Chicken Curry Stir Fry

Happy Tuesday foodies! I apologize that it has been so long since I lasted posted; my life has been slightly chaotic. Nick was away on business all week last week. Pippy and I were all alone, like normal. We were perfectly content that way, but it was difficult to cook for just one. So I did not have much to blog about last week.

Then something HUGE happened. I bought a puppy.

No it was not because I was bored.

No it was not a spur of the moment decision.

Nick and I have been talking about adding a fur baby to our little family for quite some time, but it is a big decision.

We knew we wanted a little girly, we knew he wanted a Yorkshire terrier, we also knew that Pippy was not going to handle it well, that a new puppy would make Pippy jealous, angry and he could try to eat her. We also knew a new puppy would be an expense, she would need lots of attention {which would make Pippy angrier} and she would need to be trained. All of those things weighed heavily on our minds, so we continued to postpone a new puppy for almost 2 years.

That was until Thursday.

Nick and I got a phone call that a little girl yorkie was available if we were interested.

I was interested. I was hesitant and I was scared.

Nick gave me complete control to make THE decision.

I hate when he does that to me because decisions like this should be a joint effort and joint choice. Well, I went over to meet the puppies and fell in love. So we now have a nuclear fur family: an older boy yorkie and a younger girl yorkie. Now life is even more uncertain.  I will keep you updated on my soap opera of a life, let’s just say right now Pippy is not even sitting near me. He is not very happy.

This is Sophie.

Needless to say, I have been very stressed. When I am stressed I eat, eat eat. I have been eating nonstop for days now and have gained weight; I feel miserable. It does not help that it is a gazillion degrees outside. So I feel overweight in the midst of the hottest days of the season and have a dog that hates his sister.

My Happy Pipsqueak!

I have been eating a ton of stuff, but one of my favorites is curry. I made some Chicken Curry Stir Fry, which was spicy and delicious. I love the spiciness of the curry, the creaminess of the sauce that covers the chicken and how all of the spices make the vegetables perfectly delicious.

Nutritional Information

Servings: 4
Serving Size: 1 heaping cup
Calories: 320.9
Fat: 11.7 g
Carbohydrates: 6.4 g
Fiber: 0 g
Protein: 27.8
Points+: 6

Ingredients: 

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ small onion, sautéed
• 2 tablespoons Red Curry Paste
• 3 tablespoons Chili Pepper Blend
• ½ tablespoon ground ginger
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed
• Cayenne pepper
• Juice of one lemon
• Paprika
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• Salt and pepper
• ½ cup plain yogurt
• 2 large chicken breasts
• ½ to 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons half and half
• 1 bag of broccoli, cooked
• ½ cup corn, cooked
• Rice {optional}

Directions:

• In a large bowl, mix together the yogurt, ginger, garlic cloves, salt and pepper. Add the chicken and allow to marinate for 30 minutes
• In a large skillet, over medium heat, add the olive oil
• Allow to warm slightly then add the garlic and onion. Sauté until the onion is translucent and fragrant, about 10 minutes
• Add the chili pepper blend, red curry paste, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, paprika, garam masala and salt and pepper. Incorporate all of the spices and allow to everything to sauté for about 3 minutes
• Add ½ cup water and bring to a boil

• Reduce heat and add the chicken in the yogurt marinade and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and is no longer pink
• At this point, taste test the mixture to make sure all of the flavors have come together well. If you need to adjust the seasoning, do it now
• Add the half and half and incorporate fully
• Add the vegetables and a little extra water – you want a nice creamy sauce.
• Remove and ENJOY! 

I served it over some rice, because rice is always delicious with a creamy curry sauce. If you wanted to you could add some tomatoes. It works very well, but I omitted them this time and used the curry paste and chili pepper blend. It gave it some extra flavor without the tomatoes and a little extra spice, which is what I was going for. I love spicy food.

You could easily serve this with some crunchy bread {like a baguette} or some naan. Either way you go, you cannot go wrong! I promise you that!

Enjoy!

Mel 

Beef Pho

I love Vietnamese. I cannot help myself. All I think about sometimes is all of the wonderful food that exists out in the world – Vietnamese, Chinese, Mexican, Indian, and Mediterranean. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with all of the options and end up eating cereal for dinner because I cannot choose.

I know that has to sound weird. Who eats cereal when she is drooling over the idea of so many other kinds of food? I get this weird “if I cannot have it all, I don’t want any of it” mentality. It drives Nick nuts. Heck, it drives me nuts.

Anyway, I got a brilliant idea to make Pho. I love Pho. Do you? Do yourself a favor and give it a try. I spice it up with the Sriracha that usually sits on the table at the restaurant calling my name. I put enough of it in the Pho to keep Nick away from it… yep, I make it hot, Hot, HOT! He puts this other stuff in it; I cannot stand it!

Bleck!

It’s a little high maintenance, but it’s well worth it. Take a look at this Beef Pho.

