Porcini Mushroom Egg Noodles with Shrimp and Veggies #Recipe

Once in a while, we  go to TJMaxx to see what's on sale.  They have   some products that you don't normally see in other stores so I like exploring  there.  My daughter and I went to the kitchen   aisle and she saw this porcini mushroom egg noodles.  She loves  mushroom so when she saw this egg noodles  made with porcini mushrooms, we had to buy it.  I cooked it with shrimp because she also love shrimp soit's a win-win situation for her and ME!  Even the boys liked it.

 Ingredients:

• 1 shallots, chopped
• 1 carrots, shaved
• 1 scallions, chopped diagonally
• 1 bag mediu sized frozen shrimps
• 1 celery stalk
• Maggi Savor soy sauce
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• Black pepper

 Preparation:

• Boil  some water with a pinch of salt and  1 tbsp butter.  Drop the noodles and let it cook for 5 minutes.  Drain the water and set aside.
• Heat the coconut oil in a medium pan.  Sautee the  shallots, celery, carrots, and shrimp.
• Add the noodles and toss it with the veggies and shrimp.
• Add some  maggi savor sauce or soy sauce and sprinkle some black pepper.  Cook for another three minutes then add the scallions.  Remove from the heat and serve hot.

 It was delicious.  I will buy this kind of noodles again if I see it in the store. We really like its consitency.  It reminds me of the noodles we have back home.

Double Chocolate Brownies with Chopped Pecans and Coconut Shavings Topping

I still have a box of gluten-free brownies here in my pantry so I decided to bake   it while my daughter was cooking dinner. It was actually my way of sneaking in to keep an eye on her lol.  I have tried  baking this  kind of   brownie with different flavors by adding nuts, fruits or coconut shaving and I can say that I like them all.  

Ingredients:

• 1 pack Glutino gluten free pantry double chocolate brownie mix
• 2 eggs  
• 5 tbsp melted butter
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup sweetened  coconut shaving
• 1 tsp sugar

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 8x8 inch pan with vegetable oil. 
• In a large bowl, beat eggs for 3-2 minutes.  Gradually add dry mix.  Beat to moisten.
• Add butter and stir until combined.
• Fold the nuts and lightly mix.
• Pour in prepared pan and bake for 25-27 minutes.  
• Combine the coconut shaving and  sugar.  Sprinkle the coconut mixture on top.
• Cool completely.  For best result, freeze 1 hour before cutting. 

This is by far my favorite but then again, I like the ones with the walnuts or the ones with fruits or even just the plain ones which basically saying, I LOVE brownies!

Spiced Swedish Meatballs #Recipe #LittleChef

Inspired by the success she had with the  dinner she cooked for us the other night, she volunteered again to make this Spiced Swedish Meatball dish.  Although I wanted to make it, I let her cook it.  I just help her with the  noodles because I did not want her to  get burn with the hot water.  This is another successful dish that she did.  You may get the recipe below.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz ground beef
• 1/2 cup panko
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 tbsp spice blend
• 4 oz reduced fat milk
• beef stock concentrate
• vegetable stock concentrate
• 1 tbsp flour
• 4 oz mushrooms
• 6 oz egg noodles
• 1/4 oz parsley
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tsp olive oil

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Bring a large pot of water  with a large pinch of salt to a boil.  Halve, peel, and thinly slice half the onion.  Using a box grater, grate half of the onion into a medium bowl.  Quarter the mushrooms.  Toss the  mushrooms on one side on baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

• Season the beef.  Add the panko, half a pocket of vegetable stock concentrate, and 1/4 cup water to the bowl with the onion.  Using your hands, squish the mixture together until a smooth  paste forms.  Add the ground beef, 1 tsp Swedish spice blend, and a large pinch of salt to the bowl and minch until just combined.  

• Make the beef stock mixture: In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, , mix together  1 cup water, the milk, and the remaining vegetable and beef stock concentrate.  Heat 1 tbsp  butter and a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add the sliced onion to the pan and cook, tossing for 5 minutes until softened.  

• Cook the meatballs and egg noodles:  While the onions cook, from the seasoned beef into gold ball sized  meatballs and place into baking sheet.  Return to the oven for 12 minutes until cooked through.  Finely chop the parsley.  Add the egg noodles to the boiling water and cook for 9 minutes, until al dente and drain.

• Make the Sauce:  Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir to combine.  Cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute.  Very slowly begin to whisk in the  beef stock mixture, whisking to incorporate between each addition of liquid.  Once all the liquid is added, bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking constantly, until thickened.  Season with 1 tsp Swedish sauce blend, then taste and season with salt and additional Swedish spice blend if desired.  (Swedish spice blend  has garlic powder, all spice ground, white pepper, and nutmeg ground)

Finish and plate.  When the meatballs and mushrooms are done, toss them into the sauce along  with half the parsley.  Plate the noodles, then top with the Swedish meatballs, sauce, and and sprinkle of parsley.

