One Pot Spicy Thai Noodles Review.

My wife sent me this recipe. So in an attempt to be a giving, supporting, and simply just amazing husband that I aspire to be, I gave this recipe a try. It's a good thing too, because every once in a while I have to remind myself how much I hate cooking meals with noodles that have to be combined with other ingredients. It's mostly the stir fries and thai recipes that do this. All that said, this recipe is absolutely amazing. As much as I might hate cooking with noodles, the taste of this meal was fantastic. I hated that it was fantastic but it was. The spice of this meal is right where I like it. The options of all or any veggies you want to use is nearly unlimited. It's hard to say how long this took me to cook because I was all over the place while cooking - I'll explain later. Ultimately, the recipe is easy to follow and it truly COULD take only one dish to cook the whole meal.

This recipe come from Domestic Superhero http://domesticsuperhero.com/2015/05/26/one-pot-spicy-thai-noodles/

As usual, this is mine. Just for the record, I'm jaded with my performance as a Recipe Follower with this recipe, and it's the noodles fault. Before I get into my story, this recipe is fantastic and you should try it. Also, the author is correct when it's suggested that a large pan with high sides is needed. I thought I had one, but it wasn't enough. This didn't help my performance. But I want one.

Ok, with that said; first of all, you don't need/want a whole pound of linguine pasta. Go ahead and cook a whole pound if you want, but when it comes time to combine the pasta with the veggies, judge for yourself how much you want to use.

For myself, I don't want to cook a meal without a meat, so I decided on chicken and shrimp - but I didn't use the chicken. The notes in the recipe suggest that if you want to add shrimp, add them when there are 2 or 3 minutes left while the veggies are cooking. Well, for me and the pan I was using, the shrimp takes a little longer than 2 or 3 minutes to cook. The result was waiting longer for the shrimp to cook with veggies and the veggies got soggy. Next time, I'd like to cook the shrimp first thing - still in the one pot. This way I'd be able to season the shrimp a little and I know they're done. Then I can cook the veggies and leave a little crunch on them.

About being all over the place with cooking this meal, I started with a 12 inch high sided pan. This was good for most things until it came time to combine everything. As soon as I realized that I was quickly running out of room while adding noodles, I swapped the whole thing over to my trusty dutch oven. Really not a big deal, but then getting all bent out of shape trying to mix the noodles with the soggy veggies just got me bent. Crying over. If you have a dutch oven (and you should), use it first.

All this drama aside, I'm going to have to try this recipe again, even as much as I hate cooking with noodles. There are improvements to be made on my side that can make this a great meal if I could just work it out right. If you try this meal, please tell me how you did. New cooking ideas are always welcome.

Sweet Jalapeno Salmon Review.

For the last few months, the only time I cooked salmon is when I made the Seattle Asian Salmon Bowl. Which has been a delicious bowl, but a different salmon recipe had to be tried. Salmon is a great fish to cook. It's very forgiving for those of us who aren't very good at cooking fish. This recipe was very easy to make. The other good thing is that if you've been cooking for any amount of time, you probably already have most of the ingredients. When I went to the grocery store, I just needed to by the jalapenos and salmon. That makes for a cheap dinner as well as delicious. Yet another benefit from trying these fantastic recipes. The stock pile of ingredients start to build and the more meals you cook, the cheaper they become because you already have most nonperishable ingredients.

This recipe comes from Skinny Mom http://www.skinnymom.com/sweet-jalapeno-salmon/

This is my dish. I think it's a total win comparing the original to mine - and I'm still not a photographer. This recipe was followed closer than any other I've done so far. Absolutely nothing was changed, and it came out fantastic. There are a handful of different fish recipes that I follow. What I've noticed is that they all have a very unique taste. This dish is no different. Boiling the jalapenos in the lime and honey mixture takes the majority of the heat out of the jalapeños leaving them with a combination of honey and lime. My wife called them candy jalapeños which is incredibly accurate after you give them a try.

This is the first time I've cooked a fish in a pan. Every other time I've cooked my fish in the oven. Originally I thought it was just easier but after tonight, cooking in a pan is not only easier, but quicker. Some years back, a good friend of mine gave me a grill pan. Until tonight, the only thing I used it for was to cook bacon. Now it has a new purpose. Look at those grill marks on the fish - Yeah, that came from a pan - a grill pan.

