Chicken Stew & Kalua Pork Manapua

CHICKEN VEGGIES STEW

Had a get together yesterday and someone left us with a bunch of celery...EWWW. I hate to waste food but that isn't something my family goes gaga for so I decided to make stew--Chicken stew

4 sticks of celery (chopped)
2 carrots (chopped)
1 small onion (chopped)
2 small red potatoes (peeled and chopped)
2 boneless chicken breasts
1 can Italian Stewed Tomatoes (chopped)
1/4 cup of barley
1/2 tbs of basil
1/2 tbs of thyme
dash of salt and pepper

1) Filled a medium size pot with half pot of water, turn heat to medium high.
2) Add in celery, carrots, onions, let simmer for 20 minutes.
3) Add in chicken, red potatoes, and stewed tomatoes and its liquid content
4) Add in barly, basil, thyme, salt, and pepper
5) Reduce heat to low, let simmer until barly and chicken are cooked through
6) Pull chicken out, dice or shred
7) Spoon about 2/3 cups of veggies into a food processor and pulse it a few times (this will help thicken the sauce)
8) Place chicken and puree veggies back in pot, simmer on low until ready to eat

Of course, if you want your stew to be even thicker, add in about 3 tbs of cornstarch mix with 1/4 cup water, allow the pot to boil, then reduce heat, and wait until sauce thickens.

I was debating whether i should put some chopped sausages in there as well but I decided to keep it simple for now. I still got sticks of celery leftover so i might do another stew again!

KALUA PORK MANAPUA

I've done quite a few manapuas previously, and I have stressed that what you put inside is totally up to you! I have made kalua pork manapua recently. Just wanted to share the same recipe with you as the pizza one, except of course you replace all the pizza stuff with kalua pork!

Chicken and Dried Scallop Jook

Lil P has been sniffling and coughing started on Sunday. In an effort to get a speedy recovery, I have been giving him EmergenC twice a day, load up on orange juice, and acai blueberry juice. Couple times previously, I was able to catch him with the first symptoms of watery eyes, stuffy nose and gave him the same drinks and he was able to not get sick, but this time it was too late. :(

I wanted to make him chicken noodle soup last night, but he insisted that he doesn't want to eat all of the veggies that comes with it. So instead, I made him saimin (from S&S saimin packets). What he didn't realize is I used chicken stock instead of the soup base it came with and that I have pureed broccoli, carrots, and cabbage in the broth so that he is getting enough veggies needed to get him recovered faster. I have topped it off with slices of spam and grilled chicken. I didn't take a pic of it because it didn't look appetizing to be captured. :p

I decided to make jook (chinese rice soup) last night to get ready for tomorrow. Lil P noticed what I was doing and pleaded to me that he doesn't want that for breakfast. He's a rice lover but some odd reason he doesn't like jook! So I told him I'll pack it for lunch the next day for myself.

My jook recipe is not what you normally see in a chinese cookbook. To make jook taste good, authentically, you have to cook them for a long period of time. My mom use to leave the big pot of jook simmer for HOURS! I don't have that kind of time, so I have been making mine using cooked rice and chicken stock for years now. Coincidentally, Susan and I had the same idea. You can check out Susan's recipe here, or read below for mine:

Chicken and Dried Scallop Jook

1 cup of cooked rice

2.5 cups of chicken stock

1.5 cup of water

Chicken pieces

2 dried scallops

Place cooked rice, chicken stock, and water into a pot and let boil. Meanwhile, shred chicken and scallops and throw in pot (you may want to add a couple slices of ginger at this point, if desire). Lower heat and let it simmer until thicken. Add more water if it gets too thick. You can serve this with white pepper and a drizzle of soy sauce, then garnish with chopped green onions, and peanuts.

Leftover chicken is BEST. Like leftover Costco rotisserie chicken (you can even throw in the bones for extra flavors!) I actually take the rotisserie chicken apart and then freeze them for jook. Another good leftover to throw in Jook is roast duck. It makes it sooo yummy!

I am using my Fuel bento box for my lunch today. top tier I have nectarine and mangoes, bottom tier is my jook. The bottom tier is microwavable so I'm going to heat it up at lunch. I had totally forgotten to bring a soup spoon...looks like I'll be eating my jook with a regular spoon...small sips!! Am putting this on "What's for Lunch Wednesday" as I'm finally able to post one that is my real Wednesday lunch! :)

Chicken, Olives, Bacon, and Broccoli Quesadillas

I didn't plan ahead on what I planned to make for dinner last night, so I didn't have a chance to defroze anything the night before. I also wanted to stop by the grocery store before heading home after picking lil P up from school, but lil P didn't want to go, so it was just another quesadillas night! And by lil P's request, I also made the dessert wrap he liked last week. The plate was *empty*!! :)

BTW, Sonoma Bento is doing a giveway on her 50th Bento post! I've entered in alot of bento-related giveaways in the past, but I never win any. :( Maybe you'll have a better chance? Go here to enter and good luck!

Chicken Pesto Pizza with Mushrooms and Sundried Tomatoes

I purchased some premade pizza crust from Mama Mary's at the grocery store awhile ago. I made some pizza with the 12" but haven't used the 7" ones. I have always make pepperoni pizzas with olives and mushrooms, since 'lil P likes it. But since he already ate, I decided to make a pesto one for myself and Mr. P.

premade pizza crusts (or make your own)
Pesto
Precook chicken strips (chopped)
Sundried tomatoes (chopped)
mushrooms (sliced)
garlic (minced)
Mozzerella cheese (shredded)

Making pizza is not about measurements, as long as you have a fair share amount of everything...at least that's what I think.

Layering order:

Spread Pesto sauce generously on top of the pizza crust.
Add in mozzerella cheese
Then chicken pieces
Then Sundried tomatoes
Then mushrooms
Then garlic
Top with more cheese

Pop it into the oven at 425 degrees (or following baking direction from the premade crust package) until mozzerella cheese puffs and turning brown.

Serve!

Barbeque Cola Chicken

6 Chicken drumsticks or boneless chicken

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cup barbeque sauce (more or less as desired)

1/2 can of coca cola

1) In a pot, boil chicken in water until it's almost cooked.

2) Drain the water out of the pot then add the minced garlic in the pot of chicken.

3) Add barbeque sauce in the pot (I used Tony Roma's)

4) Add the 1/2 can of cola and bring to a boil.

5) Reduce heat to medium and cook for about 30 minutes or until the sauce starts to thicken while drinking the leftover can of coke.

Pictured is chicken meat shredded off from the drumsticks. It's so soft that they usually just fall out of the bones. But in my case, Mr. P and lil P were just spoiled. They wanted me to take out the bones...