Oven Steak and Vegetables

I wasn't going to write this recipe out, but I went and changed things again. I have to stop doing that. The original recipe is from the plaid betty crocker cookbook page 236. I altered types and amounts of ingredients, and a bit in the directions as well. I thought this was good. I really liked the steak. It was tender and tasty. The veggies were good, but nothing spectacular.




Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin steak cut 3/4 inch thick
• 1/3 cup flour
• 2 Tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (1/2 medium onion)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dillweed
• 1 bag baby carrots
• 2 medium zucchini, sliced (2 cups)
• egg noodles

Directions (Oven at 350)

1. Trim excess fat from meat. Cut meat into 6 serving-size pieces. In a plastic bag, combine 1/2 of the flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Shake meat in flour mixture to coat.
2. In a skillet brown meat in hot oil. Transfer to 2 quart casserole.
3. In same skillet, stir remaining flour into pan drippings. (I had very little drippings using sirloin and trimming the fat, but it seemed to work just fine.) Stir in tomatioes, onion, and dillweed. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly.
4. Pour mixture over meat. Add carrots.
   
5. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Add zucchini. Cover; continue baking 15 to 20 minutes more or until meat and vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with noodles.
   

Feb menu

Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
28			27 Tex-Mex Casserole LF p.215	28 Crock pot Italian chicken Saving D. p. 94 Potatoes and carrots	29 Classic Italian Lasagna E.Italian p. 92	3 Chicken & pasta skillet dinner LF p. 136 (45 min) (peas, celery, green pepper, cabbage)
31 Smoked pork loin in a pasty case German p 62	1 Fired up mac & Cheese Food Nanny p.36 broccoli	2 Balti Chicken Vindaloo Indian p. 90	3 Penne w/ sausage, red potatoes, and green bean Food Nanny p69	4 Lil cheddar meat loaves Tof healthy RC p.26	5 Pork Milanese E. Italian p. 158	6 Cod with potato crust German p. 112
7 Chicken pot pie Mom’s	8 Pork Medallions with Asian flair TOF –health RC p.27	9 Chicken Pilau Indian p. 218	10 3 cheese Manicotti S&D p 50 use Everyday Italian marinara and beef.	11 Slow cooked caribbean pot roast TOH hc p. 34	12 Chicken with cranberry Sauce TOH health RC p.34	13 Enchilada Lasagna TOH hc p. 48
14	15 Southwest stuffed turkey breast TOH health RC p. 14	16 Lime carrots Maple pork chops TOH S&D p. 25	17 Easy Chicken cordon Bleu F Nanny p 179 Rice Pilaf p. 213	18	19	20 Roasted Red Snapper with Rosemary E. Italian p. 163
21	22	23	24 Chicken Tostada w/ mango salsa TOH? RC p 16	25	26	27

Mongolian beef

I found this recipe on your homebased mom's website. It is supposed to be like PF Chang's. I don't know how much it is like PF Changs, but it was delicious. I loved it. Not the greatest picture. I let Brandon take it, and I don't think he looked at it after snapping it to see if it looked OK. I also made broccoli salad, but cropped it out of the picture because it was so shadowy. I'll add that one later because it is a nice side.

So I remade this recipe yesterday 9/23/2010 and I'm posting myself some notes because had I just made it yesterday it wouldn't have got a 5 star - at least not from me.  Here is what I did differently - I had twice the amount of meat called for so I just doubled the recipe.  Not sure why, but I guess that was a bad idea.  

Problems today

-cornstarch coating came off all over my spoon and then didn't thicken up the sauce - I had to add corn starch and water at the end to make it work.  I'm thinking this is because there was just too much meat in the pan.  Probably should have just done 2 batches, but it didn't look like it was that much.  I also added oil so it would fry better with the extra meat, but I just ended up with a mess.

-It was also way too salty today.  I did NOT use reduced sodium except for maybe 1 Tablespoon at the end when I ran out of the regular I had in my fridge.  I definitely suggest using reduced sodium.  I've actually checked the recipe on the site I got it from to make sure I had no type-o.  I also may have over boiled the sauce because I boiled it for 2 minutes, not just cooked it for 2 minutes.  Probably wouldn't do that again either.  I also subbed a tiny bit of splenda for brown sugar, but that should not have made any difference.  However, saltiness was a total issue for me today.  Didn't seem to bother anyone else. 

Ingredients

• 1 lb steak
• 1/4 C cornstarch
• 3 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger or minced ginger
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 C water
• 1/2 C soy sauce (I used low sodium)
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 3 green onions, sliced into 2-3″ pieces

Directions:

Dry off meat with a paper towel and slice into 1/4″ thick slices against the grain. Add to a bowl with the cornstarch and coat thoroughly.
Add 1 1/2 tsp oil to a wok or large frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger, stir until fragrant. Add soy sauce, water, rice vinegar and brown sugar. Cook for about 2 minutes and remove from pan.
Add remaining 1 1/2 tsp oil to pan over high heat. Add the meat and cook until brown on all sides and slightly crispy. Pour sauce back into pan over meat. Add green onions, stir and remove from heat. Serve with rice. EnJOY!

Salami-Bean Casserole

This recipe came out of the plaid Betty Crocker Cookbook. It wasn't my favorite, but the older boys loved it. I doubled it for the most part, but sizes of cans seem to have changed. I also didn't have space (or want to) fully double the salami. I also chose the microwave directions to make it quick. This is what I did.




