Cooking and Blogging...

Baking isn't happening so much... although I did manage to make scones for breakfast... barely. Yesterday we ate dinner at 6:30. I turned up the oven and popped some blueberry scones in just as I took out our baked pasta. We ate a quick dinner, while feeding the kiddo, and rushed to church (in time to catch a few hymns!). I really was listening to the service, but something Steve said made me think of breakfast, and then the scones, which were still in the oven. I jumped up from my seat, ran into the nursery where Thomas was with Eden, exclaiming I was rushing home to make sure our house wasn't on fire. The time on the car clock read 7:36 as I hurriedly dialed a neighbor. I was about 7 minutes away and figured a lot of cute baby clothes could burn up in that amount of time (seriously?! baby clothing is what I thought of). She called me back moments later saying everything looked fine and not to rush, scones would just dry out and blacken anyway. I was still thinking there would at least be a lot of smoke and a smelly oven waiting for me, but everything seemed ok.
And you know why?
The silly oven wasn't even turned on. That's right. I turned it off. They were half-baked because of the pre-heating. I managed to salvage them- probably shouldn't have. Who knows what health risks there are when one eats dough that was partially raw and warm for an hour, but meh, I'm already ill.
So there was that baking. And Thomas happily watched Eden a few hours this past weekend so I could make him cookies.


But there's mostly just been cooking. I've promised a few friends that I would start posting the dinners I make for Thomas and me. I've aim for quick, healthy, and cheap recipes (in that order) and am finding a lot through Cooking Light's 20 minute meals.

The following recipe gets Two Thumbs Up (one from Thomas and one from Katie). The sauce is pretty strong, but a good compliment to the shrimp. I served it over basamati rice cooked in chicken broth. It met the criteria of being healthy and quick, but isn't so cheap because of the shrimp and ginger (I bought bottled prepared ginger because it was faster). I'm pretty weary of cooking shrimp and found this to be super easy.
It made enough for our dinner and Thomas' lunch- so probably about 4 normal servings. Enjoy!

Shrimp and Broccoli Stir Fry

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
• 1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups small broccoli florets
• 1 cup vertically sliced onion

Preparation

Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Heat 2 teaspoons canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger and garlic to pan; stir-fry 30 seconds. Sprinkle shrimp with salt. Add shrimp to pan, and stir-fry 3 minutes or until done. Remove shrimp mixture from the pan.

Add remaining 1 teaspoon canola oil to pan. Add broccoli and onion to pan; stir-fry 4 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender. Add shrimp mixture and broth mixture to pan; cook 1 minute or until thickened, stirring constantly.