Egg Cheese Melt & Creamy Mushroom Soup

Soft Rye bread was on sale at the local grocer for $1 (usually $2.99) as it was a new product/brand, so I got a loaf of it. I decided to make it a sandwich and soup night; something simple yesterday since today we’ll be having a little party to celebrate Brady’s one week celebration in our household! A few close buddies will be over and I’ll be making various food.=) Pictures will definitely follow!Anyway, back to my sandwich and soup story…..The soup on the other hand is dedicated to my brother who a few days ago had requested for the creamy mushroom soup recipe I served on X’mas Eve! Instead of telling him estimates of this and that (well I did tell him actually and it sorta overwhelmed him =P), I decided to measure everything out and share it here! =) Mom is definitely proud of her baby boy who now can even make Tiramisu!!!

The Egg Cheese Melt was constructed from 3 pieces of rye toasted with some butter. A cheese melt on one layer and the second layer a spread of egg salad with cucumber slices complete my Egg Cheese Melt! YUMS!

CREAMY MUSHROOM SOUP RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 2-1/2 Cups Mushroom, sliced
• 1 Cup Potatoes, diced (I used red skin potato, peeled)
• 1 Cup Yellow Onion, chopped
• 3 Clove Garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp Butter,
• 1 Cup Chicken Broth
• 1/2- 3/4 Cup Milk (**adjust accordingly)
• 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1 Tsp Parsley Flake (about 1-2 Tbsp if using fresh chopped parsley)
• 1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
• Salt & Pepper

Method:

In a pot, melt butter and sauté onion and garlic till fragrant over medium high heat. Then add in mushroom, potatoes, parsley, onion powder and garlic powder. Continue to sauté for about 2 minutes. Pour in chicken broth, cover pot and let it cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat. Remove pot from heat and let the soup cool for about 1 hour before putting it in a blender. When soup has cooled down significantly, puree it in the food processor. If you find it hard to puree it, a little milk will help. Then pour it back into the original pot and continue to cook it over medium low heat. Add cream as well as remaining milk till you get the consistency you like. Season soup with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with some fresh crusty bread!. This serves 2!

If you want a soup with more texture, feel free to chop up about 1/4 cup of mushroom, sauté it in some butter and add it in just before before you add cream and milk.

B-R-A-D-Y!

This is a special update per the request of my friend Adeline. With Brady in our lives, my handbag is now filled with 4 essential things; Poopy bag (to pick up after Mr. Brady), doogie treats (to bribe or to reward him), his squeaky toy (to reward or to distract him) and of course hand sanitizer (needed especially after picking up after him!!). Thank goodness for an oversize handbag!

Brady boy passed his wellness check during his recent visit to the vet. HURRAY!! The shelter we adopted him from requires us to send Brady for a checkup within 7 days of the adoption. The first visit to certain vet is free, for adopted dogs; which is wonderful as a visit to the vet cost about $50-60 each, in addition to vaccines and other medicines that your dog might need. We have the option to “return” Brady for a full refund, if he has a medical issue that we do not want to deal with. I was VERY nervous when I brought him to the vet as I do not want to be caught in the scenario of either spending hundreds (or thousands) to make him better or “returning” him and picking up another rescued dog since we’ve already fallen in love with him!

The only thing Brady needs right now is for us to start brushing his teeth as he has some tartar build up in his back teeth! Either that or about $500 ( we better start saving up???) for professional cleaning from the vet which was recommended since he’s got quit a bit of tartar. I need to get some poultry flavored dog toothpaste to clean his teeth. =) Oh yeah, we need to make sure Brady gain a little more weight… he’s right now a skinny little thing! So, we’re feeding him a little more than instructed…at least for now!

Brady loves to sleep and also cuddle up to us for a good scratch which will just hypnotize him and make him fall asleep on our lap! He sometimes demand some attention and affection, give him a hug a cuddle and he will in return will lick your face silly!! I love his excitement and his wag-ly tail when he greets you at the door or stairs. That’s why I prefer to have a dog as a pet (sorry cat owners!) and that’s why I wanted a dog with a long tail!!! Hehe! Brady will always greet us when we come out from the shower/toilet upstairs! It’s like we’ve been gone forever and he’s super pleased to see us again! =) Since we’ve decided to keep Brady out from the bedrooms, it’s heart wrenching to see him wait outside the bedroom door whenever we go in the room, especially when we go to bed. He will wait patiently for minutes (or hours??) before going back down to his own bed. It’s been almost a week since we brought Brady home, and we’ve yet hear him bark. It’s truly a blessing as we do not want a yappy dog! Be assured that he’s not deaf (and dumb)…..that we sure know as we’ve heard him yelped (at the vet and when hubby accidentally stepped on his tail, oops), and he loves anything that squeaks! Right now he’s absolute favorite toy is a squeaky loofah dog! He loved it so much, he’ll bring it almost everywhere! And since he loved it so much, I just had to buy him another once….especially since it’s on sale!! Hehe! Here’s a picture of Brady and his favorite toy at the moment, a 12” loofah dog we named “Fido”!Mr. Brady enjoys car rides and taking strolls. He doesn’t really pull when he walks but will occasionally try to stray when he sees kids, dogs, and things we don’t see?? Haha! He is extremely friendly to people and dogs. We think he’s a heartbreaker as many ladies think he’s oh-so-cute especially with his prominent Jack Russell Terrier features!! =)

Everyday is a new learning experience with Brady and we are loving his every move, falling deeper and deeper in love with our boy, Brady! He’s an excellent dog as our first dog, somewhat quite housebroken, extremely affectionate and decently behaved! Haha!  Brady also does not have food (or toy?) aggression meaning we can talk away his food/treat/toy without him snapping, growling or biting us! And the way he sleeps is just hilariously funny!!

