Even I'm getting bored--Stir-Fried Pork, Scallions, and Peppers in Garlic Sauce

Stir-Fried Pork, Scallions, and Peppers in Garlic Sauce
The Best Light Recipe Copyright 2006

¾ pound pork tenderloin, cut into thin strips
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons dry sherry
3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
5 teaspoons peanut or vegetable oil
1 cup scallion whites, sliced on the bias into 1-inch pieces
2 medium red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch-wide strips
1 ½ cups scallion greens, sliced on the bias into ½-inch pieces
1 recipe Garlic Sauce

1. Toss the pork with the soy sauce and sherry in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, ginger, and 2 teaspoons of the oil.
2. Heat 1 more teaspoon oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add the pork and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up the clumps, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Transfer the pork to a clean bowl.
3. Add 1 more teaspoon oil to the pan and return to high heat until shimmering. Add the scallion whites and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 1 minute. Add the remaining teaspoon oil and bell peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Clear the center of the pan and add the garlic mixture. Cook, mashing the garlic mixture into the pan with the back of a spatula, until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Stir the garlic mixture into the vegetables. Add the pork and scallion greens and toss to combine. Whisk the sauce to recombine then add it to the pan and bring to a simmer. Off the heat, toss until the pork and vegetables are well coated with sauce and sizzling hot. Serve immediately.

Garlic Sauce:
½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
¼ cup dry sherry
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1. Combine all the ingredients except the garlic and red pepper flakes in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Add the garlic and pepper flakes to the garlic mixture in step 1 of the stir-fry recipe. ?? Was I supposed to add 6 cloves or garlic to the recipe or 3?? I only added 3 big cloves and I forgot to add the red pepper flakes.

Serves 4. Per serving (without rice): 250 cal, 10g fat, 19g carbs, 21g protein, 3g fiber, 760mg sodium
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If these stir-fries are starting to bore you, you're not the only one. This was a very good stir-fry. The sauce had lots of flavor (and there was a good amount of it). I was sort of rushed so my meat wasn't cut as thinly as possible and the onions were cut smaller than they should have been. I didn't have enough green onions either. It still turned out great but I'm just bored with the whole stir-fry thing right now since it seems like I've been making one at least every other week and it's usually pork.

I've gone a bit wild the past few weeks, with cookbooks. With my due date approaching, I think it's a form of escapism. Between auction, Ollie's, book clubs, Costco and the library, there's plenty of fresh material around and nowhere to put it! I had filled up my two shelves completely. What now? At least it was easy to pick recipes for next week.

Blast From The Past: Graham Cracker Chewies from December 2005, before we stopped eating nuts in our house. I've been meaning to try this recipe without any nuts but I haven't yet. If you can eat nuts, try this recipe! It's delicious. I originally got it off the internet but I've come across the same recipe in several cookbooks. I'm surprised I don't see it more though - it's really good.

Question of the Day: What do you do to 'escape' when you're stressed out?

Danger! Danger!--Moist Corn Bread

Moist Corn Bread
American Dietetic Association Cooking Healthy Across America Copyright 2005

Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cornmeal
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup nonfat milk
1 teaspoon melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray an 8- or 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Stir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Combine the canola oil, egg and milk. Add to the dry mixture and mix just until moist. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Brush with melted butter to keep the top soft.

Serves 6. Per serving: 220 cal, 5g fat, 40mg chol, 660mg sodium, 39g carbs, 1g fiber, 6g protein
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I know some people don't like their cornbread sweet and that's cetainly their prerogative but I think they're nuts. The sugar is what makes cornbread tastes so darn good!

This was dangerous. I can eat a small piece of cake. I can taste one cookie. But this cornbread kept calling me back. I cut it into more than 6 servings (9) and rationed it out. I served it with chicken and cole slaw so the carbs evened out.

I didn't think this would be that moist and I admit, I didn't scientifically measure the oil but I wasn't off by much, if I was off at all. I was careful not to overcook this. I prefer cornbread to corn muffins since muffins seem to dry out so easily.

