Broccoli Stir Fry Recipe

This is another tasty dish on the menu. Got the inspiration from a Kung Pao recipe on Eating Well.com. I used some London broil here, but prefer a chunk of roast for stir fry's.


What you need.

Meat to feed the number of people you are serving (2-6). This recipe will cover 2-6  people in sauce. You can use less meat to feed people in a stir fry than feeding the meat on a plate with sides. I serve 4 oz. meat per plate, but only 2 oz. of meat per person for a stir fry. Use your best judgement.

You can use any red/white meat or tofu. Tofu is best frozen, thawed and squeezed before cutting into strips or chunks small or large.

1 tsp. five spice powder or chai spice/my 6 spice (recipe below)
2 cooking oil

1/2 cup of water
3 T. oyster sauce (I use Dynasty oyster flavored sauce)
1 tsp. cornstarch

1-2 bell pepper diced into bite size pieces
12 oz. more works or less of broccoli cut into bite size pieces (about 4 cups)(you can use the stems as well as the crowns.)

1 T. minced ginger( I have been freezing my ginger and then using a micro plane zester/fine grater with great success).
1 T. minced garlic
2 tsp. Sesame oil
1/8-14 tsp. dried ground Cayenne pepper (use 1/8 tsp. for mild and 1/4 tsp. for more spicy).

Cut meat to bite size pieces. I cut my red meat semi-frozen, into thinnest slices.
Put meat into bowl and mix with 1/2 tsp. of five spice. Heat a wok or large pan on high with 1 T. cooking oil. Add meat and stir until cooked through about 7-10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cover.

Now mix together the water, oyster sauce, cornstarch and the other 1/2 tsp. five spice in a small bowl.

Add the other T. of cooking oil to pan and have the heat on medium/high heat. Now add the broccoli, bell peppers to pan and stir and cook  for about 3-4 minutes. Add ginger, and garlic stirring about 30 seconds. Reduce heat to low and add the oyster sauces mixture and cook stirring until thickened. Return the meat to pan and add the sesame oil and Cayenne. mix and serve over rice.

My spice powder recipe:

It is just some Chai spice recipe that I made and works great in this recipe as the five spice alternative.

Mix:
1/4 C. ground cinnamon
1 T. ground cardamon
1 T. ground coriander
1 T. ground cloves
1 T. ground black pepper
1 T. ground ginger

Keep in glass jar with lid. Store in cool dry dark place.

Harvest Soup Recipe

This is a soup I make and freeze in portion sizes. Great for instant meals.

Ingredients

 8 cups of water
Beef or ham bone (opt)
4 Garlic cloves peeled and chopped
3-4 Carrots (more is good to)
1/2-1 Onion chopped
1/2 tsp. Celery seed or 2-4 stalks of celery (more is good to)

2-4 large Tomatoes or 6-8 medium chopped (or 2, 15 oz cans diced tomatoes)
1 hand full or more of fresh Parsley, chopped (you can use dried)
1-2 lb Swiss Chard and or Kale, stems removed and chopped (or rip up leaves into smaller pieces)
2-4 cups cooked Lima beans. (any light color bean will work)(canned works to)
1 tsp. dried ground Lemon peel or 3-4 tsp. fresh.
1 tsp. dried ground Jalapeno (opt)
Salt and Black pepper to taste

You can cook this in a large pot or slow cooker. Add the 8 cups of water and bone if using, to pot. Add garlic, carrots, onion and celery. Bring to a boil cover and simmer 1-3 hours. Take bone out and cut off any meat and add it back to pot with bone. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for about 30 minutes or more. Salt to taste.

Serve with croutons or some fresh warm bread.

The Produce ingredients are variable. Meaning, you can  be successful using more or less of an item depending on your taste or how much you have in the kitchen or garden. This soup makes about 8-10 servings. More or less depending on how much produce you add. If you think you need more water then add more. Good luck and enjoy.

Avocado and Banana chocolate Pudding./Popsicle Recipe

This stuff is so good.

1 Avocado ripe defrosted or fresh (skinned and de-seeded)
1 Banana ripe fresh or defrosted
1/4 cup of Almond milk (or any milk you prefer)
1 1/2 T. Cocoa powder
2 T. sweet of choice

Mix all in a food processor, blender or hand blender in a bowl until smooth. Put into a covered container and chill and serve.

Note: I used a defrosted Banana and Avocado with success. My sweet of choice was Xylitol. Any sweet will do. This recipe made enough for 2. Or one very hungry person. Double or triple for more.

Update: So hot outside that I made this and put it into Popsicle molds and froze. This recipe makes great tasting chocolate pops. Yum.