Easy Asian Meal

Our oldest daughter has lost almost 40 pounds since October by increasing protien and cutting out most starches, sugars, and processed foods from her diet. We could stand to lose a few pounds, so we thought we'd try it.

Our menu the other night was tempura shrimp for an appetizer and a pork and bok choy stir fry eaten without the usual rice.


Yeah...I'm still using my cute little Christmas dishes! I keep saying I need to put them away! Wait til you see what else is still up...

The tempura shrimp was delish. I can't take credit for it though. I used this box of frozen tempura shrimp. There's very little in it except a light coating and the shrimp. Most important, it comes from the USA, which is very important to us. We try to buy products and produce from the USA only whenever possible.

All we had to do was bake the shrimp in the oven for about 15 minutes. Just follow the directions on the box. The sweet and sour sauce is in a little packet in the box and we just used a little of it. Our daughter would've skipped the sauce I'm sure, but that's why she's down 40 pounds and we're not!
To make the sauce for the stir fry, I opened a can of chicken broth and put most of it in a measuring cup. I added a Tbs of cornstarch, a couple of Tbs of low-sodium soy sauce, and a dash of Karo light syrup. You can use less cornstarch and go without the Karo syrup and it would still be a good dish. It all depends on your taste. Go on and experiment.

I sliced the bok choy. It's sort of a combo cabbage/celery type veggie. It's rated as one of the best vegetables by Dr Oz. I love bok choy and use it to make Chinese noodle soup and lots of stir fry type dishes. Don't over cook it! It's better a little on the crisp side.
I forgot to get a picture of the pork chop I used for this dish. But, picture a frozen, boneless, skinless pork chop that you slice thinly while it's still mostly frozen. It's easier to get thin slices that way. I put a little olive oil in the pan and stir fried the pork for just a few minutes until it was cooked, then added the bok choy. When the bok choy was done, I added the chicken broth mixture to the pan and simmered until the sauce thickened.

Here's a shot of the dish again. This recipe made two heaping servings, which we enjoyed immensely!
We sat in the dinning room and watched the Christmas lights turn different colors on the mantel across the way...YES...I still have the Christmas decorations on the mantle too! I'm taking them down soon. Honest.

I didn't get a chance to join up with any blog mantle parties during the season, so let me point out some reasons why the decorations are still up. Little Mary is still peaking out of the greenery and pine cones. She would be close to 100 years old today, but sadly passed away before her first birthday.

No matter how I try, I cannot get a good picture of these lights! They are so pretty. I bought them for $10 at Target. They look like the old fashion ones, but are L.E.D.s and each bulb changes colors from blue to green to red to purple to yellow and back. I'm not the only one in the family who sat for hours just watching them change colors. It was mesmerizing!
So, one good Chinese meal and a last look at these lovely lights. After all...it's almost Valentine's Day, so I guess I'll take them down soon. Hope you try my Chinese dish and please let me know how you liked it.

I'm joining up with the Newbie Party at Debbiedoo's Blogging and Blabbing . It's a linky party for people with less than 100 followers or less than one year blogging. Just click below and come see what everyone's talking about, after all, everyone loves a good party!

http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com