Curry on the run

The pie is a lie..... I may get around to it next week. Maybe. It's been such an exciting week getting to spend quality time with a tremendous group of ladies. There was a ton of cooking done and I got lots of new recipe ideas to try out so keep an eye on the page! 

Tonight though, tonight was a hectic rush to figure out how to feed the people, five of them to be exact, with one steak, one onion, one extra large yellow squash and a cabinet full of wonderful spices. I know, you're thinking, "Well, that sounds like a stir fry to me!" And you would be right to think that's where this was going but I took a left at the soy sauce and just couldn't resist adding all the curry basics. Isn't it beautiful? 

Ingredients: 

One 1pound to 1 1/2 pound steak cut into thin strips

One softball sized onion sliced thinly

One pound of yellow squash cut into 1" cubes

1T sesame oil

1/2 t ginger

2t tumeric

2t cumin

1T garlic

1/2 t chili powder

1/4 t black pepper

1T corn starch

1/4c soy sauce

1. Heat your wok over medium-high heat with sesame oil before you add your onion. When sesame oil is fragrant add onion and stir until slightly soft. Remove from wok to a separate bowl. 

2. Stir fry squash 3-5 minutes, in batches if necessary, and add to onion bowl. 

3. Add more sesame oil if necessary and stir fry beef in batches until just browned on the outside. 

4. Add all veggies back to the wok with the beef, 2T soy sauce, and all of the spices. Turn heat to medium and simmer 5-10 minutes or until squash is tender. 

5.Mix remaining soy sauce with cornstarch and quickly stir into curry. Stir constantly until sauce thickens then remove from heat and serve with rice. 

This onion was bigger than my fist

I forgot to get a picture of the enormous yellow squash before I cut it up but this shows a good size to cut it to. 

I cut the steak to about the same size as the squash so they'd cook evenly. 

It is so so so important to preheat your wok! 

The beef really is just getting a sear on the outside at this point

Here they are! The magical spices!

I'm full from dinner but that looks amazing enough to eat again.

I was informed by Sprite that our Japanese friends serve their curry this way. It's so pretty! 

This recipe is super flexible and nearly fool proof. Popular additions to the sauce  include chicken, pork loin, fish (goes in during the summer phase), broccoli, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, etc...... You get the picture, it's an almost anything goes kind of meal which is perfect for a crazy night when you just need something easy or for that first cool weekend in fall. I hope you have fun experimenting!

 

Leftover Oatmeal? Let's Make Pancakes!

Still no pie..... What's up with that? I guess the reward of flaky crust and sweet filling isn't motivating enough when my sweet girls keep making brownies. Maybe after church I'll get some child labor involved and have them make the pie…

No matter, it's breakfast time and I had what looked like a mountain of stiff, congealed, chewy leftover oatmeal in the fridge. Absolutely not appetizing. Blech!  Luckily I also had all the makings for pancakes and some hungry people.

So without further ado, here we go!

Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes

1 1/2 cups leftover oatmeal

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

3 T oil or butter

1 T baking powder

1/2 T cinnamon

1/8 t salt

1 C all purpose flour

1 T sugar (optional) 

Spray oil for cooking

1. Combine oatmeal, milk, eggs, vanilla, and oil in a bowl using a potato masher to break up the oatmeal if it's cold. 

2. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk or sift together. 

3. Preheat pan over medium high heat

4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just mixed (it's gonna be a little thick, that's ok!! )

5. Wait 5 min. 

6. Coat pan with spray oil, ladle out some batter ( 1/4c - 1/3c) into frying pan and cook until edges are dry and center is bubbly

7. Flip pancake and cook until center is done 

These pancakes are dense and filling in spite of the eggs and the baking powder. I served them up with blueberry syrup and they were absolutely heavenly! 

Here it is, gross rubbery congealed oatmeal and some milk. I doctor my oatmeal pretty heavily with butter, sugar, and a little salt while I'm cooking it so I had to take that into account when creating this recipe. If you have unsweetened, oil/ butter free oatmeal use the sugar and oil amounts in the ingredients list. I dialed my oil back some and skipped the sugar. 

Eggs for added protein

A completely non-endorsed plug for McCormic vanilla because it's corn free and GMO free ❤️ I get the big bottle because I use it constantly. 

