Coconut Curry Ramen (Vegetarian)

Missy Tippens

I made ramen bowls last night! I've mentioned in a post before that we love going to a local restaurant to get ramen. But this was one of the meal kits from Dinnerly, so it was nice to actually make it at home. I have to say I impressed myself! It was really flavorful. :)

First, I cooked the noodles, Chuka Soba noodles.

For the broth, I sautéed garlic and chopped green onions. Then I added a big boost of flavor  from about 2 Tbs. of curry powder. Next came the coconut milk (and it was actually made from a coconut milk powder, which was new to me), pasta water (you have to be sure to remember to save the noddle water before you drain them!), and tamari soy sauce. Finally, a splash of white wine vinegar.

The vegetables (sautéed separately) included snow peas, which were original to the recipe, and chopped asparagus that I added to make the dish go further.

In the photo, I was cutting the snow peas lengthwise into strips.

Once the broth was done, I added in the vegetables and cooked noodles.

We served, topped with boiled eggs!

This was so good! But it took close to an hour to prep. Worth it, I think. :)


www.missytippens.com

Easy Fried Rice and other Favorites

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I've got a super easy dish for those nights when you need to go grocery shopping but don't have time. But first... the weather has changed!
                                             
Which was tough when we got up at 4AM to help out with the hot air balloon festival. They moved it from May to October and I was NOT ready for 1) the dark and 2) the cold. Nothing like trying to find the tabs and straps in the pitch darkness!
                                              
When the sun finally rose, it didn't really warm things up. Crunchy field grass.
                                 
But my kids were troopers (I was the one whining, as usual) and here they are waving off Mr. Tick Tock. (Yeah, we know he's sort of creepy looking but the school kids just love to see him flying over their schools.)
                                     
They also had tethered rides for kids who could come before school. Here are our friend Ingrid and Rorique and Bill giving little rides to the kids. After helping inflate, the volunteers help act as "balast", pulling the balloon down and weighing down the basket so people can get off and on. Maybe the only time when a few extra pounds works in your favor!
                                           
Oh, and we celebrated Halloween early because our old friend Mindy came to visit from Montana! Here are Edward (skeleto man) and Ana (as our dear Miss Jane Austen) getting ready to run through the corn maze.
                                         
So, I've been running toward a deadline so I'm not putting as much thought into cooking as I usually do (which isn't much, hahaha). I've just been grabbing items from the pantry and throwing them together. This is what we made a few nights ago and it was delicious! I realized that although I've posted about quick shrimp stir fry, healthy low carb egg rolls, California sushi,  , I hadn't posted anything about fried rice, which we eat pretty often. Missy posted about fried rice  but hers looks way nicer so... don't follow the link!

 So, I didn't take pictures of every step, which is BAD, BAD, BAD blogging! But I'll explain what's happening in this shot. We chopped carrots and celery into teeny tiny pieces and sauteed them for about five minutes with a TBS of oil. Then we scrambled three eggs into the veggie mix.

 This is the rice I made for the stir fry and I am VERY proud to say for once, I did not make sticky rice! Hooray!

 Add four cups of rice to the veggie mix and fry on medium high with 2 TBS of oil. Turn lightly and carefully with a spatula because it's really easy to make a big pan of mush at this point. (Don't ask me how I know.)
Oh, here's one of our sweet new kittens! They are so playful and into everything, we really have to watch out for them under foot. The other night I was removing a pan of chicken from the oven and one of the kittens puts its paws right on the inside of the door! Poor kitten. All it was thinking was the delicious smells, not the 400F heat. It didn't seem to be hurt but scared me to death, so now we're extra careful when we're cooking.

She's my new editor... So hard to please. So critical! All she wants is stories about tuna and tummy rubs. *sigh*

 Add two packets of fried rice seasoning an gently combine. I told you this was easy!

 Someone has come to inspect dinner... Here we added chopped chicken.

