The Walking Dead

I watch a lot of television. Like, more than the average bear. And not since The X Files has a show given me the chills like The Walking Dead did. Also, the production values, the direction, the acting, the FX, the makeup, the sets... All movie quality. Not something you'd think to see on a television show, much less a show in the horror genre. There aren't many horror genre shows out there. Sure, we have Supernatural, but I would classify that as more of a drama and comedy mixed with, well, supernatural elements. The X Files was a show that scared the pants off of me on a weekly basis and this new show, The Walking Dead, did the same thing. The zombies were scary, the pacing was spot on and the story just works. I know many will say, "Isn't this a rip-off of 28 Days Later?" and they will be wrong. The Walking Dead was a graphic novel that came out years before 28 Days Later. And I'm kinda upset about that. I loved 28 Days Later, it was a great zombie flick. But this show, while the beginning is very similar to that movie, it's already moving towards something new. This show better get a big following b/c it deserves it and it is just an awesomely fun romp! Not denigrating Dawn of the Dead (b/c dude, that movie is awesome!) but The Walking Dead has zombies as they should be. Slow and stupid. I mean, c'mon, they're zombies. They've lost all ability save for the basic one of the need to feed. They don't run, they don't plan, they don't band together and find ways to get to their dinner. They're just zombies. As they should be.

Lee's Fit Test Take 2

I am very proud of Lee. He has been doing SO good on his diet and his fitness. In the past 12 weeks, he's lost almost 20 pounds and over 4 inches off his waist.

Unfortunately, this wasn't quite enough for the USAF. :( He still failed his Fit Test. Now, on the upside of this, he only failed by 2.5 points. He needed a 75 to pass. On his first test, back in April, he only scored a 22. Yikes, right? And today, he scored a 72.5. So you know what? I'm still proud of him.

But now comes the worry. There is a real possibility that he could be discharged from the military for failing again. I mean, yes, it's not the most likely option, but it's still there and that terrifies me. Lee has 13 years in, only 7 more to go before retirement. And he's still working on his degree. I have no marketable skills, I'm basically an idiot.

Now we have to wait until Monday to see what happens. It could be something as small as an LOC, or in the middle with an LOR. Or the ultimate Worst Case Scenario. A discharge from the USAF.

Gonna be a long weekend of waiting.

Turkey Pasta Bake

1 pound ground turkey, 97% lean

Drizzle of olive oil

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

2tbs tomato paste

4tsp minced garlic

Parsley

Italian seasoning

S&P

Cayenne

Rosemary

Oregano

Basil

8oz Fat Free Philadelphia Cream Cheese

14oz whole wheat rotini pasta

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

4 slices swiss cheese

1/4 cup finely grated mozzarella cheese

2/3 cup 1% milk

Heat oven to 375.

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta, boil until al dente, about 10mins.

Brown ground turkey, add sauce, tomatoes, paste, 3tsp minced garlic and other seasonings to your liking. Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for 10mins.

Heat small saucepan over medium heat, add milk and cream cheese. Season with pepper, cayenne, parsley and 1tsp minced garlic. Heat, stirring occasionally, until cream cheese is melted.

Drain pasta, return to hot pot and add cheese sauce. Stir until evenly coated.

Spray casserole dish with Pam, pour in noodles. Sprinkle with Parmesan and parsley. Pour meat sauce on top of noodles, then top with swiss and mozzarella.

Bake, uncovered, for 15-20mins, until cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Makes 12 servings.

Calories per serving - 235

Lee's Weight Loss Part 2

So proud of Lee! :) In 6 weeks, he's lost 15 pounds! That's spot-on with what he needs to lose in order to pass his next fit test. He was told to lost 30 pounds in 3 months, so he's right on track. He's been eating better, his portion sizes have decreased dramatically, he's working out and his endurance is so much better now. When he started working out, he couldn't even do a mile on the elliptical w/o having to hop off and catch his breath. Now, he's doing 2.5 miles at a time and just barely breaking a sweat. I'm so very proud of my husband and how much he's embraced this new phase of his life. I have no worries that he'll pass his next fit test with flying colors!

