Lily Homemade brownies

Homemade brownies 

• 1/2 cup melted butter or 1 stick
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 cup sugar see note
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt leave out if using salted butter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x8 square pan or line with foil and set aside.
• In a medium bowl combine melted butter and cocoa and sugar stir until fully dissolved.
• Add eggs one at a time then vanilla and stir until well combined.
• Stir in flour and salt until the flour is fully combine. Be careful not to overmix mix.
• (optional) fold in 1 cup of nuts, raisins, chocolate chips or anything you desire.
• Spread in pan and bake for approximately 20-22 minutes or until the center is slightly set.  Be careful not to over-bake!
• Cool completely then cut into 9 large squares or 16 small squares ( I cut mine into 16)

PF Chang Lettuce Wraps and Fried Rice

 4 servings

LETTUCE WRAPS 

prep and cook time 20 min

1 T olive oil
1 lb ground chicken
2 garlic cloves
1 onion diced
1/4c hoisin sauce
2 T soy sauce
1 T Rice wine vinegar
1 T grated ginger
1 T sriracha
1 (8oz) water chestnuts (could use grated carrots, broccoli, peppers
2 green onions
salt and pepper
I head butter lettuce (or ice berg lettuce)

Heat oil in sauce pan on medium high. Add and cook ground chicken til brown 3-5 min. Drain fat

Stir in garlic, onion, hoisin, soy, rice wine, ginger, sriracha.

Stir in chestnuts and green onions, 1-2 min

To serve, spoon several tablespoons

My friend Dayna says she doesn't like water chestnuts so she uses other veggies in their place

FRIED RICE

4 cups white rice at least a day old chilled in the refrigerator.*
4 TBS sesame oil divided (I used bacon oil)
1 TBS peanut oil (I used olive oil)
1 tsp minced garlic

1/2c chopped celery
½ cup diced onion
1 cup Slivered carrots
½ cup frozen peas
2 TBS soy sauce
¼ tsp ginger
2 eggs
pinch of sea salt
1 tsp sesame oil
Green onions to garnish

1. Cook the eggs:
2. Heat 1 tsp sesame oil in a large skillet (at least 10”) over medium heat.
3. Beat eggs with a pinch of sea salt, then pour into heated pan and spread evenly into one thin, round layer.
4. Cook 2-3 minutes, or until the egg is firm and bubbles appear on the top.
5. Flip and cook and additional 2 minutes until the egg is cooked.
6. Remove from heat, transfer to a cutting board and cut into thin pieces. Set aside.
7. Make the friend rice:
8. Sauté onion, garlic and carrots in 1 TBS sesame oil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover and cook until vegetables are soft and just starting to brown (about 5-7 minutes).
9. Add 3 TBS sesame oil and 1 TBS peanut oil to the vegetables.
10. Add rice, stir and cook on high for 9-10 minutes, or until the rice just begins to brown, stirring occasionally.
11. Add peas, soy sauce and ginger, stir to combine.
12. Carefully add the egg and gently stir it into the mixture.
13. Cook on medium-high heat for 5 minutes, or until the rice is lightly browned.
14. Serve immediately and garnish with green onions.

To make rice for the fried rice:

1. Bring 2 cups salted water to a boil
2. Add 1 cup white rice, stir.
3. Bring mixture to a boil, cover and reduce heat to a simmer.
4. Simmer 15-20 minutes until water is absorbed.
5. Turn off heat, let rice sit for 10-15 minutes, fluff with a fork or spatula.
6. Let rice cool, then transfer to an airtight container in the refrigerator. Store in the refrigerator overnight, then use the chilled rice in this recipe. (I didnt make the rice the night before. I cooked it the day I was making the fried rice. After the rice was completely cooked I put all the rice on an oiled iron pan. I flipped the rice every 5minutes so it would get crunchy, but not burned. I kept flipping the rice for probably 20 min or so) I love the crunch/toastedness of the rice

Ivars/Dayna's Clam Chowder

 

Epicurious

INGREDIENTS

2. 2 (6 1/2 ounce) cans minced clams
3. 4-5 garlic cloves
4. 1 cup finely chopped onion
5. 1 cup finely diced celery
6. 2 cups finely diced potatoes
7. 3/4 cup butter or margarine
8. 3/4 cup flour
9. 4 cups half-and-half, warmed
10. 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
11. 1 dash pepper
12. 1/2 teaspoon sugar
13. 1/2 lb bacon (didnt have)

PREPARATION

1. In a medium saucepan, saute onion, garlic, and celery. Then add clam juice and potatoes to onion mixture (in different bowl set the clams aside).  Barely cover to potatoes with water and simmer, covered, over medium heat until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
2.  If you want bacon, cook the bacon in the large sauce pan. When the bacon is cooked, take it out of the pan and add the butter to the bacon grease. If you choose not to add bacon, you can skip this step. In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add flour and stir in to the butter. Slowly whisk in the warm half-and-half. Cook and whisk until smooth and thick, about 5 minutes. Add the vegetables with their cooking liquid, clams, salt, pepper and sugar to the pan. Chop the cooked bacon and add it to the large sauce pan (if you are adding bacon). Stir well and adjust the seasonings if necessary.
2. 1/18/21 just delicious!! loved it. Dayna mentions she uses this creamy soup recipe w/o the clams for any other creamy vegetable soup dinner.

blood orange mocktail

One Lovely Life 

1/8/21     serves 5-6 people, double next time

TO MAKE A PITCHER (ABOUT 4 or 8 CUPS): 

8c        4c
2 c       About 1 cup crushed ice cubes
4c         2 cups blood orange juice (about 8 oranges, dbl 14 oranges)
1-2T      2–4 tsp. fresh lime juice
1-2T      2–4 tsp. agave (I just used 2-3T of sugar, dbl 1/4c)
2 2/3c    1 1/3 cup sparkling water
10-20    8–10 mint leaves
10         5-6 slices of blood orange and/or lime, for garnish (optional)

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INSTRUCTIONS

FOR A PITCHER:
Squeeze and press the oranges- set aside. Save 5-6 slices of oranges for garnish to go on the glass.

Place crushed ice cubes in 5-6 (or 8-10)glasses. a pitcher with at least 1 quart (4 cups) capacity.
Add blood orange juice, fresh lime juice, and agave. (Taste your blood orange juice before adding the agave/sugar. Sometimes it’s super sweet juice, other times, it’s tart. That’ll help you determine how much sweetener you might need.)

1/8/20 I just added the sugar right to the blood orange juice and stirred, it dissolved well.
Stir to combine.
Top off with sparkling water.
Garnish with mint leaves and citrus slices