Tuna salad, salad. 10/8/23

Posted on October 6, 2023 by Beebamom

Today it turned stupidly hot, in the 90s. C’mon October! The rest of the country is cooling down but here on the West Coast we are going in the opposite direction for the next two or three days. All this complaining is an explanation as to why I made tuna salad and plopped it on top of a big bowl of salad. I refuse to run the AC this late in the year!

Tuna salad and salad

The salad is merely a kit salad from Taylor Farms. Steakhouse Wedge is our favorite. I added some walnut pieces for texture. My tuna salad consisted of solid white albacore packed in water, light mayo, diced celery, capers, sweet relish, and chopped parsley. Usually I make it half mayo and half plain Greek yogurt but since John was eating it I went the mayo only route. He made himself a sandwich for sandwich and salad dinner and I am sure he put even more mayonnaise on the bread.

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Vegetable rice noodle soup and kung pao pork. 10/4/23

Posted on October 5, 2023 by Beebamom

I made a couple of dishes yesterday. One was a vegetable soup with rice noodles.

Vegetable soup with rice noodles

I love a big bowl of vegetables and noodles. Since I have acquired this gluten sensitivity I have been missing noodles. Last week I made a quick pho-like soup which was good but it was missing an assortment of vegetables. Today’s soup was brimming with different vegetables and a helping of rice noodles underneath. I used some of my homemade chicken stock but to keep it vegan use a vegetable broth.

I was more a helper than the main cook on our dinner, kung pao pork. Last week our kung pao shrimp had turned out quite tasty using a recipe by Jet Tila. I thought trying it with pork tenderloin might be a good idea. It was pretty good but even though John cut the pork in thin slices and stir-fried it quickly it came out dry. We have one more pork tenderloin in the freezer. I really do not know how to make it juicy and delicious.

Kung pao pork
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Chilean sea bass, new potatoes, broccoli. 10/3/23

Posted on October 4, 2023 by Beebamom
Chilean sea bass, new potatoes, broccoli

This Tuesday seemed like a special occasion since we were dining on Chilean sea bass. Such a delicious fish! We have two more pieces left in the freezer before this fish will be relegated to “on sale” or actual special occasion only. It has gotten way too expensive.

John cooked the fish in the oven at 400 F for 14 minutes. It came out perfectly! I steamed the potatoes and cooked the broccoli in a little water. The three of us really enjoyed this dinner.

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Weekly Menu October 2 – 8, 2023

Posted on October 2, 2023 by Beebamom

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Faux chicken pho. 9/30/23

Posted on October 1, 2023 by Beebamom
Faux chicken pho

Authentic pho showcases a delicious broth that takes hours to make. My quick version which I made up on the fly started with some homemade chicken stock but you could use a good packaged chicken stock as well. I have tried to recreate my recipe below. Everyone has a different flavor preference so start with the amounts listed in the recipe and then go from there, tasting along the way. Don’t forget a squeeze of lime at the end!

I can also see doing this recipe with beef or tofu!

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Chicken enchiladas again!

Posted on September 29, 2023 by Beebamom

Whenever we go to Costco we always pick up one of their fabulous, low-priced ($4.99) rotisserie chickens. And that always means I will shred up one of the breasts to make chicken enchiladas. Here’s my dish of 13 chicken enchiladas hot out of the oven!

Chicken enchiladas

Chicken enchiladas are super simple to make. John puts the tortillas over an open flame to get some char and make them supple. You could also warm them briefly in the microwave. I have a lasagna-type pan ready with a coat of salsa verde in the bottom. Each tortilla gets a bit of salsa verde first, then shredded chicken, diced onions, shredded cheese, and finally a dollop of salsa verde again. Roll them up and put them seam-side down in the baking dish nestling them against each other.

The last step is to coat the top with salsa verde, some diced onions, and shredded cheese. I cook them for 30 minutes, covered, at 350F. Then I turn the oven heat up to 425F, uncover the enchiladas, and let the top brown for around 5 minutes. You have to watch this step because you don’t want the casserole to burn.

This is always a hit at our house. Plus I managed to save 4 enchiladas for lunches!

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Kung Pao Shrimp. 9/27/3

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Beebamom
Kung Pao shrimp

We saw Jet Tila make Kung pao shrimp on his show on Food Network, Ready, Jet, Cook! He made it sound pretty simple and it is! The most important thing is to have all your ingredients ready to cook because the stir-fry goes fast. On the website for the recipe there is the entire episode where he has his wife make the dish so you can watch it to see how big the pieces were cut and how it should look at the end.

We really enjoyed this dish which we served over rice and can imagine making it with chicken, beef, or tofu.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/kung-pao-shrimp-7112947

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Buffalo chicken wings and salad. 9/26/23

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Beebamom
Buffalo chicken wings and salad

We were supposed to be having Kung Pao Shrimp tonight but had to pivot since I am waiting on a bottle of gluten-free oyster sauce that I ordered from Amazon. Maybe tomorrow night.

Instead I made Foster Farms “Take Out” Buffalo chicken wings. They cook in about 25 minutes and come with a packet of sauce. They are the only brand I have looked at that does not contain wheat.

We also had the Taylor Farms Steakhouse Wedge salad. The blue cheese dressing went really well with the wings!

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Chicken chili. 9/25/23

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Beebamom
Chicken chili

The recipe I use for chicken chili is this one, https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patrick-and-gina-neely/white-chicken-chili-recipe-1922199, by the Neelys from Food Network. Since I did not have a rotisserie chicken handy I used a defrosted chicken breast diced smallish and cooked within the stew. Instead of mashing up the beans to thicken the chili I crumbled up some tortilla chips as a thickener.

A couple of caveats, make sure you take time to bloom the spices or else they taste raw, add a little more oil to the pot, and for sweetness grate in a half of a carrot. Or, in other words, keep tasting and tweaking the chili as it cooks.

John must have really liked the chili because there were no leftovers for a couple of lunches when dinner was done.

Posted in American, Legumes, Mexican, Poultry, Recipes, Southwest U.S., stew, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Breakfast for Dinner scrambled egg nachos. 9/24/23

Posted on September 25, 2023 by Beebamom
BFD Scrambled egg nachos and salad

My kids were talking about how they had made yummy nachos on Friday and it stuck in my mind that I would like to have some nachos. I decided to see if I could make scrambled egg nachos. I put some tortilla chips down first followed by corn, beans, the scrambled eggs, salsa, and cheese. I stuck my soon-to-be nachos under the broiler and kept an eye on them so they would not get too brown. I added a little salad on the side for some fresh crunch.

They turned out great! In fact my little plateful was so filling that I gave my last bit to John. He liked them too! My BFD nacho dish will come in handy especially when I am feeling down about my new gluten-free diet. It is like cheating but not!

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