Pepper Steak Stir Fry

Hey guys! I want to start off by apologizing to you about not blogging in a few weeks. I've just been so busy with getting registered for school, working, and spending tons of time with my daughter that I really haven't had a chance to do anything else. I'm hoping to be back in full force with the blogging now, but it's likely to come to an abrupt halt once school starts back in January. I will be blogging as much as possible, but in the likely event that I won't have time to cook, I won't have time to blog. I hope you understand. Don't leave me; I'll still be here and cooking to share, just around a very busy schedule! :)

So... About this Pepper Steak Stir fry! I found this recipe about two years ago, tweaked it, and my family has always enjoyed it ever since. It's one of Stacy's favorites, and my daughter loves it too. I am about to share with you how I make this recipe instead of following the one on http://www.cooks.com/.

MY INGREDIENTS:

1 lb pork roast or beef flank, cut into thin strips

2 Bell Peppers, cut into thin strips

1 large onion, thinly sliced

olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp butter

1 fresh container of pre-sliced mushrooms (optional)

2 tbsp flour

1 beef bouillon cube

black pepper

soy sauce

water

DIRECTIONS:

I start by heating enough olive oil that will cover the bottom of my large skillet (about 2-3 tablespoons) and then adding butter to melt into it.

Once my oil and butter heat enough, I add my onions and let them saute for a couple of minutes.

Then I add my bell peppers and whole garlic cloves. When the garlic starts to get a slightly glazed look, I crush them with the tines of my fork, like suggested in the original recipe.

I let the vegetables saute for about a minute more, but not long enough for the bell peppers to be too... flimsy (for lack of a better word). When the vegetables are finished, I take them out with a slotted spoon. When all of the vegetables are set aside, I add my meat (this time I used pork roast) into the oil and let it cook several minutes before adding the mushrooms.

I usually let my meat cook on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes and take it out with a slotted spoon as well to set aside with my vegetables. Next, I turn my heat to a very low temperature and add flour into my broth that has made on its own while the meat was cooking. Then I stir my flour into my broth to make it into a thick texture. Once it becomes a clumpy thick texture, I add about 1-2 tablespoons of soy sauce and about 1/2 a cup of water or more until I find the consistency of gravy I like. With this particular recipe, I make my gravy pretty runny so that I can pour some over the rice I eat with this. 

                                     

   Next I add my beef bouillon cube and let it dissolve into the gravy.
This is what I like my gravy to look like:

After I get my gravy to the right consistency I add black pepper, stir it well, and then put all of my vegetables and meat back into my skillet. I then toss all of this until all of the meat and vegetables are covered in gravy, let it heat for about five more minutes, and it's done!

After the meat and vegetables are hot, I serve it with a bed of rice.

I actually got really hungry doing this blog post. I wish I could eat some of this right now!

Speaking of eating; I'm doing so well on my whole diet! I have cut down eating, counted calories, and drank tons and tons of water every day. I'm well on my way to being thin again and I'm so proud of myself! Keep a lookout for blog posts on my diet plan because I plan to keep you all posted on my progress!

Happy Eats!

Avocado Salsa

Okay, okay. You've got me. This isn't my recipe, but it's so good that I thought I would post it on my blog.


My coworker let me try this on one of my first days working there and I fell in love with it. When I saw her making it the other day, I took notes and made it! I thought I would share it with you guys, so here it is!

INGREDIENTS:

1 onion, chopped

3 avocados, chopped

1 small bundle of fresh cilantro, chopped


1 large tomato, diced

1-2 jalapeno, finely minced

2 limes

salt and pepper to taste



PREPARATION:

It's pretty much as easy as that. Once everything is chopped and minced, just mix it all together, squeeze the lime juice into it, add the salt a pepper, and well... that's it! You're done!

It's very yummy. I hope you all love it as much as I do!

After I let mine chill in the fridge for about an hour, I tasted it and I didn't like the texture as much as I thought I should, so that's when I added my third avocado. I've been eating it all day today and the texture is much, much better. Like many of you, I am not a big fan of avocados, but this recipe has made me able to tolerate them.