Lee's Weight Loss

It's been 4 weeks since Lee was told that he had to get his waist down to under 40inches (he was at 44.5) and he had to drop 30 pounds (he was at 245). Well, here we are, a month later, and YAY! Lee's made his goal of losing 10 pounds in April! :D He probably could've lost more, if he went balls out, but we didn't want to completely shock his system. Our biggest changes have been no more fast food during the week, just once during the weekend. Also, a big change!, no more drinking beer during the week. Dude, that was getting outta hand anyways! We needed a reason to cut back on the beer. At 110calories per beer, and Lee can easily put away 12 beers in a night, that's 1320 calories, just in BEER! (As opposed to wine, which in 1 bottle, there's only 550 calories.) I also stepped up and started becoming a bit of a food nazi. LOL Seriously, I was tossing out chips and white bread and frozen breakfast sandwiches and cheese in a can, all that crap that Lee would snack on. To replace it, I started buying fish and ground turkey, 90cal granola bars, 100cal bags of popcorn, nuts, beef jerky, cheese (but the good cheese! Edam and Emmental and Fontina) and crackers, loads of broccoli and red potatoes, plus bags of salad. Now, I cook a fresh healthy lunch every day which I always keep below 500 calories. I actually try to keep it in the 300cal range, if I can. Dinner, I rarely make it more than 600. But once in a while, I do splurge a bit and the calories may go up to 800-900. I logged Lee's meals for an entire month, just so I could wrap my head around how many calories go into what. Now it's second nature to do the math in my head and let him know how many calories his meals are. He got to around 1500 calories per day, but that was w/o the beer! But he did cut back his drinking to just on Fri and Sat nights. No more mid-week drinking beers!

He's been really good about working out, too. If he can't make it to the gym, then we do a workout DVD here at home, or he hops on the elliptical for 30mins.

For the next month, we're cutting out fast food completely, cutting out beer completely. He's also going to step up his workout regimen to running 5x a week and doing weights 3x a week.

I have complete faith that he'll drop the unwanted pounds and get back on track with the USAF's fitness regulations. :)

Mock Mashed Potatoes

1 large potato, peeled and quartered

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 cup fat free sour cream

2 tbs I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light

2 tbs Fat Free Philadelphia Cream Cheese

S&P

Bring large pot of water to a boil, add potatoes and cauliflower florets.

Boil until fork tender, about 20mins.

Drain, return to pot.

Mash well (or use a hand mixer) with remaining ingredients.

Makes 5 servings

Calories per serving - 80

Piadina

1 La Tortilla Factory Tomato & Basil wrap

1/2 tomato, sliced thin

2 slices thin deli turkey

2 slices thin deli ham

2 slices turkey bacon

1tbs reduced fat cream cheese

Shredded cheddar cheese

Heat large skillet over medium heat. Spray with Pam.

Assemble tortilla by spreading cream cheese first, topping with ham and turkey, then bacon and tomatoes. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Place into hot skillet, cook until cheese is melted. Adjust heat so it doesn't burn and check frequently.

Serve hot.

Total calories - 320

Marker20 Sucks

http://findlocal.dailypress.com/downtown-hampton/restaurants/cuisine/second-mouse-inc-hampton-restaurant

