Totally Trader Joes: Red Curry Noodles

Like many others, I am a huge fan of Trader Joes.  Open my freezer, my fridge, or my pantry and you're bound to find a plethora of products from my local store.  The prices are great and their selection of items is usually right on the mark.  I am always falling in love with one item or another, only to have it discontinued.  Like the chocolate tea they used to carry which disappeared from shelves years ago.

But that only means there's something new to take it's place.  Right now my current favorites that are filling my shelves are:

* Frozen fruit for the endless smoothies we make.

* Frozen pizza for quick meals for the guys on nights I have to work late.  I especially like the vegetarian pizza which has mushrooms, peppers, and olives

* Hold the Cone mini ice cream cones.  They are the perfect size for me!  Like mini drumsticks.

* lemon curd - Thatboy puts it on his pancakes, I like it with fresh berries.

* premade sandwiches and salads - I like the sandwiches for lunches every now and again- especiLly when Thatboy is out of town, or I need to eat in the car.  The premade salads I serve as a quick side dish lately. I love salads in the summer, don't you?

*hummus and mini pitas- my snack of choice right now. Thatbaby is another fan. Especially the jalapeño cilantro hummus.

*tea- My chocolate tea was discontinued, but I'm still a fan. I've been drinking the chamomile every night this week.  It's good for winding down before bed.

This dinner is almost a complete Trader Joes meal, utilizing some of our kitchen staples. Which also makes it really easy to put together. Frozen veggies, fresh rice noodles, and the infamous red curry sauce.

Red Curry Noodles

1 pkg fresh rice noodles

1 bag Trader Joes veggie stir fry

1 chicken breast, cooked and diced

1 Bottle Trader Joes red curry sauce

1. Cook noodles according to package directions.

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add frozen veggies to pan.  Cook for 5-10 minutes or until veggies are warmed through.

3. Add chicken, noodles, and red curry sauce to skillet and continue cooking until the sauce is warmed through.

Hello Old Friend: Stirfried Lemongrass Chicken

The title of this post could refer to so many things.  It can refer to the fact that Thatboy is finally home from his trip to see his parents.  It could refer to the fact that I am likewise home to enjoy my own bed after joining him this weekend. Or it could just refer to the fact that my butt is perched on the couch after having to spend my Memorial Day at work until late this evening.

But it doesn't.  It actually refers to stirfry.  A meal that used to be a staple round these parts.  I can't tell you when or why I stopped making it, but this easy dish hasn't graced our table in ages.  And it was time to rectify that.

I had a thai chile, just hanging out, begging to be used.  And as I leafed through my starred recipes, I happened to find a fabulous stirfry and it reminded me that it has been too long.  So I pulled out my handy wok and got to work.

The thing that I love about stirfries is how quickly they come together.  And this one is no different.  Sometimes lemongrass can be overwhelming, but it's very subtle in this dish.  Thatbaby especially liked the cashews, pulling them out, proudly announcing his "BEAN" before popping them in his mouth.  (I added the chile after I pulled his portion out).

Stirfried Lemongrass Chicken (From Prevention RD)

1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp chicken broth

 1 Tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sambal oelek

 2 Tbsp canola oil, divided
1 Tbsp lemongrass, sliced and peeled
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
3 shallots, sliced
8 oz haricots verts, trimmed
1 chicken breast, thinly sliced
1/3 cup unsalted cashews
1 Thai chile, thinly sliced

1. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, chicken broth, fish sauce, soy sauce, and sambal oelek
2. Heat a wok over high heat.  Add a Tbsp oil and swirl to coat.
3. Add the lemongrass and garlic and stirfry until fragrant (about 30 seconds)  Remove the lemongrass and garlic with slotted spoon and place in a small bowl.
4. Add the bell pepper, shallots, and haricot verts to the pan and stirfry for 2 minutes, until tender crisp.  Add them to the lemongrass bowl.
5. Add remaining oil to the pan, swirling to coat.  Add the chicken to the pan and cook until browned, 2 minutes.
6. Add the cashews and chile to the pan and cook another 2 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
7. Stir in the chicken broth mixture and vegetables.  Bring to a boil and cook for a minute until sauce thickens.

Everyone Needs a Night Off

This was a pretty busy week for me. I was in and out of court for most of the week. By this afternoon I was just worn out. I texted Thatboy "I'm really tired tonight. Maybe you could help out with dinner? We're having stuffed cornish hens. Can you just cook the wild rice, stuff it in the birds, and throw them in the oven?"

My ever helpful husband quickly replied, "That sounds hard." I wasn't expecting much.

On the way home, the freeway came to a dead stop five cars in front of me, the entire road closed and blocked off by police cars (isn't that always the case?) I called Thatboy to tell him I was going to be late. "That's fine" he told me. "Dinner should be just about ready when you get home."

