#newlywedkitchen

[themelshowfoodiefuel-blog]

Greetings from my new project!

As many of you know Andrew and I recently moved into our new home! It is truly wonderful to finally have moved in but a girl could really use a hobby! 

I thought to myself, what do I truly enjoy? I decided to start a blog about something I am truly passionate about.. FOOD! lol In all seriousness my love for cooking started when I was a kid. My grandmother and mother would let me run wild in the kitchen. Mixing and creating things on my own, luckily I didn't burn the house down :) Cooking and creating meals for me is more than just “getting it done” the whole process of cooking is therapeutic. I do not think about anything else other than cooking when I'm in the process, some people feel that way about working out.. I don’t lol. 

Another great reason I decided to start this blog is to actually remember my recipes. I’m the type of cook that basically just throws “a little bit of this, a little bit of that, hmm this looks good lets throw that in there” but then a few months down the road I think to myself “Oh God how did I make that again? I hope I'm not missing any ingredients.”

and last but not least, to share with all of you! I have received several private messages asking for my recepies and now they will be here at your finger tips! 

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Free Hugs

Definitely underestimated the hugs chickens can give.

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Better Than Take-out

Short for time? No problem! Our hometowns made it easy to dial and get the warm luscious delivery of Chinese take-out! We craved a tasty comfort food that would keep our bellies full and satisfied. In the states we would simply order Chinese take-out from one of many great locations, and have a wonderful meal within minutes. We opted to create rather than place a call. Our Orange Chicken with white rice were inspired by using tips from Laura Vitale from Laura in the Kitchen. 

Using her recipe, we accomplished one of our favorite Chinese inspired dishes. Not all was a success though. Due to the limitations of our cookware, we had to make two separate batches, one better than the other. We advise that you use a large Wok or Skillet to cook all of your chicken evenly, and at once. It will also help the glaze thicken correctly. 

To get started, we prepped the chicken by coating it with white egg wash and corn flour. Though the recipe calls for corn starch, we could only find corn flour at our local Tesco. We fried the chicken in vegetable oil until it was golden brown on both sides, and cooked through. We added minced ginger and garlic to our chicken for flavor. 

In the mean time, we prepped our glaze using a combination of orange juice, orange zest, brown sugar, soy sauce, and cider vinegar. 

We poured the sauce mixture into our chicken and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. We added additional corn flour and water mix to the gaze for further thickening. After a few more minutes of cooking, our glaze thickened into the sweet savory sauce we have come to enjoy. 

We also made white fluffy long grain rice to complete our meal. We boiled the rice to perfection, and added spring onions as a garnish. 

The entire meal was better than take out. Within minutes, we were in a food coma, and had no desire to cook the enormous amount of dishes that piled in the creation of this meal. I guess take out would have been easier, but not nearly as fun to make. 

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Sloppy meeting you Joe

Mid period bell rang, halls crowded, and queuing began. The trays of the cafeteria filled with half baked fries and one mountain sandwich, The Sloppy Joe. Today we craved for the incredibly messy, ever so tasty American classic. We had a few obstacles pop up when creating what seemed to be an easy step-by-step recipe.  We had a slight power outage, but after our apartment maintenance msn worked his magic, we were able to get started. We took 1 lb of 10% fat ground beef seasoned with onion, red and green peppers, garlic, and that dynamic duo of salt & pepper. 

After 10-15 minutes, we added a cup of ketchup, water, and mustard, and let it simmer till we got that famous texture. 

All in all, this definitely brought back childhood memories of having Sloppy Joe’s. Lesson learned? It can get messy!!

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When faced with a bag of lemons.......

So Sayira should be banned from Pinterest. Since we arrived, various Pin boards have served as our pathway for new recipes to cook. On the good side, we got to try a delicious meal like Lemon Chicken and Pesto Chicken Bake

(pre-oven lemon chicken)

It is pretty simple to make. We sauteed chopped onions and garlic in olive oil. We added lemon juice, lemon zest, herbs, salt, and pepper. After the sauce simmered, we coated the chicken breast and then laid them in our pan. We roasted the chicken with potatoes, and then coated the pan with our sauce. 

Similarly, we substituted a few elements to make our Pesto Chicken the following night. Our seasoning consisted of a bottom base with elements herbs, chopped onions, garlic, salt and pepper. After we coated the baking tray with the sauce and placed the chickens on top, we began to glaze with store bought pesto from our local Tesco

(pre-oven pesto chicken bake)

In an effort to bite into a different texture then our Lemon chicken dish we opted for a cheesy crunch approach. We proceeded by adding bread crumbs and mozzarella cheese to our pesto. It was definitely a delight to a spontaneous thought.

(post-oven Pesto Chicken Bake)

(Lemon Chicken plating)

After about 40 minutes, we had cooked two of our best dishes two nights in a row ! It had just the right amount of zesty flavor. Lets just say we didn't have to any left overs to spare.