They're Here! (and an Offical Blogging Vacation)

My twin girls were born on February 26th (just a few days ahead of schedule) and I could not be happier to report we are all doing well. Everyone is healthy, happy, and safe!!!! I feel so blessed and thankful to now have three beautiful children!

While I have decided to keep the girls' stats and details private, I just wanted to share one photo and let you know that I am on blogging vacation for a couple of months. I may decide to cook here and there; and if I am feeling up to posting, I will do so at that time. Otherwise, I will see you back here after we all adjust to being a family of five!

Jen's Beef and Broccoli Surprise

My freezer is stocked with a ton of round steak that I bought on sale a couple of months ago. Round steak is not something I usually cook with, but I decided to try it out. Honestly, I was sick of opening my chest freezer and seeing it in there (it was starting to mock me). Anyway, I had a hankerin' for Asian-style Beef with Broccoli. The only problem was that I am running low on, well...everything. Seriously, from staple items to fresh foods, my stores are low. Real low. Also, I needed easy. Real easy. I wanted to give the husband a cooking break, but I am not up for anything elaborate. So, I started sniffing around my pantry and fridge and formulated this dinner. I must say, it turned out yummy (but more on that later in my results). This dinner was not traditional Beef with Broccoli, but it certainly fulfilled my craving and was something that everyone at my table really liked.

Jen's Beef and Broccoli Surprise

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon of sesame oil
1 lb. of beef round steak (or your choice of meat), cut into strips
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of orange juice
2 Tablespoons of rice vinegar
1/2 cup of beef broth
1/4 cup of soy sauce
2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of honey
1 teaspoon of Sambal Oeleck chili paste
1 Tablespoon of flour
1 Tablespoon of butter
Sesame seeds for garnish
steamed broccoli (I cook mine separately, from frozen, in the microwave)
white rice of your choice (We used instant white rice...don't judge)

Directions:
In a 8 x 8 glass casserole dish, place beef strips and top with sesame oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, ground ginger, and dry mustard. Mix with tongs or hands until beef is well coated with spices and oil. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine minced garlic, orange juice, rice vinegar, beef broth, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, honey, and Sambal Oeleck. Whisk until mixed, and pour over beef in the casserole dish.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes.

When cook time is complete, remove from oven. Remove beef to a plate and set aside. (There should be quite a bit of liquid left in the casserole dish.)

In a small sauce pan, melt butter on the stove top. Once butter is melted, whisk in flour to make a paste and cook for 1 minute. Add liquid from casserole dish, and bring to a simmer while whisking. Once sauce is thickened to proper consistency, remove from heat and add the beef back into the pan.

Plate by topping rice and broccoli with meat and sauce, then garnish with sesame seeds. Serve and enjoy!

Jen's Notes:
All measurements are approximate.



The Result:
Yum! This was really good and something that I will make again. We all enjoyed it and it was fairly easy. Hooray for surprise concoctions that work out well!

Weekly Menu Plan....(er, not really)

From here on out, we are officially playing it by ear at my house. My twins are due in a week, and I have been having contractions. Actually, I hope to make it a week!!! Menu planning and blogging will be put on the back burner for awhile, due to my two new arrivals. I have one new meal to post with a photo, but that is about it. Just think of me on vacation...or on sabbatical...or a vacationing sabbatical with lots of pain medication and a major surgery (c-section). Anyway, wish me luck!!!

Weekly Menu Plan: 02/14/10 - 02/20/10

Hello. How're ya doin'?? Good, good...I am okay. Life has been hectic around here (well, as hectic as it can be while I am on bed rest). Our babies are coming in about two weeks, so the frantic preparation continues. Half of our flooring project is complete, while the other half is to be finished at the end of this week. What does that mean for our meal plan, you ask????? Well, it means a lot of dinners on the fly. I hesitate to even post a meal plan this week, because I am not sure if it will be followed or not. Flexibility is the name of the game these days. Last weeks meal plan was a little up in the air as well. We didn't get to our Tater Tot Casserole until last night, and switched around some dinners to accommodate our plans. I think this week will be more of the same juggling, but I need to get a rough idea in place so we are not scrambling at 5pm for dinner ideas.

