Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry

I was so excited when I got an email from my sister-in-law, Ashley, wanting to pass along the dinner she made the other night! I gotta tell you, it makes my day to get feedback of any kind, but someone else sharing a recipe is the beez-neez! Or bees knees... whatever. Anyway, Ashley got this from the back of a La Choy Soy Sauce label and even though I'm not a big beef eater, I am excited to try it! It only takes about 30 minutes and fits in nicely with the Chinese food kick that's been going on lately. Thanks, Ashley!

2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided

1 medium onion, chopped

1 pkg (14 oz) frozen broccoli florets

1 can (8 oz) sliced water chestnuts, drained{optional, but adds a nice variety to the textures}

1 lb boneless beef sirloin, cut across the grain into 2 x 1/2 inch strips

5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/3 C soy sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp corn starch

1 tbsp water

Chow Mein noodles {Optional}

Heat 1 tbsp oil in large skillet or wok over high heat. Cook and stir onion, broccoli and water chestnuts 4 minutes or until crisp tender. Remove from skillet and set aside. Pour remaining oil into skillet. Cook and stir beef and garlic about 2 minutes or until browned. Add broccoli mix back to skillet. Whisk together soy sauce and brown sugar in a small bowl. Add to skillet. Stir together cornstarch and water until smooth; add to skillet. Cook until heated through and sauce thickens. Serve with Chow Mein noodles.

Pumpkin {Chocolate Chip} Bread

This recipe doesn't originally call for chocolate chips, but chocolate makes everything better, right?!?! I actually don't think it added much to this, it is soooooo good to begin with! But, if adding chocolate chips makes your kids {or your sweet tooth} happy, then by all means, add away! My mom enriched my life with this fall favorite, though the recipe only makes one loaf. That is simply not enough. Plus, it only calls for 1 cup of pumpkin. What are you supposed to do with half a can of pumpkin? So I've added the doubled amounts to the side of the ingredients{in case math wasn't your strong suit} and you can easily choose which way you want to go and not have anxiety over wasting that leftover pumpkin. You can just plan on doubling it and bring that extra loaf over to me. Thanks. **Warning** If you ever think you'd like to make this or any other pumpkin recipe at any time besides September- December, then it is imperative that you stock up on canned pumpkin NOW while it is still in stores for the season. If you forget, I have plenty! ;) ***Bonus Warning!*** You will totally pick at this all day. You've been warned.

1 1/2 C sugar (3 C)

1/2 C shortening (1 C)

1/2 C water (1 C)

1 C canned pumpkin (2 C or 1- 16 oz can)

2 eggs (4 eggs)

1 2/3 C flour (3 1/3 C)

3/4 tsp salt (1 1/2 tsp)

1 tsp soda (2 tsp)

1/2 tsp cloves (1 tsp)

1/2 tsp nutmeg (1 tsp)

1/2 tsp cinnamon (1 tsp)

1/2 tsp baking powder (1 tsp)

Mix all ingredients together. Spread in a greased and floured large loaf pan {for best results, line bottom of pan with wax paper}. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until knife clean. Makes one large or two small loaves.

Fried Rice

It is totally common for me to make WAY too much rice at my meals, store it in the fridge until it's WAY past its prime, then throw it away. Well, not this time! Bolstered by my mom's mention of making her own fried rice, I thought I'd give it a try myself! So, I checked out a couple recipes over at allrecipes.com, took what I liked from them and left out what I didn't and came up with this. I couldn't believe how much it tasted like the fried rice at Panda Express! Pair it with this Orange Chicken and your husband will be asking where the take-out boxes went! Now let's see if I can remember how it goes...

2-3 eggs {about 1 egg per 1-2 C rice, depending on how much you like egg!}

4-6 C cooked rice

1/4 tbsp canola, olive oil, or butter {I think I used margarine}

1 C peas and carrot frozen vegetable blend

2 tsp garlic

1/4 C soy sauce

Beat the eggs and cook in a large skillet until done; chop to desired size and set aside. Add the oil or butter and heat on medium high until hot or melted. Add the rice; saute for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the vegetables, saute another 5 minutes. Add the garlic, soy sauce and eggs for 2-3 minutes or until evenly heated. Serve immediately.

