Ham Steak in Five

This is what I've learned to do during the last eighteen months: Get dinner on the table as quickly as possible, get dinner off the table as quickly as possible, get the baby off the table as quickly as possible as often as possible. Did you miss me? I did.


Ham Steak in Five Minutes

One Ham Steak, boneless or not
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 T. vinegar
2 t. dry mustard powder

Mix last three ingredients in a bowl. Place ham steak on a baking sheet and baste with half of mixture. Broil until sugar bubbles. Flip the steak and repeat the basting, broiling again until bubbly. This may in reality take longer than five minutes.

We like it with green beans and mashed potatoes, which for the past year and a half have come from cans. I know, shame on me. Seriously, people, you don't know this baby.

What can I say?

I love Chinese food. So do Husband and Kids. I don't like paying for it, or wondering what is really in it or the tons of sugar and cornstarch and MSG. So, I ask myself, "Can I possibly make Chinese as good as they do?" And I try. And miracles happen.




Beef and Broccoli:
1 lb. beef steak, sliced thin (I used chunks from the freezer)
1/4 c. water
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
3 T. vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
2 t. grated fresh ginger
1 T. cornstarch
2 T. oil
1 large onion, sliced thin
2 heads broccoli, cut up into florets

Combine beef, water, soy, sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger and cornstarch in a bag or bowl and marinate 10 minutes or more. Drain well, reserving marinade. Place broccoli and a bit of water in a microwave bowl covered in plastic wrap and microwave it 4 minutes until tender-crisp (or, hey, you could steam it "the real way"). Heat oil in a wok or skillet and brown beef and onion together about 3 minutes. Add marinade and bring to a boil at least 5 minutes and until beef is done and sauce is bubbly. Stir in drained, hot broccoli and serve on rice. It's good. REALLY good.
Don't forget my Cashew Chicken when you set up your buffet. I have been promised an egg roll recipe to die for (Joni--that's your cue) or you can try this one. Have yourself an asian night.

Speaking of, Toni, do you remember eating cream cheese wontons on the floor with no shoes? That's a good memory.

Cashew Chicken

I was recently inspired to have a Chinese night for dinner. Okay, so Husband has been begging for a long time. Anyway, I got this recipe so long ago and never tried it because back then I thought I was too poor to afford cashews. Too bad, this one could have saved many a dinner from being Teriyaki again. It is super good and mostly easy/healthy. No MSG, plenty of flavor. So have yourself a night at the Golden Tree (our local chinese) and enjoy! This is also a freezer recipe.

Cashew Chicken:
1/2 c. ketchup
2 T. soy sauce
1/2 t. salt
1 T. worcestershire sauce
3 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. sesame oil
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 c. chicken broth

2 T. cornstarch
1/2 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt
3 whole chicken breasts (as in 6 halves) cut to bite size pieces
1/4 c. cooking oil (peanut works good)
2 T. grated or minced gingerroot
1 T. minced garlic
1 onion, chopped

1 can water chestnuts, drained and chopped a bit
1 can bamboo shoots, drained and sliced

1 1/2 c. cashews

Combine ketchup, soy sauce, salt, worcestershire, sugar, sesame oil, cayenne, and broth in a bowl. In another bowl, combine cornstarch, sugar and salt and toss chicken pieces in this. Heat cooking oil in a wok or frying pan to a high heat and add chicken mixture, ginger, garlic and onion. When chicken is cooked through, add chestnuts and bamboo shoots, and ketchup mixture and cook until it comes to a boil. Cool, bag and freeze. Freeze cashews separately. Thaw in fridge overnight, heat on medium until boiling and add cashews. Serve on rice.

Some foods are more photogenic...

Ever notice how some foods are so beautiful that it's almost a shame to put them in your mouth? And how some are so mouth watering you'd eat them no matter what they looked like? On that note, I only have one picture to post. I'd never tried hominy before, but it was good. Like little corn tortilla pieces all boiled fluffy. So here is Pork Pozole.

I tried, but I just couldn't take a pretty picture of this Jambalaya. Not that it wasn't absolutely delicious, though. I have been trying jambalaya recipes for quite a while, searching for the perfect mix of tasty, easy, quick and cheap. Most of them were in fact cheap. Easy and tasty were harder to find. This one showed up in the newspaper two weeks ago and we've had it twice. It's super.

RS Birthday Dinner Menu

Last March, I was put in charge of planning the Relief Society Birthday Dinner. Because of the program, it was to be a four-course meal for sixty people. I was given a budget of $100. Did I stay under my limit? The answer is no. I spent 52 cents more. I will admit, though, that it was meatless. But with these pretty babies, no one noticed.

Course one--Fruit Kabobs
You know, skewers and fresh fruit. Grapes and apples in two colors, pineapple and melons.

