Gyoza, aka Pot-stickers

As I've said before, my parents lived in Japan for a while so we ate a number of Japanese meals in our house on a pretty regular basis. Gyoza is one of our favorite treats that we didn't get so regularly. They are pretty involved but worth every second.

Gyoza
Ingredients:

• Wonton wraps
• 1/2 - 3/4 lb ground Pork
• 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce, more to taste
  
• 1 c. scallions, chopped
• 1 c. cilantro, chopped
• 1 Tbsp ginger, grated or minced
• Pepper, dash to taste
  
• Garlic Salt, dash to taste
  
• Vegetable oil

Cooking Directions:
(Set up: One cup with a little water. Two fry pans, one with vegetable oil. Another with a little water and a lid to cover it)

1. Brown the pork, drain liquid. In large bowl, mix in all ingredients except wonton wraps and vegetable oil. Set aside.
   
2. Cut wonton wraps into circles. The best way to do this is by place a cup upside-down on a few wraps and cutting around the edges to make a circle.
3. Place a spoonful of pork mixture in the middle of wonton wrap.
4. Using your finger, use water to slightly wet one side of the wonton wrap, this helps the two sides of the wonton stick together.
5. Fold the wonton wrap so that it makes a semi-circle. Fold small creases along the top edge and press with finger to close two sides together.
6. Heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add a few gyoza to the pan.
   
7. Fry on each side until golden.
8. Heat water in a simmer, transfer gyoza to fry pan with water and cover until gyoza are slightly softened. *This step is optional if you would like them crunchy*
9. Eat and enjoy, dip in extra soy sauce.
   

Become an organized cook- Step 3

By now you should have your list of meals divided into categories, right?

Step Three

Assign the categories to days of the week. For example:

• Sunday: From Any category
• Monday: Soups, Salad, or Sandwich
• Tuesday: Italian or other
• Wednesday: Asian or Mexican

You get the idea.

Chicken and Rice Soup

I have tried a number of chicken and rice soups. This one has been our families favorite. Cumin, cilantro, and oregano give it a different flavor than a chicken broth based soup.

Its perfect with left over rice and relatively easy for a soup.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Rice Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 c. shredded or cubed chicken
• 1/2 to 1 c. rice, cooked, any kind (wild rice mix is great in this soup)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 c. cilantro, chopped
• 6-8 c. chicken broth
• 1 Tbsp cumin, more for taste
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 3 tsp oregano
• Dash Crushed red pepper, optional for spice

Cooking Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to boil then simmer on low for about 20 minutes.

And the Winner is...

Miranda

Congratulations!

*Please email me at adoxeymeals@gmail.com to make arrangements

Give Away

I decided it is time to have a give-away on my blog and what a better to day to share the love, right? I will be giving away...

One custom three-month menu calendar with the corresponding shopping lists

If you would like to enter, please leave a comment with your name and the type of cook you are; spur of the moment, what ever is in your pantry, do you purchase the same things every week and make the same things, plan weekly, plan at the grocery store, or completely organized?

You can receive extra entries if you

• Post this on your blog
• Share a link on facebook

just comment with a link to your post.

*The winner will be announced on Tuesday, Feb 21.

Crafty Sprinkles

Some holidays I make a variety of treats, some easy and some difficult.
This year our Valentine's Day is looking pretty basic. Frosted sugar cookies and cupcakes.
Here's a little tip to fancy up the basic.

Place a cookie cutter on the frosted cookie or cupcake and fill with sprinkles. Remove cookie cutter. Easy and just a bit more festive.

Become an organized cook- Step 2

So now you should have a list of all the meals you make and rotate through.

Step Two
-Divide your meals into different categories.

For example, I divide my meals into these categories:

• Soups
• Salads
• Sandwich
• Chicken
• Mexican
• Asian
• Italian
• Other meats
  

Peanut Butter Bon Bons

These might just be the perfect treat to give to someone you love this Valentine season.
The best part is this makes a ton so you can throw a bag of them in the freezer and have one, or two, or more for the yourself the rest of the month.

I think they taste like Recess if you use milk chocolate.

Peanut Butter Bon Bons
Ingredients

• 1 stick butter
• 3 cups peanut butter
• 1 lb powdered sugar
• 1 medium box (12 oz) Rice Krispies,
  
• Chocolate to dip, can use almond bark, chocolate chips with shortening, candy melts, etc.

Cooking Directions
Melt butter in large sauce pan. Add peanut butter and sugar until well blended. Remove from heat. Stir in Rice Krispies- this will be difficult so you may need to use your hands. Roll into small balls. Set on cookie sheet lines with wax paper and freeze about an hour.

Melt chocolate. Dip balls into chocolate using a fork so the excess chocolate drips through. Place back on cold cookie sheet until dry.

Optional: Drizzle chocolate on top using fork.

Become an organized cook- Step 1

I've had many inquires as to how I go about making my three-month calendar. I think I'm a pretty good cook, I like all my food but more importantly, my family and husband like it too. But a lot of people are good cooks. My strong point is the organized part. The whole point of me starting this blog was to help others become more organized with meal planning. I know a lot of people really dislike doing this.

So over the next month or so I'm going to give you tips or steps to follow to creating a meal plan. Once you get the hang of it, its actually quite easy.

First step:

• Write down a list of all the meals your family enjoys eating. The ones you cook regularly, and the ones you might not use so regularly. Don't include any that you want to try or that you haven't cooked by yourself.