Recipe: Fried Rice

 I wanted to share my fried rice recipe with y'all today.  I really love making this because it is a one pot dish for dinner, and I always have plenty of leftovers for lunch the following day.  I originally got this recipe from a class I took at BYU, and it's actual name is "Pineapple and Ham Fried Rice", however; I don't use ham very often, but I generally add pineapple to the pan.  Another reason I like this recipe is that it's so versatile: you can use whatever meat you'd like (although I prefer using chicken most often) and whatever vegetables you like (while mandarin oranges aren't a vegetable I don't recommend substituting them for pineapple as they will most likely fall apart while cooking).  The amount for each of the vegetables I add to this recipe is estimated.

Ingredients:

2 cups short-grain rice
4-5 eggs, beaten
garlic to taste
butter
Soy sauce (I use a gluten-free, properly fermented soy sauce like this brand.)
coconut oil
garlic, salt, and ginger to taste
chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup water or chicken broth
Sesame seed oil
1 medium onion, diced OR 1 bunch of green onions, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
1/3 cup of peas, fresh or frozen
1/3 cup mushrooms
1 can pineapple chunks, drained  
1 cup chopped cabbage

Directions:

Cook the rice according to package direction on stove top or in a rice cooker.  Heat butter in a large pan.  Add beaten eggs and garlic to taste.  You don't want to scramble the eggs, however; but allow the eggs to cook until the bottom has set.  Cook the eggs until they are done, but not dry.  When eggs are finished, cut them into pieces.

For the chicken, I prepare a little sauce by combining water or chicken broth and 2 tbsp soy sauce in a small bowl to pour over after the chicken has been cooked on the outside. Using the same pan, add butter or coconut oil and melt it over medium-high heat.  Add chicken, and sprinkle garlic and ginger over it, and then add the sauce.  Remove chicken from heat once the chicken is cooked thoroughly, and cover.

Add more coconut oil to the same pan and melt it over medium-high heat.  Add vegetables one by one. I generally throw in the carrots first because they take longer to cook.  When the rest of the vegetables have become softer, I add in pineapple and frozen peas.  I season the vegetables with garlic, salt, and soy sauce to the vegetables.

(When I cook with carrots, I don't care about peeling them.)

Above: of the vegetables and pineapple. For this batch, I added mushrooms, pineapple, carrots, peas, green onions, and cabbage.

 Once vegetables are done, turn the heat down low and add rice, eggs, and chicken to vegetables.  Combine all of the ingredients, but be careful to not over stir.

Roasted Vegetables

One of my favorite ways to consume vegetables is to roast them in the oven.  Often times I will roast potatoes and carrots together, asparagus, and broccoli with lots of garlic.  For easy clean up I will place aluminum foil on a cookie sheet and then put the vegetables on the pan.  However, I've found that some vegetables  (broccoli, potatoes, and even carrots) tend to stick when they are roasted, so I've had to kind of play around with fats and oils that'll help the vegetables not stick so much.  I've also added chicken broth that I've made in huge batches because I really like the flavoring the chicken broth gives to the fries and I also think that it helps the vegetables not stick so much.
Last night I made the most heavenly "French fries" by roasting them in the oven.  Here's my recipe.

5 medium potatoes, cut into wedges
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 1/2-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder

Combine the melted butter, olive oil, and chicken broth together in a small bowl.  Pour butter mixture over potatoes and add spices with your hands.  Combine the potatoes and the butter mixture with your hands.  Cook at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or so until the potatoes are soft.  Serve with ketchup or eat plain.  Now these french fries were a bit greasier than your average roasted vegetables, but I'm sure you can adjust the butter mixture recipe so that the vegetables become crispier.

Yum!  And removes from the foil so easily!

Side note: As a girl from Idaho, I just want to say don't pass on the potato.  Sure the potato has carbohydrates, but comparing it to other items with lots of carbohydrates (rice, wheat, etc.), the potato looks good.  Potatoes also has a lot of potassium--a little bit more than a banana, Vitamin C, and other necessary vitamins.  And the Incas lived on these bad boys.

