One of my favorite comfort foods back in college was minced pork rice. The first time I had this dish was at a bubble tea place in Ann Arbor. The little shop served bubble tea, appetizers, and snacks. It was located on my college campus and was a short walk away from the undergraduate library where I spent most of my days studying. Each bowl of minced pork rice was about five or six dollars and included minced pork, jasmine rice, and half a soy sauce egg.

The one skillet chicken and rice dish should really be called the one skillet, seared chicken, mixed vegetables, and seasoned rice dish, but the name is too long so I shortened it. I make this dish when I am too tired to cook and wash dishes (a.k.a. when I’m lazy). Instead of using multiple pots to prepare the chicken, vegetables, and rice separately, I like to cook all the ingredients in one skillet. The dish itself uses just one skillet to make, serves a bunch of people, and can pretty much be cooked in one vessel and served in the same vessel.

Friday nights are date nights for Kevin and I. After work on Fridays, Kevin and I like to squeeze in a quick workout before we go to dinner. Our typical dinner rotation is pizza, sushi, or Vietnamese. This Friday, we ended up going to a local Vietnamese restaurant for pho, rice vermicelli, and summer rolls. We were both hungry so we started out ordering summer rolls.

Chicken salad is a simple lunch staple for me. It is easy to make and tastes great the longer it sits in the refrigerator. For Labor Day this weekend, I made a chicken salad for lunch served over butter lettuce. There are many variations of chicken salad out there, but I prefer my chicken salad with fresh and dried fruit mixed into it. The mixture of the fruit brings a nice texture and wonderful sweetness to the chicken salad. I mixed up all of the ingredients in a large bowl the night before and served in for lunch today. I typically like to sandwich the chicken salad between two toasted pieces of baguette, but I had some leftover butter lettuce in the refrigerator so I served the chicken salad over it. 

Meatballs and spaghetti is one of Kevin’s favorite foods. He craves meatballs and spaghetti at least once a month. I love pasta in general, so it is always an easy decision for me when debating what to make for dinner. When I first started making meatballs, I combined different types of meats, but I found out just using ground beef also works very well.