Inspirational Food

Lately I have been trying to cook out of the More With Less cookbook in order to eat more healthy, and save money. It hasn't been long enough to know if we are saving money, but I know that I am feeling better about how we as a family spend our grocery budget. And I feel better about what is going into our systems.

A while back I wrote about some delicious chow mein that I made that just got better the longer it sat in the fridge. And then last week I made Indian Chicken that got rave reviews from Derek, who is something of a picky eater. The More With Less cookbook has been wonderful the last few weeks in satisfying my desire for spicy curry and savory chinese, and satisfying the rest of the family's criteria for "edible food".

So here are the two biggest hits so far:

Indian Chicken(p186)
(I halved the recipe and still had lots leftover)

Heat in large skillet:
2T margarine
2T veg oil

Flour and fry until browned
1 3lb fryer, cut up
(I used leftover oven roasted chicken)

Remove from skillet and place in casserole dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In remaining fat, saute until golden
2 med onions, chopped

Combine and add to onions, stirring to blend well:
3T flour
2T curry powder
1t ground ginger
2t salt

Combine and add to onion mixture:
1/3 C honey
1/4 C soy sauce
3C chicken broth or bouillon

Cook over high heat, stirring until sauce thickens. Pour sauce over chicken and bake, covered, about an hour.
Options:
Add 3-4C cooked drained chick-peas to casserole before adding sauce

Serve over rice.


Chow Mein(p.133)

Prepare and have ready:
1 lb pork, beef, chicken or shrimp cut in thin slices (again I used leftover oven roasted chicken)
3C celery sliced diagonally into long, thin sticks
2C onions, sliced
3/4C mushrooms fresh or canned
3C fresh bean sprouts

Combine in a small bowl and set aside:
1T fresh ginger grated or chopped
(or 1/4 t powdered ginger)
1t sugar
3T cornstarch
5T soy sauce
3/4 C soup stock or reconstituted bouillon

Heat in a large skillet
1T oil

Add meat and stir-fry just until done (mine was already done so I immediately put it in a separate pan and started with the vegetables). In a separate skillet, stir-fry in 1T oil each vegetable just until slightly cooked. Add each vegetable to meat skillet after stir-frying. Just before serving, reheat meat mixture and add sauce. Cook just until sauce thickens and clears. Serve hot with rice.