Sweet Pea Journey

Family, Friendship, Food, Fun and Everything in Between!

Tagged: kid friendly

Cooking

Home Made Horchata

This is a Mexican staple drink. It is so good, it makes me feel sinful every time I have one of these.. But who knows how simple it is to make at home?! Let’s try it out.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/3 cup of white rice
  • 5 cups of water, divided
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 cup of milk of choice (I had vanilla soy milk, that’s what I used, tastes AMAZING!)
  • 1 TBSP vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2/3 cup white sugar

Method:

In a good blender, blend white rice, 2 cups of water and cinnamon sticks until roughly blended. Then add the remaining water and blend another minute.

Pour everything into a glass pitcher and refrigerate over night.

Strain the rice water mixture the next day and discard all solids. Add milk of choice, vanilla, sugar and ground cinnamon. Mix well and serve chilled, or over ice.

Enjoy a cup of home made horchata on a hot summer day is just heavenly.

Cooking

Pork and Sausage Stir Fried Noodles

Let me tell ya, this is definitely a keeper. It’s so quick, easy, yummy, and so versatile. Change it up to use whatever you have on hand, the flavor is amazing! Even our pickiest carnivore gobbled down the greens!

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Let’s get straight to the recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 lb ground pork

1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage, casing removed

1 package of Cantonese style noodles

1 medium size onion, sliced

1 zucchini, julianned

1 carrot, peeled and julianned

2 cloves of garlic, peeled, minced

1 bundle of any greens, I used half of a package of yu choy and Chinese lettuce

2 TBSP oyster sauce

2 TBSP Hoisin sauce

2 TBSP soy sauce

1 TPSB dark soy sauce

1 handful of thinly sliced green onions

 

Method:

In a large wok, heat up about 1 TBSP oil, brown ground pork and sausage until the liquid is evaporated. In the mean time, bring a medium pot of water to a boil, get ready for the noodles.

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Add sliced onions and carrots, since they require a bit longer to cook. Stir for about 1 minute until the vegetables are slightly softened.

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Add minced garlic and zucchini, and stir fry for a minute or so.

Once the water is boiling, put the bag of noodles into the boiling water, immediately turn off the heat of the pot. Move the noodles around to avoid a clunk of noodles. Let the noodles sit in the boiling water for 15 seconds or so. Do not over boil the noodles.

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Fish out the noodles from the pot and add into the pork and veggie mixture directly. Add all seasonings and sliced greens. Use two spatulas or a pair of tongs thoroughly mix the noodles with the veggies and meats and evenly distribute the seasoning and let the flavors mingle.

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Dish up and enjoy the happy faces at the table!

Cooking

Little Smokies Breakfast Tacos

This is such a quick, easy, tasty on-the-go breakfast idea for little ones, of course, I wouldn’t miss this opportunity to indulge one myself 🙂

Ingredients:

  • 5 organic free range eggs I got from a friend at work, her sister’s farm got fresh farm eggs!
  • 10 little smokie sausage links, I used all beef kind
  • 5 cook-at-home tortillas, nowadays you can get these from major grocery stores, in the refrigerated area, next to cheeses
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • dash of sriracha to taste

Method:

Crack the eggs into a bowl and lightly beat them with a fork, add salt and pepper to taste. Go a bit easier on salt than you would normally, since the little smokies are quite salty themselves.

Heat up a medium non-stick pan on medium heat, cook the tortillas per instructions on the package. Set them aside. I tore 5 pieces of foil, since this is our on-the-go breakfast, I got the packaging ready. So I kept 1 piece of foil on the cutting board and laid the cooked tortilla on top, and laid the rest of the foil sheets on top to keep the tortillas warm while I prepare the filling.

While the tortillas are cooking, I used the waiting time to slice the little smokies into smaller chunks, easier to wrap and eat. Once all the tortillas are done, I threw the little smokie pieces into the same pan, without adding any oil. The sausages immediately started to sizzle, what amazing smell and sound in the morning! I let the little smokies sit in the pan for a minute and let them caramelize a bit before I moved them around in the pan with a spatula. 

Once the sausages are warmed through, I poured the beaten eggs into the pan and let it sit for about 30 seconds. Then I started scrambling the eggs, along with the sausages. The juices coming out of the sauces infuses the eggs as they moved around in the pan. It only takes a minute or so for the eggs to be cooked through.

Kill the heat, spread the 5 foil sheets on the counter, with 1 tortilla on top of each foil. Evenly divide egg and sausages on the tortillas. Squirt sriracha sauce as you wish and wrap the tortillas up in the foils. Breakfast on-the-go is done!

Cooking

Super flavorful Edamame

This is an all-time family favorite, as an appetizer or a snack. It’s high in protein, fiber, great to keep little ones busy and build healthy-eating habits, and improve hand-eye coordination. Yep, sometimes, the little soy beans are hard to catch!

