Rice Oriental

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This is a favorite from my childhood that is a homemade version since the Hamburger Helper folks stopped making it a few years ago... I'm shocked at how easy it was to make, but am thrilled to be able to make this for my family now!

Rice Oriental

1 lb ground beef
1 envelope of onion soup mix
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/4 cup rice
water (depending on the type of rice you use)

Brown the ground beef in a skillet. Add the onion soup mix, garlic powder, black pepper, soy sauce, rice, and water... cover it, let it cook, and you're done! I served it with green beans to my family, but it would easily go with a salad or our Crunchy Coleslaw too.

* I mixed my spices and soup mix into the water before adding it to the pan so that I made sure there wouldn't be any dry clumps of the soup mix.

** IF you use Minute Rice or any 5 minute cooking instance rice -- use 1 1/4 cup of water or maybe 1 1/2 because I added a little bit more -- and let it cook for 5 minutes covered.

*** IF you use a long grain rice or a 20 minute cooking rice -- you'll use 4 cups of water. Let it cook for 20-30 minutes covered over medium heat, and you're ready to eat! Pin It Now!

Ginger Soy Chicken

Ginger Soy Chicken
Adapted from: EMeals

2 chicken breasts (we split ours down the middle length wise so that they are more like cutlets)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon shredded ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 cups prepared Mahatma Jasmine rice
4-6 stalks baby bok choy

** next time, I would use broccoli florets instead of the bok choy

Combine sesame oil, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice wine vinegar into a large saute pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Place the broccoli & chicken in the pan and cook 6-7 minutes on each side or until the juices run clear. Serve over the rice with the sauce from the pan.
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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.Pin It Now!

Sweet and Crunchy Broccoli Salad

Sweet and Crunchy Broccoli Salad
Courtesy of Cypress Family Fellowship Recipe Party 2009

1 package Ramen Noodles, broken up into pieces (without seasoning packet)
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup pecans
1 bunch romaine lettuce, in bite sized pieces
1 stalk broccoli, chopped

Dressing:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup oil (vegetable or canola)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
salt & pepper to taste

Saute noodles and nuts in butter until lightly browned. (Add the nuts to the pan a few minutes after the noodles) Cool on a paper towel. Mix together with the lettuce and broccoli. Add dressing just before serving.Pin It Now!

Crunchy Coleslaw

We had this recipe at our Small Group this weekend, and John and I just loved it! So I'm sharing it for you guys to enjoy, but also so that I'll have the recipe in my files to make again and again.

Crunchy Coleslaw Salad
Courtesy of Angela

4 10 oz. pkgs coleslaw mix (or 1-2 head of cabbage shredded)
2 cups top ramen noodles (3 pkgs. crumbled/discard seasoning pkt)
1 cup sliced almonds (4 oz)
½ cup sesame seeds (2 oz)
1 stick butter (4 oz)
1 cup vegetable or peanut oil
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar (aka: distilled rice vinegar) NO SUBSTITUTES
½ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoon pepper

In a medium sauce pan, melt ½ stick of butter and sauté noodles until light brown. Add ½ stick butter, almonds, and sesame seeds then sauté until light brown as well. Noodles take longer to brown and nuts/seeds will burn if done all at once. Set aside.

In a shaker jar, combine oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Shake well before adding to salad.

Just before serving, combine the ingredients, and mix well until evenly coated. Don’t mix together until ready to serve, as noodles aren’t crunchy after the first serving; still tasty the day after, just not crunchy.

If not sure you will eat the whole thing at once, then split each part in half and serve only half at a time so you can reserve some crunch.

183 calories per cup

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Fried Rice

** Trick - make the rice either the morning before you cook this dish or the night before and put it in the refridgerator to get cold.

Fried Rice
Recipe courtesy Food Network Kitchens

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Peas, carrots and corn are a good choice because they're all about the same size so they'll cook at the same temperature and time. Also, they're a good size ratio to the rice. Other vegetables can be used but do not put too many veggies in ratio to rice or the rice will get soggy. Also, do not crowd the pan or the veggies will steam instead of cooking crisp and make the final dish soggy. The egg is cooked right before the rice because it has a tendency to stick to the pan and remnants in the pan burn as the other ingredients are cooked. When cooked right before the rice, any remnants become incorporated into the rice. Although jasmine rice is preferable, any kind of long grain rice can be used. Avoid using medium and short-grained rice as they tend to be sticky. Also, the rice should not be warm fresh rice, otherwise it will also tend to be sticky.

1/3 cup plain vegetable oil, like soy, corn, or peanut
1/3 pound black forest ham, diced, or about 2 cups cooked, cubed or shredded meat (we left this out)
1 onion, diced
Salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 whole scallions, thinly sliced on the bias, white and green separated
1 1/3 cups (6 ounces) medley frozen corn, peas, carrots (we opted for no corn)
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups cold cooked long-grain rice, white or jasmine rice, grains separated

Heat a large heavy-bottomed nonstick skillet over high heat. When hot add 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the ham and cook stirring occasionally until lightly browned. Add the onions to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until onion is fragrant Add the garlic, ginger, and scallion whites and stir-fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the frozen vegetables. Cook until just defrosted but still crisp. Transfer contents of the skillet to a large bowl.

Return the pan to the heat and add 2 more tablespoons of oil. Add the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Stir the eggs constantly and cook until almost set but still moist, then transfer egg to the bowl. Break the eggs up with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Return the pan to the heat and add the remaining oil. Add the rice to the pan and use a spoon to break up any clumps. Season with salt and pepper and stir-fry the rice to coat evenly with oil. Stop stirring, and then let the rice cook undisturbed until its gets slightly crispy, about 2 minutes. Stir the rice again, breaking up any new clumps. Add the scallion greens. Transfer to the bowl. Stir all the ingredients together with the rice, taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve. (We added some soy sauce to the rice while it was cooking, and added everything back to the pan so that it would remain hot while we finished the rest of dinner.)
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Sweet & Sour Pork Chops

Sweet-n-Sour Pork Chops
Recipe courtesy Robin Miller

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 9 minutes

Yield: 4 servings (we cut the recipe in half)

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Salt and ground black pepper

4 (4-ounce) boneless pork loin chops

1 cup apricot preserves

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1/4 cup chopped scallions

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season pork chops all over with salt and black pepper and add to hot pan. Cook chops 2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Add apricot preserves, soy sauce and ginger and bring to a simmer. Partially cover and simmer 5 minutes, until pork is cooked through. Remove from heat and stir in scallions.

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