Sweet & Sour Pork

Sweet & Sour Pork:
2/3 C packed brown sugar
2/3 C cider vinegar (i usually opt for white vinegar since i hate the funk of the cider kind, but this time it worked out really yummy)
2/3 C ketchup
2 tsp soy sauce
1lb pork, but into small cubes
1 tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, cut into 1" cubes
2 medium carrots, sliced (we had baby carrots on hand, so they got a thick julienne instead)
1/2 tsp minced garlic (we added more, cause we like garlic)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 can 8oz pineapple chunks, drained.

In a small bowl combine brown sugar, cider vinegar, ketchup & soy sauce. Pour half into a large resealable plastic bag; add pork. Seal bag & turn to coat. Marinate in fridge for 30 mins (at least) set remaining marinade aside.

Drain & discard marinade from pork, in lg skillet cook pork in oil for 3 mins. Add onions, carrots, green pepper, garlic & ginger; saute until pork is no longer pink. Add reserved marinade. Bring to boil & cook 1 min. Stir in pineapple, serve over rice or noodles

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we had ours with rice, we also added half the pineapple juice into the remaining marinade & allowed to reduce.

also: it turned out DELICIOUS. even without the added marinade to the cooking process, the marinade on the pork alone gave it a great flavour.

Tortillas!

I made tacos & bought tortillas the other day. & of course i always make too much ground beef, so i'm left with no tortillas... so i decided (in my inebriated state at 3am) that i would make tortillas from scratch!!

super simple

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons of canola
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup of lukewarm water or milk

Directions:

Sift together the baking powder, flour, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Pour the oil into the dry ingredients, mixing with your hands to combine. Add the milk or water, working that into the dough until you have a sticky ball.

Dust a pastry board or counter lightly with flour, and knead the dough for at least 1 minute. The mixture should be firm and no longer sticky.

Place in a bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into 6 to 8 balls, and cover again with the damp cloth. Let the dough rest for 15-30 minutes this time.

Lightly dust a pastry board or counter with flour, and roll out each ball in a circle, about 1/4 inch thick. A tortilla roller (looks like a short piece of a broomstick) works best for these, but a small rolling pin will work.

Heat a heavy skillet or griddle on high heat for 5 minutes. Cook the tortillas for 30 seconds on each side, or until the dough looks slightly wrinkled and a few brown spots appear on both surfaces.

granola bars

3c - Quick Cooking Oats
1can (14 ounce) - Condensed Milk
2tbsps - butter, melted
1c - flaked coconut
1c - sliced almonds
1c - mini chocolate chips
½c - sweetened dried cranberries

Preheat Oven to 350°
Grease 9x13in pan & line with wax paper
In a lg mixing bowl, mix all ingredients until well blended.

Press evenly into pan.
Bake 20-25 mins (pending how crunchy you want them)
Light brown just around the edges gives you chewy moist bars.

Brownies

Brownies, first time I've made them from scratch.. turned out awesome & super chocolatey

• ¾ cup Butter
• 10 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped (you could use semi-sweet instead)
• 1 cup Sugar
• ¾ cup All-Purpose Flour
• ½ tsp. Baking Powder
• ¼ tsp. Salt
• ½ cup Mini Chocolate chips
• 4 Eggs
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Line a 9" square baking dish with foil, keep and overhang, (so once the bronwies are cooked, you can just pop them out to cool) and coat with cooking spray.
3. In a large (microwave safe) bowl, add chopped chocolate, and butter together. & Heat in 1 min intervals until melted.
4. Stir until smooth, and let cool to room temperature.
5. Combine sugar, flour, baking powder, & salt. Stir in mini chips. Set Aside.
6. Take the cooled chocolate & butter mixture, and beat eggs & vanilla into it.
7. Stir in the sugar/flour mix, into the chocolate & butter mix until blended
8. Spread batter in pan & bake 35-45 mins until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Tangy Sweet & Sour Sauce

This sauce is amazing. I love it. and whenever i muster up the energy for me to make a batch of [from skratch] meatballs, i make this sauce. But i've had it on rice, and i would probably eat it on chicken.

• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 3 tbsp Flour
• 1 cup Water
• ¼ cup Pineapple Sauce
• ¼ cup Rice vinegar (can use white vinegar as well, it's just slightly more tangy)
• 3 tbsp soy sauce

1. Mix all ingredients in a large frying pan
2. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes

-If you want to cook anything (meatballs, ribs, chicken pieces) in the sauce it self, put in before the full 15 minutes has run out, otherwise your sauce will wind up very thick.
-Also, if you are adding any meat to cook in the sauce, make sure it's either completely cooked or almost completely cooked.

Clam Chowder

[Just a quick note, my boyfriend is a big boy. He eats more than normal sized people. So when i cook things, I cook things in astronomical amounts.]

• 1 Whole pack of Bacon, chopped


• 2-3 Medium Onions, chopped (Red or White)


• 4 Medium-Large Potatoes, cubed


• 3 Cans of Baby Clams, Juice reserved


• 3 cups Half & Half cream


• 3 tbsp Butter

1. Fry the bacon until almost crisp


2. Add chopped onions, fry until translucent


3. Move bacon & onions to soup pot


4. Pour in Clam juice, & add chopped potatoes


5. Cook potatoes until they're fork tender (15 mins)


6. Add in half & half cream, and clams


7. Heat through.

You can either serve immidiately or allow to heat for as long as you want to combine the flavours. Do not boil the creamy mixture though.

Makes 8-10 Servings

Carrot Cake

• 1 cups, Coarsly chopped pecans/walnuts
• 2 ½ cups, Finely grated carrots
• 2 cups, Flour
• 1 tsp, Baking soda
• 1½ tsp, Baking powder
• ½ tsp, Salt
• 1½ tsp, Ground cinnamon
• 4 Eggs
• 1½ cups, White sugar
• 1 cup, Vegetable oil
• 2 tsp, Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°
   
2. Grease pans
3. Toast pecans/walnuts for 8 minutes & then chop
4. Grate carrots, set aside.
5. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt & cinnamon
6. Beat eggs until frothy (1 Min)
7. Gradually add sugar & beat until batter is thick & light coloured (3-4 mins)
8. Add oil in steady stream & beat in vanilla extract
9. Add flour & beat until just mixed.
10. With spatula fold carrots & nuts in batter.
11. Bake 30-40 Mins

(And of course, Cream Cheese frosting, 8 oz cream cheese, 1-1½ cups icing sugar, beaten until smooth, you can also include roughly a cup of shredded coconut as well)