Ingredients:

  • 1 bag of frozen or fresh (if you can find them) edamame in shells.
  • 1 tsp salt, or more to taste
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 star anise
  • 1 small handful (about 1 TBSP) Sichuan pepper corn, if you don’t have these, use black pepper corns. White ones are too mild for this recipe

Method:

Add the seasoning to a medium pot of water and bring it to a boil. You want to add the seasonings first so that they have a bit longer time to release the flavor into the boiling water.

Add the bag of edamame into the pot, and follow the directions to cook, or boil them for a good 5 minutes.

Kill the heat, leave the edamame in the cooking water with lid on to naturally cool down, this is important as well, so the soy beans have a chance to absorb all the flavors.

Use a slotted spoon, fish out all the edamame onto the plate, I don’t stress about the seasonings come onto the plate, but if you do, by all means, take them out, or before you put them into the pot, use a little cheese cloth pouch to enclose all the seasonings for easier removal at the end.

I let my daughter taste a couple Sichuan pepper corns when she was eating the edamame, she was excited to learn that they give a nice numbing sensation in her mouth. Kids learn to appreciate every little ingredients in their food and this helps them to learn new things and try new ideas rather than stick to what they know.

Cooking

Home Remedy – Cold and Sore Throat

The weather was a bit nuts for the past couple of weeks here in Houston. A lot of people, especially kids was feeling down, sore throats, or catching cold. I made this super delicious tea for the family. Kids love it, thinking they are getting a treat, husband and I enjoyed it cup after cup.

Ingredients:

  • a large knob of fresh ginger, about 1 inch long, thinly sliced
  • 3 oranges, peeled, only using the peels in this recipe, so feel free to eat the oranges or use them for other recipes and take in more vitamin C
  • 1 TBSP ground turmeric
  • 1 stick of cinnamon
  • 2 bags of pepper mint tea

Method:

Put all ingredients into a medium pot, put in about 8 cups of water, enough to cover all ingredients. Bring it up to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer for a good 10 minutes.

Be careful, since turmeric tends to boil over, so keep a close eye on it when it’s boiling before lowering the heat. Then kill the heat, leave the lid on, and let it cool to be able to enjoy it. 

Pour over some raw honey as desired, and squirt in some fresh lemon juice. This is a powerful cup of tea that would make you feel way better in no time and help you fight cold and sore throat.

Cooking

Easy Yummy Chicken Salad

This is a slight twist of a cold chicken salad recipe from my home town, which calls for loads of spices and toasted peanuts. Although I love my home town chicken salad dearly, my version is equally good and more kid friendly. Also, this recipe takes about 30 minutes to make, perfect for a week night dinner.

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Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, doesn’t matter if there is skin or bone
about 6 fresh green onions, divided
about 4 slices of fresh ginger
about 4 cloves of garlic, divided
a handful of Sichuan peppercorn. If you don’t have these, use black peppercorns
outside hard part of lemon grass, if you have some, if not, leave it out
1 small handful of fresh cilantro
2 TBSP oyster sauce
1 TBSP Hoisin sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp powdered chicken bullion
chili oil, optional
2 TBSP soy sauce
1 tsp black Asian vinegar
1 tsp sugar

Method:

Put chicken breasts into a medium size stock pot. Fill cold water to cover chicken. Roughly slice 2 green onions lengthwise to release more flavor, bruise ginger slices and crush 2 garlic cloves. Put sliced green onion, crushed garlic, bruised ginger, Sichuan peppercorn and hard part of lemon grass into the pot. Turn the heat on high to heat up soup, until barely bubbling. Lower heat to low to keep stock from rapid boiling. Poach chicken breasts for about 25 minutes to fully cook them through. This poaching method will keep otherwise dry and bland chicken breasts juicy and tender for the salad.

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In the mean time, thinly slice the rest of the green onions, mince the rest of the garlic cloves, and slice the cilantro leaves.

Fish out chicken breasts, let chicken breasts rest and cool on the cutting board for a good 10 minutes. Remove bone and skin if any and put cooled chicken breasts into large ziploc bags.

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Lightly smash the chicken breasts with a rolling pin to loosen up the meat fibers. This step helps chicken meat to absorb more flavor of the sauce. Remove chicken breast from the bag and shred it into bite size pieces and put into a large mixing bowl.

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Add all the remaining ingredients into the mixing bowl, mix thoroughly and serve.

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Cooking

Tomato and Fried Egg Noodle

This noodle dish is such a comforting, healthy yet flavorful dish. You can easily make it a non-spicy version for kids. Such a quick treat!

