Chicken Stir-Fry

 

Awesome as a quick weekday meal, makes excellent left-overs, just kind of a pain depending on the amount of veggie prep that you're doing. If you use some good shortcuts, you can be up and running with a few minutes prep and a few minutes cooking. And its actually kind of healthy!

All-Fruit Smoothie

My typical breakfast vacillates based on my morning schedule. When I had time in the mornings (as in school) it was Eggo waffles more or less every morning (why it's still one of my favorite food). Lacking time in the morning (such as now, with work) I seek out something quick that I can easily eat while I drive. Also for a time I didn't have a toaster handy, so I never got in any bagel habit.

For a while I had the Pancake & Sausage on a stick that Jon Stewart likes to make fun of, until they suddenly disappeared from store shelves (I actually kind of blame Jon for that). Needing a replacement, it became pop-tarts... cold.

Then I saw an episode of Good Eats where Alton made smoothies and thought, 1) that looks hella good, 2) that looks hella easy, and 3) I probably should have some like, fruit, in my diet anyway. So, a new blender, some frozen fruit and some juice, and a portable tumbler with a proper straw later - I had a tasty new breakfast.

Pork Chops

Pork chops generally kind of suck, right? Apparently they used to be these nice tender cuts of meat, until chicken caught on (for being tender and lean) and breeders started raising pigs who would be leaner as well. The result, pork chops have a proclivity to turn out try as hell at basically all times (such is why I don't care for them much). [History lesson courtesy my Good Eats book]

There is, however, a trick to putting moisture in dry meat -- brining. Give your meat an hour or two in the fridge while soaking in a brine, and it will come out a good deal moister then otherwise. The brine itself is simple too - something like 3 cups water, 1 tablespoon salt & 1 tablespoon sugar (or 4 cups water, 1/4 cup salt & 1/4 cup sugar for larger portions) - mix that up in a pyrex container or something, add your meat, and seal it up in the fridge for a 1-2 hours. Just be sure when you're done to rinse and dry the meat off before cooking.

Homemade Tortillas & Fajitas

 

So I read online that making tortillas yourself is hella easy... so let's do that.

The ingredients are deceptively simple -- masa de harina (corn flour), water, and salt. Masa itself is corn that has been treated with lime and water (not the fruit, like, chemical lime) then washed (lime is totally not edible) and ground into a flour -- you can't substitute starch or meal for it (look near the tortillas/salsa section for it, or barring that the ethnic foods section).

To actually mix the dough, the flour itself will probably have the ratio you are supposed to use on the bag -- it's going to wind up being like a 2:1 flour/water ratio (again, consult the bag or google it). Also it uses salt, nearly forgot (like a pinch, like all doughs).