Ingredients

• 1 large can pork and beans (whatever one is 28 -32 oz. I can't remember what size.)
• 2/3 cup catsup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 4 cups frozen hashed brown potatoes with onion and peppers
• 6 oz. sliced salami

Directions
Combine all ingredients except salami. Put into a 2 quart casserole. Cover and cook in microwave for 5 minutes. Stir. Roll salami slices into logs. Arrange on top of casseroles, pressing into bean mixture slightly. Microwave covered about 5 minutes more or until potatoes are done. (I think I added 2 or 3 minutes, but I also forgot to stir it when I took it out.)

Blueberry sour cream pancakes

This recipe comes from the Taste of home website. They were good, but I've had better blueberry sauces. I'd like to try this again with loganberries. What I did like was that the batter was nice and thick, so the blueberries didn't just burn on the griddle while the rest of the pancake tried to cook. I'd make the pancakes again, but use another one of my sauces like this blueberry sauce.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup cold water
• 4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 
  PANCAKES:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions

• In a large saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in water until smooth. Add blueberries. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; cover and keep warm.
• For pancakes, in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Combine the eggs, milk, sour cream and butter. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in blueberries.
• Pour batter by 1/4 cupful onto a greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top; cook until the second side is golden brown. Serve with blueberry topping. Yield: about 20 pancakes (3-1/2 cups topping).

Sausage and Corn Bread

This recipe came out of the plaid Betty Crocker cookbook as well. I had to do some modification in sizing because #1 I wanted to make more than 4 servings, and #2, they don't seem to make cans in the same size as they used to. It was OK, but it wasn't my favorite, but I liked the concept and wouldn't mind trying the concept again with some changes. I liked the sauce/sausage part except for the fact that the tomatoes didn't have a lot of flavor. That could easily be solved by letting them simmer for a bit to combine the flavors. I also thought the cornbread part had a bit of a bitter flavor. Not as sure how to solve that problem. Maybe I need new cornmeal, maybe I just need to add a bit more sugar. Those are my ideas for next time if we try this one again. Here is the recipe how I made it since I had to make lots of notes on sizing.




Ingredients

• 1 28 oz can of stewed tomatoes (or 2 14.5 oz cans) cut up
• 1 4 oz can of green chilies - (could use the 7 oz can with no problem)
• 1 Tablespoon minced dried onion
• 3/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 5 Tablespoons cold water
• 1 3/4 Tablespoon corn starch
• 1 pound sausage
• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 3/4 Tablespoons baking powder
• 4 beaten eggs
• 1 14.75 oz can cream-style corn
• 3/4 cup milk
• 5 Tablespoons oil (I used 3 Tablespoons oil, 2 Tablespoons apple sauce)

Directions

1. In a saucepan, combine the undrained tomatoes, chopped geren chilies, minced onion, 3/4 teaspoon sugar, and garlic powder. Bring to a boil. (Here I'd suggest lowering the heat and simmering for 20-30 minutes to give the tomatoes more flavor.) Sire cold water into cornstarch; stir into tomato mixture. Cook and stir until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes more. REmove from heat and set the mixture aside.
2. In a skillet, cook sausage till brown, breaking into pieces as cooking. Drain. Stir half of the tomato mixture into sausage. Set both aside
   
3. In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, the 3 1/2 Tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, combine eggs, cream-style corn, milk, and cooking oil; add to cornmeal mixture. Stir just until moistened. Spread half of the batter in a greased 9X13 inch pan. Spoon sausage mixture on top. Spread remaining batter over meat. Bake at 375 about 30 minutes (it took more like 45-50 with this bigger size) Let stand 5 minutes. Cut into squares. Heat remaining tomato mixture and spoon over corn bread squares.
   

Layered Enchilada Casserole

This is a recipe from Saving Dinner. It has to be the vaguest recipe I have ever tried to follow. It just said 1 can of tomato sauce, 1 can diced green chilies etc. No mention of the size of tomato sauce. I had a tiny can and a super large can. I actually planned on adding 1/2 of the large can to equal 1 medium can, but ended up adding the whole thing. I also added some extra spices. It definitely needed them. I think that next time I would add even more cumin (not in the original recipe) and maybe some more onion - possibly even the larger can of green chilies. So, here is the recipe with more detail, and changed to the way I made it. It was delicious, and easy. Can't beat that.



Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef - I used my precooked ground sirloin - 1 package
• 1 cup oats
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 2.5 oz can sliced black olives
  
• 1 29 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon cumin (add more possibly add a bit of taco sauce or chili powder as well)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon corriander
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup Ricotta cheese
• 1 4 oz can diced green chilies (wouldn't be bad with the 7 oz can if not adding taco sauce or chili powder)
• 1 bag baked tortilla chips
• 1 cup low fat cheddar cheese - I'm pretty sure I used more - maybe even double this. I just covered the top.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Fry up hamburger (or defrost if using pre-cooked and put into a frying pan.) Add oats and stir well to incorporate. Add garlic powder, cumin, corriander, olives, and tomato sauce. Simmer while making sour cream mixture.
2. Mix sour cream, Ricotta cheese and green chilies.
3. Crush tortilla chips and place 1/2 of them on the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish (I'd us a 9X13 next time. I had to leave out some chips because it wasn't going to all fit, and it was to the very top.) Add half the meat mixture, then half the sour cream mixture, then cheese (here I just covered the top with cheese - both times. I didn't measure.) Repeat the layers. Bake uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes.

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