Haw-Asian? What the hell is that? I don’t blame you for asking. My good friend and future roomie, Mare, coined the phrase. It’s Hawaiian and Asian all run together, which is the popular thing, these days, if you didn’t know. Anyway, I made a fabulous dinner on Saturday night and I’d like to share it with all of you.

First, I used the Pineapple Skewered Shrimp recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks as a base. I used chicken instead, though, and didn’t use any of the optional additions like red pepper flakes (too hot for me!). I found that a package of chicken tenderloins, cut down the center, creates perfect pieces of chicken for skewering. I marinated the chicken, overnight, and it did fine. I worried about the teriyaki sauce “cooking” the chicken, the way soy sauce or lemon juice can do, but my cooking-gifted sister assured me that it would probably be okay.

Second, another friend recommend an Asian Slaw as a side dish. After using my friend Google to figure out what an Asian slaw is (I only had visions of KFC coleslaw in my head), I came up with my own version. Since our grocery store was curiously out of some ingredients, it got re-engineered on the fly. I ended up with:

1 head of Napa cabbage, chopped finely
1 package of sugar snap peas, each pea sliced in half
1 package Ramen noodles
3 T. sesame seeds

Crumble the Ramen noodles onto a baking sheet, add the sesame seeds. Toast in a 350 degree oven for about 4 minutes, shaking periodically (I shook at the 2 minute mark). Add all ingredients and toss together with Asian Dressing.

For the Asian Dressing, I used a Pampered Chef gadget I got long ago…the Measure, Mix & Pour. This handy little device has recipes for different dressings right on the container; all you have to do is pour to the measurement line. Then, you just up-and-down the plunger and it all mixed together nicely. There’s a spout for pouring. Pretty cool and easy. The Asian Dressing included ingredients of soy sauce, ground ginger, sugar, pressed garlic and vegetable oil. I used sesame oil for about half of the vegetable oil required. That was the key to an amazing dressing, I think. The Boyfriend raved about it for a day and a half.

The final piece of the meal was a quick Rice Pilaf. Admittedly, it came from a box and it was the Near East brand. I’ve always had good luck with their products, and this time was no different.

All in all, it was pretty easy preparation. I did most of the prep the night before and it didn’t take much time, at all. The morning of, I skewered the meat and pineapples. Then, I took a daytrip out on the creek. The only thing I had to do when it was dinner time was cook the rice and tell The Boyfriend to fire up the grill!

Today is the first week of planning with the aid of Menu In a Box. I’m super excited about all of these dinners!

Monday: Sweet Chili Chicken

Tuesday: Pasta Pomodora

Wednesday: Roast Vegetables and Cous Cous

Thursday: Salsa Fish & Vegetables

Friday: Honey Beef

I’m very excited about a new product I received, yesterday. Ruth at Menu In A Box offered me a copy of the Menu In A Box - 100 Day Meal Planning Kit in exchange for a review. I like free stuff, and I love giving my opinion, so I was on it.

I was intrigued by the concept: a .pdf download of recipes, shopping lists, meal plans and tips on becoming more organized and saving money while feeding your family nutritious dinners. Good idea, right? I had some concerns, though:

• Will these be recipes that The Boyfriend and I will like? He can be picky.
• There are only two of us, will these be recipes that can feed a small army? I don’t like to waste food.
• How family-ey is this? I’m not in for tips on how to make children eat peas or what goes best with dino-shaped nuggets (smiley fries, I’m told).

I was pleased with what I found, though.

The menu plan is a 61 page file - definitely printable (but only once!). I plan to print mine and organize it in a binder. I’m not as lucky/organized as some people (Janey!) and have a computer in the kitchen.

The first thing I noticed was the layout. It’s aesthetically pleasing. I really like the presentation, and that’s half the battle for my finicky tastes! If it’s something I like the looks of, I tend to get excited about it. The reason I’m only a Tentative Chef is that I was never really very excited about cooking, growing up. I think this plan will keep my interest with it’s bright colors and interesting layout.

The plan has you follow four steps:

1. Organizing your pantry
2. Printing the weekly menu of your choice and the associated shopping list
3. Shopping both in your pantry and refrigerator and at the store
4. Cooking and enjoying your meals

I can do all those things. Easy peasy. Well, maybe not the first one, right away. One day, though!

The pantry/fridge setup section has a good, if a bit odd, list of staples. There are lots of these lists out there, and I am intimidated by them. This one isn’t different. There are some items I can’t imagine ever using, like, dessicated coconut (I have no idea what that even is), baby beets, marinated capsicums (again, what’s that? ha! I just wikipediad and it’s plain ol’ bell pepper!), much less that I’d consider staples of my pantry. I will concede that I buy to recipes, so, as I make more recipes, my pantry gets filled with more things. However, I’m thinking that sauces like oyster sauce and garam masala are things I can manage without until I have a recipe that needs them. However, I am rather competent at thinking for myself and can adapt my pantry staples list to meet my needs.