If you try this recipe, follow it closely the first time, you won't be disappointed. Right now I don't think there's anything I would change. But as always, if changes are made, please let me know. New cooking ideas are always welcome.

Omelet and Potato Breakfast Bite Review.

Weekend mornings are a great time to cook a big breakfast. Recipes are not needed. Just some bacon, eggs, some sort of hash browns and are you're good to go. Sometimes you might mix it up and throw in some pancakes (aka breakfast candy) or even some sausage. This weekend I decided to mix it up a little. These little breakfast bites are really delicious and very versatile. The recipe giving is just a starting point, any number of breakfast meats or veggies can be added to the basic recipe. As I'm going through these recipes, I'm realizing that the great thing about keeping track of these things is that the recipes themselves are just great baselines. People with more imagination and creativity than me can put these great ingredients together to come up with a great meal. We, as everyday cooks, can start with the baseline recipes and make them your own with our own special touches and imagination.

This recipe came from Ella Claire Inspired by Vintage Charm http://www.ellaclaireinspired.com/delicious-omelet-and-potato-breakfast/

This is what I came up with. As far as the ingredients and procedure, I followed the recipe fairly closely. Being on the "mostly healthy" side, I did make sure I used light ingredients. The tatter tots were untouched, no one should ever try to substitute perfectly good tater tots. We're pretty sure tatter tots are some sort of super food. Ranked very closely to blue berries, quinoa and salmon. For the eggs, I used about 4 real eggs and the equivalent to 4 eggs through egg whites - and of course, skim milk. The ham was a Boars Head ham that I diced myself. The sausage was some sort of veggie sausage.

At any rate, the point is that where ever I could, I tried to use the lightest variation possible. I don't know what my calorie count was but it had to be low - right? Honestly, it's not so much about counting the calories as it is making sure the right decisions are made. Once the right decisions are made, the portion sizes have to be watched. Even too much of healthy food at every meal will make you fat. I'm getting off topic.

This recipe is fantastic and you should do your family a favor and make it next weekend. It really takes the 30 or so minutes to make. While the tots are cooking, you can prepare the rest of the ingredients. It's a great breakfast. Let me know what changes you made. New cooking ideas are always welcome.

Bourbon Chicken Review.

Tomorrow morning, my wife and I are running a half marathon. Our normal mode of operation before a 5K or 10K or even a half marathon would be to go get sushi and have a few drinks. As we're getting a touch older and healthy choices are on our mind, my thought tonight was to find a simple recipe that would go well with rice. I found this recipe on pintrest and it seemed simple enough. One incredibly disappointing aspect of this meal is that there isn't the first hint of bourbon...at all. I had to buy a 28oz bottle of apple juice for the 1/4 cup that the recipe calls for. But there couldn't be a splash of real bourbon that would have allowed me to buy a bottle?? The funny thing is that I stood in the grocery store for 5 minutes struggling over having to buy the apple juice at $2.89 for such a small amount needed in the recipe, but I would have driven 20 miles to buy a $50 bottle of bourbon if the recipe called for even a half a tea spoon. Hey - don't judge - it's all about priorities. The great thing is that this recipe is easy and the chicken came out delicious. This would make a great weekday meal when time is of the essence.

This recipe came from Big Oven http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/bourbon-street-chicken/201809

This is my dish. I'm pretty happy with how it came out. Since I'm calling this a good comparison between what I came up with and what Big Oven shows what the dish should look like, that puts me at 4 for 4 - Sweet! I used my dutch oven to cook the chicken and the sauce. I followed the recipe very closely with the exception of adding some salt before the 20 minutes was over. I have the sauce a taste and it just seemed like some salt was needed.

This recipe will certainly be in the rotation. The next time I do it I'm thinking that I might double the sauce ingredients. Having some extra sauce might be good on the rice. Maybe even double the sauce but don't put the corn starch in, then it would be a true sauce. Not sure yet.

If you try this recipe, try it just as it's written, you won't be disappointed. If you do make modifications, let me know what you did. New cooking ideas are always welcome.

20-Minute Sriracha Shrimp Ramen Review.