We were out at the International Children's Festival this past Saturday (April 17, 2010) and happened upon Marker 20. Having never been there, we decided to give it a try. Our party consisted of 3 adults and 3 children (ages 4, 27months and 28months). Service wasn't great, food was barely edible. My fish (Fish and Chips) was leaking with oil, and my chips were burnt. The Dirty Rice Balls tasted like rice mixed with ketchup. The hushpuppies tasted like they were fried with onion rings. The Chicken Caesar Wrap was 80% lettuce and dressing. Everything we got that was fried, which includes the hush puppies, fish and chips, and chicken strips, all looked like they had been fried together and were all unappetizingly the same shade of dark amber brown. Service was slow, especially considering the patio was only half-full. We asked for our bill to be split, 2 adults and 1 child on one, and 1 adult and 2 children on the other. My bill came to $42.87. I only tipped $4.00 b/c as I've plainly stated, we had substandard service and food. So I filled in for a $4.00 tip, and signed for a total of $46.87. Imagine my surprise when I checked my bank account Monday morning and saw a charge of $51.44. The restaurant decided to auto-tip themselves 20%. Upon checking their website ( www.marker20.com ), I do see that "An 18% gratuity will be added to parties of 6 or more." BUT since when are children, who barely touched their inedible food and pretty much spent all their time coloring, considered part of the "party"? And by splitting the check, our "party" was only 3 anyway, including our 27month old toddler. And my biggest beef, which is over the smallest amount of money, is this mythical 18%. If you do the math, and I did, $42.87 + 18% = $50.59. Marker20 charged us 20%. While that may not seem like a lot of money (it's only 18¢), if they are doing this every time, then they are skimming a lot of money for people who may not be double checking their bank accounts. This is fraud. Do NOT go to Marker20.

Skillet Chicken

2 full chicken breasts, boneless skinless

4 cups water

2tbs salt

2tbs sugar

3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced to 1-2 inches thick

3 carrots, diced into 1 inch chunks

1/2 cup chicken broth

4tbs extra virgin olive oil

2tbs I Can't Believe It's Not Butter

1tsp minced garlic

Paprika

S&P

Rosemary

Garlic Powder

Pour water into a large bowl, add 2tbs salt and 2tbs sugar. Mix well until dissolved. Add chicken and let brine for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Place diced potatoes and carrots into a bowl, drizzle with EVOO, season with S&P and rosemary. Microwave for 3 minutes.

Remove chicken from brine, and rinse well.

Heat EVOO and butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add minced garlic.

Season one side of chicken with pepper (no extra salt), rosemary, garlic powder and paprika. Place seasoned side down into hot skillet. Let brown for 5 minutes. Season other side. Flip and let other side brown for 5 minutes. Add potatoes and carrots and arrange around the chicken breasts. Pour chicken broth over vegetables. (Not the chicken. Don't want the seasoning to fall off!)

Cover and let simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.

Serve with juices.

One chicken breast with veggies = 595 calories.

Turkey Meatloaf

1 pound ground turkey

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1 handful dry stuffing (Stove Top is what I use)

1 egg

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Ground pepper

Basil

2tsp minced garlic

1 tsp basil

1 carrot, grated

1 tsp onion powder

3 dashes Tabasco

2tsp Worcestershire sauce

Italian seasoning

Dash salt

1 can condensed tomato soup (Campbells)

Heat oven to 350.

Mix all ingredients, except soup. Form into a loaf. Place in 9x9 square baking dish.

Pour soup over loaf. Season with a dash of salt, basil, Italian seasoning, parsley and ground pepper.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Let sit 10mins before serving.

Makes 4 servings. Total calories per serving, 450.

Chicken Cordon Bleu and Lemon Garlic Broccoli

Thin sliced chicken breasts

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup Panko

1 egg

2 tbs Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup diced ham

s&p

1 tsp minced garlic

2 tbs butter

1/2 can cream of broccoli soup

1/4 cup light sour cream

Paprika

Garlic powder

10 oz frozen broccoli

Lemon juice

Heat oven to 350.

Spray casserole dish with Pam.

Beat egg in one shallow dish.

Mix bread crumbs, panko and parmesan in another shallow dish.

Pound chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness.

Season one side with s&p and garlic powder.

Dip unseasoned side of chicken into egg wash, then into bread crumb mix.

Place chicken, bread crumb side down, on the counter. Top with a small amount of ham and cheese. Roll up tightly and place into casserole dish.

Repeat with all chicken breasts.

Bake at 350 for 30mins.

