Lightened Up Beef & Vegetable Stir-Fry

Dinner tonight could have been better if it wasn't for the tough beef. I am not sure if the problem with the beef was that it may have been a lower quality of beef, or that I over cooked it. Whatever the reason it was TOUGH! We made Anna chew it for a good five minutes before she could swallow it. Granted it was Anna and she tends to over exagerate if it is something she doesn't want to do.
Besides the tough beef, this was a good dish. The broccoli, onions, and mushrooms were all very good and the cream of mushroom soup added a lot of flavor and the sauce that was left behind tried to help out the dried out tough meat. Sarah liked the beef and kept on asking for more, but the rest of us had one piece and that was enough!

Grade:
If the meat would have been tender: B+
As it was: D+
Ingredients: (Recipe from Campbell's)
Vegetable cooking spray
1 boneless beef sirloin steak, 3/4-inch thick (about 1 pound), sliced into very thin strips
2 cups broccoli florets
6 ounces sliced mushrooms (about 2 cups)
2 medium onions, cut into wedges
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Healthy Request® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 cup regular long-grain white rice, cooked according to package directions without salt (about 3 cups)

Directions
1.Spray a 12-inch skillet with the cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the beef and cook until it's well browned, stirring often. Remove the beef from the skillet and set aside.

2.Remove the skillet from the heat and spray with the cooking spray. Add the broccoli, mushrooms, onion and garlic powder and cook until the vegetables are tender-crisp, stirring often.

3.Stir the soup, water and soy sauce in the skillet and heat to a boil. Return the beef to the skillet and cook until it's cooked through. Serve the beef mixture over the rice.


If you can't tell by Sarah's face, TOUGH!



Not sure what Emily is eating, but she didn't eat much.

Anna "forcing" rice into her mouth.

Looks like Lucy's mugshot.

Garlic Pork Tenderloin with Barbecue Sauce

What an amazing success with dinner tonight!!!! I wasn't sure how the girls were going to like pork tenderloin because it is hit or miss (usually a miss) with meat, but I wanted to make it. I looked easy to make and something quick I could put together without much prep. When the tenderloin was in the oven I let the girls try a little bit of the rub that was on the tenderloin and they liked it. I made some peas (which I know they love) and gave them a little bit of the pork. They could stop eating it! I had to make them eat their peas just to slow them down. We could have easily eaten the full pound of tenderloin just the four girls and myself. So if you are looking for something that has a lot of flavor and picky eaters might like, I recommend this recipe!!

Grade: A+

What You Need:
1 lb. pork tenderloin

1 Tbsp. GOOD SEASONS Garlic & Herb Dressing Mix
1/2 tsp. each paprika, dried thyme leaves and dried sage leaves
1/2 cup BULL'S-EYE Original Barbecue Sauce

Make It:
HEAT oven to 425°F.
PLACE meat in foil-lined shallow baking pan. Mix dressing mix and seasonings until blended; rub evenly over meat.
BAKE 20 to 25 min. or until done (160°F).
CUT into slices. Serve with barbecue sauce.

Sarah likes big bites!!!

Anna ate her first portion before I
could get the camera!

Lucy with her first of many bites!

Emily mid-bite.

Tuna & Pasta Cheddar Melt

This was a good, fast, an hearty meal. The best part may be that there was very little dishes to clean up. If I made this again, I would mix the peas and carrots into the tuna/pasta dish instead of having it on the side. The girls all ate it, except for Anna. She thought it tasted bad (I don't think she actually tried it). Grade: B+ 1 can (10 1/2 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Chicken Broth

1 soup can water

3 cups uncooked corkscrew-shaped pasta (rotini)

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)

1 cup milk

1 can (about 6 ounces) tuna, drained and flaked

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)

2 tablespoons Italian-seasoned dry bread crumbs

2 teaspoons butter, melted

1. Heat the broth and water in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat to a boil.  Stir in the pasta.  Reduce the heat to medium.  Cook until the pasta is tender, stirring often.  Do not drain. 2. Stir the soup, milk and tuna in the skillet.  Top with the cheese. Stir the bread crumbs and butter in a small bowl.  Sprinkle over the tuna mixture.  Cook until the cheese is melted.

Lucyliked her tuna pasta.

Emily ate all of hers.

Like pulling teeth with Anna!

Sarah doing her best "Emily" face.

Beef and Chipotle Burrito

This slow cooker meal was great for the adults, not so much for the girls however. It was a little spicy for the girls under six needed a lot of sour cream to dip their burritos in order to eat it. Anna and Emily did their best to finish it. The adults enjoyed it greatly. Hindsight, I would have only put half of the chipotle peppers in. Jen did teach me how to properly fold a burritos so the insides, remain inside.

