Better Than Takeout Asian Beef Strips

This is part of my cooking for a month series...
We had this recipe last night. Jeff and I found it to be somewhat bland* which is disappointing it seemed to have a lot of good flavors in it while I was making it. I would say this was not better than takeout but it was edible. The kid seemed to like it quite a bit.

*as I am typing this recipe I realized that I let out the red pepper flakes. So that might have had something to do with it.

Better Than Takeout Asian Beef Strips
1/2 C fresh squeezed orange juice
1 T minced orange zest
1 T minced fresh ginger
2 T rice wine vinegar
3 T shoyu
2 T honey
Pinch of hot red pepper flakes
2lbs flank steak, sliced diagonally into 1/4 in slices
1 T cornstarch
1 T canola oil
1 T sesame oil
4 C cooked brown basmati rice, cooled completely

In a large bowl, whisk together orange juice, orange zest, ginger, vinegar, shoyu, honey, and red pepper flakes. Place steak in bowl and toss to coat. Cover bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Remove meat from the marinade and whisk cornstarch into marinade. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Swirl to coat.

Stir-fry the meat for 2-3 minutes add the marinade and cook, stirring, until sauce is thickened. Drizzle with sesame oil. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

To freeze
Individual Servings: Divide steak and rice into 1qt freezer bags or freezer and microwave safe containers.

For a crowd
Place steak and rice in 2 separate 1 gallon freezer bags, removing as much air as possible before sealing.

To reheat
Let steak and rice thaw in fridge overnight.

Microwave method
Reheat individual servings in the microwave on high for 2-3 minutes or until heated through.

Oven method
Preheat oven to 350F. Place rice in a baking dish and top with steak.  Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through.

My notes
I got this out of the freezer Sunday night after dinner. The rice was still rock hard when I got it out to start cooking at 5:30 yesterday. so that was a bit of a problem. I also didn't like the fact that there were no vegetables in this dish so I added some bell pepper. Jeff said mushrooms and onions would be good as well. I also used agave in place of honey as my honey had crystallized. Oh and my store doesn't have shoyu or basmati brown rice so I used soy sauce instead of shoyu and regular brown rice instead of basmati.

Roasted Pepper- Corn Pasta Salad

I had to bring a pasta salad to a dinner we were having with Jeff's family a few weeks ago so I hopped on pinterest and looked through my Food! board. Found this recipe and decided to give it a try. My Uncle was commenting the other day about how he likes to test a recipe before he takes it somewhere or serves it at a gathering. I found myself nodding in agreement but then I stopped and thought about it. I must have brass cooking balls.... forgive the vulgarities. Lately everything I have taken to a gathering has NOT been tested including this recipe. I guess it just never occurred to me that things could go wrong.... which knowing myself is a bad assumption. But my luck held out and this turned out to be a hit!

Roasted Pepper - Corn Pasta Salad
From Womenshealthmag.com

8 ounces orrechiette pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 cup corn kernels

1 roasted pepper, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1 Hass avocado, chopped

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain.

2.Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the corn and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the onion begins to brown. Add the roasted pepper and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to a large bowl.

3.Add the pasta, avocado, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and black pepper to the bowl and toss gently but thoroughly.

 

My notes

I didn't change a thing, I think (I may have added cumin and chili pepper). I did roast the pepper myself instead of buying a jar. I think next time I will roast my corn and maybe roast a jalapeno to add to the mix. 

Spicy Crock pot Jambalaya

I have felt rather uninspired to cook lately. But then Jeff came home and said it was his turn to bring lunch to a team meeting at work. So we tried to think of options. I first thought spaghetti but someone just did that. So I started looking for crock pot recipes and jambalaya popped in my head. This was a huge hit with the meeting, so much so that he informed me there are no left-overs. I liked this recipe because you put the rice in with the rest of the ingredients that made it super simple for transport and prep.

