momstown Milton Culinary Chicks Get Cooking - Asian Style

On a stormy night on February 26, 2013, the momstown Milton mamas braved the cold and sought respite at Mary-Anne's cozy and inviting home to take part in an interactive and exciting Asian cooking class. 

What better way than to hang out with your fellow mamas, take part in a cooking demonstration, and then enjoy a delicious hot meal?

Mary-Anne prepared an Asian Pork and Noodle Skillet that wowed the mamas with how easy it was to make (the aroma of the Chinese 5 seasoning mix filled the kitchen beautifully) and at only $5 per serving, it's budget-friendly as well. 

MAKE AHEAD IDEA: This recipe works very well as a make-ahead as you can chop and prep the vegetables the night before and then just take everything out of your fridge when it's time for a momstown Milton mama to cook after a long day at work.

 

RECIPE: Asian Pork and Noodle Skillet

Ingredients

2 medium carrots peeled

1 medium red bell pepper

5-6 green onions with tops divided 

2 pork tenderloin (can substitute chicken)

2 tbsp  sesame oil

2 tbsp Chinese 5 seasoning mix (can be found in the spice aisle of the grocery store) 

4 pkg oriental flavour Mr. Noodle package 

1 tbsp vegetable oil

4 cups water

Method
 

1. Cut carrots into julienne strips. Cut bell pepper lengthwise into strips. Slice green onions and put aside tops.

Demonstrating the pepper slicing technique

Mary-Anne's tip to Culinary Chicks: clean green onions very well

2. Trim fat and sliver skin from pork (Mary-Anne's tip to the Culinary Chicks: needs to be removed otherwise your meat will not be as tender). Slice pork lengthwise into 4 strips. Thinly slice strips crosswise. Combine pork, sesame oil, seasoning mix and two of the instant noodle seasoning packets into a bowl.

3. Add oil to skillet heat over med-high 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Add the pork. Cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until browned. Remove and put aside.

4. Add carrots and bell pepper top skillet. Cook until tender. Add water and remaining seasoning packets, stir to loosen browned bits from skillet. Add noodles and white parts of onions. Cover and bring to boil. 4-5 minutes or until noodles are soft. Add pork; remove skillet from heat and let stand, covered, 3-4 minutes until pork is heated. Garnish with green onion.

 



The green onion paired with the red pepper add beautiful bursts of colour! 

 

Spooning the meal - almost time to eat 

Savouring their hot meal - mama heaven! 

Taking a peek at the recipe

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Written by Liz Marques Kogan, a momstown Milton member and mother of two children. You can check out her blog at: www.orchidaforever.blogspot.ca 

Momstown Milton moms learn how to cook quick and easy meals

momstown Milton mamas had the perfect Moms Night Out as they headed over to Mary-Anne Scarturchio-Selwa's home to learn how to cook 3 quick and easy meals AKA a power cooking session! And the best part? We even got to sit down and eat a hot and tasty meal and oh yeah, we chatted and had lots of good laughs too!

We did 3 recipes in 1 hour - estimated $45 ingredient cost - a win-win for time and money.  

MAIN INGREDIENTS FOR MAKE-AHEAD GROUND BEEF

3 medium onions

3 lb ground meat of choice - e.g. beef (lean, medium); ground turkey; ground chicken

3 garlic cloves (Mary-Anne stressed that it must be fresh peeled garlic and even provided us with a peeling demonstration. But some of us in the Culinary Chicks peanut gallery muttered that minced garlic or roasted garlic puree could be used as well - shh - don't tell our chef!)

Chef's Tip: Mary-Anne used a hand chopper to chop up the onions and garlic together - efficient time saver!

SAUCY BEEF CHILI 

In the blink of an eye, we mixed the ground meat, onion and garlic, chili beans in sauce, diced tomatoes, water, tomato paste and chili seasoning mix.

Since this was one of our "make-ahead" meals, we then transferred our cooled mixture into a labelled (name of recipe; date prepared and use by date) in a large resealable plastic bag.

Chef's Tip: Always ensure foods are completely cooled before freezing them. When it's time for defrosting, remove from freezer and defrost in the refrigerator or microwave on the defrost setting.

Once defrosted, combine ingredients in skillet and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Spoon chili into bowls and top with desired toppings: cheddar cheese, sliced green onions or sour cream.

BARBECUE BEEF SLOPPY JOES 

Mamas took turns measuring out ketchup, barbecue rub, and cider vinegar. We then mixed it up with the ground meat, onion and garlic.    

Since this was one another of our "make-ahead" meals, we then transferred our cooled mixture into a labelled (name of recipe; date prepared and use by date) in a large resealable plastic bag.

EASY BEEF STROGANOFF 

Mary-Anne set egg noodles to boil as they were going to be mixed to the stroganoff mixture for Culinary Chicks dinner.

Chef's Tip: When cooking noodles, add salt only (no oils) to the water which has come to a rolling boil. The salt is your opportunity to flavour the pasta. And we learned a neat trick: putting a wooden spoon over your boiling pot will prevent it from boiling over.

Mamas took turns measuring out sliced mushrooms (yes, we used canned), cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, water, ground paprika, salt, and coarsely ground pepper. We then mixed it up with the ground meat, onion and garlic. And off to the stove it went!

The stroganoff was our Culinary Chicks dinner so we watched in anxious anticipation - our eyes admiring the deliciousness in the pot. As the kitchen was infused with the luscious smells, we practically stood with forks in hand waiting for the cooking process to be complete.


MANGIA CULINARY CHICKS!

We each spooned ourselves a bowl of stroganoff and we set to eating. Even after preparing 3 meals, we had plenty of time to chat and just enjoy.

The 2 make-ahead dishes were drawn as prizes and Rachel and Mandy were our lucky winners! 






Are you a mama who could use a Moms Night Out? Next month the Culinary Chicks will be cooking it up Asian Style, come and see what it’s all about. Tight on Time? This quick skillet dish will become a family favourite: ASIAN Pork and Noodle Skillet. Easy and delicious!

Register here for your FREE 6 week trial.

Written by Liz Marques Kogan. A momstown Milton member and mother of 2 girls. You can check out her blog at www.orchidaforever.blogspot.ca