secret ingredient

Why had I never been told about the wonderful, glorious, put in every pot and/or pan I use product known as.......CHICKEN BROTH?!? I used to only use it in when a recipe called for a specific amount, not anymore! I throw some in the rice cooker, cook chicken in it, steam dumplings, add it to chili. Me, oh my, the possibilities are endless!

And real simple is right, trader joe's is the best.

i pledge

....to use the crock pot twice next week.


recipes to follow.

my first food post!

When I first came to Chicago I had to cut a lot out of my budget, and as a result perfected 4 dishes that were on constant rotation. My favorite meal remains brown rice, edamame, and tofu, with red curry. It lasts 3-4 meals, is healthy, and just as good re-heated. However in the past 12 months I have certainly diversified my cooking portfolio. I wok it up on a regular basis, I have things in my pantry that do not have english labels, and I follow food blogs to not only find new recipes but also new techniques that this little brain would have never thought of. (Like adding your dressing to the pan when heating up shrimp/chicken/whatever for a salad - my favorite so far!) I also realized my interest in cooking has gone a little bit past "ok I need food to survive" when I was like a kid on Christmas morning after my mini food processor arrived. I CAN NOT WAIT to try the edamame dip I have been wanting to make.

Last night we had Trader Joe's orange chicken with some fabulous brown rice and rice noodles that my boyyyyfran so expertly stir fried. Tonight it's low fat mac and cheese with BBQ tofu (for me) and some kind of meat (for him.)

This will not turn into a food blog, trust me. But I figure I yip yap about everything else, food might as well be mentioned every so often.