CBT Carb Back Thursday - Take Out Chinese is the DEBBLE!

Love the flavors, and the easy factor, of Chinese takeout/delivery. Not always fond of the cost and or salt. I start my Sweet and Sour Chicken with a package of chicken strips. I put these in the oven, according to the directions on the bag. Between the oven heating up and these baking, I get the rice and vegetables cooked up. Dinner in about 30 mins or less.

Start a batch of rice:

2 C rice

4.5 C water

microwave for 5 mins on 100% power

microwave for 15 mins on 50% power

I keep the ingredients simple: red pepper, green pepper, carrots, fresh ginger slices and diced garlic.

Dice and slice vegetables and start cooking in a pan with hot oil. Put in the slices of ginger, they're for flavor. They'll be removed before serving. Stir this occasionally.

I've used canned, frozen, and fresh pineapple. Fresh is my first pick if I have it.

Like my loathing for cutting up cantaloupe and other melons, I dread cutting up a pineapple, but once done, it's worth it.

Slice off the ends, and strips off the sides to remove the rind. Is it pineapple rind? peel? husk?

I then cut into 4 - 6 slices, depending on size and then remove the core. I make 4 cuts, around the core, then it's an easy piece to toss. Cut the chunks smaller if needed.

At this point, the vegetables should be soft, add the pineapple. Turn heat down while making the sauce

Mix up the sauce, whisk together:
2 TBSP soy sauce
1/4 C vinegar - rice wine or white
1/4 C sugar
1 C chicken broth
3 TBSP cornstarch
(Make sure ingredients or room temp or cold or the corn starch will get lumpy)
Stir into pan

Turn heat up, once mixture starts to boil, it will thicken

Chicken should be done, chop into pieces,

and add to pan on stove top.

Serve with the rice

Mama says Homemade Chinese is not the debble... it's for my buddies

Lo Pan Chicken

I've catered to the masses for weeks now.... nothing "weird"... stuff "we" like... blah blah. Yeah, well if I have to make one more pan of sloppy joe's this month:

So I poked around the fridge and pantry, to see what inspired me....Asian. Dug up a couple of recipes to "follow": thai chicken with grilled bok choy and rice. I'm going to make sauce, dressing, and marinade at one time- using many of the same ingredients.

Thai Chicken
1 cup peanuts (can subs 1/2 pb)
1/2 can coconut milk
3 TBSP apple cider vinegar
2 TBSP tamarind paste (optional) (from previous chicken satay)
2 TBSP honey
1 tsp garlic powder (or 2 cloves)
2 tsp ground ginger (fresh if you've got it)
Whir up until smooth. Set aside.

 Grilled bok choy recipe

2 TBSP ground mustard
2 TBSP soy sauce
1 TBSP vinegar (I used rice)
1 TBSP honey
a couple dashes of sesame oil

 Set aside, allowing flavors to meld.

 Marinade for chicken:
1/2 can coconut milk
2 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP tamarind paste (optional)
2 TBSP honey
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground garlic powder
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 bundle of cilantro, clipped/chopped

 Fish sauce?? Yes.... fish sauce. Don't smell the bottle, trust me on this. Fish sauce is optional.
2 tsp fish sauce
juice of one lime

 Mix together and pour over chicken - I used nearly a full bag of frozen chicken breasts. Set aside to marinate, 3-4 hours.

Take a little time for yourself

Get rice ready to microwave.

2 C rice

1 can coconut milk

2 C chicken broth

1/2 C water (or more broth if box was full when you poured the 2 Cups)

1/3 bag frozen peas/carrots

 Micro at 100% for 5 mins, then on 50% for 18 mins.

Grill outside or use stovetop grill pan. Either way, get it screamin' hot.

While pan is heating, start the bok choy:
4 heads baby bok choy
1 carrot
1/2+/- edamame
handful bean sprouts (optional)

 Slice heads in half, shred, or use peeler to create thin strips of carrot

 Drizzle olive and a dash of sesame oil into grill pan, add bok choy

While that is cooking, layer the marinated chicken in a skillet on a medium heat. Once cooked, cover and turn heat down to low. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro and smear with thai sauce from first step.

Layer the grilled bok choy with the shredded carrot, edamame, and some bean sprouts(optional). Drizzle with dressing:

Serve with rice:

Hey kids.... dinner is ready....

I added a dab of HOT chinese garlic chili sauce... 

It's a harmony of flavors... you like Chinese/Japanese/Thai.....

One kid scraped sauce off chicken and doused with teriyaki sauce and only ate chicken and rice. One kid only ate the rice, one tried it all but only said the chicken was good. 

I need more adults in my life...

Reggae Rice

I have a massive soundworm going... now I'm going to share with you while assembling dinner...

Ooh, yeah! All right!

We're jammin'

O wanna jam it wid you.

We're jammin', jammin'

And I hop you like jammin, too.

Gonna be an easy one using pantry staples and freezer ingredients. In addition to crushed tomatoes and beef broth, I have a bag of peppers cut in half with seeds removed and a bag of browned ground beef.

 Lay peppers in large pan, this one is my favorite, a cheery splatter painted 9x13. I left open space for just the rice/meat/cheese for the non pepper eaters.

 I had planned to use the leftover chinese takeout rice, that no one USUALLY eats... but I didn't write, "touch this and die" on the box... so it's been tampered with. I can make up with a small batch of microwaved rice... but it does cut back on the super easy plan I had. Downgrade from Super Easy to Rather Easy.

Ain't no rules, ain't no vow, we can do it anyhow:

I'n'I will see you through,

'Cos everyday we pay the price with a little sacrifice

Jammin' til the jam is through.

 While extra rice is cooking in micro (1 cup rice, 2.5 cups water, 5 mins on 100% power, 12 mins on 50%)
Normal batch of rice (4+ cups) 2 cups rice, 4.5+ cups water, 5 mins on 100% power, 18 mins on 50%)

While rice is cooking, add frozen ground beef to pan with 2 cups beef broth and lg can of crushed tomatoes.

Add to pan with rice/beef/tomato mixture. (about 4 cups rice total). I added garlic and onion powder as well as cumin and Adobo seasonings. Stir together and then spoon onto pepper halves... and non peppered space.

We're jammin'-

To think that jammin' was a thing of the past;

We're jammin',

And I hope this jam is gonna last.

Cover with shredded cheese and bake at 350 for approx 30 minutes

We're jammin', we're jammin', we're jammin', we're jammin'

Hope you like jammin' too

Serve warm, with or without a dollop of sour cream.                                                                                    

Dinner?