Broccoli Beef

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People tend to think my kids are picky. I think they just like momma’s cooking (and carbs). Oh, and they go through phases. Well, Good news. They LOVED this.

Broccoli Beef

  • 2 thick NY steaks, sliced against the grain
  • 2 heads of broccoli, broken down
  • Sesame seeds
  • Veggie oil
  • 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 6 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp corn starch
  • 2 Tbsp sesame oil
  • Pepper to taste
  • Sesame seeds for garnish

Make sure you start your rice because this is going to be quick.

Heat pan on medium high and add a tablespoon or so of oil. Cook broccoli until bright green. Set aside.

Increase heat on pan to high heat. Add a tablespoon or so of oil. Brown the beef. Note: dont overcook and Don’t over crowd the pan. This was about 3 batches for the pan I have. I just added each batch to the broccoli bowl that was set aside. I cooked the beef until medium rare.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl.

Add the broccoli and beef back to the pan with the sauce and cook for about 3 mins or until the sauce thickens a bit. It should just stick to the back of a spoon.

Test for pepper. Add some sesame seeds. Serve over rice with some siracha for added deliciousness. Enjoy!

Blue Bayou Gumbo – Attempt #1

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We had the best time at Disneyland. Now that I’m home, I’m missing the food so bad. We were lucky enough to get reservations at The Blue Bayou one day and enjoyed the gumbo and 2 glasses of Pinot Noir. So, why not try to recreate it – missing the boats rolling by.

Funny side note, I thought this was too blonde since it was so dark eating in Pirates. But this was almost as good.

PS I made a second attempt at making this recipe but had to double it for family pre-thanksgiving. It came out great doubling the recipe. I just needed more chicken broth in the end to thin it out a bit. I used 2 whole box containers.

Gumbo

Serves 4

  • 1 smoked andouille sausage, sliced
  • 3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped
  • 3 celery ribs, sliced
  • 1/2 red onion, diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped (I used purple)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 medium tomato, diced
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 3/4 cup chicken broth
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp salt (plus more to taste)
  • 1 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 1/2 cup frozen cut okra
  • 1 tsp Gumbo File (can omit if you don’t find it)

First make the roux. Take your time. This is where the love gets added. Melt the butter in a medium pot over medium low heat. Sprinkle in flour and whisk. It’ll look like a paste and then start to look like a thick pale sauce. Increase the heat to medium and constantly whisk until in begins to look the color of peanut butter. Then it should start to turn toward the color of hot cocoa (note, I got too impatient to wait and ended when it looked like caramel). This should take approx 30 – 45 mins if you’re cooking on med low. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Wash the pot.

Reheat the pot over medium heat. Add 1 TBPS olive oil and add sausage. Cook for 3 mins. Add celery, onions, bell pepper, garlic and cook for another 5 mins.

Add onion powder, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, and bay leaf. Add chicken, tomato and 1 1/2 cup chicken broth. Cover and simmer for 10 mins.

Slowly mix 1 1/4 cup of chicken broth into the roux. Add the roux, okra, gumbo file and chili powder. Cook for 5 mins until the okra is hot.

Taste for salt and pepper.

Serve over rice. Enjoy!!!

Trader Joe’s Thai Yellow Curry

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I recently discovered Trader Joe’s bottled Thai yellow curry sauce. It’s really good and comforting. It’s definitely not YaYa’s curry. It tastes a bit more like Japanese curry. But it’s damn good.

I made it traditional style with chicken and potatoes (I didn’t have bamboo shoots). Basically, I put 1 and a half chicken breast, cubed and 4 medium red potatoes cut into 1/4s in a pot with the sauce and cooked it until the potatoes were soft. Next time, I might wait until the last 15 mins to put in the chicken so it remains tender.

And while I was prepping it, I had too much chicken (that other half). So I popped the cubed, raw chicken pieces in with 3 TBSP of the sauce in a Tupperware and left it in the fridge.

I just pulled it out, skewered it and threw it in a 350 degree oven for 20 mins. What? Satay anyone? I should’ve left more sauce on when I baked it. But it’s so good too.

Get yourself to a TJs and buy this sauce, Trader Joe’s Thai yellow curry. And pick yourself up some orange chicken too.

