This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ChineseNYeats #CollectiveBias
Next Monday begins the Year of the Monkey, according to the Chinese Lunar New Year calendar. Celebrations are held around the world, particularly in places with large Chinese populations, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Locally, Philadelphia’s Chinatown holds a bunch of different events to celebrate, including a parade and a midnight dance performance on the 8th.
My favorite place in the city, Reading Terminal Market, along with the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, is featuring demonstrations of the cuisine and cultures of Asia next weekend. To get in the spirit, I decided to make one of my favorite Thai dishes: Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken.
This recipe comes together really quickly with the help of Minute Rice, Dole and Kikkoman.
For this recipe, I used White Minute Rice, Dole Pineapple Chunks, and Kikkoman Less Sodium Soy Sauce and Sriracha Sauce, which I picked up at my local Wegmans, which were found in the rice aisle, canned fruit aisle, and Asian foods aisle, respectively.
Like much of the east coast, Philadelphia got hit with a blizzard last weekend. Which meant I had a whole weekend to make a bunch of meals, like this Carrot Ginger Soup!
This Carrot Ginger Soup from Cooking Light is comforting and creamy without any cream! The hint of curry powder brings such a nice warmth to the dish.
It makes 12 servings, so it’s a great recipe to stock your freezer. I love it as a side to my sandwich or salad for lunch!
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (or margarine to make dairy-free)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
7 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth to make vegetarian)
I had a sad surprise this weekend. I opened my freezer to grab a quart of tomato sauce only to find I was all out!
Time to make another batch of sauce, so I decided to make Homemade Marinara Sauce!
This time around, I have a nifty new tool to help make my marinara sauce: OXO’s new Illuminating Digital Immersion Blender.
The immersion blender has six digital controls so you can pick the perfect speed for whatever it is you need blended. Just turn the dial at the top of the immersion blender to adjust the speed; a backlit LED indicator clearly shows your speed selection.
To start blending, you just press down on the wide, soft-touch power button located on the top half of the blender. The handle is nonslip, even when hands are wet.
source: oxo.com
The head is made of nylon, which won’t scratch your bowls or cookware while it blends.
source: oxo.com
A really nifty spec is the soft-glow LED headlight that illuminates the pot while you blend, which is super helpful when making a large batch of soup or sauce in a tall pot. A softer version of the light remains on the entire time the blender is plugged in for safety.
The immersion blender comes with a measuring beaker with a silicone lid that holds up to 3 cups. You can blend right in the beaker, then top with the lid to store whatever you don’t use immediately.
When finished using the blender, the cord wraps securely around the blender body for tidy, compact storage, great for my small kitchen!
source: oxo.com
The blender is a super helpful tool when making soups, dips, smoothies, and sauces. I used it to make a smooth marinara sauce made with canned whole plum tomatoes and sauteed carrots, celery and onions.
This post is sponsored by Door-to-Door Organics. All opinions are my own. #MyFarm2Table
These Zucchini Boats were my favorite part of my Farm-to-Table Meal last weekend. Stuffed with mushrooms and mozzarella cheese, the boats were nice and hearty and had great flavor!
This post is sponsored by Door-to-Door Organics. All opinions are my own. #MyFarm2Table
I was sent some beautiful Local Organic Heirloom Tomatoes from Door-to-Door Organics for my Farm-to-Table post. I love the colors of heirloom tomatoes, especially the lighter ones, so I wanted to use them in a way that highlighted their coloring. What better way to make heirloom tomatoes the star but in a Gazpacho recipe?
Now, the one typical setback of making gazpacho is going through the whole process of peeling and seeding tomatoes. So, for this recipe, I just eliminated it. I have a pretty awesome blender (a Blendtec) which blended the tomatoes well enough to basically eliminate the skins and seeds, so yours may come out a bit more chunky. But removing the skin of a tomato is just such a pain!
I served my silky smooth gazpacho topped with finely chopped cherry tomatoes and a Wild Flour Bakery Hearth Baked Mini Baguette that was also in my box from Door-to-Door Organics. The recipe also includes a green bell pepper and a jalapeno which were also a part of my box.
Ingredients:
3 cups heirloom tomatoes, chopped (I used some yellow and red)
This Saturday marks Jarden Home Brands fifth annual Can-It-Forward Day, which will be broadcast live online at FreshPreserving.com from 11AM – 4PM EST from the new state-of-the-art Jarden Home Brands headquarters in Fishers, Indiana.
An event celebrating the joys of fresh preserving, the -It-Forward Day webcast will have an integrated chat function where viewers can submit their home canning questions to be answered in real time. New this year, there will also be an exciting celebrity mason jar auction unveiled during the webcast!