Ramen use to be one of those things young people would eat when every penny was counted. At one time I read an article about ramen, very loosely, ramen was created so that anyone could have a meal for very cheap. For the most part, I think ramen gets a bad wrap. The ramen noodles themselves are really not that bad for you at all, it's the "flavor pack" that has a bunch of sodium and whatever else to put into it to give the noodles taste. It seems like today that ramen is getting revitalized with new recipes and very unique dishes that are just amazing. By random, we stopped at a noodle restaurant in San Diego called Underbelly where we foolishly shared a rather large bowl of ramen soup. Sharing was a bad idea for such a great soup. We loved it so much that when we got back home, we went on a search for anything that would come close - we failed here in Tampa. Well, we failed until now. This recipe comes really darn close to that amazing taste. It doesn't have those wildly unique ingredients like Underbelly's was able to provide but to be honest, if I can't find it at my local grocery store, it's not being used. This is a fantastic recipe, I've made it several times and I follow the recipe very closely. I will say, the whole 20 minute thing - I don't know man. It takes me 20 minutes just to get the veggies ready - then I can start cooking. In total, even with going through this recipe several times, it takes me a little over an hour from start to finish. Which is fine, it's totally worth it.

This recipe comes from Baker by Nature http://bakerbynature.com/20-minute-sriracha-shrimp-ramen/

This is what I came up with. I'm calling this a win when I compare the original pictures to what I created, which is the 3rd dinner in a row I might add. (as a reminder, I'm not a photographer) When it comes to a ramen soup, the ingredients can almost be anything. Well, I mean you need to be able to get that nice salty broth without it being too salty. What's great about this recipe is that it's a great salty taste with only a table spoon and a half of soy sauce. A lot of the salty flavor comes from the ginger and garlic. One of the next times I cook this ramen soup, I might try different meats and veggies just to give us some variety.

This time, the only change I made was to cook 2 packs of ramen instead of 3 but only because I'm cooking for 2. When I cook this for 2 people and use 3 packs, it simply makes too much noodles and they won't keep in the broth for leftovers. Tonight I have left over broth so I'm hoping I can heat the broth up tomorrow and cook a third pack of ramen in it. Never under estimate the power of cook once eat many. Tonights left overs are tomorrow's lunch.

Do yourself a favor and go through this recipe. Embrace ramen as a new source of pasta. Let your inner 20 year old who couldn't rub 2 nickels together come out and try what a ramen soup can really be like. If you've been cooking for any amount of time, chances are you have a lot of the ingredients for this soup already. That will truly turn this ramen soup into a cheap meal - who doesn't love that??

Let me know if you try this recipe (link above) and tell me if you do anything different. New cooking ideas are always welcome.

One Pot Kielbasa Pasta review.

What a change of pace. This is great comfort food. Plus, any time I can cook an entire meal in one pan or pot, well that's just a victory in itself. The recipe is very easy to follow. The one thing I'm starting to realize as I'm going through different recipes is that I prefer when a recipe just calls for 1 onion chopped or 2 carrots cut in 1 inch thick, as opposed to 1 cup of chopped onions or 1/2 cup of carrots slices. It's just a preference but my thought is that those ingredients don't have to be exact measurements, so why give an exact measurement?? Chances are, I'm going to eyeball the onion or carrot or garlic and put in what I think would work out. But like I've said before, that's the beauty of cooking, it's really up to you what you do with the recipe. Ok, off that subject and on to a totally different one. In a few moments I'll give the source of this recipe. Fair warning, be ready to get inundated with ads. This particular page has been the worst with throwing up adds, and they're so intrusive when trying to read the recipe. This isn't the fault of the author by any means, it's just how the web page provider has decided to place the ads. Ok, done with that. Overall, this is a great recipe and it really is just a starting point. There's so many things that can be done with this recipe, it's just a great foundation as it stands. Or, you can really put some imagination in it and come up with some great alternatives.

This recipe comes from Sugar Apron and this is the link to the recipe: http://sugarapron.com/2015/02/15/one-pot-kielbasa-pasta/

This is mine - only seconds before I truly enjoyed it. Like I said, this was delicious. I'm totally calling this a win when comparing the original picture to what I came up with. That's 2 nights in a row where I actually came close to the fantastic pictures in the original posts. There are different methods that could be used to cook this meal, I went with my dutch oven. I would imagine a large sauce pan would work too.

Now my day today was pretty good, but if it was a bad day, I would want to come home to have this meal. It really looks simple but there are so many tastes to be had and they're all just waiting to make you feel better. There are several things I did different and those things were based on the comments I read on the original post and the idea that I'm trying to keep things mostly healthy.

