Stir Fry

Stir Fry is a "make it your own" type of dish. You can literally put whatever you want in it. Don't go around telling people I said weird stuff like nutella or grapefruit would taste good, but I'm just saying....don't feel you have to be confined to normal stir fry veggies. You also can use shrimp or beef instead of chicken. Here's how I made MY stir fry. Also- the portion size is for one person. I was just making this for myself. I definately had leftovers though.

Let your chicken marinate for at least 15 minutes. 30 minutes is ideal. You can use any kind of stir fry sauce, but I used the Kikkoman brand. It's really good and you can buy it at pretty much any grocery store. I also sprinkled garlic powder, cayenne pepper and cajun seasoning on it. (Yes- I used cajun seasoning while making asian food. I'm trying to be more multi-cultural...even in my cooking.)

Chop up yo veggies. I chose carrots, green onion, and broccoli. These are my personal favorites.

Add about 1 1/2 tbsp of oil to a pan (or wok if you have one- I sadly do not.) Chop up your chicken and throw it in there first. Add about 2 gloves of minced garlic and let it cook on medium-high heat until the chicken is almost done to your liking. You can add your veggies before the chicken is completely cooked.

Now throw all your veggies to the pan as well as more of your stir fry sauce. I'm terrible about measuring out things (ask Amy- it drives her NUTS)..anyways...I didn't measure how much stir fry sauce I put in. As you can see I just drizzled it over the top until I thought it looked good. haha Add a little bit of soy sauce too!

Let your veggies, chicken and sauce mix for about 10-15 minutes. It really does not take very long. I turned the heat down after my veggies were almost soft, put the lid on, and left it alone for a few minutes. I served mine over white rice. Brown rice works too of course.

Stir fry is vedy vedy good. You try soon?

I'm sorry for any people of asian descent that I just offended by that statement.

Shredded Chicken Tacos

These tacos were mouth-watering good. Even 24 hours after I made them, I was still thinking about how delicious they were. For a healthier option, you don't have to fry your taco shells, but let me tell you- it increased their delicious factor by about 4000 points.

The spices you'll need:

1 teas. salt
1/3 teas. pepper
1/2 teas. garlic powder
1 tsp. cajun seasoning (Tony's is what I used of course)
2 teas. chili powder ( I didn't have any chili powder so I put in a little more Tony's to make up for it...if you have some use it)
1 teas. dry oregano
1/4 teas. cumin powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (this also wasn't in the recipe I found online, but it added a nice little kick)

You'll also need:

1 1/2lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs ( about 4-5 )

4 cups water
corn tortillas
sliced tomato, lettuce, cheese, guacamole, salsa (whatever toppings you want)
toothpicks

**Sidenote: When I made these I halved the recipe so if you aren't cooking for more than about 4 people, you could probably cut everything in half.
 

 Put all the ingredients into a pot or skillet and let everything boil for about ten minutes. After ten minutes, turn down the heat to medium low (you just want the waters slightly bubbling) and put the lid on. Let it simmer for 30 minutes. After 40 minutes you should be able to cut your chicken easily with a spatula or fork.

While your chicken is cooking, you can get your tortillas ready. Fill a skillet with about 3/4 in. oil and turn your heat to medium high. Let your tortillas cook on each side for no more than 10 seconds You are just making them pliable at this point.

Yumm. Looks like our chicken is almost ready. After this picture was taken, I think I gave it about 5 more minutes. You want most of the water gone.

Take one of your tortillas and put some of your chicken inside. Take two toothpicks and use them to bind the top of your tortilla as shown below.

Let your taco fry for about a minute on each side. Be careful because that oil will fly up and getcha if you don't stay out of its way. You can fry it for more or less time depending on how hot your oil is.

After each side looks pretty crunchy, take your taco out of the oil.

 

Take out your toothpicks and put in whatever toppings you want. I vouched for tomato, guacamole, salsa and cheese. Another great thing about the chicken in this recipe was that it was actually even BETTER the second day. Enjoy!