Course two--Dinner Salad
Lettuce, shredded carrot, grape tomatoes & cucumber slices. Oh, and my famous "Rancher Bob" dressing.

Course three--Lasagna Rollups
Super-impressive and very easy. Rhodes' roll on the side brushed with olive oil & garlic salt.

Course four--Strawberry Shortcake
Purchased angel food or pound cake, topped with strawberry sauce and whip cream.

Now here comes January. That means another RS dinner to plan (and again in March). Spaghetti is off limits because the boy scouts do that in February. If you have any super ideas, leave them in my comments box, otherwise, we may have a repeat potato bar...

What the heck is Kielbasa?

I sent this recipe to several friends for a recipe exchange and every one of them came back with, "What on Earth...?" So here it is: Kielbasa. Found by bacon and packaged meats. $2.44 at Walmart. We pick turkey, but they're all good.

Cabbage & Kielbasa:
1 green pepper, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
2 T. olive oil
1 lb. kielbasa, in 1/2" pieces
16 oz. bag coleslaw
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/2 t. each garlic powder, cumin
hot pepper sauce (I use EXACTLY 12 dashes...)
Saute peppers and onion in oil. Add all else and turn until cabbage is wilted & hot throughout. About 10 min? I also like to brown the kielbasa first. I have these ingredients on hand at all times (fresh or frozen), it is my favorite 15 minute meal and my children ask for it every night anyway.

Pork

I buy pork loins from Sam's Club. Yes, I have to buy 6 lbs. at a time, but I feel it is worth it. They are boneless, and a good, tender meat and are usually much cheaper than pork loin at Wal-Mart or elsewhere which makes it justifiable that I cut my own pork steaks. Actually, also at Sam's they sometimes have pork loins steaks pre-cut for about 10 cents more per lb. Kitchen shears will do the job quite nicely, though. I cut off 2 lb. portions for nice roasts and slice the rest about an inch thick. Then I wrap with freezer paper and mark the weight right on the paper. Bag them in ziplocs and mark the date, then freeze.

Pork Pozole:
15 oz. can hominy, drained
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
10 oz. can green enchilada sauce
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. cumin
1 1/2 lbs. pork loin
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
1 Tbs. lime juice
Combine hominy, tomatoes, sauce, onion, garlic and cumin in a crock pot. Top with pork and spoon hominy mix on top of it. Cover and ook on high 2 1/2 hrs. or until pork is done. Place pork on cutting board and chop coarsely. Return to crock pot with lime juice and cilantro (dried parsley works in emergencies) and stir well. Serve with tortilla chips, lime wedges, or avacado. My kiddos like tomatoey stuff with sour cream stirred in.

Pork Dijon:
4 pork steaks, 1" thick, fat removed if you please (shears)
1 Tbs. oil (I always use olive oil for health, but you will get a smoky kitchen as it has a very low smoking point temperature-wise)
6 to 8 green onions, sliced and separated into green and white parts
1/4 c. chicken broth (I sometimes use water and granules)
3/4 c. evaporated milk (freeze the other half-a-can in a ziploc!)
1/4 c. dijon mustard
I learned on Rachael Ray that cold meat seizes up when it hits a hot pan and becomes tough. Therefore, I advise you to let your meat sit at room temperature for 30 min. prior to cooking, if you can stand it and keep little ones away. Set the pork on paper towels to dry (moisture causes spitting oil) and pepper them a bit. In a skillet, heat oil at md. high. Lay in your steaks and give them a few minutes (4-5) on each side until nice and brown and crispy! (or done through). Remove to a plate and cover loosely with foil. They say this keeps in heat and helps redistribute the juices. Next, saute the white part of the onions in the same pan for 1 min. Remember to scrape up those flavorful brown bits! Add the broth and cook about 3 min. until it has boiled down to about half. Add the milk and mustard and boil for a minute until it thickens. I also add the juices that have settled on the pork plate. Top pork with sauce and sprinkle with green onions. Beautiful! And my kids eat it. Serve with zucchini slices sauteed in olive oil.We love zucchini sprinkled with parmesan and pepper. My 2 year old literally can't get enough. I am secretly proud when she asks for more...

Apple Pork & Sweet Potatoes:
1 pork roast (2-3 lbs.)
1 lg. yellow onion, sliced
3 sweet potatoes, sliced
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 quart apple juice
Place roast in crockpot, salt and pepper it. Place onions around the sides and top with potatoes. Sprinkle on thyme and pour in apple juice, as much as fits in your crockpot. Cook on high 4-5 hours, or low 6-7, until pork is done. Serve. I have been know to thicken some of the juices with bean flour to make a nice gravy.