Observations

  

Today, Greg greeted me when I got home from work (which I thought was very nice of him).  One of his first questions was "Why do you have an umbrella?"  I told him that it was raining earlier. I guess he didn't look out the window much.  Later on, I saw that he was wearing actual pants and not pajama pants like he generally wears when he's home.  I asked him, "Why are you wearing pants?  Did you go somewhere?"  He answered that he hadn't gone anywhere.  This wearing pants business while at home has bothered me a bit because it's unlike Greg...and I feel under dressed since I'm in pajamas right now... C:

Oh sugar.

   Part of the reason I haven't said anything about how my low white, refined sugar diet did in February is because I'm kind of depressed it didn't go better.  This week, I kept forgetting to make my own bread on my days off, so I kind of busted that part of my goal by eating store bread.  Ugh.  Goals are hard to keep!

  The biggest thing I didn't do well at last month is that I exceeded my sugar allowance a few times, however; I am able to recognize my weak points now.  First of all, being apart of gatherings where sugary items are in view is incredibly difficult place for me to be.  For instance, at one of the gatherings I attended, I had the hardest time because I saw so many different kinds of sweets!  I ended up grabbing a small cookie even though I exceeded my sugar allowance by doing so.  I don't grab a sweet right away, but I end up grabbing something towards the end of an event after I've argued with myself for the longest time about whether I should have that sweet or not.  I have to remind myself of some advice I received from a nutritionist I saw last year about buffets or gatherings which is (1)scan, (2) plan, and (3) scram.  Scan the food available to see what you really want, then plan or think about what you are really hungry for, and then leave the area with the food.  I think the last part is the hardest for me!  

  I was very good about making my own breads as well as eat plenty of fruits last months.  I'm excited for spring to get here so I can enjoy lots of berries and such.

I think I'll just remove the allowance for sugary things.  I think I had it so that I could enjoy food still and get used to having sugar on rare occasions, but honestly having this allowance just sets me up for a really bad time these past couple of months.  I had this in place originally so that I could have an easier time really giving up sugar, but honestly, it was kind of an excuse.  I think I will try to see how far I can go without white, refined sugar, and reward myself with $.50 a week.  Hopefully, I can get quality chocolate chips (which are like $5 a bag) or cocoa butter (kind of pricey, too) to make chocolate chips at home... C:

Life Update

  February was a pretty busy month for me mostly because two of my co-workers got to go on vacation during the same time which meant more hours available for me.  But I still had some slightly interesting adventures.

Winter Woes:
  Yesterday I heard a prediction that we wouldn't see spring until mid-April.  I cried a little inside.  The snow banks are melting away slowly now which gives me hopes of spring.  I have pictures from the beginning of February when we had a huge snow storm and the snow was piled up really high.  I have never seen so much snow, and as I've talked (more like complained, sorry!) with some of my Canadian friends that have lived in this area their whole lives, they've told me this is the worst winter they've ever experienced.  We've had more snow and (surprisingly) rain since this huge snow storm, but nothing too bad.  I'm sure most of us are sick of snow now, but I'd like to share some snowy pictures.

Hey! Where's the sidewalk?

The snow on both sides of the sidewalk is piled so high!  

Neighbor's backyard.  I couldn't get a very good picture of mine because of all the snow in the way, but their yard looks like my yard.  (The yard has a bit of a slope, but snow is sloped in their yard so dramatically because of the wind.)

Front door!  I can barely see where the steps are when we have a huge snow storm!

Me!  Note the amount of frost stuck to my scarf in front due to my warm breath.  It gets that cold here.

  

I've been a little bit sad by the fact the world is so white still, so I bought a couple of plants--a hyacinth and miniature daffodil for a couple of dollars.  

So pretty!  I love that the are blooming now.  The hyacinth smells wonderful. 

My Christmas cactus is still blooming!  So cool.  

Books and Hobbies: 

   I've read six books this last month: House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones, The Walk by Richard Paul Evans, The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley, Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke, and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (technically, I've been reading Little Women since August, but I read like 200 pages this last month, so there).  I am crocheting a gray and blue afghan, and I am knitting a blue hat at the moment.  I am not very talented with knitting, so the hat project is taking me a while to get through because I keep making silly mistakes like knitting when I should be purling.  I thought I'd be done sooner, but alas, I think I'll probably finish it after winter is over.  

