Chopped at the Kirk house

As you all know, we are big fans of the Food Network

One of my favorite shows is "chopped,"  basically each person gets a basket of a bunch of random food items and they have to make either an appetizer, entree or dessert out of whatever is in the basket, and they're timed. When the timer goes off, everything has to be plated & ready for the judges. They decide who is "chopped," which means your dish was the worst out of them all.

Well Saturday night, I had to make dinner with whatever was in the fridge

I told John this was a "chopped" meal...he knew what that meant, I'm hoping he wasn't too worried...

Here's what I had in my "basket":

• Grilled Chicken Breast Strips-frozen
• Frozen veggies (use fresh if you have them)
• a can of mandarin oranges
• two small cans of chopped pineapple
• Teriyaki sauce
• White rice

Here's what I made:

and here's how I did it

I cooked the white rice like it says on the box 

In a skillet (you can also use a Wok if you have one)

I tossed in a little olive oil and kept the heat on high.

I threw in my frozen vegetables (broccoli & carrots)

I drained the mandarin oranges & pineapples, I tossed those in with the vegetables and kept the juice I drained, in a separate bowl. Then I added the frozen chicken strips, a big spoonful of butter over the veggies and kept the skillet on high.

In the separate bowl, I added to the juice a little bit of brown sugar and a little bit of teriyaki sauce and mixed it up. It started to look "too" liquidy so I threw in some corn starch to thicken it a little bit.

Once my rice was done I removed it from the heat & kept it covered

Once everything in the skillet was all cooked through, I poured in the sauce I mixed up and turned it on high heat, covered it and let it boil for about ten minutes, then I took it off the heat and kept it covered to keep it thick. 

Now, It was time to plate it.

I put a couple spoonfuls of rice on my plate, poured the teriyaki mixture on top, sprinkled salt & pepper on top, and to finish it off I added a few sesame seeds.

So what's the verdict?

I was NOT chopped!

The "judge" loved it ;)

It was delicious, and one of the fastest & easiest meals I have made, try it out and see for yourself!

10 Things I've learned from watching the Food Network

Confession I'm obsessed with the ....  

    I could watch it all day, everyday. I'm always looking for a new dish to create in the kitchen, or a new way to season a favorite recipe. So, here's 10 things I've learned from shows like; Restaurant Impossible Cutthroat Kitchen CHOPPED Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives The Pioneer Woman   If you haven't watched any of these, you're missing out. Just watch at least one of each episode. Now to the ten things!  

1- The Pioneer Woman's main ingredient is butter, at least a whole stick

2- You can make a really good dry rub with cayenne pepper & brown sugar

3- Guy Fieri has the best job

4- It's not impossible to cook an entire meal using an ice skate as a knife

5- Dragonfruit has hardly any flavor, it just looks amazing

6- You can "easily" make a gourmet dish in 30 minutes or less

7- Once you've had cream cheese in your mashed potatoes, you won't go back

8- Normal bacteria count for a cutting board is around 50-100 (so random, but interesting)

9- If I turn on the TV before dinner, you're either going to starve, or get some kind of meal from CHOPPED that I've tried to create in the kitchen

10- That ice cream machine can be a bitch

   John loves my creative side, even when I get crazy in the kitchen. We both love food, so it works out! :)