My future sister-in-law is big into canning, and I’ve “helped” (a.k.a kept her company in the kitchen) once before, but the process of canning is really intimidating to me. I was told that if I can boil water, I can can, so I was both wary and excited to try this out!
I need to give a little shout out to my city, because the Mason jar was, in fact, invented and patented in Philadelphia in 1858 by local tinsmith John Landis Mason. So, this should be in my blood, right?
The Ball Canning Discovery Kit is a great beginners kit; it comes with a canning rack that fits into most pasta pots, a recipe guide, and three jars. The kit is really affordable ($11.99) and allows you to assess if canning is for you before investing fully into the process.
My sister-in-law assured me that if I had a Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving, I’d be just fine canning. So. WHEW. This book lays out each step of the process (and even tells you why you are doing it this way) to ensure a successful canning process. The step-by-step guides are particularly helpful as a beginner.
The Red Design Series Lidsare normal lids and bands, just prettier. 🙂 The lids can only be used once during canning, so it’s helpful to have extras on hand. (You can reuse the jars and bands as many times as you want)
The Ball Fiesta Salsa Mix makes the process of seasoning salsa super easy. You just need fresh or canned tomatoes, a splash of vinegar, and the mix to make a yummy salsa!
I decided to make a salsa from the Ball Blue Book, but adapted it slightly to include the Ball Fiesta Salsa Mix. The recipe is simple, and is basically just cutting up the ingredients, so this post is more about the canning process than the actual recipe.
I am absolutely a beginner with this, but luckily was able to glean some tips from my sister-in-law and the Ball Blue Book, which I will share as well.
I also am giving away a coupon for a free case of jars! Details at the end of the post.
Zesty Salsa (adapted fromBall Blue Book Guide to Preserving)
Yields ~3 pint jars
Ingredients:
5 cups chopped cored peeled tomatoes (fresh or canned)
4 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped (~2.5 cups)
1 large onion, chopped (~2.5 cups)
1 large jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped (~3 tablespoons)
2 garlic cloves minced
2/3 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup Ball Fiesta Salsa Mix
Gear:
Ball canning rack with lifter
3 Ball Pint Jars with lids and bands (I used the Red design series lids and bands)
Large stockpot (at least 7.5 inches tall and 9.5 inches in diameter)
a non-metallic spatula (I ended up using chopsticks. They worked just fine)
I am a carb fanatic — I’d eat pasta with some day-old bread every single day if I could. But on really hot summer days, sometimes you need something that feels lighter while still filling you up. Cooking Light’s Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps are a nice filling meal that are perfect on warm days; pulled pork is wrapped in Boston Bibb lettuce rather than added to a roll. The result is a super yummy and crunchy dinner!
I use my slow cooker year-round and this adaptation is no exception. Slow Cookers are such a simple way to get an awesome meal on the table in no time. Plus, it gives your oven a break!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 white onion, quartered
1 (2 1/2-pound) boneless pork shoulder, trimmed
1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons sherry
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted chicken stock
1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean chile paste) (gluten free is available)
1 1/2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
Whew. I am having a crazy busy month, so unfortunately my cooking is suffering. I can never have too many weeknight meal options (ie. meals that can be on the table in 30 minutes or less) at my disposal, so here’s another quick and easy dinner that comes together quickly- Smoked Sausage with Rigatoni! I tend to usually make chicken or seafood recipes, so I am finally doing a quick beef recipe!
This recipe for Smoked Sausage with Rigatoni uses Hillshire Farm’s Beef Smoked Sausage to add some yummy flavor to a quick fire roasted chunky tomato sauce. It’s a great alternative to chicken to snazz up a midweek meal.
The beef sausage cooks up in no time. Using the same pan to cook the sausage and to make the sauce gives the sauce a subtle smoky flavor that’s so tasty!
Ingredients:
1 (16 oz) box rigatoni, cooked according to package directions
1 package Hillshire Farms Beef Smoked Sausage, cut into slices
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped (~1 cup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil leaves
2 (14.5 oz) cans Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
salt and pepper, to taste
grated Parmesan cheese, optional
#spon: I’m required to disclose a relationship between our site and Hillshire. This could include Hillshire providing us w/content, product, access or other forms of payment.Continue reading Smoked Sausage with Rigatoni
Stuffing is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving, probably because it’s usually the only time of year I get to eat it. But now that I’ve found this awesome single serving version for Apple Sage Stuffing Cups, I can have it whenever I want with little effort!
