Tag Archives: vegetables

Pork Stir Fry

Dinnertime, , , , , , , ,

So happy Spring has arrived! We spent both days of this weekend outside in the sunshine! On Saturday, we had Harper’s soccer game and a birthday party at a playground. Then Sunday, we were cleaning up the porch and front yard after church.

harper-in-spring

I even got a tiny sunburn on the back of my neck since my hair no longer covers it now that my hair is all gone! I must have cut off 8-9 inches in the back!

momwithagoldenfork sunburn

Anyways, we also said a very sad goodbye to our dear, dear friends who moved to Jacksonville. Our children have grown up together and it’s just so sad now that they aren’t around the corner anymore. Life will be a lot less exciting without them but we both know we will get to visit each other since it just a quick 5 hour drive down I-10 from us! Haha!

momwithagoldenfork dear friend

This is blast from the past (Carmel 2009 BC: before children!)

So the matter at hand: Pork Stir Fry. As I am emptying out my back log of recipes, this one is a more recent one I have fixed. Its one I know many people have a similar type of dish already; but since I love to share my own recipes, maybe its a little different from others out there!

On another note, if you have everything prepped and ready for this meal, you can make Pork Stir Fry in a flash! I’d say less than 20 minutes! That’s better than take out for sure and it tastes just as good!

pork stir fry plate

Pork Stir Fry

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 lb pork chops, sliced in 1/4in strips (could be chicken or flank steak or peeled shrimp instead!)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 TBL rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 TBL cornstarch
  • 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2 celery ribs, sliced thinly
  • 1 onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
  • 5-6 button mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 cup broccoli (fresh or defrosted from frozen), in florets
  • pinch of salt
  • pinch of sugar
  • 3 TBL vegetable oil, divided
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
  • Sliced green onion or Black sesame seeds or chopped cilantro for garnish
  • Sauce:
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 TBL cornstarch
  • 1 TBL soy sauce
  • 1 TBL hoisin sauce
  • 1 TBL rice wine vinegar

Instructions:

Whisk together egg, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and cornstarch. Add in the pork (or other protein) and set aside.

pork stir fry wet ingredients

Mix up the sauce and place in area next to stove along with the vegetable and pork.

pork stir fry vegetables

Heat 2 TBL of oil in large skillet or wok. Add pork and brown until no longer pink, 1 1/2- 2 minutes, (should still be underdone). Remove to a plate and set aside.

brown pork for stir fry

Make sure pan is HOT and add remaining 1 TBL of oil. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds.

saute garlic pork stir fry

Add all the vegetables along with a pinch of salt and sugar. Stir fry until crisp-tender about 2 minutes.

pork stir fry vegetables in pan

Add the pork and pour in sauce and stir. Everything should start to thicken up by about 3 minutes.

pork stir fry saucepork stir fry thicken

Move to plate and sprinkle any garnishes on top. Serve on top of white (or brown!) rice and Voila!

pork stir fry golden fork

Print
Pork Stir Fry
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8 servings
 
Ingredients
  • 1½ lb pork chops, sliced in ¼in strips (could be chicken or flank steak or peeled shrimp insteadl!)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 TBL rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 TBL cornstarch
  • 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2 celery ribs, sliced thinly
  • 1 onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
  • 5-6 button mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 cup broccoli, (fresh or defrosted from frozen) in florets
  • pinch of salt
  • pinch of sugar
  • 3 TBL vegetable oil, divided
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
  • Sliced green onion or Black sesame seeds or chopped cilantro for garnish
  • Sauce:
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1TBL cornstarch
  • 1 TBL soy sauce
  • 1 TBL hoisin sauce
  • 1 TBL rice wine vinegar
Instructions
  1. Whisk together egg, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and cornstarch. Add in the pork (or other protein) and set aside.
  2. Mix up the sauce and place in area next to stove along with the vegetable and pork.
  3. Heat 2 TBL of oil in large skillet or wok. Add pork and brown until no longer pink, 1½- 2 minutes. (should still be underdone) Remove to a plate and set aside.
  4. Make sure pan is HOT and add remaining 1 TBL of oil. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds.
  5. Add all the vegetables along with a pinch of salt and sugar. Stir fry until crisp-tender about 2 minutes.
  6. Add the pork and pour in sauce and stir. Everything should start to thicken up by about 3 minutes.
  7. Move to plate and sprinkle any garnishes on top. Serve on top of rice.
 

