Shrimp Stir Fry

When we were in Flagstaff last week, I bought a refrigerator full of veggies, including some bok choy. I have never bought or eaten bok choy before, that I know of, but it always looks so good in the store. So, when I got home tonight, and wanted something quick and easy to cook for dinner, I thought about that bok choy in the fridge.



I also had a bag of raw shrimp in the freezer, so I decided to make a shrimp stir fry. To make this, I used :

1 whole red bell pepper, cut into strips
2 small zuchinni, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 small bok choy, sliced thinly
1 pound raw shrimp, peeled
salt and pepper to taste
1 package bean thread noodles, cooked according to package directions

Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet, add all the chopped veggies, and stir fry until they are done to your liking (I cooked mine about 7 minutes). Add some salt and pepper, a couple of shakes of some gluten free soy sauce, and 1 pound of shrimp, peeled. Stir and cook about 5 minutes more, until shrimp is done.

I served this over bean thread noodles, with more gluten free soy sauce. It turned out very good. FabGrandpa said for me to put bok choy on the shopping list more often.

Just A Lazy Saturday

There is nothing at all interesting going on--unless you count that it is our 17th wedding anniverary and we are having guests for dinner, a couple that we work with, Curtis and KJ. I am cooking a delicious smelling pork sirloin roast with garlic stuffed in it, some broccoli, potatoes, and a tangy side dish of cooked cherries and peaches with a bit of ginger.

I cleaned the house (yeah, small house, it took about an hour), also cleaned out the refrigerator, and took the blankets off the bed finally. It doesn't get hot for very long here, only for about a month out of the year, but when it does, those blankets got to go!

Tomorrow, while FabGrandpa does laundry, I'll be going through the pantry and making a grocery shopping list for when we are in Flagstaff on Monday and Tuesday. I have that appointment with the musculo-skeltal specialist to see if they can figure out what is wrong with my arm.

I hope we have time to go to the arboretum while we're there. The last time we went, at the end of October, all the plants were dying for the winter. I hear they are all in full bloom now, so it should be good for some wonderful photo opportunities. I am also planning to go to Piccazo's Pizza for a tasty gluten free pizza, mmmmm, can't wait for that! OH, and I am going to look for a new bowl. I am having a hard time doing without the one that got broke Every time I start to cook something, I reach for it where it is supposed to be, and am disappointed again, every time.

The Art of Repurposing Leftovers

In our house there aren't really any leftovers. What we do have is food that has not yet been eaten. It may be cooked already, but I don't call it leftovers. You see, Fabgrandpa does not LIKE leftovers. So, I found out a long time ago that in order to make good use of the food we have, I have to do something different with it from time to time.

Tonight I made stuffed peppers with garlic toast and tossed salad. I started out with something entirely new, two green bell peppers. I cut them in half, took out the seeds and membranes, and put them in a 8 X 8 casserole dish.


I had some rice that was leftover, I mean stored in the fridge, from last week. I put that together with 1/3 pound ground meat (I use a mixture of 1 lb ground turkey, 1 lb ground pork, and o1 pound ground beef. I mush it all together and freeze in 1/3 pound portions). A half an onion, one zucchini, some garlic, basil, Italian seasoning, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, and a 16 oz can of tomatoes finish up the dish.


Cook the meat with the onion, garlic, and zucchini until the meat is just browned. Add the seasonings, rice, cheese, and can of tomatoes to the pan. Mix together well. Fill each of the pepper halves with a generous portion of the filling. There will be about half of the filling left when you are finished stuffing the peppers. You can put that part in a ziplock freezer bag and put it in the freezer for another day. Pour about 1/2 cup water in the bottom of the baking dish, place the baking dish on a cookie sheet, and place in the oven. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.



While the peppers were baking, I made a tossed salad. I think lettuce is quite pretty, don't you? Anyway, the salad was a simple one of romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and green onions. I had some of that fresh mozzarella pesto tomato salad from the other day. It wasn't enough for one person, but I added a little olive oil and some wine vinegar, mixed it up, and used as a dressing for tonight's salad. When the peppers were done, I put some slices of that bread I made the other day under the broiler with some garlic butter. That rounded out the meal:


Do you use up all your leftovers, or just toss them out? What do you do to make them "new"?

Steamed Brussels Sprouts

While I like to cook, and try new things a lot, there are some things that FabGrandpa and I keep coming back to--old favorites that we just love. Brussels sprouts is one of those things. Whenever I find them in the produce section at a reasonable price, I get enough of them for us to have for a couple of meals.


They taste so good just simply steamed with some butter and salt. I cut off the bottom end, and peel off a couple of the outside leaves, and put them in a microwave safe bowl.



Add about 1/4 cup of water. It doesn't take much water to steam these to perfection.



Put about three tablespoons of butter, cut in thin slices, over the top of the brussels sprouts. Add a shake or two of salt, and they are ready to go.



Cover the bowl tightly with Glad wrap, and place in the microwave. I push the buttons on mine to set for 9 minutes. Your microwave may be more powerful or less than mine, so you will have to experiment with how much time it takes for yours.


Tonight we had the brussels sprouts with another standby meal, ground meat with mushroom gravy over rice. Talk about yum! And all naturally gluten free, naturally.

Gluten Free Cubed Steak and Gravy

A while back I found Road's End Organics Shiitake Mushroom Gravy Mix. It is gluten free, vegan and organic. That's a pretty good triple header there, but it is also very good tasting. Made according to the directions on the back of the package, it makes a thick gravy that goes pretty good with mashed potatoes or rice.

Tonight I made goulash using a cubed steak that I had in the freezer instead of using ground beef. It tasted very much like the cubed steak and gravy that I used to make before I started eating gluten free. I used more water than the package called for because I wanted a thinner sauce. It was still good.




Cubed Steak And Gravy Goulash

1 lb cubed steak, cut in half inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt ant pepper to taste
1 packet Road's End Organics Shiitake Mushroom Gravy Mix
2 cups water
rice

Cook the steak and onions in the olive in a large skillet. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle in the gravy mix, add the water, and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Serve over rice, noodles, or mashed potatoes. If you have some fresh or canned mushrooms, they would be a good addition.

We had this with steamed brussells sprouts and rice. Yummy. I'm going to order some more of this stuff.

Project 365 Day 36

Mmmmmm, porterhouse steak was on sale at Basha's, so it was steak, potatoes, and LeSeur peas for dinner. My favorite meal. (OH, and I found gluten free worchestershire sauce, whoo hoo!)

We don't get beef very often, so when we do, I like for it to be the very best.

Cabbage and Smoked Sausage

I was tired today so I wanted something I could cook really fast for dinner. I cut up some cabbage and some potatoes, and threw them together in a skillet with some butter, salt, pepper and water. I simmered them until they were tender, then added some smoked sausage, cut up into bite sized pieces. It was really good, and ready in about 30 minutes.

Now I have to tell you about something that made me laugh today. When I was walking around the campground this morning doing the rounds, I passed by a site where there was a tent camper. No one was up yet. I could hear someone inside the tent snoring so loudly that I could almost see the sided of the tent moving in and out. I walked a few sites on down the road, and again, there was a tent camper, with no one up and about yet. As I was walking by, I heard a very loud faarrrrtttt! and then a guy said, "Boy did that ever feel good!" I have laughed about that all day!