Beef & Pepper (Or Asparagus) Stir-Fry (4 Star)

This stir-fry is one of the best I've ever had! I guess I'm no stir fry connoisseur, but we really love this. The recipe is from a cookbook called "Minute Meals", edited by Evie Righter. This dish is actually called "Beef and Asparagus Stir-Fry" but the asparagus I had bought was going rotten by the time I got to it. Oops. I happened to have some red and yellow peppers so I used those instead and it was fantastic. Brandon said he liked it better with the peppers but it's a toss-up for me because I think it's great with the asparagus, too.

Beef and Asparagus (or Pepper) Stir-Fry (Adapted from "Minute Meals".)

1 piece ginger root, 1 inch long, peeled and chopped (I buy bottled chopped ginger so I just used a teaspoon of that.)
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped (or smashed through a garlic press--the easy way!)
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 Tablespoons plus 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds beef strips cut for stir fry
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces -or- 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper, and 1 red onion, all cut into strips
3/4 cup beef broth
1 heaping Tablespoon black bean sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3-4 Tablespoons olive oil

For the marinade: In a small bowl stir the soy sauce into three Tablespoons of the cornstarch until blended. Add the ginger and the garlic. Put the beef strips in a zip-lock plastic bag with the marinade and marinate for at least one hour and up to 24 hours.

Prepare the sauce: In a measuring cup stir together the broth, black bean sauce, remaining 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, and sugar until blended. Set aside.

Heat a wok or a large, heavy skillet over high heat until hot. Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil and swirl to coat. Add the asparagus (or peppers and onion) and toss to coat. Stir-fry over high heat, tossing, about 2 minutes, until crisp-tender. Remove to a plate.

Add the remaining 2-3 Tablespoons oil to the pan. Add the beef and toss to separate the strips. Cook until medium-rare, about 3-5 minutes. Flip and stir the beef occasionally, allowing it to brown. Taste for doneness; the meat should be tender and cooked. Return the asparagus (or peppers and onion) to the pan. Stir the sauce and add it to the pan and bring to a boil, tossing. Cook, tossing, until heated through and the sauce is slightly thickened. Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve over rice.

Muffookies (4 Star)

I love to make muffins, but I despise cleaning muffin pans. And I don't really care for muffins in cupcake papers because half the muffin ends up in the paper unless you allow it to cool, but a warm muffin fresh out of the oven is the best muffin there is. So I have developed my own strategy--muffookies. They are muffins made on a cookie sheet. I admit that I think muffins are best made in a greased muffin tin because I love the crisp crust that develops, but muffins made on cookie sheets are almost as good and I often make them this way in order to avoid the annoying cleaning that must follow.

I found one of my favorite muffin recipes in a book that I purchased a while back from one of our doctors called "Back to Health: A Comprehensive Medical and Nutritional Yeast Control Program" by Dennis W. Remington, M.D. and Barbara Higa Swasey, R.D. I know that's kind of a scary sounding title, and a seemingly unlikely place to find a muffin recipe, but there are some good recipes in this book, and I want to give credit where it is due.

The muffins that I make most often are the applesauce ones because all of my boys like them. They are moist, apple-y-cinnamon-y, and lightly sweet. I, personally, think that muffins and cake are different things but that most "muffins" are more like cake. While I enjoy cake, I prefer my muffins to be lightly sweet and healthful, which these are. I think the flavor and sweetness level is perfect in these "muffookies".

Applesauce Muffookies (Adapted from the above mentioned book.)

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the first five ingredients in a medium sized bowl and make a well in the center.

Whisk the last four ingredients in a separate bowl and pour into the dry ingredients. Stir together until just moistened.

Grease a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan and spoon batter onto pan in 12 mounds. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly brown on the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (15 minutes is perfect in my oven.)

Eat as soon as you can touch them without burning yourself!

