Easy Asian Inspired Entree

You all know that I am a huge fan of cooking once and eating twice (or sometimes 3x!) from the same key ingredient.  This minimizes my time in the kitchen, maximizes my time with my kids and helps to disguise the dreaded "left over"!

My kids are a huge fan of Chinese food.  Take out can get pricey and is very tricky to navigate pick up with four hungry kids!  I have started making the following recipe on a regular basis.  It is super easy and most importantly my kids love it!

Pork Fried Rice

The first time I made this my oldest son told me it was the best thing I ever made.  Ever.  My youngest son told me it was better that the Chinese Restaurant.  Both very high compliments from these two!  I make this dish with leftover pork tenderloin.  In fact, we are having this tonight.  Last night I made a pork tenderloin on the grill.  Super easy - heat up your grill on high for five minutes.  While that is heating rub a pork rub on the tenderloin.  When grill is hot, turn down to medium and throw the tenderloin on.  Cook for 20 minutes.  Flip. Cook for another 20 minutes, and you are done!  Here is what you need to make the Fried Rice Dish:

-2 cups cooked cubed pork
-1 bag of peas & carrots frozen mixed vegetables
-chopped onions or scallions (about 1/4 Cup - my kids don't like onions)
-3 eggs
-2 cups cooked rice (great way to use your leftover rice!)
-Soy Sauce
-Canola Oil


Take a frying pan (we don't have a wok - note to husband, woks are not suitable birthday gifts) and spray it with cooking spray. Take your eggs, whisk them together and add to pan.  Cook in your fry pan until scrambled.  Remove eggs from pan and place in separate dish.  Clean pan.

Add canola oil to clean pan (a few tablespoons).  When pan has been heated, add onions, then add peas & carrot mixture.  Cook until tender.  Add pork.  Mix together until heated through.  Add rice.  Stir.  Keep stirring so nothing sticks or burns.  Add soy sauce  - enough to cover - about 1/2 bottle.  (We use the low sodium or sodium free one.)  Keep stirring!  Add in cooked eggs. Stir everything together, cook a few more minutes until everything is heated throughout and your are done!

Easy Pork Fried Rice

If you do not eat pork or are not a fan, you could definitely substitute chicken.

I have a great Beef &  Broccoli recipe that I will post soon!

Thanks for stopping by!  How do you give your left overs a second life?

Easy Enchiladas!

I am all about cooking once, eating twice.   Cooking things that let me spend the minimum time in the kitchen and the maximum time with my kids!  So what does this mean!?!  I cook something and get two meals out of it.  One of my all time favorite things is oven roasted chicken.  You can do so much with this versatile protein.  This is something that I cook year round.  Last Thursday I made my chicken and was able to get three meals out of it!  We had the roasted chicken Thursday night with vegetables for dinner.  On Saturday I made chicken salad for lunch.  After lunch, I took the left over chicken shredded it and put it in the freezer.  This morning I took my bag of shredded chicken (about 2lbs) out of the freezer, put it in the fridge and by 5pm it was ready to go!   For tonight's dinner, we used the shredded chicken in Enchiladas.  We will have an easy, quick and homemade meal that not only tastes great but is pocketbook friendly too!

Ingredients:
-2 small cans Enchilada Sauce
-Shredded Chicken (I had about 2lbs left)
-1 bag Shredded Cheddar Cheese
-1 tablespoon of Sour Cream
-1 pack of Tortillas

My kids like the mild sauce.  The sauce with the Green Chile is great too!

Steps:
-Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
-Take a Pyrex Pan (or casserole dish). Pour 1/2 can of sauce on bottom of pan
-Take your chicken and put it in a large microwave safe, mixing bowl, add remaining 1/2 can of sauce, sour cream and 1/2 the bag of cheese.
-Mix well
-Microwave chicken mixture on high for 1 minute, 30 seconds
-Take each tortilla and fill with a scoop of the chicken mixture, roll and place in pan
-Repeat until you run out of chicken mixture
-Pour 2nd can of Enchilada Sauce on top
-Top with Remaining Cheese
-Bake for 20-25 minutes, cheese will be nicely melted


This is what the chicken mixture should look like

This is a dish that not only my children love to eat, but they love to help make!



 

Getting ready to go in the oven!

 

Just out of the oven.  Smells Great!

We will serve this with a salad or black beans on the side. If you make it at home, please be sure to let me know what you think!  What are some of your favorite cook once, eat twice meals?

Thanks for stopping by & enjoy your evening!

I used THE Soap!

"Thanks so much, I love it! I'm going to save it."

"That is so pretty.  It is too nice to use.  I'm going to save it."

"Wow.  That is so sweet.  I'm going to save these."


How many time have you received something or purchased something for yourself and immediately said one of those sentences?  What are you "saving" these things for?!  I am a "saver".  I have a weird collection of items in my closet that are "too nice" to use and I'm saving them!  I don't know what I am saving them for, but let me tell you, when the Apocalypse comes, I'm going to look great in my cashmere sweater and smell great from my hand milled soap collection!

Last week we had a house guest.  He was very sweet and brought me some very nice hand milled soaps.  A few days later, my daughter asked if she could use one of the soaps in her bath.  My response, "no,  I'm going to save them".  She innocently asked, "for what Mommy?"  That stumped me.  I had no idea! Why I am I saving this soap? And why I am saving all of that other stuff?  Stuff that is too nice to use or wear.

I am not going to think like that anymore!  So, we opened the soap (oatmeal honey) and my little girl felt so special to use it and had  pretty, soft skin after her bath!

