Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry

I have never been a fan of Asian food. When I read in a book and on several websites two years ago that consumption of soy products could worsen Endometriosis pain, I swore it away completely. But recently, I endure pain from my condition almost all the time, so I don't think staying away from soy is worth my effort anymore.I watched an episode of "Hungry Girl" last Sunday that was centered around Asian food. I got a hankering for it, so I decided to try a few recipes. Of the two we made this week, this was the better. It's delicious. It has a nice variety of textures and flavors, it isn't greasy, and it feeds 4-6 people. We ate it for two nights + lunches. I will say though that it is definitely better tasting the first day, so if you don't have to feed so many people, scale back the recipe to feed 2. 

Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry, served with store-bought sushi and rice.
I didn't finish my plate.

This recipe has two things going on: the stir fry and the rice. I'll go over instructions and feedback for each seperately.

For the rice: this is going to be the bulk of the meal. You can learn about the nutritional content of rice here. I chose to use long grain brown rice because a large bag was only 79 cents versus half as much at over $3/box for white Minute Rice. It takes 40-45 minutes to cook, but it's cheaper and healthier. To supplement flavor, I also used a pack of pre-seasoned saffron yellow rice for 75cents. The flavor spread to all the rice and it was a delicious complement to the stir-fry.

1 cup long grain brown rice

1 packet saffron yellow rice

Cook the rice according to the packet instructions.

For the stir fry: protein, fiber, vitamins, flavor. You can use frozen vegetables (not canned!) to cut down on cost. Use the leanest stir fry beef you can locate.

3 Tbsp cornstarch, divided

1/2 c. water + 2 Tbsp water (divided)

1 tsp garlic powder

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1/4 c. reduced sodium soy sauce

1 tsp freshly grated ginger root

1 lb. lean stir fry beef, cut into small strips

4 cups broccoli florets (I used frozen)

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 small onion, diced

Start by mixing 2 Tbsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp water until smooth. Add garlic powder and pepper. This should be about the texture of school glue. Place beef in a large zipper bag with mixture and manually smush around to coat. The beef should be coated and there should be no excess paste. Heat wok or large skillet with 1 Tbsp of oil (canola or olive); stir-fry beef until browned and fully cooked.

While that is doing its thing, make the stir-fry sauce. Wisk soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and remaining cornstarch and water together until smooth. Set aside.

Once beef is done, remove from pan. Add onions, bell pepper, and broccoli and stir-fry for 5-7 min. Add beef back to pan along with the stir-fry sauce. Simmer about 5 min.

 We added alfalfa sprouts to ours. And picked them out. They're much better raw in my opinion.

Serve over rice.

French Onion Soup

Ok Readers, I am SO sorry I haven't been keeping up with posting recipes. My life has been chaotic lately, but tonight I have time. =)

I made this recipe last week. Yum. All I can say is yum.

I appreciate a good bowl of French Onion Soup. As simple as it looks, it has such a rich, robust flavor. Leftovers keep well, and it can be transformed into an easy side dish (as I will show later).

This was a spin on a Tyler Florence recipe. Even though cut in half, this made enough for both of us + leftovers.

(As pictured, this soup has mozzarella cheese, prosciutto, and couscous in it. Aaron doesn't like runny, brothy soups, so I added literally 1/2 c. of couscous to the entire dish and it kept multiplying. I love couscous.)

Ingredients in order of use:

1/4 c. butter

2 large vidallia onions, julienned 

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 bay leaf

2 fresh thyme sprigs

sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper

1/2 c. red wine (see wine tip below)

2 Tbsp all purpose flour

1 qt. beef broth

Toppings of your choice: baguette, cheese, couscous, croutons, etc.

First, melt butter, then add onions and cook until almost caramelized. Add garlic and bay leaf, continue to cook, stirring constantly so garlic doesn't burn (maybe 8 min total for this step):

 

Red wine tip: this is a great way to control the sweetness or boldness of the dish. I am not a wine connoisseur by any means and I really hate wine to drink (except sparkling moscato- mmm). But for this dish, I used Marsala wine. It has a sweet, plummy flavor. The bottle I got was $3.99 at Kroger. I am certain it will be in our fridge for a while.

Add wine and thyme and continue to cook until wine is reduced by half.

Once the wine has reduced, sprinkle the onions with flour, stir to avoid clumps, and cook another minute or so. Finally, add beef stock.

Simmer for 20 minutes.

At this point, remove herbs:

Taste test here and see how much pepper or salt it needs.

I added 1/2 c. of couscous to that whole thing and it turned into this:

Unexpected, but nice.

I also made roasted asparagus. Easy enough! Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly drizzle olive oil and lemon juice over asparagus. Sprinkle with sea salt & fresh pepper. Roast about 10-15 minutes until desired texture. I like mine with a bite to it.

Final dish:

 I hope you give it a try! It's especially great for cold evenings or evenings when everyone gets home at a different time. Just keep the pot warm on the stove. Enjoy!

Salmon Two Ways

TGIF!!! It's been a very long day and I cannot wait to go to bed in a few minutes. On days like this, we usually find ourselves tempted to go out to dinner. Then we spend $30+ on one meal with innumerable calories and feel miserable for the rest of the evening. Tonight, I wanted to make something easy that was also going to be completely satisfying and relatively healthy. Aaron took a picture with his tablet, but it didn't do the meal justice.

