Needed: Ideas for doing it in the kitchen

[Guest]

 

[EJFan]

Hey, didn't the host in the chinese restaurant call Geroge Castanza "Cartwright". One of my favorite episodes.

i haven't watched "seinfeld" in quite a while... i think i remember the episode but not well enough to confirm your suspiscion. you're probably right though.

FWIW, i LOVE sitcom trivia... we used to play M*A*S*H trivia while playing pool years ago. all of us would just take turns making up questions as we went along.

 

[Guest]

 

[EJFan]

Maybe you should start a sitcom trivia thread

i think that would be more of a GB thing... i'm scared of that place.

 

[Guest]

 

[EJFan]

it is quite volatile there

i bet it isn't the only place that's volatile, is it bean boy.

 

[Guest]

 

[EJFan]

We'll see how I sleep tonight. I'll be sure to post the results here.

just remember... if you wake up in a bed full of confetti, it used to be your underwear.

 

[Guest]

 

[EJFan]

I don't wear underwear to bed, so if I wake up with a bed full of confetti, I won't know what the fuck it is.

you should consider wearin' some tonight... that is, if you want to prevent burn marks on the sheets.

 

[Guest]

 

[EJFan]

I was planning on sleeping naked on the hammock outside.

then the only advice i have is, don't sleep on your belly if you're prone to morning wood.

 

[Guest]

 

[Guest]

 

[bobsgirl]

I thought I would just add to this thread instead of starting a new one.

I need some help in order to prepare tonight's dinner (I cook - or do my best imitation of cooking - three nights a week and am once again tired of the same things). I'm planning a chicken stir-fry served on a bed of rice. Stir fry will contain chicken, green, orange and yellow peppers, thin carrot slices, maybe some bean sprouts, chopped broccoli and cashews.

My questions:
1. I would like to add some flavoring to the stir fry but without adding a lot of sodium, which makes regular soy sauce out of the question. My wife said i can get low sodium soy sauce, but I'm also looking for other alternatives if the sodium content is still to high. Any ideas?

2. For the rice, I'm looking for a healthy grain rice here, not something bleached or has had the nutrition processed out of it, and i don't want something seasoned. My wife said I should get wild rice. I'll probably go with this but am also interested in any other ideas.

3. Any suggestions for a side dish to go with this? would a garden salad be ok?

Thanks for any ideas.

Some ideas to add to the stir fry: finely minced ginger root (maybe a teaspoon--it's strong), red pepper flakes ( go really easy, these are hot). If you like a sweet and sour flavor, you'd use less soy sauce. Let me know if you need a recipe.

Now, see, I find wild rice to be a little crunchy and I don't like it that well, but I have used brown rice. It takes some time to cook, if I remember correctly--there may even be an instant one, but I don't use instant rice.

Hope that helps. It's still early and my brain is only semi-awake.

 

[Guest]

 

[bobsgirl]

Thanks BG! Ginger root sounds interesting (is this dry, like in a spice bottle?) and what does it do, make it spicier (as in hotter?) My wife and I are on different ends of the spectrum when it comes to spicyness (meaning heat - she likes it, I don't) and she loves salt but I need to limit it. Kids are in between somewhere.

Crunchy rice is OK with me, I'm looking to balance nutritional value of whole grains vs pleasant taste/texture. I just might have to experiment with this to see what get eaten here (my wife would prefer something packaged and loaded with sodium....I shouldn't eat that, in fact none of us should, so I'm trying to find some medium ground)

Ginger root is from the produce department--it's kind of an odd looking thing, like a gnarled up piece of tree branch. Cut off about an inch and peel it, then grate it or mince it up very fine.

Or you can avoid this nonsense and use dry ground ginger from the spice aisle. Here again, you want to have a very light hand with it--it does add some heat if you use too much. Try a half teaspoon--you can always add more, but you sure as heck can't take it out!

I've only had wild rice mixed with white or brown rice. Yes, the packaged stuff. It was way too salty for me--I also have to watch the salt, probably more than I do.

 

[silverwhisper]

while you're in the produce section, consider throwing in a bit of cilantro. it's tasty and featured in southeast asian and latin cuisines. it's lemony and fresh-tasting.

for rice: might i suggest basmati rice? it's quite tasty, i find and has a somewhat nutty flavor. if that's a bit exotic and you wanna splurge a bit, cook your rice using some kind of broth or stock rather than just water. after all, water by itself is kind of known for not having any flavor at all.

re: meal prep, have you considered doing southwest stuff with a tortilla bar or the like? you can cook up some ground beef and some marinated chicken (could even grill the chicken), along w/ the other accompaniments for the non-meats. similarly, you could do a crepe bar, although that admittedly is a bit of work.

ed

 

[Guest]

 

[Guest]

 

[silverwhisper]

broth: yep, they do indeed make low sodium broth.

rice: well, like i said, a little nuttiness never hurt anyone, i say. except for those w/ severe allergies, anyway... :>

that sucks about your grill. you could always get an indoor grill plate to fit over 2 of your oven's burners--the mrs & i got one a few weeks ago and love it. you get some great grill marks with it, too. :> the one we got required seasoning (it's cast iron), but they are also available pre-seasoned. they're pretty cheap (found ours for $10) and i don't know how much you wanna be outdoors at your grill right now. :>

ed

 

[Guest]

 

[Guest]

 

[silverwhisper]

i have a feeling it might. the mrs has taken to introducing walnuts or almonds now & again in some dishes like that and it's been rather nice. it gives you some of the texture that i sometimes feel is missing from dishes that are meat-less. :>

ed

 

[SweetErika]

Going with Ed's idea for the rice, you can get brown/whole Basmati. I prefer it to regular brown rice for Asian dishes, and it's not terribly expensive either. It's in a clear-ish bag in the rice section of our stores.