For the comments, one comment suggested they used red bell pepper instead of the tomatoes - Great idea. One comment suggested they used diced tomatoes with chilis - Great idea. So two great ideas, I used both. Diced tomatoes with chilis, and a red bell pepper, the flavors were all over the place. The slight sweetness of the red bell pepper went well with the kielbasa.

For the healthy side, I didn't use heavy cream, I used skim milk. I also used the 2% cheddar cheese and I didn't use near as much. The recipe calls for 1 cup of cheddar cheese to go into the pot after the pasta is cooked. I used about 1/2 a cup (I'm guessing but I'm pretty sure it was about half a cup - like 1 small handfull). One of the reviews suggest that no cheese is needed. The good thing about the cheese is that it helps with the "comfort food" aspect. Plus it thickens up the remaining juices after the pasta is cooked. I also used a turkey kielbasa which is a bit less fat.

This meal will be in the rotation, but maybe some other versions of it. Maybe some shrimp would work in there somewhere. Give this recipe a try and let me know what you did different. New cooking ideas are always welcome.

Shrimp and Avocado Rice Bowl Review

After a weekend of beef, it was time for something other than cow. This recipe was a nice and light change from the heavy beef we've been eating. The meal was delicious and I believe it to be very healthy. The recipe didn't take too long to go through but I used just about every pot, pan and bowl in my kitchen. Throw in a few plates, cutting board, several forks and spoons - by the time I was done, I filled up an empty dishwasher with everything I needed to use. For such a simple meal, there were so many small components that it just called for many different dishes. This is also one of those meals where you're going to want to have a pan that you can safely put into the oven. Broiling the shrimp is new to me and it worked out pretty good. If you don't have such a pan, I would imagine normal pan frying would work just fine.

The recipe came from fitnessmagazine.com http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/dinner/fat-fighting-meals-7-flat-belly-dinner-recipes/?page=2

This is what I came up with and I'm going to call it a win. The meal came out real good and it is definitely in the rotation. Even though I used almost every piece of kitchenware that I own, this meal is healthy, full of protein and just like every recipe - open for changes. Tonight I followed the recipe to the letter, well, maybe an extra shake of cayenne pepper on the shrimp here and there. The cayenne pepper is the only source of spice but somehow the sauce that's suggested to be on the side gives a warm feeling that is actually quite good. This meal is similar to the Seattle Asian Salmon Rice Bowl that was reviewed a few days ago - but with shrimp.

For the changes, there aren't many. This recipe stands up well just as it is. But as usual, next time I do this recipe I'm going to change a few things. I mean, that's the beauty of learning how to cook. You start to see what foods pair well each other.

First thing I'm going to try is a different shrimp. I used medium shrimp and not nearly enough - which is odd for me. Typically, I cook way too many shrimp and have extra. Next time I'm going to use more shrimp and I think I'm going to go with extra large shrimp. It will mean adjusting the sauce that the shrimp start in but I think it will be worth it. I'm also going to simply add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and honey mixture just straight into the bowl. Well, I'm going to mix it in it's own bowl then add it to the final bowls before serving. The recipe reads as if you're supposed to have this mixture in it's own bowl and it's used as a drizzling sauce. That's not really necessary, just create a double dose (or however many doses you'll need for the number of people you're cooking for) and add it to the bowl when serving. This will save you a couple bowls. I'm also probably going to omit the edamame. This does remove a source of protein but the texture of the edamame is a little weird in the bowl.

Another alteration that could be interesting might be to add some spice to the egg while it's cooking. Maybe some more cayenne or at least some salt. Gezz, thinking about it now, I didn't add the sesame oil to the pan when I cooked the egg. So there you have it, I didn't follow the recipe to the letter - dang it. See, that will be something I'll have to make sure I do next time. The sesame oil might have given those eggs an edge that I missed. No matter how well I believe that I can follow a recipe, in the heat of the moment missing a step is an easy thing to do.

If you try this recipe, let me know what changes you make if any. And don't forget the sesame oil when cooking the eggs. New cooking ideas are always welcome.

Pan Seared Tenderloin Fillet

Due to technical difficulties, I lost the picture of tonights dinner. However, it was too good not to talk about. Tonight was a pan seared tenderloin fillet with a couple of baked potatoes and brussel sprouts. Now to be honest, if you've ever been in a kitchen before, or if you're ever started a grill, or even once picked up a set of tongs - it's really hard to totally ruin a tenderloin fillet steak. You'll pay for it but it's just the best cut of beef you can buy. With the right cook on it, the fillet is just like eating soft butter....but better than eating butter.

