Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

Whenever the mercury starts to rise, our dinners become lighter and lighter. That means more and more salads; salads of all kinds. My newest salad was a Thai chicken and noodle salad with vegetables. I was looking for soba noodles, but couldn’t find them, so I used glass noodles instead. It was a nice summer meal to enjoy out on our beloved deck.

Glass noodles, also known as cellophane or vermicelli noodles, originated in China and have a long history in East and Southeast Asian cuisine. They are typically made from mung bean starch, though some versions use sweet potato starch. The noodles were introduced to various regions by Chinese immigrants and have become a staple ingredient in different cultures.  Chinese immigrants spread the use of glass noodles to other regions, including Japan (where they are called harusame), Samoa, and French Polynesia. Glass noodles are now a popular ingredient in a wide range of dishes, from soups and stir-fries to hot pots, across East and Southeast Asia.

Glass noodles are smoother, softer, and more slippery than wheat noodles. (Plus, they’re gluten-free, but always double check the ingredient list and potential cross-contamination details on the package.) These starch noodles are bouncy and chewy, with a relatively neutral taste, so they’re all about texture. Glass noodles are generally considered healthier than rice due to their lower calorie and carbohydrate content. They are also lower in the glycemic index than rice. However, the overall nutritional value of noodles, including glass noodles, depends heavily on how they are prepared and the ingredients they are paired with.

Thai Chicken & Noodle Salad

You can eat this salad cold or warm. Either way, it will be delicious and something different. I made it with chicken, but you can substitute tofu or shrimp too, if you prefer.

1 lb chicken breast, cooked and shredded

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into thin matchsticks

1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin matchsticks

1/2 can baby corn, cut into pieces

1/2 can water chestnuts, drained

1 TBSP garlic

2 TBSP Siracha sauce or fish sauce

2 tsp ginger

1/4 red pepper flakes or to taste

1/2 cup olive or canola oil

2/3 cup green onions

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade

1/4 cup lemon verbena, chiffonade, optional

Asian noodles of your choice

Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package.

Combine the most of the oil, Siracha sauce, garlic, ginger, lime juice, red pepper flakes, basil, lemon verbena (if using) and most of the green onions and mix together well.

Shred the cooked chicken and set aside.

In a hot skillet with oil, add the peppers, baby corn and water chestnuts. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften, stirring frequently.

Add the chicken and sauce and mix together thoroughly. When everything is heated serve over the cooked noodles and top with the remaining green onions. Enjoy.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Right now, so many gorgeous flowers are popping up all over the place. They are so beautiful and they smell so good too. It’s hard NOT to enjoy all their beauty. Beauty is all around. I am loving every beautiful and colorful moment too.

On Sunday night, Larry and I joined some friends to cheer on and support another mutual friend of all of ours and his band, Dive Bar Diva. They were playing at a local historic old farmhouse, called the Brunner House. The band did a great job, despite a brief, unplanned little spurt of rain. Our friend Warren is the base player.

I had never been to the Brunner House before, though I always had wanted to go. Once there, before the band started, I toured around the area. The Brunner House is also known for its beautiful gardens, and that they were too. So yesterday, before it got too hot, I went back on my own, just for the gardens.

This is the house. It was moved from another nearby location years ago and preserved through the Historic Foundation, as being one of the oldest known farmhouses in the area. I have been fascinated with this charming little house since I first arrived in Colorado. Before I knew its history, I was hoping it was a house for sale, and I wanted it. But it is a museum, for everyone’s enjoyment, not just mine. This alone is quite a beautiful site, but the gardens were breathtaking.

This is one of the fields behind the house. You would never know by looking at it that you are actually in the middle of the city of Broomfield. Broomfield got its name from the broom wheat that was grown in the area.

And the gardens. I call this a Garden of Glory, not just because of how magnificent the gardens were, but also because of the plaques and memorials for 3 of the Brunner family members who served in WWII as well as other military personnel from other times too. The Brunner House was 1 of 3 “Gardens of Glory” I visited yesterday. I had no idea about any of them until I got there. I was just touring around taking pictures of all the beautiful flowers and gardens.

This garden is called “the learning garden” and it is a working, teaching garden for kids of all ages.

I call these the picnic gardens. These were around the house and in and around the patio area where the picnic tables were located.

There were so many beautiful Irises, of all colors. My mother would have loved them all.

There were so many beautiful roses too.

And now the beautiful, colorful gardens. They were all broken into color specific sections. There was a yellow section, a white section, a red/orange section and a purple section. There were different floral varieties in each section, but all were color coordinated.

I think the purple section was the largest, with the most variety.

There was even a rock garden that was called the kindness garden. The intent is for people to keep adding colorful rocks to the garden to promote kindness to all.

The Brunner House is free for anyone who wants to enjoy all it has to offer. It is definitely worth the trip to see and walk around through all of its glory, especially at this time of year, with all the beautiful flowers in bloom. Color your world beautiful, today, tomorrow and everyday.

