Gingery Meatball Soup with Bok Choy

Ingredients

  • Meatballs
    • 1 large egg
    • 2 Tbsp. water
    • ½ tsp. Kosher salt
    • ½ tsp. pepper (we used freshly ground black pepper)
    • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
    • ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
    • ¼ cup bread crumbs (we used panko)
    • 1 lb. ground chicken
    • 2 scallions, finely chopped
    • 1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
  • 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 red chili (we used a Fresno chile), thinly sliced (we left the seeds and ribs in)
  • 1 medium carrot, thinly sliced (we sliced ours on the bias)
  • 4 heads baby bok choy (about 12 oz.) (we used 12 oz. worth of baby bok choy), trimmed, washed and leaves separated

Directions

  1. Start by making the meatballs:
    1. Preheat the broiler. Take a rimmed baking sheet and line it with nonstick foil (we used aluminum foil and sprayed it with cooking spray).
    2. Take a large mixing bowl out and whisk the egg, water, salt and pepper together. Mix in the garlic and cilantro, followed by the bread crumbs. Let the bread crumb mixture rest for 2 minutes. Add in the chicken and mix everything together.
    3. Shape the chicken mixture into 1 ½-in. balls* (roughly 20 total) and place them on the lined baking sheet. Broil for 6 to 8 minutes or until the meatballs are fully cooked (we cooked ours for 8 minutes, flipping the meatballs over halfway through the cooking time).
  2. Take a large pout out and add the chicken broth, ginger, and red chili to it, turning the heat up high enough for boiling to occur. Add the sliced carrot to the pot, turning the heat down if necessary so that it’s simmering for 1 minute. Add the baby bok choy in, continuing to let it simmer for 2 minutes or until the bok choy just gets tender. Gently stir in the meatballs (so they don’t get broken up) and serve once the meatballs are heated through (only took us a minute or two).

*We filled an 1/8 cup with the meat mixture and got 19 meatballs.

DSC_0935DSC_0933

This was a delicious soup. Having the chili boil in the beginning allowed you to get the heat from the pepper even if you didn’t get an actual slice of the pepper. The meatballs on their own are flavorful but with the rest of the soup, it’s a winning combo. The Fresno chili packed a lot more heat than we thought it would, we loved it ! If you don’t like things to be too spicy, then cut out the seeds and ribs before adding it into the broth. Overall, this was a filling dish that was really tasty.

This recipe came from Woman’s Day.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Woman’s Day.

Take care everybody !

St. Paddy’s Day Pudding Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 (6 oz.) Oreo Pie Crust
  • 1 (5.1 oz.) Jell-O Vanilla Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
  • 2 ¾ cup cold whole milk
  • ¼ cup creme de menthe (we used DeKuyper Creme de Menthe)
  • Whipped cream in a can (we used Reddi Wip)
  • Green sugar

Directions

  1. Take a large mixing bowl out and mix the instant pudding mix, milk and creme de menthe together with a whisk for 2 minutes. Let it set up for 5 minutes before spreading it out in the pie crust. Cover and refrigerate until cold, a few hours or so.
  2. When you get ready to serve, apply dollops of whipped cream around the border of the pie and sprinkle green sugar over the whipped cream dollops. Serve immediately.
DSC_0961DSC_0962

This looked really pretty in the pie pan but it became a hot mess once we tried to get our individual servings. Even though it was delicious, it was loose and looked like a loose green blob on our plates. It did have a nice mint flavor though. This was our fist attempt at this original recipe and once we get it the way we want it to be, we’ll give you an update on that.

This was our original recipe.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Jell-O, Oreo, DeKuyper or Reddi Wip.

Take care everybody !

Szechuan Tofu with Cauliflower

Ingredients

  • 12 oz. extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into ¾-in. cubes
  • 3 Tbsp. cornstarch, divided
  • 2 Tbsp. canola oil
  • 1 cup unsalted vegetable stock, divided
  • 3 Tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
  • 1 ½ tsp. hoisin sauce (you could use store-bought but you can find the recipe for the one we used here)
  • 3 cups cauliflower florets
  • 2 cups thinly diagonally sliced celery
  • 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 ½ Tbsp. unsalted ketchup
  • ½ tsp. crushed red pepper
  • ½ cup thinly sliced green onions
  • Orange-Scallion Brown Rice
    • 2 (8.8-oz.) packages brown rice (such as Uncle Ben’s) (we did use Uncle Ben’s)
    • 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
    • ½ cup chopped green onions
    • 1 tsp. grated orange rind
    • ¼ tsp. kosher salt
    • ¼ tsp. black pepper (we used freshly ground black pepper)

