Chinese Beef & Broccoli

Chinese food is one of those things that I think everyone loves, and I don't know anyone who doesn't! However, it is terrrriibbblllleeee for you. Beef & Broccoli is one of my favorites, as well as crab rangoons, egg drop soup, orange chicken, mmmmmm! But, I'll save those for another day. This Beef with Broccoli recipe is only around 330 calories too.

Ingredients
~3/4 lb round steak, cut into 1/4 in strips (sometimes I'll use sirloin if it's on sale..it's more tender)
~1 lb broccoli, cut up into florets
~1/3 cup oyster sauce
~2 tsp sesame oil
~1/3 cup white wine
~2 tsp soy sauce
~1 tsp sugar
~1 tsp cornstarch
~About 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
~1 slice ginger root
~1 clove of garlic peeled and smashed

1. Stir together the oyster sauce, sesame oil, white wine, soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch. Add beef strips to the marinade/sauce and let marinate in the fridge for about an hour.

2. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat, and stir/toss around the garlic and ginger for about 2 minutes to flavor the oil. Then, pull out the ginger and garlic clove and throw it in your compost pile :)

3. Stir the broccoli around in the oil, and toss & stir it until it's nice and green to your desired doneness (I like mine still crunchy but where the heads are JUST starting to get soft) right around 5-7 minutes. Remove the broccoli and set aside.

4. Add a little more oil to the wok if needed. Stir and toss the beef WITH the marinade in the wok until the beef is cooked and the sauce turns into more of a glaze (about 5 minutes).

5. Return the broccoli to the wok and toss with the beef for about 3 minutes to heat through and thoroughly coat. Makes 4 servings. Serve over rice if desired!

Let me know what you think! 

Vegetable Lo Mein

I love chinese food!! Especially veggie lo mein! So, I decided to try to make some...I'm super picky and it was good! The hubby ate 3 bowls full...so much for his end of our "diet". Oh well, y'all try it! Let me know what you think! 

Ingredients

-1 lb vermicelli or chinese noodles

-1 package tofu, extra firm, cubed

-1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

-8 oz can of bamboo shoots (I sliced them thinner than they were sliced in the can)

-1 cup celery, chopped

-1 cup bean sprouts

-1 tsp chopped garlic

-1 tsp salt

-1 cup vegetable broth (I used my handy vegetable broth ice cubes)

-1 tsp sugar

-1 cup water

-2 Tbsp soy sauce

-2 Tbsp oyster sauce

-1 Tbsp flour

1. Cook noodles according to directions. Drain, and set aside. 

2. Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots, celery, bean sprouts, and garlic to a bowl on the side. 

 3. Take a wok or a large skillet, and add a small amount of oil. Brown the tofu in the skillet/wok over medium-high heat.

 4. Dump your bowl of veggies into the wok/skillet and saute until your preferred amount of doneness.

5. Add the salt, vegetable broth, sugar, water, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Stir fry to heat through.

6. Add flour to thicken a little. Then, toss the noodles with the sauce/veggie mixture. Enjoy!

This recipe boasts only about 400 calories a serving. YUM!!! 

Healthy Baked Crab Rangoon's

I love Chinese food...especially those little fried crab wonton rangoon thingies. I was thinking that there must be a way to make those absolutely terribly unhealthy for you forms of deliciousness...remotely healthy. After doing some research, thinking, and experimenting, I created some absolutely delicious forms of healthiness! :)

Ingredients

-square wonton wrappers

-1 (8oz) package of Neufchatel cream cheese, softened

-1 (8oz) package of crab meat, shredded (I used imitation because it was on sale for $2)

-green onions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*.

2. Spray down muffin tins with cooking spray. I used a 12 muffin pan and a 6 muffin tin, to make 18. 

3. Lay a wrapper over each tin, and push it in a little to line tin. 

4. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the crab meat and cream cheese.

5. Spoon mixture into each tin on top of the wonton wrappers.

6. If desired, push another wrapper in along the top of the crab meat. I did half of mine this way. It makes them have some extra crunch.

7. Sprinkle green onions over the top.

8. Bake at 350* for about 10 minutes, until heated through and tips are golden brown. 

Can you believe these are only 64 calories a piece!! Compare that to the around 200 calories a piece for the fried ones!! I had a few of these and a salad for a nice little dinner. 

Try them out, and let me know what you think!! 

Hunan Chow Mein

Serves: 6
Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
-1 medium onion, chopped
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-2 tablespoons of peanut oil
-2 tablespoons of soy sauce
-1 teaspoon dried mustard
-2 stalks of celery, sliced diagonally
-2 cups of bok choy, chopped
-1 red bell pepper, sliced
-8 oz can water chesnuts, sliced
-1 cup vegetable stock
-1 cup mushrooms, sliced
-4 cups white rice, cooked

1. Cook onion & garlic in oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat until onions begin to soften (about 3 minutes).
2. Stir in the rest of the ingredients (except the rice).
3. Continue cooking, stirring frequently until all the veggies are almost tender, but still a little crispy (about 5 minutes).
4. Serve over rice!

This was really yummy! Dean added a little extra soy sauce to his, but to me it had enough flavor. I tried to take a picture, but by the time we finished eating and I went over to take a picture (I do this, because Dean always saves one serving for him to take to work the next day for lunch) the "rest" had already been eaten!! Oh well, I guess I'll get a picture next time. But, either way this definitely turned out better than my experimentation with Thai food earlier in the week which wasn't even worth documenting...

Anyway, try this one!! It's delicioussss!! Feel free to add or take out any veggies and substitute for your favorites! Just make sure you get all your veggie food groups!! :)