This recipe from Cooking Light adds the stuffing to a cupcake tin to bake so that you get more crispy edges. It’s also great as a make ahead option because everything is already portioned out for easy reheating.
With the weather starting to cool off a bit, I had a hankering for something a little more hearty that I could still prepare on a weeknight. This recipe from Cooking Light incorporates mushrooms and turkey sausage into a tomato sauce to make a filling but lighter meal. The polenta is kicked up a notch with the addition of some cream cheese to add some decadence to the whole dish. I kept this recipe mostly in tact and just messed with some of the amounts for the ingredients. To see the original recipe, click here. Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
8 ounces hot turkey Italian sausage
3/4 cup chopped onion
20 oz sliced baby bella mushrooms
2 large (or 4 small) garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon coconut aminos (or soy sauce if not gluten-free)
As kids are going back to school (or may even be back!) and the “busy season” of work creeps closer, it’s necessary to find recipes that can be prepared ahead of time so that weeknight meals can be on the table as quickly as possible. My favorite tool for really yummy dishes that I can just reheat is my lovely slow cooker.
Cooking Light had a recipe for Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice that is perfect for weekend prep and weeknight meals. This particular recipe has a good amount of prep time before putting everything in the slow cooker so I’d suggest making it on a weekend versus a weeknight morning. (If you want to make this before work, set aside 30-45 minutes to get everything ready to put in the slow cooker.)
A couple of notes before I dive into the recipe. You actually soak the dried red beans in water overnight, so don’t forget to do that that night before you plan on making this recipe. Also, dried kidney beans apparently contain a toxin that is not killed at low temperatures (like in a slow cooker) so you have to boil them for 10 minutes before slow cooking. (Who knew?! Definitely don’t skip that step!) This recipe makes 8 servings so you can also freeze the red bean mixture for future meals if you won’t finish it during the week. Ok! Let’s cook!
Ingredients:
1 pound dried red kidney beans
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 oz andouille sausage, quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise
Hi all! I’m happy to introduce Chris from HealthSmartLiving.com! His blog is filled with tips on hydroponic gardening, healthy cooking, juicing and overall nutritious recipes. His website even includes a review of juicers. Juicing is a foreign concept to me and looking through his blog helped answer a lot of questions I had about it.
Today, he is sharing a Spicy Tomato Juice recipe make from home grown tomatoes that looks oh so tasty! Let me turn it over to Chris…
I love August in Chicago. It’s warm, sunny, and all of my gardening efforts start to pay off. Even though we live in downtown Chicago with a 400 square foot yard, we still manage to pack a pretty good fruitful garden in. This year we grew tomatoes, peppers, onions and various herbs.
You also have to be prepared to use a lot of fresh vegetables or watch them go bad. I hope to learn canning someday but it won’t be this year. Recently I made my first batch of tomato gazpacho and it was amazing. It also was really time consuming so I would call it a special occasion dish.
Another simpler way I’ve found to use a LOT of tomatoes, jalapenos, and onions is by juicing my own tomato juice. My wife and I started juicing this spring as a way to get more fruits and vegetables in our diet and to improve our overall health. We have really enjoyed it and I’ve even dedicated a section of my personal blog to juicing. It covers all the basics to get started.
I had a hankering for pho this week so I figured I would try to make it! This at-home recipe has a bit of a darker broth but boy does it taste good!
I found this recipe on Food Network and was surprised at how simple it really was to make. The hardest part was slicing the beef super thin so that it can finish cooking in the broth. If you are worried that your slices are too thick to cook fully, just add the sliced beef to the broth and simmer for about 1 minute before assembling.
One of the first products I noticed in the basket was Smoked Mozzarella. I’ve had smoked mozzarella in the past and found the flavor to be a bit… overwhelming… so I was interested to see if I could get it to work well in a recipe instead of becoming the only flavor you can taste. But Formaggio’s smoked mozzarella was a pleasant surprise! The smoky flavor is present without being overpowering and works to enhance other flavors instead of covering them up.
Mussels are one of my favorite quick meal options — they take just 5 minutes to cook! This recipe for Smoky Portuguese-Style Mussels infuses the broth with turkey kielbasa and smoked paprika before steaming the mussels in the broth, resulting in a really flavorful dish. The broth is really spectacular, so be sure to serve this dish with a sliced baguette. (Note: the whole dish takes about 30 minutes to cook.)
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons canola oil
4 ounces chopped turkey kielbasa
1 1/4 cups chopped onion
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 pound red potatoes (I used assorted baby potatoes)
