Moo Goo Gai Pan with Corn

One of the best things about required new meal cooking is the gaining of new meals. Experimenting with meals loved from a restaurant but too lazy to cook at home. Especially the Asian meals. The newest test, Moo Goo Gai Pan, was one of my most favorite dishes at the local corner Chinese restaurant we ate at weekly. One my other favorite dishes from them was their cheese enchiladas. But that is a topic for a whole other day on a different type of blog.

Modifications Made:
Snap peas instead of snow peas. Omitted bamboo shoots as the grocer was out and replaced with baby corns. One teaspoon of Sriracha was added to the sauce for some heat and to offset the sugar.

Scaled for Likability: Great
When reading the recipe, one can get overwhelmed by the sheer number of ingredients. I know I did. But after having now made several new Asian meals, I have come to understand the number of spices and ingredients does not make the dish complicated. In fact, most of the ingredients are store bought, pre-made spices and pre-sliced ingredients. The only prep work for this meal was the chicken, ginger, and carrots. Carrots even come pre-sliced at the store but I prefer long thin slices over thick wide sliced found at the grocer.

This meal was really easy. In the time it took for the white to cook, the ingredients were prep and the meal was almost done itself. The sauce which was always my favorite part was perfect and plenty. So much it even fully covered the white rice. Perfect!

My only complaint was there was just enough for three people. Not a real complaint at all.

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes for flavored tomatoes, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one can tomato sauce, two low sodium chicken and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots, juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green beans and corn tossed in, heat t

So Sad Cake Brownies

Oh my word how does a space as small a pantry becomes so disorganized? And in such a short time, nonetheless? While reorganizing the four 2x4 pantry shelves yesterday a golden back of the box recipe was discovered. Milk Brownies. Replacing yogurt for milk or applesauce for oil, these are commonplace alternatives. Milk for water in a box brownie, this had to be tried. Stat. Modifications Made: Per the box, 1/3 cup milk replaced 1/3 water. Half cup of chopped walnuts were added along with two tablespoons of Hershey chocolate syrup. Because why not. Scaled for Likability: No, Thank You The milk was fine, the extra chocolate was fine. Walnuts could have been doubled. The problem was the brownies themselves. I accidently made cake brownies with two eggs instead of fudge brownies with just one brownie. So sad. These were given to the neighbor who prefers cake brownies. If the neighbor liked fudge brownies (they are the best kind) these would have gone to the chickens. They have no

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add potatoes. Cover and reduc

Eating Waffles

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