homemade beef & broccoli

tonight i made, for the very first time ever, chinese. i decided to start with stir-fry, and i choose beef & broccoli. mainly, because i found a fairly simple recipe, but who doesn't love beef & broccoli?!

anyway, i've been wanting to get into making chinese food because we have a wok & some great cookbooks by Martin Yan. the recipe i used today, however, is from a Great American Recipes card i ended up with sometime in the last couple years. the recipe was fantastic! i had a little trouble getting the sauce to thicken [took an extra minute & a half than what was called for], and we decided that next time we'll use more brown sugar [just our taste]. i made white rice to accompany the meal. mr. phipps loved it, and i was pretty stoked to have tried it out. it's a great introductory recipe. it was easy & did i mention delicious? i can't wait to venture more into asian cooking.
i'll share the recipe & some photos. enjoy!

Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry
serves: 6, prep time: 20mins, cook time: 15mins


ingredients:
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp. black pepper
2 tbsp. vegetable oil, divided
2 lb top sirloin, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 medium heads broccoli
2 tsp. grated fresh gingerroot

steps:
1. in a small bowl, combine soy sauce, lemon juice, cornstarch, brown sugar, garlic & pepper. set aside.
2. heat 1 tbsp. vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. add beef & stir-fry until almost cooked through, about 2 mins. transfer beef to a plate & cover to keep warm.
3. heat remaining oil in wok/skillet. add onion & stir-fry for 5 mins. cut broccoli into florets & add to wok/skillet with 1/2 cup water. bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat & simmer for 3 mins.
4. return beef to skillet with soy sauce mixture; add ginger. bring to a boil & cook stirring constantly, until sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. serve hot.

Oatmeal Cookies

i always love tuesdays because they are like my friday. i got off work a little early today and decided to come home and make oatmeal cookies. i had been looking thru cookbooks and found a recipe from Mrs. Fields Cookie Book that i wanted to try. the recipe is called "oatmeal raisin chews" but i decided to use craisins instead.

Oatmeal Chews


2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup quick oats [not instant]
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup salted butter, softened
2 Tbsp. honey
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups craisins [or whatever fruit you prefer]
[optional] 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
combine flour, soda, salt & oats. mix well with wire whisk, set aside.
blend sugars with mixer at medium speed. add butter & mix to form a grainy paste. scrape down sides of bowl, then add honey, vanilla & eggs. mix at medium speed until light & fluffy.
add flour mixture, craisins & nuts. blend at low speed just until combined.
drop onto cookie sheets. bake for 20-24 mins or until cookies are a light golden brown.
yield: about 3 dozen

                                       

i was really impressed with this recipe. the cookies are delicious [if i do say so myself!], moist, & chewy. i will definitely be making these again in the future.

ALSO, it's late, but, yesterday was Captain's [our nickname for Kevin] birthday! happy one year old my sweet little monster.

br00tal + kevin

last night mr. phipps and i were playing with our monsters [or dogs, whatever you prefer] in the office. i was thinking that aside from phones & computers, we've never taken actual pictures of them. i thought you might want a peek, so here they are:


kevin is our almost [his birthday is february 14th] 1 year old brown/tan miniature dachshund.
br00tal is our 11-ish [his birthday is march 14th] month old grey miniature poodle.
they both have such enormous personality & are wildly different. br00tal is slightly, okay no a lot, spastic, and kevin thinks he's the boss of the universe, but he's such a love pie. he always wants to cuddle. the poodle can't stay still for more than a second.

those are our boys xo

sandwich delight

it's amazing what a cupboard will hide! while moving we found a sandwich grill we had gotten as a gift for our wedding. and a couple weeks ago when my parents were up helping us unpack my mom suggested that we use it to make lunch. i just wanna say... if you have never used one, you're totally missing out! it's probably one of the greatest things ever.
we have this one by Cuisinart; it's really reasonably priced. there are several out on the market, however, if you have a different  preference or price range. this one grills 2 at one time, so that is an awesome feature. it not only grills your sandwich into delicious yumminess, but it also seals off the crust and cuts it on the diagonal. it transforms a blah lunch/dinner into something amazing. i think we've had more sandwiches in the last 2 weeks than i had in the previous year. there are so many options, and we are having a great time coming up with new spins on a classic.  my current fave is kind of our take on a Monte Cristo. kind of.

ingredients [for two!]:

-4 slices of bread

-deli sliced turkey, ham or both

-cream cheese

-2 small slices sharp cheddar cheese

-spreadable butter

-raspberry preserve 

steps:

lightly butter 1 side of each slice of bread. lightly spread cream cheese on 2 slices, on the non-buttered side. place on grill butter side down. add meat[s] and cheese. grill sandwich. add preserves to your preference and enjoy!

sandwiches have never been more delicious or easy! do you have any sandwich favorites?