Enjoy!

Spinach stuffed chicken

This is one of my absolute favorite recipes and the reason being is because I completely and solely made this recipe on my own with my own imagination, and it turned out great! I came about this recipe for the first time when a friend of mine was telling me how he has stuffed chicken with spinach before. Now to me, just plain spinach in a chicken didn't sound very appetizing so I did a good bit of research to find a recipe that suited my taste, and I couldn't find anything! I finally decided to experiment and I was very happy with the results!

INGREDIENTS:


4    BONELESS SKINLESS CHICKEN BREASTS


3    CUPS (ABOUT) OF SPINACH CHOPPED


1/2 ONION CHOPPED


1 1/2 OUNCE CREAM CHEESE


1/2 TEASPOON GARLIC POWDER


3    TABLESPOONS FETA CHEESE


3    TABLESPOONS PARMESAN CHEESE


8    SLICES OF BACON


1    TABLESPOON OLIVE OIL


SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE




PREPARATION:


Alright, so before I tell you how to properly stuff the chicken breast, I have to tell you how I stuffed the chicken breast the first time I did this recipe. Up until the other day, I was wondering why on earth my food turned out so messy when I stuffed my chicken. It's because I really wasn't even stuffing my chicken to begin with. I was rolling it. Yes, rolling it-- let me explain.


I would start by pounding out my chicken breast with whatever that hammer looking thing is that you use to pound your meats with (don't judge me... my kitchen vocabulary isn't proper, obviously). After I got my chicken really thin, I would spoon the stuffing on into the middle and roll the chicken. (No, I am NOT kidding.) I would then secure the chicken by wrapping it with bacon and poking toothpicks all throughout it. Folks: Don't try this at home! It's disastrous!


Now if you're laughing at me, I certainly don't blame you. The mess I made with that was something I still laugh about now. So I get it! Laugh on!

Now I will tell you the proper way to stuff the chicken breast. It's so much easier and much less messy! :) I start off by sauteing the onions and spinach. Once the spinach has the bright green color (which won't take long at all) , remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. Then add the garlic, all cheeses, salt, and pepper. It's okay to taste test this and add until you get to the flavor that you like.

Now for the Rachael Ray way of stuffing chicken. You start by inserting a pairing knife into the fattest, plumpest part of the chicken and going into the chicken about 3/4 of the way down. Next, twist the knife a couple of times so there is enough room to stick your fingers inside of the chicken so that you can loosen it up enough to insert the stuffing. Your hole should look something like the hole in this picture.

After making a hole deep enough and big enough to add the stuffing, I began with a spoon full of stuffing and tried to insert it. For me, it didn't work out well so I just got my hands clean and started stuffing the breast with my fingers. Once the breast is stuffed as much as possible, I wrap the breast with two pieces of bacon.

Once all chicken breasts are stuffed and wrapped, place them in a casserole dish and bake them at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Your chicken should be a light golden color and your bacon should be well done.

I also served my chicken with yellow squash and this smashed potatoes recipe from Giada at Home. I must say, this is a very delicious dinner. Everything compliments one another and  the chicken is to die for!

Sinigang (Filipino hot and sour soup)

Love hot and sour soup from those Chinese restaurants? Well baby dolls, you'll LOVE this!!! I have been eating this soup since I was a small child and  my mother always used to cook it for me. I love it! It is by far my favorite Filipino dish. Laugh if you'd like, but I think I liked it so much because when I was a kid, my mom would use a leafy vegetable called kangkong (swamp spinach) and I could slurp the soup out of the stems. Don't judge me. I was a strange kid! ;)

So anyway, I was sitting around the house earlier procrastinating on going to the store when I remembered that I had pork in the fridge and the tamrind soup base in the pantry. HECK YES! That called for sinigang and sinigang is what I made!

INGREDIENTS:

1    Pk of pork (Can be boneless or w/ bone. My mom always used bone-- I don't. You can also use shrimp, chicken, or a combination of all in this recipe as well!)

1    Bundle of leafy vegetables (Its what I use... If you don't have access to an Asian  Market, you can use regular cabbage and it's just as good!)