The beauty of this is you can add more or less of the things you want. You can even add different things to your taste, such as Green onions, celery, bacon, shrimp, chicken, ham, etc.

Easy Orange Chicken

Is it kinda sad that I obsess so much about food and do this group and have this blog, but really don't do any blog browsing of my own?? It's a good thing I follow my cousin's blog at www.sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com; I let them do all the time consuming work of finding great recipes and I just get to copy them, adjust them to taste and call them my own! They got it from Team T Adventures, in case you were wondering. I absolutely LOVE orange chicken! It's pretty much a guarantee anytime we go out for Chinese that one of us will get it and the rest will pick at it! This recipe was simple and seriously tastes as good as the restaurant- at least as good as you can get without adding all the unhealthy msg and fast food preservatives you'd get at certain fast food Chinese chain restaurants... I did have a few changes that I added at the bottom of the directions...

4 boneless chicken breasts, chopped into small chunks
1/3 C flour
olive oil
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp ketchup
6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (3/4 C)
1/4 C brown sugar

In a small bowl, mix the salt, vinegar, ketchup, orange juice concentrate and brown sugar. Set aside. Pour the flour in a separate bowl. Coat the chicken in the flour and shake off the excess. Pour a small amount of olive oil {about 1-2 tbsp} in a skillet and cook the chicken for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. {It doesn't need to be fully cooked if you put it in the crock pot. Directions are included for both crock pot and oven}

Place the chicken in a crock pot and cover with the orange concentrate mixture; stir lightly. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 2-3. Serve with boring old rice, or this way more exciting, tasty and simple fried rice! Panda Express, eat your heart out!

~OR~
I found the chicken got a little dried out going this route, so either make sure the chicken is under cooked before putting it in the crock pot or don't leave it in as long. If you are unsure, taste test a piece after 2-3 hours. Then again, and again, but leave some for the family!

Next time I do this, I'd fry the chicken as directed, but until just cooked through then toss in a large bowl with the orange concentrate mixture. Spread in a single layer on a baking pan and bake for 10-15 minutes or until evenly heated.

Halloween Party

The first themed foods Exchange and it was great! I got such great ideas from everyone and I hope you do, too! Another great turn out, another chance for great food, another evening of good conversation with great people!

We do have a bit of a predicament, though: My husband's work schedule just changed and will have him working on the evenings we get together... I don't want to just put this to an end, it's been WONDERFUL!!! So, we'll be working out the kinks and go let you know what we decide to do. In the mean time, stay tuned for other great recipes that get kicked around at random!

Yummy Oreo Dessert Graveyard

As much as I love a cute themed food, I have a REALLY hard time spending a bunch of time on something that looks great and tastes just ok only to have it demolished immediately! So, I just kinda took one of my favorite recipes that I knew would taste good and decorated accordingly!
The dessert is like a layered ice cream sundae for a group. One of my personal favorites that I have a REALLY hard time staying out of when it's in my freezer.

Dessert:
1 pkg oreos
1 jar hot fudge sauce
1 carton (1 1/2- 2 qt) ice cream, slightly softened {my fav is mint chip, but vanilla is what it originally calls for}
1 carton Cool Whip

Crush the Oreo's {I use my food processor} and cover the bottom of a 9x13" pan with half the Oreo's. Cut the ice cream into 1" slices and place on top of the cookie crumbs. Warm the fudge sauce according to package directions and spread on top of the ice cream. Spread the Cool Whip over that. Sprinkle with remaining Oreo crumbs. Freeze for 3-4 hours or until frozen through.

Graveyard decorations:
Tombstones: I just used graham crackers that I'd crumbled off the corners to round them out then used a toothpick to write RIP on some with frosting. I had cinnamon graham crackers so, I alternated the cinnamon side and plain sides for variety.

Ghosts: The two ghosts in the front are blobs of cool whip with chocolate chips for eyes. M&M's would work well, too. The ghost in the back is a Dum Dum sucker with 2 pieces of toilet paper (CLEAN!!) tied with a ribbon and a face drawn in.

