Recently, it dawned on me that some of my favorite restaurant meals are really quite easy to make at home. Example #1, Chicken Fried Rice. Make sure to have a timer on hand, I use the microwave above the stove. The recipe goes together pretty fast once all of the ingredients are lined up so at that point I kick everyone out of the kitchen until it’s time to wash their hands and set the table.

Just wait, those of you with younger children than mine, one day the clouds will open, the heavens will shine down on you and angels will sing when your children are old enough to set and clear the table, then rinse plates and load the dishwasher. It is truly a glorious moment in motherhood.

The original recipe was found on the website www.tastykitchen.com, and was called Garlic Fried Rice. I made the recipe and included all 6 cloves of garlic - yes, 6. My skin smelled like garlic the next day and as much as we loved the recipe, some changes were definitley in order! Feel free to add or substitute your favorite veggies, whatever you like. I'm making this for dinner tonight!

Chicken Fried Rice
serves 4-6

6 T. butter, divided
2 cloves minced garlic
1 t. lemon juice
3 cups cooked rice, chilled (that's 1 1/2 cups before you cook it!)
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 c. carrots, chopped, more to taste
1/2 c. other vegetable, chopped, more to taste
1 pre-cooked chicken breast, chopped into small pieces
2 eggs, beaten
2 T. soy sauce, more to taste
2 green onions, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Melt 2 T. of butter, add the minced garlic and lemon juice and set aside to let the flavors combine. Cook the rice as directed on the package and set aside or in the fridge to cool.

Chop the onion, carrots and other vegetable, chicken and place each ingredient in it's own bowl so it's easy to drop into the pan. The original recipe called for 1 cup of frozen peas and carrots which I never have on hand, tonight I'm using fresh carrots and broccoli so will steam them in the microwave until they are about half-cooked. Also, I like to pre-cook a couple chicken breasts and freeze them so they are ready for dinners like this - or bbq chicken pizza, or chicken salad, etc. You could easily substitute leftover roast, pork chop, ham, shrimp, whatever meat you have on hand, or use no meat and increase your vegetable amount. Finally, beat the eggs in a small bowl. Line up everything within reach of the stove, this goes together quickly.

In a large, non-stick skillet melt 4 T. of butter over medium heat. Add onions and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add vegetables and the butter-garlic-lemon mix and cook for about 3 minutes. Add meat and cook for 1 minute. Push all ingredients over to one side of the skillet and on the empty side add the eggs. Salt and pepper the eggs and scramble them until just set. Then move the rest of the ingredients back over and stir the eggs into the mixture.

Add the cold rice and the soy sauce, stir to combine and cook for another 3-4 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds to nothing burns. Add green onions and stir, taste for seasonings and add more soy sauce, salt and pepper if needed.

We are learning lots on our trip to NYC, here are a few tidbits, I will probably have several more throughout the week.

- check the weather in advance, more than just the morning than you leave, you know, after you are all packed and ready to go, forecast was for low 80s until the morning we left when it quickly changed to 100s

- do not, I repeat do not, go into a restaurant that is not a well known chain and does not post it's prices outside the restaurant, prime example a $14 blt at Roxy Diner. Boo!

- do not believe the counter person at the Des Moines "International" Airport, Delta window, when they say, "hurry up, you'll miss your flight, I'll make sure your bag makes it". Ours made it alright, 14 hours after we did

- do think that just because you are the only two non-Caribbean or non-Hasidic Jews in the six block area, that you will get along just fine and only get random odd stares

- 100 degrees in NYC = 148 degree sidewalks

- eat at Dim Sum Go Go in Chinatown, be a little bit frightened, and come to terms with the fact that you are really bad at chopsticks when the waiter brings you a knife and fork

- waiters at Dim Sum Go Go believe that Chinese food in Iowa is served with potatoes and gravy

- residents of Bedford-Stuyvesant are more frightened that you are walking through your neighborhood than you are when you are while walking through their neighborhood - pushing the limits of your comfort zone can be good for your soul (so they say)

- walking from Manhattan, across the Brooklyn Bridge and to your rented apartment at 14 Virginia Place, Brooklyn is a really long walk, through the before-mentioned Bed-Stuy neighborhood

- tourists are really easy to spot, they are looking up at the massive buildings instead of watching where they are going

- museums take up multiple city blocks and take 4 hours to get through the first floor and absolutely worth the steep price of admission

- there is really good NY cheesecake (Lansky's Deli on the upper west side) and really bad NY cheesecake (some pizza place on the upper east side where the pizza was really great)