Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
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Sweetnicks

Food and Life

Japanese Chicken-and-Egg Rice Bowl

November 9, 2010 · Narrative

Dinner

I hate when people say they don’t have time to cook.  If you don’t like to cook, that’s absolutely fine.  I don’t like to empty the dishwasher.  We all have our thing.  But to say you don’t have time to cook is just an excuse.  And recipes like the one we had for dinner tonight quickly take away those excuses.  I work many different jobs, in addition to taking care of two young kids on my own, keeping the house in order and going to the gym five days a week.  If I can find time to cook and make it work, so can everyone else.  That being said, it does require a little advance planning, a reasonably stocked kitchen and a willingness to get in there and get it done.  But it’s a priority for me … to cook … to feed my family … in more ways than one.

And if you don’t believe me, how about a recent study from Columbia University?  Their findings showed that teens that have fewer than three family dinners per week are almost twice as likely to get lower grades in school than teens who have five to seven family dinners a week.  The kids and I have dinner together every night of the week (except when they’re with The Ex), just as my sister and I did with our parents growing up.  We talk about our day.  We make funny faces.  We run through the spelling words for an upcoming test.  We are together.

Cooking for your family doesn’t have to be an elaborate affair.  The best meals usually aren’t.  Hey, some nights are nothing more than soup or sandwiches.  But my point is that even if you are short on time, you can still get a reasonably healthy meal on the table and break bread with your family, figuratively and literally.  Lack of time is not an excuse.  This recipe is a great example of that.

When Nick walked in the kitchen tonight, and asked what was for dinner, I told him the name of the recipe.  “Ick.  I don’t like Japanese food.”  I told him it’s basically chicken and rice and he would try it and I’m sure he’d like it just fine.  I made the dish while helping him with his homework and making a batch of cookies.  That tells you how simple it is to make.  The recipe says thirty minutes, and they are spot-on.  I did make a few changes, but otherwise followed the recipe as shown below.  You have your protein, you have your vegetables, you have a complete meal (and an inexpensive one to boot) in half an hour.  And the taste?  Delicious.  I wouldn’t hesitate to make this again.  It’s filling, without being overly so, and perfectly hit the spot.   I had all the ingredients on hand except for the chicken, so this meal came in at just under six bucks for me.  Love.

Project 365
November 9, 2010, Photos #208, 209 and 210

E is for Elephant

Madeline’s class is working on the letter E this week and today’s lesson was about ELEPHANTS and that they EAT peanuts. So now the plan to visit some elephants is on. I also hear that Pillow Pets makes an elephant one.  With Pillow Pets making her Christmas list (can you believe I got the kids’ Christmas lists weeks ago?!), I’ll be hunting for that too.

Snacking

I think this might actually be the first time she’s had peanuts that were in the shell. In fact, since I made her spit the first one out of her mouth, shell and all, I’m fairly certain it is. She is, however, no stranger to peanut butter. “Peanut jelly” is an oft-requested lunch.

Help is a Loosely Defined Word

When Nick was younger, after dinner, he liked to “help” with the dishes like Madeline is here. “Help” is a very loosely defined word. She takes a measuring cup and fills it with water, pouring it everywhere. Repeat. Sometimes the water even stays in the sink. Those are the times when I feel especially blessed.  These days, Nick has progressed to playing on the computer after dinner (did you know that if you type in two addresses, Google Maps can tell you how long it will take you to walk the distance between them?  very cool.  I was totally schooled by my 8 year old) and Madeline is the in-house dishwasher. I swear I wash them again when she’s done.


Japanese Chicken-and-Egg Rice Bowl
Recipe courtesy of Family Fun magazine

2 cups white rice (I used brown rice)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 chopped scallions
1 cup chicken broth (I used organic, low-sodium)
1/2 cup shredded carrots (I used 3/4 cup)
2 cups baby spinach (I used 2-1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons sugar (I used 1 tablespoon)
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 chicken cutlets, cut into strips
5 large beaten eggs

Cook the rice (for a total of 4 cups of cooked rice). Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped scallions and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the shredded carrots and baby spinach and stir until the spinach has completely wilted. Stir in the sugar and soy sauce. Add the chicken and simmer for 3 more minutes. Pour the eggs over the chicken mixture and simmer until the eggs are cooked through, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve the mixture over the cooked rice.

Serves 4

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Posted In: Narrative · Tagged: Family Fun magazine, Japanese Chicken-and-Egg Rice Bowl

Comments

  1. Casey says

    November 9, 2010 at 9:55 pm

    This looks like something I could handle. Bookmark!

    And, I totally agree. Even if it’s not my most complicated meal ever, we sit together as a family and recap the day. Good stuff!

    Reply
  2. cathy says

    November 9, 2010 at 9:57 pm

    HA – I ripped this page out of the magazine when at the doc for the umpteenth time last month – now that you’ve given it a thumbs up I’ll give it a try :-)

    Reply
  3. mandy says

    November 9, 2010 at 10:14 pm

    This sounds incredibly delicious!

    Reply
  4. Joanne says

    November 10, 2010 at 7:17 am

    I really like the sound of this! I love Japanese flavors and the simplicity is just perfect!

    Reply
  5. Patsy says

    November 10, 2010 at 9:33 am

    I’m printing this one off right now! I need as many quick and easy meals as I can find… the old stand-bys are getting boring for the busy nights.

    Reply
  6. Sarah Caron says

    November 10, 2010 at 10:18 am

    Love this post. You are so right … it’s not about not-having-time. Everyone has time, and with simple dishes like this, a fresh homemade dinner can be on the table faster than many of those shortcut premade boxes.

    Reply
  7. Ramona says

    November 10, 2010 at 10:32 am

    I luv to cook and do cook, but sometime’s is all I can do to round up a sandwich and a can of soup.

    This is how it’s been this week. Hubby has been working late and has not been able to help with afternoon chores. I leave work, get home change clothes.

    Call up pasture horses and put them in their stalls. Let out a couple of stalled horses into the pasture. Lounge 1-2 or 3 horses in the roundpen. Do ground work on 1 or 2. Ride 1-2 or 3. Clean 6 stalls. Feed 8 horses, Go to 4 different dog pens and feed dogs, feed barn cats and porch cats. Fix morning buckets. Dole out night hay. Get morning hay. Come in and collapse.

    Reply
  8. darla says

    November 10, 2010 at 3:58 pm

    I have a question about the chicken: On FamilyFun.com it says this is a cinch to make when you use Crunchy Baked Chicken Cutlets that you’ve already prepared. Did you use cooked or raw chicken in this dish? Thanks.

    Reply
  9. Cate says

    November 10, 2010 at 4:44 pm

    Darla – I used raw chicken cutlets.

    Reply
  10. Kelly S says

    November 16, 2010 at 2:22 pm

    That sounds great. I am always trying to find something to do with chicken. This sounds really great! Anybody have a really good teryiaki sauce recipe?

    Reply

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻

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