Beef, it's what's for dinner!

I made this today. We haven't even eaten dinner yet, but I'm so excited about it that I had to get this blogged asap. In fact, I just let the rice boil over in my zeal to get this out to you. It is that Fab-u-lous!!!

I have no idea what Mongolian Style Beef is supposed to taste like, but this is sure yummy. And the beef just melts in your mouth. But that may be because I used top sirloin steak instead of the called for flank steak. Remember, I'm making it work this week.

This was cooked in 5 hours on low, but I'm thinking it will still be ok if you need to be gone longer. Maybe in that case flank steak would be better, I think it's a tougher cut? But really I have no clue. I'm also thinking that if I had had some fresh broccoli, I would have steamed it and tossed it in just before serving and voila, Beef with Broccoli. For very little effort (and money) it will feel like we are dining out tonight. Have I told you how much I love to eat out? So when it's not in the budget (and it's not), it's great to find special recipes like this one.

Crock Pot Mongolian Style Beef
1 lb beef flank steak, sliced thinly across the grain
1 medium white onion or yellow onion, sliced thinly (about one cup)
(I used diced because it was already chopped in the fridge from the last meal.)
1/2 C soy sauce (I only had about 1/4C left in the bottle)
1/2 C dry sherry (I used cooking sherry, same thing, no?)
1/2 C chicken broth (add more if you need to substitute any of the wine)
1 Tb minced garlic
2 Tb hoisin sauce
1/4 C brown sugar
1 Tb ground ginger, or your could use fresh (I used half, not a big fan of ginger here)
1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes, to taste (I did 1/4, kids ya know)
1/4 C cornstarch
1 C cut scallions in 1.5" pieces (I only had 2 left and chopped them up because I can't read)
1/3 C fruity white wine (though the house smells like wine a bit, you can't really taste it in the sauce)

Slice the beef thinly across the grain in 2-3" long strips. Add 1/4C cornstarch to a zip bag and add the beef, shake to coat. Set aside.

Combine all else except the 1/3C white wine. I just dumped it all in the crock pot and stirred. Add the beef to the crock pot and gently push down into the liquid. Then pour the wine over top but don't stir it in. I have no idea why, but no use messing with a good thing.

Cook on low for 4-5 hours. An hour before you are ready to serve, turn to high and add the cut scallions. Cook for an additional hour. Serve over rice

I'd love to know if you make this!

*David loved this and so did Sam (of course I did too). I think the girls just weren't very hungry. They ate mostly rice.

Making it work

I'm always curious to know how much people budget for groceries each month. And that question is usually followed up with:

How many people are you feeding?
Does it include food for pets?
Does it include non-food items like cleaning supplies, paper products, etc...?
Does it include eating out (is it an "all food" budget, or just groceries)?
Which is usually followed up with how often do you eat out (so how much do you cook)?
And if your budget is considerably different from ours, are you cooking from scratch?

Our budget for a family of 5 is $400/mo. I think that is pretty tight. We have no pets, but it does include non-food essentials like cleaning supplies, paper products, lotion, etc... I cook from scratch as much as possible. We don't use this budget for eating out. Unless we are being very, very naughty. Then guess what, we go over in our food budget...Duh! And our goal is to never eat out, which of course is unrealistic. I heart eating out.

This week I found myself having over spent last week, leaving me very little for this week. Ack! I knew I had some freezer meals and a well stocked pantry/freezer, so I thought I'd see just how little I could make it on. And this is how I made it work.

Sunday (today)
breakfast: cold cereal
lunch: leftover chicken noodle soup
dinner: Pumpkin Pancakes (Sam is squaking for them as I type), sausage links, oranges

Monday
breakfast: toaster waffles, yogurt
lunch: pb&j
dinner: Mongolian Style Beef, rice, green beans

Tuesday
breakfast: cold cereal
lunch: mac and cheese
dinner: Date night (using a gift card), but kids and grandma are having chili (from the freezer) and cornbread muffins that I'll make that day

Wednesday
breakfast: Pumpkin Pancakes
lunch: at Great Grandma's (she's cooking)
dinner: PW's Ranch Style Chicken, scalloped corn, peas
I'm also delivering a meal to a friend in need but this time it will be take-&-bake pizzas out of our gift fund which is kind-of-sort-of-almost cheating.