I had to switch from spoon to potato masher because the oatmeal was not breaking up. Thank God it worked or I'd be posting a failed experiment LOL!

Dry ingredients in, and mix until combined

There it is, all mixed up and ready to sit there so the double acting baking powder can get to work. 

I don't like waiting either but, seriously, it's just 5 minutes, grab a coffee and by the time you're done with that it'll be ready. 

This is what it looks like when it's ready to flip! 

The golden brown crust is just lovely. 

Finished product complete with blueberry syrup for dipping. This is the smallest most impatient person's plate, therefore it was the first one filled. He was s very happy little guy! 

Happy eating!!!

Pie? Nope, Egg Rolls!

Did I say something yesterday about cherry pie? I meant egg rolls. Delicious, crispy, light, cabbage, pork, and carrot filled egg rolls. That's what I really meant to say I was making today. Don't get me wrong, I may still make the pie today but I got up at 4:30am with a burning desire to create and consume egg rolls. Probably because I have had all the supplies for a whole day and they've been taunting me. Also because I was out of easy things to throw in a bento box for Tora's lunch. He works so hard! Anyway, on to the recipe!

Before I got started I did a quick search for an egg roll recipe that I could skim over and alter as I saw fit. This one: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/14704/best-egg-rolls/ is really quite good and you're welcome to use it if you'd like. It's the basis of my (super tasty) egg roll recipe and I couldn't have gotten here without it.  So, Thank you Allrecipes.com for your contribution.

Here's my ingredient list
1/2 head of shredded cabbage
4 large carrots shredded
1/2 large red onion diced
3 green onions chopped
1 lb ground pork
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 T soy sauce
2 T mirin (Asian market find)
1 package egg roll wrappers
Water to seal the edges
Fry oil

1. Prep all the veggies and put them in a large mixing bowl. Reserve the green onions for the pork.

2. Combine green onions, pork, ginger, garlic, and black pepper and cook until no longer pink. Add soy sauce and mirin, reduce heat to medium, and simmer. Stir occasionally. Cook until all liquid is absorbed into the meat and set aside.

3. Heat oil in deep fryer over medium high heat

4. Mix pork into veggies then assemble egg rolls while oil is heating by placing 2-3 T of filling in the center of an egg roll wrapper, use a brush to dampen edges of egg roll wrapper, then fold corner closest to you over filling, then fold each of the sides toward the center, and roll forward until completely sealed.

5. When oil is heated to 350*F slide egg rolls in and fry for about 4-5 minutes flipping frequently until golden brown. Carefully remove egg rolls and drain over paper towels. Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce.

All the chopped cabbage and onion. My bowl looks like it might be too small

Shredded carrots are so pretty, and see that grater? It's the best! All metal so I can run it through the dishwasher without worrying about plastic wearing out. 

Look at all the different colors! Savory pork, sweet carrots, spicy onions, and crunchy cabbage just waiting to be rolled up! 

It's so important to get all the edges wet so that the egg roll doesn't fall apart in the fryer. 

First one in! Check out my set up for draining. There's a cookie sheet with paper towel and a cooling rack on top. I kinda felt like a genius when I put that together. 

The very first finished product after cooling. I may be odd but I like my egg rolls with spicy mustard. You eat yours with whatever you like best. These delicious little fried treats can even be eaten on the run as my children are prone to doing LOL! I hope you enjoy this recipe!!

I'm back!

WOW! I took a really long break from blogging! More than 4 years between my last post and this one. So much has happened, so many delicious meals have been created and have gone undocumented... that's actually really really sad since I have made a few things that I now can't reproduce.

No matter! I shall forge forward with a new season of cooking and a new purpose to my decision to share. I've started cooking in bulk using the OnceAMonthMom.com website's fantastic meal plans so my desire here is to share my cooking adventures with you. I'll make sure I include links to my favorite recipes but you'll need to go ahead and get a membership to access all the recipes offered by OAMM's amazing team of menu planners.

In addition to my OAMM cooking adventure I'll also be posting my favorite seasonal recipes as well as my own creations. Those recipes will have either links to the original recipe or if I've modified it at all complete ingredients and instructions from my very own self.

I do believe I'll start with something summery and wonderful like a cherry pie. Check back tomorrow for the new recipe!