Meal Planning: 16 Feb 2014

Photo (c) 2014 by Stephanie Miller

My Bountiful Basket contribution this week was quite the bounty!  In the picture above, you see what $60 gets you: This week it was a conventional fruit & veggie basket, the Asian add on pack, and two flats of blackberries (24 - 6 ounce clam shells).  I vinegar rinsed, quick froze, and bagged the blackberries up to keep in the freezer.  

Beautiful black berries drying on the counter. Many of these were over an inch long.
Photo (c) 2014 by Stephanie Miller

Many of the items in the Asian pack are things I don't normally cook with, so I love the challenge of finding new recipes to try.  I am very excited to say that I spent quite a bit of time sorting, cleaning, trimming, and chopping produce, especially that which I would use in the recipes this week.  This will save me so much time later!

My first entree of the week!  Pork chops were delicious! Bok choy needs help.
Photo (c) 2014 by Stephanie Miller

Here is what I'm making this week (links take you to my Pinterest pins):

Sunday: Soy Ginger Pork Chops with Stir Fry Bok Choy (pictured above)
Monday: Roasted Pork Loin, Roasted Potato Leek Soup
Tuesday: Asian Peanut Spaghetti Squash Stir Fry, Thai Coconut Chicken Soup
Wednesday: Orange Chicken with Asparagus, Crab Rangoon Wontons (Recipe and pin coming later)
Thursday: Shrimp Fajita Quesadillas (I will be making this recipe and a Pinterest pin later), Guacamole
Friday: Sausage & Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

Sesame. Er, Teriyaki? Ummm, 5 Spice Chicken. Yeah. That's what we'll call it!

Several of my friends found a crock pot sesame chicken recipe floating around Facebook and posted it to their wall.  Interesting premise.  But I didn't want it to cook 4 hours.  It was 11 AM and I needed something NOW for lunch!  

I took that recipe and changed it up some.  It turned out pretty good!  Husband has actually given the "official okay" to add into a rotation (which is why I'm putting here on this blog so I can actually find the recipe again!).  

Now, is this Sesame Chicken like what you'll get in a Chinese restaurant?  Nope.  Not even close, though it does have sesame in it.  It's actually more like teriyaki, which my friend (who made the original recipe in the slow cooker) said.  But it's not really teriyaki, either.  My addition of the five spice powder to this recipe kicked it up a notch, yet the kiddos gobbled it up, so it wasn't too hot.  I also figured: If I'm making "Asian" food (I use quotes because I'm really just tossing stuff together here!), why use ketchup?  Yes!  The original recipe had KETCHUP!  Though I suppose that would make it easier for most people to approximate in their own home.  Instead, I used Hoisin sauce.  

So, here you have it!  Oh, and sorry for the lack of photos.  They all ate it up so quickly, I didn't have a chance to snap a photo.

Sesame, Teriyaki, Five Spice Chicken

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed.
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 of a yellow onion, sliced
1 - 2 carrots, peeled and cut into "matchsticks"
1 bell pepper, any color, sliced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon five spice seasoning
2 tablespoons olive oil

SAUCE: 
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
dash of five spice seasoning

small jar (maybe 1/4 cup) of sesame seeds

Mix the honey, soy sauce, Hoisin sauce, and dash of five spice seasoning.  Set aside.

Place 1/2 cup of cornstarch and a couple dashes of five spice powder in a gallon size baggie.  Add the cubed chicken.  Close the bag and toss until the chicken is coated.  Heat the olive oil in a wok or large pan.  Cook the chicken (leave out the left over loose cornstarch) until golden brown and cooked through.  Remove from pan and set aside.  

In the same pan, add the onion, carrots, pepper, garlic, and five spice seasoning.  Cook/stir fry over high heat until  done.  Add the chicken back into the vegetable mixture.  Stir.  Pour the sauce mixture over the top and stir again.  Add in the sesame seeds.  Cook until mixture thickens up.  The cornstarch from the chicken helps, as does the honey.  

Serve over steamed long grain rice.  

Dang, I wish I had a photo!  It was beautiful!  

Anna's Lettuce Wraps

I hit the jackpot this week at the grocery store: 1 pound packages of ground turkey on sale for $1.99 and iceberg lettuce on sale for $0.59 per head!  AMAZING!  I remember about dying this winter when it was over $2 per head.  Too bad you can't freeze it and stock up.  


Anyway, this means that it's time to break out the LETTUCE WRAPS!  We love these at that well-known restaurant that starts with a "PF" and ends with "Chang."    However, now that we have my friend Anna's recipe for her lettuce wraps, there's almost no reason to travel to west Omaha to enjoy these.  In fact, I think these are better!  

 Lettuce Wraps

• Cook & drain 1 1/2 lbs ground turkey (I used 2 lbs and then just made all measurements a little bit more)
• Add to the turkey: 
• 1/4 c chopped green onion
• 3 T minced fresh cilantro
• 2 T soy sauce (I use Bragg Liquid Aminos, a soy sauce alternative made from soy, but with insane amounts of protien and way less sodium -- found at HyVee in the Health Food Store)
• 3 T creamy PB (I used super chunky, and then omitted the chopped peanuts at the end of the recipe)
• 2 t. red chile paste (I could only find this at Papillion HyVee in the produce section with the tubes of minced garlic, crushed herbs, etc.)
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes.

Cook the above together 3-4 minutes until heated through and mixed together. 

Serve atop lettuce leaves with shredded carrots (1 cup) and chopped peanuts (1/4 cup).  NO DIPPING SAUCE NEEDED!  

So good!  Perfect balance and not too spicy.  This serves 2 people as an entree, but if you have it as a side this could serve 4.  I find it is best served fresh.