Kahlua Pork & Sweet Potatoes:
2 lb. Pork Roast
1 Tbs. Coarse salt
2 Tbs. liquid smoke
Poke or slash roast nicely and place in crock pot. Sprinkle with salt and liquid smoke. Cook on high 4 hrs, low 6 hrs, until done. Serve with sweet potatoes, canned or not. I like to make a bean gravy from the can syrup (or apple juice), pork drippings and bean flour. This is like a trip to Hawaii, I'm sure of it.

Ground Beef

My ground beef also comes from Sam's. I can get 90% lean for $2.05/lb. That is of course after the 10 cents off per lb. for buying 10 lb. chubs. I know, that is a lot of beef, right? Well, this was my first great freezer idea: Buy lots of beef, separate into 1 lb. ziplocs and freeze. I won't have to thaw the entire thing when I want some. That was several years ago. Then one day, I realized that if I browned all 10 lbs., I could still freeze it in 1 lb. portions. TA-DA! It takes 3 min to thaw in the microwave and how long to brown? No time at all! Here's how: 3-4 lbs. at a time will fit in your big soup pot. Stir til brown. You may want to start with a tsp. oil on the bottom of your pot. You can also do it in the oven, 5 lbs. per cookie sheet, 350*, breakup and stir every few minutes til done. I haven't tried this way because the other works fine for me. Strain it (90% is nearly fatless) and bag it in 2 1/2 c. portions. Make sure to mark with a good sharpie that it is browned beef and not just ground beef and also date of freezing. Squash the air out and press the bag flat like a book. Now your bag is stackable.
If you want to make half of it into taco meat, go ahead, that freezes too.

Taco Salad:
1 lb. taco meat from freezer
most of a head of lettuce, torn to bite size pieces
1 cup grated yellow cheese
2 roma tomatoes, chopped (seeded if you like)
1/2 red onion, diced (when eating raw onions, I find red ones to be less bitter)
Let taco meat thaw the night before or heat it if you like (this may wilt your lettuce more than is pleasant). Toss all together. We used to add crunched up fritos, which is good, but not too healthy. Husband and I top our salad with a mix of fake brown sugar and hot sauce (like Frank's) heated together until the sugar dissolves, then a bit of sour cream stirred in to make it thick. My children, who will not eat ranch dressing (your guess is as good as mine) prefer Italian dressing on theirs.

Stuffed Meatballs:
1 1/2 c. uncooked instant rice
1 onion, chopped fine
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
2 lbs. ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt, pepper
10 oz. pkg. frozen brussel sprouts
2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 c. water
1 tsp. dried thyme
Combine first 6 ingredients. Shape scant 1/4 cupful around each frozen brussel sprout to form a meatball. Place meatballs in 9 x 13. Combine tomato sauce, water, & thyme. Pour over meatballs. Bake covered at 350* for 1 hr. 15 min. Serve on cooked rice. If you like prepared horseradish, mix some into your rice! This secret ingredient makes it super-fantastic, except to a four year old.
This is one of my freezer meals. When I buy my huge chubs of beef, I double the recipe and freeze in ziplocs, 12-15 meatballs per dinner. One recipe will make two dinners for us (2 adults, 2 eating children).

Main Dish Recipes

Jambalaya:
1 Tb. oil
1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, bite sized
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb. kielbasa, sliced
1 tsp. thyme
2 Tbs. parsley
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 c. rice
28 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 c. chicken broth
Brown chicken in 2 tsp. oil. Remove and set aside. Add the rest of the oil to the pan and saute the onion, pepper and garlic 5 min. Add kielbasa, herbs and rice and stir for 1 min. Return chicken to the pan, add tomatoes and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 20-25 min, when rice is done.
Most recipes I tried had chicken, smoked sausage, and shrimp, so if you want to add frozen, cooked shrimp at the end, that tastes good, too. Also, I was under the impression that the "holy trinity" of soul food includes onions, peppers and celery, so I threw in a 1/2 cup of the latter.
Very Yummy!

Crockpot chicken & gravy, mixed veggies: I get a roasting chicken (whole, 4-5 lbs.) and using kitchen shears remove the skin except on the wings. This is fairly easy to do and takes about 5 minutes. I place it in a crock pot, breast side up and sprinkle with 1 or 2 Tbs. lemon pepper or herb mix and pour about 1/2 cup water around the bottom. Turn it on high 4 hours, low 6. I do high because it is perfect for church. When it is done (pop-up timers are helpful, or 180* inside the thigh), I suck out all juices with a baster, strain & measure. I use 2 Tb. white bean flour (yes, I put white beans into my wheat grinder--very lovely flavor for gravies--but regular white flour works fine) per cup liquid. Add a little salt and boil a minute. Steam some frozen mixed veggies. If you add some biscuits, you have chicken pot pie minus the pie part. When dinner is over, pick extra meat off the bones. You can freeze this to add to soups, enchiladas, you name it. Or you can throw it into asian salad below.

