Orange Sesame Ginger Stir Fry

1-2 c Meat as desired (beef or chicken is best)
2-4 c Veggies as desired (onion, garlic, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, water chestnuts, baby corn, bamboo shoots, etc)
One orange
1 Tbs grated Ginger (or 1/2 inch fresh and grated)
Toasted sesame oil (the ‘toasted’ part is important)

Stir fry meat with a little wok oil and/or sesame oil until cooked or nearly cooked. Add veggies. Squish an orange over the pan to get out all the juice and as much pulp as possible. Grate/sprinkle in ginger. Sprinkle in 1-2 tsp sesame oil. Stir well.
Serve over rice.

Glazed Salmon & Cranberry Risotto

GLAZED SALMON(on the left)
My dad's cousin showed me this. She does it on her grill, but since I don't have a grill I just do it in the oven and it works well enough.

salmon (I prefer fillets, but a steak would work too)
brown sugar
butter

Use about equal parts sugar and butter, and melt them together to make a glaze. Peiodically as the salmon cooks, paint it all over with the glaze. It works best with several thin coats rather than just one thick one. Let it cook until caramalized!



CRANBERRY RISOTTO
(on the right)
I invented this myself. I am calling it a risotto rather than fried rice because it is still soft--it's not fried in butter to get any crunchy parts, it's merely prepared in a little oil in a frying pan...I don't know if that's a true risotto, but it looks close enough to me!

about 3 c cooked rice
1 onion, chopped (I used a leftover half a red onion, as well as half a white--it added lovely color, but of course any onion would be fine)
1/2-3/4 c craisins
juice of one orange (around 1/3 c)
herbs
oil

Saute the onions and rice in a little oil until the onions begin to look glassy. Stir in herbs to taste (I used a costco seafood rub blend because I was serving it with fish, but any mild herbs will work). Squeeze in juice from the orange, using a fork to get some pulp in too. Throw in craisins, and stir well. Fry everything together for a few minutes to blend all the flavors.

Savory Pie

Last night we held our annual pie night. Since I didn't feel like veering off my pie-making binge for dinner, I made a savory pie for dinner.


uncooked pie shell
1 lb ground sausage
2c gravy (can use bullion or from a package if desired)
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
2+ cups assorted veggies (we used carrots and cauliflower, but anything's great)
salt and pepper
grated cheese (I used monteray jack)


Fry sausage until well crumbled. As the juices come out, add in onion and cook until soft and golden. Add garlic and other veggies, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Cook until everything starts to soften a little. Pour all into pie shell, pour in gravy, and sprinkle top with 1+ c cheese (depending how much you like!)
Bake at 350 for around 20 min--long enough to cook crust and get cheese melted and golden.

This one was really popular at pie night! I'll have to make it again!

Acorn Squash Soup

1 acorn squash, cut off rind and chop into medium chunks.
Over medium heat, bring one quart of milk to a gentle boil. Add acorn squash chunks as milk heats.
Add around 1Tbs salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp nutmeg.
Stir until spices are mixed in.
When squash is soft, scoop into a bowl or blender and pulvarize the squash into some of the milk. Remix all back together in the pan.

Oatmeal is Awesome

Beware, for this post contains several hidden recipes!

I love oatmeal. It is so versitile! It is also a lactagogue (meaning that it increases milk supply for nursing mothers) so that is just an extra bit of grooviness right there!

Here are some of my favorite things to do with oatmeal:
**standard cooked oatmeal for breakfast.
**coconut oatmeal one can of coconut milk, 2 c of rolled oats, soak overnight in the fridge. In the morning, heat on the stove, adding a little additional milk as needed for texture. Quicker and sweeter than regular oatmeal.
**in fruit crisps, cobblers, and dutch apple pie topping.
**in muffins and breads.

Leftover oatmeal is just as good! It makes a delicious and hearty addition to pancakes, waffles or muffins. My 7yo is also fond of 'oatmeal pancakes' wherein I add a little flour to the leftover, congealed oatmeal, and then make patties and fry them up in a little butter. Serve like pancakes, with syrup or jam. Yum!

Peli Cheesesteak

One leftover potroast, sliced thin
One large onion, thinly sliced
Spices
Mozzarella cheese
Homemade rolls

Saute the onion in a little oil and some spices (I cheated and used the 'steak rub' from costco) until it is soft. Grate the cheese. Fry the beef lightly with the onion until browned on both sides.
Slice a roll, lay in a piece of hot meat, sprinkle on a goodly pile of cheese, then a nice heap of onions. Close roll. Devour with gusto.

It's not quite a philly cheesesteak...but dang it was good!

Halibut Yumminess

1 chunk of halibut (enough for the family...I used about 3 lbs, but it's cheaper here since it's caught locally!)
butter
tarragon
garlic salt (or garlic and salt)

Over med-high heat, melt the butter in a fry pan. Use at least several tablespoons of butter. Lay in the thawed fish, and sprinkle generously with tarragon, garlic, and salt. Cover and sizzle for about 3 minutes. Turn fish over, and cook, uncovered, until fish gets golden and crusty in the butter. Add more butter as needed. Turn again to make sure it's golden on both sides and that the herbs spread all over.
Eat it while it's hot!
Revel in the yumminess.

I wish I had a picture of this. It was so pretty! We ate it with garlic and olive oil couscous and mixed steamed veggies on the side.