Meal | still being [Molly]

Sometimes, when I wanna make dinner, but I’m kinda feeling lazy / kinda feeling fat / kinda wanting to eat healthy / kinda wanting a cop-out dinner that looks difficult but isn’t… I make a “stir-fry“.

Honestly, this is the best way to rid yourself of the leftover frozen veggies (or regular veggies before they go bad), or that extra meat you have in the fridge (or freezer).

So, you’re basically killing like, three birds with one stone. One bird being your “I’m hungry” bird, another bird being the “I need to get rid of these leftover veggies and meats” bird, and your “I want X person to think I slaved over dinner tonight, but really didn’t” bird.

This, is that meal.

You can really adapt this however you like, but here’s what I did for this particular diddy.

Ingredients:

Olive oil (for pan)
1 – 1+1/2 cups of broccoli (fresh or frozen… don’t matter)
2-3 carrots, peeled and diced / cut however you prefer
1/2 cup frozen lima beans (yeah, lima beans)
1/2 cup frozen peas (yeah, peas)
1 – 1+1/2 cups of corn kernels (frozen is best)
1/2 red onion diced
1-2 chicken breasts (cooked or uncooked)
1/2 lb. of cooked, frozen, deveined, tail-off shrimp
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. rice vinegar
1/4 tsp. sesame seed oil
1/4 tsp. honey (optional)
Red pepper flakes (to taste)
Salt + Pepper (to taste)
Soy sauce (to taste) (I use Trader Joe’s reduced sodium soy sauce and LOVE it)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine cubed cut, uncooked, chicken and shrimp with soy-sauce and red pepper flakes. Remember, there’s no science to this part – it’s really up to your taste. Make sure the meat is totally covered in the sauces. I let the meats marinate for about 10 minutes while I cut up my veggies.

Toss the meat combo with a little olive oil in a large skillet until the chicken is cooked 90-95% of the way through. Same for your shrimp.

I also, typically, season the meat some more while I’m cooking it – garlic, a little more red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper are my go-to seasonings.

Once you’ve got your meat mostly cooked, combine all your veggies in the large skillet with your spices. Adding soy sauce, salt, pepper, and garlic to taste as you go along.

Stir until the meat is cooked all the way through and your veggies are good, marinated, and hot!

Serve!

Voila! That’s it.

Seriously. Super easy.

Now, I use a ton of veggies in mine cause I like to throw ‘em in there. Nothing HAS to be in the stir-fry (except the spices… the spices and soy sauce are pretty important).

So yummy. So healthy. And makes awesome leftovers… especially after it’s had a chance to sit and marinate overnight. YUM.

Comment below if you’ve made this or something similar!

xoxo, All for now.

So, in addition to the Soda Bread I made, I knew I was going to have to make a sweet Irish meal for the hubs and my mother-in-law.

Now, I’ve never made Corned Beef, and I hate cabbage, so I knew right away cabbage was out of the question. I love potatoes and carrots – and those are rather Irish, too, so I decided that was going to be my complimentary side.

I also will have you know I wanted to do this sans recipe. I’ve been feeling much more comfortable in the kitchen and I figured I knew enough cooking conventions and what spices work together / what spices don’t, that I could venture out on my own.

And I did it.

And it was a SUCCESS!

Here’s the skinny. Or the beefy. However you want to look at it.

RECIPE: Boiled Corned Beef with Potatoes and Carrots (this recipe is good for 3-4 people – if you need it for more people, just double up on your essentials. The yummiers are the things that make the essentials, well, yummy.)

Ingredients:

Your Essentials:
2.5 pounds of Corned Beef**
5 large raw carrots
10 small red potatoes

Your Yummiers:
Red Wine Vinegar
5-6 cloves of fresh garlic halved (or diced… doesn’t really matter)
2 medium onions (I used red, but some people use yellow. I just despise yellow onions)
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
1 tbs. Garlic powder
Red Pepper Flakes (to taste)
Parsley (dash)

**Now, for the corned beef, because it is a dense, salty, meat – I recommend getting it fresh. I got my corned beef from The Meat House, a local butcher here in town. It was a little pricier than if I had gotten it from the supermarket, but I think making a special meal like this, the extra price is well worth it. I got 2.5 pounds of meat for $21. Not too bad. And it was FRESH. And smelled SO GOOD. I highly recommend the Meat House – they have them in many parts of the country – visit their site if you wanna see if there’s one near you.

Anywho.

Directions:

In a large, LARGE pot, place the Corned Beef in and fill it up with water until the water is covering the meat. Once the water is just above the meat, add a few squirts of red wine vinegar. I ended up using close to 2-3 tbs. But I really just guesstimated.

Then put in your spices. Salt, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and parsley.

Put the pot on the burner and put the burner on high to bring your beef, water, vinegar, and spices to a boil.

Peel your onions of the skin and plop them in (WHOLE) on each side of the beef. Now is also the time to drop in your halved (or diced) garlic cloves.

Cover the pot and bring to a boil – let it boil on high for about 30 minutes (at least bubbling to the point where it’s not spilling over).

Reduce heat and bring to a low boil, cover, and keep it there for about 40-50 minutes a pound. [NOTE: DO take into account the 30 minutes you've ALREADY had it on the stove].

For me, with 2.5 pounds of beef, that was about 2-2.5 hours TOTAL. Check on the meat periodically and turn it over if it starts to float and some of the beef is above water.

During the wait time, peel your carrots and chop into pieces. Don’t make the pieces too small – I just diced them into circles.

Also, you can set the table during this time. Or decorate. Or watch basketball. I did all of those things. See?

Now, with about 30 minutes of cooking / boiling time left, remove the onions with a slotted spoon and cut them into quarters – then drop them back in the pot.

Now is also the time to drop in your diced carrots and your 10 red potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender.

When the meat and potatoes are done, remove, cut the potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and place in a dish for serving.

Take out the meat, cut, and serve!

Voila!

Now, I ended up learning that I don’t personally love the texture of Corned Beef. The flavor was AWESOME and the meat was surprisingly juicy and tender. My husband and MIL LOVED it – and my husband has been eating leftovers ever since. My personal favorite were the potatoes and carrots. The flavors mixed together with the spices and meat were AWESOME – they also made great leftovers.

All in all, I would call it a success on all fronts. Everyone loved the meal, it made great leftovers, and I learned a lot along the way. I actually would love to try and cook some other meat this way.

Who here has made Corned Beef before? Successes? Failures? Comment below if you’ve made this or will make this!

xoxo, All for now.