 One more shot of the sumach in the yard. SO pretty. I want to bring it inside!

Until next time! Be sure to stop by my author pages at Mary Jane Hathaway and Virginia Carmichael, or my blog at The Things That Last! 

Healthy Egg Rolls (low carb)

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and this is a repeat post from March 2014. (Seriously, what was I doing in 2014 besides cooking?? All my favorite recipes are from 2014.) 

 But before I get to the egg rolls, I wanted to share these beautiful peonies my friend brought me.

 We have a local peony garden and it has several dozen varieties. So beautiful!

And they smelled amazing.

But we're here for the egg rolls, so, without further ado, the past me will take over:

These are officially low carb, but they're not low calorie. So, you can decide whether it fits into your diet, or whether you can have just one with a salad. (I didn't have to think too hard about this since I'm not fond of cabbage OR Chinese food. No brainer!) But I knew this would be a big hit with the family, and since we've had wayyyyy too many cookies and sweets lately, this seems a fun way to get back on the road to real food.

 What you see is a doubled recipe (alert- family of EIGHT!) but the measurements I'll give arethe ones listed on the back of the package.

1lb pork sausage
2 cups cabbage
1/2 cup bean sprouts
1 cup shredded carrots
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp garlic
2TBS oyster sauce
one package egg roll wraps (made with rice)

 Brown pork sausage. Use thirteen year old child who does not appreciate her picture taken.

 After the pork is browned, add in the carrots, cabbage, garlic, ginger and green onions. Stir over high heat for 2-3 minutes, like a quick stir fry.

 Remove from the heat and add 2 TBS of the oyster sauce. I checked the back and there was no MSG but it still made me nervous. So far, so good. Usually anything with that many preservatives gives me a killer migraine but I saw this on a list for people who are sensitive to MSG and derivatives.

 So, let the mixture cool, then remove the rice paper wraps from the container. Put a small bowl of water near as you assemble the egg rolls.
Preheat oven to 400F.

Put about 2 tsp of mix in the middle. It smells DELICIOUS.

 Wrap it up like a little envelope, sealing the last flap with a bit of water.

 Ta-dah. Now, into the oven for about 12-15 minutes, until browned.

 I order these napkins from Macy's because I fell in love with this line of china. (Wait, you say... why order napkins if you love the china!?) The china was sooo crazy expensive, even on sale, that one mug cost $49! I mean, seriously. In this family, we could break hundreds of dollars in dishes a week that way!

 Anyway, so I got placemats and napkins. And they are SOOOO pretty. I'm going to try and paint a replica of it... but it might be a fail. I'll let you knew what happens.

 Looking tasty! Now, the original recipe called for green cabbage and I'm sort of seeing why. These babies look purple!

 Hubby was pretty excited to see this as his appetizer. (This couldn't be his whole meal. He needs a big salad and maybe some corn or green beans. But I took pictures before I put everything on there...)

 Dipping in the soy sauce... And the other sauce is a spicy and sour... my fave!

 Steaming hot and the veggies are still crisp!

 Now, while I was cooking, the kids were out playing in the garden. And across the fence lives a lovely woman named Sandy. She's a cook for one of the elementary schools and she must think my kids are missing out on the goodness of cafeteria food (the good kind, not the horrible kind) becuase she always sends plates of goodies over! So, dessert appeared in front of me... angel food cake with a chocolate glaze and vanilla pudding middle. YUMMY.

I wasn't really sold on the oven baked part, so I fried the last batch in about an inch of oil, turning until each side was crispy. I really thought they tasted so much better... but of course, it raises the calorie content as well. I think if you only have one or two, the frying doesn't make a difference. For hubby, I think I'll keep his baked because he ate about seven. That would be a lot of grease!

Be sure to drop by my author page at Mary Jane Hathaway, or my other author page at Virginia Carmichael, or my blog at The Things That Last! All my newest book news and musings is there, including anything else that strikes my fancy!

