These cheese stuffed meatballs are a new family fave. Made in minutes in the instant pot, they are perfect with pasta or a hunk of bread.
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beef
Steak Bites with Sesame Steak Sauce
One of our favourite sauces has to be the steak sauce from Japanese restaurants. This is sesame steak sauce is simple to make at home and enjoy with easy to make steak bites.
Those who know me know I can’t resist a good dip. It doesn’t matter how tasty the food is on it’s own, if there’s a tasty dip to go along side it, I can’t resist. Q is the same way. When he first tried the sesame steak sauce at a restaurant, he was hooked. He’s been asking for a while to recreate it at home.
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canada beef and canadian living family cooking event
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a great weekend with a delicious meal enjoyed with family. Luckily I had help with dinner prep from Q, who happily helped with making dessert.
We have had the kids in the kitchen from an early age. From measuring out flour or rolling out dough, there is always something for them to do to get them involved. We learned early on that if they have a hand in making a meal, they are more likely to eat it.
I was excited to be invited, along with Q, to the Canada Beef cooking event in partnership with Canadian Living. This was an interactive session, “Cook With Us”, that allowed us to learn from the folks at the Beef Centre, and arm the kids with basic skills to be confident in the kitchen.
The event took place at the Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence where we were invited to cook with several other families. Each family worked as a team to create one course for a meal to be enjoyed by all at the end of the evening. Of course beef took centre stage and the meal included meatloaf, sliders, stew, a stirfry and a roast.
Q and I were tasked with making mozzarella-stuffed mini meatloaves. We were joined virtually by Publisher Sandra Martin from Canadian Living who helped us prepare the dish. I have to admit, I’ve never made meatloaf. Maybe because I’ve always had this perception that meatloaf is dry. Well, this sure did change my mind! The meat was super moist and the flavours were fantastic. This recipe was a hit, especially with Q who made me promise that we would make it again at home. We did, and it tasted amazing the second time around as well.
The October issue of Canadian Living has a dedicated feature on families cooking together along with some great beef recipes. You can find the recipe for the mini meatloaves here.
Thanks to Canada Beef and Canadian Living for a fun evening!
beef and mushroom lettuce wraps
It’s been a year since we have moved into our new place and this year, I was determined to have a garden. Hubby built me a box and we thought we would try our hand at growing our own food. What started out as a couple things ended up into a dozen. We planted kale, butter lettuce, tomatoes, herbs, zucchini, onions, carrots and fruit. We were thrilled when we started to see things grow and our sparse box turned into a lush garden.
There’s nothing like eating from your own garden. It’s fresh and so rewarding to be eating something to you have grown yourself. The butter lettuce has been a big success, the leaves growing big and full. There’s only so much salad you can eat though and so we have been using the lettuce as wraps.
These beef and mushroom wraps were a hit, with no leftovers. Adding the Korean pepper sauce, Gochujang, made Q happy since he can’t seem to get enough of it. The beef fulfilled everyone’s protein requirement and wrapping it in lettuce made us feel so great, eating a filling and healthy meal.
I’m happy to be participating in another Canadian Food Creatives Collaboration. This month’s theme is Fresh from the Garden and is hosted by Cassie of Crumb Kitchen. Check out all the fresh recipes and see this recipe below.
Beef and Mushroom Lettuce Wraps by Food Mamma
Caramelized Peaches with Coconut Whipped Cream and Crumble by Crumb Kitchen
Easy Sheet Pan Oven-Roasted Root Vegetables by She Loves Biscotti
Grilled Zucchini Greek Salad by Making Healthy Choices
Mexican Bean Salsa by 365 Days of Easy Recipes
Potatoes with Green Onion and Dill by Homemade & Yummy
Roasted Beet Chocolate Brownies by Tiny Sweet Tooth
Roasted Veggie Bocconcini Pasta Salad by Sugarlovespices
Strawberry Mint Chickpea Salad by Healthy Life Redesign
Beef and Mushroom Lettuce Wraps
1 lb ground beef
200 grams white mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
2 TB gochujang
2 green onions, sliced
butter lettuce
green onions
Cook the ground beef and mushrooms until the mushrooms are tender and the ground beef is cooked. Add the garlic and the sauces and let cook for ten minutes. Finish with the green onions.
