Summer Favorite.

The kids and I enjoy this summer treat every summer.  I got this ice shaver at Target a few years ago.  Target also has a variety of syrups including cherry, watermelon, blue raspberry and such.

                   

                    

Super Guacamole.

I just tasted this guacamole at James' baseball party this last weekend.  I might have missed a couple of ingredients for the guacamole, but it still turned out fabulous. 

                         

Ingredients:

2 avocados

1/4 cup canned corn

1/4 to 1/3 cup black olives, roughly chopped

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

2 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup Rotel tomatoes with green chilies, drained

dash of garlic powder

dash of Tapatio or however spicy you want it to be

salt 

Dinner Tonight!?

We had an In-N-Out for dinner!!  Definitely one of my favorites!

Fried Rice.

When I make a salad for dinner, I usually make another meal for James and Matty.  They can handle a little salad with dinner, but not as an entire meal for their dinner.  One of those salad nights, I make fried rice for them.  It has a great nutritional value.

                 

Ingredients:

Canola or Vegetable oil for cooking

Any kinds of your favorite vegetables such as:

onions

carrots

green bell pepper

 

4 slices of thinly sliced ham

2 eggs, beaten

3 cups of cooked rice (better if cooked rather hard)

salt and pepper

soy sauce

1. Finely chop the vegetables and ham the same size.  

2. Heat the pan until hot and add 1/2 Tbsp of oil.  Cook soft scrambled eggs.  Set them aside on a plate.

3. Using the same pan, on high heat, heat 1 tbsp oil and fry vegetables.  Season with salt and pepper. Stir fry them for about 3 minutes and add ham.  Keep frying them until they are cooked through, about a few minutes longer.

4. Add 1 tbsp oil to the pan and when it's sizzled, add the rice to it.  Using a metal spatula or wooden spatula, fry the rice and vegetables, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan constantly, for about 7 minutes.  If the rice sticks to the bottom, don't worry.  That happens.  Try to scrape as much as possible.

5. Add the scrambled eggs to the rice and vegetables.  

6. Season with salt and pepper generously.  The key is to keep tasting as you season.

7. Add 1 tsp. of soy sauce.  Stir the rice and done!

Chinese Chicken Salad.

My search for good Chinese chicken salad started when I was around 20. Since then I had tried Chinese Chicken Salads in many restaurants and tried to duplicate the ones I liked. So far I have settled with this dressing package. I am happy with it and so are my friends who have had my salad.

Ingredients for roughly 4 servings

Salad Dressing

Sun-Bird brand Chinese Chicken Salad seasoning mix (found in Asian aisle)

Salad

Any kind of salad leaves (my favorite is Ready-Pac Parisian which will make 4 servings.)

2 chicken breasts, cooked in anyway you want (grilled, roasted, poached or pan fried) I use rotisseried chicken from the store.

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 cup chopped cucumber

1 1/2 cups roughly chopped bean sprout

1 cups chopped cilantro

1 1/2 cups canned mandarine oranges

fried wantons

Fried Wantons

Cut wanton skins into 1/2 inch stripes.

Heat oil to deep fry the wanton skins (not too high about 325F )

Take them out onto a paper towel when they are golden brown. Season with a little salt when it's hot.

A Huge Break from Cooking.

While visiting my family in Japan, I didn't cook at all.  I didn't do the dishes, touch a microwave, oven, toaster.... I hardly went into my mom's kitchen!  Wow!  It was nice.