Gummy worms at random always add an instant element of Halloween.

The Fence: Pull-a-part licorice held together with toothpicks.

Graveyard Shots

Simple, creepy, full of sugar- Everything Halloween should be! Shaunae Pomeroy sure knows how to get to the heart of things! I always bring home leftovers, and this was the first thing my 4 year old went after!

2 boxes instant chocolate pudding mix
1 box Oreo cookies
gummy worms


Crumble Oreo's by chopping with a knife, sticking in a food processor, or placing in a Ziploc bag and mashing with a rolling pin. Set aside. Prepare pudding mix according to pkg directions, pouring into small cups. Squish a worm half way into pudding and sprinkle Oreo around the worm. Let set 5 minutes. Keep refrigerated.

Texas Sheet Cake

The beauty of gummy worms is you can turn something tasty, but not creepy, into a great Halloween treat just by adding one or two of these bad boys. That's how this cake from Trina Bowers came to be at our Halloween night, anyway! I gotta say, I've had lots of sheet cake, but this was my favorite yet! It was thick and fudgy, somewhere between cake and brownies- just how I like it!


CAKE:
2 C sugar
2 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 C margarine
4 heaping tbsp cocoa
1 C water
1/2 C buttermilk {you can use 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice in a 1/2 C container and add whole milk until full. Let set a few minutes}
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla


Mix dry ingredients together; set aside. Bring margarine, cocoa and water to a boil and pour hot over dry ingredients. Mix together and add buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Pour into greased and floured jelly roll pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.


FROSTING:
1/2 C margarine
4 heaping tbsp cocoa
5 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 lg box powdered sugar

While cake is baking, bring first 3 ingredients to a boil add vanilla and beat in powdered sugar. Pour and spread over cake while warm.

Jack-Orange-Lantern Fruit Cups

Audra Simpson really impressed us with her offerings! Don't you just love these? I don't know where she finds the time to make these things so darn cute, but I'm glad she does! Again, this isn't really a recipe- more like instructions:


1 navel orange per person
favorite fruits, bite size


Cut the top of the orange in a zig-zagged circle. Use a small spoon to scoop out the orange pulp. Use a small, sharp knife to carve out a face in the orange rind. Fill with your favorite fruits.


You can use other oranges, but navel's are typically larger and have a firmer rind making it easier to carve. Another perk- the citrus of the orange will keep apples from browning, so you don't have to worry about opening the top and finding a bunch of brown triangles!

Halloweenies with Mustard Dip

Besides being super cute mummies, these Lil' Smokies wrapped in crescent rolls would be an awesome appetizer at a Halloween party. Catrina Bowers found this at Pilsbury.com. I'm thinking Halloween lunch...

1 can (8 OZ) refrigerated crescent roll dough
44 cocktail-size smoked link sausage
1/2 C creamy Dijon mustard
1 tbsp dried oregano leaves


Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper. Roll dough sheet out to one large rectangle, cut vertically to make two 11x7" rectangles. Cut crosswise into total of 44 strips. Pat sausages dry. Wrap 1 strip of dough around each sausage to look like a little mummy; press firmly at each end to secure. Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart for even browning. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix mustard and oregano. Dot a small amount of mustard or catsup to make eyes {Trina used a baby medicine dropper for this, which worked out great}. Serve sausages warm with mustard dip.


I had made something similar for lunch a few days earlier with full sized hot dogs. Directions are pretty similar, but it took 1 can crescent dough to make about 6 hot dogs, 8 if you leave space between the wrapping. I made the eyes with a little ball of cheese.

Frankenstein Spaghetti Brains

This won the prize for being the cutest! How fun is this? I am absolutely doing this for dinner on Halloween! Nicely done, Audra Simpson! However, she took an idea and made it her own, so there isn't a specific recipe... Here's what we were given:

Thin Spaghetti noodles, cooked, drained
1 jar spaghetti sauce
Parmesan cheese or mozzarella cheese
1 green bell pepper per person
2 olives per person


Toss the noodles and sauce. Add cheese. Cut the top off each bell pepper and remove the seeds; carve a face and holes on each side for the olive "bolts". Spoon the spaghetti into the bell peppers and plug holes on sides with olives. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

*If you intend to eat the bell peppers, you can bake them a little bit to your desired tenderness before spooning the spaghetti in.

