Spicy Asian Beef Stir Fry

I pinned this recipe on Pinterest a while back and I finally got around to making it for dinner tonight! Of course, I had to put my own spin on it!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. flank steak, cut into small strips 
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. cooking sherry

• 3 tbsp. cooking sherry
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• 2 tbsp. chili sauce (such as Siracha)
• 1/4 serrano pepper
• 1/4 tsp. sugar

• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper
• 1 1/2 tbsp. minced garlic
• 2 tsp. fresh grated ginger

Directions:

1. In a bowl combine strips of beef with 1 tbsp. soy sauce and 1 tbsp. sherry cooking wine  Allow to sit while you prepare the stir fry sauce.
2. Make the sauce: Combine sherry, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili sauce, serrano pepper, and sugar in a medium bowl. Stir to combine and set aside.
3. To  a large skillet over high heat, add 1 tbsp. of oil to coat bottom of pan. When oil is hot add meat to the skillet. Stir fry until seared and almost cooked through, about 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and drain any excess juice from the pan.
4. Add the other tablespoon of oil to the pan. Add vegetables to the pan, starting in batches with the ones that need the longest cooking time. I added the broccoli first, cooked for about 4 minutes, then added the onion, bell pepper and carrots, cooked another 3 minutes and then added the mushrooms.
5. Clear a well in the center of the pan. Add the garlic and ginger, cook for a few seconds and then mix into the vegetables.
6. Add cooked meat back to the pan. Add the stir fry sauce and mix until meat and vegetables are thoroughly coated and meat is hot. Serve with rice.

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Venison Meatballs

Thanks to an awesome friend who is also a great shot we have the meat of two (well, more like one & a half now!) deer in our freezer waiting for delicious ways to use them up!  We have just ground up the meat and tossed it with sauce for a meaty spaghetti but this time we decided to go with meatballs instead!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. venison hamburger
• 1/4 cup italian breadcrumbs (enough so that the meatballs stick together when rolled into balls)
• 1/2 small onion
• 1/2 tsp. italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp. ketchup 

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl, leaving 1 tbsp. olive oil.
2. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add meatballs and cook on all sides until cooked through, 12-14 minutes.  Add your favorite sauce to meatballs, turn heat down to medium-low and cover and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
3. Serve atop your favorite pasta. 

These were really nice hearty meatballs. They were a little bit drier than a typical beef meatball because venison is a lot less fatty than beef.

Delicious Fruit and Spinach Smoothie

So I've jumped on the bandwagon. Spinach in smoothies. It sounds disgusting but they can actually taste pretty good and honestly, the more spinach in your life the better...plus this is a nice, easy way to get more veggies into Josh!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 5 strawberries
• small handful of blueberries
• 1/2 banana
• 2 tbsp. ground flaxseed
• 5 ice cubes

Directions: 

1. Blend until creamy!

This was nice and sweet thanks to all of the berries and seriously, look at the color! It is like drinking confetti!

Bacon Wrapped Egg and Vegetable Cups

I saw these on Pinterest a while back, but with just egg, cheese & bacon they were not nearly healthy enough for my tastes, I changed them up a bit and came up with this:

Ingredients:

• 8 eggs
• 4 strips of bacon, cut in half length-wise
• 1/4 onion, diced
• 1/8 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/8 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• 2 tbsp. skim milk 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with bacon, as shown. Make sure the ends touch (you may need to stretch the bacon out a little).
2. Crack eggs & whip together. Add onion, bell peppers, spinach, milk and cheese and mix well.
3. Pour 1/3 cup of mixture into each muffin tin.
4. Bake for 35 minutes in preheated oven.

These made a super easy and super tasty breakfast and I was able to freeze some leftovers to reheat later for a really quick breakfast!

Greek Taboule Salad

Near East's Taboule Wheat Salad mix was on sale at Publix a while back and on the back was a great sounding recipe that I thought would make a great lunch! It did, so here it is:

Ingredients:

• 1 box Near East Taboule Wheat Salad
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded & diced
• 4 oz. crumbled feta cheese
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• romaine lettuce leaves
• lemon wedges

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine wheat salad, spice pack and 1 tbsp. olive oil. Add 1 cup boiling water, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Stir in tomato, cucumber, feta cheese, 1 tbsp. olive oil, basil and lemon juice.
3. Serve on a bed of romaine lettuce with lemon wedges. 

This was a nice light, fresh lunch that I will definitely be making again! 

Homemade Laundry Detergent {Homemade Cleaning Products}

I have been using this laundry detergent for about 9 months now and I absolutely love it, so I thought I should share:

Ingredients:

• 1 bar Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Soap (I like the lavendar)
• 1 cup washing soda
• 1 cup borax
• About 3 gallons of water 

Directions:

1. Shred soap with a grater. Heat about 4 cups of water over medium high heat and slowly add soap until melted.
2. Pour 3 gallons of water into a 5 gallon bucket. Add borax, washing soda and melted soap.
3. Seal bucket and let sit for 24 hours. It will turn kind of gloopy. 

That's it! I pour it into my old store-bought laundry detergent containers for easier access. Add about a cup per load into your laundry and enjoy clean, lavendar scented laundry for about half the price of Tide!