Pork Lo Mein

Hi guys!

Did you miss me? I missed you a lot, too. I'm so happy to be back to blogging on a more regular schedule (starting today, that is); I have lots of yummy things ready to come your way in the next few weeks!

Also, in my absence, I missed a totally huge landmark--Gas Stove Girl surpassed 10,000 page views! I can't even believe it. I am so thankful for my readers, new and old, and I hope I can keep everyone coming back for more. Seriously, I love cooking, I love writing, and I love you guys. A great match made in heaven!

The recipe I have to share with you today was a super fast and super tasty weeknight dinner that I needed to make in a flash. Stir fries are the perfect solution to that problem. The key is to cook everything quickly at a high temperature and use lots of great flavors and textures for a well-rounded plate.

This Pork Lo Mein is tangy and crunchy. I packed it with tons of veggies and finished it with a thick pan sauce that coats the noodles in tons of tasty goodness. Boneless pork was my protein of choice, but this would be great with chicken, steak, or shrimp. Take-out has nothing on this dish!

Cory and I are so obsessed with these baby corns. Whenever I make a stir fry, I make sure to pick up a can of these. They are crunchy and sweet and there's just nothing like them.

By the way, if you haven't stumbled upon these Chinese-style noodles in your supermarket, you need to find them! They live in the produce section along with wonton wrappers and egg roll wraps. They are so fun to cook with and cook up in 3 minutes (that's right...THREE!).

I practically inhaled this dinner. For something so flavorful, you'd never guess it took less than 30 minutes to make. And unlike take out, you know exactly what you're putting into this dinner. It's like Ramen noodles, all grown up!

Ginger Beef and Vegetables (Crockpot)

The entire month of April has HECTIC written all over it for me, and it is at times like this that I am eternally grateful for my Crockpot.

I feel like Crockpot dinners can get monotonous...it's always some kind of soup or stew or pulled pork. I've been searching the ends of the internet for some fresh takes on a typical slow cooker meal.

I stumbled upon this recipe from Fit Magazine and knew I had to give it a try. I love this combination of Asian flavors, and they pair so well with the tender beef round. I simply made adjustments to what vegetables I had on hand.

Ginger Beef and Vegetables is a fun yet simple meal. Nearly all of the prep can be taken care of the night before, with a few finishing touches made just before you eat. This meal is rich in protein and packed with flavorful veggies.

The night before, I pre-chopped all my vegetables and beef. The beef, carrots, scallions, and garlic get added to the bowl of your slow cooker. In a measuring cup, whisk together minced ginger, water, vegetable bouillon, and low-sodium soy sauce. Pour over the meat and carrots and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, place the bowl in the body of the slow cooker and cook on low for 9 hours (or high for 4 1/2).

When you get home from work, turn the heat setting to high and stir in the bell pepper. Whisk cornstarch with a little bit of water and stir into the pot. Cover and cook for a bit longer. Remove the cover and stir in green beans (the frozen variety, thawed) and some lime juice. Cook until green beans are warmed and the sauce is to the desired thickness.

I served this beef over brown rice and garnished with additional scallions. This cured our craving for Chinese take out for half the cost and very little work! The beef was tender and packed with the great flavors of ginger and  soy sauce. The crispy beans and soft carrots make this a great vegetable medley. The creamy sauce is so dreamy! Below is the ingredient list and step by step instructions--enjoy!

Crab Rangoons

It's Super Bowl Week! That can only mean one thing -- lots and lots of appetizer recipes flooding the blog-o-sphere.

I want to get on this bandwagon for a couple of reasons. First, I absolutely LOVE making appetizers. Bite-sized snacks that are tasty to eat and fun to make really make my heart go pidder padder (or is it pitter patter? Life's great questions...)

I also think that homemade appetizers can elevate any game day party to the next level. And since this coming Sunday is the ultimate game day, this can't wait.

One thing I have been dying to make at home is Crab Rangoons. Back in college, any bad week could be made instantly better by ordering Chinese take-out with an extra order of crab rangoons. What part about cream cheese and crab meat fried to perfection WOULDN'T make it better?

Be still the college student inside my heart. Turns out making crab rangoons is totally easy. There is a little bit of assembly required, but other than that they cook up quickly and get eaten up even quicker!

It starts with cream cheese, softened to room temperature, alongside chopped scallions and shredded crab meat. I used the imitation crab meat because, honestly, after the mixing with cream cheese and the frying, it didn't seem necessary to splurge on lump crab meat.

Using a fork and some elbow grease, incorporate the cheese, crab and scallions along with Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and cracked black pepper.

Each wonton will be made using a wonton wrapper. These things are amazing, especially if you like cooking appetizers! They are usually right in the produce section of your grocery store -- just ask a nice employee to point you to them.

About a teaspoonful of the cream cheese mix is placed in the middle of each wrapper. Then, to seal the wrappers, dip your finger in water and run it along the outer edges. Fold the wrappers in half into triangles and seal well by pressing down on all sides, letting out as much air as possible.

Added bonus -- these keep really well in the refrigerator, so feel free to prep the night before that way on game day all you need to do is fry 'em up!

For cooking, heat a large amount of canola or vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan over medium heat. The level of the oil should be just high enough to cover the rangoons.

Cook in batches until golden brown. Best served hot with soy sauce or duck sauce for dipping.

There's not much more I can say about this app recipe. It's essentially everything you want in an appetizer. A bit sinful, but totally delicious. Easy to eat while crowded around a big TV with a bunch of friends. Just a complete yum-fest (I just made that word up...how do we like it?)

Clementine Chicken and Broccoli

I have a weakness, and it's Chinese take-out.

Those delightfully salty dishes that are tucked so kindly in little cardboard cartons, anything and everything fried up to golden brown perfection.

Put down the phone. You do NOT need Chinese take-out tonight!

Last night's meal was a little bit of an accident, but a fun and tasty one at that! We are trying really hard to clear out most of our perishables in the kitchen in preparation for our holiday travels.

One thing I had an abundance of was clementines. I absolutely LOVE clementines, they are smaller and sweeter than oranges, and worlds easier to peel. I can eat 3 or 4 in one sitting. I just can't stop!

Now, even though I can house a whole lot of celementines at once, I find that no matter how hard I try, some of them always get mushy and go to waste. This is probably because you can only buy a big wooden carton of them at the store. Well, waste not friends!

I took a bunch of celementines and mixed them up with chicken, broccoli and spinach to create a fun twist on one of my favorite chinese food dishes--orange chicken!

It was lighter, not nearly as greasy, and not smothered in some kind of mystery sauce. But it was flavorful and fun and extremely simple to make!

I followed some of my own rules on how to build a better stir fry and built flavors on top of one another. It starts by steaming broccoli in water and celementine juice.

Then I use a very special clementine olive oil (O brand) to sautee the broccoli until golden brown. Toss in the chicken and wedges from 2 or more clementines.

Balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, more clementine juice, and spinach thicken up the dish just a little bit; a plate of brown rice begs to be topped with the stir fry! Quick, and flavorful, and hearty, and delicious.