Chinese Roasted Chicken

Oven roasted Chinese takeout is so much healthier than the greasy fried alternative, and since you're making it at home you know exactly what went into it. You can use these tender chunks of chicken marinated with chinese flavors in everything from salad to fried rice. Either dark meat or white meat can be used, with the latter taking less time to cook.

Ingredients

1 lb boneless chicken cut into bite sized pieces
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 drop sesame oil
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients. Place chicken in a sealed container and marinate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 300 F
Place marinated chicken on a aluminum lined pan, or one with a rack. Place in oven.
Slow roast chicken for 1 hour, if using chicken breast (white meat) remove at this point.
If using dark meat chicken after the first hour is up lower oven to 250 F
Roast for 30 minutes more, then check to see if juices run clear.
Chicken should be tender and delicious.

Serves about 3.

Try dicing the roasted chicken for use in this easy Chinese chicken fried rice recipe.

Delicious Way To Eat Hard Boiled Eggs

If you're tired of the same ole hard boiled egg, but somehow still want to eat hard boiled egg, you have come to the right recipe. Here's what you need for an indulgent yet simple plate of eggs.


Eggs , as many as you can eat!
A dash of salt
A dash of pepper
A dab of butter

1. There is a great method for preparing hard boiled eggs on this site. Follow the instructions to prepare your eggs.
2. Add butter, salt, and pepper and use your fork to lightly mash the still warm eggs.
3. Enjoy this delicious and interesting snack or mini meal.

How To Hard Boil Eggs The Right Way

If you overcook an egg when boiling it, it gets a sulfuric taste and dark green ring around the yolk. Yechh! Peeling eggs are much harder if they are farm fresh! Eggs a few days old are best, your supermarket's eggs are probably a few days old when you buy them. If you absolutely must use eggs hatched the same day you plan to hard boil them then steam for 20 minutes instead of boiling. They should be easier to peel that way, if they still aren't put in the fridge for a day and they should be fine.

Preparing perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs are a snap if you follow these simple steps:

1. Put eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water.
2. Set heat on high and let water slowly come to a boil.
3. When water is at a hard boil remove pan from heat and let sit for 12 minutes.
4. Cool by pouring cold water into the saucepan or by setting the eggs on ice.
5. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Enjoy!

Simple Hearty Omellete

Ingredients

4 eggs, cracked open and lightly beaten
half small onion chopped fine
1/4 bell pepper chopped fine
1/4 cup tomato diced (optional)
1/4 cup diced ham
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you love)
a dash of salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter

Combine all ingredients except butter and cheese.
Melt the butter in a small frying pan under medium heat.
Pour egg mixutre into the frying pan.
For the first 30 seconds likely stir contents of the pan while the eggs are still wet.
Sprinkle cheese all over omellete.
Let egg cooks till cheese is melted and egg seems 90% cooked.
Use a spatula to carefully fold omellete in half.
Transfer to a  plate.

Eat and enjoy!

Rice Cooker Spanish Yellow Rice

A great side for almost any protein imaginable. The rice cooker makes the rice come out perfect every single time.

Ingredients 

1 rice cooker cup of rice
fresh water
1 tbsp olive oil
half an onion diced very fine
half a pepper diced very fine
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 packet Sazon Goya

Saute onion and peppers in olive oil for 4 minutes or until softened.
Add in tomato paste and cook 2 minutes more to remove "raw taste".
Dump washed rice into rice cooker.
Add sauteed vegetables, stir until rice is coated.
Add enough water to reach 'line 1'.
Place chicken bouillon cube and Sazon in rice.
Cover rice, set rice cooker to "cook", and cook until done.
Fluff , put top back on rice and let sit for 4 minutes. Serve.
Serves 2.

Alternative Method ****

Try substituting the onion, peppers, and garlic for 3 tbsp of store bought or homemade sofrito .

Picnic Deviled Eggs

Ingredients

6 eggs
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp sweet pickle relish
salt and pepper to taste
paprika for garnish

1. Boil eggs until hard-boiled. Set aside in ice until cool enough to handle.
2. Peel eggs and slice in half lengthwise, scoop out yellow yolk and add to a bowl.
3. To the bowl with the yolks, add the mayonnaise, mustard, relish, salt, and pepper.
4. Combine until very smooth.
5. Scoop or use a pastry bag to fill the empty "cups" of the egg whites.
6. Dust with paprika and serve!

Serves 6 people.

This dish can easily be complimented with our other Simple Picnic Foods recipes.

Eazy Peazy Potato Salad

An inexpensive and delicious meal isn't too hard to find, because I will be showing you some in the coming posts, but a dish THIS delicious and THIS inexpensive deserves some recognition. Potato Salad is the vice president of the American BBQ, a laughably easy way to get children to consume vegetables, and also a dish they make in Germany hot, or so I heard. I don't like to think of that last one, so I'll go back to the first point.

Make this dish for a BBQ, party, potluck, Christmas, or make a regular weeknight a whole lot more tasty. This particular recipe is really called Ensalada Rusa, so a Russian potato salad recipe that was given to me from a Dominican lady that made it every single night for her family. I kid you not, and it's by far the best potato salad I have ever had.

Stew is Short for Guisado

The easiest way to use up vegetables and possibly tough inexpensive cuts of meat is with a stew. Here is my staple all purpose Latin American Stew, or Guisado. You can use any kind of meat you want, and really any vegetables, I listed some vegetables I use as a starting point. Feel free to add peas, corn, squash, etc.

5 Tips : How To Eat In For Less

You may have noticed during your last visit to the supermarket that food can be very expensive. Expensive enough to make a shopper waltz right over to the frozen aisle and stock up on 3 dollar burritos, or maybe grab a few TV dinners. You know the food is junk, it tastes terrible, you REALLY don't want to nourish a growing child or adult with it, yet the low price makes you come back again and again. One of the main objectives of this site is to teach others how to cook to eat well, but cooking starts with the ingredients, and I have 5 tips for the novice grocery shopper to help you keep a well stocked pantry. Junk food optional!

Start With The Basics (Like Basic White Rice)

Learning how to cook can be like learning to ride a bike, it feels un-natural at first but as soon as your body has the rhythm down you have a lifelong skill. Starting with a dish as simple as plain rice is great because not only does it go with almost any protein, vegetable, or legume...it's also a cinch to make! Here's how:


1 cup long grain rice
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon butter or oil (optional) 


Directions: 
1 In a saucepan with a lid ready bring water, salt and butter to a boil. 
2 Add rice and stir for one minute. 
3 Cover and reduce heat to medium low, if there's nuclear-cloud-sized steam leaking from your pot, you should probably set it to low. 
4 Cook for 20 minutes, without removing lid.
5 Remove from heat and fluff with fork. Cover pot and let sit 5 minutes.