Pork chops were next in line for our weekly meat rotation. I whipped up a quick, easy marinade and let the pork chops set for about two hours before grilling them up. They were full of flavor and oh so tender. They just melted in our mouths. It was perfect for a hot almost summer day, or any day for that matter. 🙂

Soy Sauce and Brown Sugar Pork Chops

This marinade is super easy-peasy and delicious and only requires a few simple, basic ingredients.

2/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

2 TBSP soy sauce

4 1/2 tsp firmly packed brown sugar

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1-2 tsp dried rosemary or 1-2 TBSP fresh rosemary

1-2 tsp dried sage or 1-2 TBSP fresh sage, chiffonade

1 TBSP garlic

2-3 lbs either pork chops or pork tenderloin

Combine everything together and add the pork. Let marinade for at least 2 hours before grilling to perfection.

The pork chops will come out so tender and moist. Your taste buds will definitely be doing a happy dance with this recipe. Serve with your favorite side dishes and savor the flavors.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

According to the calendar, we are technically still in late spring. We won’t officially be into summer for another couple of weeks. Our weather is all over the place. One minute we are cold and rainy and the next minute, we are sunny and hot. But this must be the perfect combination for beautiful flowers. Our flowers, bushes and trees are in full bloom right now, and they are gorgeous. Brightly colored, numerous and lots of them too. I LOVE IT! 🙂

Any one who has ever cooked professionally knows that different knives are used for different things. But we also know, as good as all these knives are for their specific uses, we really ONLY need a few. If you know how to use a knife, any knife, you can achieve good results from any kind of knife, and NO, they don’t need to be expensive either.

Most chefs will tell you that the most important knives in your kitchen will always be 1) your Chef’s knife, 2) your paring knife, and 3) some kind of a serrated slicer. Anything else, is just fancy bling. They are nice to have, but not necessarily needed. Of course I have all kinds of knives, but the ones I use 99% of the time are the three I just mentioned.

My go-to knife is my serrated French knife or chef’s knife. I use that for EVERYTHING! I do use my flatblade French knife for chopping herbs.

When I want to cut things smaller or finer, or when peeling apples or slicing strawberries or other fruit, I use my paring knife.

When slicing bread or tomatoes, or something that needs to be sliced precisely and thin, I use my bread slicer.

There are so many knives on the market, ranging from affordable to VERY expensive. You don’t have to have expensive “toys”. If you know what you are doing, you can make the affordable ones work just as well as the expensive ones. In fact, they are often better, because they are not so delicate or temperamental. I do have some expensive knives, but I really don’t use them nearly as much as you might think.

I just thought this was good information to know and to share. 🙂 Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

We decided to head out to the Wild Animal Sanctuary once again to visit with the animals. We arrived just as the park was opening, but to our shock, they were having a race, and the parking lot was already full. Fortunately, the race was just finishing up, but there were too many people at first. But the animals were out and were the stars of the day, as they should be. Despite the early crowds, we had a great time. And we did see lions, tigers and bears, as well as many other beautiful animals. 🙂 🙂 🙂

We even saw this beautiful black leopard.

The foxes were out and about too. Some were just sunning themselves, while others were on the move.

Lots of the big cats. I love the all the big cats. 🙂

The lunch truck had arrived and the tigers were lining up.

The King and Queen overseeing their “jungle”.

The bears were having a great time playing in the water and cooling off. There were Grizzly Bears and Black Bears.

He’s enjoying a summer melon.

And the wolves were out too. Some were in their pack and some were being the lone wolves. The pack of wolves really is a pack. They are a family of the mom, dad and their 3 kids.

And yes, EVEN yet another snake! This time it was a big bull snake in one of the lion’s inside pens. YIKES!!!! I will be so glad when it is NO LONGER snake season!!!!!

Despite a few hiccups, it was another great day to visit all the animals.

I bought some crab the other day, just because I was hungry for crab. Larry asked what I was going to make with it. I had no idea at the time, but that quickly changed. I made crab cakes, and a creamy bechamel sauce, then topped my chicken with both.

Chicken and Crab Cakes

This dish is a layered dish. First I made the crab cakes, Maryland style, with very little breading.

The Crab Cakes

4-6 oz crab meat

1/3 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip

1-2 tsp Old Bay seasoning

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 egg

1 tsp parsley and/or lemon verbena, chopped/chiffonade

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 400* F or 200*C.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix all the ingredients together and form into small balls. Place the balls on the parchment paper and bake for about 8-15 minutes, or until lightly golden.

When the crab cakes are done, keep them warm until ready to use.

Next comes the chicken. You can do it a couple of ways. If you are cooking your chicken, generously season it with Old Bay seasoning on both sides and olive oil, then pan fry until it is golden. I cheated, or as I prefer to say, I took a shortcut, and used my Costco rotisserie chicken, that was already cooked, so I eliminated this step.

The Sauce

The Sauce is basically a bechamel sauce with Old Bay seasoning.