Directions

  1. Start by making the orange-scallion brown rice. Cook the brown rice based off the microwave directions that you’ll find on the packages. Take a large skillet out and pour the toasted sesame oil in, setting the heat to medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, add in the chopped green onions, cooking them for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Mix in the orange rind, kosher salt and black pepper, continuing to stir for 1 minute. Now add in the rice, mixing everything together. Continue to stir for another 3 minutes or until heated through. Take the skillet off the heat and leave it off to the side until the Szechuan tofu with cauliflower is done cooking.
  2. Using paper towels, pat the tofu until dry (we pressed our tofu to get the water drained). Take a large bowl and add 7 teaspoons of the cornstarch to it. Place the dry tofu in the cornstarch, tossing to coat. Pour the canola oil into a large nonstick skillet, setting the heat to medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, add the tofu to the skillet, cooking it for 6 minutes or until the tofu looks golden and crispy, stirring the tofu around occasionally during that time. Using a slotted spoon (we just used a spatula), take the tofu out of the skillet and place it on a plate for the time being.
  3. Take a mixing bowl with at least a 2-cup capacity out and mix the remaining cornstarch together with ¼ cup of vegetable stock together in it, stirring until smooth. Now mix in the remaining stock as well as the soy sauce, vinegar and hoisin.
  4. Toss the cauliflower into the skillet, cooking for 3 minutes or until it looks lightly browned, stirring it around now and then. Add in the celery and garlic*, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add in the ketchup and pepper now, cooking for an additional minute, stirring to coat. Pour the stock mixture into the skillet, bringing it to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes or until the liquid looks like it’s thickened a little. Add the tofu back into the skillet, tossing to coat. Top with green onions and it’s ready to serve with the rice.

*We didn’t add the garlic in until the celery had already been cooking for a minute.

DSC_0924DSC_0907 copy

The flavor of the tofu with cauliflower works well with the orange-scallion brown rice, they compliment each other. This was a flavorful dish but it wasn’t spicy to us so we sprinkled more crushed red pepper onto our own individual portions. The tofu actually had texture and crunch on the outer part of it after it was initially cooked but once it got mixed in with the sauce, the crispiness went away. When we fix this again, we’re not going to toss it back in at the end. We’ll just add it onto our individual servings.

We got this recipe from Cooking Light.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Uncle Ben’s or Cooking Light.

Take care everybody !

Chipotle-Orange Broccoli & Tofu

Ingredients

  • 1 (14-oz.) package extra-firm water-packed tofu
  • ½ tsp. salt, divided (we used table salt)
  • 3 Tbsp. canola oil, divided
  • 6 cups broccoli florets
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1 Tbsp. minced chipotle in adobo, seeded if desired (we left the seeds in)
  • ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • Brown basmati rice, for serving (we used brown rice)

Directions

  1. Drain the water out of the tofu package and pat the tofu dry (we pressed our tofu to get the water out of it), cutting the tofu into ½- to ¾-inch cubes afterwards. Take ¼ tsp. of salt and sprinkle it on all sides of the tofu. Pour 2 tablespoons of the oil into a large nonstick skillet, setting the heat to medium-high afterwards. Once the oil’s hot, add in the tofu (keeping it in a single layer), stirring occasionally for 7 to 9 minutes or until golden brown. Take the tofu out of the skillet afterwards and put it on a plate for the time being.
  2. Add the remaining oil and broccoli into the skillet, adding the remaining salt in afterwards. Cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute or until the broccoli looks bright green. Pour in the orange juice and add in the chipotles as well, stirring frequently for 2 to 3 minutes or until the broccoli is tender.
  3. Add the tofu back into the skillet, stirring it around gently just long enough to warm it back up, a minute or two. Take the skillet off the heat and mix in the cilantro afterwards.
DSC_0894DSC_0901

This was a quick cooking dish to make. We think that the broccoli absorbed more of the flavor than the tofu did. Because we like having more heat in our dishes we weren’t satisfied with what the original recipe had so we added more chipotle to our individual servings.

This recipe came from Eating Well.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Eating Well.

Take care everybody !

Szechuan Beef Fried Rice

Ingredients

  • 1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 lb. beef flank steak, cut into thin bite-sized strips (we used 1 lb. of stir-fry beef)
  • ¾ cup Green Giant Frozen Sweet Peas (any brand is fine)
  • ½ cup chopped carrot
  • ¼ cup sliced green onions (¼ to ½-inch pieces)
  • ¼ cup purchased Szechuan stir-fry sauce
  • ½ cup chopped peanuts

Directions

  1. Cook the rice in the water as directed on the package that the rice came in (we followed the package’s directions on how much water to use as well since it was different from the 2 cups listed in this recipe).
  2. While the rice is cooking, take a large skillet out and pour the oil into it, setting the heat to medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, add in the beef, stirring it around until the beef looks nice and browned.
  3. Now toss the peas and carrots into the skillet, stirring for 4 to 5 minutes or until the vegetables feel tender.
  4. Mix in the cooked rice, green onions, and Szechuan sauce into the skillet mixture, turning the heat down to medium-low afterwards. Cook the fried rice for an additional 5 minutes or just until heated throughout, stirring now and then. Pull the skillet off the heat and sprinkle with peanuts afterwards.
DSC_0822 copyDSC_0819

Overall, this is an easy dish to make. You can add the peanuts if you want to, it’ll add some more texture to the dish but the fried rice is still delicious even without the peanuts. The dish does have some heat to it but not enough to make your mouth feel like it’s on fire ! If you’d like it spicier though, simply pour some more Szechuan sauce over your portion.

Recipe source unknown.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Green Giant.

Take care everybody !