Nutritional Information
Servings: 2
Calories: 204
Fat: 5.8 g
Carbohydrates: 25.5 g
Fiber: .5 g
Protein: 12 g
Points+: 5

Ingredients:

 Recipe Adapted from Steamy Kitchen

• ½ onion, sliced thin
• ½ tablespoon ginger
• 3 ounces Flank steak, sliced thin
• ½ cup beef broth
• ½ cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon Pho Spices – cinnamon, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cardamom, anise
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon Splenda
• ½ tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 or 3 ounces rice noodles
• 1 tablespoon Cilantro, chopped
• 1 tablespoon Mint, chopped
• 1 tablespoon Basil, chopped
• Bean Sprouts
• Hoisin Sauce {optional}
• Sriracha hot sauce {optional}

Directions:

• Heat a bit of oil over medium heat
• Sauté onion and ginger in a large sauce pan
• Add the spices, beef, Splenda, fish sauce, salt, and chicken broth and bring to a boil.
• Simmer uncovered for about an hour
• Strain the broth and return the broth to the pot
• Taste broth and adjust seasoning. If the broth does not taste up to par, add a bit more fish sauce, salt and Splenda. Keep doing this until the broth tastes good
• Slice the flank steak as thin as possible
• Arrange the other ingredients on a platter – the Cilantro, Mint, Basil, Bean Sprouts and Sriracha. You can add as much or as little as you like… but make sure you do it while the pho is HOT…that’s the best way.
• Prepare the noodles according to the packaged directions {boil water, add noodles allow to soften for about 10 minutes, drain}
• Bring broth back to a boil, fill your bowl with rice noodles, and flank steak
• When the broth is boiling, add a couple of ladles. This hot, HOT, HOT broth will cook the flank steak! So cool, huh?
• Serve immediately!

So I have a patience issue, just in case you did not know. The pictures you see are after I’ve loaded it up with cilantro, bean sprouts and Sriracha. I cannot help myself, really I cannot.

I hope you give this a try; it is super delicious and not so bad for you. I mean, who doesn’t like rice noodles, broth and steak with a myriad of delicious spices to boot? That’s what I thought.

This was my first experience with Pho, so I think it will be more delicious {and pretty looking} the next time around. I will remember to take pictures of all of the yummy condiments. And they are yummy. 

Give it a try, as soon as you can!

Until Next Time,

Happy Cooking 

Taco Stuffed Quesadillas

I am on my own this week, foodies. I contemplated not making anything all week and just eating individual frozen meals, because making food is only fun when I have my panda bear around to eat the leftovers. You see, I have a difficult time cooking for one and I typically don’t eat the leftovers. Then I got a brilliant idea; why not cook fun recipes that I can scale to one person?

Oh, I should mention that I am on my own, not because Nick died during the Historic Half Marathon on Sunday, but because he is out of town on business. #boring. Since I brought up the Half Marathon I should tell you that Nick finished on Sunday. I did not know how long it would take him to finish, so I just doubled the time it took him to run the 10k back in March. Wouldn’t you know, he finished right on par with that time… and he did NOT TRAIN for this run. Yep, you read that correctly – NICK DID NOT TRAIN FOR THIS HALF MARATHON. I was very worried for him. However, I was relieved, impressed and so proud of him when he crossed the finish line. He was and still is in a lot of pain, but he made it. I cannot help but to think how well he would have done had to trained for the half-marathon.

Anyway, let us get back to the food. Today I have Taco Stuffed Quesadillas. Oh yes. They are delicious!

Nutritional Information
Servings: 4
Serving Size: 2 quesadilla triangles
Calories: 224.6
Fat: 8.8 g
Carbohydrates: 21 g
Fiber: 3 g
Protein: 15.2 g
Points+: 6

Ingredients: 

• 4 tortilla shells
• ¼ pound beef
• 2 ounces cheese, shredded
• ¼ of a small onion, small dice
• Jalapeno, small dice
• Cayenne pepper
• Cumin
• Garlic powder
• Salt
• Chili powder
• Pepper
• Hot sauce
• Water 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
• In a medium sized frying pan, heat oil over medium – high heat
• Add ground beef and cook thoroughly, about 10 to 15 minutes
• Drain the ground beef
• In the same frying pan add the onion and jalapeno and cook until translucent, about 6 minutes
• Once vegetables are cooked, add the beef, all of the seasonings and about 3 tablespoons water to the frying pan and let simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Add additional water to keep the mixture moist looking
• Remove from heat and divide the mixture evenly over 2 tortilla shells
• Sprinkle 1 ounce of cheese over the taco meat
• Cover the mixture with the other tortilla shells and press each down to look like a quesadilla
• Now seal each tortilla round {you will have two whole quesadillas} with a fork, pressing around the edges. You may have to dip the fork into some water to ensure a complete seal
• Bake for 5 to 10 minutes or until the tortillas are golden brown
• Remove, slice into quarters and ENJOY!

You may want to dip these in some marinara or taco sauce. I did, but it’s up to you! They are so good. The hard part is not gobbling 6 of them down at a sitting. Believe me when I say it is VERY difficult!

I hope you give them a try.

Until Next Time,

Happy Cooking