2 TBSP butter

1 TBSP flour

1/2-3/4 cup milk, depending on how thick you like your sauce

1 tsp Old Bay seasoning

salt & pepper to taste

1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped fine

1 tsp lemon verbena, optional, chiffonade fine

Mix the milk, seasonings and flour together, then add to the butter and melt together in a skillet, whisking everything together until everything is blended together to make a sauce. At first, I used only 1/2 cup of milk, but the sauce was too thick for how I wanted to use it, so I added more milk. I added the lemon verbena and parsley at the end.

Because my chicken was already cooked, I just added it to my sauce to heat up, once my sauce was done.

Once everything was hot, I dished up and served it over wild rice. First, a layer of rice, then a little sauce, next came the chicken, followed by the crab cake, finished with a dash more sauce on top. A cool, crisp chardonnay was the finishing touch that made the meal perfect, along with some asparagus topped with mushrooms, garlic, shallots and peppers.

On a side note. …. This summer is turning out to be a very snakey season. Twice just this week, I have had some very unwelcomed garter snakes in my yard, including this time. When I went out to my backyard to gather up some lemon verbena, lo and behold, a garter snake was slithering in the lemon verbena, and almost slithered right over my foot. Needless to say, I shrieked and jumped a mile high, and ran back into the house in a flash. I had Larry go out and gather some lemon verbena when he got home. I guess I am done working in my garden for the season. The first time, just a day or two before, probably this same snake was coiled up right outside my garage door. Because of the way it was coiled up, I thought it was a baby rattlesnake. I was able to get in my car, and was able to run some errands. While out and about, I didn’t want to take any chances that it was a rattlesnake, so I went to animal control to ask them to remove it. Sure enough, once I got home, the snake was still there. I waited for animal control to come, and when they finally did come, they said it just a garter snake. The officer caught it, but just placed it out over my back fence, in my open space right behind our yard. That’s why I say it was probably the same snake. I HATE snakes!!!!!!! So this meal came with a bit of adventure as well.

Life is always an adventure, but those adventures make for good stories. Live your adventures, but keep them safe and stay well. Til next time.

I haven’t made cookies in quite a while, since I am desperately trying to NOT have a lot of sweets and goodies around the house on a regular basis. That being said, I did make some frosted cashew cookies Frosted Cashew Butter Cookies the other day. I don’t have a lot of sweets around when it is just us, but when I have people over, I usually like to have something sweet for nibblies and dessert. You have seen these cookies before, so just click on the link for the recipe.

These just hit the spot. They were exactly what I was craving. They were a big hit with everyone. They were sweet, but not too sweet.

Once the cookies were made and cooled, I frosted them some creamy cashew butter cream.

Then I drizzled melted chocolate on top to really make them stand out. Oh they were so good too.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time

My goslings are growing up very quickly, and are in the awkward teenager phase. But at least I still have a few ducklings for now, or my favorite way to call them, duck-a-lings. Some are still tiny babies, some are toddlers, and some are also in the teenager phase. Soon, they too will all be grown up and ready to venture off on their own.

This group was real curious and very friendly. They just waddled right up to me and wanted to be my friend.

It won’t be too much longer before these teenagers will be out of the nest and starting families of their own.

Have a ducky day. 🙂

Stir-fries are quick and easy ways to prepare a good meal that includes everything. There are really no right or wrong ways to make a stir-fry. In my view, the more things you throw into the stir-fry, the better it’s going to be. A good stir-fry is more about the technique than the actual ingredients. Once you get the technique down pat, anything goes as far as the actual ingredients used. Stir-fries lend themselves very well to creativity and imagination.

My latest stir-fry was with caramelized beef strips and vegetables. I added mushrooms, green beans, red bell peppers, ginger and shallots. I served it all over rice with some egg rolls on the side. Because it was beef, and the sauce was spicy-sweet, I served a red wine on the side to complete the meal.

Caramelized Beef and Vegetable Stir-Fry

I didn’t have cilantro, so instead I used some of my overflowing lemon verbena, and gave a hint of lemon flavor to the dish.

1-1 1/2 lbs sirloin, cut into thin strips

1 TBSP ginger

1 TBSP Siracha sauce

1 jalapeno, diced fine

1/2 cup sugar

1-1 1/2 cups water

1/2 lb green beans

5-6 mushrooms, sliced

salt & pepper to taste

red pepper flakes to taste

1-2 shallots, sliced very thin

1/4 red bell pepper, sliced into matchsticks

2 TBSP either fresh cilantro and/or fresh lemon verbena, chopped or chiffonade

Add the sugar to a large skillet, and let it melt & caramelize. As soon as it starts to change color, to a lightly golden brown, add the water.

Combine the seasonings and Siracha sauce and mix together well. Add to the caramelized sugar mixture and mix together well.

Add the vegetables and ginger and saute for about 3-5 minutes, stirring contantly over a high heat.

Add the meat and continue cooking until the meat is completely cooked, about 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly once again.

Once the meat is cooked and everything is done, add most of the the lemon verbena and/or cilantro and mix in well. Add the remaining portion as topping to the dish right before serving.

This is a quick and easy meal to prepare. It’s healthy and delicious, and full of color and flavor. Enjoy!

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.