Beef stroganoff

This is a yummy recipe that was shared with me by a friend several years ago. It's VERY easy to put together and takes about 30 minutes to cook.


BEEF STROGANOFF

• 1/4 c. butter or margarine
• 1/2 c. chopped onion
• 1 tsp. (2 cloves) minced garlic
• 8 oz. canned mushrooms, drained
• 1 lb. diced beef (I use chuck, flank, or sirloin steak)
• 1 1/2 c. beef bouillon (1 1/2 c. water plus 1 1/2 tsp. beef bouillon granules)
• 3 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp. all purpose flour
• 16 oz. sour cream (I've also used plain yogurt when I didn't have sour cream)
• egg noodles

Saute' onion and garlic in melted butter. Add mushrooms and diced beef and cook until beef is browned, stirring frequently. Whisk together the beef bouillon, lemon juice, and flour. Stir into the beef mixture and continue stirring over medium heat until thickened. Add sour cream and serve over cooked egg noodles.

Homemade Jerky

This is one of my uncle's recipes. We made it this week (dried it last night) using thin strips of round steak and chicken breast. I haven't tried fish yet, but I think it would be GOOD!


Jerky

3/4 c. barbecue sauce (we used my honey BBQ sauce recipe from July 2009 posts)
1/2 c. molasses
1/2 c. honey or brown sugar
1/2 c. Tender Quick salt (curing salt)
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. liquid smoke (we used hickory)
2 Tbsp. garlic salt
2 Tbsp. white vinegar
1 Tbsp. dry mustard
1 Tbsp. ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients. Pour over strips of beef, venison, chicken or poultry in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate 36 hours, stirring every 2 hours. Hang strips to dry in warm oven for 12 to 15 hours (until meat is dry) or in a dehydrator (ours took about 8 hours to dry.)

I prefer to store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Easy sesame beef with vegetables

I found a good recipe for sesame beef on www.food.com and tweaked it to make an easy skillet meal. We're having this tonight.


Easy Sesame Beef with Vegetables

• 1 lb. boneless sirloin
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 3/4 tsp. black pepper
• 3 green onions, with tops, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. (6 cloves) minced garlic
• 2 to 3 tsp. sesame seed
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 1 - 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally
• 2 stalks celery, peeled and sliced diagonally
• 1 bunch fresh broccoli, flowerets trimmed and stalks sliced diagonally, or 1 bag frozen broccoli

Trim fat from beef and slice diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Mix next 6 ingredients and pour 1/3 of it over the beef. Stir until beef is well coated. Refrigerate extra marinade and beef in marinade 30 minutes or overnight (covered).
Drain beef.
Cook and stir sesame seed over medium heat until light brown. Remove from skillet.
Heat remaining oil. Add beef and cook until browned, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Heat remaining marinade with cornstarch until thickened while the beef is browning
Add veggies to beef, cover and cook until veggies are crisp tender. Add thickened marinade, stir to mix. Sprinkle lightly browned sesame seeds on top and serve with hot rice.

Homemade granola bars

I discovered a great granola bar recipe! It's not hard like some granola bars are.

GRANOLA BARS

• 4 c. oatmeal
• 2 c. flour
• 1 c. coconut (use 1 c. extra oats and omit this if someone can't have tree nuts due to allergies)
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 c. vegetable or canola oil
• 3/4 c. honey (OR 1/2 c. honey & 1/4 c. molasses OR 1/2 c. honey & 1/4 c. light corn syrup)
• raisins, chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, dried fruit pieces, chopped nuts...whatever you'd like to add.

Mix dry ingredients well. Add oil and honey. Mix well. Get your fingers in there and mix it until all is blended and slightly sticky. Add raisins or whatever you like. Press firmly into greased jelly roll plan (12 x 15 or close to that.) Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 375°. They will look puffy and soft when you take them out. Do not let them turn brown or they will be very hard. Cut into squares/rectangles while still warm.




I used the honey/corn syrup mixture because I ran out of honey. I added 1 c. raisins, 1 c. chocolate chips, and about 3/4 c. sunflower seeds.




It turned out that 375° was too hot for my granola bars. I'm not sure if it's my oven, but the bars were done at about 10 minutes instead of 15, and the undersides of the bars in one corner were slightly burned. I'm going to try 350° next time.




My kids (and husband) LOVED these!