My interest was piqued. Wild rice does not cook quickly, and then he'd still need to cook the birds. I expressed my skepticism. "Maybe we're not having cornish hens tonight." And sure enough, when I got home, there was a pot on the stove, boiling.

Before I had even texted him, Thatboy had spent his lunch break running all over Little Italy picking up dinner - fresh made gnocchi, fresh marinara sauce, salad, and even a canoli for dessert. He'd apparently been planning this since last week, goaded on by his coworkers (he is the only man in his department). The timing couldn't be better. This is exactly what I needed tonight.

I know we can't all have Thatboys at home anticipating our every need, picking up our favorite foods, making life easier. So I'm here to help you out by giving you another easy recipe you can throw together on a Friday night when you don't feel like slaving over cornish hens. Stirfries are my go-to easy meal of choice. Prepping your veggies ahead of time makes this even easier - and you're far more apt to use veggies when they're all cut up and ready anyway.

Friday Night Pork Stirfry
6 oz extra firm tofu
1/4 cup terriyaki sauce
1/2 tsp crushed ginger
4 oz pork tenderloin
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/4 onion, chopped
1 cup broccoli
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup pineapple tidbits

1. Wrap tofu in paper towels and place between two heavy plates/books/bricks/small children for 1/2 an hour.
2. Mix the terriyaki sauce and crushed ginger
3. Cut the tofu into cubes and marinade in half of the terriyaki mixture.
4. Cut the pork into bite sized strips.
5. Heat 1/2 Tbsp canola oil in skillet. Add pork and cook through. Remove pork from pan.
6. Add remaining oil to skillet and cook onion, broccoli, and pepper until tender crisp.
7. Return pork and tofu to the pan. Add remaining terriyaki mixture and heat through. Stir in pineapple tidbits.

What to eat for a week?

It happens every year without fail - Christmas rolls around and I start drooling over other blogger's Christmas meals. Growing up I spent Christmas Eve at my friend's home with their very Italian Christmas feast. The food never stopped coming. One thing I can say about Italians and Jews - no one goes hungry at a holiday meal.

And then I started to spend Christmas with Thatboy's family. In Thatboy's family EVERYONE goes hungry. They're equal opportunity starvers. I'm not joking when I tell you about the year everyone got a teaspoon of soup and single leaf of lettuce at TBIL's Christmas party. This year we tried to outsmart the crowd. When we realized that our typical 7 hour drive was going to be closer to 10, we called to let them know that we'd be grabbing dinner before TBIL's party. Of course, when we showed up, it was lucky we had stopped since there was no food to be found. And Thatboy had to seek out TBIL who didn't seem very interested in seeing us at all.

The rest of the trip was pretty much more of the same - we continued to make efforts to make it a nice family holiday and were rebuffed at every turn. Thatboy offered to make Christmas breakfast for everyone and was told not to because his father didn't want two big meals in the same day. (SEE - equal opportunity starvers) Christmas Dinner was so overdone as to be inedible and even though TFIL cooks for the same number of people every year, there's never enough food. I discovered part of the problem when I overheard him trying to convince TMIL that 9 potatoes would be enough for baked potatoes for 8 people AND mashed potatoes for 12 people.

But I'm willing to be my Christmas experience is unusual and most of you are stuffed to the gills with roasts and sweets. And even still, I know most of you are also looking forward to a fabulous New Years feast. Because there's no better way to kick off the year than my going all out with food, wine, and festivities. The problem becomes what to eat during the week in between these two heavy meals.

Well friends, I have the answer to all your problems. You know what you eat between Christmas and New Years? Something easy and loaded with veggies. Something like a stirfry! This one is a modified childhood favorite. And I know it's not just from my childhood. I've yet to meet a kid who didn't love sweet and sour something. Something about the sweet sticky sauce, the plump juicy pineapples. Thatboy grew up with sweet and sour pork, but we were sweet and sour chicken people in my family.

This recipe is far better for you than the classic dish because the chicken isn't battered and fried. (Although I'm sure that's another reason the dish is a sure fire kid pleaser.) Instead this is something you use as a bit of a detox before throwing yourself into the new year.

Sweet and Sour Chicken
1 cup white rice, cooked
1 cup pineapple chunks (I've been using the frozen pineapple tidbits from Trader Joes. LOVE)
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
1 boneless, skinless, chicken breast, cut into 1 inch chunks
1/2 cup sweet and sour sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce

1. Heat oil in skillet. Add veggies and cook until tender crisp. Remove veggies from skillet.
2. Cook chicken in skillet until cooked through.
3. Add veggies back into skillet with chicken, sweet and sour sauce, soy sauce, and pineapples. Heat through and serve over rice.