Chicken Fried Rice

This is A again. I hope you are trying our recipes we have cooked and blogged. We are making another recipe, which I am blogging right this very moment. It  has very few steps, it's yummy ,and a great weekday meal. I chose this recipe because it was stir fry, which is one of my favorite meals, and very good. It is delicious and fast and a great Chinese meal. I also chose it because the meal I'm making later this week needs cooked chicken breast, so we decided to share a prepared ingredient. We also changed the recipe around a little bit because my mom thought she could make it even tastier.
Enjoy!

You need:

6 green onions, sliced
1 tsp. oil
1 garlic clove, minced
8 oz. cooked brown rice
1# cooked chicken breast, cut into strips
1 16-oz pkg. stir fry veggies
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp. soy sauce

In a bowl, mix stir fry veggies and sesame oil.Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic. Once lightly sauteed, add veggies and saute until soft. Add rice and chicken. Heat through. Add soy sauce and serve.

Easy Campfire Chili

Hi! it's A again.Are you craving a chili combined with chips? Well, your answer's right here! Just try this spicy, delicious, sweet meal you'll know what I mean. It only has three ingredients, which makes it even easier. Just make sure you use high quality ingredients.
Enjoy it!

You need:

1 lb. ground beef
2 c. thick and chunky salsa
2 cans of your favorite chili beans (we used 1 pinto and 1 black bean)
Corn chips and shredded cheese, for toppings

Put the ground beef in a large saucepan. Cook and stir the meat over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes until no longer pink. Break up into small crumbles. Add the salsa and beans. Heat until it comes to a boil. Then, turn the heat to low, cover, and cook for ten more minutes. Serve hot!

Caramel Corn

It's baseball season, so that means that our evenings are organized around the rare days that the Red Sox are live on our local channels. This week, they take on the Yankees ("Boo! BOO!") so we'll be able to catch the entire series on TV. I always like to make a snack for weekend games, and A asked for Cracker Jacks the other day. Unfortunately, I had to remind her that days of picking up a box and munching our way through the first couple of innings were long gone due to C's peanut allergy.

The next day, during a very interesting session of the improv game "The Dating Game" with my seniors, one of the kids decided to play Paula Deen as one of the bachelorettes. It hit me. She MUST have a very easy (albeit decadent and butter-laden) recipe for caramel corn. She MUST.

And she did. And it was amazing. And it was pretty easy to make. I started it before dinner so that it could slow-roast in the oven for it's required hour while we ate and cleaned up. The kids loved it, and it was even better than a box of Cracker Jack could ever be. I might throw some salted soy nuts in the next batch to make it more authentic. Or I might not. Cause soy nuts are kind of gross.

Enjoy!


You need:

1 c. butter
2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1 tsp. baking soda
8 c. popped popcorn

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Over medium heat in a very large pot, combine the first four ingredients and bring to a boil. Once it starts to boil, keep it boiling, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in the baking soda. Stir  well. Fold in the popcorn. Spread out on baking sheets in a single layer. Bake for 1 hr, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on waxed paper to dry.

Kid Kabobs

This is A again. I have decided to share every meal that my mom and I have made together. Therefore, this meal must be blogged because this meal is simply delicious. If you are ever in a hurry, you should go for this meal because not only is it delicious, but fast. As I have said before, do ask your kids to help with the kid friendly parts of preparation.  I am so sorry I do not know these parts and this is because I was taking advantage of the weather the day we planned to make it, so my mom made the meal that time. However, i totally would have helped if the weather hadn't been so nice - I just had to ride my bicycle!

You need:

1/2 lb. stew beef, cut into small small chunks
about 20 or so cherry or grape tomatoes
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. honey
kabob skewers

Soak wooden skewers for about 20 minutes. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and let sit for the 20 minutes that the skewers are soaking. Alternate the beef and tomatoes on the skewers. Broil for 15 minutes (turning once, or have mom or dad grill them). Serve with a side of buttery noodles.

Pasta Carbonara

hi! This is A, and I know my mom has mentioned that I have taken over the kitchen twice a week.So, I have decided to share all the delicious meals I've been making.If you get a chance to read this recipe, please do ask your kids to help because these recipes can be made with mostly the kid's work!

Last week, we tried a great new pasta recipe that uses the delicious eggs we get from a local farm. Mom is going to highlight the kid friendly parts of the preperation. Enjoy!!!

You need:

1/2 - 3/4 lb. spaghetti (or your favorite pasta) 

1 1/2 c. frozen peas 

4 slices bacon

1 tbsp.  flour 

1/2 c. evaporated milk  

2 large eggs 

1/2 tsp.  salt  

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions, adding the peas during the final 4 minutes of cooking. Reserve 1 cup cooking liquid. Drain the pasta and vegetables; return to pot. Meanwhile, in medium saucepan, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Drain the bacon on paper towels; reserving 2 teaspoons fat in the saucepan. When the bacon has cooled, chop into small chunks. Whisk in flour. Whisk in the evaporated milk and reserved cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer, whisking occasionally. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of the hot milk mixture; return egg mixture to saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Add the sauce to the pasta. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle with reserved bacon. 

Sausage and Peppers with Onions ala Giada

This is a Giada de Laurentis recipe that I have been making for years. I was shocked to find that I had never blogged about it! I was searching through my recipes to find something that I could make with bratwurst I purchased back in October. Then, I thought to myself, I wonder if I could make an Italian dish with German sausage.

I could.

It was just as delicious as always. Enjoy.

You need:

1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb sweet Italian turkey sausage
2 red bell peppers, sliced
2 yellow onions, sliced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 c chopped fresh basil leaves
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup Marsala wine (or red wine, which is what I use
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes, optional
4 to 6 fresh Italian sandwich rolls, optional

Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausages and cook until brown on both sides, about 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and drain. Keeping the pan over medium  heat, add the peppers, onions, salt, and pepper and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the oregano, basil, and garlic and cook 2 more minutes.

Add the tomato paste and stir. Add the Marsala wine, tomatoes, and chili flakes, if using. Stir to combine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the browned bits. Bring to a simmer. Cut the sausages into 4 to 6 pieces each, about 1-inch cubes. Add the sausage back to the pan and stir to combine. Cook until the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes. Serve in bowls. Or, if serving as a sandwich, split the rolls in half lengthwise. Hollow out the bread from the bottom side of each roll, being careful not to puncture the crust. Fill the bottom half of the roll with sausage mixture. Top and serve sandwiches immediately.

Crunchy Gold-FISH sticks

I've mentioned the Cook School cookbook before, but the best part about it is that the recipes start with those that can be made by wee ones as young as three. C has fallen in love with cooking (and eating, as his 35-pound frame gives away), and he picked this recipe out based solely on the picture. However, I gave it a little twist. We didn't have panko bread crumbs, and we had just enough Goldfish crackers to take their place. The original recipe also called for chicken, but our meat box hadn't come in yet and we were out of chicken breasts. Perfect fish sticks with little salt and even less junk. The only thing C couldn't do was put them into the oven. He was pleased as punch with his creation.

You need:

4 tilapia fillets
2 c. crushed Goldfish crackers
4 tbsp. tomato paste
1tsp. paprika
1 tbsp. olive or grapeseed oil
coarse sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Crush the Goldfish crackers by placing in a ziploc bag and letting your kids go gangbusters with the rolling pin. Add to a small bowl and mix with the paprika. In another bowl, add the tomato paste. Cut the fish into nuggets and coat with tomato paste and then dip into the cracker mixture. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with a yummy veg and some rice on the side.