Spicy Orange Beef with Vegetables

For tonight's dinner, I tried a new recipe called Spicy Orange Beef with Vegetables. It was delicious! I found this recipe posted on FamilyCorner.com by member kathymac.


Here is the original recipe:

Spicy Orange Beef with Vegetables

Makes 4 servings.

3/4 pound beef top round, trimmed of all
visible fat, cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 teaspoons canola oil
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1/4 pound green beans
, halved crosswise
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 carrot, cut into matchstick-thin strips

(I doubled the recipe. I also subbed mushrooms for the carrots.)

Combine beef, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, and orange rind in a medium bowl; toss well to coat and set aside. Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch, broth, orange juice, soy sauce, sugar and crushed pepper in a small bowl; set aside.

Heat a nonstick wok or a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles. Swirl in 2 teaspoons of the oil, then add the beef. Stir-fry until cooked through, 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Swirl the remaining 2 teaspoons oil, then add the ginger. Stir-fry until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add the green beans, bell pepper and carrot. Stir-fry until crisp-tender, 2-3 minutes. Add the broth mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens, about 1 minute. Add the beef and cook until hot, about 1 minute.

Note: when I cooked the beef at the beginning, I left it slightly pink when I removed it from the pan. Since it is sliced so thin, it will finish cooking very quickly when you put it back in the pan at the end for an additional minute.

(The next time I make this, I am going to try it with a little more orange juice instead and less beef broth for more of a "orangey" flavor. I skipped the ginger because I didn't have any but I will definitely add it in the next time, along with a little more red pepper flakes.)

After all of the prep work, it comes together rather quickly and easily. I added spaghetti noodles to the dish instead of serving it over rice. Everyone really enjoyed it. It's a keeper!

I'm submitting this for my BookMarked Recipe of the Week for next week. Check here for more info. on how you can join me!


Check out this week's BookMarked Recipes.

Moo Goo Gai Pan

Tonight's dinner was a delicious dish called Moo Goo Gai Pan. My friend, Amanda, from Amanda's Cookin' made it and posted it on her blog a couple of weeks ago. The pictures on her blog called out to me begging me to try the recipe. I'm so happy that I did because my whole family loved it.


I followed her directions and added several other veggies to the mix. (extra veggies in blue below). I made the sauce x 6 because of the extra veggies. Also, so that we would have enough sauce to go over the rice.


1/2 lb chicken, sliced thin + 1/2 lb

1 cup mushrooms, sliced - I used baby bella

1 cup broccoli florets + 1 C. - I used frozen florets
1 cup carrots, thinly sliced
1 lg. green pepper, thinly sliced
1 med. onion, diced small
1 can of bamboo shoots, drained well

1/4 cup chicken broth

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp rice cooking wine

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

All ingredients listed in green x 6 to make the sauce.

Combine broth, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice cooking wine, cornstarch and sugar and set aside.

Heat wok on high heat and add a tablespoon of olive or other cooking oil. Stir fry vegetables for a 3-4 minutes, remove vegetables. Add another tablespoon of oil to the wok on high heat. Add garlic and stir fry one minute, then add the chicken. Stir fry chicken until no longer pink. Add the broth mixture and let thicken a little, about 2 minutes. Add vegetables and cook for a few minutes, stirring to combine sauce, meat and vegies.

Serve over white rice.

Delicious!


Now for the fun stuff.....

Fortune Cookies!

Do you believe that their messages hold any truth? With all of the hubbub going on at my house lately, I sure do hope that this one comes true!

This was in my fortune cookie....

Chili Mac

Last night's chili mac dinner was super easy to whip up. I had an awful sinus headache and really didn't feel like cooking anything...but...we have to eat.

This recipe comes from The Frugal Table @ Meal Planning Mommies. I didn't take pictures but if you check out the link above, she shows a picture of it. There are great step by step instructions, too.

Chili Mac w/Garlic Bread

The orginal recipe is for 4 people so I doubled it and made a few changes to the measurements (below).

2 can beanless chili
1 can ketchup - I used 1C
4 tbs. worchestershire sauce
1 box of spaghetti - I used elbow macaroni, about 1 1/2 lbs
parmesan cheese or other toppings

Garlic Bread (not pictured)

Crockpot Swiss Steak - Cooking with Alicia and Annie Contest

Tonight's dinner was Crockpot Swiss Steak from Annie's Recipes.


I love trying different recipes in my crockpot. This recipe for Swiss steak is quite similiar to my "Chicken Cacciatore in a Crockpot" recipe that I've been making for years. (my Chicken Cacciatore recipe is at the end of this entry). The beef is a nice change up from the chicken. It smells like stuffed green peppers while it is cooking

This is another entry for into the January edition of the Cooking with Alicia and Annie Contest.
Click here to see the prizes that you could win this month if your recipe is selected and also to see all of the delicious recipes that have been made!


Here is the recipe with any changes that I've made highlighted in red:

Crock Pot Swiss Tenderloin Or Steak

2 tbsp. oil
2 1/2 to 3 lbs. meat
3 lg. carrots, diced
3 lg. stalks celery, diced
1 med. or lg. onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 tbsp. Cajun spice
1 tbsp. Creole seasoning
1 tbsp. parsley flakes
1 tbsp. oregano
Water
1 qt. tomatoes, crushed

Instructions

Put oil in heavy pan. Add meat and brown on all sides. (Do not cook past browning.)

Put meat in crock pot.

Add carrots, celery, onion, green pepper, and all spices.

Put 1 cup of water in browning pan and cook loose all the "Brown". - If you use a nonstick pan, this step is not necessary and the water will make your sauce very thin. Pour over meat and vegetables.

Add crushed tomatoes. Add water to cover meat, if necessary.

Cover. Turn crock pot on High in the morning, it's ready for supper at night.

Great over mashed potatoes. I served it over Jasmine rice.

One more tip: Make sure that you have 6-7 hours to cook this on high to allow enough time for the vegetables to soften. The meat was tender at around 4 1/2 hours so to lessen the whole cooking time, I will partially steam the veggies before adding them to the crockpot the next time.




Everyone in my family who I thought would enjoy it, did - my husband, my son and I. My daughter, on the other hand, is 5 1/2 and has sworn off anything to do with tomatoes or anything that resembles spaghetti sauce. She knows, as a rule, that she has to try at least one bite of it so we managed to get through that and then she moved on to eating plain rice with some meat and veggies with as much of the sauce drained off as possible. I hope that she outgrows this stage soon!

Chicken Cacciatore in a Crockpot

Starting from the bottom up in a crockpot:

4 lg. boneless chicken breasts
2TBS of Italian seasoning
onion powdergarlic powder--both powers, use amts that you like. We like a lot of seasonings.
1 lg. green pepper, diced into small chunks
1 onion, diced into small chunks
1 sm. pack of button mushrooms, chunked into pieces

Pour over everything:
2 cans Rotel or similiar tomatoes
1 C. chicken broth

DO NOT STIR -- It will cook down together.Cook on High for 4 hrs.

Remove chicken to a plate and shred with 2 forks.

Add the chicken back into the crockpot mixture.

At this point, you could thicken the mixture if you like a more "gravy"-like sauce. I didn't thicken it.

Serve over rice.

Mostacolli & Sauce

My husband said that I couldn't have made him a better dinner to celebrate our 12th anniversary. :)

One of my many versions of Mostacolli and Red Sauce with Sausage


2 lbs of Mostacolli, cooked al dente

3 big cans of tomato sauce
1/2 lb of bulk hot sausage
1 lg. pepper, dice into small pieces
1 medium onion, diced into small pieces
1 pint of baby bella mushrooms, chopped
3 tsp. of minced garlic
2 tsp of red pepper flakes
2 TBSP Italian seaosonings
olive oil

In a large frying pan, saute diced pepper, onions and mushrooms in olive oil. Set aside.

To the same pan, add hot sausage and cook until no longer pink. Add garlic and heat through for 1 minute.