Please let me know what you think of the Pork Stir Fry! I would love to hear your comments!

 

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie

Dinnertime, , , , , ,

We started making this easy recipe when our whole family went on a gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, no-preservative diet. We were trying to eat this paleo diet (like the paleolithic times!) to see if it eased my daughter’s eczema. Unfortunately, it didn’t really help her symptoms much and she still had a lot of itching and dryness. On the plus side, we felt great, it made us eat a ton of vegetables and healthy foods and cut out a lot of unnecessary junk in our lives.

Nowadays, we still eat pretty healthfully and I make shephards or cottage pie (or turkey) every few weeks or so. Its such an easy way to get a lot of veggies in a dish and its easy to prep in advance, most likely during a nap time. It also has such a homey, filling quality to it. I hope you enjoy it as well!

There is a lot of chopping involved here, but it really makes the dish super hearty and delicious. It’s something I feel really happy about feeding to my family 🙂 You can always do that step in advance and store until you are ready to cook.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have my special helper this time.

Harper chose to work on "her job" instead of cooking with me this time
Harper chose to work on “her job” instead of cooking with me this time

But this guy came to keep me company:

Waiting for any dropped food!
Waiting for any dropped food!

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie

2 lbs. ground beef (I used 93/7 this time.)
1 tsp each: thyme, basil, oregano
1 medium onion
1 red pepper
4 oz mushrooms
4 celery stalks
4 carrots (or big handful of baby carrots)
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 TBL worcestershire
1 1/3 cup chicken broth, divided (Or beef broth)
2 tomatoes
2-3 large sweet potatoes*
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 cup milk
parmesan cheese

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie- Ingredients

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and cube sweet potatoes and place in boiling water to steam 10-15 minutes, until fork-tender.

(*FYI I roasted my sweet potatoes the day before for 1 hr in 375 degree oven wrapped in foil and then cooled and refrigerated overnight).

Start filling by browning meat in large skillet and seasoning with salt and pepper and all herbs. Remove to another dish, leaving any fat in pan and set aside.

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie- Browned meat

Chop veggies: onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms, red pepper and garlic. Add to skillet on medium low heat until softened, about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper.

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie- Chopped veggies Sweet Potato Cottage Pie- Veggies

While veggies cook, remove sweet potatoes and mash. (I use my immersion blender, it’s awesome!) Add garlic and onion powder, milk and 1/3 cup of chicken broth, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie- Mashed sweet potatoes

Add 1/4 cup of chicken broth to veggies and scrape up any bits on bottom of pan.

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie- broth added

Chop tomatoes and add to veggies. Add tomato paste and worcestershire, continuing to stir.

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie- Tomato, worcestershire added

Add another 3/4 cup of chicken stock and bring to simmer, 1-2 minutes.

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie- skillet

Return beef to pan and stir to incorporate.

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie- Filling complete

Add beef and veggie mix to 9 by 11 in pan. I find it helpful to press everything down with my spatula to even-out the filling.

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie- in the dish

Mound sweet potatoes by the spoonful atop the beef filling.

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie- Sweet potato dollops

Grate parmesan cheese all over top. The dish can be covered and put in refrigerator if need be or placed directly in oven, uncovered for 30-40 minutes.

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie- grated cheese

I like to broil the top for the last 2-3 minutes to get cheese really melted. Let stand for 5 minutes, then dig in!

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie- in the oven Sweet Potato Cottage Pie- broiled

Please let me know what you thought of the Sweet Potato Cottage Pie! I would love to hear from you!

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie

Savory Beef Stew

Savory Beef Stew

Dinnertime, , , , , ,

About a year ago, my grandparents came to visit and I was given a few of my grandmother’s old cookbooks; some were 40-plus years old. After sitting on my shelves for most of that year, I finally got them out a few weeks ago and started sifting through the recipes. Some of them I sounded just perplexing (Creamed Chicken in Zesty Corn Ring; Asparagus-Peanut Casserole?) and some sounded down right delicious. This is one of the awesome ones, it has so much great flavor.

