Tag: cooking

Relish the Moment

The best part of baseball season: hot dogs.

The thing is, most people have a love/hate relationship in hot dogs. At one point, an adult in our lives informed us what hot dogs are made of, so we went through a phase where we refused to eat them… then got over it. For most of my life my family and I have eaten turkey dogs, but I always had a soft spot for Hebrew National thanks to cheap lunches at Costco. Plus, I have more confidence in the quality of their meat.  After an unhealthy addiction to Sonic’s new specialty dogs (especially the Chicago dog! Didn’t know such a thing existed…) the decision was made that it would be much cheaper to just eat our hot dogs at home. Today we picked up a pack of Hebrew Nationals, some fancy Pepperidge Farms sesame seed hoagie rolls–all of the hot dog buns were sold out. On baseball’s opening weekend & the first good weather in a while. Imagine that! Anyway, armed with our premium hot dogs and fancy pants buns, we were ready for dinner.

Inspired by Sonic’s fancy pants dogs I decided to forgo store bought relish and make my own. Loved it. You can too:

Staci’s Fancy Pants Relish

2 dill pickle spears
1/4 yellow onion
1/2 tomato
the “bottom” of one red bell pepper (I just had leftovers on hand, ok?)
1 tsp sugar

Pulse in food processor for a chunky texture.


Easiest Sweet and Sour

I’ve tried sweet and sour before on this blog, when the blog was just a tiny baby, making its first little peeps.

Let’s just say that meal was not one of my finer moments. I was just learning how to cook and used some weird recipe from the internet. My family graciously ate it, although I think it was decidedly more “sour” than “sweet.”

Since then I’ve found a foolproof sauce recipe!

Chicken and Veggies
1 lb chicken breast, cut into cubes
1 lb mixed veggies (frozen or fresh will do)

Sweet and Sour Sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp ketchup
2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 4 tsp water
1 tsp soy sauce

Directions

Cook whatever meat you’re using (we used chicken in just a tiny bit of oil) in a wok or large frying pan.

When it’s cooked through or mostly cooked through, add vegetables. Today, I used “key largo blend” frozen vegetables containing green beans, red bell peppers, and orange & yellow carrots.

I put the lid on, allowing the vegetables to steam themselves. I try to never overcook veggies so they keep most of their nutrients. Plus, overcooked veggies are mushy and yucky. It’d be safe to say that I usually undercook them–I heat them through but they stay firm, fresh and crunchy.

Once the veggies are un-frozen, pour the sauce in!  Heat it until simmering and let it boil down some so it’s thicker.

Unless you bread the chicken at the start, it won’t be like restaurant sweet & sour, but it’s healthier and tastes great

Catch of the Day

Last night’s healthy menu:

Tilapia filets with a lemon-garlic pepper rub
Cheese tortellini with pesto sauce
Mixed green salad with red wine vinaigrette

Fish: Rub filets with garlic-pepper salt and a light drizzle of lemon juice. Fry in a little olive oil, 5 minutes on each side.

Tortellini: I bought this from the store (Buitoni) and followed the directions on the package. Pesto was also store-bought, but Buitoni is the best tasting supermarket pesto I’ve had in a long time! Put the tortellini into boiling water for 5-7 minutes. Heat pesto in separate pot, and after draining the tortellini, mix the two together before serving.

Salad: Mixed greens are much healthier than iceberg or romaine lettuce, because the dark green and purple leaves contain more vitamins and less water. Dressing was Brianna’s brand, first time trying this flavor. Verdict: love it!

For the record: the plate looks packed because it’s the “small” plate, perfect for portion control!