Lovin' From the Oven

Easy Pad Thai

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It always takes time getting used to a new kitchen, right? Not in this case! Having a gas stove and oven is way better than an electric stove. My first apartment in Berkeley had an electric stovetop… a coil one! It was the biggest pain in the butt to clean and cook on since it took so long to heat up. Don’t even get me started on the little scraps that would fall through the cracks. They’d be stuck there for eternity.

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My second Berkeley apartment still had an electric stovetop, but it was flesh. There were no coils to battle with. Cleaning was a cinch. After three years of living with an electric stovetop, I’d practically forgotten what gas stoves were like.

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Holy cow! Everything cooks so evenly! There is no burning of the cookies on the edges. Every cookie on the sheet bakes evenly. Not only that, but water boils faster, the oil warms up in seconds, and I can roast marshmallows for s’mores in a matter of seconds!

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So even though it’s a small kitchen, I’m so grateful for that little gas oven of mine. You bet your bottom dollar I’ll be using it every day!

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This pad thai isn’t exactly authentic tasting.. it’s more of a quick fix recipe for a dish that tastes similar to pad thai. It’s a solid dish, but don’t make it expecting the best homemade pad thai because you’ll be disappointed. I’d make this recipe again.

Recipe from Brownies for Dinner.

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Easy Pad Thai

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces dried, wide and flat rice noodles
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 squirt Sriracha (optional)
  • 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
  • 3 green onions, white and green parts, separated and thinly sliced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
  • 1/4 cup chopped roasted, salted peanuts (optional)

Directions

  1. Soak noodles according to package instructions. Drain.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, lime juice, soy sauce, and Sriracha.
  3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
  4. Add scallion whites and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add eggs and cook, scraping skillet with spatula until eggs are almost set (about 30 seconds). Transfer eggs to a plate.
  5. Add noodles, scallion greens, and sauce to skillet. Cook, tossing constantly, until noodles are soft (about 1 minute). Add egg mixture and toss to coat, breaking eggs up gently.
  6. Serve noodles with lime wedges, topped with cilantro and peanuts (if using).
https://lovintheoven.com/easy-pad-thai/

Lemon Pasta with Chicken, Spinach, and Tomatoes

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You know it’s been a while when you log onto WordPress and you have not one, but seven, updates to be installed. Now how did that happen?

The good news? I can officially call Southern California my home again. I’ve successfully moved back over the past week and am slowly trying to turn a house into a home. I even had to do my first “grown up” purchases this past week. Shopping for a refrigerator is a lot easier than buying a couch.

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Our refrigerator shopping was pretty painless since we had a very small space in the kitchen for it and there were only three refrigerators that could fit into the space. Obviously, we went with the cheapest one (helloooo wedding payments and student debt!).

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Our couch shopping experience was exactly the opposite of that. We went into a furniture store and saw an ad for a mix and match furniture set for only $1099. We found one that we liked and went to make the purchase. Long story short: the couch that we chose wasn’t supposed to be on the ad and the manager refused to sell it to us as advertised.

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Fast forward a couple of days later and numerous emails/phone calls to corporate, their twitter, facebook, and the BBB, we finally got a phone call today that they would honor their ad. I don’t understand why they couldn’t just do that in the first place.

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I mean, they even left the ad up after several days and didn’t change it after the whole fiasco with us. You’d think that a company would fix their mistake after a problem with a customer so that it’s not repeated again in the future. Nope, they decided to take their chances. That’s ballsy.

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So that’s that. We finally purchased a couch and a refrigerator. Now we’re just waiting for all of the pieces to be delivered so that we don’t have to sleep on the floor anymore (we’re also waiting on our mattress). I love sleeping on the floor, but my DF can’t stand it for the life of him.

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I have yet to try making a meal in the kitchen yet since we didn’t have a refrigerator the first three days we lived in this apartment. Now that we have a fridge, I still have to go to the grocery store to stock it. Oh, the joys of moving.

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It was also 104 degrees the day we moved in. Goodness gracious, LA!

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I’m actually craving a home cooked meal right now. We had to eat out the past couple of days (again, no refrigerator) for every single meal. As luxurious as that sounds, it actually kind of sucks.

