Super Easy Stir Fry

Today my husband woke up at 3 with errands to run (that's pm, since he works graves). Since Bugs missed him and wanted to spend time with him, I thought it would be a good idea (ha!) to run errands together as a family. I regretted that once I realized we were finally going to be getting home at 6 and Roo's bedtime is 7, and Bug's is 8. Not much time for messing around. Especially considering I didn't have a plan for dinner yet. Oops.

Anyway, I came up with stir fry as an easy and fast dinner for tonight's meal. And it was a hit!

Bug's plate, ready to go. Okay, okay, I admit it-- the chopsticks are a prop. She didn't use them. But then again, she's only 2!

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In your rice cooker (something I feel is an essential kitchen item), put in desired amount of rice and water and set to "cook." Or I suppose you could cook your rice conventionally if you must. Follow the instructions listed on your rice's packaging.

Cut four chicken tenders or one chicken breast half into small pieces. In a large skillet or wok, heat 2 or 3 T sesame oil on medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook through stirring frequently, 3-4 minutes. Add 2 T oyster sauce and 2 T soy sauce.

Add approximately 4 cups of frozen stir fry vegetables. I use the huge bags you can buy at Costco, mainly because they have the little corn in them and Bugs loves those. Plus it's cheaper to buy them in the huge bag. Add 2 t Asian seasoning (I use Essence of Emeril) and 1 t sesame seeds. For a regular stir fry, you would continue stirring, but because these are frozen vegetables it cooks faster if you cover for a few minutes until they are cooked through.

Serve over mounds of rice.
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Feeding a very young toddler like Roo is a difficult task sometimes. They have food sensitivities and sometimes have reactions. I do think my pediatrician's suggestion to take Roo to the emergency room for a rash over her mouth, chin and eyes was a little overboard, though. DH said she was probably covering her butt and didn't want to be held liable if she told me something different and there were serious consequences. Instead I ignored that part of her advice and just gave her Benedryl, like she suggested. The rash was almost gone within a few minutes of taking the food away, washing her hands, and giving her Benedryl. As a treat for enduring the medicine, we gave her watermelon for dessert. Yum! I was hoping as a pleasant side effect of the Benedryl, she would sleep soundly for more than 1 hour at a time, but since quarter to 8 when she fell asleep, she's woken up 3 times. Whoops, make that 4 times. Gotta go!

Fresh fish

I am married to a fisherman. That means a lot of tasks left to the wayside during fishing season. It also means a lot of fresh fish for dinner. On Saturday he caught a 4 1/2 pound largemouth bass, and we didn't have an opportunity to cook it up until tonight. It was delicious.

DH prepared it by filleting the fish and placing in a foil-lined pan, and made a sauce of mayonaise, soy sauce, and garlic. He covered the fish and placed in the oven set at 375 for about 20 minutes.

To go with our fish, I made a rice pilaf. It's quite simple and delicious, so I make it a lot. For some reason, I can't imagine anything as a side dish with fish besides rice.

Rice Pilaf

2 T butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups rice
salt
pepper
3 cups chicken stock
handful of frozen peas
2-3 T pine nuts

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter on medium. Add the chopped onion. Once the onion begins to become translucent, add the rice and stir on the stove for one minute. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes. When the rice is cooked, add the frozen peas. The heat from the rice will warm the peas quickly, so there is no need to place over heat. Add the pine nuts, to taste.

Tacos... a simple and tasty treat

The thing that I love about tacos is there are so many options. What type of meat, if you're going to use it at all, the shell, the fillings... it can be as elaborate or as simple as you want it to be.

Tonight's tacos started out as a desperate search for an easy dinner that wasn't going to take too long. Well, I ended up going slightly overboard (again) and I ended up with a gourmet taco that was loved by all, even my picky toddler.

For the filling, we had two options tonight: venison and black beans with tomatoes. To top them, we had cheddar cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, green onions, salsa (my favorite is Salsa So Fresh), and sour cream. Our shells tonight were corn tortillas, but not the kind that you buy prefolded and crunchy. More like the kind you get at a taco stand.

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Meat filling:

Take one pound ground meat, whatever you have on hand. Tonight I used venison, since I'm married to a sportsman. If you're using a very low fat meat like I did, you may want to add a little olive oil.

Brown the meat on medium to medium high. Add 1/4 cup or one packet taco seasoning (I used McCormick, which I buy in bulk at Costco) and 3/4 cup water and simmer until the water is gone.

That was easy! My mom has a better taco meat recipe, but this one is so easy and simple that I usually make it in lieu of my mom's taco meat!

Black beans and tomatoes:

Rinse and drain one can black beans and put in a 2 quart saucepan.

Add to that one can diced tomatoes. Set the stove to medium heat.

Add one teaspoon cumin and one teaspoon ground coriander. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper, to taste.

Bring to a simmer.

Preparing taco shells:

My husband loves corn tortillas, so that's what I usually get, although I sometimes get flour for my daughters. I still buy them prepackaged, but I'm hoping to learn to make them soon so I can start making my own from whole grains.

Flour tortillas are easy: Just microwave for about 30 seconds still in the plastic wrapping. Comes out perfect every time.

Corn tortillas require a little more effort, at least from my husband's point of view. He likes them warmed on the stove in a little oil. I just heat about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a saute pan on medium heat. When the oil is warmed, I add the tortillas, one at a time, giving them about a minute or less on each side. I then place them on a paper towel and serve immediately.