Spicy Crock Pot Jambalaya
From Cajun Delights

 

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 cup cooked ham or chicken, cubed
1 lb. Andouille sausage, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 cup bell peppers, any color, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1  (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 small can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin
1 or 2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped, (optional)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
Few shakes Tabasco
1 tbs. or more Cajun seasoning
Salt to taste
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2 cups chicken stock
1 3/4 cups raw rice

First chop the veggies, slice the sausage,  and chop the ham or chicken. Combine ham, sausage, trinity, rice, garlic, chicken stock, tomatoes, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, jalapenos, and seasonings,  in 5 quart slow cooker. Mix well, cover,  and cook on low for 5 hours. Stir well and add shrimp, parsley, half of green onions, and Tabasco, and cook on high for 30 to 40 more minutes. Discard bay leaves and garnish with remaining green onions before serving.

Serve with a big tossed salad and my Cajun-Style French Bread.

My Notes:
First off, I hate shrimp. Refuse to eat and never buy them. But I do like crawfish and we happened to have a pound of crawfish tails in the freezer. I also had just made chicken stock a few days before. I added carrots to the veggies as I feel like people can never eat enough veggies. I sweat the veggies in my dutch oven with some bacon grease before putting them in the crock pot I'm always up for added flavor. I also upped the rice to 2C and put nearly 16oz of tomato sauce. Jeff took this to work so no pictures :(
Don't tell Jeff but I added 2T of chia seeds to the chicken stock for added fiber.... they didn't notice. Hee Hee

Philly Cheesesteak Skillet

Hello all,

I tried this new recipe last night, I found it on Pinterest. Here's the link to the blog it came from.... link. This was kid-approved which surprised me because I added broccoli to the mix and she staunchly believes she does not like broccoli. I believe the word used was hate actually. But she gobbled this up and said it was yummy. Will wonders never cease?!?

Philly Cheesesteak Skillet

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese or 2 cups cheddar cheese
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/4 cup milk, or as needed

Directions

1. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, place the ground beef and onion into a large skillet, and cook, stirring to crumble, until meat is no longer pink, and onion is tender. Just before the beef is done, add the bell peppers, and cook until tender, but still green. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cheese, condensed soup and milk to make a thick sauce.
3. Remove from the heat, and stir in the macaroni noodles. (Recipe adapted from All Recipe

 My notes

I didn't do 2 bell peppers as I thought that would be too much, but I wish I had. 2 peppers will not over power this. I used fat free cream cheese, 98% fat free COM, and the leanest ground beef I could find. So this was a relatively low fat dinner. Like I said earlier, I added broccoli to this for a little extra healthiness. I'm trying to find ways to incorporate more veggies into our meals. I also tossed in some Italian seasoning to the ground beef for a little more flavor. Everyone really enjoyed this and I'll be adding it to our rotation. I think next time I will also add mushrooms.

 

Chili-Mac - Allrecipes.com

I love chili-mac. What's sad is I haven't eaten it in years. Truthfully I forgot all about this tasty, easy dish. I changed this recipe a bit, see my notes at the bottom. The 8 yr old ate this and declared it delicious. This was followed by a second helping....Victory!

Grammas Old Fashioned Chili Mac
Feeds 8 or 6 if Jeff is eating with you

1 C elbow macaroni
1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 C celery, chopped
1/2 large green bell pepper
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained
2 (10.75 oz) cans condensed tomato soup
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1/8 C brown sugar
chili powder and cayenne to taste
salt and pepper

Bring pot of lightly salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.
In a small saucepan, simmer celery and green pepper with water until tender, drain. Place ground beef in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook until evenly brown. Add onion, and cook until tender and translucent. Drain excess fat. Add celery and green pepper. Stir in kidney beans, tomato soup, diced tomatoes, and brown sugar. Season with salt and pepper, stir in macaroni.

My notes:
I followed a couple of the commenters suggestions and sauted veggies in my 12 in cast iron skillet and made it a one pan dish. I love one pan dishes. It saves me time and less dish washing which is always a plus in my book. For the life of my I don't know why you would want to cook the celery and bell pepper in water. You're just cooking away the flavor! I sauted onion, bell pepper, and celery all together in the skillet, then added the beef and browned. Then stirred in the kidney beans, soup, diced tomatoes, and sugar. I let that simmer for a few minutes then added the macaroni. I like to have a little cheddar cheese on top with mine.
I think next time I will probably add some finely diced carrots to the mix as well just to get a little more veggies in the mix.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grammas-old-fashioned-chili-mac/detail.aspx