Beef and Mixed Vegetables Stir Fry

Beef and Mixed Vegetables Stir Fry

After Halloween everything went fast forward! So, this week I decided to make super fast dinner for the whole family, nothing beats stir fry right? By the time the rice cooked, the stir fry is DONE!. I'm sure most of you have its own favorite stir fry recipes. I do too! the concept of Stir Fry for me is just basically throwing everything in a skillet with your favorite sauce and that's it. If your planning to clean out your fridge, this is the best way to make a meal out of left over vegetables. Sometimes, I do used store bought sauce like the Kikkoman brand, but this time I'm just gonna make something available on my hand which is the cornstarch, below is the substitution if you don't have any cornstarch at home.
 According to the source "cornstarch"- A dense, powdery thickening agent made from part of the corn kernel finely ground

How to prepare: Mix with a small amount of liquid into a slurry or paste before adding to a hot dish, or it will lump. Continued cooking or stirring will cause the thickening to thin.

Substitutions: 2 T all-purpose flour = 1 tbsp cornstarch
2 T granular tapioca = 1 tbsp cornstarch
1 T Arrowroot flour = 1 tbsp cornstarch
(source: food.com )
Thinking about dessert that goes along with this meal check out the link below.
Apple Crisp, Chocolate Crinkles, Chocolate Crinkles and much more!:) Let's start cooking! See you in few days for more recipes:) Haven fun in the kitchen..:)

Notes:
- This recipe is so forgiving, adjust the ingredients and taste according to your preference.
- Add your favorite vegetable selections and your favorite stir fry sauce.

Ingredients:
1/2 lbs. thinly sliced beef sirloin
1 medium carrots
Green Beans
Sugar Snap Peas
2 clove garlic- thinly chopped
1/2 medium size onion, thinly sliced
Soy sauce
cornstarch
1 teaspoon of sugar
Salt and Pepper- to taste

Directions:

1.) In a small bowl, marinate the beef with little soy sauce. Set aside;

2.) Bring water to boil in large pot. Add the sliced vegetables and let it simmer for 3 minutes or until cook crisp. Drain

3.) Heat oil in a skillet. Add the garlic and onion sauteed until translucent. Add the marinated beef and let it cooked for bout 5-6 minutes in high heat.

4.)Meanwhile, in small bowl combine the cornstarch, sugar and 1/4 water. Depending on how much sauce you like.

5.) Add the cooked crisp vegetables and the sauce. Let it thicken, add salt and pepper to taste.. Serve and Enjoy!..:)

( Grab some plate and get some stir fry )

My dinner plate..wink:)

Halloween Cookies

Halloween Cookies

Just a quick post of what we did yesterday in celebration of Halloween and Trick or Treat for my kiddies. It was painful! the weather is pretty bad that they need to reschedule the trick or treat a little early. It's raining, little cold and windy for my little Cinderella and power ranger liking. Anyways, we did went to few houses at my mother-in-law neighborhood and the kids are pretty happy with their candy haul. It was fun! Aside from trick or treat we also made this sugar cookies and my kids LOVED it, especially the decorating part..(hahaha) and you don't wanna imagine the clean up afterward, It took me awhile... What matters is we did have fun doing it.

Below is the sugar cookie recipe. I would say the easiest sugar cookie recipe there is. Hope everyone is having fun on Halloween. See you guys in few days for more fun recipes!

Notes:

- I used store bought icing for this recipe. Feel free to use homemade icing if you want.:)

- Used your favorite icing color and feel free create your spooky design... wink:)

 Sugar cookie recipe: inspired by- Allrecipe.com

 

Ingredients:

* makes 4 dozen Change Servings

 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup softened butter

1 1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: 

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. 

2.)In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets. 

3.)Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks. 

Spooky CUTE spiderweb cookies with cream cheese icing

BOO-tiful cookie sandwich with cream cheese filling.

Jack-O'-Lantern Experience

First Jack-O'-Lantern Experience

 A jack-o'-lantern is a carved pumpkin, turnip or beet, associated chiefly with the holiday of Hallowe'en, and was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs, called will-o'-the-wisp or jack-o'-lantern. In a jack-o'-lantern, the top is cut off, and the inside flesh then scooped out; an image, usually a monstrous face, is carved out, and the lid replaced. It is typically seen during Halloween.

 The origin of Jack o' Lantern carving is uncertain. The carving of vegetables has been a common practice in many parts of the world, with Gourds being the earliest plant species domesticated by humans c. 10,000 years ago, primarily for their carving potential- ( source: wikipedia )

Trick-or-treating or guising is a customary practice for children on Halloween in many countries. Children in costumes travel from house to house in order to ask for treats such as candy (or, in some cultures, money) with the question "Trick or treat?". The "trick" is a (usually idle) threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given to them. ( source: wikipedia )

This is our first time to carved Pumpkin and I'm pretty excited about it, more than excited than my kiddies, I think..(wink). I made Easy Spaghetti for our dinner and my kids helped me make Iced Pumpkin Cookies for our yummy dessert. Pumpkin carving is really fun activities for the whole family, especially for kids. Awesome experience!!
Trick or treat is just around the corner with that being said, My kiddies are well prepared with their costumes. My daughter will gonna be Cinderella and my son will gonna be Power Ranger. I'm beyond exited to see them trick or treating this year, their both prepared and know what's trick or treat all about.:) I'm sure we gonna have fun on Halloween! How about you? Any plan for Halloween? Any carving ideas or tips wanna share. I'm more than happy to know.:)
Check out below our first carved pumpkins. Enjoy the rest of the week!  I'll see you in few days for more recipes.

Things you'll need:
Pumpkins
Carving tools
Trash Bag
Tea light- to light up the carved pumpkins at night
Stencil-  bhg.com- free printable pumpkin stencils

( My daughter's Pick-  BOO-tiful Kitty Cat! )

Directions:
1.) Take the bottom part of the pumpkin, use spoon to scrape the inside cavity of the pumpkin. Clean it really good make sure no seeds left.
2.) Using your stencil printed in the computer, trace it over your clean pumpkin. THAT'S IT!
Note: If carving for simple pumpkin face you don't have to use stencil. Whatever makes you feel  easy and comfortable..
3.) Follow the stencil line then start carving, start with the most difficult one like the eyes, tale, mouth and ears. Then do the rest slowly!

( My son's pick- SPOOKY Ghost )

4.) After done carving, wipe the carved pumpkins. Make sure that everything looks good. Wait for night time to come and light up the carved pumpkin using the tea light. I think its about time to grab some Iced Pumpkin Cookies.. wink:)

Kiddies super LOVED the carved Pumpkins-- Yay! that's what its all about
Making sweet unforgettable memories!
Happy Halloween Everyone! See you in few days for more exciting and fun recipes..

(xoxox- sweetcuisinera)