Takeout at Home: Kelly Makes TWO Takeout Inspired Meals!

My friend Kelly has a great cooking blog called Running Mama Cooks.  The recipes she makes are not only tasty, but also are Weight Watchers friendly, and who can't use a little figure slimming?

Kelly took the Takeout at Home challenge up a notch, making two recipes inspired by Chinese takeout:  Sesame cold noodles and chicken fried rice.

Go check  out Kelly's blog and her recipes for these two dishes!

Takeout at Home: Patrizia makes Egg Drop Soup

When Patrizia signed up to take part in the Takeout at Home Challenge, she did so she could make soup for her healing daughter.  She chose to make Egg Drop Soup.  It looks delicious and seems like a super easy recipe!
Thanks, Patrizia!  I hope your daughter is feeling better! 
Go check out her blog, Mangia!

Takeout at home: Lauren Makes Chicken and Broccoli

For the Takeout at Home Challenge, my buddy Lauren chose to make the popular Chicken and Broccoli (Is it really popular, or is it that I just know a handful of devotees?), putting her own twist on the original Beef and Broccoli recipe.

Here's what she had to say about it!
We absolutely loved this dinner. It didn't taste really like our local restaurant, and I might decrease the amount of ginger next time, but this was a huge success. Luckily, this was on a night when I was cooking late so the kids had already eaten; the two of us alone finished it so there wouldn't have been enough. Next time I'll for sure double it. Isn't one of the best parts about Chinese take out the leftovers?


So go check out Lauren's lovely blog; it's one of my top visits when I'm stumped for meal planning!

Takeout at Home: Melissa Makes Chinese Beef with Noodles

The recipe for Chinese Beef with Noodles was a popular one; I had three friends who wanted to make it for the Chinese Takeout at Home.  Not wanting to limit people who were helping me out, I let everyone give it a whirl.  Melissa made a very different meal than Rachel did, despite using the same base recipe.

Here's what Melissa had to say about the recipe:
I lightened this dish up a bit so it differs from the original recipe.  Also, I added edamame for some more protein and crunch.  If you haven't tried it, pick some up...you can buy it frozen and shelled at Whole Foods.  Not only is it a great addition to certain dishes, it's a great snack, too.

I'm so pleased that so many of you are finding new recipes to make at home and that you're enjoying them too!  Thank you, Melissa, for a great looking meal, and for participating in the challenge!  Everyone else, go check out her blog, which has some awesome recipes and lots of giveaways too!

Red Makes: Chinese Braised Beef and Noodles

Another guinea pig for the Takeout at Home Challenge!  I still seek people to make recipes and cook along!

One thing for which Asian food is known is being sodium laden (and maybe even monosodium glutamate, to which many folks are allergic).  If you're getting takeout, you know you're probably getting your salt intake for the next three days in one meal.  Making at home, however, allows you to reduce the salt substantially.  When my college buddy Rachel made this, she discovered the leftovers were way too salty.

Here's what she had to say about the meal:
The prep time on the recipe said 10 minutes.  The person who wrote this recipe must be a whiz with a knife.  It took me 15-20 mins just to chop the beef (thank you Kelsey Nixon's show on knives).  The measuring of the spices and chopping/measuring of everything else took little time which I love.    I think it took me 30 minutes total to make a wonderful meal that my husband loved and we have enough for another meal, since the original recipe is for 4-6 ppl and there are only 2 of us.

For me, the only thing missing is a veggie from this dish but you can easily steam some broccoli which would be a great addition...not sure there is enough room in the pot for anything else.

 

Thanks, Red, for helping me out in my little project!  Go check out her blog, Ginger and Licorice, named for her cats and dog!

Takeout at Home: Lishie makes Pot Stickers, Korean style

I'm so excited that a good number of folks are so excited about the Takeout at Home Challenge (you can find out what I'm talking and sign up here) and want to cook multiple recipes from the original article.  Woo!

Lishie is one example of those folks.  The other day, she posted Sweet and Sour Chicken, and today she posted her take on Pot Stickers, Korean Dumplings!

They sound awesome!  Go check out Lishie's blog and see her take on Korean Dumplings!

Takeout at Home: Wonton Soup

 

I love wonton soup, so it was a no brainer as my first Takeout at Home recipe.   I took a look at the recipe suggested by the article, and have to admit I wasn't nuts about it, so I turned to the handy dandy allrecipes for one.  I found this one and decided to roll with it.

I was going to make it last night, but then I realized I didn't have any ground meat.  Oops.  So, tonight was a do-over.  I asked hubby to pick up some ground pork, chicken, or turkey, whatever was cheapest.  He came home with turkey.  It worked, but I'm pretty sure it would be much more tasty with ground pork as directed.

I couldn't figure out how to properly seal the wonton, so that it would come out like the delicious restaurant soup.  I found this tutorial, and while it's not the shape I remember, it worked just great!