So I made this stew in my slow cooker instead of on the stove (which you could do!) and I added a few more vegetables but I think it made it even better! Its perfect for autumn evenings since it just sticks to your ribs!

Savory Beef Stew

1 1/2 lb. beef chuck, cubed
2 TBL olive oil
salt & pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 med onion
3 stalks celery
3 parsnips
4 oz mushrooms
3 carrots (or handful of baby carrots)
1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1 1/2 cup chicken broth, divided
1 tsp basil, thyme and sage, each
1 lb gold potatoes
parmesan cheese for finishing

Savory Beef Stew- Ingredients

Begin by seasoning beef with salt and pepper and brown in olive oil in a Dutch oven for 3-4 minutes. (I tried to avoid my non-stick pan for this to get all the extra flavor on the bottom to scrap off later!) Remove with slotted spoon to a plate.

Savory Beef Stew- Browned beef

Chop all vegetables and add onion, celery, parsnips and garlic to pan with beef juices. Saute on medium low until transparent, 3 minutes or so, stirring often.

Savory Beef Stew- Onion, Parsnip, Celery, GarlicSavory Beef Stew- Into the fire!

Add carrots and mushrooms and saute for 3 minutes more. Add herbs and a good amount of salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth to scrap up all brown bits from bottom of pan.

Savory Beef Stew- Mushrooms and Carrots Savory Beef Stew- Browning Vegetables

Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes to vegetables and warm through. Take off of heat.

Savory Beef Stew- Tomatos added

Chop potatoes and add to slow cooker.

Savory Beef Stew- Potatoes

Add veggie/tomato mixture, remaining chicken broth and beef to potatoes in slow cooker. Stir to make sure everything is mixed thoroughly.

Savory Beef Stew- Crock pot turned on

Turn slow cooker on Low for 4-6 hours or High for 3 hours.

Savory Beef Stew- LOW

We had my daughter’s soccer practice in the evening so this was awesome to come home to and just dig right in!

Savory Beef Stew- Dinnertime!

We added a little grated parmesan cheese to the top, just to give it another layer of flavor! Even Calvin, the baby loved this hearty stew!

If you wanted to do it on the stove, just add everything into the Dutch Oven with the vegetable mix (instead of slow cooker) and set on low for 1 hour.

Print
Savory Beef Stew
Author: 
Recipe type: Dinner
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8 servings
 
Rich, hearty beef stew is cooked low and slow with delicious beef chunks with carrots and potatoes.
Ingredients
  • 1½ lb. beef chuck, cubed
  • 2 TBL olive oil salt & pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 med onion
  • 3 stalks celery
  • 3 parsnips
  • 4 oz mushrooms
  • 3 carrots (or handful of baby carrots)
  • 1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
  • 1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
  • 1½ cup chicken broth, divided
  • 1 tsp basil, thyme and sage, each
  • 1 lb gold potatoes
  • parmesan cheese for finishing
Instructions
  1. Begin by seasoning beef with salt and pepper and brown in olive oil in a Dutch oven for 3-4 minutes. (I tried to avoid my non-stick pan for this to get all the extra flavor on the bottom to scrap off later!) Remove with slotted spoon to a plate.
  2. Chop all vegetables and add onion, celery, parsnips and garlic to pan with beef juices. Saute on medium low until transparent, 3 minutes or so, stirring often.
  3. Add carrots and mushrooms and saute for 3 minutes more. Add herbs and a good amount of salt and pepper. Add ½ cup chicken broth to scrap up all brown bits from bottom of pan.
  4. Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes to vegetables and warm through. Take off of heat.
  5. Chop potatoes and add to slow cooker.
  6. Add veggie/tomato mixture, remaining chicken broth and beef to potatoes in slow cooker. Stir to make sure everything is mixed thoroughly.
  7. Turn slow cooker on Low for 4-6 hours or High for 3 hours.
  8. If you wanted to do it on the stove, just add everything into the Dutch Oven with the vegetable mix (instead of slow cooker) and set on low for 1 hour.
 

Please let me know what you thought of the Savory Beef Stew! I would love to hear from you!