Basically, I purchased a large (4-5 serving) salmon fillet from Kroger. It was in the frozen seafood section. Wild-caught, as always :)  I lined a cookie sheet with tin foil and then greased it lightly with olive oil so that the salmon wouldn't break apart when I served it. I put the whole salmon (frozen) on the cookie sheet and drizzled it with a little extra olive oil. I seasoned each half differently. On one half, I caked it with lemon pepper seasoning and extra lemon pepper. On the other half, I sprinkled it with fresh thyme, herbs de provence, pepper, and garlic powder. I roasted that at 450 for about 35 min. The whole thing was delicious, but especially the lemon pepper side. Looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

I also made herbed mashed potatoes. I HATE instant potatoes. Mashed potatoes are so easy to make and there are like 100 ways to make them. Tonight, I used organic russet potatoes (5), washed and cut in fourths. Boiled them for about 15-17 min (from room temp water). While that was going, I heated a small egg skillet over very low heat (3 out of 10) and melted 3 Tbsp butter with the leaves of 3 thyme sprigs, 1 tsp rosemary (dried), lots of pepper, a little salt, and garlic powder. When the potatoes were done, I drained them, added the butter and herb mixture, and started mashing. I added 2% milk until I got the consistency I was looking for.

It was so good! =)

Tomato Gnocci Dish

Six years ago today, my husband asked me to be his girlfriend. =)  I remembered a few days ago, but I was very busy at work today and completely forgot. He cleaned the house, went grocery shopping, and made dinner (tasks that fall to me 95% of the time).  He made this yummy meal tonight that doesn't really have a name:

 He's not one for measuring, so it was just eyeballed. Here's my best estimate:

1 1/4 c. gnocci (measured dried)
1/2 pint of grape tomatoes
1/4 c. sundried tomatoes (in oil), sliced
1/4 c. mozzarella & prosciutto, chopped (he bought a "loaf" of mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto at Wal-mart)
3 Tbsp dried basil (*fresh would be better)
Good extra virgin olive oil

Boil gnocci until they float to the top of the water, about 3 minutes, then drain and rinse with cool water. Add remaining ingredients to medium size mixing bowl. Coat with olive oil. Refrigerate. Serve cold.

This serves two people with no leftovers, which is much more economical for us because we usually let our leftovers go bad...

It was good and the best part was I didn't have to make it or clean up after it! =)

Enjoy!

Apples, anyone?

I went to an apple orchard festival with some friends today and left with a peck of apples. I got 17 apples in various varieties, including red delicious, golden delicious, winesap, granny smith, pink ladies, and Arkansas black apples. I am on a hunt for good apple recipes. I'd like to can something, preferably fried apples or apple butter. The rest, we can eat with peanut butter.

Today, I made "spicy" apple sauce. It was really easy!

4 apples (I used a mixed variety)
1 c. water
1/4-1/2 c. sugar (I used 1/4 c.)
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
Secret: pepper

Just simmer everything for 15 minutes, then mash. Serve warm or cold.

Pumpkin & Sausage Pasta

Looking for something out of the ordinary and perfect for fall? Look no further! This delicious pumpkin & sausage pasta sauce is earthy, slightly sweet, nutty, and perfect for 4 people as a main course. I mainly followed Rachael Ray's recipe, but I altered it slightly. Here's how I made it:


1 lb. bulk sweet Italian sausage (sweet is key to the flavor in this dish. It's not supposed to be spicy!)
1 medium onion, finely chopped (I used a sweet onion)
5 cloves garlic, minced (she called for 4)
1 c. canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 c. chardonnay
1 c. chicken stock (I used broth because I had it on hand)
1/2 c. heavy cream (I used whipping cream because it was cheaper)

and for the spices (clockwise, from top):

)

6 sprigs fresh sage (I piled mine and sliced it very fine, then turned it the other way and sliced it)
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg (she called for 1/2 tsp, but mine wasn't freshly grated)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 bay leaf


First, brown your sausage, then pile it on a plate with a paper towel to absorb the grease:

Add onion & garlic to the pan. Saute 3-5 minutes. Then add wine and spices/herbs. Allow to reduce by half.

We used an inexpensive ($4.98) chardonnay. It's disgusting. But it worked for this dish lol:

Then, add stock, cream, and pumpkin. Stir slowly until incorporated. Add sausage back to pan. Allow to simmer 15 minutes. When done, it should look like cheddar cheese sauce with sausage chunks in it.

We served it with mini bowtie pasta. I didn't get a picture of it on the plate because we had company over for dinner. I hope you give it a try! We loved it! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie

At only 50-some degrees today, we were in a fallesque mood to make something pumpkin. Pie it is!

I wish I took a picture of a slice of this pie with whipped cream and cinnamon on top... but we took it to a friend's house, so I didn't want to take pictures there.

This was the recipe on the back of the Libby's Pumpkin Puree can, but I added a little extra spices. I used a storebought graham cracker crust and have enough filling left over to make 2 more pies. Overall, I love this recipe. It tastes perfect and it's a cinch to make. I especially loved the compliments from our friends that it was the best pumpkin pie they'd ever had. Yay! The only thing that I didn't like (at first) was how runny the batter is. I guess it's supposed to be like that because it turned out great!

1  29oz can of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling! They're different products.)
2  12.9 cans of evaporated milk
4 large eggs
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or make your own)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon   (these three + cloves are all in pumpkin pie filling

Pour into 2 graham cracker crusts. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 for 45 minutes. Allow to cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve warm or refrigerated.