Sage Butter Pork Chops #Recipe #HomeCookedMeals

This is one of the meal packs I bought online.  My daughter wanted to make this again but I told her she could cook the last one that we have.  Its so easy to prepare this meal.  I had it done in 20 minutes.  I was just  finishing up cooking when my husband came home from work so we ate right away and we did not have to reheat the food.  Below is the recipe for this.  You can just double the measurement if you need more.

 Ingredients:

• 12 oz pork chops
• 12 oz Yukon gold potatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 oz sage
• 6 oz broccolini
• 3 oz sour cream
• 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tsp olive oil

 Preparation:

• Cook the potatoes:  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubs.  Place the potatoes in a medium pot with a large pinch of salt and enough water to cover.  Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes, until fork tender.   Drain and return to the same pot.
• Roast the Broccolini: Trim and discard the bottom inch of the broccolini.  Toss the broccolini on a baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.   Place in the oven for 15 minutes, until golden brown.  
• Meanwhile, halve one  garlic clove, crush  the other clove with the one side of your knife.  Finely chop about  1 tbsp  sage leaves.  Zest and halve the lemon.  
• Rub the pork chops with the cutout side of the garlic clove and season with salt and pepper.  Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium high heat.  Add the pork chop and cook for 3 minutes per side until golden brown but not yet cooked through.  Transfer the  pork chops to the baking sheet with the broccolini and  cooked for another 4-7 minutes until cook to desired doneness.
• Make the sage butter  sauce:  While the pork finishes cooking, wipe the pan clean and heat 2 tbsp butter and the crushed garlic over  medium-low heat, swirling the pan occasionally.  One the butter stops foaming, it will begin to turn a speckled brown.  Immediately add the sage and a squeeze of lemon, then remove from the heat.  Discard the garlic and season with salt and pepper.
• Make the Citrusy Potato Salad: Toss the drained potatoes with the sour cream and a pinch of lemon zest.  Season with salt and pepper.
• Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the pork chops to rest for 5 minutes..  Served the  pork chops on a bed of citrusy potato salad with the roasted  broccolini to the side.  Drizzle each pork chops with the sage butter sauce and enjoy.  

I love this dish!

Skillet Chicken Pot Pie Recipe #LittleChef

I have mentioned from my  Fitness and Fashion blog that I received a coupon to try Hello Fresh. It's a food subscription company that deliver fresh ingredients right to your door. The coupon was a 50% discount off a box so I wanted to see if we will like it.  I only got the three meals a week for two people.  We are not big eaters so  the meal for two is actually  enough for the four of us.  My daughter got inspired that everything was in the box so she volunteered to cook us dinner.  She chose the  Skillet Chicken Pot Pie.  

Now that she's ten, I give her freedom to  explore in the kitchen by herself although I am still worried that she might  get burned or  cut herself but I guess, she won't learn if I won't let her.  I am just  glad that she shows interest in cooking at an early age unlike me who hated cooking when I was younger.  In fact, I only learned to love cooking when I became a wife and Mom.

But anyway, here is the recipe for this.
Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breast
• 4 oz of green peas
• 1 carrot
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 chicken stocks concentrate
• 1/4 oz thyme
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3/4 cup four
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1tsp olive oil

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Halve, peel, and finely dice the onion.  Finely dice the celery.  Peel and finely dice the carrot.  Mince or grate the garlic.  Strip the thyme from the stems and roughly chop the leaves.
• Heat 2 tbsp butter in a medium oven-proof pan over medium heat.   Add the celery, onion, carrot, garlic, and thyme to the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring  occasionally, until very soft.  Season with salt and pepper.
• Make the biscuit dough.  IN a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Gently stir in 1/3 cup heavy cream until a very shaggy dough form.  Sprinkle your counter with  1 tablespoon flour, then turn the mixture out onto the counter and briefly  knead into a ball.  Press into 1 inch thick disk, wrap with plastic, and place in the freezer to chill.  
• Make the gravy.  Sprinkle  2 tablespoon flour over the vegetable in the pan. Stir to combine  and cook for 1 minute.  Very slowly whisk 2 cups water and the chicken stock concentrate into the pan.  Bring to a boil. then reduce to a simmer for 8 minutes, until very thick.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  Remove from the heat.  

• Cook the chicken.  While the gravy simmers, heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium high heat.  Season the chicken breast on all sides with salt and pepper.  Add the chicken to the pan and cook for 5 minutes  per side  until cooked through.  Set aside to rest for 5 minutes.
• Form the biscuits. Remove the biscuit dough from the freezer and  place onto a lightly floured surface.  Lightly pressed into a 3/4  inch thick square.   Cut into  4 quarters.
• Finish the pot pie.  Dice the chicken into  1/2 inch cubes.  Fold the chicken and peas into the gravy.  Top the mixture with the biscuits.  Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the biscuits are puffed and golden brown.

Below is a video that I recorded of my daughter when she was five years old  talking about  wanting to be a chef when she grows up.  She used to get upset when I cook and she is not invited.