Chinese Chicken Fried Rice

I actually have been cooking quite a bit (for me!) over the past month, just not new stuff. I ran across this recipe under the "Dinner In An Instant" tab on Allrecipes.com. I made a few adjustments and here is the recipe I came up with for supper tonight.



Chinese Chicken Fried Rice


Table of Contents:

- 1 Tbsp. EVOO
- 1 onion, diced
- 6 oz. cooked chicken chunks (from the freezer from bulk cooking day!)
- 2 cups cold rice (I used instant brown rice)
- red pepper, diced
- frozen peas, thawed
- 2 Tbsp. soy sauce (I used reduced sodium)
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp. water
- salt, pepper to taste
- cashews or peanuts

How To:
In large skillet saute onion in EVOO over medium heat until golden brown; add chicken and stir until warmed. Add rice, diced pepper, soy sauce, and peas - stir fry together for about 5 minutes. Beat egg with water; push rice mixture to sides of skillet and pour egg in middle. When egg starts to set, stir into rice mixture and continue stir frying until egg is done. Season to taste. Stir in nuts, if desired.

The Outcome:
From start to finish, this took about 20 minutes to prepare. I did not have any leftover cold rice, so I just cooked a batch and then rinsed with cold water. The original recipe and several of the recipe comments stressed rice must be cold. My guess is it would be a sticky mess if used hot.

Every time I make something new, I am already thinking ahead to what I would do differently next time. This recipe was no exception. It was very good, but next time I think I would add a little chicken broth for richer flavor and also add some water chestnuts because I like the crunch of them. Also, I used some honey roasted peanuts, because that is what I had. Next time I would use cashews, or maybe just save the fat grams and not use nuts at all.


Overall, a pretty tasty dish in very little time!

Icing On the Cake

No, I haven't been baking!

Today is Saturday and we got up at the crack of 0730 to tackle a huge item on the task list out in the garden. Our plan was to go to the free wood chip pile at the park and start scooping it into our pick-up. I'm not sure why, but before we left, I decided to just give the garden center a call and find out if they had bulk mulch. They said they did so I asked the cost. (Insert "gasp" here.) Although it is cheaper than buying multiple bags of the pre-packaged stuff, it still was a bit pricey. We discussed the pros and cons of going to the park versus buying some. We like FREE from the park, but you don't know if those wood chips are from diseased trees or what else you might be dragging into your yard. Add that to the fact that it was already close to 80 degrees with humidity above 90%.

We finally decided to just bite the bullet and buy some. While I was getting ready to go, this light bulb popped on in my head and off to my catch-all drawer in the bedroom I ran. My reward - a very old gift certificate to the garden center!!! We received it as a wedding gift and I had totally forgotten about it. It said it was good for one year from the date issued, so that makes it over 5 years old. But I remembered my son-in-law, the government guru, once saying something about gift certificates not expiring in Kansas by law.

Off to the garden center we went with our gift certificate clutched in my hot little hand. After talking with the nice guys there about the mulch and figuring out how much we would need, I asked if they would still honor the gift certificate. I held my breath, waiting for the answer. They said they would!!! We ended up paying only $10 for two heaping pick-up loads of beautiful hardwood mulch. I think I heard angels singing.

The Drummer Guy ferried it from the truck to the backyard by wheelbarrow and I spread it out. It was just fabulous mulch - dark, and finely shredded with no big chunks like you frequently get in the bagged stuff. It also smelled heavenly! (Yes, I know I am a garden geek! But just for the record the Drummer Guy said it smelled good, too.) And it makes the garden beds look so gorgeous, the plants just pop against the rich, brown backdrop.

The temperature and humidity both were climbing as we continued the work. We were both drenched in sweat when we finished, but it was so worth it. Although there is still much work to be done, the garden is looking better than it ever has. But the mulch - definitely the icing on the cake!!

Below are some pictures of the fruits of our labors.