For the chef or chef to be

Last Summer, while strolling through Portland's Saturday market I came across Cuisine Mentor.

Their concept is brilliant - create ethnic cooking kits which are basically a spice kit with the perfect combination of spices to make authentic international delicacies. The kit comes with a variety of recipes, so you have a choice in how you will use the spice. Also perfect for getting motivation to try something new or to answer that age old groan of planning dinner.

The website doesn't give justice to the well designed packaging - but its pretty enough to give as a gift for the chef or chef in the making.

I've already made Indian Tandoori chicken and a Moroccan dish and they turned out delicious. Looking forward to make some Native American stew one of these cold winter evenings.

Bacon Jerky

Bacon Jerky is delicious and everyone should try it sometime in their life. I had the delight this past weekend while at the Holiday Bazaar at the Expo. Bacon Forever was the vendor. Absolute delight - and worthy of a gift for bacon lovers. I also loved their bacon gear for babies.

And if you're coming to the Christmas Sweater party... just a hint, a little bacon jerky may be included in the winning prize for the most audacious sweater.

Chiles, Cilantro & Monterey Jack Cheese

Monday: Slow Cooker Layered Enchiladas (30 minute prep - you can brown the beef the night before, then in the morning before heading out for work set-up the crockpot - 5 hour total)

Tuesday: Chili Chicken Soup with Cilantro Dumplings (20 minute prep, 40 minutes total)

Leftover Wednesday - eat leftovers from previous meals or make something using ingredients you already have on hand

Thursday: Chile, Potato & Cheese Omelet (25 minutes)

Shopping list:

1 lb ground beef
4 eggs
3/4 cup frozen potatoes or diced cooked potatoes
chicken breasts
2 onions
1 jalapeno chile
5 cups chicken broth

Bisquick

garlic
4 scallions
1 can (10.75 oz) condensced cream of mushroom
2 cans (4.5 oz) green chilies
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce
corn tortillas
Monterey Jack cheese
cilantro
salsa

*Shopping list does not include ingredients like spices or oils. Check the recipe for the complete list of necessary ingredients for these recipes.

Preview: Weekly Meal Planning

Life is busy - and after a long day of work scrambling to figure out what to make for dinner can be draining. We often opt for our regulars, which is great, but the palate does get bored.

Therefore, I am starting a series on weekly meal planning, which is really just sharing what I already do on a weekly basis and making it available as a resource to simplify the wonderful world of meal planning for busy people. Although in future weeks the plans will be fuller (4-5 days worth), this week is a preview, and is for 2 days. Enjoy!

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Rotisserie chicken tonight, Mexican hominy soup tomorrow!

Buy a rotisserie chicken on your way home from work, pair it with some mashed potatoes and veggies (or whatever else you need to get eaten from your pantry). Save the leftover chicken for the next day.

Tomorrow, make it a holiday with this quick, 30 minute easy soup recipe. Serve with tortilla chips or make your own cumin-lime tortilla chips.

Shopping List:

• Rotisseri chicken
• 1 jalapeño pepper
• 1 can (15.5 oz) hominy
• radishes (1/2 cup) (This week at Fred Meyer 2 bunches for $1)
• cilantro
• lime
• tortilla chips

* The shopping list does not include staples that I assume are already in your pantry - including spices, peppers, oils, etc. Check the recipe to make sure you have the basics on hand.

Most Elegant Gingerbread House

This is the most elegant gingerbread house I have ever seen. Also looks like the most difficult one to make. I'm definitely not at this level - nor will be anytime soon, but I can still admire it. If you're incredibly patient and artistically talented, detailed instructions are here. If you want to have a baking party and invite me - I will watch you do it with complete awe and admiration.

If you admire a well designed gingerbread house and would like to check it off your "things to do before I get too old" list, but can't get the guts to try it on your own, Sur La Table in Portland is hosting a Gingerbread Decorating Party on December 12th. Although the point is to let the sweet tooth in you have the time of its life, with the help of guided professionals and all the right tools at your fingertips, your gingerbread house might turn out to be something admirable too.

Thai Beef Stir Fry

David and I LOVE Thai food. We could probably eat Pad Thai and Drunken Noodles everyday and not get sick of them. We finally had a chance to try making our own Thai deliciousness: Beef Stir Fry. Well, David actually made it. I took the pictures.

I came home from work to witness these freshly chopped veggies - peppers, carrots, garlic, and bamboo shoots. The curiosity got the best of me and not realizing what it was, I grabbed a bamboo shoot to taste. Let's just say bamboo shoots taste a lot better once they're cooked.

The sauce smelled so good, and so peanuty!

Action shot!

We were so excited to eat the stir-fry that we forgot to take a final shot.

For the recipe: Thai Beef Stir Fry

Festive Veggie Platters

Who said Veggie platters couldn't get their party on?

I love my veggies and if they can double as a creative decorative piece along with the nutritional value, I'm all over it. My only apprehension though, if you saw a veggie display this fun, would you be tempted to eat it or feel guilty to even touch it? I can't say for sure for myself.

If you're interested in making one of these fabulous crudite masterpieces, instructions can be found for the top one here and the bottom one here.

Thanks Apartment Therapy for sharing these awesome creative crudites.

Leftover Turkey Finds a Way

After all the delightful feasting, if you made the turkey, you're probably also going to get stuck with a bit of turkey leftovers. What do you do with these leftovers without it feeling like you're eating leftover turkey for weeks? Turkey sandwich, step-aside!

Creamy turkey pot pies are the new cool kids in town. Okay, I admit, when I first heard of chicken pot pies or turkey pot pies, I was kinda grossed out. Can chicken and pie be in the same sentence? It was a weird concept. Then I tried a piece and absolutely fell in love! I couldn't wait to make my own.

What is great about chicken/turkey pot pies is that they let you use the entire chicken. So this week, you might have turkey leftovers, but this also works amazing with leftover rotisserie chicken. I've always been kinda apprehensive about buying rotisserie chicken because we always have too much left over and don't quite know what to do with it. This was a wonderful solution.

What are your favorite ways to finish that left-over turkey?

Thanksgiving: What to Make?

The week leading up to Thanksgiving is always exciting - this weekend was extra exciting for me because my husband conspired a little early birthday surprise for me. It was my first time flying since I was a toddler - flying over the many vineyards in Dundee was breathtaking.

But now its time to figure out what I'm going to make to the several Thanksgiving feasts that await. I have narrowed down to a couple different options:

Betty Crocker's Impossibly Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake OR the almost perfect scoring Pumpkin Bars OR the perfect scoring Pecan Pie Bars (not pictured)?

With 3 upcoming feasts, I just might make them all...

Love: European Food Store

Through a random series of events, I stumbled upon a shopping area in Tigard that I have blindly driven by many times, and found none other than Anna’s European Foods! This was a most excellent discovery because, thus far, since we’ve lived in Tigard, I had not seen any European food stores. I knew there were a handful in Beaverton, but none that were as conveniently located as they were in Portland, on every major street.

Now my need for pelmeni, vareniki, and Russian meats will be fulfilled. I was starting to get worried, and even cranky at the thought of not having Russian food so conveniently close by. Now I can enjoy all of my favorites at a moments notice, plus they serve hot food too, for those lazy kind of days.

Mmm.. I think you can figure out what I am going to have for lunch today.

Of course, I will be eating these pelmeni with sour cream and while eating, listening to this song: Na Zdarovya!