A Fresh Start

Greetings from Colorado. I have lived here a week (minus a weekend, but we will get to that), I am surrounded by boxes, and I have realized we downsized in all the wrong places, but I am happy to be here.

The move itself was a nightmare. One entire week of sleepless nights, back breaking labor, strep, anxiety, snowy passes and ambivalent neighbors, but it is all over now right!?! At least until we decide to move out of the apartment and get a house in 6-8 months. We had planned to spend our weekend shopping for furniture, I have no kitchen table and the boys have no beds, and organizing what we have unpacked. Instead we packed up the car at 1 am and drove to Utah so we could have our old house ready for renters to occupy this week.

What started as a quick trip to finish projects turned into a lovely mini-vacation spending time with my parents who have decided to buy a condo in Riverton to use as a vacation home. Even with the time we spent with family we were able to get the majority of the work done on the house, and 3 serious rental applicants to choose from. We will overlook the flat tires, exhaustion from driving all night, snow, car troubles and crazy Wyoming wind and call it a great weekend.

My sense of Home was a little flip-flopped, but it felt so good to be HOME today, even if it is in Colorado not Utah. The boys start school tomorrow which I am sure will only increase the feeling of permanence here.

I can't wait to get my kitchen put together. I have been in the mood to bake for days. I am thinking muffins and Ciabatta and hmmm maybe some English oatmeal scones.

Beef in Orange Sauce

Your stir fry is only as good as it's sauce, so really the recipes I am sharing here are sauce recipes. I like a lot of sauce in my stir fry. Adjust the amount of sauce used to your taste. This sauce is good with beef, chicken and shrimp.

This sauce uses sesame oil. look for Japanese toasted sesame oil in the asian section of your grocery store, or check out your local asian market (more about those next time.) I like the taste of white wine vinegar in Chinese sauces, but any kind will work. Use any veggies you like. For really quick dinners use a frozen stir fry mix. Poke a hole in the bag and microwave for a minute to thaw the veggies a bit. If using fresh veggies cut them in uniform size, but larger than you would for a soup or stew. Remember to add your fresh veggies in order of hardness, Carrots, broccoli stems first, then beans, peas and last broccoli flowers and zucchinis. The beef I used is thinly sliced round roast. I buy them on sale and ask my butcher to slice them as thin as he can. Then I freeze the slices in 1 lb chunks( 4-5 servings)and add 2 tsp soy sauce before I seal the bag. If you do not own a wok you can use a large frying pan, cast iron is best, but you will need to cook half at a time, or only make a half recipe.

Orange-Sesame Sauce

1/2 C orange juice

1/4 C chicken broth

1/4 C soy sauce

2T sesame oil

3T brown sugar

3T white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp ginger

1T cornstarch

Mix ingredients together and set aside.

Prepare 1 lb assorted vegetables of your choice plus 1 onion sliced and 3 minced garlic cloves. Drain 1lb sliced beef that has beef marinated in 2 tsp soy sauce.

Heat a wok or a large frying pan on high heat. Add 1T peanut or other vegetable oil. When oil is hot add onion. Stir constantly. As onion starts to brown add beef. Continue to swish food around in wok as you add vegetables. Add vegetbles one kind at a time ( if using frozen add all at once) until they begin to soften. Pour in sauce and bring to a boil. Serve over warm rice. serves 4-6.

Why Order Take Out?

Chinese food has to be one of my favorite cuisines. I do not think I am alone. I am however one of the few people in my circle of acquaintances who makes Chinese at home regularly. I think the strange ingredients scare some people away, and others are not aware that you can make Chinese at home that tastes as good as the take out place around the corner. It's cheep, and lightning quick, and dare I say it good for you. Imagine that. So as I service to all my friends and family who have requested, I will share my secrets with you starting with Beef in Orange sauce. This one is easy, requires only one specialty ingredient and is reminiscent of the Orange Chicken sauce at Panda ( I will give you the recipe for that one later).