While chicken is baking, mix soup and sour cream well. Season with pepper. Set aside.

Place frozen broccoli into a large sauce pan, cover with water. Bring to a boil, boil 3mins. Drain. Melt butter, add minced garlic, pour over broccoli. Add lemon juice and s&p. Cover and let sit until chicken is done.

After chicken is finished, place on a plate and add a scoop of soup mix to the top. Serve with broccoli.

Total calories per serving - 700

Lee's New Diet

My husband is in the USAF and he had his yearly fit test last week. And he failed it. Boo. :( His weight has jumped from 230 up to 245 pounds and his waist from 39 to 43 inches. Yikes! He now has 3 months to lose the weight, or risk a discharge from the military.

We've already cut down on the beer (and if you know us, that's HUGE! LOL) and I've stopped buying red meat all together. It's all fish and ground turkey and white meat chicken for us now. Lunches are salads with a light vinaigrette dressing and dinners have been baked chicken breasts or fish with broccoli. I'm working on keeping his caloric intake to around 1500 calories. He has a granola bar for breakfast (100 cals), lunch is kept to around 300-400 cals, and dinner is kept around 800. He then gets an evening snack of popcorn or a piece of fruit. He's promised me that he won't be sneaking fast food, too. I used to find at least 2 McDonald's bags in the car every week! He's also promised not to have any more sodas at work, and no more chips, either. He's went to the gym twice last week and that's more than he's been in the past 2 years we've been stationed here! He's serious about passing his retest in 3 months and I'm determined to help.

Tilapia Take 2

Tried making tilapia again tonight and it was a success! :)

Tilapia fillets

Lemon juice

Old Bay seasoning

1/4 cup Smart Balance Spread

1 tsp minced garlic

S&P

Preheat oven to 400.

Place tilapia on a rack, with a baking sheet underneath.

Sprinkle with lemon juice.

Melt butter, add garlic, and brush on both sides of fillets.

Season both sides with Old Bay, salt and pepper.

Bake at 400 for 20minutes.

Chicken Fried Rice

2 cups cooked, cold white rice

1 cup cooked chicken, diced

2 carrots, shredded

1 small bag frozen peas

6 slices bacon, diced

2 eggs

EVOO

2 tbs butter

1 cup chicken broth

1 tbs minced garlic

Teriyaki sauce

Soy sauce

Ground ginger

Sesame oil

Sesame seeds

Cayenne

Ground black pepper

Heat wok over med-high heat, add diced bacon and cooked until crispy.

Remove bacon, drain on paper towel.

Remove all but 3 tbs bacon grease.

Add eggs, whisk slightly with fork to break the yolks. Cook until firm, then remove, slice into strips and set aside.

Add butter, plus drizzle of EVOO, reduce heat to medium.

Add cooked chicken, frozen peas, shredded carrots, teriyaki and soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sesame oil and seeds, pepper and cayenne.

Cook over medium heat until peas are hot and carrots are softened, about 5mins.

Add rice and chicken broth.

Continue cooking until all liquid is absorbed and rice is warmed through and softened.

Add back in bacon and eggs.

Mix well.

Serve with chili sauce.

Foccacia Bread Pizza/Caprese Pizza

Ok, I posted this recipe before, but I've made some revisions, so here it is again, new and improved!

Foccacia Bread Pizza

1 1/2 cups bread flour (this is crucial to get the fluffy texture)

1 1/2 cups regular flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbs sugar

1 package active yeast

1 1/3 cup hot water

EVOO

Rosemary

Minced garlic

Grated Parmesan

Mix flour together in large bowl. Add palm-full of rosemary. Make a well in the middle. Sprinkle sugar and yeast into well. Pour in hot water, slowly. Let stand 5-10 minutes. Add 2 tbs EVOO and mix gently, starting from the well and working your way out.

Add in salt, sprinkle of rosemary, and a tsp of minced garlic. Mix til blended.

