mom's stir fry--a guest blog

my mom is a really good cook. like, one of the best cooks i know. no, probably THE best cook i know. since she's not great with computers, i'm doing her guest blog for her. i was at her house tuesday night and she was making stir fry, so i decided to document it and force a guest blog on her. you guys will be the better for it. this is one of my family's favorite meals (and that's saying a lot, since my mom makes a TON of good stuff). i've never actually made this before, so it was better to post it here with her doing it, to be sure it turned out well. so let's get started. you'll need a package of chicken strips, white and green onion, a carrot, a bunch of asparagus, 1 zucchini, frozen peas, mushrooms (as many as you want--they are left out here because dave doesn't like them and my mom is nothing if not accomodating), flour, butter, salt & pepper, and spaghetti noodles.

start by cutting your chicken into cubes. then set aside so you can get going on the veggies.cut up your zucchini; peel and cut your carrot; cut the top half of the asparagus (discarding bottom half) and cut into bite size pieces; dice a bunch of green onions; dice 1/4 of an onion; slice your mushrooms. then pile 'em all together like this:
next you need to make a white sauce. click here for the recipe (sorry, i would've put pictures up but i didn't start taking pictures 'til after the sauce was already made!). add in a teaspoon of chicken bouillon (or 1 cube) when you add your milk. set sauce aside to thicken while you begin stir frying.
add a tablespoon of oil to a skillet and turn heat to high. once the oil is hot, add your chicken. add salt and pepper and stir fry for 5 minutes, or until not longer pink.
keep going...
there. perfect.

now remove the chicken to a plate.

add in a little bit more oil to the same pan and get it hot.
then pour in your veggies. not the best picture, but my mom was too fast for me so this was all i got.
there. doesn't that look good?
add a little salt and pepper, and stir fry these guys for 5 minutes.
or let your helper do it for you.
after three minutes, add in some frozen peas. this would've been better if they weren't frozen in a ball like that. as it is, they were, and it worked out just fine, so whatever.
once the ice melts, continue cooking for two more minutes and then add your chicken back in.
then add in your white sauce,
and stir.
keep stirring! once combined, it's ready. serve over spaghetti noodles with NOTHING else. this meal is good enough all by itself.
there. doesn't that look delish? it is.

mom's stir fry

1 package of chicken, cut into cubes
1-2 carrots (more is always better, i say), peeled and sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
1 bunch of asparagus, top-half sliced (discard bottom half)
mushrooms if you want
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 onion, diced
1 bunch of green onion, sliced
1 cup of a basic white sauce with 1 tsp. (or 1 cube) of chicken bouillon added in
spaghetti noodles

cut up all the chicken and vegetables, then set aside while you make a white sauce. once your white sauce is ready, get a tablespoon of oil hot in a wok or large frying pan. stir fry your chicken for 5 minutes or until no longer pink. remove to a plate, then add a teaspoon more oil and stir fry your vegetables for 5 minutes. add salt and pepper to taste. add your chicken and white sauce, stir to combine, and serve over cooked spaghetti noodles.

Easy Stuffed Shells.

Hello my fellow foodies!

I'm so excited to guest blog, especially about food/recipes. I believe food needs to be fast and flavorful and that's exactly what I'm givin' you. I learned this recipe from my friend, Kim. We had a Spanglish Cooking group during the summer and she taught this recipe. It's become a weekly staple in our home and I thought I'd share it with you. Make this tonight...you'll thank me later!

Mixing bowls ready?

Check!

Measuring cups ready?

Check!

Appetites ready?

Check!

Let's get cooking!!!

Easy Stuffed Shells

The ingredients:

20-30 large pasta shells, 1 jar spaghetti sauce, 8 oz. mozzarella cheese, 16 oz. cottage cheese (or ricotta), 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 2 eggs, and parsley flakes (or in Chie, perejil).

Cook 20-30 large pasta shells "al dente" in salted, boiling water.

{approximately 15 minutes}

While the shells are cooking, empty a jar/can of spaghetti sauce into a 9x13 pan.

I had a little leftover sauce from a previous meal...

... so I poured that in as well.
{Waste not, want not.}

Listo (ready).Now, on to the cheese filling.

First, shred 8 oz. of mozzarella
Or, if you live in the United States, buy it shredded and skip this step.

Then, in a large bowl combine:

16 oz. cottage cheese {or ricotta}

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

8 oz. shredded mozzarella

2 eggs

and a generous amount of parsley flakes {for color}

Now, mix.
It should look like this.

Alright, now check your shells.
Perfect!

Drain the water.
I always leave a little in the pot so that the shells don't
stick together.
Let the shells cool for a few minutes.

Once the shells are cool enough to handle, take a heaping amount of of the cheese filling...

... and stuff your shells!
Make em' fat!
They like being chubby, kinda like me.
{Well, ok, that's a lie. I don't like being chubby, I just am.
It's because these stuffed shells are so delicious.
Darn you, stuffed shells!}

Then, lay them in the spaghetti sauce.

They like being cozy too.

Now, toss them in the oven at 350° for 30 minutes or until the cheese is hot and bubbly!

Mmmm, bubbly cheese.
It's my favorite kind of cheese!
And by the magic of television, I mean, the blogosphere, I present to you...

Easy Stuffed Shells

Buono appetito!


{Click on the picture below to print this recipe!}

guest blogger lynette

i met lynette after dave and i got married. she was in our ward and had the cutest little girl (carly) and i instantly wanted to be her friend. she is clever, smart, beautiful, and funny (no, funny's not the right word. hi-LARIOUS is more like it) and can make even a mundane story a bust-your-gut-snort-while-you-laugh type of story. i love that our friendship is even better now that we are blog buddies. she's a great writer and her blog is so much fun to read. her family moved to chile last year and it's fun to get a glimpse into the life of an ex-pat.

turns out, lynette is also a great cook. so i asked her to guest blog for me and she kindly obliged. so here is a quick "food" interview so you can get to know her a little better.

what's your favorite food? This is so lame, but probably big, juicy burgers. I can remember when I was younger and we went out to eat as a family, I always ordered hamburgers--even at Mexican restaurants!

what is your favorite thing to cook? anything fast! I like to cook, but it needs to take me less than 30 minutes. I can only handle so much chaos with the kids playing chase around the kitchen and running between my legs. I like my food fast & flavorful.

what's the weirdest/grossest thing you've ever eaten? I'm not usually one that ventures far from my food comfort zone, so I've never really eaten anything too weird. Plus, food is my friend--I enjoy it all. However, I do remember after having Wes, a family in our ward brought us dinner. It was a chicken and rice dish. But, the rice was overcooked and the chicken was undercooked. How that happened, I'm not sure. There was no sauce, no cream of anything, no cheese--just squishy rice and raw chicken. That was probably the worst thing I've ever had.

what's the most exotic thing you've eaten in Chile? Again, I haven't stepped too far out of my food comfort zone, so the most traditional Chilean food I've had is probably empanadas. Not all empanadas are created equal--I've had some pretty weird ones, like the one that was filled with black olives and egg. Personally, I'm not a fan.

what's your favorite breakfast? Do donuts count? No, seriously, pancakes, eggs, and bacon--but donuts are a close second.

and your favorite restaurant? I have too many. Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin, TGI Fridays, Las Rosas, Texas Roadhouse, P.F. Changs, and Lasagna House. (waaaaa... I miss the good ol' U S of A.)

have you ever had a cooking fiasco? Oh, yes! Every year at Thanksgiving my dad makes a traditional southern cornbread stuffing. Ammon and I were living in Provo and we were unable to fly home for the holiday so we decided to host our very own Thanksgiving dinner at our apartment with some friends. When I called home for the recipe, my dad gave me the ingredients and directions and assured me that I could not mess it up. So, with confidence, I began to make the dressing. {Now, my dad's recipe was tripled so that it feed my entire family, so I tried scaling it down.} Somewhere amid the stress of trying to cook my first Thanksgiving meal all on my own, I added three times as much chicken broth to the batter (the correct amount on the recipe, but remember, I was scaling it down) and it was a runny mess. What should have taken 45 minutes to bake, took 6 hours and even then it only barely resembled my dad's cornbread stuffing. But, not to worry. I have since mastered that recipe and I've made it for the entire family the past couple of years.

i can't wait to see what you have for us to eat! thanks lynette!