I love to make Asian food at home.  Fried rice, egg rolls, soups, you name it.  This past week I made some extra yummy peanut noodles, a nice spin on our traditional Macaroni Monday fare.  It is really quick to make, and can include all kinds of veggies, depending on what you have on hand.  Our produce bin was looking quite bare at this point, so I only used carrots and frozen peas.  No matter, it was still delish!

I gathered all the ingredients up first, to make sure I had enough of everything.

In a pan, I combined a few cloves of garlic, 1/4 t red pepper flakes, 1 T of brown sugar, and tons of ginger (I love ginger) with some butter and let the flavors heat up together.

When the pan smelled good, I added in 5 T soy sauce, 4 T rice wine vinegar, 4 T creamy peanut butter, and 1 T maple peanut butter.

As it heated up, it was all stirred together.

In the meantime, I cooked up a box of whole wheat spaghetti, and shredded up a few carrots.  They were added to the sauce, along with frozen peas.

I mixed it together and covered up the pan to defrost the peas.  When it was done?  YUM!

If you followed Munching Madness, then you already know of my penchant for re-making leftovers into something different and delicious.  If not, you will soon see. 

There was a ton of turkey leftover from my last stock-making fiasco.  In addition, I had a cup or two of brown rice waiting to be used up.  When I was cleaning out the fridge I threw them into a bowl to save room, assuming I would make something yummy with them later.  Boy, was I right!

I decided a casserole was in order.  It is cold cold cold here in NJ, and warm comforting meals are in order.  To start, I copped up a heaping cup of carrots and celery.  It went into a pan with lots-o-butter and 3 enormous cloves of garlic (chopped).

When they were starting to soften and smell good, I added chopped up parsley, salt, pepper, and about 3 T of flour. 

A little more butter was added and it was mixed together.  I probably should have let it cook a little longer, but I got impatient.

The liquid was added next.  3/4 cup stock and 1/2 cup milk went on in and the stove was turned up to medium/high.

When it came to a boil, it was mixed together with the turkey and rice in a Pyrex dish.

It was covered with some tin foil and baked at 350* for 10 minutes (until it was warm).
 HOLY COW!  I can't even believe how yummy this was.  I would eat this all.  the.  time.  It is THAT good.  Try it!

This post was featured on Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist, Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet,  and The Hearth and Soul Hop!

Now that you have seen the awesome bread bowls I made, here is the super easy soup that went with them! 

1.  Bring Turkey stock and brown rice to a boil in a big pot.

2.  When the rice is tender, add a bunch of turkey leftover from making stock.  

3.  Add in chopped up carrots and chopped up celery.  Other ingredients are totally allowed, but that's all I felt like putting in.  Season as needed.

4.  Serve in a bread bowl, perhaps with John's favorite garlic bread and a salad. 

After yesterdays flop, I wanted to give you something GREAT!  Bread bowls!

This is based completely on this recipe.  Perhaps that is why it worked so well.  

First, I dissolved 2 1/2 t of active dry yeast in 2 1/2 cups of warm/hot water (it was maybe 105*-110* degrees?) in a warmed mixer bowl.  To warm the mixer bowl, I just run a little hot water over it.  Since it is metal, it heats up pretty quickly

When it was all dissolved, I added 2 t of sea salt and 2 T of olive oil...

OOOoooohhhhh, pretty!  The tops got sliced off and the inside dough-ey part was scooped out. 

Somehow this whole meal came together like something out of the south.  Granted, the only southern state I have ever been to is Florida, which is not exactly the stereotypical south, so I don't have any firsthand knowledge.  Everything in this meal just SOUNDS so southern.

Black Eyed Peas, bacon, and spinach baked with a side of cornbread!  WOW!  I don't know how it came together, but I am sure glad it did.  

The night before I made this I soaked 1 cup of black eyed peas in water with a splash of whey

In the morning, I rinsed and drained the beans, and then boiled them in fresh, salty water until they were soft.  While that was going on, I cooked up about 7 strips of nitrate free bacon, chopped unto pieces.  

 In the meantime (can you say, "multitasker?!), I got together the ingredients for the cornbread:  Cornmeal, baking powder, salt, milk, and eggs.

First, 2 pastured eggs were beaten.

Next, 1.5 cups of cornmeal, 1 t baking powder, and 1/2 t sea salt were added.  

When they were well combined, 1/4 of souring milk and 1 cup of raw milk were mixed in. 

By this time, the bacon was cooked. 

I saved the bacon grease and put it into my cast iron pan.  It was about 2 T worth of grease. 

The pan then went into the oven for 5 minutes. When it was hot, I poured the excess grease into the cornbread batter, and sprinkled cornmeal onto the greasy pan.  

When the cornmeal was brown, the rest of the batter went in over it.

It baked for 25 minutes at 400*.

Looks perfect, no?

While the cornbread baked, I sauteed an onion in the pan I cooked the bacon in. 

When they were all nice and soft, I added the black eyed peas, 3 minced garlic cloves, a few sprinkles of red pepper flakes, the bacon, and 1/4 cup of turkey stock.

I let them all cook up together for a few minutes, and then transferred them to a baking dish.

It baked for an hour at 350*.  When it was done, I added a bunch of organic baby spinach, a little at a time.  It wilted into the baking dish. 

When it was all in, fresh Parmesan cheese was shredded allllll over it. 

Into the oven it went for another 15 minutes.  At that point, I broiled it for the last 5 minutes to get it nice and crispy.

The finished product?

Not bad.  At least, the casserole wasn't bad.  The cornbread?  Not so great.  Apparently I didn't read the recipe carefully. 
It called for:

• 1-1/2 cups corn meal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

I used:

• 1.5 cups of cornmeal
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t sea salt

NOT AT ALL THE SAME THING!!!
They didn't rise correctly and they were dry and flavorless.  FAIL!

Also, this meal did not reheat well.