Sprinkle flour on a large surface, knead dough until smooth. You'll have to add about another 1/4 cup of flour as you knead. You don't want it sticking to your fingers. Do Not Over Knead! Keep it feeling silky and not sticky.

In a clean glass bowl, add 1tbs EVOO. Form dough into a ball and place in bowl, rotating to make sure all sides have a little oil on them.

Cover with paper towel and let rise 40 minutes.

Remove paper towel and punch the dough. Yes. Punch it. That will help pop all the air bubbles. And it's kinda fun.

Lightly oil a baking sheet with EVOO. Place dough on baking sheet. Add some oil to your hands. This will make spreading it WAY easier. Squish the dough flat, to about 1/2 inch thick.

Drizzle with more EVOO, then, using the handle end of a wooden spoon, poke holes into the dough.

Sprinkle with more rosemary, sea salt (if you have it), cracked black pepper and garlic powder. Top with parmesan cheese.

Place on middle in oven. Oven is OFF at this time! Place another flat pan filled with hot water on the rack below. **Note: putting the empty pan in the oven, THEN pouring in hot water makes way more sense.** Let rise again for 25 minutes.

Turn oven on (leave pan with water in there. It'll keep the bread from drying out) to 375. Bake for 20minutes. (Or for 25 if you just want the bread and won't be making a pizza out of it.)

CAUTION! When you open the oven, you WILL get a steam facial. Just be forewarned. It's hella steamy. :)

While your focaccia bread is rising the second time, in the oven, start on your pizza sauce.

Pizza Sauce

1 can tomato paste (6oz)

1 can hot water (6oz)

2tbs grated Parmesan

2tsp minced garlic

1tbs honey

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne

Dash of salt

Italian Seasoning to liking

Whisk together all ingredients in small bowl. Let sit as your focaccia bread finishes baking.

After dough has cooked for 20mins, remove from oven let sit while you veeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrry carefully remove the hot pan of water. With a long bread knife, slice foccacia in half, making 2 pizza crusts. Or, a pizza sandwich!

Spread with sauce and add toppings. Bake additional 5-10mins to melt cheese. Broil, if desired. I prefer a little browning to my cheese, so I always broil for about 5mins before slicing and serving.

Caprese Pizza

4 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

20 fresh basil leaves, rolled and chopped

Canned diced tomatoes

After slicing foccacia in half, take the seasoned half, flip it over, then spread a little of the sauce on it, topped with diced tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. Bake until cheese is melted. Remove from oven, sprinkle with basil, serve immediately. Pizza Perfection!

Tilapia

Tilapia Experiment of 2010 has been declared a success! YAY! Cooked 3 fillets, 3 ways. One in a parchment packet, one in a foil packet and one directly on a cookie sheet. Parchment one was moistest, but the one baked on the cookie sheet had a nice crisp edge to it. The foil one? That was not at all done when I unwrapped him! So he cooked 25mins in foil, then 10 more on the cookie sheet. He still tasted fine, but took way too long to cook. So here's the recipes for the 2 versions that turned out the best!

1 package Coleson Tilapia

Marinade

1/4 cup olive oil

2tsp minced garlic

s&p

Italian seasoning

Whisk marinade together and pour half into a plastic baggie with one tilapia fillet.

Repeat for 2nd fillet.

Let marinate for 30mins.

Preheat oven to 400.

1 sheet parchment paper

Pam spray

Olive oil

Rosemary

Old Bay

Paprika

Pepper

For the 3rd fillet, I placed him on the parchment paper that I had sprayed with Pam, then drizzled olive oil on him, sprinkled with all seasoning, and folded into a packet.

Place all 3 fillets on a cookie sheet, sprayed with Pam. Bake at 400 for 25mins. Serve with vegetable of your choice.

Lettuce Wraps

*I used to eat these with my Korean momma all the time growing up. Love them! This a really versatile recipe, too. You can use tilapia, like I do, or any kind of fish or tuna, chicken or beef. Or no meat at all!

