Beef & Broccoli for the Crockpot

My Crockpot has become my best friend lately.  It's so dang nice to already have dinner ready when it's dinner time...just throw everything on the table & it's ready to go!

And this recipe was really really good!  The beef was so tender it was falling apart on me.  When I stirred in the broccoli the meat just started shredding, so just be careful when stirring.

You can serve this over a pile of white rice or you can serve it with some Fried Rice.  Either way it is delicious!

Enjoy!

Beef & Broccoli for the Crockpot

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1 pound thin beef (whatever kind you'd like)
1/4 plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons oil (you can use whatever flavor...if you like sesame oil that would work great, but I don't really like the taste so I always just use Olive oil.)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 teaspoon crushed red peppers
1 bag (10 oz.) thawed broccoli florets

Add the soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, garlic and crushed red peppers to your crockpot; stir to combine.

Slice meat into thin pieces (if not already) and place in crockpot.  Toss the meat with the liquid to coat.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

An hour before serving add the thawed broccoli.  Cover and cook for another hour.

Stir together (remember to stir carefully or you'll have shredded beef & broccoli!)

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Remember that Fried Rice we posted from a couple of days ago?  Well, here's the perfect main dish to accompany it!

 

This chicken is a little messy to make, at least for me, because I like to coat the chicken with my hands...it's just so much easier!  But if that grosses you out, you are more than welcome to use whatever utensil you have to help you out.

 

I've realized that most of my recipes are gauged by whether or not "the kid's liked it".  What can I say, I'm a Mom who likes to feed her kids stuff they like (forget about the soup debacle!)  Just in case you didn't catch it, I was typing that last sentence laced with sarcasm.  My kid's eat what I fix or they go hungry.  Mom of the year right here!  I am very blessed that I don't have picky eater children....life would be so bland!

 

Which is NOT at all a word you could use to describe this chicken.  It's just a tad addicting too, so watch out!

 

Sweet & Sour Chicken

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4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt & pepper
1-1 1/2 cups corn starch
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

The sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons garlic powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  While your pan is heating, prepare the chicken by rinsing the chicken breasts in cold water and trimming off any fat.  Cut chicken into cubes about 1" in size.  Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
 

 

Place corn starch and beaten eggs in small bowls.  Make an assembly line to your pan.  Starting with the chicken farthest from your pan, then the corn starch and then the eggs.

 

First place the chicken in the corn starch and mix around until coated.

 

Then place in the egg mixture and coat.  This is where it gets messy for me.  By the time I'm done with all the chicken my fingers are 3 times their size because they are coated as well!:)

 

Now throw that chicken into your hot oiled pan.

 

Cook chicken stirring occasionally until it the outside is browned but not cooked through.  Place in a 9 x 13 greased baking pan.

 

Mix all the sauce ingredients together & then pour over the chicken pieces.

 

Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  I set my timer for 15 minutes or else I forget to stir, and just keep doing that for 1 hour.:)  The sauce will thicken towards the end of the cooking & you'll have an awesome dish that your family (or whomever you are making it for) will LOVE!!

 



Fried Rice

I think my family would be good for life if we just ate rice for every meal.  They love Spanish Rice & Hawaiian Haystacks, and this Fried Rice!

 

You really can't mess up this rice either, and you can totally play around with it.  Throw in some green onions or some chopped ham, whatever vegetables you like and it will still be delicious!  I usually use frozen mixed vegetables in ours because I always seem to have some of that on hand, but you can use whatever you like.  I think fried rice needs to have at least peas and carrots in it, but that's just me...do what you like.:)

 

This recipe makes quite a bit of rice, I'm going to say about 5-6 cups.  But we love it because (like I said in last weeks post) it's perfect for lunches for the middle schoolers who have access to a microwave at lunchtime.  But feel free to half the recipe if needed.  Also, we love to use Jasmine rice, but you could use any rice that you perfer.  Brown works wonderfully as well!

 

Fried Rice

(Budget Dinner: the entire recipe cost only about $3.20!  That's 53 cents per 1 cup serving!)
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2 cups uncooked rice

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cups frozen vegetables, thawed (your choice but make sure you have peas and carrots!)
1 small onion, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup soy sauce

Cook rice.  You can use leftover rice or you can cook the rice ahead of time if desired.  I usually just cook my rice right along with this recipe.  I use my rice cooker and it takes about 20 minutes to have my jasmine rice ready.  If you are using brown rice it will take longer.  Set aside.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the thawed vegetables, onions and garlic and saute until tender, about 3-5 minutes. 

Turn heat down to medium low.  Push the veggie mix to one side of the skillet & then add the eggs to the other side and fry them until scrambled.  Add the rice and soy sauce and mix all ingredients together.  Stir and cook until heated through.