Red and White Pasta (3 Star)

Brandon helped me (he was trying to be nice for Valentine's Day--in between watching the Olympics) make this pasta, courtesy of Prudence Pennywise, for Valentine's Day dinner last night and it was so fantastic! Brandon and I were oohing and aahing and 3 of our boys really liked it, too. I made some bread-crumb-dredged chicken to go with ours, but it was great without it for lunch today. Our second-born only ate the chicken but we should have required him to have at least a bite of the pasta just to find out if he liked it. I guess we were so enraptured in eating our own that we forgot about him. We'll get him next time!



As for the salad, I (actually Brandon made the salad which was a nice Valentine's Day acquiescence on his part since he despises making salad) tossed together torn red leaf lettuce, spinach, diced green onion, sliced apple, bacon bits, dried cranberries, and grated Parmesan cheese. I often put sugared walnuts in this kind of salad, too. We used my current favorite salad dressing from Picky Palate, found here. (Scroll down to the end of the post for "Honey Dijon Dressing".) It is such an easy, delicious dressing.

Baked Potato Soup (3 Star)

We love this soup! Even our second born loves it. Although our first-born used to, he doesn't enjoy it so much now--I don't know what's up with that because this is just plain yummy.

The recipe is from Picky Palate found here along with a lot of other really good soup recipes. You have to scroll down the page to get to the "Loaded Baked Potato Soup".

And don't be scared of the jalapeno. I was worried it would make this too spicy for my family but it didn't, and in my opinion, it is one of the things that really makes it awesome.

Beef Dip Sandwiches (3 Star)

This recipe is from Pioneer Woman (she has two recipes on this page and I used the second one) and it was so good. However, (and no offense to Pioneer Woman or anyone else who calls it "Drip Beef") I just can't call it "Drip Beef". It sounds strange and unappetizing to me. But "Beef Dip Sandwiches" sound good--pretty much the same thing as "French Dip Sandwiches" which is what these are, as far as I can tell. But whatever you call them, they are tasty!

This is one of those recipes that is so easy but so good that it's hard to believe you didn't slave for hours over it. I cooked my beef in the crock pot on low for about 10 hours and it was melt-in-your-mouth tender, juicy, and beautifully beefy.

It might also have been extra good because we bought some high quality beef recently. I typically buy meat based on whatever is on sale but a few weeks ago we bought 1/8 of a cow from a local rancher who said he doesn't use hormones, antibiotics, and only grass feeds. His price seemed pretty fair to me so we decided to try it out, and this was some of the best beef I've ever cooked. Most of our little family enjoyed it, too.

Grandma's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (4 Star)

There are many good cookies in this world. But no matter how good other cookies are, I always come back to these, my absolute favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I grew up on these as did my mother. I don't know where my Grandma got the recipe. I should ask sometime.

My second-born made these cookies yesterday and I'd say he did a good job. Although my boys love these cookies they only like the inferior version that includes just chocolate chips. The ultimate version is loaded with walnuts and raisins as well.

Grandma's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 eggs
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup olive oil
4 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the above ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. Then add 1 3/4-2 cups flour and mix well. This should make a stiff batter that still pours. Then add:

4 cups oats (regular or quick, based on preference)
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup raisins
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Mix together and drop by Tablespoonful onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-13 minutes. Perfection of these cookies is chewy and a tad doughy in the middle when they come out of the oven. Some may beg to differ with me on this point, but they are wrong. The cookies firm up as they cool but remain soft.





Sometimes I also use a variation that has half the fat and is still very good. Instead of the oil, use:

1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup applesauce
omit the milk

Instead of 4 cups of oats, use 2 1/2 cups.

Otherwise, proceed as above.

Orange Cake (0 Star)

This was an unusual cake that I found on Smitten Kitchen. Quite unique but simple so I had to try it out. Check out the recipe, here, and you'll see what I mean. It was dense and so moist that it bordered on pumpkin pie texture but with a sweet orange flavor. Brandon and I enjoyed it but it isn't something that will become part of my repertoire.

The recipe called for clementines but since the rind is incorporated into the cake I wanted something organic and I couldn't find any organic clementines at our health food store so I used oranges.

Cajun Chicken Pasta (4 Star)

Another 4 star rating! Amazing! Although I must clarify by saying that the boys ate only the pasta and chicken, picking out all other foreign objects. Well, close enough, I guess. Brandon and I were happy to take care of their rejected items.

This pasta was divine. It was fantastic. Brandon said it's in his "top five". (What else is in his top five? I should know this.)

I made homemade pasta again. I guess I'm on a homemade pasta kick this week. This time I used this recipe from Allrecipes, making it whole wheat, so I'm copying the recipe below with my changes.

Grandma's Noodles II

Ingredients
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup sifted whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (optional)

Directions
1.Combine egg, salt, milk. Add flour. (For thicker noodles add baking powder to flour before mixing. [I didn't use baking powder.]) Separate into two balls. Wrap in plastic and rest for 20 minutes.
2.Roll out dough, cut into strips and spread to dry--dust with a little flour. Let dry for approximately 2 hours. (I didn't do the drying part because I didn't have time but I thought my pasta turned out great, anyway.)
3.Drop into boiling water--cook for about 8-10 minutes or until al dente.

I doubled the above pasta recipe to use in the Cajun Chicken Pasta recipe that I found on Pioneer Woman's site. Due to the fact that I wanted to make it right away and had most of the ingredients but not all, I did make some changes, but I'm sure it would have been even better if I had everything the recipe called for. I didn't have tomato so I omitted that, I didn't have a green pepper but I had two red so I used those, I didn't have cream so I used a can of evaporated milk and I used about a fourth a cup of flour mixed into the milk to thicken it all. I also didn't have fresh parsley so I used dried. I didn't have cajun spice so I used paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder in a ratio of 1:1:1/4:1/4 respectively, and I went easy on it, since I did want my boys to eat it. But it definitely had a nice kick. I also used brined chicken again so I didn't add any salt except a little in the sauce.

This recipe cooks fast like a stir fry, so it is beneficial to have all ingredients out, chopped, and ready to go. Cooking it on high heat smoked up my whole kitchen and living room and I didn't burn anything; I guess it just caused my pan and the oil in it to smoke. It made me cough and I had to open up all my windows and turn on all my fans. While I was making this, I was thinking, "I'm never making this again," because it was so smoky and I was making a huge mess, but after eating it, I know I will make it again because it was so awesome.

Honey Dijon Chicken Bake (4 Star)

This turned out really good! And it was easy. It even earned 4 stars which means it was a miraculous meal due to the fact that one certain boy in this family (my second born) will eat next to nothing that's healthy.

The recipe is a composite of several different recipes. I started out with chicken that I had brined and frozen a while back. It isn't necessary to use brined chicken, but it sure does make it tender, moist, and flavorful.

Brined Chicken

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 3/4 cups warm water
1+ Tablespoon sea salt'
1+ Tablespoon sugar
a few ice cubes

Put the warm water in a zip-lock bag with the sea salt and sugar. Swish it around until the salt and sugar dissolve. Put some ice cubes into the water to cool it down. As soon as the water is completely cool add the chicken breasts and zip up the bag, squeezing out the air. Place in the refrigerator for one hour. Discard the brine solution. At this point the chicken is ready to be used in a recipe or frozen for later use.

Honey Dijon Chicken Bake

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used brined)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
a pinch or two of fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup of either cracker crumbs, dried bread crumbs, or crushed cereal of choice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix mayo, honey, mustard, and Parmesan until will blended; set aside. Slice chicken breasts in halves or thirds (I did thirds because my chicken was huge) to create 4 oz. serving sizes. Place chicken on a foil lined cookie sheet. Salt the chicken if you are using un-brined chicken. Top with mayo cheese mixture and spread evenly to cover. Stir pepper into crumbs and sprinkle on top of chicken. Bake for 20-25 minutes and then broil for 3-5 minutes to brown.

