Asian Beef & Vegetable Stir-Fry

This was the best! A favorite out of all the Asian stir-fry dishes I've made. (Click here for other Asian stir-fry recipes!) I found this super thin flat sliced sirloin at HEB. Side note - HEB is the best. Anyway, all I had to do was slice the thin, flat pieces into strips. The beef in takeout is always so thin, and that's one of the things I love. Most of the time I'm not able to get mine that thin, but thanks to HEB this was perfect!

The original recipe just included mushrooms and snow peas. I went ahead and added additional vegetables like bell peppers, broccoli, and then squash & green beans from my mom's garden! Steak delicious, sauce delicious, veggies delicious. Thumbs up big time!

Oh also - the original recipe called for serving over rice, which would be delicious. But trying not to cook with as many carbs right now. The extra veggies made it perfect and filling!

Homemade Asian Sauce:
1/2 cup light soy sauce (or low-sodium soy sauce)
5 tbsp brown sugar
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp ginger (I use the tube kind)
2 tap rice vinegar

Beef:
10 oz snow peas
4 tablespoons olive oil
10 oz mushrooms, sliced thinly
* Add whatever veggies - I added squash, green beans, broccoli, and bell peppers
1 lb beef, thinly sliced (sirloin steak strips, flank steak, or any other steak)


Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl - whisk to combine. Set aside.

Heat a large skillet until hot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, let it sizzle. Immediately add thinly sliced meat. You might want to do this in 2 batches, because you will want each slice of meat to touch the bottom of the skillet and for meat slices not to be crowded - I was able to do all of mine in a really large pan. This will ensure that meat will brown on high heat. Cook meat on one side until it browns nicely. Turn over all meat slices to the opposite side, and cook more, on high heat, until all slices brown nicely. Remove this batch to a bowl. Add a second batch of meat, and repeat (if needed).

With meat sitting aside, add a little oil to the pan. Add in garlic and let cook for about 30 seconds. Then add your veggies you have - first I added the broccoli and green beans, cooked those for about 2 min. Next I added in the squash and snow peas, cooked those for maybe another 2 minutes. Last I put the mushrooms in, continued stir-frying for about 1 minute.

Return all of the cooked meat back to the skillet. Add in your prepared Asian sauce. On high heat - stir everything to combine, for about 1 minute. Turn off heat. Cover the skillet with a lid.
Serve over rice (if you want to!),

Original recipe found here.

Slow-Cooker Lentil & Veggie Soup

So delicious and easy! We loved it. The leftovers for lunch the next day were even better! Love SkinnyMs.

1 c frozen or fresh whole kernel corn*
1 large red potato, cut into 1” cubes
4 carrots, sliced*
1/2 c diced sweet onion
2 stalks celery, sliced into 1/2” pieces
1 c (fresh or frozen) green beans, broken into 1” pieces*
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
salt to taste
1 1/2 c tomato juice, low sodium (optional V-8 Juice low-sodium)
3 c vegetable broth, low sodium (optional chicken broth)
1 c (dry) lentils

* I actually just used a big bag of frozen corn, green beans, and carrots
Add all of the above ingredients, except lentils, to the slow cooker, stir to combine. Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours. Add lentils the last hour of cooking time. Feel free to add or substitute your favorite vegetables. Adjust the liquid for less or more thickness. 

Original recipe found here.

Szechuan-Style Green Beans

First homemade meal in our new house! I made Portobello Pizzas, Oven-Fried Eggplant, and this new recipe - Szechuan-Style Green Beans. They were delicious, spicy, and perfect. Not to mention I used my mom's green beans from her garden. YUM.

¾ lb green beans, trimmed
¼ c peanut or vegetable oil
4-5 dried red chilis (I did not use these)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp minced or grated fresh ginger
3 green onions, chopped

Sauce
1 ½ tsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 ½ tsp Sriracha (chili sauce), or to taste
½ tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar

In a small bowl, stir together the rice wine, Sriracha, sesame oil, soy sauce and sugar. Set aside.

Dry green beans thoroughly with paper towels; even a small amount of water will cause oil in the pan to spit. Heat a heavy pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the beans and stir-fry, keeping the beans constantly moving, for 8-10 minutes or until the beans are browned and wilted. Turn off the heat, remove the green beans and set aside to drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

Remove all but 1 tablespoon of oil and reheat the pan. Add the chilis, ginger, garlic and green onions and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the sauce and return the green beans to the pan and stir-fry for about another minute. Enjoy!

Original recipe found here.

Balsamic Oven-Roasted Green Beans

Last summer I discovered my favorite way to eat green beans is to roast them. I make these Parmesan Roasted Green Beans ALL the time. This is a similar recipe, but with a yummy balsamic kick! I will have to switch off between these two recipes.

1 lb green beans, ends trimmed, cut in half
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
lemon pepper seasoning
sea salt
garlic powder
crushed red pepper flakes
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a large baking sheet or roasting pan with aluminum foil and place the green beans in a pile in the middle. Pour the olive oil over the beans and mix them around so they're evenly coated. Season to taste with the salt, lemon pepper (or cracked black pepper), garlic powder and crushed red pepper. Spread the beans out across the pan giving as much space between the individual beans as possible. Shake or measure out the balsamic vinegar over the beans. Bake for 10 minutes, stir the beans and then bake for another 5-10 minutes. If you like your beans more crisp tender, you'll probably want to pull them out after 15 minutes. I cooked mine for 20 so there would be a bit more caramelization.

Original recipe found here.

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans

These are green beans from my mom's garden and I don't know if I will ever be able to eat green beans another way. This is sooo good!

12 oz green beans, trimmed (make sure they are dry)
2 tsp olive oil
kosher salt + fresh cracked pepper to taste
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tbsp shredded Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum for easy clean-up.
Lay green beans out on the baking sheet and drizzle oil over them. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and toss to evenly coat. (I put all mine in a bag and shook it up)

Spread them out on the sheet so that they all lay flat and place on the lower third section of your oven. Bake 10 minutes, shake the pan to turn; bake 5-10 additional minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Original recipe found here.