Chinese Chicken Salad

 
Every time I order this salad at a restaurant or try it at someone's home, I cannot help but to compare it to Ms. Kathy's homemade version. The very first time I tried this wonderful salad was at a potluck at work in the early 90's, and it was Ms. Kathy who made it. When I asked what kind of salad it was, one of our co-workers blurted out; "Chinese chicken salad" in the background, to which Ms. Kathy quickly rebutted with, "Excuse me! It's Kathy's Chinese Chicken Salad, OK!"

Garlic Chicken Macaroni Soup

The weather has been splendid in Los Angeles of late. Last week, we were treated to mild and cool weather -- a little hazy in the morning, cool throughout the day and even a little drizzly at times. The temps are little higher this week but still cool enough where I can relish in a hearty bowl of macaroni soup. I love soup of any kind although I much prefer light and clear soups like the one I'm posting about today. My kids LOVE this soup dish too, evident by the fact that they'll gobble up big bowls of it and still want more. I've got some hungry kids I tell ya.

Tangerine Pound Cake

So I spent Easter weekend trying to master the art of cake baking. I would classify myself as a novice baker on the whole. I think I have cookies down, maybe scones and biscuits but cake, not by a long shot. I've stuck with boxed cake mixes ever since I had an epic cake baking failure a couple of years ago. I was craving cake one night and it was too cold/dark/{insert lame excuse here} for me to leave the house so I threw together some ingredients that I had in the pantry, boldly substituting things I did not have with things...that probably should not be in cake. Long story short, wasn't the best cake I ever had.

Teriyaki Pork Spareribs

Last Christmas, my husband's co-worker gave us some homemade teriyaki sauce. This is the second Christmas that she has given this to us, and I am already looking forward to next Christmas' present. Needless to say, it tastes soooo good. It has the perfect blending of garlic, soy sauce, sugar, and whatever else she puts in there. I am sorry that I do not know how to make this marinade, but I promise you I will try to learn it. A good substitute is Kikkoman's Teriyaki Baste & Glaze. I think that comes the closest. You just might have to add some chopped up fresh garlic to Kikkoman's sauce. Keep this as a staple in your fridge and you can have a quick dish for last minute guests.

Fried Tofu & Bok Choy Wontons

Since I started eating a mostly vegetarian diet, I've been racking my brain to come up with a way to eat my regular foods without meat. I love wontons and used to make them all the time with ground pork. I figured I'd try it with tofu since I've got so many boxes of tofu stacked in my fridge. I also just bought a massive bag of bok choy so that went into it as well.

Pizza Renaissance

Dictionary.com's fourth definition of renaissance is "a renewal of life, vigor, interest, etc.; rebirth; revival."



One night, I was craving California Pizza Kitchen's pizza. So, it was either I drive 12 miles to the nearest one or go to the freezer section of my grocery and buy a frozen CPK pizza. I gave it a moment of thought before I could decide, but I could not justify either one because, 12 miles was a little too far for me that night, just for a pizza, plus after everything is said and done, I would have spent somewhere close to $20 just to satisfy a craving. Not wise in this economy. And as for the second option, CPK's frozen pizza is never the same and I will be stuck with whatever variety my grocery carries.

Fresh & Easy Green Chile Sourdough French Toast

If you've read my homage post to Fresh and Easy's Green Chile Sourdough Loaf, you'll know that I stopped buying plain ole' white or wheat bread since we discovered this bread. One day, however, I woke up craving some french toast and of course, I didn't have regular bread so I decided to use the green chile sourdough bread instead.

Fresh & Easy Chile Sourdough Bread (An homage + a sandwich tutorial)

Today is my Fresh & Easy's Chile Sourdough Bread Appreciation Day. Actually, every day is a day like that because this particular bread is a mainstay of our diet but today I pay it some homage with this humble blog post.

Chicken Lettuce Wrap

What do you do with leftover chicken? In this case, pan fried chicken breast seasoned with salt garlic powder, and pepper. For the past couple of days I've been thinking about what to do with leftover chicken breast that's probably dry by now and lacking in flavor. I don't know about you, but re-heated chicken breast is never the same for me. So I thought of reviving my leftover rather than letting it go to waste. I'm so happy that it turned out so delicious that I devoured the whole thing, and I did not have to do much to perk it up. I hope you like it too.

Sweet Cheese Sandwich

Don't we all have something that we just can't outgrow? Whether it's food or our "security blanket," there's just something from childhood that we still hang on to. As Veggie Girl calls it, it's toddler food. My toddler food is sweet cheese sandwich. My mom used to make this for me for breakfast, and to this day, I can still smell the aroma of melting butter on a warm toast, like it was yesterday.