Quick Orange Beef and Broccoli

Ah, Asian food. My ultimate comfort food. I craved Asian food the entire time I was pregnant with my daughter. Now I'm on a budget and don't get to go out for dinner too often. Sooooo .... I've been making it myself! I love it when I can cook something just as good as any restaurant and I think this recipe fits just right into that criteria. I make this recipe just a little simpler and more economical by using petite sirloin steak that I had the butcher slice up into "fajita" strips. This just makes dinner-time go twice as fast. I had this entire dinner done in 15 minutes flat. That's a win in my book for sure! Especially when there is no sacrifice in flavor.

Quick Orange Beef and Broccoli

 

 

Juice of 1 orange
Zest from 1 orange

1 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
¼ cup beef broth
⅓ cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon oil
1 lb. petite sirloin steak, very thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 head broccoli, washed and cut into bite-sized pieces

Mix the first juice, zest, ginger, soy sauce, broth, marmalade and cornstarch, whisking until the cornstarch is dissolved. Boil the broccoli for just a few minutes, until tender crisp. Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat. Add the steak and garlic and a bit of salt and pepper, draining off extra fat after a few minutes. Saute until evenly browned. Add the sauce to the pan and stir for 1 minute until the sauce starts to thicken. Stir in broccoli and cook for a couple more minutes. Serve over rice and garnish with orange zest and/or scallions.

Adapted from Pinch of Yum

Cinnamon Bun Pancakes

Yup, I'm a breakfast fanatic. I make pancakes at least once a week. But I tend to get a little bored with plain old pancakes. I usually make banana pancakes because of the abundance of overly ripe bananas on my counter but this week I made my grandmas Banana Bread so I made these pancakes instead. They are super duper easy which is a must for busy mornings, but indulgent enough to serve on the weekend. Everyone at my house loves them!

Cinnamon Bun Pancakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 Tbsp cinnamon

2 eggs

1 cup soy (or regular) milk
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 Tbsp vanilla

Maple Icing Syrup
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cups butter – melted

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup milk 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients together. Add in the wet ingredients and mix well. (If you don't have coconut oil, use melted butter.) Drop the batter by about 1/4 cup fulls onto the pre-heated/greased griddle and cook until the tiny bubbles start appearing on top, then flip over. (I like using 1/4 cup to make pancakes because it makes the pancakes the perfect size to freeze and toss in the toaster.) These only take a couple of minutes to cook. Serve warm with maple icing.

Here's a bonus tip: Use a pizza cutter to cut pancakes fast. I saw my sister do this a couple years ago for her 5 kids and thought "Holy smokes, that's brilliant!" I've been doing it ever since!

 Looking for more pancakes? Try these:

Power Oatmeal Pancakes

Whole Wheat Gingerbread Pancakes

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Microwave Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Wow, I have been so busy busy busy lately. I had to kind of put the blog on the back burner. That doesn't mean I haven't been cooking up a storm, just that I haven't been documenting any of it. Sorry. I am back ... for now anyway. August is going to be pretty busy too so we'll see how things go.

If you can't already tell, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. It gets outshone most of the time but not in my house. I love healthy homemade breakfasts best and this one can't be beat. It's fast, tasty, and full of good-for-you ingredients that will keep you full till lunch. You certainly don't need to make this in the microwave, I routinely make it on the stove. But the benefit of microwave is I can toss it in a walk away. Always good on a busy morning. The kids love it too. Actually when I pull out the raisins my son kind of whines and says he doesn't want them but then he picks all the raisins out and eats them first. He's a goofy kid.

Microwave Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

 

1 Apple

1 1/2 cups old fashion oats

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup skim milk (or almond milk or water)

1 tsp cinnamon

Sweetener of choice (sugar, splenda, brown sugar, honey, maples syrup: all work well)

1/4-1/2 raisins (optional)

1/4 cup chopped glazed walnuts (optional)

First, prepare your apple. You can grate it if you don't want big chunks, peel it if you don't want skin, or just do what I did and dice it with skin on. I prefer the chunks of apple. Combine the apple, oats, water, milk, and cinnamon in a microwave safe bowl with a lid. Microwave for 8 minutes. (Make sure your bowl is big, it grows and may overflow if your bowl is to small.) Add your sweetener, I use about 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Add raisins and stir. Top each serving with walnuts. Splash on some extra milk if you would like and enjoy! Double the batch and eat it all week! I do!

