Ginger Beef Stir-Fry

Hey everyone! I haven't posted in too long. Two weeks ago my MIL, Joan, came for a visit. I asked her what she wanted me to cook while she was here. She requested hamburgers, BBQ chicken, and tacos. While I was planning my menu for the next week, I found this one. It was so good I just had to share.

Makes me hungry just looking at it.

Ingredients:

Marinade-

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup vegetable, chicken, or beef broth

3 Tbs rice wine vinegar

2 Tbs corn starch

2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Stir-fry-

1-1.5 lbs steak, cut into small strips

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbs olive oil

12 ounces baby portobello or button mushrooms, cut into fourths 

3-5 cups kale, washed and torn into bite-size pieces 

Directions:

• Add all marinade ingredients to a bowl and whisk. Pour marinade into a large zip-lock bag and add meat. Seal bag and massage marinade into meat. Let marinate at least 15 minutes.
• Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in a large skillet or pot over medium/high heat. 
• Add meat to skillet, and reserve marinade. 
• Cook steak 3-5 minutes or until no pink is visible on the outside.
• Remove steak and set aside.
• Add remaining 1 Tbs olive oil to skillet.
• Add in veggies and reserved marinade to skillet and cook for 3-5 minutes until kale is wilted. Be sure to stir often so the sauce does not burn.
• Once veggies are cooked, add in steak.
• Serve over rice.

Serves: 4       Total time: 30 minutes

Stuffed Zucchini

I was told I could not get this recipe unless I made a blog post about it, so I guess you could say I was bribed. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law had us over for dinner a few nights ago, and Kelli made this DELICIOUS meal for us. It was super yummy and we ate it all up- even little C. I changed a few ingredients because it's what I had on hand. Thanks for sharing, Kels!

Only photo I got. Yikes!

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

8 fresh zucchinis 

1 (32 oz) jar spaghetti sauce

1 cup cottage cheese or ricotta cheese

1 cup grated parmesan cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese

2 eggs

2 tsp italian seasoning or dried parsley and oregano 

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Wash and cut zucchini in half long-ways. Hollow out middle and either discard the "guts" or save for zucchini bread. ;)
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place hollowed zucchinis in two 9x13 baking pans.
• Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once cooked, add spaghetti sauce and heat through.
• In a bowl, mix cheeses, eggs, seasonings, salt, and pepper.
• Smear cheese mixture over each zucchini and then spoon meat sauce on top of that.
• Bake 45-50 or until zucchini is cooked through.
• Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve warm.

Serves: 4        Total time: 1.5 hours

Perfect Pork Chops

Every pork chop recipe I have tried cooking turns out dry. Some will have good flavors, but the meat just dries out really fast. I found this recipe on Pinterest and it was literally the best pork chop recipe I've ever had! Try it out and let me know if you agree.

Ingredients:

4-6 boneless pork chops

1 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs butter

1/2 small sweet onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbs fresh thyme

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp pepper

1&1/2 cups chicken broth

3/4 cup heavy cream

1-3 Tbs cornstarch

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Sprinkle each side of pork chops with salt, pepper, and mustard.
• In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, melt butter and olive oil.
• Add onion, garlic, and fresh thyme to skillet and saute until fragrant (about 3 min).
• Spoon out onions, garlic, and thyme into a small bowl. set aside.
• Add pork chops to skillet and sear for about 2 min on each side.
• Transfer pork chops to a 9x13 baking dish. Spoon onion mixture on top of each pork chop.
• Pour chicken broth around pork chops.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Carefully remove pork chops from pan and set aside. Pour chicken broth from 9x13 pan into a sauce pan and turn on medium heat.
• Return pork chops to 9x13 pan and place back in oven.
• Add cream to sauce pan and stir. Once mixture reaches a simmer, add 1 Tbs of cornstarch to sauce pan and whisk. Add more if needed.
• Simmer until sauce reaches a gravy consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Remove pork chops from oven and serve warm with gravy on top. 

Serves: 4-6       Total time: 35 minutes 

Chicken Pot Pie

This is a favorite go-to recipe for me. It is fairly easy and very delicious. A few weeks ago, some good friends, the Tribbles, had their sweet baby girl. I made them this chicken pot pie to enjoy when they got home from the hospital. They enjoyed it, and I hope you do too!

Ingredients:

1 box (two 9 inch) refrigerated pie crust

1 chicken breast

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 cup canned peas

2 ribs celery, chopped

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/3 tsp celery seed

1&3/4 cups chicken broth

2/3 cup whole milk

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
• Set pie crusts out to get to room temp.
• In a large pot, add chicken breast and cover with water. Boil for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add celery and carrots to water, and boil with chicken for another 10 minutes. Drain chicken and veggies, set aside.
• In the same pot, melt butter and cook onion until translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Once combined, stir in broth and milk. Simmer until mixture thickens. 
• Meanwhile, shred chicken. Add chicken, carrots, celery, and peas to simmering mixture. Turn off heat.
• Spread out one pie crust onto the bottom of a 9 inch pie pan. 
• Pour filling into the pie pan and cover the top with the other pie crust. Pinch the edges of pie crust together and cut away excess dough. Make small slits in top of pie crust to allow steam to escape.
• Bake the pie for 30 minutes. Crust should be golden brown when ready. Cool for 10 minutes and serve.

