Mise En Place

What does Mise en place mean?  Well if you were a restaurateur or chef, you would know.  If you were a foodie, you would know.  I am none of these things, but I do love food, like cooking, and when I was sick with chemo, I did nothing but watch the Food Network, and they talk a lot about getting your mise en place ready.  So what does mise en place mean.  Well I will let Wikepedia tell you........

Mise en place (pronounced [miz ɑ̃ plas], literally "putting in place") is a French phrase defined by the Culinary Institute of America as "everything in place", as in set up. It is used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients (e.g., cuts of meat, relishes, sauces, par-cooked items, spices, freshly chopped vegetables, and other components) that a cook will require for the menu items that he or she expects to prepare during his/her shift.[1]

Now I am not a very organized cook.  Baking yes, because it is an exact science.  But while cooking, I usually don't know what I am going to throw in a dish until I have actually done it.  But there is one way of cooking, I am always organized and have my mise en place in order.  When I stir fry.

I have to admit here, I think I made a mistake in putting tofu in my stir fry.  It is not with in my own perimeters for the Real Food Challenge.  It is a processed soy product with more than one ingredient.  So My Bad!   But now that the first week is over, I think that was my first mistake.  No I did not make a mistake with the sauce.  I put it together with lots on one ingredient items.  And it tasted better than any premade sauce you can buy in a jar.