Smoky Marinade

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup soy sauce or tamari (we used reduced-sodium tamari)
  • ¼ cup pure maple syrup
  • ¼ tsp. liquid smoke (optional) (we used hickory liquid smoke)
  • 3 Tbsp. olive oil (we used extra-virgin olive oil)
  • 3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp. smoked paprika
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Take a medium-sized bowl out and mix all the ingredients together in it. This can be used right away or stored in the fridge for up to five days. You can also freeze the marinade for up to a month.
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You can taste the sweetness in this as well as the smokiness. We like using this to marinate tofu in (as seen in the second picture).

We got this recipe from the “The Edgy Veg” cookbook.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote The Edgy Veg cookbook.

Take care everybody !

Chinese Chicken Salad

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil (we used peanut oil)
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce (we used reduced-sodium soy sauce)
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
  • 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil (we used toasted sesame oil)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) (we used ½ teaspoon)
  • 4 cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey (We used 3 packages of Beyond Meat’s grilled chicken strips and after being cooked, cut each chicken strip in half width-wise then cut each half lengthwise into 3 strips. You could probably get away with just using 2 bags but if you like snacking on chicken while you’re cutting it then it’s better to go with 3 bags.)
  • 4 cups packed shredded Napa cabbage or romaine lettuce (we used Napa cabbage)
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • ½ cup thinly sliced green onions
  • 1 package (3 ounces) ramen noodles, any flavor, crumbled* or 1 can (5 ounces) chow mein noodles (we used chow mein noodles)
  • ¼ cup chopped cashews or peanuts (optional) (we used chopped peanuts)

Directions

  1. Add the peanut oil, vinegar, soy sauce, honey, ginger, sesame oil, garlic and red pepper flakes to a small jar with a tight-fitting lid**. Make sure the lid’s on tight and secure before shaking long enough for the ingredients to combine.
  2. Add the chicken to a large mixing bowl, pouring the dressing over the chicken afterwards. Toss the chicken long enough to make sure all of it is coated in the dressing.
  3. Add the cabbage, carrots, green onions and noodles to the bowl, tossing all of the ingredients so everything gets coated in the dressing and all the ingredients are equally distributed. If you’re using them, sprinkle the cashews or peanuts on before serving (we just sprinkled the peanuts onto the individual servings).

*Discard the flavor packet.

**We just whisked this together in a small mixing bowl rather than shake it up in a jar.

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We don’t miss meat at all in this flavorful dish. You can taste some heat in this but it’s not overpowering. We know that the Beyond Meat chicken has some flavor of its own so that probably helped make it as yummy as it was, it worked well with the dish. We were afraid of losing the crunch we get from the chow mein noodles if we mixed them in so for ourselves we just sprinkled them over our individual portions. The crunch from the noodles and peanuts is a nice contrast against the tender “chicken”.

We got this recipe from “Asian Cooking” cookbook.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Beyond Meat or the Asian Cooking cookbook.

Take care everybody !

Frozen Grasshopper Dessert

Ingredients

  • 1 (14-ounce) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
  • 1/3 cup green creme de menthe
  • 1/3 cup white creme de cacao (if you’ve never bought this before, it looks clear)
  • 2 cups (1 pint) whipping cream, whipped* (do not use non-dairy whipped topping)

Directions

  1. In a large mixing bowl, mix the sweetened condensed milk, creme de menthe and creme de cacao together. Fold in the whipped cream until combined. Spoon equal amounts into 6 to 8 individual serving dishes. Place the dishes in the freezer for 3 hours or until firm. Garnish however you’d like (we used mint leaves). If you’re going to have any leftovers, place them back in the freezer.

*We whipped the cream until it was slightly past a soft peak stage.

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This is so freaking delicious ! You can taste the mint and chocolate flavors the liqueurs give to the dessert but it’s never overpowering. Even though you taste the mint and chocolate flavors, we ourselves never got a “buzz” from eating it. You do get sweetness but we wouldn’t describe it as rich or cloyingly sweet. If your serving lasts long enough to melt, you will taste the sweetened condensed milk more. The mouthfeel was incredible ! It’s light and so smooth that you won’t realize how quickly it disappears from your dish. This has become our new favorite summer dessert !

Recipe source unknown.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Eagle Brand.

Take care everybody !

Brussels Sprouts & Noodle Stir-Fry

Ingredients

  • 3 oz. dried whole wheat or multi-grain thin spaghetti (we used whole wheat spaghetti)
  • 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup thinly sliced red onion
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 12 oz. fresh Brussels Sprouts, trimmed and thinly sliced (we sliced them vertically)
  • 1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
  • ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper (we increased it to ½ tsp.)
  • ½ cup chicken broth (we used reduced-sodium chicken broth)
  • 2 Tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • ½ cup shredded carrot
  • 1/3 cup snipped fresh cilantro
  • 3 Tbsp. slivered almonds, toasted

Directions

  1. Break spaghetti into 1-inch pieces (that’s what we did, more or less, it’s just hard to break the spaghetti into 1-inch pieces). Cook the pasta based off the directions on the package that they came in, draining the pasta afterwards. Place them in a container that you can put a lid on so the spaghetti stays warm.
  2. Take a large skillet out and pour the oil in, setting the heat to medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, toss the onion and garlic in, stirring for 1 minute. Now throw in the Brussels sprouts, ginger, and crushed red pepper, stirring for an additional minute. Pour the broth and soy sauce into the skillet and let the dish cook for roughly 2 more minutes or until the liquid is close to being fully evaporated, stirring now and then. Take the skillet off the heat.
  3. Add in the spaghetti you cooked earlier, along with the shredded carrot and cilantro, tossing to combine. Spread the almonds over the top and enjoy !

Makes 8 servings (as a side dish without the shrimp)

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You can taste the ginger in this and there’s a little spice to this as well. The heat does build while you eat but it’s never overwhelming. The almonds add a nice crunch. Originally this was a side dish but they said you could make it a main dish by adding in 2 cups of chopped, cooked chicken breast or 2 cups cooked, shelled and deveined shrimp (we went with shrimp obviously) at the same time you’re adding in the broth. The shrimp really makes it a satisfying main dish.

Recipe source unknown.

Take care everybody !

Fried Chicken, Take 2

Well we tried making fried chicken again and it turned out just as good as the first time ! We’re proud of ourselves though. We didn’t let failure keep us from trying again and even when the first few pieces of chicken came out bad yesterday, we didn’t say “screw it, let’s just throw the rest of the chicken away and call it a day”. Instead, we tried to adjust and make it better. You just can’t let failures stop you from reaching your goal. Oh and eventually, we will be making some damn good fried chicken !

First Ever Fried Chicken

We tried making fried chicken for the first time yesterday and they didn’t turn out quite like we expected. We think you can figure out which is the first and then the second batch:

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We followed the recipe exactly for the first batch and after seeing how that turned out, we decided to go rogue and make some of our own adjustments. We learned a lot just between those 2 batches. The most important lesson was to trust our instincts more when something didn’t seem quite right to us. The second batch was edible but we didn’t think it tasted good enough to post and we don’t want to post anything we’re not excited about eating. We’re not letting this stop us from trying to make fried chicken in the future though ! In fact, we’re making fried chicken again today (this time with a different recipe) !

Take care everybody !