I was super happy to find a complete list of all 20 weeks’ menu plans on one sheet. Sweet! I don’t have to flip back and forth through my binder to find a week I like. I love handy, quick references and this is that.

The setup of the weekly menus had me concerned, at first glance. How will I cook with all these bullet points and columns? This doesn’t look like a regular recipe! I’m quick to make rash judgments, though. After actually reading them (a novel idea, huh?), I found that the menus are concise and to the point. My kind of thing! Hold on, though. Will I be able to cook these things or are they complicated and over my Tentative head? No fear, grasshopper! The recipes I looked through were pretty straightforward. My absolute favorite thing about the plan, though? A “Serve With” column. I never know what sides to serve with a meal. This will help, greatly, I think!

One thing I noticed about each night’s meal plan is that I’ll really have to read through the whole meal in order to get my ingredients ready. That’s something I should learn to do, anyway. Sometimes, a side dish will include a dressing with ingredients not listed in the first, main dish, column. It makes sense, it’s just something to adapt to.

Now, on to the shopping list. I freaking love it. I’m not sure why, it’s just a list, but I love lists and this one is pretty! And functional! I like that the items are categorized by type, because I hate walking all over the store and doubling back to find something that was farther down the list. I also really like that there are quantities beside most of the items. It never fails that I bring home only two onions when I really need 3 because I was an idiot who didn’t list her quantities. I also like it because many of the “canned” lists assume you have certain staples. Not this one. It’s all there; I’ll just make a quick run through the pantry/refrigerator and check off the things I already have.

Ruth throws some extras in the box, too, with this kit. There are five party menus that include a whole food setup and a timeline for preparation. I hate not knowing which dish to make first for a dinner party. Also included is a child’s grocery store game - sort of a scavenger hunt. It’s adorable. Finally, there is a blank list for those times when you want to think outside the box.

All in all, I’m very interested in this meal planning kit. Even though it’s really geared toward families, I think it will work for my household of just two. The recipes claim to serve 4, generously. If you saw how The Boyfriend eats, you’d realize that this is about right for us. I plan and measure out a serving for myself, and he eats the rest. If I want some for lunch, the next day, I have to put it away before he serves himself! I’d rather have a “Romantic Dinner” celebration menu (I’m sure I would if I actually HAD kids) instead of the “Kid’s Birthday Party Menu,” but maybe I’ll have one of the kid relatives over for a party.

It lists at $19.95 (USD) for one download of the .pdf file. I’m not sure I’d buy it, just because I’m cheap and have a whole lot of cookbooks. However, I don’t ever use those cookbooks and struggle each week to pull together a meal plan. It would probably be worth it to me to buy and download. Between trying to get The Boyfriend to give me ideas and finding the time to sit down and do it, meal planning doesn’t always happen. However, I think it would make a great gift for new parents, a newly married couple, or anyone who works and wants to eat meals! That narrows it down, right?

I look forward to making this week’s menu and will report back on it’s success or failure. Stay tuned!

Cooking isn’t something I feel like I have time for, this week. It’s not that I have a lot of social engagements planned, I’m just feeling harried. So, it’s simple, this week:

M: Dinner out
T: Breakfast for dinner  - English muffins, eggs, goetta
W: Chili
Th: Pulled pork in the crockpot
F: Chicken and stuffing

The weekend includes helping a friend move (free beer and pizza!), a birthday celebration, and probably a St. Patrick’s Day party, so we’re leaving those meals open for possibility.

Back in December, I got a little bag of Tamari Almonds from a specialty grocery store and gobbled them up. Somehow, in the fog that December always becomes in my memory, I forgot about these little nuggets of perfection. They make great protein-filled snacks to get me through my day. On Sunday, we went to Wild Oats and I saw these on an aisle endcap. Oh, heaven!

I’ve had to resort to counting out a serving size of almonds and bagging them up rather quickly or I’m liable to cram large amounts in my face. They are that good! However, I am sad because they are also that expensive.

This morning, while eating my daily ration, I thought, “Hey! I have tamari. I can buy almonds. I’ll make my own!“

I trotted my happy little self to Google and found this recipe. I’d like to try it, soon!

The budget is a little thin, this week, so I’m really trying to concentrate on shopping from the sale advertisement. I know a lot of people go to different stores to get the best deals, but I’m not willing to do that. So, I stick with my favorite Kroger grocery store.