Lettuce leaves

Rice

Soy Sauce

Sriracha Sauce

Hot Pepper Paste

Gorton's Tilapia

Cook rice and tilapia, according to directions. Rinse and separate lettuce leaves. Once rice is done, season with a little soy sauce, to your liking. After fish is cooked, flake with a fork.

To Assemble:

Take one leaf of lettuce and spread some pepper paste on it. Top with a spoon full of rice, then with a small amount of tilapia. Squeeze on some Sriracha, fold lettuce over and EAT!

Here's pictures of the sauce, paste and fish that I used for this recipe.

Mini Pizzas

Mini Pizzas

Heat oven to 350.

Sauce:

6 Ounce can tomato paste

6 ounces HOT water

1 tbs honey

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tbs cup grated parmesan

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp Oregano

1/2 tsp Basil

Pepper to taste

Cayenne to taste

Mix all sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Let sit and allow flavors to meld while assembling remaining ingredients.

Pizzas

1 package English Muffins

1/4 cup olive oil

1 package diced pepperoni

Mozzarella cheese

Slice each muffin in half. Place muffin halves on baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Let muffins cook about 10 minutes, or until slightly crispy to the touch. Remove from oven. Switch oven to broil. Top with spoonful of sauce, pepperoni and cheese. Return to oven and broil until cheese is browned.

Serve with leftover sauce for dipping.

FYI: This recipe works just as well with thin bagels. Just up the oven to 400 and spread with garlic butter.

Sourdough Burgers

*These taste kinda like meatloaf burgers, but we really liked it! Definitely a nice change of pace from our usual burgers!

Sourdough Burgers

1 1/2 pounds ground beef (80/20 is best for burgers)

1 egg

3/4 cup bread crumbs

3 tbs evaporated milk

2 tbs Worcestershire

1/2 tsp cayenne

2 tsp minced garlic

Beat egg in large mixing bowl, then add rest of ingredients and mix well by hand.

Form into 8 equal patties and set aside. Heat griddle over med-high heat, lightly oiled.

Cook patties (4 at a time) for about 5mins per side, or until done to your liking. I like mine a little crispy since the patties are so moist.

Place cooked patties into a toaster oven set on KEEP WARM while you finish the rest of the steps.

Sourdough Bread

Bacon

Tomatoes, thinly sliced

Swiss cheese

Melted butter

Mayonnaise

Ketchup

Fry/Bake/Nuke bacon 'til crispy. You'll want 1-2 slices per burger.

Layer slices of bread in oven and cook at 350 'til crispy, about 5mins. After they are crisped to your liking, brush with melted butter.

Once bacon is done cooking, take your patties and top with swiss cheese, nuke for 15 secs to melt cheese.

Place bread, buttered side down, on your plate. Top with patty, tomato, bacon and mayonnaise and ketchup. Top with second piece of sourdough, butter side up.

Serve with fries.

Bella's 2 year checkup

Easiest appointment ever. LOL Spend a good chunk of the morning telling Bella that we were going to see the doctor this afternoon and that she was going to weigh her and measure her and poke her belly and listen to her heart... Basically just keeping the idea that going to the doctor was just like going to the library or the commissary, no big deal, just something we had to do.

Since I was able to get her down for an early nap, she woke up at 12:15 and we headed out at 12:45 so we could drop Lee off at 1pm at his office. My appointment wasn't until 1:40, but I like showing up early. I've never been late to anything by arriving early, you know? LOL

Well, good thing we did show up early! After parking way far away, and Bella having to examine damn near every blade of grass and having to stop every time a plane flew overhead (uh, Air Force base, so like every 2 minutes!) for Bella to say, "Oooooooh! I see plane!", we got into the clinic at say 1:10. Quick bathroom stop to make sure Bella hadn't pooped. b/c that's just embarrassing! LOL And then to the clinic only to see a sign that the Pediatrics Clinic has moved. Where? Who knows! No other signage! Anywhere! Luckily, I was talking to Bella about how we were just going to wander around and see if we could find someone to ask, when some other mom overheard me (no hard feat!) and told us where to go. Whew! I knew that they were adding onto the base hospital and I guess they decided to move the pediatrics clinic, too. Now I know. :) So, we have to walk all around the clinic again, get coats back on, go outside to the main entrance of the new wing of the hospital, and find our way to the clinic. And of course, there's always new paperwork to have to fill out! By now it's about 1:20, so we're actually ontime since every appt on base, you have to arrive 15mins prior.