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 roma tomato, sliced into wedges

1 small bundle of asparagus, bottom trimmed and cut at an angle about 1.5 inch pieces

a bunch of napa cabbage leaves, washed and torn into large pieces

2 green onions, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 chicken bullion

3 servings of thin dried Chinese noodles

2 spicy chilies, optional

Method:

Heat up about 2 TBSP vegetable oil in a medium size nonstick soup pot, pour the lightly beaten eggs into the pot, scramble for a minute or so, until the eggs are just set.

Add in minced garlic and tomatoes and stir fry for a minute or two until tomato wedges are softened and falling apart. Add garlic and chilies if using, stir fry until fragrant.

Add about 4 cups of water, bring it to a rapid boil. Add the chicken bullion to dissolve.

Add the super thin noodles into the soup. It will look like there isn’t enough water, but bare with it. Use a pair of chopsticks and move around the noodles constantly, so they don’t stick together. The noodles would soak up most of the liquid. Don’t panic. Add all the leafy greens into the pot too, yes, it will seem impossible… Looks like something like this:

Patiently and carefully turn the noodles over, on top of the leafy greens. Leaves will soon wilt into almost nothing.

Taste for flavor, add salt as needed. Add sliced green onions and serve!

Cooking

Soothing Tomato and Cucumber Egg Drop Soup

Yes, this is another version of egg drop soup. Look at it this way, this could be a healthier version, simply because there is tomato and cucumber as vegetables. Yet, tomatoes add a very surprising depth to the flavor, and cucumbers add freshness. This is such a quick and easy summer treat!

Ingredients:

1 roma tomato, peeled, sliced into wedges

1 cucumber, peeled, sliced thinly

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 green onion, thinly sliced

2 heaping TBSP of corn starch

1 cube of chicken bullion

salt to taste

Method:

Heat up about 4 cups of water in a soup pot, add the tomatoes first to bring to a boil. This step is crucial to let the tomatoes fully cook through, soften up and almost melting into the soup. This not only takes out the raw tomato taste, sometimes not everyone likes, and also this deepens the savory flavor of the soup and sweeten up the tomato pieces a bit.

Add cucumber slices and chicken bullion into the soup, and let it boil for a minute or so. Dissolve corn starch in about 1/4 cup of cold water and pour into soup. Stir the soup to evenly distribute the corn starch water. The soup will ever so slightly thicken up a bit but not too much.

Pour in beaten eggs, stir the soup as the eggs are being poured. Thickened soup and moving liquid will ensure the eggs will form very thin and small pieces and suspend in the soup like snow flakes.

Add thinly sliced green onions, kills the heat, taste for seasoning, add salt to taste or a bit more water if it is accidentally too salty.

Dish up and serve. You will be amazed how simple yet tasty this soup is, and everyone will love it.

Cooking

Bison Picadillo

All I had to say was WOW. This dish was way better than I expected. Frankly I did not expect both of my kids tear up this dish over rice. Give it a try, it is quick and easy enough for a week night dinner. And yes, I had jalapeno, onions and tomatoes in this dish normally kids would shy away from.

Ingredients:

1 package of ground bison meat

1 large russet potato

1 jalopeno

2 Roma tomatoes

1 medium size yellow onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 beef bullion cubes

Method:

In a large nonstick pan, brown bison meat over medium heat, break up any lumps with a wooden spoon, for about 8 minutes. Be patient. If the meat seems watery, the liquid will evaporate as the meat is browning. In the mean time, peel and mince the garlic, dice the yellow onion. Seed the jalapeno pepper and mince, dice the tomatoes, peel and dice the potato.

Add garlic and onions into the browned meat, cook for about 3 minutes until garlic and onions are softened. Add diced potato and jalapeno pepper. Add about 2 cups of water and beef bullion cubes. Lid on and let the potatoes cook through, about 5 minutes. Ensure the water is not fully evaporated during the 5 minutes. Add more water as needed to ensure the potatoes are cooked through and tender. Add tomatoes and cook for another 2 minutes. Add all seasonings and stir thoroughly to combine and let the flavor develop.

Serve over rice, inside of a home made tortilla, inside of a savory version naan bread, or simply spoon from the pot, anyone would love this dish!

Cooking

3-Ingredient Melon Drink

This one was amazingly good! I had to say, it surprised me too. Try it on a hot summer day, you get fruits into your kids, and they are super happy thinking they just got treats. And the bonus? There are literally only 3 ingredients!

Without further due, let’s dive into the details:

Ingredients:

2 cups of cubed seedless watermelon, chilled or frozen

1 cup of cubed cantaloupe, chilled or frozen

1 lime

Method:

Dump watermelon and cantaloupe into a blender, zest the lime and squeeze the juice into the blender. Blend until no more chunks of melons are visible.

Serve up and watch happy faces!