Take Out at Home

These recipes are easy and fun to do as a family. No more take out, when you can have an even more successful meal for less money and in no time. 


Lo-Mein
8 ounces lo mein style egg noodles/gluten free option*
1 tablespoon coconut oil/olive oil
2 tsp garlic/fresh or jarred
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, thin strips
1 carrot, thin strips
1/2 cup snow peas
3 cups baby spinach

Sauce
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce/ I used GF Coconut Aminos
2 teaspoons splenda
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha, or more, to taste

*Gluten free rice noodles and Manischewitz gluten free wide egg noodles.
A great gluten free sriracha is organicville found at wholefoods. 

In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, ginger and Sriracha; set aside.
In a large pot of boiling water, cook lo mein egg noodles according to package instructions; drain well.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add garlic, mushrooms, bell pepper and carrot. Cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in snow peas and spinach until the spinach has wilted, about 2-3 minutes.
Stir in egg noodles and soy sauce mixture, and gently toss to combine. 

If you want to make this lo mein for the main dish, add some chicken or beef sliced very thin. 


 
This next recipe is easy and it's a much healthier version. The chicken isn't fried. Serve it with steamed veggies or white rice and you've got a simple easy meal. Steam some broccoli and it's so good!

Healthy Orange Chicken
1 1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce or Gluten Free Coconut Aminos
1 Tbsp orange zest (grated)
1 cup packed Splenda brown sugar or 1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp ginger minced
1/2 tsp garlic fresh or jarred
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
     *green onions and pineapple chunks

1 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
2 chicken breasts cut into slices or chunks
3 Tbsp cornstarch
salt and pepper to taste

Salt and pepper your chicken lightly, and roll them through the cornstarch. Make sure they are fully coated. Head oil in large skillet (I used a non stick pan) Add your chicken once your oil is hot. While your chicken is browning combine in a bowl, 1 1/2 cups water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce/coconut aminos. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger garlic, you can add green onions if you'd like for some fresh onion zing.

Add the sauce components and simmer on medium low until thickened and saucy.

*Here is a quick tip. You can take all the components for the sauce and put it in a pyrex and microwave the sauce until it bubbles. Then pour it over pre made chicken or beef and heck I've even put it over steamed veggies and some crispy chow mein noodles. Sam loves to dip his chicken nuggets into this sauce.  Make sure you cover the container with a paper-towel. 



Asian Chopped Salad with Sesame Dressing

1 bag of spring mix
1 orange segmented or 1 small can of mandarin oranges
1 cucumber sliced
4 green onions, green and white cuts
1 half red pepper diced small
1/4 C edamame 
Chow Mein noodles (these are not gluten free)
   I sometimes replace the chow mien noodles with slivered almonds. Goldbaum makes a gluten free alternative crunchy noodle. You can find them on amazon.

Sesame Dressing
1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup splenda or honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoons sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted

In a mason jar, combine dressing ingredients and shake shake shake!

 
This next recipe is super fun for the kids and adults alike. It is not Gluten Free, but I've included a recipe link below for the wrapper if you're interested in making them. You can also substitute rice papers.  If you can believe it, they are baked wontons and they are actually really really easy and yummy. 

Recipe and Photo Here

Baked Banana Wontons

1 medium banana, mashed with a fork
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
16 wonton wrappers (see note)
1 tsp. coconut oil, melted (or oil mister/cooking spray)

Coconut Caramel Sauce
1/3 c. coconut milk (not light—you need the full-fat kind)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
1/4 c. sugar
2 tbsp. water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine cinnamon and banana in a small bowl. Place a heaping teaspoon of banana filling in the center of each wonton wrapper. Brush edges of wrapper with a small amount of water, fold into a triangle, and press edges together to seal.
Brush both sides of each finished wonton with coconut oil (or spray both sides with oil or cooking spray). Place wontons on a baking sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until corners are browned and crispy.
 

Coconut Caramel Sauce
Whisk together coconut milk, vanilla, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
Combine sugar and water in a small heavy-duty saucepan over medium-high heat. Do not stir! Allow mixture to come to a boil. Once it begins to boil, watch it like a hawk. Eventually the mixture will start to smell like caramel and turn a golden color, then light brown. This will take about 6 minutes. When you see that it’s started to turn brown, slowly pour in coconut milk mixture, whisking constantly and quickly. If the sugar hardens around the whisk, don’t worry; it will melt. Just keep whisking! Continue to heat over medium-high until mixture has thickened and is a light caramel color, about 5 minutes more. Drizzle over wontons and ice cream.

Note: Gluten Free Wontons