Chinese Five-Spice

Last night I cooked tilapia rubbed with chinese five-spice. This was the first time I had ever used this spice ... and let me tell you what ... WOW!! It was soooo good!!

If you like the taste of black licorice - which I do - you will love it. Just opening the jar of the spice was amazing. The smells of cinnamon and star anise were just wonderful.

I rubed the tilapia - or any fish I suppose - with the five-spice. Then I cooked it in a little bit of olive oil for about 2 minutes on the first side. While this was cooking I mixed together 2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce with 1.5 tablespoons of brown sugar. Once I flipped the fish over I poured this sauce over it and let it cook another 2-3 minutes.

I have to admit that I did not come up with this recipe on my own - it was all www.Eatingwell.com.

I cooked up some rice and a side of broccoli to go with it. I didn't think to take a picture or I would post one. But if you are looking for something different for dinner and like trying something new - TRY THIS!!

The five-spice was a little expensive - $5.00 per bottle. But I only used a tiny amount. I might see if I can whip something together to sell in my store so that you all can try it out.

Mexinese

What is mexinese? Well ... this past weekend my husband and I and 3 other couples got together for a progressive dinner.

For all of those unfamiliar with a progressive dinner - it is where you have cocktails and appetizers at one couples house, main meal (hosted by 2 people this time) at anothers house and dessert and games at the last house.

Another lady and me had the main meal together. We decided to do a taco bar so that people could make their dinner how they would want it instead of just making one big entree. It turned out fabulous. Everyone had an amazing time and all of the food - at all of the houses - was very good.

The one thing that happened was that I brought home a lot of mexican leftovers. Now don't get me wrong - I LOVE mexican food. But it has to be a little different each time. So last night I decided I was going to try to make Chinese out of my Mexican leftovers.

I know, I know. My poor husband! But I ended up making Egg Foo Young and Fried Rice. Egg Foo Young is usually made with bean sprouts, green onions and chicken or pork. Since I didn't have green onions and am not a big fan of bean sprouts I just used regular onions instead. Then added the leftover chicken from the taco bar (front picture). It is something like an omelet. It of course has lots of soy sauce in it!

The fried rice is just a fried rice - except made with mexican rice! I scrambled some eggs and sauted some onions. Added soy sauce ... and ... wa-la! Fried Rice!

I thought it was pretty good, especially considering what I started with! My lovely husband is so great because he eats just about anything I put on the table.

What will I come up with next? I still have a lot of veggie leftovers so we will see what I come up with tonight.

Any suggestions?