Since discovering this method of cooking the fillet, we've left the Outback down under - we've left Longhorn a long time ago - we've left Ruth's Chris to whoever Ruth or Chris is. Point is, we just don't think these places can cook a better fillet. So what's the point in paying those prices for a steak that you can make on your own??

Let's get started. I'll quickly talk about the procedure, then break down the different components.
To pan sear in this method, you'll need a pan that can safely be put in the oven for at least 425 degrees.
Enough fillet to go around.
Enough baked potatoes to go around. My wife and I typically share 1 large potato.
A bag of brussel sprouts.
Olive oil.
Salt & Peppa, butter. And just about anything else you'll want on your potato or steak.

1. Get the oven up to 425.
2. Get a cook on the potatoes. I prefer to throw them in the microwave for a few minutes (depending on the size and quantity of the potatoes). After they've cooked a little in the microwave you'll put them in the oven, about the time you start cooking the meat.
3. Quarter the brussel sprouts. Boil a couple cups of water in a pot and drop the sprouts in for about 1 - 5 minutes depending on how soft you like your veggies. I like a little crunch so I go for less time. When the time's right, use a slotted spoon and transfer the veggies to a bowl that I should have told you to get ready by now. Have a bowl with ice and water waiting - make sure to leave enough room in the bowl to take the sprouts. You want to stop that cooking with the cold water.
4. Once cooled, dry off the sprouts as much as possible. Put those sprouts in a pan with a little olive oil, salt and butter to taste. Cook until there's a nice light brown on the side. The picture would have been so good to see.
5. Make sure the fillets are out of the refrigerator for a little time to warm up to room temp and salt one side. Get some heat going under the pan that can go into the oven. You want the steak to sizzle when placed on the hot pan. Place the fillets salt side down in this pan. Salt the fillets again on the unsalted side that should be up at this point. Cook for 5 minutes. Flip and cook for another 5 minutes. I literally use a stop watch.
6. Place the pan with the fillets in the oven for another 5 minutes.
7. Take the potatoes and steak out of the oven. Let the meat rest for another 5 minutes.
8. Put everything together and enjoy.

Now for the details.

The Steak. It doesn't take a lot of steak to make for a reasonable proportion, maybe like 4 or 5 ounces is a good portion of red meat. Especially when you pair that with potatoes and veggies. If time allows, try to take the steak out of the fridge an hour or so before cooking. Ideally, you want the steak to be room temperature. This will affect how well the steak is cooked when it's in the oven. This starts to become something you'll just have to get good at. If the steak is cold, you'll have to know that maybe 5 minutes in the oven isn't enough time to get the steak to the doneness you desire. So you'll have to leave it in for another minute or 2. This is where a good meat thermometer would help. And honestly, to me, this is what makes cooking fun. Or more like a practice or an art.
Don't forget to salt the steak. The salt on the raw steak starts to bring out the juices. When you put that steak on the pan salt side down that now has the juices on top, those juices caramelize (I think that's the word), basically it gives you that nice little brown crust that makes the steak look so good. This first side becomes the "Pretty side" since the now exposed side won't have a lot of time with salt.
Allow time for the meat to rest when it comes out of the oven. This is a pretty important point. You'll want all the juices to stay in your steak when you cut into it. Let that meat rest for at least 5 minutes so those juices stay absorbed in the meat.

The Brussel Sprouts. The cooking method I like to use is called Blanching. But I like to take it a step further and put a nice browning pan cook on the sprouts as well. So I blanch the sprouts, dry them, then pan fry to put a browning on them - just like explained above. There are many ways to cook veggies, and there are other veggies that would go good with this meal. The sprouts have a strong rich taste that goes well with the strong beef. Plus, much to my surprise and delight, this method of cooking sprouts is the only way my 14 year old daughter will eat brussel sprouts.

The Potatoes. Throwing the potatoes in the microwave first could be considered cheating, but it saves time and really doesn't take away from the taste. The amount of time in the microwave depends on size and quantity of potatoes and strength of microwave. I've cooked enough potatoes this way that I can kinda make a decent guess at time. Besides, I'm not really sure if potatoes can be over cooked. Putting them straight into the oven for about 15 minutes while the steak cooks gives the skin a toughness, or maybe it can be considered a crispness, that I enjoy. After cooking, I cut the potato in half long ways, flip them so the insides are plate down. Then I squeeze out the inner potato leaving basically a potato skin boat. A little salt and butter to set sail in that boat and you have a special little treat. I have my dad to thank for this style, he use to do his potatoes the same way when I was a kid.

