the healthier choice...and enjoy!

Pan seared sirloin, garlic spinach, and rice pilaf

It rained today, and was cold outside--two things I love, but definitely did not help in the BBQ department. These seasonal conditions meant that the steaks I had purchased this week for grilling would have to be cooked in a different way. I did a little Google search to find the best method for pan searing steaks, and this is what I came up with.

Ingredients:

• 2 sirloin steaks
• 4 cups of fresh spinach
• O Organics (frozen) rice pilaf (GASP! I know, but it's really good.)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Soy Sauce
• Minced garlic
• Olive Oil

How to:

1. Marinade the steaks! My marinade (no measuring, so just eyeball it): Olive oil, garlic, soy sauce, and a dash of pepper. Let the steaks marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Pre-heat a skillet with 2-3 tbsp. olive oil over medium/high heat. At the same time, pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. 
3. Once the steak is marinated and the skillet is fully heated, sear the steaks on both sides, approx. 2 minutes each side. I took mine off a little sooner than 2 minutes, since my steaks were a little on the thin side.
4. Once searing is finished, place the steaks in a baking dish and bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes. (For a medium-rare steak. If you want it crispy, keep it in longer.)
5. While the steak is cooking, pre-heat a smaller skillet or use the same one, with 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium/low heat. Once heated, throw in the spinach, garlic, and a little salt and pepper, and cook until spinach is just starting to wilt. Remove immediately from the heat and set aside.
6. Throw the package of rice pilaf into the microwave, per the instructions, and cook for 3 minutes.
7. By the time all of this is ready, your steaks should be done! Serve everything together.

It was bliss preparing this simple weekend dinner, as I'm used to chopping, dicing, and mixing my little heart out on a normal night. Pair this meal with a glass of merlot, and you've got yourself a great evening. :)

Hello, Bento...

I have this really great lunch "bag" from Built, which is made of this insulated, flexible, easy to wash material, and I love it. The problems arise because I love to cook. My love for cooking often means that I have leftovers that I can bring to work for lunch the next day. I have to pack these delicious leftovers in containers and then somehow play tetris and squeeze them all into this lunch bag. While researching alternative ideas for the lunch box, I stumbled across the bento box.

The bento originates from Japanese culture and dates back to the 5th century. This version of the "brown bag" lunch was originally used by working and traveling people who needed a convenient way to pack and eat a nutritious meal. Originally the bento was not a box, but was wrapped in natural materials to carry, but in modern times, the bento can be found in all shapes and sizes. A typical bento box will consist of smaller boxes within the larger box, which is said to provide just the right serving size for your meal.

So, I purchased my very own bento box (seen below--isn't it cute?), and I'm looking forward to testing it out this week at work. I'll be posting my bento box lunch ideas at the end of the week, so stay tuned!

Mozzarella Alfredo Grilled Chicken and Artichoke Pizza

I've had pizza before, really good pizza, really expensive pizza, and I have to tell you that this pizza is very tasty, inexpensive, and easy to make! (all of my favorite things of course.) Now for those of you that have a bread maker, you can whip up your own pizza dough (lucky ducks), but for those of us without the incredi-mixers, you can buy pre-made dough at the grocery store. Trader Joe's has some tasty pre-made doughs available, but you can find some version of this at any store.

Ingredients:

• Pizza Dough (see above for recommendations)
• Freshly grated mozzarella cheese (approx. 2-3 cups worth)
• White Sauce (a.k.a. Alfredo sauce--preferably of the mushroom variety)
• Artichoke hearts (the bottled kind)
• White onion (1/4 cup diced)
• Grilled chicken breast (2 small sized chicken breasts will do for one pizza)
• Pepper
• Minced garlic (1 tsp.)

How to:
If you made your own pizza dough, you'll need to follow your recipe for baking directions. For those of us who bought pizza dough, read the instructions, but mine went like this for a thin crust pizza:

1. Fire up the grill! You'll need to pre-cook the chicken, so make sure you give yourself enough time to get this done first. We use a small Webber BBQ, and it took about half an hour to get the chicken ready, but you could also use a George Foreman or a skillet. Once the chicken is grilled up, you can cut them into bite size pieces.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
3. Roll out the pizza dough on a non-stick baking sheet.
4. Once the oven is heated, pre-cook the pizza crust for 5 minutes.
5. During this time, get the remaining ingredients prepped. Grate the cheese and dice the onions.
6. Remove from the oven after 5 minutes and add your toppings: white sauce (thin layer please), garlic and pepper first. Then add a layer of cheese, chicken, artichoke hearts and onions. Add the last layer of cheese on top of everything else.
7. Bake in the oven for another 6-10 minutes. Watch your pizza though, as every oven cooks slightly different. You want the crust to be golden brown.
8. Take the pizza out of the oven and let rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

And that's it! Incredibly easy, so I can't say it's a labor intensive recipe. Being a "9-5" girl, I am always on the hunt for easy, but rewarding meals. This pizza is definitely a taste bud pleaser. :)

Food Mob!