Tilapia, candied carrots & asian salad: I buy the frozen portion pieces of tilapia (or salmon), place on a foil lined cookie sheet (foil is important) and rub with olive oil. Then cover with blackened or Alaskan salmon seasoning. Follow the directions, mine say 375* 15 min. I like them DRY so I give it an extra 3 min. Make up a packet of italian dressing in a jar, add 2 Tb. soy sauce, 1/4 c. splenda/sugar. Pour half on a bag of coleslaw (the other half will last til next time or makes a nice dressing for green salad), add 6 to 8 sliced green onions and 1/4 c. each shelled sunflower seeds and sliced almonds. Toss well. Steam the carrots and add 1 Tb. each butter & brown sugar, dash salt.

I took this next one from Rachael Ray and modified it to fit our non-alcoholic, cheap dinner lifestyle. I realize that most alcohol cooks out, I just don't want to go there. When it comes to beef steaks, there are few that I find worthy of eating and cheap enough to pay for. I buy top loin/sirloin boneless steaks, but never for full price. I watch the ads. As far as I can tell (here in my particular state) $2.99/lb. is about the cheapest it comes.
Steak and mushrooms:
3-4 beef steaks, 1 1/2" thick
2 Tb. oil (again with the olive oil and the smoking...)
pepper, cracked if you've got it
1 lb. sliced mushrooms
salt
Remember to let your steaks sit at room temp. for 30 min. Pepper them and heat your oil on md. high. Give them a few minutes on each side (5-6) until they are as done as you like them. If you bought good meat, they won't get too tough, so don't worry if you want them done all the way through, like me. Remove to a plate, cover loosely with foil.In same pan, sautee mushrooms about 5 min. You may have to add more oil. Lots more. Mushrooms soak the stuff up. If you sprinkle with salt, though, they will let out a little moisture and make it more likely not to burn to the pan. Add juices from beef plate and stir. Serve mushrooms on steaks with Spinach Salad.

This one is adapted from South Beach Diet online.
Peanut Butter Satay Chicken:
4 chicken breasts, flattened to 1/4" (or cut them in half horizontally with shears)
3 T. Peanut Butter (we use no sugar)
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. soy sauce
1/4 c. water
dash cayenne pepper
Brown or grill your chicken, I use my George Forman grill, and sprinkle the chicken with a little soy sauce to give it a glaze. Combine all other ingredients in a bowl and microwave 30 seconds. Stir. At first it will look a little clumpy and separated. Keep stirring. It all of a sudden turns creamy. Cut chicken into strips and serve with sauce. Yum. Italian Green Beans is a good side.

Curry Chicken:
Chicken, cooked & diced
Green onions
Some curry paste
1/2 can coconut milk (freeze the other half in a ziploc)
Grated ginger root
lemon zest
Combine all. Heat through. Serve on rice or steamed cauliflower. This is a toss together recipe. I just use what's on hand. Some good ideas, though: whenever I use a citrus fruit, I zest it first and freeze the zest in a ziploc. Also, I peel a ginger root, grate it and drop by tablespoons onto wax paper. Freeze, then ziploc it. Same with that can of tomato paste that you only used half of. Yes, I am a freezer fanatic.

Lasagna Roll-ups:
15 oz. ricotta cheese
1 ½ c. shredded mozzarella
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed dry
½ c. sour cream
¼ c. bread crumbs
1 T. Italian seasoning
1 t. garlic powder
12 lasagna noodles
15 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 ½ c. salsa
½ c. shredded mozzarella
Cook lasagna noodles according to package and lay on cookie sheet to dry a bit. Combine 1st seven ingredients to make filling. Spread 1/3 cupful down each noodle, leaving a little tab at the end to make it stick. Roll up and place in a 9x13 dish. Original recipe says to let it sit overnight covered, but if your noodles are dry enough, they will stick to themselves and you won’t need to. Combine tomatoes & salsa, and spread over rollups. Bake until heated through, about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Immediately sprinkle with ½ c. mozzarella and serve. The filling is freezable as well as the sauce, but I recommend you do not freeze the rollups themselves. As soon as you close the freezer door, they attack each other and end up shredded to pieces. Serves 12 adults or 6 teenage boys.

Chicken Divine:
2 c. chicken, cooked & cubed
16 oz. frozen broccoli, thawed
1 onion, chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 Tbs. milk
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. curry powder
yellow cheese, french fried onions
Saute onion if you like, then stir it up with the chicken and broccoli. Mix together the soup, milk, lemon juice, curry powder and salt and pepper to taste (1/2 tsp. or so). Pour over chicken/broccoli. Top with cheese and bake at 350* for 30 min. or until bubbly. Top with french fried onions and return to oven for 5 min.