Looking for other breakfast ideas? Try:

Power Oatmeal Pancakes

These Make Ahead Breakfasts (burritos, breakfast hot pockets, smoothies, fritatas, and more)

Stuffed French Toast

Whole Wheat Gingerbread Pancakes

Strawberry Crepes

Pesto Salmon

This recipe is so easy, I almost debated not posting it. I decided to post it anyways because it may just be something you haven't thought of yet. Plus it's something that can be baked from frozen and I love those types of meals for crazy busy days.

Pesto Salmon

Place salmon in a single layer on a greased shallow baking pan. Tuck any thin edges under. Spoon pesto over fish. For fresh or thawed fish, bake uncovered at 450° for 4-6 minutes per 1/2-inch thickness. For frozen fish, bake uncovered at 450° for 9-11 minutes per 1/2-inch thickness.

 

Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets

My two year old loves chicken nuggets, probably as much as any two year old. I haven't really found a kid that doesn't and I babysit lots of kids. I wanted to make a healthier chicken nugget than the Mickey Mouse shaped ones I buy from Costco but I wanted the flavors to appeal to an adult as well. These ones were just the ticket. Adding the Montreal Seasoning really makes these more grown up.

These nuggets would be great as an appetizer to any party, especially a kids birthday party. These would be a great, healthy addition to all the cake and ice cream! Serve with barbeque sauce, ketchup or ranch and it's good to go.

Baked Chicken Nuggets

3 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into even bit sized pieces

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp Montreal chicken seasoning

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup panko

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Cooking spray (Pam)

Preheat oven to 425°. Spray a baking sheet. Put the chicken, salt, pepper,Montreal seasoning, and olive oil in a bowl and mix until all the chicken is evenly coated. Place the breadcrumbs, panko and parmesan cheese in large bag. Put half of the chicken at a time into the breadcrumb mixture to coat, then on the baking sheet. Lightly spray the top with olive oil spray then bake 8 - 10 minutes. Turn over then cook another 4 - 5 minutes or until cooked though.

Before baking.

French Bread Pizza

Talk about a kid-friendly, easy, weeknight dinner! This is just the ticket! I don't always have French bread on hand but it doesn't matter! This is one of those meals where you can have all the components ready. Then call the hubster on his way home from work and have him pick up a loaf. As soon as he gets home, put it all together, pop it in the oven, and by the time he has kissed the kids and changed into his comfy clothes, dinner is on the table! I love it!

French Bread Pizza

1 loaf French bread

1 cup pizza sauce

  1 lb lean ground beef

1/2 cup onions, chopped

1/2 cup green peppers, chopped

3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (freshly shredded works best)

Parmesan garlic herb seasoning (recipe following)

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Brown ground beef, onions, and peppers together. Really you can use whatever pizza topping you like here but ground beef really works great for this. Sometimes I don't even add the peppers and onions. Drain beef. Cut French bread in half hot-dog bun style. Spread with pizza sauce. Sprinkle on ground beef mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Top with seasoning. Bake for 7-10 minutes, until cheese is nice and melty. You could also put it under the broiler for the last 2-3 minutes to get that goldeny cheese. Enjoy! I serve this will a Ceasar salad and mixed fruit.

Parmesan Garlic Herb Seasoning

1/2 c. powdered Parmesan cheese

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp garlic powder

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tsp marjoram

  1 tsp parsley

Mix together in a jar. Store in fridge. Use on any pizza or garlic bread!

Slightly adapted from Our Best Bites.

Honey Sesame Chicken

Yup, it's that time again. Dinner time. And beside pulling out chicken from the freezer, I haven't even thought about it. Generally I pull out some type of meat from the freezer in the morning and then think all day about what to make with it. Not today. Five o'clock hit and I still hadn't thought about what to cook. So I just started cooking.

I had some rice left over from last night's dinner so I just went Asian-ish. This turned out fantastic and was really quick and easy. It's actually a spin off of one of my regular dishes I make. I have no idea where the recipe came from, I printed it off years ago before Pinterest and blogging. But I changed it up a bit over the years to make it mine.

Honey Sesame Chicken

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed of any fat and cut into bite-size pieces
2 Tbsp cornstarch
Kosher salt and ground pepper
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cups white or brown rice, cooked according to package directions

In a large mixing bowl, combine chicken pieces and cornstarch. Season with salt and pepper. Stir well to combine. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Once hot, add chicken. Cook, stirring often, until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken pieces onto a plate and put the pan back on the heat. Pour in the soy sauce and honey. With a wooden spoon, scrape the cooked bits on the bottom of the pan while the soy sauce mixture simmer. Let simmer for 2 minutes. Add the chicken back into the pan. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and toss well, coating all the chicken pieces in the soy mixture. Serve over rice and garnish with green onions.

This is a double batch, I also threw the onions in with the sesame seeds.

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Fiesta Lentil Soup

This is another quick and easy soup recipe that is sure to warm you up on a cold day.

When I cook, I look for ways to incorporate more nutrition. That is what I did with lentils in this recipe. Lentils are packed with fiber. Fiber makes you feel fuller quicker and thus you tend to eat less because you aren't as hungry.  This soup is a twist on taco soup and chili, check it out.

Fiesta Lentil Soup

1 can black beans

2 cans (14.5 oz) Mexican style stewed tomatoes

1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1 can corn

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic

4 ribs of celery, chopped

1/2 cup lentils sorted and rinsed

3 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 bay leaf

Combine everything into a pot*. Let it come to a boil for a few minutes then turn down the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf before serving. I topped it off with green onions, sour cream, cheese, and tortillas chips.

*You could easily combine everything in the crockpot and let it cook for a few hours.

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Peanut Butter Pancake Syrup

So we had this tradition growing up where all of us kids would get to choose the food we ate all day on our birthday. It's something that I loved, cost no extra money, and really made my day special. I have decided to always do this with my kids too. Well, it was my son's 5th birthday last week. He loves breakfast more than any other meal of the day. One of his favorite breakfast foods is banana pancakes which we make on a weekly basis. He also loves chocolate chips, and he LOVES peanut butter! So I thought "why not add all of these things into a pancake!"

I have actually made something similar to this before and called them "chunky monkey" or "Curious George" pancakes. But they are really sweet for breakfast so it's not something I do often. Like only once a year. But they are SOOO good!

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Peanut Butter Pancake Syrup

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

1 Tbsp oil

1 egg

1/2 cup milk, plus more to get to desired consistency

1 ripe banana, mashed with fork

Handful of mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup pancake syrup

For syrup: Heat peanut butter for one minute. Add syrup and mix.

For Pancakes: Mix four, baking powder, salt, oil, egg and milk together with whisk. Add milk to get to desired consistency. Add in banana and chocolate chips. Use a 1/4 measuring cup and pour onto a medium heated griddle. Flip after about 3 minutes or when your pancakes look like this:

They should look like this:

Take off griddle after a couple more minutes. Or you can always use a tablespoon and make dippers!

Either way you can't go wrong!

Place any leftovers in a single layer on a pan and freeze for 30 minutes (or longer). Place in a freezer bag and freeze until you need them. I put mine in the toaster to reheat but you can use a microwave or toaster oven.

Happy Birthday little man! Can't believe how far you've come in five years!

What's in the Fridge Hash

It's the week of Thanksgiving, which means I'm trying to clear my fridge out as much as possible in preparation for the yummy goodness that will be happening. So in a random surplus of energy I decided to whip up a hash for lunch for my friend and I. Oh my goodness it was good. Totally hit the spot and I will definitely be making this regularly! I love hash's too because they are great for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

This one I used a leftover baked potato, onion, red pepper, orange pepper, eggs, and bacon. All of which needed to be used up about last week. Seriously, my peppers were as shriveled as an elephants skin and my bacon was a week past its best by date. But it's all good cause I'm still alive and not sick so I'm assuming it was fine!

