Snappy Stir-Fry

This was so easy, and so delicious! Plus it is one of those dishes you can adapt to help clean out your fridge of leftover meat and vegetables. While rice noodles are our favorite, this recipe is also good with rice. I mixed my noodles into the stir-fry, but just served the stir-fry over the rice. We've also loved it with shrimp in it. A trick I learned with the shrimp is that if you buy it from the butcher block, they taste less fishy than the kind you buy out of the freezer case. This recipe came from Better Homes and Garden magazine on budget meals and is one that will be on our table frequently!

Snappy Stir-Fry

1 pound peeled and deveined fresh or frozen shrimp or thinly sliced boneless meat (such as beef, pork, chicken or turkey- even leftover meat will work)
2 Tbl vegetable oil
4 cups cut-up vegetables (use whatever you have but the recipe suggests things like zucchini, yellow summer squash, sweet pepper, onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, garlic, corn, and peas)
Quick stiry fry sauce or 3/4 cup bottled stir-fry sauce (I made the sauce; the recipe is at the end of the post)
2 to 3 cups cooked rice, noodles, or pasta
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional (like peanuts, cashews or almonds- I left these out)

1. (Skip this step if using precooked meats) If using, thaw frozen shrimp. Rinse shrimp; pat dry with paper towels. In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tbls of the oil over medium-high heat. Add shrimp or meat; cook and stir for 3 to 5 minutes until shrimp is opaque or meat is cooked through. Using a slotted spoon, remove shrimp or meat from skillet. Discard any cooking liquid from skillet.
2. In the same skillet, heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat. Add vegetables; cook and stir for 3 to 5 minutes or until all vegetables are crisp tender. (I like to add the harder vegetables, such as carrots, first and let them cook for a couple of minutes before I add more delicate veggies, like cabbage. That way all of the vegetables are cooked right and nothing is mushy!)
3. If using, stir Quick Stir-Fry Sauce. Add shrimp or meat and stir-fry sauce to vegetable mixture (this is also where I add the cooked rice noodles). Cook and sitr until sauce is bubbly. Reduce heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Serve over cooked rice. If desired, top with nuts. Makes 4 servings.

Quick Stir-Fry Sauce: In a 1-cup glass measure, whisk together 2/3 cup chicken broth, 2 tbls soy sayce, 2 tsp cornstarch, 1 tsp sugar (white or brown), 1/2 tsp ground ginger, and 1/8 to 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper.

Oven Baked Omelet

I decided to make this for breakfast while I was visiting family in Boise this last week. The original recipe comes from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. It was really easy and good as I made it with leftover ham from Thanksgiving and made sure there was plenty of cheese. This is definitely a breakfast I will be making more in the future. We did have some leftovers, and they seemed to keep ok, I would just use them the next day or two so the eggs don't dry out. You can also add your favorite omelet toppings during the same stage as when you add the ham.

Oven Baked Omelet

• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cornstarch or flour
• 10 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (I used just under 1 tsp ground mustard powder)
• salt and ground pepper
• 3/4 cup cooked ham, sausage, or bacon
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom of a jelly roll type pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on the two shorter sides. Grease parchment paper. Do not skip the parchment paper on this recipe. You need it to roll the omelet. (I thought maybe a silicon baking mat would work, but after making it with parchment paper, I can see that a silicon baking mat wouldn't hold the mixture completely together. So stick with parchment paper and make sure it hangs over on the sides!)

In a bowl, whisk together milk and cornstarch. Add eggs, mustard, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste...; whisk to combine. Pour into pan. Sprinkle meat over top in an even layer.(you could add any additional toppings at this point if desired)

Bake until edges of omelet are set, 15-18 minutes. Sprinkle with cheddar; bake until cheese has melted, 2 to 4 additional minutes.

Beginning at one shorter end, lift parchment, and roll up omelet tightly peeling back parchment as you go. peeling back parchment as you go.

Hot Beef Sandwiches

Eating Hot Beef Sandwiches is my favorite way to eat leftover roast & fixings. It's an open faced sandwich and all you do is layer a piece of bread (or you could use rolls that have been split open) with leftover mashed potatoes topped with roast beef and gravy. Of course, you don't have to only eat this as leftovers, you can also make your roast, potatoes and gravy and purposely serve it this way. My husband, the one who dislikes roast, said this sandwich was even better than the roast itself!