Grade:

Adults: A-

Kids: D

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds boneless beef round steak, cut ¾ inch thick

1/3 cup chopped onion (1 small)

1 14 ½ ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 to 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped

1 tsp dried oregano, crushed

¼ tsp ground cumin

1 clove garlic, minced

6 9-10 inch tortillas, warmed

¾ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1.       Trim fat from meat. Cut meat into 6 pieces. In a 3 ½ or 4-quart crockery cooker place meat, undrained tomatoes, onion, chipotle peppers, oregano, cumin, and garlic.

2.       Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Remove meat from cooker. Using 2 forks, pull meat apart into shreds. Place meat in a large bowl. Stir in cooking liquid to reach desired consistency. Divide meat among warm tortilla, spooning it just below the center. Top with cheese.

Anna ate all of the spicy burrito!

Emily gave it a good try.

You can tell by the look on Lucy's face, she's not liking it.

Sarah started out on "fire" by did not finish.

Chili Rice with Chicken

No pictures. Worst meal I have ever cooked! I don't know if the tomatoes were rancid or maybe the chicken, but it was horrible. I ate a few bites and then threw out the rest. I strongly do not recommend cooking this, or maybe it was just a bad batch.

Grade: F

Ingredients:

1 Tbs olive oil

12 oz boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 2-inch long by ¼ inch wide strips

½ green bell pepper, coarsely chopped

½ red bell pepper, coarsely chopped (I used 1 green instead of ½ red)

½ cup minced onion

1 tsp minced jalapeno pepper (I omitted this)

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp chili powder

2 tsp minced fresh oregano (or ½ tsp dried oregano)

½ tsp ground cumin

3 cups cooked rice (long-grain white or brown)

1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes, with juice

½ tsp pepper

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken; cook, stirring occasionally, for about 2 to 3 minutes or until it is no longer pink on the outside. Stir in the bell peppers, onion, jalapeño pepper, garlic, chili powder, dried oregano (if using), and cumin. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is cooked through.

Reduce the heat to medium. Stir in the rice, tomatoes with juice, fresh oregano (if using), and pepper. Heat through, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Chicken Fried Steak

Chicken Fried Steak and frozen peas and carrots (like Forest and Jenny)

This was a good Wednesday night meal. The girls, even Anna, ate a minimum of two pieces of the steak. Lucy and Sarah kept asking for more and more meat. I over cooked it a little bit, as I should have reduced the time I left it on Medium-Low. This was the first time I have ever made gravy and it wasn't too bad.

Grade: B+

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless beef top round steak, cut ½ inch thick

¾ cup fine dry bread crumbs

1 ½ tsp snipped fresh basil or oregano

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

1 beaten egg

1 Tbs milk

2 Tbs cooking oil

1 small onion, sliced and separated into rings

2 Tbs all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups milk

1.       Trim fat from meat. Cut meat into 4 serving-size pieces. Place each piece of meat between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Working from center to edges, pound meat lightly with the flat side of a meat mallet to ¼ inch  thickness. Remove plastic wrap.

2.       In a shallow dish or on waxed paper combine bread crumbs, basil, the ½ tsp salt, and the ¼ tsp pepper. In another shallow dish combine egg and the 1 Tbs milk. Dip meat pieces into egg mixture, then coat with the bread crumb mixture.

3.       In a 12-inch skillet cook meat, half at time, in hot oil over medium heat about 6 minutes or until brown, turning once. (Add more oil, if necessary.) Return all meat to skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook for 45 to 60 minutes more or until meat is tender. Transfer meat to a serving platter, reserving drippings in skillet. Keep warm.

   For gravy, cook onion in reserved drippings until tender but not brown. (Add more oil, if necessary.) Stir in  flour. Gradually stir in the 1 1/3 cups milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. If desired, season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Serve gravy with meat.

Sarah eating her first of many pieces.

Anna actually eating steak!

Emily, mid-bite

Lucy chewing away. 

4.     

Sweet ‘n Sour Chicken Over Potatoes

This slow cooker meal was made on our “Slow Cooker Monday.”

I don't have any pictures for this meal because I was not "at" dinner during the time the girls were eating this. Actually, I am not sure if they ate this or not. Jen might have taken the path to least resistance and took the pizza route. I had it on Tuesday for lunch and it was moist and the potatoes had a pineapplely taste (yes, I am aware that pineapplely is not a word).

Grade: B-

Ingredients:

3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and sliced thin

4 whole chicken breasts, skinned and halved

1 cup orange juice

2 Tbs brown sugar

1 tsp dried basil

¼ tsp. nutmeg

2 Tbs cider vinegar

Dried parsley flakes

17-oz can pineapple chunks in water, drained

1.       Place sliced potatoes in slow cooker. Arrange chicken breasts over potatoes.

2.       Combine orange juice, brown sugar, basil, nutmeg, and vinegar. Pour over chicken.

3.       Sprinkle dried parsley flakes over chicken.

4.       Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours.

5.       Remove chicken breasts and potatoes from sauce and arrange on a warm platter.

6.       Add pineapple chunks to sauce remaining in slow cooker. Cook on high until they are at serving temperature.

7.       Pour sauce over chicken and potatoes.