I premiered this recipe on Post Graduation Studies, a high school friend's blog. Make sure to check it out!

This recipe is easy, tasty, and budget friendly. It's fit for a meal for anyone, ranging from the starving college student to the family of four!

Ingredients:

- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 lb thinly sliced chicken breasts
- 1 clove of garlic, minced (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder or salt)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (low sodium)
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- 3oz package of chicken flavored ramen
- 1/4 C water
- 1lb package of Asian Medley frozen veggies


Directions:

- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger, then the chicken. Sautee until cooked through (no longer pink).
- Add the vegetables and cover the skillet. Cook for about five minutes, until the veggies are cooked through.
- While the vegetables are cooking, cook the ramen noodles as directed (without the flavoring). Drain the noodles.
- Add soy sauce and ramen seasoning to the chicken/veggie mix. Toss in the noodles.

*Note: If you get the seasoned veggies as I did, you probably don't want to add the ramen seasoning. It makes it REALLY salty, even with low sodium soy sauce!*

This recipe is delicious and easy! If you're feeding more than two people, I would double up on the ramen noodles.



Inspiration for this recipe came from: DisneyFamily.Com.

Clark and I sort of have an obsession with oriental food. Whenever one of us isn't feeling well, it's SO tempting just to order Chinese food and relax together. To help break that habit, I thought I needed to learn to actually make some of our favorites.

This was a bit time consuming, and didn't QUITE turn out as I had hoped (AKA it didn't look as pretty as I wanted it to), but Clark ate all of it. We had NO leftovers. So, I'd say it was a success.

Ingredients (for the chicken):

- 1 lb chicken, cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces
- salt and pepper
- 1 C cornstarch
- 2 eggs, beaten

For the sauce:
- 3/4 C sugar
- 4 tbsp ketchup
- 1/2 C distilled white vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp garlic salt

Directions:

-Preheat your oven to 350.
- Dip your chicken into the cornstarch, then the egg, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put the chicken in a 9 x 13 baking dish.

- Pour your sauce over the chicken.
-Cover the chicken with aluminum foil and put in the oven. Cook for an hour. Every 15 minutes, turn the chicken. Use your judgement if the chicken needs to cook a shorter or longer amount of time.

While your chicken is cooking...

Ingredients (Fried Rice):

- 1 packet of instant rice (I used brown, but you can use white if you wish. I probably should have made two packets, since Clark LOVES fried rice. So, if you need a lot- make sure to double up!)
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 C frozen peas & carrots mix
- 1/2 small onion
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 4 tbsp soy sauce

Directions:

- Heat the sesame oil in a skillet/wok to medium/ medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and veggie mix. Sautee until tender/ the frozen veggies are cooked.
- Lower your heat to medium-low/medium heat and push your veggies to one side of the pan. On the other side, add your egg and scramble/cook it. If some of your veggies get mixed in, it's really ok.


- Add the rice and soy sauce once the egg is cooked, and mix it all together. Cook until completely warmed/mixed together.



Serve your final products together and enjoy fabulous homemade comfort food!

This recipe came from the fabulous workings of: Life as a Lofthouse!

About two weeks ago my friend Serena flew into town. She lives in Michigan, and I've happened to know her for almost my entire life. No joke. We met in Kindergarten. Even with all my moving around throughout the years, we've managed to stay in touch and be ridiculously close friends.

Before she flew in, I gave her a few choices of recipes I wanted to try out, and she responded with what sounded the best. Unfortunately, while she was here, she actually had some stomach bacteria and really wasn't able to eat much.

But before we figured out what was actually wrong with her, she did manage to eat some of this... and I'm thankful. Because I must say, this was satisfying and positively delicious.

Did I mention it's Vegetarian friendly? Change the egg noodles to something else and I'm pretty sure it'd be vegan-friendly as well!


Ingredients:

Sauce
- 7 tbsp light soy sauce
- 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp curry
- 2 tsp ginger
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp cornstarch

- 1 bag of egg noodles, precooked (however much you want)

Stir-Fry
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 1/2 C thinly sliced scallions (I sliced them into strips)
- 1 C shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1 C shredded carrots
- 1.25 C shredded cabbage or mix (see picture)
- 8oz can of bean sprouts


Directions:

- Stir all sauce ingredients together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until thickened(about three minutes). Set aside.

- Use a wok or large skillet to cook the stir-fry. Set it over medium-high heat, and once it's hot add the two tsp of canola oil and swirl to coat.
- Add the bean sprouts, the mushrooms,

the cabbage,

the scallions,

and carrots. Saute for about three minutes, or until the veggies begin to soften.

- Add the cooked egg noodles and the sauce, tossing to combine.

- Cook for about one minute to let the sauce seep in, then serve.


Inspiration for this recipe came from: Can you stay for dinner?

Having company over can sometimes be stressful. I usually go with easy things to cook, like chili, enchiladas, tacos, spaghetti. Those all seem to be crowd pleasers that you can never go wrong with.

The last time, however, Clark insisted that we have something different.

So, I made this... and I must say... it went over incredibly well.

Ingredients:

- 2tbsp Sunflower oil
- 1 lb beef tenderloin, sliced (I got the prepared stuff from the grocery store)
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 1 zucchini, sliced diagonally
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 C beansprouts
- 8 oz can bamboo shoots, drained
- 1/2 C Cashews

Sauce:
- 4 tbsp cooking sherry
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp tomato paste


Directions:

- Heat the sunflower oil in a wok or large pan over medium heat.
*Make sure to prepare your onion, bell pepper, zucchini, and sauce ahead of time!*
- Add the beef and onion and stir-fry for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the onion begins to soften and the meat begins to brown.
- Add your prepared bell pepper and zucchini. Stir-fry for another five minutes or so.




- Add the bean sprouts and bamboo shoots and let them cook for another 2 to 3, then sprinkle the cashews over the stir-fry.


- Last, but not least, add your sauce and let it bubble for 2 to 3 minutes to until it starts to thicken.




Serve immediately.


This dish goes great with brown rice!



This recipe was adapted from Simply Quick & Easy.