Cooking adventures:
  For Valentine's day, I really wanted to make enchiladas, but the problem is I can't buy a big stack of corn tortillas up here to make enchiladas with.  I know you can use flour tortillas, but I was in the mood for corn tortillas.  Fortunately, I was able to buy a bag of masa harina, so I could actually make these tortillas.  I just didn't realize how difficult these things are to make.

This dough was super crumbly, but it enjoyed sticking to everything else!

UGLY tortillas!

I don't have a press, so I tried a rolling pin with plastic wrap on it as well as plates, however; the rolling pin worked much better.

I, unfortunately, did not make enchiladas as I hoped to do, so I attempted to make tostadas.  That didn't really look awesome, but we still had a good dinner. We didn't do much for Valentine's day because I had to work, but I bought much needed pillows for our bed and Greg got Chrome cast for Valentine's day. 

 I did have more fun making fresh squeezed orange juice.  A friend of ours gave us a bunch of oranges, but I didn't feel like eating them.  I decided to make orange juice using my food processor attachment.  I never tasted a juice this good!

A cup of juice... seven oranges later.  I had a couple of swigs of it, but most of it went to Greg who had another cold.

Also, I wanted to show you the Canadian packaging for butter.  You can pay an extra couple of dollars to get the fancy portioned butter, but since butter is already like $3.50 ($2.99 if you price match!), I will cut up my butter.  America has spoiled me. 

  

One last topic for this post.  

My laundry/storage room now is completely furnished.  I bought a plastic shelves to store my tools, laundry detergent, and food storage.  I like these shelves because they can be disassembled and moved easily. 

Doesn't this room look lovely with the pink walls?  (Don't worry; the insulation is covered  with a plastic sheet.) 

Potlucks

  I have a love-hate relationship with potlucks.  I don't appreciate the bring-what-you-will affair because I like meals balanced.  I want to see a spread of main dishes, side dishes, and desserts.  I like to have an idea of what to expect from other people.  At the same time, I understand the desire to give people their freedom to bring what they choose.  (I get the whole agency thing--make your own choices, etc., but even Heavenly Father has rules lined out for us.)  Seriously can't a little bit of planning go into making the meal so that people won't all bring desserts?  Can't you say, "if you are attending, let me know what kind of dish you want to bring"?  Or "we're making burgers, bring a side dish"?

  I'm attending a potluck-type gathering, and I look forward to it because I like the people attending the gathering.  At the same time, I dread the next few days because I'm so indecisive about what to bring. The next several days will be me thinking about the food I'll bring.  I'll be really indecisive about what I'm going to make, and then decide on bringing a bag of chips (chips go with everything, right?) because I don't have the energy to put any more thought into making something for this potluck.

  Greg once had a potluck lunch at his work that I was also invited to.  I texted (nagged) this poor man to tell me what everyone else had brought so that I could bring something that would balance out the meal later that day.  I will do it again.  I will find out what everyone else wants to bring, but until then, I plan on bringing a dessert and main dish.

 I have a love-hate relationship with potlucks.

Five Years Ago

    I never expected to get married at nineteen.  I always knew that I wanted to get married, but my plan was whatever happens, happens.  My plan for marriage is unusual for me because I like to plan a lot of stuff out.  So, anyway, I wanted to share my story of official engagement with the internet world even though I have shared it with a number of acquaintances.  This story isn't as humorous as the story of my meeting Greg for the first time, but it is still funny. This story took place five years ago, so I thought I'd finally write this story up with all the details.