1    Packet of Tamrind soup base. I think it's only sold in Asian markets.

10 Cups Water

The rest of the things I put in this recipe are optional. (Like I said before, I like to put my on twist on recipes, and besides, I put this recipe together by myself.)

I also used 8-10 cherry tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste, Frank's Hot Sauce (Good stuff!), a small slice of fresh ginger, about 2 cups of bean sprouts, and 1 small onion. This recipe can be changed just about any way you want. I have seen potatoes, carrots, and cabbage put into it as well. What makes this soup so good is the base.

PREPARATION:

If you're using the leafy vegetables in this recipe, just cut them into 1 inch thick strips. If you're using cabbage, I usually cut mine into about 3 inch thick chunks all the way around.It'll break apart once it's softened up.

I usually just go ahead pour the sinigang (tamarind) soup base into the 10 cups of water and once it is boiling, I put in my 1 inch thick, chopped pork. I make sure the pork is cooked, which I usually let boil for about 20 minutes. Once that is all done, I throw in the leafy vegetables or cabbage, whichever you prefer, the cherry tomatoes that I cut in half, and all of the rest of the vegetables.

Now here is what I have learned from experience. Depending on the flavors that your taste buds can tolerate, you may have to add more water OR (as my mother would tell me) you could cut down and use only about 3/4 of the tamarind packet. The base can be a bit strong, but I like it like that so I use the whole pack and don't use as much water. This is where I also add my salt, black pepper, and hot sauce. Just keep taste testing it to your liking. If you think the soup is even almost where you want it, you'd better stop adding because once the food starts settling and the flavors start coming together, the flavors are going to be a lot stronger.

After adding all of my desired vegetables, I let them boil for about 10-15 more minutes, depending how soft you want your vegetables. When I cook this recipe with cabbage especially, I don't like my evegetables too soft. I like my food with a slight crunch. Mushy food is not my style!

Now the soup should be done. I serve this soup over a small bed of rice, and.... VOILA!!! Dinner is served!

*Side Note: If you are in and around the Montgomery area and would like to try any of the Asian recipes that I post, there is an excellent little Asian food market in Montgomery. It is located at the corner of Federal Drive and Madison Ave which is in the shopping center directly across the street from Captial Heights Jr High School. The lady's name is Brenda and she is so helpful. I have known her since I was a kid. She'd be happy to help you in anything that you're looking for!*

Getting to know me!

Hello everyone!!! My name is Cheryl and I'm from the deep south, Montgomery, AL. I'm half Filipino and half redneck. I'm a mother to my daughter, Autumn; I'm a soon to be wife to my fiance, Stacy; and a daughter to my late Filipina mom and to my awesome redneck daddy.


I'd never had an interest in cooking before I became pregnant, which is when I moved in with my fiance. I figured that the whole going out to eat all the time thing was way overrated and after a year of rarely having a home cooked meal after my mom died, I figured it was time to get off of my butt and try out my lack of skills on the stove. It turned out that it actually wasn't a lack of skills at all. After eating my first home cooked meal of hamburger steak and homemade gravy and adding my own twist to the recipe, the food was DELICIOUS. Still, four years later, this is a regular entree in our household.

I have tried out many diferent recipes over the past few years and, typically, I always put a twist into the recipe to make it my own. I love trying out new things and cooking all different types of food. Up until last week, I had never tried to cook Filipino food because I never thought I would get it as good as mom cooked hers. I ended up trying several different Filipino dishes last week and mastered all but one (adobo). This is what inspired me to start a food blog. The Filipino food last week turned out amazing and I have been cooking it over and over again for the past few days!

I'm not really sure how this food blog will play out since I have never done this before. I know I will be critiquing different restaurants as I visit them around the city. I also plan on giving you recipes sometimes, and also showing you step-by-step instructions on how I come about some of my meals. I plan on showing and/or blogging about my failed attempts at cooking as well because this, no matter whether I am proud of it or not, is part of my journey in the kitchen.

So here we go! Let's get started you guys! I'm ready to start up some good cookin'! :)