What's in the Fridge Hash

1 baked potato, cooled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 onion, diced

1/2-1 red bell pepper, diced

1/2-1 orange bell pepper, diced

4 eggs

12 oz bacon, cut up

Salt and pepper to taste

Shredded cheese

(Seriously try whatever you want in here! As long as you have a potato or sweet potato)

Heat oven to 350°. Sauté bacon over medium heat. Remove from pan and drain all the grease except a couple tablespoons. Sauté peppers and onion. Add diced potato and sauté another couple minutes. Salt and pepper. Add bacon and stir. Make four little wells and crack the eggs into each one. Break the yolk if you like hard eggs or leave intact if not. Salt and pepper. Put the pan in the oven (wrap the handle with foil if it is not oven safe) and bake for about 5-10 minutes depending on desired doneness of the eggs. Top with shredded cheese. Ta da! Another fast meal that the family will love!

Easy Parmesan Crusted Chicken

By the end of the day, when it's time to cook dinner, I want something that is quick to prepare.  I seek recipes that fit that qualification because, I usually only have 30 minutes to hurry and whip something up before it's time to eat!  This recipe fits that description and is easy, Easy, EASY!!!

Easy Parmesan Crusted Chicken

3 cups Corn flakes (really any cracker you have on hand will do)

1 cup Parmesan cheese 

1 tsp Pepper 

1 tsp Garlic Salt 

1 tsp Italian seasoning 

2 eggs

4-6 chicken breasts

1 to 3/4 cup Italian dressing

Directions

Crush corn flakes. A trick I learned from my grandma is to save a cereal bag and crush your corn flakes in that with a rolling pin. Pour into pie or cake pan. Add the parmesan cheese, pepper, salt, and Italian seasoning to the corn flakes.  In another pie pan beat the eggs. Now set up an assembly line. 1st chicken, 2nd eggs, 3rd corn flake crust, 4th baking pan.   Using just one hand (leaves one hand free of getting chickenified) dip the chicken in the egg on both sides. Then press both sides of the chicken in the corn flake crust.  Put in a 9 x 13 baking pan. Continue dipping assembly line until all chicken breasts are crusted. Once they are all lined up and covered in corn flakes, drizzle Italian dressing on top of each piece of chicken.  Bake at 425 for 20 min or until chicken is cooked all the way through.  I served mine over romaine lettuce but of course pasta is a good choice too. 

Baked Italian Shrimp

So I saw a picture floating around Pinterest of a pan of baked shrimp that looked amazing. Yesterday I bought the shrimp to make it, followed the link, and it took me to the most random site ever. No cooking whatsover. SO.... not wanting to waste the shrimp, I created my own recipe! And it was great! My two year old daughter agreed. "Mmm, yummy mommy" were her exact words. I love the critiques of a two year old.

One thing I love about seafood is it's so fast to cook. It's great for our family where my husband and I both work full time and the last thing I want to do during the week is spend a couple hours in the kitchen. (The weekends are another matter, then it's my sanctuary.) This entire dinner came together in 20 minutes. Couldn't get better than that!

Baked Italian Shrimp

1-2 lbs fresh or thawed shrimp, peeled, deviened, tails on (I buy them this way to save time)

4 Tbsp butter

1 packet Italian dressing mix

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3-4 lemons, sliced

Heat oven to 350°. Place butter on a cookie sheet and place in oven. When butter has melted remove from oven and lay lemon slices all over. Place shrimp on top of that. Shake Italian dressing mix on top of that. Drizzle a little olive oil over the entire pan. Bake for 13-15 minutes.

You'll notice my pan has plenty of space left over. I bought 1 1/2 pounds of shrimp but if you're serving more people you could probably fit double that. I served this with cheddar garlic biscuits (aka Red Lobster rolls), a green salad and pineapple. Delish!

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