Lao Style Egg Rolls

Egg Rolls are a childhood favorite of mine.
My children enjoy them also.
We eat them "plain" or in lettuce wraps.

I originally posted this Egg Roll "method" here. It's not really a recipe because I tend to make my Egg Rolls with whatever is on hand. This time around I threw in 1/3 cup of black fungus, that was soaked in water and rinsed well. I do prefer pork in my egg rolls, but I don't mind doing half

 pork and turkey or chicken. I feel beef is a little over powering.

There is a recipe for Vietnamese Rice Paper Egg Rolls-  Chả Giò HERE.

Golden brown goodness: Egg Rolls

Give Peas A Chance - Matzo Ball Soup

Happy Manic Monday!!! One of my favorite soups is Matzo Ball soup. My sweet friend, who's birthday is coming up shortly taught this way not Jewish girl how to make this. Every time I make this it reminds me of my bestie. I love how food is not just nourishment, it's also memories, relationships built, relationships nurtured. I understand the eat to live, live to eat thing. I do. But I also understand that food is so much more than that, and can be so much more than that in a healthy way.

Green Chile Corn Chowder

I'm not sure I've ever made Corn Chowder before. This chowder was quite the gamble for me. It has both potatoes and corn kernels in it. I've tried to stay away from anything with corn kernels because the children don't really like just kernels, but they love corn on the cob. It's only recently that they have been eating potatoes (white/yellow) also. Unless it was fries/chips, mashed and drenched in gravy, or butter stewed they weren't too interested in potatoes. They love my Best Baked Potatoes now, and will eat oven roasted potatoes if they are seasoned well and crisp on the outside. I just never make a big deal about foods that don't have much nutritional value, and while white potatoes have some, they really are just starch. That, and I'm not a fan of potatoes either. Whoa... life story there. Sorry. Moving on. This chowder is just a little spicy, it's easy to make, even my children ate it! I can't say they loved it and asked for seconds, but potatoes and corn kernels you know? The bacon helped :P 

I wish I had fresh Hatch Chiles here but I don't. Last year I found some locally. No such luck this year, and I'm not sure I want to order online yet. Who knows. I may cave. As per the notes below use your favorite chiles. I found Hatch Chiles canned.
Make this chowder for those cool Fall and Winter nights that are coming quickly! It's a quick weeknight meal.

Curry Meatballs and Mashed Cauliflower

 These meatballs are so simple. They freeze so well also. I made them one night on a fluke really. I was going to make meatloaf and I didn't have any tomatoes to make tomato sauce, and I didn't have canned tomatoes. So I decided to make meatballs instead. Because these are Whole30 meatballs, they don't have any grain- you can always add breadcrumbs to them if you would like. This is not spicy, I love spicy hot food but the girls don't eat that spicy.

I served them with Basil Mashed Cauliflower and steamed broccoli. They would be excellent over rice though.

More GPAC on ChowStalker.
 Find me on ChowStalker.

 Click here for more Whole30 posts.

Taco Salad (Love Abounds Mexican Seasoning)

Taco Salad

Everyone likes taco salad here so it's a great go to meal. I don't even have to remember to thaw the meat or go buy meat. We like taco salad with either ground beef or ground turkey. There are very few things I like with ground turkey... actually maybe two things tacos and turkey burgers- if done right.  I don't mine turkey in meatloaf as long as it's with a mixture with some pork in there somewhere. OK talk about a tangent.
If I don't remember to thaw ground meat for taco meat I just put it in a hot pan frozen and cook it as it thaws in the pan. With Love Abounds Mexican seasoning I brown the meat, drain and rinse if needed. Saute some chopped onions with oil if you want to use them, return the meat to the pan. Sprinkle with Mexican Seasoning, 2-3 heaping tablespoons to taste. Stir over medium low heat, add some chicken broth and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes I add dried Mexican Oregano.

Serve on a bed of greens, in taco shells, taco soup, on nachos, in Confetti Rice or in burritos.
Great in enchiladas too.

Give Peas A Chance Mummy Meatloaf

Check out this Mummy meatloaf!
 I think next time I'll use sheets of phyllo dough because it's more parchment like and I think will look better longer. For phyllo I would take the meatloaf out when it's almost done, wrap it with thin sheets and brown it for a bit in the oven.
We don't celebrate Halloween but I thought that it was cute. Kind of morbid though... mummies. hmmm.

I made this Cajun meatloaf in a round spring form pan. Bake the meatloaf on a jelly roll pan because you want the fat to drain away on it it. You can just shape the meat into a round and bake it in a jelly roll pan also.
Let's dress this meatloaf up to look like a mummy! Here's what I did:

Walking Tacos

 These are fun to do. I think most people use a bag of Frito chips and just layer everything right into the bag. 

Ours have blue corn chips, taco meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, salsa and avocado. They are a mess for little kids to eat. But it was fun and I got them a special drink too.

Have you started making your own Taco Seasoning yet?

Comfort food made easy peasy... (Chicken Pot Pie)

OK, for some this is comfort food, for me it is convenience food. The kind of meal I can make at anytime because the ingredients are so simple, I always have them on hand and it's easy to make. Besides I never grew up eating pot pies or casseroles, Pho is my comfort food. This is a recipe I got off of the Pillsbury pie crust box and I just make it off the top of my head now, so I am unsure what's in the original recipe. I was too lazy to walk outside to get some fresh parsley so we did without. I am unsure my family noticed. I don't make pie crusts, I tried once and my oven became an oozing buttery mess. So I don't bother. If you have leftover rotisserie chicken that's a great short cut for this recipe also. I have used leftover turkey also.

Chicken Pot Pie
3 Chicken breasts (boneless skinless)
5 TBS butter
4 TBS all purpose flour
1 TBS Olive oil
1 Minced garlic clove
1 Small onion diced
(from this point on I just eyeballed it, so no measurements)
~ 2 cups Frozen peas, carrots, green beans, and corn
Chicken broth
Heavy cream or milk
Sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Poultry seasoning
Fresh chopped parsley (optional)
1 Package of roll out Pillsbury pie crust
1 Egg

I prefer my chicken broiled as opposed to boiled so I salt and peppered the chicken and broiled it in the oven, then I cut it up and set it aside with the juices.

Preheat oven to 375

Take the pie crusts out of the fridge so they come to room temperature. In the mean time heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan and sweat the onion along with the garlic. Once the onions are soft add the butter and heat until foaming, add the flour to make a rue. Season with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Cook until lightly browned. Add chicken broth and a bit of heavy cream, stir so there are no lumps. Add the frozen vegetables, parsley and chicken with reserved juices and stir. Heat the mixture until thick, add more broth as needed. While the filling is thickening lined to deep dish pie plate with a pie crust and beat an egg in a small bowl and set aside. Ladle filing into the pie crust, top with second crust, flute ends and make slits on top of the pie to vent. Brush with the egg wash. Bake for 15 mins at 375, then turn the oven down to 350, put a pie crust shield on the pie and bake for another 30 minutes. If you don't have a pie shield you can use foil around the edges of the pie.