Filet Mignon on the Pan

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TJ’s has filets for around $25 for 2. What a steal! I made two last night and typically we bbq but it was already late and well, coals take time. So, I tried it in a pan. Since I don’t have a cast iron in the tiny house (gasp!), I used the stainless steel. They came out soooo good. Munchkins loved it.

  • 2 4-6oz filet mignons
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • any high heat oil
  • 2 TBSP Ghee
  • 1 whole clove garlic
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary

Set meat out at room temp 20-30 mins to take the chill off them.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Generously season all sides with salt and pepper.

Heat oven-safe pan over med-high heat for 3 mins. Add oil (I used avocado) and ghee.

Add filets and brown each side well so it has a nice brown crust. try not to move it once you’ve set it in the pan until it’s time to turn. They’ll be sticky until they form the crust and you don’t want to tear it apart. Cook each side for 1-3 minutes until you have that crust.

On the last turn, add the rosemary and garlic. Then tip the pan while filets are cooking and spoon flavored oil over the filets for that last 1-3 mins. Caution: it’s a splattering mess. I was wiping down everything on the stove the entire time. And at the end, the top of my hand got a good moisturizing bath.

Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 5-7 mins depending on how you like your filets.

Remove pan from oven. Set filets on serving plate and let them rest for 10 mins before cutting.

Enjoy!

Fab 4 Morning Smoothie

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Have you heard of the book, Body Love? It’s written by Kelly Leveque, an LA nutritionalist for celebs. The adorable Jessica Alba wrote the forward.

Anyway, this breakfast smoothie is everything. Of course, I miss my pastries. But this thing satisfies hunger cravings for hours. I have it after my morning coffee – between 9 and 10. And then I’ll look up at the clock and it’ll be 1pm and I’m still not hungry. My joints feel better and I’m not bogged down by bloating.

Peeps in her book provide testimonials around weight loss, better energy and all sorts of other miracles (just kidding). It’s made up of the Fab 4 which is basically her approach to all meals: protein, greens, fat and fiber. Also, avocados are the super food since they have all of that – who can hate that?

All the goodness (and brands I use)
  • 1/2 cup almond milk, unsweetened
  • 1/2 banana
  • Collagen protein powder
  • Mushroom powder with MCT oil
  • 1 TBS flaxseed
  • 1 TBSP chia seed
  • 1 TBSP almond butter or peanut
  • A handful of greens
  • 4 raspberries
  • 2 – 3 ice cubes

Blend it all up and enjoy a smoothie meal with fat, fiber, greens and protein.

Jalapeño Poppers, Baked

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Made these for the 4th of July and am looking for a BBQ event to bring them to so I can side swipe a few between drinks. It’s the perfect “over served” food. Bacon-y, kinda spicy, cheesey. Sooo good. In fact, I bet we could doctor them up to look Halloween-y. Ok. Time for some creativity, ya’ll. Whatchya got? P.S. The mix is damn good on toast under some avocado sliced.

  • 12 jalapeños, half and seeded
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup aged cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 head roasted garlic (optional)
  • 10 stalks of chives, cut into 1/4” lengths
  • 6 sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled

Move rack to middle of oven. Line baking pan with foil. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Make filling by mixing all but 3 TBSP of the crumbled bacon. Cut jalapeños, deseed and demembrane.

Use a spoon to fill the filling into the jalapeño halves. Try to keep them upright (sometimes that requires leaning one up on the other-don’t worry though, they’re ok sharing space).

Cook for 20-25 mins or until bubbly. Sprinkle remaining bacon on top (I actually pressed the bacon into the jalapeños).

It’s like molten lava coming out of the oven. Use all the impulse control power you have to wait 10 mins until trying one. Trust me. Then enjoy!!

Poke

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Ya’ll. Poke. That “e” ain’t silent on this one. It’s refreshing and filling and a perfect way to end summer. Go out and get some sushi grade tuna today and make it.

  • 1/2 lb sushi grade ahi tuna, cubed into 1/2” pieces
  • 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 tsp soy sauce
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 garlic clove, minced super fine
  • 1/2” piece fresh ginger, minced super fine
  • 2 green onion, sliced thinly
  • furikaki
  • Shiso leaves (optional)
  • Avocado, sliced thinly
  • Pickled ginger
  • Wasabi paste
  • Fried wonton wrapper (or I was able to score these fried lotus chips that were wasabi flavored)

Mix ginger, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil together. Taste and adjust for your preferred flavor. Add fish and red onions to a bowl. Add marinade and refrigerate for 20 mins.