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Even a simple pasta dish like this sounds great right about now, just as long as it’s made in my kitchen!

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This pasta was very simple and had tons of lemon flavor. I liked how the spinach and roma tomatoes added a little bit of color to the plain looking dish.

from the recipe crayon box

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Lemon Pasta with Chicken, Spinach, and Tomatoes

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb angel hair pasta
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 2 t. crushed red pepper
  • Perfect Chicken, cut into chunks
  • 2 lemons, zested and juiced
  • 3/4 c. heavy cream
  • 1 c. Parmesan, grated (or shredded)
  • 1 c. baby spinach, stems removed
  • 1/2 c. roma plum tomatoes, halved
  • 3 T. extra virgin olive oil

Directions

  1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box. Drain and reserve 2-3 tablespoons of the pasta water.
  2. In a large skillet over low heat, cook the oil, garlic, and crushed pepper. Cook until the oil sizzles (about 7-10 minutes).
  3. Add in lemon juice, heavy cream, and the reserved pasta water to the garlic oil mixture. Cook over medium low heat until it just starts to bubble.
  4. Add the pasta, zest, and 3/4 c. Parmesan to the cream sauce. Toss for a minute or two.
  5. Add chicken, spinach, and tomatoes and mix evenly. Top with remaining cheese.
https://lovintheoven.com/lemon-pasta-with-chicken-spinach-and-tomatoes/

Baked Chicken Bites

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bakedchickennuggets-6 GE_kitchen_noprops The kitchen is by far my favorite room in the house. After all, my DF and I spend the most time in there creating our meals for the day. Since he’s a law student and I’m always on the go for work, time is very valuable to the both of us. I like having appliances that can cook my meals in thirty minutes or less so that my DF and I have more time to spend together. I mean, who wants to spend two hours a day waiting for an oven to preheat or your chicken to be done so that you can bake cookies? Or waiting for your flan to set in a refrigerator that doesn’t get cold enough? No one. Appliances play a vital role in your kitchen, whether you realize it or not. The quality of your oven, refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave, and stove affect your quality of food. bakedchickennuggets Dinner is the most important meal of the day, especially on hectic weeknights, because it lets you reflect and share your daily events. I’ve always remembered it as opportunity to chat with my parents when I was little, and now, I get to pass on the tradition by chatting with my DF about his day at school or my day at work. There are always stories to tell and people to share it with. bakedchickennuggets-3 ge_10-range_0263 GE_kitchen_ALL_0019_20_RANGE COOKIE TRAY Dinner is a time where you can vent about things, set work issues aside, and just relax with your loved ones. It’s so important to make time on weeknights to reconnect and recharge, and dinner is that time for us. GE Appliances have helped made this possible for the past and current generations in my family with their innovative appliances. Their Double Range Oven, for example, allows me to bake multiple items at once. That saves me time in waiting since I can make these baked chicken bites and dessert at the same time. bakedchickennuggets-4 ge_08-dishwasher_0186 GE_kitchen_ALL_0010_11_DISHWASHER TIGHT GE Appliances’ Dishwasher (which is a semi-recent discovery for me… I never used a dishwasher until I moved in with my DF and let me tell you, it’s one glorious invention. I don’t know how I ever lived without one before!) saves a ton of time cleaning up with its 102 spray jets. With that many jets, you can save time and not do any pre-washing or rewashing. Since you’re saving so much time, you can be spending more time with your family over dinner! bakedchickennuggets-2 Bottom line, GE Appliances has always listened to the consumer (me!) and upgraded each product according to our needs. They are constantly working and upgrading to make the best available product in the market with design, efficiency, and people in mind. By the way, GE Applainces is also offering rebates and promotions (GE Artistry begins 5/15/2014 – 5/28/2014). 
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Baked Chicken Bites

Ingredients

  • 3 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 3/4 cup bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup panko
  • 1 tbsp italian seasonings
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 2 eggs
  • cooking spray

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
  2. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl. Set aside.
  3. In another bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, panko, italian seasonings, cheese, salt, and pepper.
  4. Dip the chicken pieces into the eggs and then into the bread crumb mix until evenly coated.
  5. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, turning the chicken pieces halfway through the baking.
https://lovintheoven.com/baked-chicken-bites/

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