Fried Rice - with leftovers

I had leftover rice from when Papa bear's mom brought over chili. Leftover asian grilled chicken. Combined with some asian spices and oils, chopped carrots and fried egg - it made for an easy meal for Papa bear as he recovers from his stomach bug.

Not real measurements here.

fry the egg first so you dont have to transfer rice mix back and forth. Fry the egg, add salt and pepper to taste. break the yolk in the pan and then flip until well done. Set aside and chop up to preference.

Olive Oil with a few dashes of sesame oil (start small with the sesame oil, I mean VERY small. Its overpowering).
sautee carrots until they start to soften, then throw in diced leftover chicken.
When this is warm, toss in leftover cold rice (works best with fried rice).
add a dash of rice vinegar and some red chili flakes and some soy sauce (maybe a tbsp?) and turn dish.

Add egg, mix until well turned. Taste. Add additional elements if necessary.

Leftover Risotto

I had some leftover risotto and wasn't sure what to do with it. It had become a little binded and wasn't as tasty as when it was hot out of the oven.

Formed patties out of risotto
Rolled in Panko
Fried in olive oil until golden brown
topped with Tzatziki from Sprouts

The sourness of the Tzatziki really livened up the risotto.

Could I get the weekend please?

There are about 20 things in my fridge that I need to cook before the produce gets bad.

Zucchini
Brussel sprouts
Spinach
Organic baby carrots (the fancy kind with the stems still on from Central Market)


Along with already Cooked rice and linguine, leftover pork and leftover vietnamese chicken. I did acquire some lemon fused montrachet goat cheese, free sprigs of thyme and chives (not scallions). I plan to use the chives to curl up with an entree of sour cream and a side of baked potato tomorrow.

So back to the list.. hell yes...its like a painters palette. Now if I could shake this head cold and get a good nights sleep, all would be well. My goal is to be in bed by 9 tonight. Will it happen? Meh, probably a lofty goal but a goal nonetheless. I am taking off work tomorrow to get physically caught up. I won't be able to sleep in unless I talk Papa Bear in to doing me a favor but I do plan to treat myself well and to go work out. I'm thinking of starting the morning off at Starbucks in my sweats curled up with the Kindle. Then the gym and then I'll do some cooking by myself during the time I'd normally be working. I'll be killing two birds with one stone - organizing the fridge and making sure mine and Papa Bears hard earned money doesn't go out with Baby Bear's diapers or down the disposal...or ..shhh to my inlaws hidden in a casserole
:-X I KID!!! kidding!!! I love my inlaws :)

Remedy: No Hot Dog Buns

Snowy, lazy day. What's in the freezer? Nathan's skinless hot dogs. Yum. Best hot dog? Off the grill. But I dont want to go outside right now and grill. 2nd best hot dog? In the toaster oven! I surprised Papa Bear with one but I didn't have any buns (and the kids dont use buns lately) so I did have leftover wheat french bread baguette that we had last night with our linguine and white clam sauce. It makes for a hell of a hot dog bun. I could get used to these!

Remedy: No Meatballs for little man's spaghetti

I asked Lil Man before dinner if he wanted spaghetti. He said yes. I said do you want meat in it, he said no. Therefore, I did not thaw any ground turkey. So. Put bowl in front of him. "Where are my meatballs?" Me: Excuse me? So I quickly jumped to action and since I am still trying to finish off my chicken that I made the broth from, it quickly got sacrificed.

1-2 cups of shredded cooked chicken

handful of fresh baby spinach

1 tsp fresh garlic

spoonful of spaghetti sauce

a slice of left over grilled sourdough garlic bread

1 egg

olive oil for pan

combine in food processor until well pulvarized. Make balls. Cook in frying pan - flipping occassionally until cooked through.

I stole one and sprinkled some gargonzola crumbles on top. Hell yeah.

Problem solved!

Chicken Migas

I'm trying to find ways to use the chicken I had boiled to make broth. So this morning I whipped up a little bit of Chicken Migas. Migas translates to 'crumbs' in English. Migas are traditionally made for breakfast and used with leftover bread or tortillas. Migas vary across cultures. TexMex migas are not made the same as Portuguese or Spanish migas are. The ones I made are more like TexMex.

3-4 TBS Olive Oil

6 corn tortillas - sliced in to small 1-2 inch strips.

2 TBS Olive Oil

half of a medium onion, chopped.

1/4 cup of peppers (yellow, orange or whatever you have on hand)

dash of paprika

dash of chili powder

dash of salt and pepper

1 cup of shredded chicken

6 eggs - combined as if you were making scrambled eggs.

1 cup of fresh spinach chopped

3 TBS of Queso

Heat Oil in a large non stick frying pan. Make sure oil is hot and sizzles if you drop a tortilla strip in it. Otherwise, the tortillas will absorb all of the oil.

Once oil is hot enough, place strips in and turn them until they are golden brown.

Turn off heat.

In another pan, saute onion and peppers or any veggies that you like. If you are adding fresh spinach, I have a step at the end to add this.

Add the chicken and stir.

Add the spices and salt/pepper and continue to combine everything well.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs well with a whisk or a fork. The whisk works better and will make the eggs more fluffy so that you can use fewer eggs.

Turn the heat back on your tortillas to medium-high and distribute them evenly on the bottom of the pan.

Add your meat/veggie mixture on top of the tortillas and distribute evenly.

When the pan is very warm, pour the egg mixture evenly over the meat, veggies and tortillas. Do not turn the eggs for about a minute or two.

Let the eggs cook in to the mixture some before turning.

Fold the mixture from the outside in and cook thoroughly over medium heat.

Fold in the chopped spinach if you are adding this.

Spoon migas on to a plate.

Spoon queso on top and then spoon a small amount of migas on top of the queso.

Enjoy! Papa Bear went back for seconds!