Thursday
breakfast: fried eggs on toast
lunch: Chicken Tortilla Soup (from the freezer, my first time freezing it, hope it's still edible)
dinner: General Tso's Chicken

Friday
breakfast: cold cereal
lunch: pb&j
dinner: Chicken Bundles, corn

Here's my grocery list for the week

Cub Foods
$1 block of cream cheese (chicken bundles)
Buttermilk (1/2 C for cornbread)
$1 bag of baby carrots (snacking)
$1 celery (don't need it this week, but we are out and it's on sale)
$1 half gallon of whole milk (for Sam)
I have $3.50 worth of "same as cash" coupons for this store that I earned last week, and enough change to cover the rest.

Jerry's Supermarket (I try not to buy anything but the loss leaders here, as they are super expensive)
$1.59 gallon of 1% milk

So, about $3.50 out of pocket for the week. Not bad!

I'm going to have to start my shopping for the next week a little early, like before lunch on Saturday early.

Sorry to bore you with a grocery shopping post, but I just thought it was neat to be able to feed us for a week out of our pantry/freezer and a teeny-tiny shopping list. And this barely makes a dent in my stockpile though I am using some convenience foods that I don't usually (toaster waffles, mac & cheese). And I usually cook from scratch, the same as we are having, when I bring someone a meal.

Feel free to leave a comment about your grocery budget. I'd love to know. ;)

Famous Dave's Corn Bread Muffins

Famous Dave's is one of my all-time favorite restaurants. I'm in love with their corn bread muffins. They are perfection in my book. I've been trying to duplicate them for years. I found this recipe on-line and after tweaking it 3-4 times, it's about perfect. .

Famous Dave's Corn Bread Muffins
1-1/2 C yellow cornmeal
1/2 C stone ground cornmeal
9 oz pkg yellow cake mix (half a regular box mix)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 C milk
1/2 C buttermilk
1/4 C vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 Tb brown sugar
2 Tb honey
1 Tb real mayonnaise
Honey Glaze (see below)

Mix all dry ingredients together. Mix all wet ingredients (except mayo) together and add them to the dry and mix gently until there are no lumps, being careful not to over-mix. Fold in mayonnaise and let it rest, covered in the fridge for 30 minutes or overnight.

Bake at 400* for 25-30 minutes. Drizzle with honey butter. Makes about 18 muffins.

Honey Butter
1/2 C butter
1/4 C honey

Melt butter in pan and add honey. Simmer, stirring occasionally.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Here is our favorite recipe for Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Pancakes
1-1/4 C flour
2 Tb sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/4 C milk
1/3 C canned pumpkin puree
2 Tb melted butter
1 egg

Whisk together all wet ingredients. To that add the dry ingredients and mix well. Heat griddle to 325 and melt some butter on it. Drop 1/4 C of batter for each pancake. Makes about 12.

YUM!!!

You are still my {Baby}

Even though you no longer need a gate at the top of the stairs...you are still my baby.

Even though you no longer sit in a highchair and are at the table with us...you are still my baby.

Even though you try to feed me your chicken nuggets...you are still my baby.

Even though you understand most everything we say...you are still my baby.

Even though you are ready to wield your own spoon...you are still my baby.

Even though you can climb onto chairs and ultimately the table...you are still my baby.

Even though you like to dance whenever you hear music...you are still my baby.

Even though you love to stand on chairs and yell at us from the top of your lungs...you are still my baby.

Even though you can say Daddy, Mama (meaning Mama and food), (ba)nana, ca-ka (cracker), wawa (water), and hi (for bye too)...you are still my baby.

Sleep tight little one. You are growing up way to fast.