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clean out the fridge beef stir-fry

April 28, 2016 By Fareen Leave a Comment

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!

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: asian, beef, chinese, vegetables

copycat p.f. chang’s mongolian beef

January 4, 2016 By Fareen Leave a Comment

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.

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: beef, chinese, copycat, mongolian, pfchang, restaurant

chinese new year

January 30, 2014 By Fareen Leave a Comment

This year’s Chinese New Year will be celebrated on January 31st ushering in the Year of the Horse.

Food is an important part of the Chinese culture and a lot of significance is assigned to different foods for the New Year. Several foods are consumed to usher in wealth, happiness and good fortune.

Here are the top 10 lucky foods to usher in the New Year:

Dumplings: Symbolizes wealth as the shape resembles Chinese ancient money.
Rice Dumplings: The round shape of the rice dumplings represents reunion and their stickiness symbolizes cohesiveness.
Mandarins or tangerines: The roundness of these fruit suggests abundant happiness and wholeness. Their Chinese names are also homonyms for “gold” and “luck.”
Lettuce: As a homonym for “making money” in Chinese, lettuce symbolizes the fulfillment of wealth in the coming year.
Whole fish: The Chinese word for “fish” is a homonym for “abundance.” In Chinese culture, eating fish represents having a surplus throughout the year.
Whole chicken: A whole cooked chicken symbolizes prosperity and togetherness of family.
Melon seeds: These snacks symbolize fertility along with sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
Fried sesame balls: The round shape and golden colour of these snacks are considered lucky. According to the Chinese, since they increase in size as they are fried they are a metaphor for a small venture growing and bringing back a large return.
Deep fried pastry with sesame: This snack’s name in Chinese translates to “smiling mouth,” which symbolizes the happiness it will bring to the family.
Rice cakes: The Chinese name of rice cakes ‘nian gao,’ literally means a “higher year” or year of improvement or advancement.

Adding to the already impressive assortment of international foods
available at Real Canadian Superstore® locations, select new T&T®
brand products are now in-store making it easier than ever to celebrate
Chinese New Year on January 31st .  A box of some of the goodies that they offer was sent to me. A few items included:

T&T® Philippine
Dried Mangoes: These dried mangoes originated from the Philippines’
famous mango city, Cebu. The warm, sultry climate and fertile soil of
Cebu make it ideal for producing the most delicious mango variety. Lush,
creamy and aromatic, these mangoes are a unique blend of sweetness and
tartness. Use them for a garnish in salads or as a substitute for other
dried fruits.  

T&T® Dried Shiitake Mushrooms: The
quality and rich flavour of T&T® Dried Shiitake Mushrooms is
signified by their large cap, fissures and thickness. With a long shelf
life, these mushrooms rehydrate quickly in warm water and are great to
enjoy on their own or in your favourite mushroom recipes.

T&T® Senbei Rice Cracker: Senbei rice crackers are made with the
best rice from Thailand and are a type of Japanese rice crackers that
come in various shapes, sizes and flavours. Senbei are often eaten as a
snack with green tea and offered to visiting house guests as a courtesy
refreshment or can be used to make your favourite canapés or hors
d’oeuvres.

T&T® Biscuit Egg Roll: This traditional
street food of Hong Kong and Asia is made with flaky egg dough from
simple but fresh ingredients. Try these biscuits as a delicious
complement to ice cream.

Real Canadian Superstore®
locations will also be carrying a wide assortment of fresh quality Asian
produce for Chinese New Year including Pomelos, Chinese Mini Mandarins,
Guava, Star Fruit, Long Beans and more. I especially loved their shrimp dumplings which were available in the freezer section.

Using the Shiitake Mushrooms as well as the Korean Kalbi Marinade Sauce, I made up this delicious dish.  The mushrooms were meaty and absorbed all the tasty marinade. Even Q, who doesn’t like mushrooms, loved it. Not that I told him that they were mushrooms….

Disclosure:
I received a variety of products from President’s Choice along with a
gift certificate to try out some of their frozen items. I was under no
obligation to write about them. Opinions are my own. – See more at:
http://www.foodmamma.com/2013/12/presidents-choice-for-holidays.html#sthash.DMZwkj7b.dpuf
Disclosure:
I received a variety of products from President’s Choice along with a
gift certificate to try out some of their frozen items. I was under no
obligation to write about them. Opinions are my own. – See more at:
http://www.foodmamma.com/2013/12/presidents-choice-for-holidays.html#sthash.DMZwkj7b.dpuf

Disclosure: I received a variety of products from T&T/Real Canadian Superstore along with a gift certificate to try out some of their frozen items. I was under no obligation to write about them. Opinions are my own.

Shiitake Mushrooms in Kalbi Sauce
Recipe from T &T

1 can of T&T® Chicken Broth
15 pieces T&T® Shiitake Mushrooms
60 g T&T® Korean Kalbi Marinade Sauce
Chopped parsley

Soak T&T® Shiitake mushrooms in warm water for 1 hour. Remove the stems.

In large saucepan over medium heat, add mushrooms, chicken broth and kalbi sauce. Stir well, then cover the saucepan and allow the mushrooms to cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Simmer covered for 1 hour.

Spring the parsley over the stew and serve immediately. Makes 2-4 servings

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: celebrations, chinese, vegetables, vegetarian

jessica’s restaurant in chestermere

September 7, 2010 By Fareen Leave a Comment

Beef, coated in batter, deep fried and tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce…yum!  Ginger beef is one of my favorite dishes and a must have at least once a month (or twice!).  Luckily, Chestermere has a fabulous restaurant that serves great ginger beef to satisfy me every time I get a craving.  The restaurant is located in the plaza just behind the car wash.  Usually, we get their dinner for 2 – soup, spring rolls, chicken fried rice, chicken with mixed vegetables and ginger beef.  Their portions are generous, and we always have left overs.  The staff at Jessica’s are very accomodating. When I have my son with me, they are happy to deliver the food to my car so I don’t have to take him out of his car seat – how sweet is that!  If you live in the city, Jessica’s has a second location in Temple.

Jessica Restaurant‎ #1 on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: foodmamma Tagged With: chinese, eating out

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Hello!

My name is Fareen and I'm so happy you stopped by! This blog is about my favourite things - family, food and travel. Here you will find adventures with hubby, my two boys and my great big family. There is food (lots of food!), as much travel as we can squeeze in and just life in general.

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