Wrap the beef mixture in the lettuce, top with more green onions and serve with hoisin sauce and Sriracha.
spiced garlic bread burgers
It was a typical May long weekend – cloudy, rain and even snow! This past weekend was a far cry from the 30 degree weather we experienced the week before. You gotta love Calgary weather.
Last week’s hot temperatures made us want to bbq. We really felt like having some burgers and not having any buns was not going to stop us. I had a couple loaves of garlic bread in the freezer and it made the perfect enclosure for some juicy, spiced burgers. Adding cumin and coriander definitely added the pop of flavour that I was hoping for. Combined with the buttery garlic from the toasted bread, it was a satisfying summer time meal.
Spiced Garlic Bread Burgers
1 lb ground beef
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground corainder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
salt
pepper
garlic bread
Combine the beef with the spices, mixing just enough to get everything mixed together. Make patties and bbq. Grill the garlic bread and any veggies you want to top your burger. Enjoy!
clean out the fridge beef stir-fry
Sometimes I’m overly optimistic and I buy way too many vegetables. I plan meals that don’t come into fruition and sometimes these healthy morsels seem to get forgotten in the fridge. Stir-fries are the perfect dish to clean out your fridge and make use of all those veggies before they end up in the compost bin.
Yesterday, I went to the grocery store yesterday just to buy the beef. I was determined to use up everything that was in my fridge. Sadly, the red peppers didn’t make it, but I did manage to save the broccoli and the carrots. I even used up the half bag of salad that was in the fridge – the cabbage and the carrots, even the pumpkin seeds, were perfect for a stir-fry.
I dredged the beef in a flour mixture because I wanted the pieces to be a little crisp but you can totally skip that step. For the sauce, I sometimes just make a mixture of the sauces that are in the fridge, using up the last drops. This time, I made a slight variation to the sauce from the Mongolian Beef recipe, which was so delicious.
Mamma used up the veggies, the kids at the veggies, it was a good day!
Beef Stir-Fry
1 pound beef, cut into strips
1/2 cup flour
2 TB cornstarch
salt
pepper
vegetables
2 tsp oil
2 tsp ginger
2 TB minced garlic
1/2 cup soya sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 TB corn starch
2 TB water
In a small saucepan, combine the first six sauce ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil. Combine the corn starch with the water and add to the sauce ingredients. Let simmer until thick.
Combine the flour, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Dredge the beef in the flour mixture and pan fry. This can be done in batches. Keep aside. Drain the oil from the pan and add in any vegetables. Once they are almost cooked, add back the meat and add the sauce. Perfect with rice!
back to the dinner table with canada beef
A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to the Canada Beef Centre of Excellence for the Canada Beef Family Dinner. The evening featured the launch of the new Canadian Beef brand, a burger cookoff and some delicious beef eats themed around the Family Dinner.
We filled our bellies with beef short ribs, beef sliders, roast beef with barley and beef tacos while we watched local food personalities compete in a burger cookoff. We were also treated to a performance by Canada’s country music superstar, Paul Brandt who is featured in Canada Beef’s latest video. It was a great evening with foodie friends and Canada Beef.
Growing up, both my parents worked hard during the day. Dinners were the one meal that we could spend time together and catch up on everyone’s day. We would all rush off to evening activities but not before having a hearty meal with our loved ones.
Now that I have my own kids, eating dinner together remains an important part of the day. It’s a great way to find out about what’s going on when we aren’t together. Sometimes all it takes is a delicious meal with all of us on the table to get the little guy to open up about school and friends and life as a seven year old. The days we have activities in the evening, just means we eat earlier or later but still together.
Food is always the center of any kind of celebration. I love how it brings people together, and provides an excuse to spend time with the ones we love. When thinking back on these family dinners, Canada Beef plays an important role. From pot roasts for Sunday suppers to juicy steaks for birthdays, food is as big a part of the memories as the moments we spend with each other.
Looking for ideas to incorporate Canada Beef into your family dinner? Mexican Pasta Shells and Taco Casserole make the perfect weeknight meal.