Say goodbye to cold kennels at the shelter, foster families, hoarder with 40 dogs in the same house and different faces everyday! I’m proud to say that Brady has found his FOREVER home and is here to stay a long time. We will definitely shower Brady with lots of love, food, treats and toys! Hehe!

Here are more silly and cute pictures of BRADY!! If you’re my Facebook friend, do check out my photo album for more pictures of Brady! =)

Chicken Rice & A Walk By The River

I made Chicken Rice for dinner last night. My method may not be right, but I still loved it! I cooked the chicken legs in a pot of boiling stock with some diluted chicken broth, seasoning, garlic, ginger, and turmeric for some color! For the flavored rice, I used the same broth from cooking the chicken and added pandaneus leaves, ginger slices, fried shallots, sesame oil and salt! With the remaining chicken broth, I added some Daikon and made radish soup of of it! Chicken was served on a bed of sliced cucumber topped with cilantro and a soy sauce mixture! Yums! And Brady sat by us, aiming for a good bite (or a lick) at the juicy chicken legs!! HeheAnyway, after our Chicken Rice dinner yesterday…hubby and I took Brady out on a stroll along the Merrimack River. Our routine has changed with Brady in our lives. We now get more exercise as we need to take Brady boy out for a walk and to socialize. At least, it’s true on my part…….as I hate exercising and walking, but with Brady around, he gives me motivation to walk outside! =)..Brady has been pretty good so far, although we can sense that he’s testing out his limits each day…doing different things and hoping he can get away with it! Hubby and I both agreed on some ground rules on Brady and it’s worked out fine so far!

Oh yeah, I’m now looking to change Brady’s food and have been looking and searching for different brands out there. Right now, Brady’s eating IAMS Minichunks and we would like to switch over to something better, higher in protein, more meat and less by products! Share with me your recommendations or suggestions! =) 

Honey Mustard Chicken

This roast chicken dish is something I threw together inspired by other Honey Mustard Chicken dishes. I started off just simply mixing different ingredients together, adding whatever I had in the pantry and remembered that I have a jar of mustard! One ingredient lead to another and I ended up with what seem like a Honey Mustard marinade! The roast chicken turned out awesome and moist! I served my chicken with a simple garlic butter pasta and some sautéed Cremini Mushroom and Broccoli.

HONEY MUSTARD (ROAST) CHICKEN RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken Legs, cleaned
• 1 tbsp butter

Marinade:

• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar (Sushi Vinegar)
• 2 tbsp cooking wine

Method:

Combine marinade in a bowl and whisk well to combine. Pour marinade in a zip lock bag and add chicken legs. Seal bag and massage chicken legs so that marinade will coat every nook and crannies. Let chicken legs marinade overnight or at least 6-8 hours as this will give you a more flavorful chicken!

Preheat oven @ 375 F. While oven is heating up, melt 1 tbsp of butter in a frying pan over medium high heat. Place chicken skin side down on pan and let skin brown and turn it to let the other side brown. Allow about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Place the browned chicken skin side up on a baking dish, baste skin with excess marinade and cover with foil. Bake chicken for about 40-45 minutes. Baste chicken skin generously with the excess marinade about 15-20 minutes into baking time. Cooking time will depend on the size of your chicken legs! Then remove foil, and change oven to broiling mode (high). Let chicken crisp up a little, and this would take about 2-4 minutes. Keep a close eye when broiling the chicken, as you do not want a burnt chicken! This serves two!

To test if chicken is done : Insert a fork in the chicken and It should go in easily. The juices should also run clear. For more chicken doneness test click here.

Trader Joe’s

…….not your average Joe! This store has been around for quite a while. It’s not as large as regular grocery stores, but they certainly have a good selection of basic, organic and international food! I’ve briefly window shopped at Trader Joe’s while I was in school just to see what they offer.I have not been to a Trader Joe’s since and decided to revisit it again a few months ago.

I now have been occasionally going to Trader Joe’s as the prices are actually very reasonable! Certain items in the store are actually cheaper than the local grocer I often shop at! And I just love the international selection that they have. You’ll can also find food in the store that you won’t (or can hardly) find in other stores! They have an awesome selection of fresh food, common and unique dried fruits, delicious quick meals, international cuisine (Indian, Italian, Japanese, etc), healthy snacks, healthy juice and lots more of yummy stuff!

If you’ve not been to a Trader Joe’s, swing by your nearest store and check them out! And if you see this Japanese Rice Cracker Snack (Fat Free!), pick one up. This is one of the yummiest Japanese snack I’ve tasted for less than $3!! By the way, I’m not affiliated with Trader Joe’s…just wanted to share good findings and food!! =)