After the quickest check-up ever, we were out the door. :) I don't mind quickie check ups when the doc seems to be knowledgable and it's quick due to the fact that I have an awesome baby. :)

Height

35 inches (83rd percentile)

Weight

28 1/2 pounds (72nd percentile)

Head Circumference

19 inches (78th percentile)

Kimchi Fried Rice

Kimchi Fried Rice

1 cup cooked white rice

Kimchi, diced

Vegetable oil

Sauce

1/4 cup Soy sauce

Sesame oil, just a drizzle

Sesame seeds

Lemon juice, just a squirt

Rice vinegar, splash

Red pepper flakes

1 tsp Garlic, minced

1/2 tsp ground Ginger

Scallions (optional)

Heat 3tbls vegetable oil over med-high heat in large frying pan or wok. Wait until it's super hot (flick a droplet of water in it and make sure it sizzles). Add in 1 cup cooked rice. Fry one minute. Add diced kimchi, plus some of the liquid from the jar. Continue frying for 2-3 mins.

Combine all Sauce ingredients, whisk well. (Just play with the amounts of spices until you get it perfect for how you like it.)

Remove fried rice, serve with sauce.

Or, roll in sheets of seaweed and dip in sauce, my fave way to eat kimchi fried rice!

Chicken Fingers and Oven Baked Potato Wedges

Chicken Fingers and Oven Baked Potato Wedges

9 Chicken Tenderloins

6 oz Italian Dressing

4 medium potatoes

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup Parmesan

S & P

Garlic Powder

Olive Oil

Marinate chicken in Italian dressing at least 1 hour, or overnight. I let mine defrost in the dressing.

Heat oven to 425.

Scrub potatoes and slice into wedges, leaving the skins on. Place into large plastic bag. Pour in about 1/8-1/4 cup oil (vegetable or olive, your choice), some S&P, garlic powder, and 1/4 cup each Parmesan and Bread Crumbs. Add a squirt of Italian dressing, if you like, Shake well to coat.

On a plate, mix 1/4 cup bread crumbs and 1/4 cup parmesan. Take each wedge and press lightly into breadcrumbs, so they stick and form a nice crust. Place in single layer on foil lined cookie sheet, sprayed with Pam, or lightly oiled. Place in oven to bake for 20 mins while prepping chicken.

Pour remaining breadcrumbs and parmesan onto plate, coat each chicken tenderloin and place on another foil lined cookie sheet, sprayed with Pam, or lightly oiled.

Place into oven with potatoes, reduce heat to 375. Cook 15 mins, or until cooked through.

Serve with Ranch dressing.

Chicken Quesadillas

.

Chicken Quesadilas

1 can fully cooked Tyson Chicken

6 flour tortillas

1/2 can Low Sodium Cream of Chicken soup

Mexican blend cheese

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Paprika

Oregano

Cayenne (or Red Pepper Flakes)

Pepper

Cumin

Combine chicken, soup, seasonings (add to your liking, but watch it with the cumin, a little goes a long way, and don't add salt. The chicken is already pretty salty.) with a splash of water. Heat over medium-low heat until warmed through.

Spray skillet with Pam, place tortilla in skillet over medium heat. Spread one spoonful of chicken mixture on 1/2 of tortilla. Top with small amount of cheese. Slide tortilla around gently to prevent burning. Fold tortilla in half when nicely browned. Will cook pretty fast, so keep on eye on it.

Slice with pizza cutter into wedges and serve with salsa.