Bool Kogi

Tonight's dinner was Bool Kogi, jasmine rice and peas.  We love this meal in our house!

I use a pre-marinated meat from Trader Joe's for my Bool Kogi.

I'm sure you could find a "from scratch" recipe for this, I've just never done much research into it.  This is one of the items I like to keep around for quick meals.  I normally have a package of Bool Kogi either in my fridge or freezer.  I've found if I keep one or two quick and easy meals around I'm more likely to cook when our plans change.  (Just not over the last two weeks!)  That's another reason I love menu planning.  I typically have one or two quick meals built into each week.  That way if plans change I can easily move items around knowing that I have everything on hand.  Ok sorry for the sidetrack, back to the Bool Kogi.

There are two ways to cook Bool Kogi, on the grill and on the stove top.  On the grill is best, but we're still without a decent grill; the stove top is fine, just not as good.  When I cook Bool Kogi on the stove I use our 12 inch cast iron pan. And here are the steps:

1. Heat a large heavy duty pan over high heat, let the pan get very hot.  If you're using a stainless steel pan you'll want to add a little oil so the meat doesn't stick.  Our cast irons are perfectly "seasoned" so I rarely have to add oil to them when cooking.
2.  Once the pan is very hot place a single layer of meat in the pan.  Cook for 3-4 minutes.
3.  Turn the meat and cook another 3-4 minutes.
4.  Remove the meat from the heat and let sit for 2-3 minutes. Repeat for the rest of the meat.
5.  Eat!

Mmmmm...



Serve with rice and a veggie, we're big pea eaters in our house, and you're set.  I like to add a little butter and salt to my rice, Jon likes his rice plain.  This meal hit the spot tonight!

I have no idea what's for dinner tomorrow night.  I haven't gone grocery shopping in two weeks.  (Thank heavens we get our milk delivered and have had the farmer's market around to get fresh fruit!)  Not only do I need to go shopping for dinner stuff we need lunch and breakfast stuff STAT!

The boys have been happily enjoying lots of mac & cheese and grilled cheese for lunch.  Jon's been getting the leftovers (when I've actually cooked!) and I've been digging in the bottom of the freezer using up my "quick" lunches.  I really need to go grocery shopping tomorrow!  Who knows if I'll even cook... it kind of feels like it's going to be a Qdoba night to me. :)

Yeah so...

Ugh! I had my post all written ready to go and some how I deleted it all and of course Blogger saved my post after everything was deleted.  I'm tired and don't feel like retyping everything so below is the condensed version.

I didn't cook last night.  We had Teriyaki for dinner.
I didn't cook tonight, it was the last farmer's market of the year.
I told you I wasn't going to make the frittata!

Here's my very boring, yet very helpful, tip...
Use vinegar in your dishwasher as a rinse agent.  I used to use an actual rinse agent and then I read somewhere to use white vinegar and decided to try it.  It works great for us and we have really hard water.  Not only is it good for the environment, its cheap!

I have every intention of cooking dinner tomorrow-- I promise this will become a food/cooking blog again!

Fettuccine with Spinach Pesto

So I said I was going to blog about something fun and exciting for Monday night.  Yeah well I completely forgot about blogging-- sorry! :)

I did cook tonight though.  This is one of my favorite pasta dishes.  Everyone in my family loves it, plus it sneaks spinach into Carter.  Eli will eat almost anything, Carter is a little pickier, so this is perfect for him.

As always, here's the link to the original recipe and here's how I make it.

The goods

Fettuccine with Spinach Pesto
Prep time 25 mins
Total time 25 mins
Serves 4

1 Package fettuccine

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

2 tablespoons pine nuts, plus more for serving

2-3 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon grated zest plus 2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup cold water

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water according to package instructions. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, drain pasta, and return to pot.

2. While pasta is cooking, place spinach, Parmesan, nuts, garlic, and lemon zest and juice in a food processor. Process until a paste forms. With motor running, add oil and cold water; process until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Add to pasta; toss, adding reserved pasta water a little at a time until sauce is thinned slightly and coats fettuccine (you may not need all the water). Serve, sprinkled with additional Parmesan and nuts.

Steps of making the pesto:

All aboard!

Pre oil and water

Ready to mingle with the pasta

I always serve this with chicken breasts.  My method for chicken is simple. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy oven safe pan over medium high heat.  Sprinkle garlic salt on one side of the chicken breasts.  Once the butter is melted place the chicken in the pan, garlic salt side down.  Sprinkle the other side of the chicken with garlic salt.  Cook chicken for about 3-4 minutes until browned, flip the chicken and cook again for 3-4 minutes.  Place the pan (with the chicken in it) in the oven to finish cooking, approximately 15-20 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 165-170 degrees.

YUM!

I talk about garlic salt a lot so I thought I'd show you the kind I use.  Here it is:

This is the only garlic salt I use.  Why? Because when Jon and I were first dating it's what he had in his cupboard.  I liked it so much I adopted it as my own.  Jon thinks it's pretty funny how loyal I am to this particular garlic salt.  He thinks it's the parsley that makes me feel fancy.  I think it tastes good.