Makes four servings. I doubled--nearly tripled this for our family because I wanted left-overs but the boys loved it so much that there was very little left.

Spinach Lasagna with Homemade Pasta (2 Star)

Lasagna used to be a popular meal around here, meaning a 75% approval rating. Now we are down to 50%. I don't know why because I think it gets better every time. But the two boys who still do like it, like it a lot and yesterday they ate TONS.

Lasagna is one of those meals in which it is possible to hide many things that my boys will not normally eat. This time I added some zucchini and spinach. Ha ha! It's great when they don't even know they are eating veggies.

I love homemade pasta and while it is some extra work, if I have the time it is worth it. This time I tried spinach noodles and don't you love this picture of the dough? It looks Shrek-ish.




I don't have any pasta making equipment (though I wouldn't mind if I did!) so I made these the old fashioned way with a rolling pin and pizza cutter.



While my second-born was averse to the lasagna as a whole he really liked the pasta. Maybe next time I will make a little extra and cut it into thin strips for a bowlful for him.



(By the way, that is not a hair in the lasagna, that is my scratched up dish! Waa.)

I found the pasta recipe here, but I am including it in this post with my alterations to make it whole wheat. The lasagna recipe is altered from the back of a Ronzoni lasagna pasta box.

Whole Wheat Spinach Lasagna Pasta

Yield: 12 noodles (serving size: 1 noodle)

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten flour
3 Tablespoons frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry, or fresh chopped spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tablespoons milk

Preparation

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Place flour, spinach, and salt in a food processor; pulse 3 times or until blended. With processor on, slowly pour oil, milk, and eggs through food chute; process until dough forms a ball. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes). Or put dough into a bread maker or other machine with a dough hook and knead by machine. Dust dough lightly with flour; let stand 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 4 equal portions. Working with 1 portion at a time, pass the dough through smooth rollers of the pasta machine on the widest setting. Continue moving width gauge to narrower settings; pass dough through rollers once at each setting, dusting with flour, if needed. Repeat procedure with remaining dough. Or roll out with a rolling pin. Cut each pasta sheet into 3 (11 x 2-inch) strips. Hang pasta on a wooden drying rack for 10 minutes. Cook pasta in boiling water 4 minutes or until al dente; drain.

Spinach Lasagna

Ingredients

1-1 1/2 pounds ground beef or sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
26 oz. jar favorite spaghetti sauce
1 can tomatoes or 15-20 oz fresh tomatoes, skins removed and seed slime squoze out (I used tomatoes from our garden that I had frozen.)
1-1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen shredded zucchini
2-3 teaspoons beef base
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons sugar
16 oz. ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup fresh parsley (optional--I didn't add this because I'm scared of fresh parsley but it might be good!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups finely chopped fresh spinach
9-12 lasagna pasta sheets, cooked

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown meat and onion, adding garlic in at the end of browning. Drain off excess fat. Puree tomatoes and zucchini until smooth (this is a necessary step for us because texture is unwelcome by certain young ones, but you may only want to chop, grate, crush, whatever, to get your desired texture). Add tomatoes, zucchini, spaghetti sauce, beef base, red pepper flakes, oregano, basil, and sugar to the meat and onion. Season to taste and simmer for 20 minutes or until sauce has reached desired thickness.

While sauce is simmering, in a medium bowl stir together ricotta cheese, half of the mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, salt, and pepper. (I skipped the cheese filling this time because I didn't have any ricotta on hand, but it's better with it, of course!)

When sauce is thickened, spread 1 cup on the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Arrange 3-4 cooked pasta sheets lengthwise over the sauce; cover with 1 cup of sauce (or more if needed). Sprinkle 1 cup of the chopped spinach on top of sauce. Spread one-half of cheese filling over spinach. Repeat layers of pasta, sauce, spinach, and cheese filling. Top with layer of pasta and remaining sauce: sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and a little more Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes uncovered or until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 12 servings.