Red Velvet Cupcake Eyeballs

I'm sure I've seen this idea a hundred times, though no particular one prompted these cupcakes. It's not a new idea, by any means, but I've added an extra dose of macabre by making them on red velvet cupcakes. That way, if the eyeballs aren't scary enough, the way your kids look after eating them will be! Case in point:

The bath tub looked like a crime scene after this! As if that weren't enough, this is by far my favorite red velvet recipe with a yummy cream cheese icing and surprise filling. Also makes an excellent valentines day treat- minus the optical orb.

CUPCAKES:

1 pkg red velvet cake mix, plus ingredients as called for on box

1 (3.9 oz) pkg instant chocolate pudding mix

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened

1/2 C butter or margarine, softened

1 pkg (16 oz) powdered sugar (about 4 cups)

1 C thawed Cool Whip

Prepare cake batter and bake as directed on package for 24 cupcakes, blending dry pudding mix into batter before spooning into muffin cups lined with cupcake paper and sprayed with cooking spray. Cool. Use the handle of a wooden spoon to make a hole in the top of each cupcake.

Beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl with a mixer until well blended. Gradually beat in sugar. Whisk in cool whip. Spoon 1 1/2 C into sandwich or qt sized Ziploc bag; seal bag. Cut small corner off bottom of bag. Insert tip of bag into the holes on the cupcakes and pipe about 1 tbsp frosting into center of cupcake. Frost cupcakes with remaining frosting.

EYEBALLS:
I used LifeSaver gummies for the irises and upside down chocolate chips for the pupils. I used decorating frosting to pipe the veins.

Valentines day:

Top with shaved white chocolate curls or sprinkle red decorating sugar over a stencil to make a heart.

Jack Skellington Cupcakes

When Jennifer Fulton walked in with these we immediately recognized the iconic Halloween face of Jack Skellington of "The Nightmare before Christmas". And the little guys who may be a tad young for the movie will still recognize a fun, slightly creepy face- this was emphatically requested by her 3 year-old son. Added bonus: If you needed to make a bunch of cupcakes or just wanted to mix it up a bit, you could have a pile decorated half with these guys and half with the eyeballs found here.

1 batch chocolate cupcakes
White buttercream frosting
2 toothpicks
1 tube black decorator's icing


Frost the cupcakes with the buttercream frosting. For each cupcake, use the tip of a toothpick to lightly etch the outline of two large Jack Skellington eyes in the frosting . Slowly pipe black decorator's icing onto the etched lines and then fill in the inner circles. Use another toothpick to spread and smooth the icing. {Jenn used a baby spoon and said it worked great} Pipe on two short lines for a nose. Next, pipe a long line across the bottom of the cupcake for the mouth. Randomly top the mouth with a bunch of short icing barbs.

Appetizers

Loved Appetizer night! I'm thinking we're going to have to host a Super Bowl party and have a repeat of these recipes! Sorry it took so long to get them posted... I had some catching up to do! Ya know, leading up to the Exchange, I was wondering if people were getting as much out of these nights as I was. I love the chance to try new things, talk to new people and my favorite not-new people. I love getting out of the house and stimulating my mind in ways other than the most efficient way to change a diaper or how I'll be able to work the kid's naps around my 'to do' list. As hilarious as 4 year old jokes are {What time is it when an elephant sits on your slide? Time to get a new slide!}, I love sincerely laughing at something I haven't already heard 5 times that day! But I always wonder if anyone else looks forward to it the same way!

I'm not as worried about that anymore! It was so much fun with great food, mom talk, jewelry tutorial from Joni, and great conversation. I walked away from that Exchange on a high!