Arrange plate, add fish and top with furikake. Enjoy by itself or with sushi rice.

Shanghai Lumpia

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I went to make Lola Momma’s lumpia recipe and did a quick search to find the ingredients. What? Nothing found. How have I never put the recipe in here? Welp, I winged it because she was asleep since she’s in the PI and we’re in the US and it was a midday project. Everyone says I did it. And the photo is proof that it was good. We couldn’t even get a pic, they went so fast.

Ate them before we could get a photo
Too much filling in this one by a third.

Mix all the filling ingredients together until well incorporated. It should no longer look like separate ingredients but more like a paste.

Set up your rolling station. You will need a bowl of water, a cutting board to roll on, a plate for lumpia you’ll fry, a couple of ziplock bags for lumpia you’ll freeze. A paper towel for any wiping and great music. (Lola Momma suggests a piping bag for the mix but I haven’t tried it yet)

After the filling is mixed and you’re set up at your rolling station, it’s time to get your wrappers ready.

The wrappers like to stick together. Pull apart a stack. Sometimes the edges are really stuck or kinda hard. I just trim off all the hard edges on the stack. Then I cut the wrappers in half.

Pull off individual wrappers. It’s important to cover the wrappers you’re not using with a damp towel so they don’t get dry.

Put about a half inch wide of filling across the bottom of the wrapper. Roll it up trying to avoid air bubbles. Wet the sealing end of the wrapper with water using your finger dipped in the bowl. Once rolled, cut the lumpia in half.

Freeze some (making sure they’re not touching until frozen). Fry others.

Enjoy with sweet spicy dipping sauce.

Egg Muffins: Easy Back to Campus Breakfast

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Kids are finally going back to school campus after a year of distance learning. WHOOOHOOOO! I celebrate for them and for us parents! They are amazing. We are amazing. After all the crazies we’ve overcome, it’s now time to relearn how to get them fed before 7:30am. These are delicious and nutritious and super easy to reheat before the coffee kicks in.

Early Morning Egg Muffins

Adapted from Pig and Quill’s recipe (https://themomedit.com/cheesy-bacon-egg-muffins-recipre-aka-the-homemade-answer-to-starbucks-egg-bites/)

  • 4 eggs
  • 2 slices cooked bacon, chopped
  • 1/4 ricotta or cream cheese
  • 3 oz shredded Colby jack cheese (or any melty cheese you desire)
  • Any veggies that have been sautéed and chopped
  • Pepper
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Add a rimmed pan with 1” of water to the bottom rack. Your muffins will cook on the middle rack above the water.

Generously spray or grease a mini muffin pan – I got this pan from Williams Sonoma and didn’t need silicone liners. But if you’re wary of sticking, get the mini silicone liners and put those on your pan before cooking.

Add everything to the blender except 1 piece of bacon. Blend for 20 seconds or until frothy. Add in the chopped bacon.

Pour the mixture until almost filling each cup. Bake for 25-30 mins. They’ll jiggle a little in the center. That’s ok because they’ll keep cooking in the tray once you pull it out. Let it set for 10 mins. Then eat, freeze or refrigerate for easy early morning breakfast.

Chicken Adobo

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Pure comfort in a bowl. Paired with Mom’s pancit and it’s the holidays in February! I made this on a Sunday and it fed us a couple more times for lunch and dinner. And, I’m already craving it again!

Chicken Adobo

  • 6 full chicken legs, skin removed
  • 1 medium yellow onion, halved and sliced
  • 6 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup water (if needed)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 TBSP whole peppercorns
  • 2TBSP canola oil

Heat oil in pot over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook for 5 mins or just until fragrant and slightly tender.

Add chicken legs, soy sauce, bay leaves and peppercorns. Legs should be at least halfway submerged under the sauce. You can add a little water if needed or more of the soy sauce and vinegar if you need more than a little bit of sauce.

Bring to boil. Then, reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until chicken is falling off the bone (being sure to flip the legs every 20 mins).

Pull legs out of sauce once tender and shred with a fork. Put chicken back in sauce and serve with rice. (Legs don’t have to be shredded but it allows the sauce to get all up in the chicken.)

Enjoy!