Stir fry

Spring Veggie Stir-Fry

• Author: Cookie and Kate
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 4 side servings
• Category: Side dish
• Cuisine: Chinese

Ingredients

• ¼ cup Fusia Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce (regular soy sauce is too salty!)
• 2 tablespoons SimplyNature Organic Wildflower Honey or maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons arrowroot starch or corn starch
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 large clove garlic, pressed or minced
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper (scale back or omit completely if you’re sensitive to spice)
• 1 tablespoon SimplyNature Organic Coconut Oil or your cooking oil of choice
• 1 small red onion, root and tip ends removed and cut into ¼-inch thick wedges
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into very thin rounds
• Pinch of salt
• ½ bunch (½ pound) thin asparagus, tough ends removed and cut into 2-inch long pieces

Instructions

1. In a liquid measuring cup, combine the soy sauce, honey, cornstarch, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes. Whisk until blended and set aside.
2. Warm the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and carrots and a pinch of salt. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring every 30 seconds or so, until the onions have softened, about 4 to 5 minutes. (If at any point you catch a whiff of something burning while making this stir-fry, dial back the heat a bit.)
3. Add the asparagus and cook, stirring every 30 seconds, until the carrots are starting to caramelize on the edges and are easily pierced by a fork, about 3 minutes.
4. Pour in the prepared sauce and cook, while stirring constantly, until the sauce has thickened to your liking, about 30 to 60 seconds. Remove from heat and serve as a side dish as-is, or turn it into a main dish by serving it with rice, fried eggs or tofu.

Notes

Make it gluten free: Use gluten-free reduced-sodium tamari instead of regular soy sauce.
Make it vegan: Use maple syrup instead of honey

Sugar Snap Pea and Carrot Soba Noodles

Sugar Snap Pea and Carrot Soba Noodles

• Author: Cookie and Kate
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 6
• Category: Main
• Cuisine: Asian
• 
  

Soba

• 6 ounces soba noodles or spaghetti noodles of choice
• 2 cups frozen organic edamame
• 10 ounces (about 3 cups) sugar snap peas or snow peas
• 6 medium-sized carrots, peeled
• ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro (about 2 handfuls)
• ¼ cup sesame seeds

Ginger-sesame sauce

• ¼ cup reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons quality peanut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small lime, juiced
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon white miso*
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce or sriracha

Instructions

1. To prepare the vegetables: Use a chef’s knife to slice the peas in half lengthwise (or just roughly chop them). Slice the carrots into long, thin strips with a julienne peeler, or slice them into ribbons with a vegetable peeler.
2. To make the sauce: whisk together the ingredients in a small bowl until emulsified. Set aside.
3. Bring two big pots of water to a boil. In the meantime, toast the sesame seeds: Pour the sesame seeds into a small pan. Toast for about 4 to 5 minutes over medium-low heat, shaking the pan frequently to prevent burning, until the seeds are turning golden and starting to make popping noises.
4. Once the pots of water are boiling: In one pot, cook the soba noodles just until al dente, according to package directions (probably about 5 minutes), then drain and briefly rinse under cool water. Cook the frozen edamame in the other pot until warmed through (about 4 to 6 minutes) but before draining, toss the halved peas into the boiling edamame water and cook for an additional 20 seconds. Drain.
5. Combine the soba noodles, edamame, snap peas and carrots in a large serving bowl. Pour in the dressing and toss with salad servers. Toss in the chopped cilantro and toasted sesame seeds. Serve.

Notes

*I used Miso Master brand’s reduced-sodium sweet white miso. It’s in the refrigerated section near the tofu. Omit if you can’t find it, but it provides a nice boost of flavor.
Make it vegan: Sub agave nectar for the honey.
Make it gluten free: Buy certified gluten-free, all buckwheat soba noodles (or gluten-free spaghetti) and use tamari instead of regular soy sauce. Make sure your miso is gluten free, if using.
Storage suggestions: This dish keeps decently well, covered and refrigerated, for a couple of days, BUT here’s a better way, courtesy of Janet: make a batch, store the salad and dressing separately until ready to eat, and then grab one or two portions and add some dressing. Either way, you can serve leftovers chilled or gently rewarmed. Wake up leftovers with a dash of additional tamari or lime juice and fresh cilantro leaves.
Change it up: Feel free to substitute other seasonal produce for the sugar snap peas, or skip them altogether for less prep work. Chopped, raw bell pepper would be a nice addition this summer.

beef with broccoli

Prep Time:10 min Cook Time:5 hr

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. sirloin steak or boneless beef chuck roast, sliced thin
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 Tablespoons water
• 1 (12 oz.) bag frozen broccoli florets
• White rice, cooked

Instructions

• In the insert of the crockpot, whisk together beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and garlic.
• Place slices of beef in the liquid and toss to coat. Cover with lid and cook on low heat for 5 hours.
• When done, whisk together cornstarch and water in small bowl. Pour into crock pot and stir to mix well. Add the frozen broccoli over the beef and sauce. Gently stir to combine. Cover with lid and cook 30 minutes to cook broccoli and thicken sauce.
• Serve over warm white rice. Enjoy!

life in the lofthouse https://life-in-the-lofthouse.com/

marshmallows

• 3 packages unflavored gelatin
• 0.5 cup cold water, 0.5 c cold water
• 12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (generous)
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• Nonstick spray

Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water (can sub diff liquid here- lime juice, bourbon, prosecco, ettc) Mix a little?. Have the whisk attachment standing by.

In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat.

Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows.

Add vanilla during last minute

Combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Lightly spray a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Very coat, Coat AF. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.

When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula (or wet hand) for spreading evenly into the pan. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Whipped shortbread cookies

3 c butter - softened
1.5 c powdered sugar
4.5 c flour (1c = 120g)
1.5 c corn starch (1c = 120g)
dash vanilla


cream together butter & Sugar & vanilla

sift flour & cornstarch, gradually add into butter mix

roll into 1" balls, flatten with a fork
Bake
300deg fro 20 min

Let rest 5min before transfer

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookie

Total Time: 8m

Yield: 7-10 cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup peanut butter, or allergy-friendly sub
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3 tbsp flour (spelt, white, oat, sorghum, rice all work)
• 1/3 cup sugar, unrefined if desired
• 2 tbsp applesauce
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt

Instructions

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. If your peanut butter is not stir-able, gently warm to soften. Add all remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir to form a dough. Roll into cookie balls. If you want soft cookies, refrigerate the dough at least an hour. (You can also freeze cookie dough balls to bake at another time if you wish.) Bake in a preheated oven (350F) for 8 minutes. The cookies will look quite underdone when you take them out. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from tray, as they firm up while cooling.

Read more at https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/12/11/secret-peanut-butter-cookies/#1YjGd0Imw6dTLTVY.99

Pan seared salmon

2 salmon filets, about 6 oz each


1 lemon, sliced


2 sprigs fresh rosemary


2 whole cloves garlic


olive oil and canola oil, as needed


salt and freshly ground black pepper


Directions


Add a bit of olive oil and canola to medium sized skillet and place it over medium high heat. Season the salmon with salt and pepper.  When the pan is hot, add the salmon presentation (opposite of skin side) down and cook for about 2-3 minutes.  Add the lemon slices, garlic and rosemary.  While the salmon is cooking, baste it with the oil that collects at the bottom of the pan with a spoon.


Your salmon is ready to flip with it easily releases from the pan.  Carefully sfip the filets and cook for an additional 3 minutes or so.