Add the pepper, onions and mushrooms back into the pan. Pour in tomato sauce. Add garlic, red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, and then reduce heat to low and continue cooking for 2 hrs. If the sauce becomes too thick for your liking, add a bit of water or chicken stock to it.

Ladle sauce onto warm pasta and top with shredded Mozzarella cheese.

Pretzel Breaded Fish

I tried a new twist on my usual fish recipe for tonight's dinner...I made pretzel breaded fish from "What's for Supper?".

I didn't mention the changes to my family because I wanted to see their reactions to it before telling them that the coating was made from pretzels. Everyone ate it without any complaints. My husband did end up telling me that he liked it but that he liked my other fish recipes better. I would say that it's a nice change when the menu gets boring.

INGREDIENTS:

Pretzels
Flour
black pepper
Creole seasoning
1 Egg
1/4 Cup milk
oil
Fish


How I made it:

I basically made it per the original directions but I added Creole seasoning to the flour.

Crush pretzels in a plastic bag with a mallet or food processor.

Dip the fish in some seasoned flour (I used some black pepper and Creole spices).

Then dip the fish in an egg/milk mixture (1 egg and 1/4 cup milk whisked together).

Then press the fish in the crushed pretzel mixture until well coated.

Pan fry the fish in a small amount of oil, approximately 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown and cooked.

I made a mustard-mayo sauce to go with it.

Mustard-Mayo Sauce

1/8 C. mayo
1/4 C. grainy brown mustard
5-6 shakes of Tabasco sauce

Stir until well blended.

Grilled Lemon Pepper Pork Loin

I strive for quick & easy dinners every night of the week. Now, we all know that that's almost impossible all of the time. This dinner, though, is one of those that is quick and easy to make and tastes great, too. (You do have to remember to marinate the meat early in the day.)

Lemon Pepper Pork Loin
1-2 to 3 lb. pork loin
1/4 C. olive oil
2 TBSP white vinegar
3 TBSP lemon pepper seasoning (no salt added)
1/4 C. Italian dressing

Slice the pork loin into 3/8 in. slices. Mix the remaining ingredients in a Ziploc baggie. Add meat; shake to coat the meat with the marinade.
Place the bag into the refrigerator for at least 30
minutes.

Remove from refrigerator. Grill pork over medium heat until a tiny bit of pink remains in the center of meat. Remove to a plate and cover with foil. Serve immediately.

Sides:
1 bag of extra wide egg noodles
easy chicken gravy*
canned green beans

It's very easy to make homemade gravy:

Make a roux of 1 TBSP butter to 1 TBSP flour for each cup of gravy.

I made 4 cups.

Melt 4 TBSP butter in a pan over medium heat. Wisk in 4 TBSP flour, stirring constantly. Allow to cook for about 2 minutes or until bubbly.

Pour in 4 cups of chicken broth and continue stirring until the mixture has thickened.

I didn't add any seasonings to this gravy since the pork was seasoned and I didn't want to mix the flavors.

Easy Chicken & Broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo

Think you have no time to prepare restaurant quality food at home? Well, you’re wrong. If you have 30 minutes, you can serve your family this wonderful dish that they are sure to enjoy.

This has become a favorite dish of my family.

You can see the complete recipe for this dish at MomsMenu.com.

Corned Beef, Potatoes & Carrots

This is one of my family's favorite meals. I like the fact that it's so easy to make. All you have to do is boil the corned beef with some spices for approximately 2 1/2 hrs. With 45 minutes remaining on the meat, add cubed potatoes and carrots and cook until they are tender. That's it! A one pot meal. YUM!

Cheesy Corn Dog Muffins

Packed into a lunchbox or eaten as an after school snack, these muffins taste just like your kids' favorite corn dogs - without the awkward stick. They're quick and easy to make and can be eaten hot or cold. Yummy!

I came up with this recipe when my kids kept asking to take corn dogs in their lunches to school. The best part about them is that they taste good warmed in the microwave or at room temp. Don't forget the ketchup for a dipper! ;)