Spicy Korean Beef with Carrots and Rice

Spicy Korean Beef with Carrots and Rice

Can you say simple and quick? Like in under 30 minutes quick? And this packs a LOT of flavor with so few ingredients. I’ve been meaning to make this forever it seems, and tonight when I was seriously pressed for time in getting dinner on the table, I pulled up this recipe from the blog Lizzy Writes that I had pinned on Pinterest.

I scoured my freezer, pantry and fridge, and I could not believe it: I had every single ingredient necessary for this! No trip to the store necessary. Badda Boom Badda Bam! Dinner is served. I also added shredded carrots to the mix simply because I had some on hand, and also made steamed, shelled edamame as a side — a perfect accompaniment. Steamed broccoli would also go well with this. So what are you waiting for???

Spicy Korean Beef with Carrots and Rice
Adapted from Korean Beef by Lizzy Writes

3/4 cup dried white rice
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef (or ground pork or turkey)
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Ground black pepper
4 or 5 green onions, diced
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Start by cooking the rice according to package directions. Meanwhile, prep the veggies and heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Brown the meat with the garlic, ginger, and carrots in the sesame oil. Drain the fat and add the brown sugar, soy sauce, and crushed red pepper flakes. Grind a bunch of black pepper over it all and mix it together.

Turn heat to low and simmer while you toast the sesame seeds in an oven or toaster oven for about 7 to 10 minutes, no need to preheat. (Keep an eye on them!) When rice is done, spoon a portion of rice in a bowl or on a plate, top with the beef mixture, then garnish with chopped green onion and toasted sesame seeds. Wow! So deeee-licous!

p.s. My daughter said she wasn’t that hungry and didn’t want anything spicy because she wasn’t feeling so good. Well. She ate her entire bowl. So there!

Spicy Korean Beef with Carrots and Rice

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Crunchy Creamy Baked Spaghetti

Crunchy Creamy Baked Spaghetti

First off, I think it’s almost impossible to get a good picture of a casserole. I don’t care how cute your dishes are or what your background is, casseroles do not lend well to photography. So you’ll just have to trust me that this is a delicious must-try spaghetti casserole! My new go-to place for recipes is Pinterest, and I found this one there recently. It is rare I follow a recipe to the tee, and this one is no exception. I made several adaptations, but I’ll post the original recipe for you, well, because it’s nice to do that for other bloggers!

We all went back for seconds on this one. The combination of the cream cheese inside and the crunchy fried onions on top with lots of melted gooey cheese underneath just screamed comfort food! The other extra element of this was my husband’s homemade spaghetti sauce with spicy cayenne sausage, burger, mushrooms, onions, and red bell pepper. I really have to capture that recipe of his one day, because he usually makes about four quarts of it at a time and it is sooo good! If you start with a good base spaghetti sauce, this recipe will not fail you. I also used a lot of different cheeses on top before the fried onions.  This recipe also lends well to making ahead and refrigerating or freezing before reheating. My only regret with this recipe is not using a smaller casserole dish. The recipe called for an 8 x 12 dish, but I used my 9 x 13 lasagna pan instead. It made a pretty “thin” casserole so I just should have gone with my gut feeling to just use my standard 2-quart glass casserole dish instead of the lasagna pan. But it all came out good. Yummy, creamy, crunchy good!

Pan of Baked Spaghetti

Crunchy Creamy Baked Spaghetti

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti noodles
1/2 cup shredded/grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion  (I added a couple of chopped green onions to that too)
1 tablespoon butter
1 8-ounce brick of Neufchâtel cream cheese (1/3 less calories than regular!)
Spray oil
4 or 5 cups of good spaghetti sauce, with meat in it (or not)
About two cups of various grated cheeses (I used Parmesan, Mozzarella, and Colby Jack)
1 small container French-fried onions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees if you are going to serve right after cooking. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, add the carrots, onion, and butter to a covered microwavable dish and cook about three minutes. Take it out (it’s hot!) and let it sit while you then add the Nefuchâtel to a small bowl and microwave for about one minute to soften. Add the veggies to the cream cheese and mix well. Once the pasta is done, drain and layer evenly in the bottom of a 2-quart spray-oiled casserole dish. (Notice I did not say lasagna pan.) Next spread the cream mixture on top of that with a spatula. That can get a bit tricky. Make sure the cream cheese mixture is nice and soft, and take big spoonfuls then blob it around on top of the spaghetti then use a spatula (and fingers) to gently spread a nice even layer.  Pour the spaghetti sauce evenly over it next, and then start adding all kinds of shredded/grated cheese to the top of that. I put a bunch of different kinds on top. If I were to guess, I bet I used at least two cups.  Now either refrigerate or freeze, or pop that baby into the oven and cook for about 30 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is nice and golden and melted. In the last five minutes before serving, add the French-fried onions to the top and cook five minutes more. Dinner is served.

Here is the link to the original recipe. She named it “Scooter’s Spaghetti” after her friend who gave it to her.  🙂

http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/family-recipes/scooters-spaghetti

Susan’s Health Bomb Muffins

Health Bomb Muffins

No friends, I did not abandon you! I had it in my mind to make a friend’s recipe for some healthy muffins, and decided I would wait to write my next blog until I did. My friend has made these many times and adapted the original recipe over the years. I have used her adapted recipe for this. I was able to buy the ingredients and the amount I needed for a very good price by going to the bulk section of one of our grocery stores here.

Batter up!

I actually found this a lot easier to make than expected. I had my daughter help me shred the carrots for it since we have two vegetable peelers, and I also used applesauce per Susan’s directions instead of peeling and chopping a bunch of apples. These muffins are absolutely delicious!!! And, they have flaxseed meal and oat bran in them, which are cited to have many health benefits over using standard bleached white flour. Of course, the addition of fruits and vegetables helps! Now both my daughter and husband can have a healthy breakfast in the coming week or two instead of complaining about the boring oatmeal and Cheerios that are typically available here.

Susan’s Health Bomb Muffins

1  1/2  cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup flaxseed meal
3/4 cup oat bran
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup golden raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts (I used Texas pecans, from my mom of course)
1 cup milk
2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the  flour, flaxseed meal, oat bran, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Stir in the carrots, applesauce, raisins, and nuts.

Combine the milk, beaten eggs, and vanilla in another smaller bowl.  Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until all ingredients are moistened.  Do not overmix.

Let the batter rest a few minutes before putting in oven. Fill the muffin tins a little more than 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. I ended up with 18 muffins.  These are really, really good!