Additionally, the recipe suggests a splash of sesame oil and a splash of soy sauce as optional.  Do it.  It absolutely MADE the broth into something special.  I do wish I could find a way to get those little pieces of pork the Chinese restaurants add, but in the meantime, this is an awesome at home version of wonton soup!  It really made me crave an eggroll.


 

Homemade Wonton Soup
From Allrecipes

Ingredients

• 1 bunch green onions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, divided
• 6 fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (16 ounce) package wonton wrappers
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 16 uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (optional)
• 1 medium head bok choy, torn into 2-inch pieces
• 16 snow peas
• 1 dash soy sauce, or to taste (optional)
• 1 dash sesame oil, to taste (optional)

Directions

1. Dice the green onions, and set aside all but 1 tablespoon. Slice the mushrooms, and set aside all but 1 tablespoon. Finely chop the 1 tablespoon of green onions and 1 tablespoon of sliced mushrooms, and place in a bowl with the ground pork, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, egg, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Stir to thoroughly mix the pork filling.
2. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the pork filling onto the center of each wonton wrapper. Use your finger or a pastry brush to lightly moisten the edges of the wonton wrappers with water. Fold one corner of the wrapper over the filling onto the opposite corner to form a triangle. Press the edges together to seal. Moisten the two long ends of the triangle, fold them together, and press them firmly to seal.
3. Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Drop the wontons, one by one, into the broth, and let them cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until they float to the surface. Reduce heat to a simmer, and gently stir in the shrimp, bok choy, and reserved sliced mushrooms. Let the soup simmer 2 more minutes, until the shrimp turn pink, and then drop in the snow pea pods. Garnish with the remaining green onions and a dash of soy sauce and sesame oil, and serve immediately.

Takeout at Home: Lishie make Sweet and Sour Chicken

  Lishie has a great cooking blog, and she offers chuckle worthy tips that are super helpful for the meals she offers.  She's the second guinea pig for this takeout at home project, and I **THINK** is making two recipes for the project.  This time around, she made Sweet and Sour Chicken using a homemade sauce. 

Here are some of her thoughts:

This was so flavorful & delicious I'd definitely recommend it. It's much healthier, "clearer" & has less sodium than bottled sauces. We ate it without a carb but next time, I'll make it with white rice on the side.My hubby said, "All you need is the white box." Awesome.

I love the look of this meal, and I think I'm definitely going to steal this one from Lishie, following her rewrite of the directions.  It looks so awesome, combining the deliciousness of takeout with the homemade packed full of veggie.

Thank you, Lishie, for making what looks like a very tasty takeout at home!  Please go check out Lishie's blog; you'll be sure to find something that is DeLish!

Takeout at Home: Lisa says "Kung Pao!"

Lisa was one of the first test subjects in the Takeout at Home Experiment (for which I am still taking volunteers!!!), as well as the inspiration for the experiment in the first place. 

Lisa made what sounds like a super spicy Kung Pao Chicken, and that she was really happy with the recipe (if not the spice).    Here's what she had to say about the dish:

I followed the directions exactly, stir-frying the chicken in sesame oil in my wok for just a little more time than the recipe called for so that it seemed cooked all the way through.  The chicken was great, moist and really delicious.  It just seems SO much lighter and healthier when it's homemade.  I did use fresh grated ginger instead of powdered, because I really love the flavor of the fresh ginger and you could really taste it in the finished recipe, if you could overlook all the heat.

Check out the rest of what Lisa had to say about the dish on her blog, Lisa's Cooking Adventures (and take a look around at her great recipes while you're there).

Thanks, Lisa, for being a guinea pig and for the idea!

Takeout at Home: Chinese

What's your favorite thing to order at a Chinese restaurant?  For me, I have to have an eggroll.  My husband has taken to saying, "Mommy doesn't share eggrolls," a la Joey from Friends.  As far as my entree, I typically stick to tried and true favorites, but always eye the menu for those meals I've never had the gumption to try before (we keep saying we need to find a good Chinese buffet around here...)

We all know the problems of takeout:  the high salt, the expense, the impact on your figure....

A few weeks ago, Lisa was inspired to, along with her readers, cook through an article from Cooking Light about jazzing up chicken.  I happily participated in her reader participation feature, and really enjoyed reading on her blog what others had to say about the recipes they chose.

So, when I received a similar article, I was inspired to do the same thing.  I don't have nearly as many readers as Lisa does, but maybe one person will tell another person, and the group of us can cook through all the food in this article from Food.com, Takeout at Home:  Chinese.

It's supposed to be fun, so pick an article you'd like to make and let me know.  No deadlines, just fun.  I'd love if you'd share your thoughts on the recipe you make, and I'll put it up here... a picture of your meal would make it even better!!  Send me a message here or on facebook!