Cooking School...

Our 18 year old son is planning to attend college in Arizona this fall and will not have access to a campus cafeteria or meal ticket, so I have been trying to teach him a few simple meals so as to feed himself while he's away.  I did this with all the kids before they left home and most of them can fend for themselves pretty well.  By the end of "Cooking School" each of our kids left home with a small recipe book of his/her favorite meals to cook.   Last night we had Cooking School after I had been gone all day to town. The guys wanted "Chinese" so J. and I whipped up a simple Broccoli - Beef Stir Fry in approximately 30 minutes. We used about a pound of beef steak (cheap cut) sliced thin, frozen broccoli, sliced onions, and some chopped garlic, salt & pepper. We stir-fried the veggies first (except garlic which tends to burn), removed from the skillet, then stir fried the beef in a little more oil. Added it all back to the pan with the garlic and heated through. We poured on our favorite teriyaki sauce, Veri Veri Teriyaki,  and heated through. We  served it over instant brown rice but you could use white rice or angel hair pasta. 

Other recipes we have made in Cooking School:

Creamy Sausage Stew

1 lb. kielbasa (or other sausage), chopped
2-3 lbs potatoes (approx)chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, thyme, dried parsley (according to taste, may delete but better with these herbs)
1 pint cream

In oven proof skillet, add oil and toss all ingredients together except cream. Put into a 400 degree oven to roast for about 30-40 minutes or until tender. Lastly, add cream and stir. Return to oven until sauce is thickened and bubbles. Serve from the skillet. (This is one of my family's favorites and it's easy to make)

Mandarin Chicken

1-2 lbs chicken (may use breast, thighs, wings, etc)
Salt & pepper
2-3 T. oil
Sliced onions
Fry chicken & onions in skillet until nicely browned. Pour sauce over chicken to complete cooking.

Sauce:
6 T. honey
2 T Hoisen sauce (or fish sauce)
4 t. soy sauce
1/3 c. lemon juice
3 T vinegar
4 t. oil.
Mix in small bowl and pour over chicken. Simmer until sauce is thick and sticky and chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice or eat as-is along with a salad or veggie.

J. knows how to make a grilled cheese sandwich, grill burgers and make spaghetti so those count too, don't they? I only wish he liked eggs. He could cook omlets with Julia Child (or Meryl Streep) below!





"Man cannot live on bread alone, nor beer bread, nor beer and bread!"
~Jody