Friday, November 11, 2011

Mongolian Beef






Mongolian Beef
Courtesy of: Pink Bites

Serves 4


2 lb of steak, thinly sliced crosswise (The original recipe used flank steak, I used sirloin)
1/4 cup of cornstarch
3 teaspoons of canola oil
1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger
(I used the ginger from the tube - it keeps longer and is good for the price)
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic (about 2 -3 large cloves)
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (I skipped this, but if you like spicy - go for it!)
3 large green onions, sliced crosswise into thirds

Prepare the meat:
First, make sure the steak slices are dry (pat them dry) and mix them with the corn starch. Using your hands or a spoon, move them around to make sure all pieces are coated. Place beef slices in a strainer and shake off excess corn starch.

Make the sauce:
Heat half of the oil in a large pan at medium-high and add the garlic and ginger. Immediately add the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and pepper flakes. Cook the sauce for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl. Don't worry if the sauce doesn't look thick enough at this point. The corn starch in the beef will thicken it up later. 

Cook the meat and assemble dish:
Turn the heat up and add the remaining oil to the wok. Add the beef and cook, stirring until it is all browned. Pour the sauce back into the pan and let it cook along with the meat. Now you can choose to cook it down and reduce the sauce or leave it thinner. Add the green onions on the last minute so the green parts will stay green and the white parts crunchy.

Serve it hot with rice. If I were to do this over again - I'd likely add some fresh broccoli to the pan until sauteed for a little bit of vegetable in the meal. We also had it with a green salad with a ginger based dressing.
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Thursday, November 10, 2011

Slow Cooker Jambalaya






Slow Cooker Jambalaya
Adapted from: Plain Chicken

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
3 Tbsp dried minced onion flakes
1 medium green bell pepper (diced)
1 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 tsp minced garlic
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I left this out, but if you like spicy - go for it)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
white rice or instant rice

In a slow cooker, mix the chicken, sausage, tomatoes with juice, onion, bell pepper, garlic, celery, and broth. Season with oregano, parsley, Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, and thyme. 

I sometimes do this the night before and put it in the fridge.  Just pop it in the slow cooker in the morning before you leave for the day... or just for ease of prep. For me it helps to not have to spend some of nap time putting the meal together - I can just throw it in there the night before. Win!

Cover, and cook 7 to 8 hours on Low, or 3 to 4 hours on High. You can mix in the cooked rice about 15 minutes before serving - or we like to just put the rice in the bottom of our bowl and spoon the Jambalaya on top.
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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Brown Sugar Cake






Brown Sugar Cake
Courtesy of: SuperChikk


1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 pkg (3 oz size) vanilla instant pudding
4 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
2/3 cup water
½ cup oil
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans

Heat oven to 350. Beat first 6 ingredients with mixer 3 minutes or until well blended. Add brown sugar and mix well.

The original recipe calls for mixing 1 cup of pecans in with the batter. I just sprinkle the pecans into the bottom of my greased bundt pan, but my cake got stuck in the end... so I might try mixing some into the batter next time and have some on the top.

Pour into 12-cup fluted pan or 10-inch tube pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. (I baked 1 hour, but probably should have gone a bit longer)

Cool in pan 15 minutes. (Mine cooled longer than the 15 minutes, but still had some problems coming out of the pan) Loosen and invert. Cool completely and enjoy!

This is a GREAT cake, and is similar to my chocolate chip bundt cake... I will be making it again and playing with the pecans a bit to see if that helps with my little bit of sticking.
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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Breakfast Cupcakes






Breakfast Cupcakes
Adapted from: Love from Texas

1 pound sausage (cooked)
6-7 pieces of thick cut bacon (cooked, chopped)
12 eggs
2 cups shredded cheddar (sharp or cheddar jack)
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 small onion - diced
1 jalapeno pepper - diced (optional)
salt and pepper
1 can Grands Flakey Layers biscuits - the 10 count per can


Spray muffin pans with cooking spray. Divide each unbaked biscuit in half, separating at the layers (they should just peel apart).  Press each layer in to a cup on the muffin pan. This will make 20 total. Add some of the bacon pieces on top of the biscuit.

Brown the sausage in a skillet and once brown, add the onion and pepper (if desired) and cook them until they are soft or to a texture you desire.



Whisk eggs together and season with ground mustard, salt, and pepper. Stir in cheese and cooked sausage crumble/onion/pepper mixture.

Pour one a large spoonful of the egg/sausage mixture in to each muffin cup.  This would probably be equivalent to a little less than 1/4 cup.  Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes, or until egg is done and tops are golden.

We freeze the muffins, and I send 2-3 with John every morning for breakfast at the office. He pops them in the microwave for 1 minute and they're good to go. He also adds a little hot sauce in them for his enjoyment.

Revision:  Recently our muffin pan started to stick, so John experimented with doing this in a regular 16 X 9 cake pan and this was very successful.  It allows you to place a full can of the biscuits (10 - or 20 halves) in the pan all at one time.  With this revision we recommend that you sprinkle the bacon on top as it will get washed around and won't be evenly distributed if you put it on top of the biscuits and then pour on the egg mixture.
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Monday, November 7, 2011

Peanut Butter Kisses


Peanut Butter Kisses


1 tube or package of peanut butter cookie dough
1 bag of Hershey's Kisses

I used a package of break apart peanut butter cookie dough. Separated the cookie dough pieces and rolled them into balls. Put them in a mini muffin pan, baked according to package instructions. Immediately upon removing from the oven - I placed a Hershey's Kiss in the middle.

I've also used mini peanut butter cups in this type of recipe as well. Either way is GREAT!
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