   A few of things you should know first before I dazzle you with my romantic husband's planning.  Greg and I first met in late October 2008, and by Christmas time of the same year we realize that we did want to get married (so much for the ideal long courtship and short engagement).  When we returned to Provo from our holidays, we went ring shopping together, but Greg did want to attempt to give me my ring in a beautiful fashion so I couldn't wear it right away.  Second, Greg told me that he was going to pretend to propose to me to throw me off when he really proposed to me.  I was told that our marriage would be built on "deceits and lies". For instance, while we were in the Costco parking lot, he got down on one knee and said, "Suzy, I need to tell you something...I have to tie my shoe."  Ha ha. And later, he also teased me that if I didn't cry when he proposed to me then he would spray me with mace.  Great!  The third item is Greg was supposed to call my parents, and ask them if it was okay for him to marry me, etc., etc.  I can't tell you how much I nagged for him to do it, and he had so much fun saying he'd get around to it.

    The night before he proposed, Greg told me that he had a reservation at 2 p.m., and that he was going to wear a suit.  So, I decided to ride my bike over to Shopko the next morning to pick up a pair of new black heels so that I could look divine at our reservation. Before Greg came over to pick me up, my roommate said to me, "I think he's going to propose to you."  I promptly replied, "But he said he was going to trick me into thinking he was going to propose to me, and then he wouldn't actually propose!"

   I texted Greg that I was ready to go, and Greg came over and picked me up a couple of hours early, and we drove straight over to the University Mall.  When I asked him what was going on, he said, "I don't know, but do you have somewhere to be?"  So, while we waited for our reservation, we walked around in the mall for what felt like eternity.  My new shoes were so uncomfortable!  I couldn't handle walking around in heels any longer.  Not only that, Greg was keeping more secrets; he stashed a black light in his coat pocket for "no reason".  About two o'clock, Greg and I headed over to P.F. Chang's for our reservation.  Our lunch was nice until Greg demanded his fortune cookie from the waiter.  "I want my fortune cookie--not this one!"  I told Greg to calm down and that we should go--after all it was just a fortune cookie.  But Greg insisted that we stayed for this fortune cookie.  So we waited another five minutes or so for a fortune cookie that said, "A diamond is in your near future."  When I asked Greg what this meant, he replied with "I don't know; I'm not the old Chinese guy who makes these fortunes."

  We left P.F. Chang's and head over to B.Y.U. campus.  I pestered Greg the whole way with questions to which he ignored or gave vague answers.  "Where are we going?"  "I don't know.  Do you have somewhere to be right now?"  "No, but I just want to know where we are going."  "You'll find out soon enough." We ended up at the Museum of Art; the place we went to for our first real date.  We rushed downstairs where I was ushered into a small room to admire bust of Abraham Lincoln while Greg prepared the proposal setting. At this point, I knew Greg was up to something, but I had no idea and my feet really, really hurt.  So when Greg told me that we could sit down on a bench in another room I was pleased.  While Greg and I were together at this bench, Greg's roommate was secretly taking pictures from another small room. I didn't notice him until later, however; I noticed this blanket tucked underneath, and I asked Greg what it was.  He knelt down first, and said, "Suzannah Michelle Packwood will you take this bouquet of flowers?" He pulled out a bouquet of flowers for me.  They were lovely and contained my favorite flowers: lilies.  I also noticed a book laying on the blanket as well, so he showed it to me.  He told me to read the last entry which was an account of a dream of his about how he knew I was literally the girl of his dreams.  I won't divulge this dream for Greg's sake, but it was a beautiful dream, and I did cry when I read his entry (no mace!), and I also had to use the black light he had carried in his pocket for a portion of the message which was written in invisible ink.  Afterwards, as he was still kneeling, he asked if I would marry him.  I said yes, of course.

Right after he proposed.  

Oh there's Greg's roommate secretly taking photos!

I'm so happy!!  Greg looks so shy. 

  Later that afternoon, after we called our families to tell them the news, Greg gave me a foot massage for making me walk around the mall "just because it seemed like a lot of fun."  He also informed me that he called my parents a couple weeks prior to his proposal.  When Greg was bouncing ideas around with his roommates about his proposal, he said he initially wanted to take me on a drive and propose in his car.  I'm kind of glad he proposed to me like this.  I definitely like his creativity.  I love this man.

So what kind of proposal did you get from your spouse?  Or if you aren't married, what kind of romantic or loving gestures did someone do for you that you appreciate[d]?