The recipes in this cookbook are written by many different nutrition experts. Some cut the fat, some add whole grains, some reduce sugar, etc. Some cookbooks try to do it all, but this is a nice approach too.

Blast From The Past: Sour Cream Corn Bread from January 2007. That recipe has more fat and less sugar. Pick your poison.

Question of the Day: Should cornbread be sweet or not?

Healthy and gorgeous--Colorful Coleslaw

Colorful Coleslaw
The Most Decadent Diet Ever Copyright 2008

1/3 cup light mayonnaise
1/3 cup fat-free plain yogurt I used Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fat-free milk
2 teaspoons sugar
4 cups packed shredded cabbage
3 ½ cups packed shredded red cabbage
½ cup shredded carrots
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup red onion slivers
¼ cup chopped whole green onion
¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Black pepper

Whisk the mayonnaise, yogurt, vinegar, milk and sugar in a large resealable container. Add the green and red cabbage, carrots, parsley, red onion, and green onion. Stir until well combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Seal the container and refrigerate for 3 hours to 2 days.

Makes 5 servings. Per serving (3/4 cup) 92 cal, 3 g protein, 13 g carbs, 4 g fat, 4mg chol, 3 g fiber, 249 mg sodium
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This is the cookbook that I picked up in Costco on Sunday. It is a cookbook even though the title makes it sound like a diet book. There is some diet advice but the bulk of the book is recipes and photographs of the recipes.

The author also wrote The Biggest Loser Cookbook which I'm also very fond of but they are a bit different. The Biggest Loser Cookbook is written from the perspective of the contestants and the recipes are a bit more basic. The recipes in this book aren't complicated by any meals but they definitely have more depth.

I thought I might have to doctor this slaw up. I made it in the morning and it seemed sort of 'dry' but after sitting all day, it was just right. It's a light dressing but all the flavors worked together really well. I think the kick from the onions and parsley was key. I'm glad I made this. I had a surplus of red and green cabbage in my produce bin and that bit of Greek yogurt leftover. It was destiny.

This is also a great submission for Sweetnick's ARF/5-A-Day Tuesdays. It doesn't take a nutritionist to see that this is a healthy recipe.

Blast From The Past: Cabbage Slaw from July 2006. I often turn to that recipe and it's delicious but today's recipe is a much more nutritionally beefed up version of cole slaw.

Question of the Day: Do you prefer flat leaf or curly parsley? I prefer the curly stuff.

Better for you?--Multigrain Snickerdoodles

Multigrain Snickerdoodles
King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Copyright 2006

¾ cup unsalted butter I used salted
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, ground for 30 seconds in a food processor
1 cup whole barley flour
¾ cup traditional whole wheat flour

Coating
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper.

Cream the butter, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the orange juice and eggs, scraping the bowl, then add the oats, barley flour and whole wheat flour, beating until well combined. Refrigerate the dough, covered, overnight. (If you do this, I would suggest turning off the oven they just asked you to turn on!)

To prepare the coating, combine the sugar and cinnamon in a large plastic bag. (I used a bowl.)

Drop the dough by tablespoonful, 6 pieces or so at a time, into the bag. Gather the bag closed at the top, trapping some air inside. Shake gently to coat the balls with the sugar. Place them on the prepared baking sheets and flatten to about ½ inch thick, using the flat bottom of a measuring cup or drinking glass. Repeat till you’ve used all the dough.

(I didn't chill the dough. I scooped it and sprinkled it liberally with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. I didn't flatten them - they flattened out nicely themselves.)

Bake the cookies, reversing the pans midway through (top to bottom, bottom to top), until they’re beginning to brown around the edges, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer them to a rack to cool. For soft snickerdoodles, place them in an airtight container or plastic bag, once they cool. For crisper cookies, allow them to remain uncovered overnight before transferring to a storage container.

