Sweet and Sour Soup

I love sweet and sour soup.  Love love love love love it!  I have been keeping my eye out for some bean sprouts just to make this recipe and had no luck.  I'll live without them but it just won't be the same.  I also usually make this recipe with chicken but today I'm using tofu because I don't want to make up some chicken.  This is why I saved some cabbage from yesterday.  This recipe doesn't call for it but it is yummy so why not?

In a side note, I am volunteering at the Mississauga Animal Services starting on Monday.  I'll be reading to kitties.  I'm pretty excited about it to be honest.  I mean kitties and books, I'm in!!  I needed to get my tetanus up to day before I started.  I went in on Wednesday to get my booster.  I took the bus for the second time since we moved here.  We have a few bus stops nearby so it isn't too hard to get around really.  Now, I hate needled.  Hate, hate, hate them!  I got my needle just fine and now the doc wants blood work.  WHY do doctors always want your blood?  I need to get in and get it done but dang Mother Nature, why so cold???!  The cold is probably why I want to eat so much soup!

Oh, I also need to tell you that I'm a genius.  Yes, me.  I was sitting thinking about the topic for today's blog and was feeling cold.  I was watching some YouTube and it occurred to me, there is no reason I can't be doing this on the treadmill.  So I hauled all my stuff down to the treadmill and put in an hour of walking, some weights (while walking) and burned almost 200 calories!  I forgot to grab my heart rate monitor so I only have the treadmill what I burned and it isn't super accurate but oh well.  That was an hour I was moving my butt instead of sitting on it and it is damn cold outside in case you missed it.

I was in the middle of uploading photos for this post and then my computer froze.  I had to restart my laptop only to get this.  Oh well, I can be patient when I need to be and I had time to finish my Timmies.

Anyway, on with the soup:

Get yourself one of these.  You might find them in the spice section of your grocery store or the ethic foods section.  Look around, buy several and keep them on hand.

Gather your ingredients.

This is how I make stock.  Each packet is good for 3/4 cup of water.  The recipe on the packet calls for 4 cups of stock and I know the flavour packet in there is powerful so I only put in 3 packets.  I also end up adding extra water because I like adding noodles.  In total I used about 6 cups of water.

Cut up the tofu.  This is extra firm but I have definitely had this with softer tofu.  Use what you like or use meat of your choice cut into strips.

Tofu doesn't have much of a flavour on its own so I put it in the pot right away with the 4 cups of stock and spice packet to start soaking up that goodness happening in there.  You would normally be cooking the meat in a bit of oil at this step.  Next, add your stock and spice packet.

Slice up your veggies.  I use cabbage, onion, and usually bean sprouts and green onions but I didn't have any.  I substituted some zucchini and carrots instead.  Let those cook until the carrots are a bit softer but still have a bit of a crunch.  

Now add in the noodles.  I just break off a chunk and shove them right in until the broth covers them.  Be sure to spill broken bits of noodles all over the stove, especially onto the burner, so it makes a horrible burning smell.  If you don't have a mess then you aren't doing it right!

Toss in the zucchini slices.  I cut them really thin and I don't want them to get too soft.

Prep your corn starch slurry.  This will make the soup thick and delicious.

The packet calls for 2 tbsp water and corn starch.  The packet isn't the boss of you, if your corn starch  slurry puts up a fight add a bit more water.

It should be nice and smooth like this.

Stream this into the pot while stirring.  I use chopsticks but a spoon works fine too.  It will get all thick right when you get it in there so just be patient and mix it in all over.  Right after this you beat up the egg and then gently swirl that in too.  Don't mix it too vigorously, you want the egg to set in long silky ribbons.  Add some (1-2 cups) water if you are having a hard time mixing it at all.

Finally, we get to eat.  Omg, this soup satisfies the soul.

Mid noodle dumping mess making Chris surprised me by coming home for lunch.  He was so sweet and brought me a coffee!!  I didn't win on the Roll up the Rim but any time I get lunch with Chris and a Timmies I'm winning.

Chris seemed appalled that I was eating so much food and from such a large bowl (and yes I ate ALL that).  This was about half the recipe, maybe even a little less than half.  

I used http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ to calculate the calories in recipes I make.  As you can see this is a very low calorie meal and it is filling and satisfying.  The biggest issue here was the sodium amount, yikes!!  Next time I will be using a low sodium stock instead because damn!  

Still this soup is awesome and I'm just as excited to have this again.

I don't have anything too exciting planned for supper tonight.  I'll be doing what I said yesterday with the left over Cabbage roll casserole and perogies.  I'm looking forward to it!

Cabbage Roll Casserole

When I was in Germany I really wanted cabbage rolls but being lazy and frustrated by my lack of ingredients (a can of Campbell's tomato soup cost over $5 there!!). I thought I would create something using the flavours but none of the work.  First, I pulled out my slow cooker because I was not going to be slaving over the stove all day... lazy day remember.  Second, I had a big head of cabbage to use up and I always had tomato juice on hand.  I pulled out some rice and got to work.  I made something delicious.  I didn't even cook the rice first, I just threw it all together with what I hoped was enough moisture and walked away.

I have since lost this recipe so I'll be recreating it at some point.  It was good, sooooo damn good.  It will come back.  So, in a pinch, I looked up someone else's recipe.  The problem with putting the word casserole in was that every recipe was pretty much drowning in cheese.  Cheese has no home in cabbage rolls right?  I found a recipe that looks interesting, doesn't call for a ton of cheese and I'm omitting most of what it does call for.  I have nothing against cheese but casseroles with tons of cheese in them can be really... filling? heavy? fattening? Something like that any way and I just wasn't feeling it (plus I used all mine up making Broccoli Cheddar soup, yum).

I went here: http://comfortablefood.com/cabbage-roll-casserole/ Looks pretty good right? I agreed so here is how it went.

We all know that good things start with onion and garlic.  Get those going first.

A couple of cans of tomato goodness.  I didn't use the juice from the whole tomatoes because I had a larger amount of sauce than the recipe called for.

Some spices and stuff.  Brown sugar, vinegar, worcestershire sauce, thyme, and paprika.

Can't have cabbage rolls without cabbage.  The recipe called for a whole large head.  I did about 3/4 of a large head.  

I had left over rice so I used that.  Easy peasy!

We bought our meat in bulk and froze it so I now I always have that awkward frozen brick to start with.  It actually made me remember cooking at my mom's because we bought in bulk at home too when I was growing up.

Finally!  Now we are ready to add the spices and seasonings.

Meanwhile, get the cabbage softening in a pan.  Just move it around now and then.

Now the fun part.  Add in the tomato sauce and I squish the tomatoes with my hands sometimes.  It's fun and faster than using a knife.  Plus that is what they are going to look like anyway.

After you clean up the tomato juice that squirted EVERYWHERE (that doesn't usually happen) you are ready to add in the rice.  Let the rice mixture cook a bit while the cabbage goes until about half cooked.  This was the time my pan spent spitting tomato spots all over my stove, floor, and me.  There was even some on the range hood!  That stuff was everywhere.

Now build it up in layers. 1/2 the cabbage 1/2 the rice mixture, repeat.

Cover tightly and into the oven.

If you are like me you'll drop the entire tin foil roll into the pan, not recommended but it's ok.

Bake for 45 minutes and add the cheese.

Bake for 10 minutes longer if you are using the cheddar too.  I just broiled for 5 minutes to melt the cheese and making it a bit crunchy. Mmmm... crunchy cheese. 

Time to dig in!  It was actually really great at sticking together.  Everything was cooked really nicely but there was a big taste of thyme.  Maybe I'm not a big fan of thyme but it was distracting.  If you like it stick with the recipe, I might only put one tsp in next time instead of the two it called for.

Overall it was delicious! I would absolutely make this again.  I served this with cottage cheese and a green salad.  Tomorrow, I'll make it with perogies and sour cream.  It would be great with Kolbasa and sauerkraut too but I don't have either of those. *Sad* 

What are you making for supper? Tell me in the comments!

A blogger is me.

Hello All!

Welcome to my blog, I'm Cindy.

I have lived in Alberta most of my life, I lived in Germany for nearly 3 years and now I'm getting settled in Ontario, Canada.

This blog will be about everything and anything that catches my fancy.  I like to cook.  I like to try to write computer programs and recently iOS applications.  I like to read and I exercise (sometimes I even enjoy it!).  

I was watching the movie Julie and Julia looking for inspiration and thought it was time to dig into proper blogging so here I am writing my first post.  Let's do this!

Better Than Usual Ramen Noodles

I have eaten a lot of ramen noodles in my life.  Nothing is easier than boiling water and throwing noodles into the pot for a few minutes, instant meal.  My favourite noodles tend to be the cheapest brands so that is what I'm using for this recipe.

To start: you need some noodles. I used the beef flavoured Walmart brand for this recipe. I make one package per person.  This is a meal people, embrace it. It's delicious.

Next you need some veggies, that's what makes this special.  I usually just use mushrooms and green onions but I didn't have green onions today and I did have zucchini.

Then I got really excited because I also had garlic and ginger so in they went too.  I crushed a clove of garlic with the side of my knife and added a couple of slices of ginger, skin and all.

I also sliced some regular yellow onion. I added the onion to the water while it was coming to a boil to get a head start. 

 I sliced the mushroom and zucchini and it's everyone in the pool with the noodles.

I use the chopsticks I'm going to eat with to cook this.  There is something satisfying about cooking with chopsticks.  Try it!

Now get your bowl ready.  I just dump the sauce packet in the bowl like this.  I know, peak culinary performance here.

Once everyone is wonderful and the noodles are delish just dump it all in your prepped bowl water and all.

If I was putting in green onions I would add them now.  I picked out the ginger and garlic as I was eating because their job was done.  I don't generally drink much of the broth but it is needed as part of the experience.  It is also a great way to warm up on a cold day.  Trust me.  Enjoy!