Serves: 4       Total time: 1 hour

Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Casserole (with a side of asparagus)

Last week the three of us got to go home to Georgia for 5 days. We stayed two nights at my parent's house and two nights at Christian's parent's house. We enjoyed some delicious homemade meals that my mom made, and some good homemade biscuits that my MIL made. We were spoiled! Joan and I talked and I told her I would cook for her and my boys while I was there. So she bought the groceries and I cooked it up. They loved it and I hope you do too!

It was fun getting to cook in George's domain. 

The finished product. 

(Please don't judge my plating skills.)

Ingredients:

2 packages of chicken tenders (about 1-1.5 lbs each)

1 cup all-purpose flour

6 Tbs olive oil, divided

1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, thickly sliced

1/2 medium onion, finely diced

3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

Salt and pepper

Sauce ingredients:

2 Tbs butter

3 Tbs all-purpose 

1&1/2 cups chicken broth

1 Tbs lemon juice

1 cup half and half 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper and dredge both sides in flour.
• Heat 3 Tbs of oil in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Once oil is hot, add chicken and saute until golden. Work in batches if needed so you don't crowd your pan. Don't worry about cooking chicken through; it cooks in the oven.
• Transfer chicken to 9x13 casserole pan.
• Wipe down skillet with a paper towel and add 3 Tbs of oil along with sliced mushrooms and diced onions. Saute until soft and translucent. Add garlic and saute another 1-2 minutes until garlic is fragrant. Spoon out mixture over the chicken. 
• In the same skillet, melt 3 Tbs butter. Whisk in 3 Tbs flour and cook 1-2 minutes or until golden brown. 
• While whisking, add 1&1/2 cups chicken broth, 1 Tbs lemon juice, 1/4 tsp pepper, and stir until smooth. Add 1 cup of half and half and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Pour sauce over chicken and mushrooms. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
• Cook rice or pasta while chicken is in the oven.
• Serve chicken and sauce over rice or pasta.

Asparagus recipe:

1 bunch of fresh asparagus, washed and 2 inches of ends cut off

2 Tbs olive oil

2 cloves fresh garlic

Salt and pepper

Directions:

• Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat. 
• Add olive oil and asparagus to pan.Cook for around 8-10 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 2 minutes. 
• Season with salt and pepper.

Serves: 6       Total time: 1 hour

O's Sopa De Pollo

Hey guys! I have been away from my blog for too long. I sincerely apologize to those (like 6) people who read it. There are no excuses, and I will try to be more active with my blogging.

Sharing this recipe with you all makes me really excited because it is the first recipe I have shared that is my VERY OWN! I have made several renditions of Mexican chicken soup, but I always end up changing half the recipe. So I decided to just make my own the way I like it. Enjoy!

This makes my mouth water.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast or chicken tenders
• medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup uncooked white rice
• 2 tsp fresh minced garlic
• 3 roma tomatoes, diced
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 1-2 jalapeños, seeded and diced
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 2-3 Tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 3 avocados
• 2 limes
• grated cheddar or colby jack cheese

Directions:

Add rice, 1/2 tsp salt, and 2 cups of water to a medium size pot and bring to boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 20 minutes. While rice is cooking, heat olive oil in a large pot over medium/high heat. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and season with salt and pepper. Add chicken and onion to pot and cook for about 8 minutes. Add minced garlic to chicken and onion and cook for another 3-5 minutes or until garlic becomes fragrant. Add chicken stock, water, diced tomatoes, cilantro, and and cooked rice. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately and garnish with chopped jalapeños, diced avocado, grated cheese, and a lime wedge. 

Servings: 6     Total time: 1 hour 

Monkey Bread

I have always loved monkey bread, but I had never made it until a few weeks ago. It's an easy and fun breakfast to make when you have company. Some of my family were in town and my 13-year-old brother is a great cook. He offered to help me make it and did an excellent job! This recipe is from Pinterest and I thought it was the best. Enjoy!

Chef Reeve ;)

Turned out great.

Time to eat!

Ingredients:

3 (8-10.5 oz) cans buttermilk biscuits

1 cup white sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heavily grease a Bundt pan, set aside.
• Cut each biscuit into four equal pieces.
• Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Drop dough pieces into bowl and coat them in the mixture. Place in Bundt pan when coated.
• In a sauce pan, combine brown sugar, 1/2 cup remaining sugar/cinnamon mixture, and butter. Bring mixture just to a boil and then remove from heat. Carefully drizzle warm mixture over dough in the Bundt pan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. 
• Allow to rest for 5 minutes, then cover Bundt pan with a large plate and invert bread.

Serves: 6-8    Total time: 40 min