Parents Stir-Fried Shrimp Over Rice Noodles

My oldest son has fallen in love with seafood in the last couple of months. Any dish involving shrimp he will devour and ask for seconds. My youngest son also loves seafood, but his ultimate favorite food is pasta. He has been known to eat a half package of leftover spaghetti from the refrigerator. I have been trying to find recipes that combine both of my sons food preferences and was pleased when the June issue of Parents magazine had a recipe for stir-fried shrimp over rice noodles.

Recently, my local grocery store downsized its Asian foods section. There are currently no types of rice noodles available, so I substituted spaghetti noddles. Additionally, I have never actually seen fresh snow peas at any of the stores in my area, so I substituted frozen. This dish goes together very fast. I was able to prepare and make this meal while my two boys played in the kitchen (they thought they were helping). I did peel and de-vein my shrimp earlier in the day, since I find it time consuming to do right before dinner. The rest of the prep work was minimal, with the carrots needing to be shredded and the baby corn cut into pieces. I followed the suggestion and added sesame seeds at the end.

My two sons loved this recipe. Of course the oldest ate all the shrimp and the youngest all the pasta, but they were both content. Substituting the rice noodles for spaghetti worked out fine taste wise and the dish has a nice sweet taste. I have been trying to get more seafood into my family's diet and this recipe worked perfectly.

For the recipe go to Parents Stir-Fried Shrimp Over Rice Noodles. (registration required).

All You Honey-Soy Braised Pork Shoulder

When the weather hits the 90's my un-airconditioned kitchen turns into a sauna. I try to avoid making foods that take a large amount of cooking or oven time and stick to less time-consuming options. My slow-cooker gets used frequently in warmer weather and makes cooking fast and easy. I especially appreciate it when I need to feed a large amount of people on a very hot day, such as last week when my in-laws were in town. The May issue of All You magazine had a recipe for honey-soy braised pork shoulder, that is a quick and easy weeknight solution.

The only prep work involved in this recipe is cutting the pork shoulder and chopping the ginger. My prep work took slightly more than the suggested 5 minutes due to the fact that I purchased a 10 pound shoulder than I had to cut for multiple recipes.  The ingredients were all easily found at my local supermarket, I already keep sriracha in my fridge. The slow-cooker does all the work, with very minimal prep effort. I let my pork cook in the slow cooker for a full 8 hours, and made no modifications to the original recipe.

I was worried that this recipe would turn out too peppery for my father-in-law. He hadn't tried sriracha before and is hesitant of spicy foods. It turned out that I shouldn't have worried about it, he ate his serving without complaints and my mother-in-law had seconds. The rest of my family appreciated that the recipe is a nice blend of sweet and spicy, the heat is accessible to a variety of palates. Overall, this was a quick, easy dinner that I would definitely use again.

For the recipe go to Honey-Soy Braised Pork Shoulder.