Here’s the plan, Stan:

I was late getting home from work, last night, and didn’t have the time to prepare or the confidence to make the recipe I’d selected for Tuesday’s planned meal. The recipe was for the slow cooker and instructed to cook two chicken breasts on High for 1-1.5 hours. I just don’t trust that. Is a slow cooker even warm in an hour?

Instead, I made up my own recipe. I’m calling it Different Chicken Tacos. The Boyfriend kept saying he liked it, but kept saying how different it was from what he normally eats. I liked it, and that’s what matters, right?

Different Chicken Tacos

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed
about 2 T lime juice
3/4 C salsa
can of Fiesta Corn (our variety had corn, black beans and peppers)
whole wheat tortillas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Arrange the chicken breasts on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Top with lime juice and salsa. Make packet with aluminum foil, being sure to seal the ends, tightly.

Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink in the middle.

Meanwhile, heat fiesta corn on the stovetop.

When chicken is done, cut up into fajita-style pieces. Heat tortillas in the microwave for about 10 seconds, just until warm. Fill tortilla with chicken and salsa, spoon generous amount of corn atop, sprinkle with shredded cheese, if desired. Wrap, taco style and enjoy!

I’m making beef stew for the first time. I’m making it in a slow cooker. My sister, the good cook, assures me that this is okay, although she’s never done it, before. I don’t have a recipe, and I’m sort of nervous about the whole thing. Here are my ingredients:

1 pkg. (about a pound?) of beef stew meat
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
baby carrots (maybe 20 or so?)
1 can golden corn
1 can green beans
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
2 bay leaves
beef broth, enough to cover all the above ingredients

I put all the vegetables in the slow cooker, first. Then, I browned the meat using vegetable oil, salt, pepper and a little bit of Worcestershire sauce. I placed the meat on top of the vegetables and covered the whole shebang with beef broth.

I’m not serving this until tomorrow, but I cooked it on low for about 4 hours, today. It started to smell good, but the vegetables were still very uncooked. So, I’ll turn it on in the morning before work, and we’ll have it for dinner, later.

I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed hoping for a tasty meal!

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UPDATE: The slow-cooker beef stew was a success! I served it with rolls, and we both enjoyed it. I added salt, he added pepper.

I really like all of the tofu I’ve ever consumed. However, I’ve never known how to cook it, and so many of the recipes for it seem very complicated. A few friends were talking about tofu, and here are some methods I’d like to try.

From SeaTern:

The way I prepare it is to freeze it in its package first and then thaw it out. This changes the texture to something more meaty. After it has thawed I press out as much of the liquid as I can (between 2 plates with a can of crushed tomato on top).

I slice it in 1/2 lengthwise and cut it into triangeles and then marinate in an asian sauce (low sodium tamari, splash of fish sauce, black soy, garlic, onion powder, sesame oil and gingerale for sweetness). I take it out of the marinade and arrange on a baking sheet sprayed with oil and bake them. I really don’t know how long or at what temp. I used to always fry it on the stove top so baking is new for me. The only time I baked them I did 350 for about 20 minutes until they were heated through and then stuck them under the broiler to crisp on top.

I serve it with a stir fry of cole slaw mix and rice.

From MB:

I have made a lovely dip:

1 package soft tofu
4oz sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in water until pliable
2 cloves garlic.

Chop/mix in a food processor the tomatoes and garlic, add the tofu. Process until smooth.

It’s amazing how much of something people will eat, until you tell them it’s tofu.

This is from the lovely Ima Wurdibitsch and is a healthier alternative to traditional sausage.
Spicy Turkey Sausage
1 lb. Ground Turkey Breast
2 Tablespoons Onion, chopped finely
4 Cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 Tablespoon Sage
1/2 Tablespoon Thyme
1/4 Tablespoon Allspice
1/2 Tablespoon Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Cayenne Pepper (less if you don’t like hot and spicy)
1/2 Tablespoon Black Pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Using a 1/4 measuring cup, scoop out the sausage to make balls. Place each ball between 2 pieces of wax paper and flatten with the underside of a plate to desired thickness. Cook in a skillet coated with nonstick spray over medium heat until no longer pink.

Note: This is pretty spicy (hot), but you could cut down on the cayenne pepper if you don’t like really spicy sausage. You don’t have to cook all of the sausage at once. Just freeze each sausage patty between 2 pieces of wax paper and place inside a zip lock freezer bag. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze. When you’re ready to cook, simply defrost and follow the cooking directions above.

Serves: 8
Per Serving: 90 Calories; 5g Fat (48.3% calories from fat); 10g Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 45mg Cholesterol; 454mg Sodium.

Core or 2 Points