Well that's about it. I would have loved to have shown you a picture of this amazing meal. The good news is that I'll be making it again in a week or so. And truthfully, there's any number of side foods that can go along with steak. Above is my favorite. The beauty with cooking is that many things can be paired with a good steak.

If you have any favorite steak dishes, please feel free to comment. New cooking ideas are always welcome.

The meme picture came from Google+ and the only recognition I could find is that it's titles as "Jordan Clark's photo", so thank you Jordan Clark, I hope you don't mind me using your picture.

Easy Pepper Steak

For tonight I went with a Flank steak recipe that I found on Pinterest. As usual the pictures are stunning. What a delicious looking meal. It was certainly what drove me to try a flank steak. My experience with flank steak is usually one where the piece of meat I end up with could be used to resole shoes, or replace roof shingles, or maybe patch semi-truck tires. But since this meal looked so good and introduced a new style of cooking flank steak that I haven't tried before (and it seemed quick), I thought I'd give it a try.

This meal came from Gimme Some Oven. http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/easy-pepper-steak-recipe/#_a5y_p=1010485

So this is mine. I'm not going to necessarily call this meal a fail as far as comparing it to the picture I was shooting for. My creation certainly isn't nearly as pretty as the original but it's probably as close as I've gotten so far. Also, and this will only be a short rant, I've started to realize that some blogs work as hard on their pictures as they do their recipes. Which is ok, just so it's known, I'm less of a photographer than I am a cook. Rant over. Plus my pictures come from the meals mer moments before they are eaten for dinner. I spend just enough time to make them look pretty before we tear into them. A lot like making your bed right before going to sleep.
For this meal, I put my twist on it right away. I bought a 1.6lb flank steak, the recipe called for 1lb - so I doubled the marinade. I was also lucky enough today to be able to marinade the steak for nearly 5 hours. The thought was - if 15 minutes to marinade is good, 5 hours should be Super. Since the recipe called for sweet peppers but no spice, I cut up 2 jalapeno peppers and cooked them with the other peppers. The heat was just right and there were all sorts of flavors. The meat was put over a bowl of quinoa.

Unfortunately, this recipe won't make the rotation. I'm just not sure there's a way to cook flank steak without ending up with a material that can repair concrete walls. Actually I'm being harsh. Marinading the meat for so long actually made for the best, softest flank steak I've made. If I were to make any changes, well, anymore changes, I'd add a little more soy sauce.

Overall this was an easy recipe and there are many flavors to be had. If you're a fan a flank steak, you'll enjoy this recipe (it's in the link above).

Seattle Asian Salmon Bowl

Ok, so this one isn't even close but it's totally worth it. The secret to this dish is the sauce. If you're a little congested, if your nose is a little stuffy, make this dish and don't be shy with the wasabi. This is possibly the tenth time I've made this meal and there has only been one time that I didn't include the wasabi - Big Mistake. The wasabi gives the edge this meal needs. Another beauty about this dish is that it doesn't need an excuse. It's not comfort food. It's not necessarily a seasonal dish. It's just tasty. It can be tasty any time of year for any reason.
I'm not a huge fish fan unless it's sushi, but this meal definitely is on the regular rotation. The way that I've changed the recipe certainly needs to be adjusted but only to see if I can find a better way. All recipes can use adjusting, that's the beauty of cooking.

This meal comes from SkinnyTaste.com http://www.skinnytaste.com/2015/01/seattle-asian-salmon-bowl.html



This is my version of the dish. Certainly not as organic and green as the original but still really good. The sprouts have proven difficult to find. And to be honest, I've made this without looking at the recipe so many times that I've forgotten about some of the ingredients of the original. With the idea of the sauce being the money maker here, I've decided that it doesn't really matter how the salmon is cooked. My salmon just gets about 25 minutes in the oven at 350 with some salt and pepper. The store I shop at has a piece of salmon called "Salmon Select cuts". It's about 6 ounces of a nicely cut piece of fish - that's my go-to. The rice is just a brown rice, nothing special. A decently ripe avocado and an english cucumber and you're in business. Of course you need the ingredients for the sauce. Chances are, if you cook any sort of stir fry or oriental style dishes, you already have most of what you need sparing the wasabi. About the wasabi, get the wasabi paste - trust me. I foolishly tried using the wasabi powder - not good, bad decision, don't do it, not the same thing. The nori strips I haven't worried about as well as the seeds.