Weekends are perfect for slow cooked meals like Pot Roast or Slow Cooker Beef Ribs. Get more inspiration and tips with Canada Beef’s The Roundup app.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for the #makeitCDNbeef influencer program. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
copycat p.f. chang’s mongolian beef
I love love love P. F. Chang’s. If there’s a city that I visit that has the restaurant, you can be sure that I will visit it at least once (maybe twice) while I’m there. I love the Asian dishes that they have and there really is something for everyone.
When I found this copycat recipe of P. F. Chang’s Mongolian Beef, I could not wait to try it! I am so thankful that Tiffany had it on her blog. It was easy to make and the sauce was soooo good. It was pretty close to the real thing. As mentioned on her blog, the recipe makes way more sauce than you need but it’s perfect for anything really. I still have some left over which I might use with some chicken.
Until I can get to P. F. Chang’s, this dish is delicious and satisfying!
Copycat P. F. Chang’s Mongolian Beef
From Creme de la Crumb
1 pound stir fry beef strips
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
1 TB corn starch
1 TB soya sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar
2 TB oil
4 tsp oil
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 TB minced garlic
1 cup soya sauce
1 cup water
1 2/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 TB corn starch
3 TB water
green onions
sesame seeds
Combine all marinade ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Pour into a zip-lock back with beef strips, seal and chill 1 hour or overnight.
Drain marinade from zip-lock and set beef aside.
In a medium sauce pan combine sauce ingredients. Stir and heat over medium high heat until brown sugar has dissolved. While sauce is cooking, whisk together corn starch and water in a small bowl until corn starch is dissolved. Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and stir in corn starch-water mixture. Allow sauce to thicken slightly, then remove from heat.
In a large pan or skillet, cook beef strips over medium high heat until cooked through (5-8 mins) turning strips over throughout to ensure even cooking, reduce heat to medium. add ½-1 cup of sauce. Stir and cook 1-2 minutes longer. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.
slow cooker beef ribs
The slow cooker is always welcomed around here, especially on the weekend. It’s nice to dump things in in the morning, enjoy our day as a family and still sit down to a great home cooked meal. A couple weeks ago, we enjoyed these beef ribs with fig bbq sauce. These saucy ribs are tender and fall off the bone. Easy and tasty – perfect for a busy Sunday.
Slow Cooker Beef Ribs
1 pound beef short ribs
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 TB fig spread
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp paprika
salt
pepper
1 cup water
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 TB fig spread
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp paprika
salt
pepper
1 cup water
Pat the ribs dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat some oil in a pan and sear the meat on all sides. Place in slow cooker. In the same pan, add a little more oil and add garlic and onions until softened. Add the ketchup, vinegar, fig spread and spices and cook for a few minutes. Add the water and pour the sauce over the ribs. Cook in the slow cooker on low for six to eight hours.
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 TB fig spread
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 poblano pepper, roasted
salt
pepper
oil
sriracha, as hot as you like it
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 TB fig spread
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 poblano pepper, roasted
salt
pepper
oil
sriracha, as hot as you like it
Heat some oil in a pan and add the onions and garlic. Add the ketchup,
vinegar, fig spread and spices and cook for a few minutes. Add the
mixture to a blender along with the pepper and sriracha. – See more at:
https://foodmamma.com/2015/09/yyc-pizza-week-blogger-challenge.html#sthash.BgiEKbV9.dpuf
skirt steak marinade
Hubby and I took a course last month at the Canada Beef Centre of
Excellence. We both knew we loved our beef but we wanted to know what
the different cuts were and how to prepare each cut. It was a fun day,
learning together and eating beef. We had a great day learning with Master Butcher Abe van Melle and Certified Chef de Cuisine Marty Carpenter.
We ended up loving the skirt steak. Skirt steak is a long cut from the diaphragm muscle of the cow. This cut has an intense beefy flavour and is now one of our favourites.
It’s a great steak to marinate for a couple of
hours and throw on the grill. We prepared some a couple of weeks ago and
loved it in this marinade I threw together. It was sweet and tart and
garlicky, a great combination.
Skirt Steak Marinade
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TB garlic, crushed
1 tsp cumin
1/4 cup brown sugar
Combine all the ingredients and pour into a large plastic zippered bag. Add the raw steak
to the bag and make sure it is fully coated in the marinade. Place in
the fridge for a couple of hours. Remove from the fridge half an hour
before you want to grill.