On the menu for tomorrow is frittata, but we'll see what happens.  Frittata has been on the menu since last week, things just keep getting in the way.  Our crazy week last week and, I think the biggest motivator, it just hasn't sounded good to me.  Jon asked for it.  I know I'll love it when I eat it so I just need to make it already!

Pork Chops and Orzo

Hooray, I'm finally blogging a recipe! This was Friday night's dinner.  I was too tired to blog the last two nights.  I didn't really cook Saturday night. We spent a long day at the beach I didn't want to cook when we got home, so I had a salad and Jon and the boys had bacon and scrambled eggs.  So I guess I kind of cooked, but not really.  Tonight we went out for dinner. But at least I cooked --one-- time this week! ;)

There are actually recipes I came up with.  I'm quite proud of them.

The supplies

Pork Chops
Prep time 1 min
Cook time 10 mins

1-2 Packages of thin cut pork chops
1 Cup Italian bread crumbs
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Milk
Olive oil

1. Warm the olive oil, I don't have an exact amount, in a large heavy pan over medium high heat.  The oil should come up the side of the pan about half an inch.  I use our cast iron pans for this, they are the best for frying.
2. While waiting for the oil to heat up, put the bread crumbs in a boil.  In a separate bowl combine the egg and milk and beat.
3.  Once the oil is warmed up, if you sprinkle water in the oil it should quickly evaporate, dip one of the pork chops in the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumbs.  Place the pork chop in the pan and continue until the pan is full, but not overfull. Our small cast iron fits 3 nicely, the large 4.
4.  Cook the pork chops for 3-4 minutes a side, until done.  I cook my pork to 160 degrees.
5.  Repeat steps 3 and 4 until all the pork chops are cooked.

I use thin cut pork chops, these kind

because they cook quickly.  I normally use two packages, or 2 pounds or so so we have leftovers.  Onto the pasta!

Yumminess in the making

Garlic Parmesan Orzo
Prep time 1 min
Cook time 15 min

1 Box of orzo
2-3 Tbsp garlic salt
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 Parmesan cheese

1.  Cook the box of orzo per the package directions.
2.  Drain orzo and place back into the pan you cooked the pasta in.
3.  Add the butter, stir, add the garlic salt, stir, add the Parmesan cheese, stir.  Mix well and serve.

Dinner is served!

I served dinner with fresh corn on the cob.  It didn't really go with the meal, but it was at a local fruit stand  and sounded good.  Plus I wanted to make sure I used it before it went bad.  (Which was good seeing as I didn't cook the next two days!)

I didn't get to grocery shop this weekend, we were too busy having fun! So tomorrow's dinner is going to be something I have on hand, orange chicken, rice and spring rolls.  I've already blogged about that dinner but I am going to try to think of something else to blog about.  I've missed blogging and want to get back in the habit of blogging every night.  Hopefully I think of something fun and exciting! :)

8 Day Sabbatical

I haven't cooked in 6 days, I won't be cooking for the next 2.  I think this is the longest I've ever not cooked dinner.  I miss cooking but I miss our dear Maddie more. 

Maddie (our very sick doggie I mentioned last night) passed away while at the vet last night.  We found out this morning and it threw a wrench in all of today's plans.



Rest in Peace Maddie Mae

I had every intention of cooking dinner, I was really looking forward to cooking too.  The boys and I had to pick Jon up from work and then we stopped by Barnes and Noble on the way home.  By the time we left Barnes and Noble it was 6:00pm, it was hot and we were all hungry and cranky.  To top things off Eli refused to go into his car seat.  His new game is to throw a world class fit when we try to put him in his car seat.  He screamed and cried for 20 minutes today on the short drive to lunch, this was after fighting for 10 minutes to get him in his car seat.  I didn't have the energy to fight him again. 

We made a split second decision to eat out.  Where you may ask, Cucina Cucina.  Why there?  Because it was the only restaurant in the parking lot.  It's not our favorite place to eat, but we were all happier an hour later and everyone got in the car happily.

I'm not cooking tomorrow night, my Mom's in town for a quick visit so we're eating out, or Thursday night, Farmer's Market night.  So hopefully life will be a little more settled and I'll be back on Friday with some yummy recipes.

Life..

No recipes again tonight.  We have a very sick dog and had to make an unplanned trip to the vet this evening.  The boys had McDonald's for dinner, Jon and I haven't eaten yet.

Here's hoping tomorrow is a better day and I finally cook a meal! :)

Slacker

Yes, I'm a slacker.  It's not that I don't want to blog, it's that I haven't cooked anything the last two nights.  Friday night we went out to Qdoba and tonight I made frozen pizza.  Tonight I was so exhausted after a very long day, even making frozen pizza felt like too much work! Yesterday we went to Costco after nap time and it was just easier to eat out.  Plus I have quite a few free birthday meals I need to use.

So go ahead, call me a slacker, I feel like I'm following the lead of my good friend Erin. (Hehehe, just kidding Erin!) She has an awesome blog, Erin Rages, that you should check out.

I won't be cooking tomorrow night either.  It's my birthday and my father-in-law is taking us out for Mexican food.  Yum!!! I'll be back Monday....maybe.  ;)