So since I'm thinking about it, I believe the next time I try this recipe I'm really going to try to more closely follow it. I'd like to see if I can get closer to what the author of this recipe intended. As good as I think my version is, I'm sure I'm missing out on what the original recipe has intended. Maybe a Whole Foods has those sprouts.

Carroll Shelby's Chili my way.

Tonight was a great dinner. I'm calling it great because there's no before picture to compare to. Here in Tampa it's been rainy and overcast. We can't call it cold here, it almost never gets cold here. But it was just a really good day for a chili. Chili is great in general, there are no rules with chili. Chili doesn't judge you or make you feel bad. Chili is a reflection of who you are as a cook. In tonight's example, I lazily left the spices up to Mr. Shelby. I didn't have to measure anything, which was nice. I did add enough of my own ingredients to justify to myself that I can call this chili mostly mine. I also changed up how I normally make my chili and honestly I have the recipes I've tried so far to thank. Following recipes has opened me up to new styles of cooking that I know I wouldn't have thought of myself.

This is my chili, I'm very happy with how it came out. The presentation could have been a little better if I would have used more of a traditional bowl but it was hot and using this bowl allowed us to spread out the chili so it would cool. So this post won't necessarily be any sort of review based on my limited knowledge but I'll give a recipe of my own. Of course there's the Carroll Shelby's Chili mix. In the box is a bag of chili mix, a bag cayenne pepper, a bag of salt and a bag of masa flour. I've used the Carroll Shelby Chili mix for years, it's my favorite. I've added different ingredients and cooked the chili up in all sorts of different ways. Tonight though, I really feel like I've found the a great combination with a new style of cooking the chili. So here it is.

This is based on my level of spice that I like and that my wife can tolerate. And like I said, chili is whatever you want it to be, so make the chili you want, but here's what I did.

1 box of Carroll Shelby's Chili mix.
1 1/2 Green Peppers cut into small squares.
1 Avocado sliced - this is optional, it helped cool the spice of the chili without using sour cream.
1 Yellow Onion diced.
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes Original.
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes Hot. If I use 2 cans of the Hot my wife won't eat it. Only took once to figure that out.
1 can 15oz Kidney beans.
1 can 8oz tomato sauce.
Some cooking oil.
2 lbs ground meat. I look for the most lean meat I can find.
Some Sharp Cheddar Cheese - optional and only if you like cheese.

This time I used my dutch oven to cook the chili. If you don't have a dutch oven, stop reading this and go get one. Get a good one, spend some money on it. There are so many things you can cook with a dutch oven. Your kitchen isn't complete until you have one. Without a dutch oven, it's like trying to cook a fried egg without a spatula. So just get one.

Start with the onion. I put some cooking oil in the dutch oven and threw my onions in over medium heat. I put a cook on the onions for about 5 minutes. Then I threw in the meat. That cooked until is was browned. I'd try to give a time but it really doesn't matter, cook the meat until it's brown and cooked.

Once the meat was cooked, I drained the grease and returned the onion/meat to the dutch oven.

Then I started adding the goodies. Based on the recipe from Carroll Shelby, I added the chili mix, the cayenne pepper, salt, tomato sauce, 16oz of water (fill the 8oz tomato sauce can twice, duh). I also add the 2 cans of Ro-tel tomatoes. The Original can I didn't drain, I just added the whole thing. The Hot tomato can I sort of drained off some of the liquid just to try to help tone down the heat. I also add the green peppers. Let this simmer for a while, like at least 20 minutes or so, really if you can give it more time it's better. Like maybe 40 minutes.

Drain and rinse off the Kidney beans. At some point while the chili is simmering, throw these things in too.

Now the masa flour. This is optional and it's used if you want a thicker chili. We like a thicker chili so we use it. Put the masa flour in a small bowl and add a bit of water. Stir. Add more water if the powder isn't turning into a paste. I think the Carroll Shelby recipe tells you how much water to add but I just sort of eyeball it until I have a nice, some what lose paste. Add that and cook for about 5 or 10 more minutes.