Are you a saver?  What are some of the things that you have been saving?  Me, mainly high end sweaters and soap. I do have some random things as well!  One of my girlfriends gave me a beautiful set of placements and napkins from India.  Before, they would have gone in the drawer, because I needed to save them and they were too pretty to use.  I'm proud to say they look beautiful on my dining room table.  Every time I walk by, I see the pretty flowers and think of my friend.  We haven't actually used the placemats yet, but they are out and I am enjoying them!  Now, I'm not about to put out my white hand towels with the embroidered shamrocks, because I know they will be ruined in minutes.  But, I do believe I have a set of Vera Bradley Paperclips in my closet that I'm going to dig out and put on my desk......

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great day!

She's so lost....

That is what I heard my six year old daughter whisper to her eight year old brother the other day.  We were driving to camp.  It was the kids first day of camp and we had been there many, many times before. (My four kids did an awesome three day camp program at Pump It Up in Leesburg, VA. 9-3 each day!!)

Next I heard,  "Mom are you sure you know where you are going? Maybe you should just use the GPS.  It is there to help you".  Now, I am the first to admit I can't really read a map and I am challenged when it comes to directions and often I do utilize the lady that lives in the dashboard to help me.  But, not this time.  I really did know where I was going.  This did not put my daughter at ease.  She was anxious and she didn't want to be late to camp!

Then I started having flashbacks of when I was child.  My younger sister and I in the backseat of the station wagon.  Having no idea where we were going, and believing that our mom didn't either.  "Mom, maybe we should stop at that gas station and ask for directions" or "Mom, there is a lady walking a dog, maybe we can just ask her".  This was before the days of cell phones and GPS.  No lady in the dashboard to help us!

Thankfully, my children can read maps.  When he was a toddler my oldest would spend hours looking at maps.  Every time my sister would go to Disney, we asked her to bring back some Park maps.  This would keep my son entertained in the stroller our if we went out to eat.  Still to this day, when we are on vacation, I pick up a few of those "freebie" guide books and let my kids read them while we are waiting for dinner.

Are you direction challenged?  What are some tips that you use to help stay sane?

Thanks for stopping by & enjoy your weekend!

Eggcellent!

I just made hard boiled eggs in the microwave.  Yes, the microwave!  I am so excited, I just had to share this little tip!

-Take a large microwave safe bowl, fill it 1/2 way with water
-Microwave on high for 3 minutes
-Add your eggs (I did two)
-Microwave on 50% for 8 minutes

I am going to go enjoy some egg salad for lunch!

What do you use your microwave for?  Have a great weekend!

Multiplicity Magazine - Summer 2013

The summer issue is here!  Be sure to check out my article on page 8!

Click below for link.  Happy Reading!

Multiplicity Summer 2013

and the back to school drama continues...

Last I checked, it was July.  July 16th to be exact.  My older two kids (8 year old son and 6 year old daughter) go back to school on September 3rd.  Roughly 48 days (not that I'm counting).  I have no idea when my twins go back.  I know it is September - their preschool will email or mail me something so we show up on the correct date and time!

My 6 year old has become a back to school drama queen.  It is way too early in the summer for this, we have plenty of more pool days and a trip to the beach ahead of us before I am ready to throw in the towel on summer!  The most recent drama was over the backpacks (read my last post on the Great Back Pack Debate to catch up!).  This was settled amicably.  For giving up the Hello Kitty Backpack, we reached an agreement or settlement I should say!  Backpack from brand of mom's choice, pattern of kid's choice and one Hello Kitty Lunchbox with a pink sequin bow.  Hopefully the sequins will not fall off into my daughter's lunch, but that is a story for another time.  Backpacks ordered and delivered! (I scored some really, really cutes ones too!  Landsend was having amazing clearance sales - back packs were $14.99 each + free shipping.  I know these bags are going to last a few years too.)  I ordered back packs for my three little ones (6 year old and 4 year old twins).  I was not planning on getting my oldest son a new back pack this year (he has a great one from last year that is just fine).  But, with the money I saved on the other backpacks and a nice 30% off Kohl's coupon from Grandma, my oldest will be sporting a brand new back pack at the bus stop too!  (this was so much easier - I gave him a price point, pulled up the Kohl's website and he did a great job picking it out himself!)

Walmart & Target have started the back to school sales already.  I was able to finish my shopping and get some really, really good deals.  I made the mistake of taking three of the kid with me on Sunday to Walmart.  Sunday at Walmart is scary busy to begin with, then add in the kids!  We went and were prepared.  We had the list from the school with what we needed to buy for each class.  Of course the 6 year old did not want any of the items that are required for first grade.  She wanted notebooks and folders with Hello Kitty, sparkles and puppies!  I did give in for one Hello Kitty folder (97 cents that my daughter promised she would pay for!)  and we went with the "good stuff" on the school supplies.  My children will be returning to school this year with name brand products too (apparently my daughter is still upset about taking in Roseart Crayons and generic glue last year that would not stick.  This year, thanks to Walmart we were able to get the brand names for a quarter each! I wonder if I scarred her for life on this glue!)

Here I thought I was in good shape!

Backpacks  - check
School Supplies - check

Next on the list, school shoes.  Of course the 6 year old wants a pair of $60 ballerina sneakers that she just has to get this week, and pretty dresses so she has them for the first week of school.  She is asking several times a day for these.  Several times.  It is July.  July 16th.   I don't think so.  She will get some new shoes, but we will hold off on these until August!

Have you started your back to school shopping yet? Are you counting the days until the bus comes?!

Thanks for stopping by!


























Please note: I have not been compensated in any way, shape or form by the vendors mentioned in today's post.  This is just my personal experience and opinion.