Dinnertime Experimenting

Cooking is not one of my favorite things to do...I know how to cook and I prefer to cook at home in order to ensure that I maintain a relatively healthy diet (not to mention it's cheaper), but my method of cooking is to get it done in 20 minutes or less. Babe is the one that really loves to cook and enjoys experimenting, so I was spoiled when he was at home cooking all of our dinners. Now it's a struggle just to come up with something to make, let alone something for just one person. But when this year started, I said I was going to try some new things and get excited about cooking and these are just a few of my attempts thus far!

Last night I made sweet and sour pork, with homemade sweet and sour sauce. It actually turned out amazing! I was impressed with the really simple sauce recipe, that it turned out so well! A few weeks ago I also made a homemade chicken and snap peas dish that turned out pretty well too (see above).

The recipe for the sweet and sour sauce is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup white or rice vinegar (Note: rice vinegar gives better results)
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 4 teaspoons water

Preparation:

Mix the vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce together and bring to a boil in a small pot. Mix together the cornstarch and water, add to the other ingredients and stir to thicken.

(If desired, you can add 1 green pepper, cut into chunks, and pineapple chunks as desired after adding the cornstarch. For a thicker sauce, increase the cornstarch to 4 teaspoons while keeping the water constant.)