Then you're ready to eat. Start a bowl and add whatever you want - like I said - no rules. Avocado, sour cream, cheese, whip cream, I don't care, whatever makes you happy.

If anyone tries this I hope they enjoy. Then you can show me what you came up with and how my recipe blows.

Sriracha Chicken Quinoa Bowl

Now this dish was right up my alley, spicy, simple, chicken and rice - or quinoa. Apparently quinoa is a super food according to my wife. I've been avoiding recipes that called for quinoa simply because I wasn't sure where to find it and I was too lazy to look. Rice would work. As it turns out, I didn't have to go any further than my pantry where my wife had already bought a bag - who knew. And who doesn't love Sriracha?? That is just a magnificent sauce, and I really enjoy spicy.

Prep time about 15 minutes.
Cook time about 30 minutes (there's some overlap so it was a pretty quick meal)

The picture looks just as amazing as possible. The recipe came from Kim's Healthy Eats and I found it on Pintrest. Not all of the recipes that I try are on Pintrest but lately most of them come from there. I like the idea of seeing what the meal is supposed to look like. http://www.kimshealthyeats.com/sriracha-chicken-quinoa-bowl/

This is what I came up with. Yeah, probably another fail as far as trying to get my meal to look like the pictures. It was a tasty dish though. I just couldn't get the sauce to thicken up like the pictures suggest. What I noticed is that after the chicken was cooked, there was a bit of juice/liquid in the pan. Maybe I should have discarded that juice before adding the sriracha sauce mixture. The recipe said that after the chicken is cooked, add the mixture and cook for 5 more minutes. I gave it about 8 minutes but the mixture was still pretty lose, it just wasn't thickening like I wanted.

This recipe will be done again. There has to be a step or two that isn't included in the recipe to get that nice thick sauce to stick to the chicken and be all richy red like the pictures.

Tonight I really thought I would be able to match the picture but I was just off...by a lot of shades. I got more of a weak pink instead of a rich red. But I'll try this again at some point. I'm wondering corn starch should have been used but I don't want to mess up the taste because it's really good, even with what I came up with.

Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken Stew

Tonight is the first entry for this blog. Full disclosure, I'm not a cook. I have a not so unique ability to read, measure, and follow simple directions. However, like everyone else, I also have my own ideas. That makes me feel like I have better ideas than the recipes I try. Sometimes it works out, and other times not so much. This blog is a guy trying to follow some recipes and how they turn out. It's hard to say they are true reviews because sometimes I change things. But if I try the recipes again, I'll likely forget what I've done before and something new will be made.

For tonights review, I decided to cook a Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken Stew originally found on Pintrest but it looks like it came from Sweetpeasandsaffron.com http://sweetpeasandsaffron.com/2014/09/slow-cooker-tuscan-chicken-stew.html (hopefully that's enough credits). The picture is beautiful, I would have loved to have eaten it. I came up with something a little different looking - kinda like when you go to a restaurant and order based on a picture but what comes to the table is something very different looking.

Yeah, that's mine. A sad comparison. So for the most part I did follow the recipe for a while. Typically, I always put in a little extra vegetables and meat. In this case, the recipe asked for 2 carrots and 2 celery stalks, well that just looked slim. So I added a few more of each. I stayed on the high end for the recommended meat but stayed within the suggestions. The recipe called for 4-6 hours in a slow cooker at it's lowest temperature setting. This is where things started going down hill for me. After 4 hours, the potatoes and carrots were still raw hard. And honestly, it was getting late and my wife and I were getting hungry.

So I broke out my trusty dutch oven, I love my dutch oven. I dumped the whole thing into the dutch oven, covered, and cooked for another 45 minutes. The potatoes were nice and soft but the carrots were still a little touch - which is ok, I really didn't mind.

As for the taste....it's a good, healthy, lightish meal. Maybe other than the fact it calls for chicken thighs, there really isn't anything that bad for you in the stew. The fennel seed taste comes through the most. It does take some more salt to give the potatoes a little edge.

All this being said, the meal fell apart on me since it didn't seem to cook. It felt like it would have needed another 4 hours. So if I was able to leave it in the slow cooker, maybe the tastes would have come together better.

Not sure I'll cook this again. There was a lot of prep work, at least 30 minutes. Cook time was 4 hours in the slow cooker then another 45 minutes in my dutch oven. For the taste, I just don't think it's worth it to me.