Makes 38 cookies. Per cookie (27g): 9 g whole grains, 109 cal, 4g fat, 2g protein, 6g complex carbs, 11g sugar, 1g dietary fiber, 21mg chol, 66mg sodium
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Obviously this isn't a healthy recipe since it contains butter and sugar but how much does using whole grains help? I'm not exactly sure. It has to be an improvement though, don't you think? I haven't been keeping up enough to know yet how much you gain by baking with whole grains (when you keep the fat and sugar) but I'll file this one under 'every little bit helps'.

I guess I'm suspicious because these were incredibly delicious. I don't know why I torture myself by baking when I can't indulge too much but I don't just bake for myself. My son loved these and actually said 'you make people happy' when he was eating these. I meant to bring some to work but I completely forgot.

I had a heck of a time finding barley flour since my local flour connection, the smaller grocery store in the next town that carries a wide variety of Bob's Red Mill products, didn't have it. I was dumbfounded - they always have what I'm looking for. I couldn't drive back up to the Amish store at that point, having just come from that area. They probably had it. Luckily I was headed to the big city and the grocery store there had it (and a fabulous organic section which I wish was in our store which is part of the same chain).

I'm not sure if you can substitute something else. Under substitutions, this book just says that there are so many different recipes in the book, there is no need to be concerned about substitutions??? Yeah, that helps. I believe it's a low-gluten flour so if you know anything about flour, that information might help you choose a substitute. I really don't know how much the barley flour contributed to the fantastic flavor. Substitute at your own risk.

I'm still way behind around the house. I'd rather blog. I got some fantastic cookbooks out of the library and even picked one up in Costco (I've been great at staying away from their cookbooks). Hopefully I'll be making some great new recipes in the next few weeks.

Blast From The Past: Snickerdoodles, Snipdoodles, or Schneckenoodles from December 2005. That's my standard snickerdoodle recipe and one of my favorite cookie recipes but these multigrain ones were just as good if not better.

Question of the Day: Are you using more whole grains in your cooking and baking?

Easy clean-up--Steak in Foil with Mushrooms

Steak in Foil with Mushrooms
Our Favorite Meats Favorites From Home Economic Teachers Copyright MCMLXVI

2 lb round steak, 1 in, thick my piece of meat was smaller
1 c. sliced mushrooms I used an entire 8 oz. package
Butter
½ pkg. dry onion soup mix I only sprinkled a bit on, maybe 1/4 pkg, probably less
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 tbsp. water

Center steak on heavy aluminum foil. Saute mushrooms in a small amount of butter; sprinkle over meat. Add remaining ingredients. Seal carefully. Bake at 450 degrees for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until tender. I baked it for about an hour at 400 degrees, then reheated it at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes the next day.

Yield:4-5 servings
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First of all, Carla at Chocolate Moosey has posted the round-up for the latest Weekend Cookbook Challenge. The theme was vintage cookbooks and I submitted Danish Cinnamon Coffee Cake which I'm still dreaming about. If any of you are interested in the next WCC, you can find more information here. Next month's theme is TV Cooks - I have lots of celebrity chef cookbooks! I hope I can get in on that one too.

Back to today's recipe - I took advantage of the cooler weather we had this week and baked this steak. I made it the night before we ate it since an hour of cooking time doesn't figure into my weeknights these days. I've been working longer days to cover doctor appointments and field trips.

This came out very well. The steak was very tender but it wasn't falling apart. I didn't add all of the soup mix because I was afraid it would be too salty but I probably lost some flavor. Next time I might add some sliced onion, maybe some carrots and I'll play around with the seasoning - maybe I'll add a splash of Worcestershire sauce.

The house smelled so good while this was cooking!

I just love this old cookbook. I have the salad version but it just doesn't sing to me like this meat cookbook does. I think there's a dessert version. I'd look to get my hands on that.

My grocery bill was quite low last night. I'm really trying to tighten my purse strings. We have such a surplus of food in the house but it's harder to just use things up when I have to watch my carbs. It's harder to pick recipes with all of these constraints (cost, carbs, I only want fast and easy recipes, I'd like to use up what I have, everyone has to like it). That is why things will be light around here - I can't come up with enough new recipes with all of those constraints.

Enjoy the weekend!