Rice Cooker Chicken and Rice "Teri-Waki."

Ok, so my three year old mispronounces things A LOT. Throw in words that have "F's" and "K's" and it's all  hilarious until someone rolls their eyes at you... Party poopers.

Originally, I had planned on making egg rolls tonight for dinner but instead I ended up with hundreds of little surprises in the head of nappa cabbage. Aphids. Not exactly who I wanted to invite to dinner. So nothing was thawed and there was no way I wanted grilled cheese, again. So quick search was on and I honestly make this three if not more times a month because it's super yummy. But this is the first time I've written down the recipe and shared it!

You can make this on the stove top just like you would normally, I used my rice cooker because it's no fuss. I just throw everything in there and set a timer and stir one or twice and it's that simple. But I have made this on the stove even with instant rice.

I know... I know... less words and more directions and ohhh pictures...

Ingredients:

1 cup rice (if you use instant go by the directions on the box and I don't recommend it's use in a rice cooker)
2 cups water
1/3 chopped match stick carrots or 2/3 cups of small diced carrots (frozen is fine)
2/3 cups of frozen sweet peas
1/3 cup of Teriyaki sauce (I am a strict House of Tsang Korean Teriyak Stir Fry Sauce user)
1 12.5 oz can of drained cooked chicken, I broke the chunks into strands while in the can. (I used an organic brand... I threw away the can before I could get the name.)

1 cup of water on reserve in case rice is uncooked towards the end, I find this to be an issue with the brand of rice cooker that I own.

1/2 cup of teriyaki sauce to add in once rice is done cooking.

Directions:

1. Rinse the rice two to three times in a bowl of water until water is clear. DO NOT rinse if you are using instant.
2. Add in rice, water, veggies, 1/3 cup of teriyak sauce and your canned chicken. You can follow the directions on the bag, box or what your rice cooker calls for. In my rice cooker it takes about 30-40 mins to cook. Stir once or twice and continue cooking until rice is cooked through. I find that about after 15-20 minutes I have to add in extra water and continue to cook but I am fairly certain that's my rice cookers fault.
3. Add in the remaining 1/2 cup of teriyaki sauce and stir, let it warm up a little and it's finished!

You can mix in a small can of chopped water chestnuts, frozen broccoli, chopped mushrooms, green onions/scallions, peppers,etc!

This also makes awesome left overs and freezes well!

Enjoy!

Apple, Pear, Strawberry and Rhubarb Sonker.

Why hello there! Long time no post! I am making my return. The reasons will be in another blog but for now lets talk about something yummy!

So after much debate, I've deiced to called this a Sonker, rather than a cobbler or crumble. One for the fact the topping is sweeter, there are no oats and there's baking powder added to make this yummy treat. I felt like baking something from scratch and haven't done in a very long time. But I didn't want chocolate, GASP! I know but I just wasn't craving it!

Jumping right in, here's what you will need:

For topping:

• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 3 tablespoons brown  sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 stick of  butter melted

For mixture:

• 2 cups roughly 1/2 inch sliced Rhubarb
• 2 cups quartered Strawberries
• 2 small or one large peeled and cored Granny Smith Apples, roughly chopped
• 2 D'anjou pears ripe BUT FIRM, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup pineapple/orange/apple/lemon juice for pears and apples to soak in to prevent browning                          
• 5 tablespoons of corn starch.
• 1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. For Topping: Mix all the dry ingredients. Then add in the melted butter and vanilla until large clumps and crumbs appear. Set aside covered in the fridge. 
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
3. In small bowl mix the sugar and corn starch. 
4. In large bowl add the fruits and coat with the cornstarch and sugar
5. Place  into a greased casserole dish
6. Evenly top the fruit with the crumble topping
7. Bake at 375 for 40 to 50 minutes until topping starts to brown and mixture is bubbling.

Enjoy with vanilla ice cream or plain! But you HAVE to let this cool down completely, not even warm, it has to be cool/cold! Or you will suffer with a watery crumble! So you have been warned, you must wait to let the cornstarch do it's job! Also if it's not cooked long enough, it may become watery too because it hasn't  had time to let the cornstarch do it's job.

Enjoy!

Did someone say.... Pancakes?!

Two confessions here:

1.)I could live off of pancakes FOREVER.

2.) I used to ONLY use the pre-mixed just add water kind and not because I didn't know how to make pancakes from scratch but I was just one of those "too danged lazy and I need my carb fix NOW" kinda person.

Pancakes are forever attracted to my hips. They are best friends for life. It will be the one food I will never cut out of my life, ever.

I started to think about my food spending and how I could be a little more "thrifty." And at nearly three dollars a box and needing about two boxes a week to feed my troop and my cravings, I had to find something cheaper. It would be a cold day in hell before I gave up my beloved carbs and the cheap mixes are just that, cheap. I knew how to make them from scratch. Those who know me, know I am not an "up and at em" kind of gal in the morn. I could sleep in until noon if allowed, too bad I can't reprogram the kids and there's this darn thing called school that gets in the way. But this is now just as quick and even tastier than the pre-mixed kind!

Really basic but yummy recipe. I am sure you can find it just about any where on the interwebs.

Here's what you will need:

1 egg lightly beaten
1 to 1/4 cups of milk (Have extra on hand for thinning)
3 tablespoons of melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 and 1/2 cup of flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 and 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Here's what you do:
1.) Combine all dry ingredients. Set aside.
2.) Pour in butter, egg, milk and vanilla. Mix until most but not all lumps are gone.
3.) Add milk until runny enough to pour on to a hot griddle/pan. You want it pour-able, a little thicker than syrup but not too thick.
4.) Pour your desired size pancake on the pan, when you have bubbles on the sides and in the middle of the pancake batter, flip.
5.) Remove when other side of pancake is a dark golden brown, you may have to poke the center of the pancake to ensure it's cooked thoroughly.
6.) Repeat until all batter is used.

I get about 6-8 pancakes with this and it makes about 2 to 2.5 cups of batter. Also you may have to use cooking spray but I never do but that will depend on your cooking skill and the quality of the pans you are using.

Also now that I am exclusively only making them homemade, I don't even need to look at the recipe, I just start making them. That's how easy and quick they are!

Enjoy with your favorite butter and syrup!

Mamma's Chili Spice mix. *gift idea*

This is pretty much a generic recipe/mix you can find it any where on the internet BUT that's because it's so good! I remember when I first used this, it had no instructions on how MUCH to add to your meat/meat sub when cooking. Let's just say I can still remember the heat on the back of my tongue years afterwards. But if you add and taste as you go, you will be fine. Remember when it comes to heat, less is more.

Really simple to throw together and you will say bye-bye to the packaged stuff you were buying!

Here's what you will need:

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tablespoon of crushed red pepper

1 tablespoon of dried minced onion

1 tablespoon of dried minced garlic

4 teaspoon of chili powder

2 teaspoon of white sugar

2 teaspoon of ground cumin

2 teaspoon of dried parsley

2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of dried crushed basil

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

Directions:

1.- Add to either a container you can seal or ziploc baggie and mix.

2.- When cooking add a little at a time until you get desired spice and flavor. Remember less is more when it comes to heat, unless you love heat!

Final note if you want to give as a gift:

If you want to make this as gift:

Multiply the above ingredients by 4 to get three Mason 8 oz jelly jars.

Multiply by 8 to get six mason 8oz jelly jars.

Multiply by 12 to get nine masons 80z jelly jars.

Multiply by 16 to get twelve mason 8oz jelly jars.

Enjoy!