California sushi 101

Hello, everybody! We were craving fresh sushi and since we live in the middle of verifiable nowhere, we have to make it ourselves. I decided to take some pictures in case anybody has enjoyed sushi but thought it was hard to make. It's really, really not. Plus, it keeps in the fridge for several days, and the ingredients are great for families on a budget. I first made sushi in college and my kids have grown up making sushi rolls at home. We've experimented with a few different kinds, but we always come back to California rolls. 

We like the fresh ingredients. No raw tuna, here! Or maybe it's just easier to find the various veggies and such.

So, let's start!

A pack of sushinori seaweed sheets, rice vinegar, and good quality rice. All of these can be found in your local grocery store. (I'm positive. Really. If WE have them, YOU have them. Unless you're a one stop-light town. We're a two stop-light town and we've got seaweed, and it's certainly not because of our large Asian population.)

Bamboo mats are in most kitchen stores an Walmart and on Amazon. Usually about $6. You don't really need one. You can use plastic wrap or foil, but they do work better. 

We usually use fake crab (because the kids like it better and it's already in the package) but crabs are in season on our coast and this fresh beauty was only $5.99! My son loves to clean them so I let him take care of that part. Maybe I'll post a tutorial on crab cleaning? Hmmmm...

One cucumber, several carrots, fake crab, and avocado. Cut into slices.

Real crab. Mmmmm....

 Mix 12 TBS rice veingar, 9 TBS sugar, and 3 TBS salt in a pot and warm (stirring frequently) until everything is dissolved.Boil the rice according to the directions. Pour the liquid over the HOT cooked rice. This is what gives sushi rice that delicious sweet/sour flavor.

Here's the tricky part. You want each grain coated with the mixture, and how this is achieved is to mix the rice in a folding motion, while fanning with a stiff paper (or a school notebook, as is the case here). You can do it yourself, but if you're not so coordinated, it's always better to have one person fan and the other fold. After about five minutes of gentle folding, the vinegar mix should be absorbed into the rice.

Lay the nori on the mat. Inhale deeply. MMMMM...

So, first step is to cut your nori sheets in half. They should snap apart easily if they're fresh out of the package. 

 Here's the thing... California roll has the seaweed on the INSIDE. Pat rice in a thin layer onto the seaweed sheet. Have a small bowl of water nearby to dip your fingers in or you'll end up with rice EVERYWHERE.

 If you're making a normal sushi roll, the seaweed would stay on the outside but again, it's California roll so we're going to flip the rice over onto some foil that we've put on top of the sushi mat (we don't wan rice in the sushi mat, it's a pain to clean) and build the ingredients into the inside.

 Lay cucumber, carrot, crab, avocado in a line. Not very much because you've only got half a sheet to make the roll. (The bigger the sheet, the fatter the roll.)
                                                         
Roll gently and slowly. It's not hard and with practice, it really takes about 2 minutes to assemble. But I'm uncoordinated so I go slowly.

 Once it's rolled together, carefully remove the foil. (Like a jelly roll!)
                                
They can be wrapped in plastic and put in the fridge at this point. They'll keep for a day or two (probably more) and they're great for bringing to a party, assembling in the kitchen and bringing them out. Lots easier than hauling around platters of sushi.
                                                 
And just in case anyone wants to make the rice on the inside, you can do it really easily an skip thats the of the extra foil and the flipping over.
                                                   
The cutting works the same way, but if the nori is on the outside, it's easier to cut if you dip the knife in very hot water before each cut.
                                                       
Here is a traditional roll (same ingredients, but seaweed on the outside).
                                               
California roll! (But I ran out of sesame seeds, so just imagine a coating of sesame seeds on the outside.) Dip in soy sauce and wasabi for best results!

OK, that's all for now. I caught a bad cold right after our stomach virus so I am DRAGGING myself around. But I know it's all temporary and fleeting and soon we'll all be right as rain. :) Take care, have some sushi, and see you all next time!