Vegetable Fried Rice

• 3 cups already cooked rice
• 1/2 Tbs vegetable oil
• 2 Tbs Soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp roasted red chili paste
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 Eggs
• 1 1/2 cups diced veggies (I like carrots, bell peppers, green peas, and water chestnuts)

1. Heat 1 tsp vegetable oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Scramble egg, add to pan, and cook until no longer wet.  Set aside in a bowl.
2. Heat vegetable oil in the same pan over medium-high heat.
3. Add your choice of vegetables (minus frozen peas if you're using them) and saute until 3-4 minutes, until cooked but still crisp.
4. Add garlic, 1 Tbs soy sauce, and chili paste.  Stir until chili paste is incorporated
   
5. Add rice and additional soy sauce. Stir fry until rice become a shade of brown.
6. Add the cooked egg and green peas.

Notes:

• Meat or tofu can be added. I recommend using already cooked beef, shrimp, or chicken, or browning the tofu separate. Add the meat with the egg and peas.
• The amount of soy sauce is completely up to you. My soy sauce is aged to salty ridiculousness so I usually use less than 2 Tbs.  If you like it strong, use more than 2 Tbs.

Creamy Poppyseed Pasta Salad

Today, I tried to shoot photos of the process of making this pasta salad... this is what I ended up with.  Hungry Jenna is not Patient Jenna.... And apparently hungry Jenna also speaks in the third person.  There are so many reasons I shouldn't be hungry.

How to make this pasta salad

Cranberry Cornmeal Pancakes

One of my favorite undergrad memories was when a roommate decided to make pancakes.  She offered me pancakes as well, and of course I accepted.  Who declines pancakes?!  Well, thirty minutes later I had a plate of beautiful, golden brown pancakes sitting in front of me waiting to be devoured.   I eagerly dug in, only to discover that while lovely, these pancakes we raw in the middle; ooey-gooey, runny, raw.  One bite in, we both stopped, exchanged glances, and burst out laughing.  So much for pancakes that day...

These pancakes are much different than those oozey ones.  They have a crispy outside and subtly sweet flavor, punctuated by tart cranberries.  I wish I could take all the credit for the idea, but alas, I cannot.  A cute little restaurant in Chicago, called The Bongo Room, is where I first ordered cranberry cornmeal pancakes.  It's been a good while since I had those, but I think these come pretty close to measuring up :)

Copy Cat Panda Express Orange Chicken

There is this game I play, all by myself, every day on my way home from work--it's incredibly fun.  It's called See if you can come up with something good for dinner based on only what's in your house, before you pass the last grocery store.  Ever heard of anything that sounds funner?  It consists of scouring recipes/Pinterest at stoplights, and perpetually reminding myself that while I call salad dinner, the sir in my life does not.  Yesterday I planned on having sandwiches for dinner, but then I realized I didn't have satisfactory bread on hand, or really anything to make it more exciting than bread, meat, & lettuce.  And, while an average sandwich like that is acceptable for lunch, I have this notion that a sandwich for dinner needs to be exciting.  Like fancy cheese, avacado, arugula, heirloom tomato-exciting.  So alas, if I made sandwiches I would have to go the the grocery, and lose my game (which I do on pretty much a daily basis.... but I was feeling motivated yesterday!)  Thus, orange chicken was born.  It consists of mostly pantry staples (and because of my inexplicable affinity for Asian food, I had it all on hand...) and comes together pretty quickly.  Plus, it earned a high-five from the sir, so you know it's good.

Healthy Pumpkin Breakfast Cookies

 I get really excited about Fall, because it means beautiful foliage, and pumpkin everything.  So, the other day I had this streak of brilliance and decided I needed to make non-dairy pumpkin yogurt.  While in theory, it was an awesome idea, I failed epically.  But upon my culinary defeat, I had an extra cup of pumpkin to use and alas these cookies were born, and far from a culinary defeat they were.  Plus, who doesn't love the notion of eating a cookie (or four) for breakfast--and at only about 50 calories a cookie, you totally can.