Check out Food Mob, a fun online cooking show I stumbled across recently:

Easy Weeknight Dinner: Parmesan Tomato Baked Chicken with Rice

Ever have nights when cooking is the last thing on your mind? Since I've graduated from college and joined the 9-5 crowd, I find it extremely difficult to have the motivation upon arriving home to do anything, and cooking has been one of those challenges. The motto I use for my everyday cooking is: cook a healthy meal in the most simple and affordable way. Thus, I present you with a recipe that truly fits this mold.

Parmesan Tomato Baked Chicken (for 4, or 2 with leftovers)

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (thawed)
• 2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 roma tomato
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• Ground black pepper
• Minced garlic

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. While the oven is pre-heating, prepare the chicken. In a casserole baking dish, place the 4 chicken breasts side-by-side. Spread just a bit of garlic on each chicken breast (up to your personal preference on how much you use), sprinkle the parmesan cheese evenly over the chicken breasts, and lightly season with ground black pepper. Slice the roma tomato and scatter on top of the chicken, and drizzle the olive oil on top. Bake until cooked, or until about 15 minutes.

Rice

You can easily cook rice from scratch or you can use a boxed rice if you're feeling particularly tired. I just tried the low sodium version of the chicken flavored Rice-a-Roni and it was decent. I wouldn't make a habit of eating this, but it's perfect for that night when you are just plain tired.

The grill made me do it!

About a month into my brave, bold attempt to tackle meal planning, I realized that I just have to be honest with you: it doesn't work for me. I gave it a fair shot, but that fair shot failed...hence, my lack of blogs. What I did take away from the experiment was two things: 1) Online grocery shopping and delivery is my best friend and 2) That grill's got a mind of its own...and I like it!

The bottom line: meal planning saves money. Knowing exactly what you're going to get, and the exact amount, limits those grocery cart surprises of the unneeded chocolate bar syndrome. But does it save time? Meal planning requires most of the time upfront. For people that like to keep it simple or don't mind eating the same foods all the time, maybe meal planning would take less time, but I am a variety girl and really enjoy experiencing new and unique dishes. Since I enjoy the art of cooking, researching the recipes and settling on a menu would take me at least an hour, if not longer. Then, add on to that the time spent grocery shopping whether online or not, and you'd easily add another 1 hour, at the very least. Online grocery shopping doesn't make a huge difference in time spent shopping, but it does add a more streamlined way to accomplish the same task, and having someone deliver to you is a huge perk.

What now? Well, I've adopted a new way to embrace the business of cooking. This new way embraces both my love for cooking, my desire to save time and money, as well as, my need for some flexibility. I like to call it meal designing. Basically, you cover all your bases: you buy the basic ingredients that you could easily mix-n-match for any number of meals. If you have a specialty dish in mind, you would buy those special ingredients on top of the basics. The basics include: frozen chicken, an array of vegetables, milk, cheese, butter, etc... (Get the idea?) That way, you can come home and still think "what do I feel like for dinner tonight?" but you already have everything you would need to design a great meal.

I will admit though, that I do have a few tricks up my sleeve. First, I got my iPhone 4 a couple of weeks ago. The iPhone 4 is a masterpiece, a true nerd's paradise (that I am unashamedly enjoying), AND on top of it's greatness, there's the App Store. After my first glimpse at the App Store, I excitedly exclaimed, "Where have you been all my life?!" You have Apps for miles. Apps of all kinds. There's Apps for the kids, for the big kids, for the men, the women, the nerd, the sports fanatic, the shopper, the emo kid, the creative tycoon....and for COOKING. I found some amazing FREE apps that put hundreds of recipes at your fingertips. My favorite cooking related apps:

Epicurious
Crock-Pot
AllRecipes
Shop to Lose
CookIt

And the best thing, I've only scratched the surface. Now, when I have some down time on the go or at work, I can whip out my iPhone and browse recipes to help decide what I'll cook next. Amazing! (And I know you all share my enthusiasm)

The other trick up my sleeve is the grill. Our cute, little Weber BBQ is just the thing we needed. Cooking on the BBQ takes about the same amount of time as cooking in the kitchen, but it is so much more rewarding and enjoyable. Who doesn't like the BBQ's smokey flavor? Our new love for grilling things has made our meal planning pretty simple: marinade meat, prepare vegetables for grilling, and go! Needless to say, we've been doing a ton of grilling since we got our BBQ on 4th of July weekend, so I'm sure its appeal will eventually die down, and it'll back to the kitchen for me, but for now, I'm enjoying the experience thoroughly.

So my Nibbles friends, Nibbles isn't going anywhere...it's here for good, but it's entering a new phase in its young Blogger life. I'm somewhat just along for the ride, and discovering new things about what works and what doesn't, and what tastes good. Ahhh, it feels good to get this all off my chest...now on to more cooking adventures! Bon voyage :)