Round Steak Stir Fry Recipe

I don't normally do this, recipe posts that is.  But we have a whole beef in our freezer, well we've had beef since about December.  It's a small one so equivalent to half a beef.  Anyway, we've gone through a lot of cuts that we know what to do with... especially the steak, ribs, etc.  But I have all this round steak.  I knew it wasn't exactly steak, but I wasn't sure what to do.  My parents suggested using it for stir fry and my friend Holly suggested slow cooking it, shredding it and adding 'primal ketchup'.  Well we tried the stir fry tonight, and then the slow cooking is for tomorrow.

1lb of round steak, Grilled then sliced
1 package of frozen organic broccoli
1/2 package of frozen organic green beans
2 teaspoons of orange zest, or about half a zested orange (I didn't measure)
2 small oranges peeled and sliced
half a purple onion sliced
2 teaspoons or so of fresh grated ginger
1 heaping teaspoon of crushed garlic
some pepper to taste
olive oil


I just poured the olive oil in the pan and when it got hot I added the onion and garlic.  Once the started to get tender I poured in the frozen veggies.  Then the oranges, zest, ginger, pepper and grilled steak slices.  Then basically you just stir until it's all defrosted and hot.  It was really good.  I'm sure I'll make this again.

Oh, and I added Sriracha to mine of course :)

Food

I love food. I have come to the conclusion that I love to shop for food. I love to cook food. I love to read about food. And most of all I love to eat food. I always wonder what made me so inclined to choose Electrical Engineering in college instead of just going to culinary school. Or why didn't I do culinary school after college? I did take a tour of the Portland culinary school but it cost $15k to go, I was about to get married, I wanted to be a Mom (which I wanted to do more than culinary school), so I just didn't. I don't really think I ever will want to do any type of 'school' again. Electrical Engineering burnt me out. (though, I'm not too disappointed that I did EE because I love math, I met my husband and had a pretty nice job before I had Luke)
Anyway, today I had some fabulous food. We went downtown to the Portland Farmers Market just to check it out. I didn't think there would be much down there since it's only May but there was! We walked around looking at everything. We even had lunch at one of the stands. Ben had pizza, which was delicious. I had a veggie pita. It had garbonzo beans, lettuce, cauliflower, wheat berries, onions, with taziki sauce and chili sauce all wrapped in a whole wheat pita. Mmm it was good.

We ended up getting asparagus, lettuce and a bundle of mint. What will I use those for, you ask? Ben and I have been hooked on the Green Smoothie from the blog "Raising a sensitive child". How I made it today is as follows.
1/2 a bundle of chopped romaine lettuce
1 apple chopped and cored
1/2 a banana
a handful of cilantro
the juice of one lemon
1 1/2 cups of water
It made enough for Ben and I, with a little for Luke. I forgot to take a picture because I drank it too fast. It's really, really good.

Tonight, I made asparagus risotto with the asparagus I got at the farmers market. The recipe is as follows.
1 1/4 cups of Arborio rice
4 cups of chicken stock
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 small onion or shallot, diced
some asparagus cut into 3-4 inch pieces
some fresh spinach
1/4 -1/2 cup of white wine, something you'd drink. It could be optional I guess if you just used a little more chicken stock, but the flavor is wonderful.
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
the zest of one lemon
butter
olive oil

Heat the pan with olive oil and a teaspoon or so of butter. Have the chicken stock warmed on another burner. Add the onion and asparagus. Give them some salt. Sauté until tender. Add garlic. Then add the rice. Stir it around the pan for a minute so it absorbs the oil and butter. Then add the wine. Keep stirring. Once the wine reduces all the way, add a laddle of chicken stock from the other pan. Let that reduce. Keep stirring the whole time. Then repeat until all the chicken stock is gone and the rice is soft. Turn off the heat. Stir in the cheese and grate the lemon zest. Add salt and pepper to taste.

It's kind of tricky and time consuming to make and definitely not one I would make on a week night where I have to watch Luke and make dinner. But since it's the weekend and Ben and Luke played, it was easier. So that's what I ate today. Sounds good doesn't it, I bet you're hungry now?

Sick and Soup

Luke got a viral infection this weekend. Which means fever and just not the usual Luke. We took him to the doctor and he said that he's also contagious so wash your hands. Doh! I've been sharing food with him, touching his mouth, kissing him... you know the normal mom stuff. This morning and last night I've had a scratchy throat. Am I getting sick too?
When ever I'm sick or feeling like I'm going to get sick I always make this soup. It's my own recipe and it really caters to my own tastes.

Tomato Sick Soup
1 can of low sodium diced tomatoes
1 can of low sodium tomato sauce
2 cloves (or more :)) of garlic
1/2 onion chopped
1Tbsp of oregano
1 spoonful of red pepper flakes to taste
1 handful of chopped fresh basil (if you don't have it used dried)
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
I sautee the onion in the EVOO until soft, then add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Sautee for a few more minutes, don't let garlic burn. Then you add the can of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Let bubble for a minute or so and then add a swirl of balsamic vinegar. Then you just let simmer for 10 minutes or so... when ever you think it tastes good.
I love tomatoes and garlic so the taste to me is so good. Maybe you have other ingredients you want to add that would appeal to your own tastes?

The reason I think this soup is so good for fighting off sickness...
tomatoes- lycopene- capable of warding off free radicals, antioxidant because it's high in vitamin c, fights cancer
garlic- it is said to be an antibiotic, works as an antioxidant, and fights cancer
onions- good anti inflammatory which helps congestion from common colds they are also antimicrobial so they fight unwanted bacteria in your system.
oregano- another super spice. It has antimicrobial effects and it is full of antioxidants.
EVOO- omega 3s, antioxidant and a whole range of other things. It makes your skin pretty too.

I don't know what it is but a good dose of garlic always makes me feel a little better :) and its tasty too!