So, I am grateful that this thing is going well. I am thankful for the WONDERFUL friendships I've made because of it. I am thankful for all the AMAZING recipes I've been able to add to my repertoire. And I am thankful to announce the next exchange! Thursday, the 20th, we'll be having a Halloween and Thanksgiving theme! FUN foods for the holidays. Recipes that look as fun as they taste! Trina Bowers will be hosting this time, so we'll see you there!

Ham and Swiss Cheese Rolls

Joni Joiner gets a gold star for this one! It was delectable! I wish I had more elaborate words for it, but I'm at a loss! The small serving size made me feel better about having 2 or three or four... Swiss cheese on black forest ham with a 'secret' sauce on a sweet King's Hawaiian roll. I was anxious to get this recipe to recreate it. I think I'm going to try it with a slice of grilled pineapple.

1 pkg Rolls {King's Hawaiian is best}
1 pkg ham {again, black forest is what she used. What I'd recommend}
1 pkg Swiss cheese, thick or deli sliced
1 stick butter, softened
2 tsp mustard
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion, grated

Mix butter, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Slice the rolls in half and spread the sauce on one or both sides of the roll {She had it on one side so it wasn't too strong for us first timers, but I'm excited to try it on both sides.}. Add one piece of ham, folded in quarters. Cover with cheese and replace top of rolls. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 until cheese is melted.

Grandpa's Cheese Ball

This cheese ball comes from my dearest grandpa. Every year, he'd make this at Christmas time and it became a staple. Now he's passed on and I can't think appetizer without thinking of this, and I can't think of this without thinking fondly of my grandpa. I've decided this cheeseball is an embodiment of all the best things about him. It is a little sweet, soft, a little unexpected, and absolutely nutty! Actually, the nuts are very mild pecans. Grandpa was much nuttier! Anyway, here it is: My favorite appetizer from my favorite grandpa!

2 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple in juice, drained
2 C pecans, chopped and divided
1/4 C green bell peppers, chopped (optional)
2 tbsp onions, chopped
1 tsp seasoning salt

Stir all ingredients together, reserving 1 C pecans. Chill well. Form into 1 large or 2 small balls; roll in remaining pecans. Wrap tightly and chill until serving.

Lil Smokies

I loved these sausages- so did my daughter who smooshed them all over the place, but refused to let go of one. These have a perfect sweet and savory flavor and serve up great with a couple toothpicks for stabbing and chomping! And at 3 ingredients, does it get any easier?!? Another hit, Joni!

3 pkgs smokies sausages

2 C grape jelly (16 oz jar)

1 C yellow mustard

Heat jelly and mustard in crock pot until dissolved together; add smokies. Cook on low 3-4 hours then serve.

Refreshing Drink

I spaced on this one and didn't get a picture, but just imagine what looks like water with slices of oranges and lemons. It was SOOO good! I'm not typically a fan of flavored drinks. I think they have a tendency to taste too sugary or too rich and I feel like I need a glass of water next to it, but that totally wasn't the case! It was refreshing and tasty without feeling like you drank sugar sludge!

5 qts water
3 C sugar
1 tbsp lemon extract
1 tbsp citric acid (can be found at Wal-Mart pharmacies)
Lemon and Orange slices

Mix all together and serve with lemon and orange slices.

Chipped Beef Cheese Ball

Cheese balls are such a perfect appetizer, so it was no wonder more than one showed up! This had a heartier, saltier flavor than "Grandpa's cheese ball". Joni Joiner made me proud with her FOUR recipes!

1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1 jar dried beef, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Mix Worcestershire sauce, cream cheese, chopped onion and all but 1/4 C of the dried beef. Shape into a ball. Coat the outside of the ball in the remaining dried beef.

Throw-together Mini Quiche

Audra Simpson cracked us up with this one. She claims it was just a bunch of leftovers thrown together, but it was so good! With that in mind, the ingredients are all kind of estimates... So, good luck!

ABOUT:
1 C fresh spinach
1/2 C diced tomatoes
1/4 C carmelized, chopped onions
1/2 C mozzerella cheese
2 eggs
salt and pepper
1 can crescent dough

Line mini muffin tin with crescent dough. Mix remaining ingredients. Spoon 1-2 tbsp of mixture into muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned.