BBQ Beef Lo Mein

This dish was originally meant to have a Chinese-esque flair to it... but this Midwest girl didn't exactly have all the unique ingredients that go into an Asian dish... shocker right? ;)
So it turned into a dish that is having a real identity problem...
"Am I Asian? Or from the country? Do I consider myself BBQ or Teriyaki?"

Let's just go with DELICIOUS!

...So, like any girl would do - I threw stuff in here, little bit there, substituted 'til the cows came home, and thankfully it turned out pretty darn tasty!

This dish has more of a smoky/BBQ flavor... if it was going to be any sort of Asian dish it would definitely be the closest relative of teriyaki if anything...

But no matter what family tree, or country of origin this recipe may or may not fit into - one thing is for certain... IT'S DELICIOUS!
And easy, very very easy to throw together in no time at all!

What you're gonna need~

4oz pasta
6 oz steak (cooked and sliced)
2 cups frozen veggies (California Blend is delish)
1 tbsp each:
-Soy sauce
-BBQ sauce
-Worsheier
-Chicken stock
-Brown sugar
pinch of salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper (if you like spice!)
1 tsp. oil of choice (for sautéing garlic and onions)
Garlic (depending on how much you enjoy, my family doesn't really enjoy garlic too much so I used about 1 tsp. minced)
Onions chopped (again, to your liking)
Sesame seeds (opt.)

The drill~
1. Bring a pot of water to boil - add pasta and cook until nearly done, while that is going-mix up your "sauce" aka-the soy, BBQ, chicken stock, brown sugar, salt and pepper (and red pepper if using)

~After pasta is nearly done, drain almost all the pasta water

2. Saute your garlic and onions in a small sauce pan

3. Add sliced steak as well as veggies and cook for a minute or two

4. Add veggies after thawing in microwave if need be
5. Stir fry those all up for another minute or so

6. Add the sauce, pasta and remaining pasta water (I found it easier to add meat/veggies to pasta instead just because I was worried about it all fitting in my baby sized sauce pan!)

7. Let cook a few minutes (about 4 or 5)
8. When everything is hot and mixed together well, and the sauce has thickened and soaked into noodles you're all set!

9. Serve piping hot, and sprinkle with sesame seeds (if you're feeling all sorts of fancy!)

Taco Pasta

What do you get when an Olive Garden receives Taco Bell's shipment of ingredients?
TACO PASTA!

There's a short little clip about the steps of taco pasta... as you can see it's pretty darn simple. It's also a great roll-over meal to have after you make tacos!

What you're going to need (for 3-4 servings)

-2 cups dry pasta (whole wheat works great)

-1/2 cup ground beef

-1/2 cup beans (can have more, this is just what I had after taco night)

-1/2 cup corn (again, give or take depending on what you have)

-2 tomatoes, chopped

-1/2 cup salsa

The steps to supper:

1. Boil pasta until nearly done, then drain all but aout 1/4 cup of the water

2. Heat the salsa, tomatoes, corn, beans and beef

3. When hot, add to the pasta and place on a burner

4. Reheat, stirring often. It may not seem like the sauce is thick enough, but it should thicken as you heat - if not you can always add a little sour cream or cream cheese to thicken

~Serve with chopped lettuce, shredded cheese, sour cream-anything you'd regularly add to a taco!

Perfect for a quick and easy (not to mention healthy) supper, and kids LOVE it!

Homemade Pizza-many ways!

Americans LOVE pizza... actually-that may be an understatement! American's are obsessed with pizza? No, still not strong enough... Americans would give their firstborn for a slice of pizza! Yes-that is closer to reality. And what I find crazy is that we didn't even create it! We stole it from the Italians, but have overtime adopted it, and loved transformed it as our own. 

In its most unadulterated state, pizza is the perfect meal! It is full of healthy carbs in the crust, a ton of veggies (both in the toppings and sauce), protein from meats and cheese-and it's handheld! What could be better?! Well nothing... until that perfect, innocent piece of pizza becomes.... A MONSTER! :O

Just look at that! AHHHHH! Like something from a horror movie!

-this is an average nutritional info for 2 slices of pizza-close to 1/4 your daily caloric intake, 40% saturated fats, 34% sodium! But pizza doesn't have to be unhealthy-making your own at home gives you the perfect opportunity to create a healthy and delicious meal!

And there are so many variations you can do! Like what? ...well I'm glad you asked! :)

You could do BBQ chicken pizza (above) or veggie pizza (below) that has your basic marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and grilled veggies (I suggest grilled summer squash, tomatoes, peppers and onions)

Add you sauce and toppings and place in a 400* oven

No matter what way you choose to dress your pizza the basic recipe is the same:

Ingredients: 

~For wheat pizza dough:

-2 TBSP. oil

-1/2 TBSP. sugar

-1 cup warm water

-1 pkg. yeast

-1 tsp. garlic (minced)

-1 tsp. basil 

-1 cup white flour

-2 cups wheat flour

~For Pizza:

-Pizza sauce (or BBQ, Ranch dressing, anything your heart desires!)

-Protein (hamburger, chicken, ham, Canadian Bacon (oh wait-that's ham!), mushrooms, etc.)

-Cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, blue, parmesan, cream (ok...maybe not cream cheese :P)

-Crazy add-in's (as in-you're crazy if you don't add some of these!) Such as: spinach, tomatoes, zucchini, onions, peppers, pineapple, the list goes on and on!

Directions:

1. Proof yeast in warm water

2. Add sugar and stir 

3. Add oil, garlic and basil

4. Slowly add in flour

5. Continue kneading for 5-8 minutes (can use a bread machine set on dough, or a stand mixer and knead for 3-5 minutes)

6. Allow to rest until doubled, about 1 hour

7. Shape into desired shapes/sizes 

~Can make mini pizzas, full sizes, rectangular, thick crust, thin crust-really guys-the possibilities are ENDLESS!

8. Add your toppings

9. Bake at 450* until cheese melts and crust is crispy to your likings!

a simple side of fruit rounds out this easy & quick meal!

Runzas

If you've never had a Runza, well first you obviously haven't visited Nebraska, but furthermore you are missing out! Runzas are a delicious meal-soft bread dough encasing a warm mixture of melty cheese, cabbage & onions and flavorful beef! (Don't get too put off by the cabbage part-it takes on the flavor of the cheese and you won't even notice it's in there!)

So, if you haven't decided on what to put on the table for dinner tonight, have I convinced you to make these amazing little pockets?! I hope so!

Ingredients (makes about 12 good-sized Runzas) :

-Bread dough (can be made from scratch, or a frozen loaf works too)
     ~you will want about 20 ounces of dough
-1 lb. lean ground beef
-3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
-2 cups shredded cabbage
-chopped onion (vary the amount depending on your likings)
-salt & pepper (to taste)

Directions (well...more of just an assembly but still) :

chop up your cabbage very finely (if using onion chop that up during this step as well!)

brown your hamburger

add your onion and cabbage to your browning meat (if using salt and pepper, add that during this step)

take about 1 1/2 - 2 ounces of bread dough (or about the size of 2 golf balls) and roll it out into a long, flat surface

get your cheese ready!

Add your meat mixture to the flattened bread dough (about 1/4 cup of it to each dough slab)

Add 1-2 TBSP of your mozzarella to the top of the meat

Roll up the dough like a fancy burrito- first the two shorter sides in, then one long side, and finally close it up with the other long side

Lay each Runza face down in a greased baking dish

Bake for 20 minutes on 350*

Mmmm.... look at all the gooey melted cheese, smoothering the savory beef enclosed in a warm, soft and comforting blanket of bread! 

Nutritional Info:

Taco Salad

Time for a recipe makeover! Taco salads have far too long been touted as a health food but mysteriously hiding grams and grams of fat, carbohydrates, sodium and nothing in the categories of vitamins or minerals! I can hear you now... "But it's a salad!" I know...I know... but 'salad' doesn't always = healthy :(

Stop crying! I'm here to help! I've got a taco salad recipe that will knock your socks off! You won't miss any of the fat, carbs, or sodium your previous healthy salads were filled with. And, since you are such wonderful blog followers, I'll even make the salad full of vitamins, minerals AND fiber! I'm sure you're thinking something this good can't possibly be true, or at least tasty, but I promise you it is!

Still don't believe me? Alright skeptics, just try it for yourself and let me know what you think!

Makes 1 Salad:
Ingredients:
-1 cups spinach
-1/4 cup beans of choice (here I used Pinto, but black are just as tasty!)
-2 ounces ground beef (best if browned with taco seasoning)
-2 TBSP Low fat Shredded Cheese
-1/4 cup corn
-Chopped tomato, onions, peppers
-Salsa

Directions:
1. Warm beef, corn and beans
2. Top spinach with beef, corn and beans
3. Top with cheese
4. Add tomato, onions, and/or peppers
5. Top with salsa

Additional Ideas:
-Eat with  my Homemade Pita Chips
-Top with low-fat sour cream
-Make a 'Ranchero' sauce for your salad (2 parts salsa, one part low-fat Ranch dressing)
-Add various vegetables: different beans, chopped carrots, different peppers, jicama, etc.

Nutritional Info: