Sweet and Sour Shrimp (with store bought seasoning)

I've posted about my love of Sun Bird products in previous blog entries. As much as love Chinese food, I am in the majority of everyone I've spoken with at least that we hate to 'make' it. It takes a lot of ingredients, cooked at a high heat, very quickly. When you are fixing dinner while talking on the phone to the local PTA, signing school field trip permission forms, answering your husband on where his blue t-shirt is, telling another child to go feed the cats and watching your cellphone ring at the same time... well, many times your mind isn't on the preparation of the Chinese food! I've forgotten to add an ingredient (sugar), I've accidently almost burned the sauce, I've forgotten to put pea's in the fried rice... multi-tasking and Chinese food preparation don't really go hand in hand.

So! My love of Sun Bird products was born. A packaged seasoning mix you'll find in your grocery store in either the ethnic food section or where they have the rest of the packaged mixes. I can personally vouch for the Beef and Broccoli, the Orange Beef (which we only make with chicken!) and the Fried Rice is my all-time-favorite and the ONLY kind of homemade fried rice I will eat. This week I tried the Sweet N Sour Pork - but since I'm not a huge fan of pork I decided to adapt it to shrimp.

We also don't care for pineapple in our family so my second 'tweak' was that I used the juice from a can of mandarin oranges in place of the pineapple. It was a hit! Our pineapple hating family loved it.


Sweet and Sour Shrimp

1 package Sun Bird sweet and sour pork seasoning
1 onion
1 green pepper
1/2 red pepper
1 carrot
1 lbs. raw peeled and deveined shrimp
2 t soy sauce
water
2 T oil
*substitute the juice from 1-2 small cans of mandarin oranges for the pineapple

Follow the directions on the package for mixing the sauce. Follow directions but substitute 1 lb. shrimp for the pork and only cook it for about 1-2 minutes or it will get tough. When you add the shrimp back in to the vegetables (per package directions) only cook it for another 2-3 minutes until the shrimp is just cooked. Again, it will be tough and chewy if over cooked.

Cooking the vegetables

This is what the package looks like
and when the sauce is mixed using mandarin
orange juice instead of pineapple pieces

Sweet and Sour Shrimp
using a 'pork' seasoning mix

I serve with brown rice and fried rice.
Delicious!

Another Birthday... Another Cake! A Ho Ho Chocolate Cake with White Filling

Last year for my sons birthday I made him a Ho Ho Cake that was incredibly delicious (and I know 2 readers also made it and let me know how much they loved it!). Well this year I made a similar cake, but used a different filling. I LOVE this filling. Bookmark it. Print it. Copy it down.

It's a fun cake and tastes so much like Hostess snack cake - only more moist!

My schedule was so crazy this week that I used a box mix for the 2 chocolate cakes. Don't feel guilty if you do - they were wonderful!


2 - 8" chocolate cakes, cooked and cooled

White Filling:

1 c Crisco
1 c butter
4 c powdered sugar
4 t vanilla
3/4 c marshmallow creme (in the little glass jars or plastic tubs)

Cream the Crisco and butter. Add the sugar gradually and then the vanilla and marshmallow. Beat well until it looks like whipped cream (up to 7-10 minutes!)


Spoon and spread filling between the layers and microwave a tub of chocolate frosting until it's just warm - not liquid like water, but more like lava from a volcano. You want it to slowly run down the sides of the cake and harden at mid-level, not run all the way down and pool at the bottom!


Chill or freeze and serve!

Chocolate Nanaimo Bars

Growing up in the midwest of the US I had never heard of Nanaimo bars. I first learned of them when I became friends with someone from Canada in 1999. She loved them and said they were especially popular around Christmas time. I searched for a few recipes to do comparisons (I never follow recipes to a tee, I always use about 3 or 4 similar and then make my own versions by tweaking them.) My friend then surprised me by sending me a box mix from Canada. They were delicious! Even from a box! Thus, started my love of Nanaimo Bars.

This version is a chocolate mint version - not an official traditional Nanaimo, but good never-the-less!


Chocolate Mint Nanaimo Bars
From: Company’s Coming; 150 Delicious Squares

Bottom Layer
½ cup butter or margarine
5 Tbsp cocoa
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, beaten lightly
2 cups graham wafer crumbs (about 24 wafers)
½ cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1 cup unsweetened coconut

Combine butter, cocoa and sugar in saucepan; bring slowly to boil. Stir in egg, just to thicken; remove pan from heat. Add crumbs, nuts and coconut and pack very firmly into greased 9” x 9” pan. Chill.

Second Layer
¼ cup butter or margarine, softened
3 Tbsp milk or cream
1 tsp peppermint flavoring
2 cups icing sugar
green food coloring.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well, adding a few drops more liquid if needed for easy spreading. Tint a light green. Spread over first layer. Chill.

Third Layer
2/3 cup chocolate chips
2 Tbsp butter or margarine
Melt chocolate and butter in saucepan over low heat or over hot water.
Cool to lukewarm, beating occasionally.
Spread over second layer. Cut into squares before chocolate glaze hardens.
Chill and store in frig.

NOTE: These keep well and freeze well.

Bacon Wrapped Porkchops

A lot of people don't eat pork chops anymore because they say they have little flavor and the meat is a dried out piece of shoe rubber. Part of that reason is that we struggle to use the recipes we know and loved as a child that were handed down by our mothers or grandmothers. However we can't! Why? Because pork is very different today than it was then. It's bred to be leaner, so less fat means less flavor, but also, the meat cooks much faster. The recipes that called for your chop to be cooked for 40 minutes now can be cooked in almost half that time, 40 minutes for a boneless chop will result in a dried out piece of leather.

This bacon wrapped pork chop not only adds moisture and protection to the meat but imparts a delicious flavor!






4-6 pork chops (boneless)
8-12 strips of bacon
Fresh cracked Pepper
Salt
Any herb mixture you like (Emeril, Montreal, Penzey's, a BBQ rub, etc. whatever your family likes!)


Wrap the bacon around the pork chop to cover.  If they are thinner you can use 1 slice, but nice big thick chops might take 2 to cover. Grill or bake. When you bake them at 400 it takes about 30 minutes but then you'll want to broil the chops about 4 inches from the broiler until the crisp and turn golden. If you grill them they will be done when your bacon is done!


Thanks to reader "Nick" for his comments on this recipe;

"The pork chops were spectacular! I was extremely excited to see that they were not dried out as per the norm when I cook. The kids loved them too!"










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Multi Colored Cole Slaw

Such a wonderful summer side dish! I had both green and purple cabbage in the refrigerator that I wanted to use up and also happened to have some carrots leftover from my Dads garden that he had brought me (along with the green cabbage!). Perfect for cole slaw!

When it sets overnight it turns a crazy shade of purple... might be a perfect side dish for those hosting a football or basketball party for a purple colored team such as the Vikings or Lakers!





Multi Colored Cole Slaw
1/2 batch makes about 6 servings

2 c fine chopped green cabbage
2 c fine chopped purple cabbage
1 shredded carrot
1/6 c sugar
1/8 c buttermilk
1/4 t salt
1/4 c mayonnaise
3/4 T vinegar
1 1/2 T lemon juice
dash of pepper
1/8 c milk

Combine the cabbage and carrots in a bowl. Combine the rest of the ingredients. Mix and chill at least 2 hours before serving. Will be dry at first but will turn creamy as it sets.