Weekly Menu Plan: 02/14/10 - 02/20/10

Sunday, 02/14/10: Tater Tot Casserole, green beans

Monday, 02/15/10: Breakfast For Dinner

Tuesday, 02/16/10: Claire's Chicken and Yellow Rice, steamed veggies

Wednesday, 02/17/10: Basil-Mushroom Pork Chops (without the mushrooms...I am out), roasted potatoes, veggies

Thursday, 02/18/10: ????TBD??? I have no idea...so we will just wait and see if inspiration strikes!

Friday, 02/19/10: Quick and Easy Mexican Chicken, baked potatoes, veggies

Saturday, 02/20/10: PW's Shrimp Quesadillas (I am going to attempt these with jarred roasted yellow and red peppers)

Menu Plan: 02/07/10 - 02/13/10

My meal plan is pretty much out the window this week, since we are getting new flooring installed. What you ask??? New flooring??? Right before the new babies arrive and while I am on bedrest???? Yes, it's crazy...I know! Anyway, We won't have access to our kitchen for three nights, so dinner will be whatever the husband picks up on the way home. Sometimes, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Then, there is that big game to consider...sigh. I am not sure what is in store for the rest of the week, so I think I will just make it up as I go along here. There is nothing like meal planning by the seat of your pants!

Menu Plan: 02/07/10 - 02/13/10

Sunday, 02/07/10: Take out pizza and junk food for Super Bowl Sunday!

Monday, 02/08/10: Dinner out!

Tuesday, 02/09/10: Dinner out!

Wednesday, 02/10/10: Dinner out!

Thursday, 02/11/10: Jen's Refried Bean and Brown Rice Burritos, glazed carrots (This is a twist on my usual bean burrito method with some cooked, instant brown rice mixed in.)

Friday, 02/12/10: Leftovers

Saturday, 02/13/10: Jen's Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

Ina's Indonesian Ginger Chicken

My friend, Claire made this dish a couple of weeks ago for her Barefoot Bloggers group. Her family loved this recipe and it seemed pretty easy, so I thought I would give it a go. I had to do a lot of adapting, since this version fed a lot more people than I needed to feed. I will link the title to the original recipe on Claire's blog, and just post what I did below. We are serving this meal with some steamed Asian-style veggies and rice. It is in the oven right now, and it smells really good!

Ina's Indonesian Ginger Chicken
Adapted From: 1999, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, All rights reserved

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of honey
1/3 cup of low sodium soy sauce
4 minced garlic cloves
1 Tablespoon of ground ginger
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
cooking spray

Directions:
In a large zip top plastic bag, combine honey, ginger, soy sauce, and garlic. Place bag in microwave to heat for 30 seconds, or until all ingredients are warm and combined. Place chicken breasts in marinade bag, and marinate overnight (or for at least 8 hours).

When marinating time is finished, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8 x 8 casserole dish with cooking spray and place chicken in the bottom of the dish. Pour marinade over it. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

Serve chicken with rice and veggies with sauce spooned over the top.



The Result:
I don't think I adapted this recipe properly, because we were underwhelmed. It was okay, but nothing spectacular. The sauce didn't set up correctly; so I didn't get the glaze that I was looking for, but instead a thinner version. The flavor was good, I just think I goofed it up somehow. Sigh...oh well. I guess you can't win 'em all! I don't think I will be making this dish again, unless I am following Ina's recipe to the letter. I really think it lost something during my translation.

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

I decided to re-post this recipe, since it is really good and I didn't have a photo for it. Also, I made a few minor changes that I think ended up being better than the original version. Sometimes, it's the little things that make a huge flavor difference!

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan
Adapted From: allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 pounds tilapia fillets

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and garlic salt. Mix well and set aside.
3. Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish. Spoon some of the sauce from the pan over top of the fish right before serving.



The Result:
Delicious! I increased the quantities and actually changed one of the spices to suit what I had on hand. This was soooooo yummy! I think I will keep this version, and hopefully, remember to make it more often. We all really loved it!

Lemon Blueberry Bread

Over the weekend, the husband went grocery shopping and found blueberries on sale at our local market. He bought two containers, in which we used the first one right away to make an Ellie Krieger coffee cake (see link below). We were going to make a second coffee cake with the other container, only to find we used most of the coffee cake ingredients up in the first application. To avoid another trip to the store, I decided to surf around and find an alternate blueberry recipe. I found this Lemon Blueberry Bread on allrecipes.com, but I had to tweak a few ingredients to accommodate what we had on hand. Below is my amended recipe that is in the oven right now. I will let you know how it turns out!

First, here is the Ellie Krieger recipe:

Blueberry Coffee Cake

Okay, here is my adapted recipe:

Lemon Blueberry Bread
Adapted From: Allrecipes.com,By: ChezSpice

Ingredients:
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup fresh blueberries
**********************************
For Glaze:
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon of lemon extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, 1 cup sugar, lemon extract, vanilla extract, lemon juice and eggs. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; stir into egg mixture alternately with milk. Fold in the walnuts and blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool bread in pan for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Remove bread from pan and drizzle with glaze. Cool on a wire rack.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2010 Allrecipes.com



The Result:
I was losing light in my kitchen, so the edges of my bread look darker in the photo than they actually were in real life. (Read: I didn't burn the bread.) With that said, this bread was sooooo delicious! I love the combo of blueberries and lemon!!! It is moist and flavorful, without being too overpoweringly tart...just perfectly yummy! This is a keeper recipe, for sure.

Claire's Shepard's Pie

I have been scouring familiar blogs and websites for easy recipes that my husband could prepare while I am incubating our twins. We have some leftover mashed potatoes from a few nights ago that desperately need to be used. Luckily, my oldish-potatoes triggered a memory of a simple Shepard's Pie recipe that my friend, Claire makes with some regularity. I love that it is quick to whip up and incorporates flavors that we love. Really, what is not to love???? Cheese, potatoes, beef, veggies...all in one dish...YUM! I think this meal will deliver on both ease of preparation and homey, comforting flavors.

Claire's Shepard's Pie

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 packet brown gravy mix
1 package frozen mixed vegetables
Mashed potatoes
Shredded cheddar cheese
Lawry's Seasoned Salt (optional)
1/2 of a diced white onion (optional)

Directions:
Brown ground beef in a skillet until cooked (add some Lawry's Seasoned Salt and onion while beef is browning, if desired). In a small saucepan, make gravy according to package directions. Once ground beef is done, stir in vegetables and gravy until desired sauciness. Transfer beef/veggie/gravy mixture to a pie pan or 8-inch square pan. Top with mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with cheese. Place under broiler until cheese is melted.

Jen's Notes:
We sprinkled some Lawry's Seasoned Salt over the meat and sauteed half of a diced white onion while the meat was browning. Also, we didn't make the gravy separate. Instead, the husband just sprinkled the gravy mix over the browned meat and added the cup of water, then let it reduce to the proper consistency. I must say, it worked perfectly and we didn't have to wash another pan.



The Result:
This earns my fan-freakin'-tastic rating! It was soooo easy to make and totally delicious! It was comfort food at it's best. My son loved it, too...he kept making "ummm" noises as he happily ate his dinner. My husband and I had "seconds", and then he was actually contemplating "thirds". I can't believe I have never tried to make this dish before. Seriously, we were totally missing out.
Our shortcut with the gravy (see notes) worked out really well, so I don't think we would bother ever making the gravy separate. As easy as it was originally, I love that we cut out another step. This recipe is a keeper, and will be put into regular rotation!!!! Thanks, Claire!