Cajun Stir Fry

Oh Snap! This dish was amazing, easily the best thing I've made so far. I went grocery shopping with my mom and sister this past weekend and I was thinking of things to cook during the week. At the time I pictured myself cooking onions and bell peppers with a nice chicken breast in the oven, but when it came time to make dinner last night I just wasn't feeling it.

Instead I decided to use the stew meat (beef cut into chunks) instead of the chicken, and I wanted to do the whole thing on the stove top in a pan. When I started making the dish I decided to eat the beef, onion, and pepper mix over a bed of rice and peas, but as I was cooking and the smell overcame me I couldn't allow myself to waste any of the gravy in the pan. I decided to just throw the brown rice and peas into the pan and let it absorb all of the gravy. It was a great decision! Like I said earlier, this was the best thing I've made yet.

The best thing is that I'm pretty sure I could make this in the dorm as well. At the end of the post I'll tell you what to do if you want to make this without an oven.

Ingredients:
8oz of stew meat (any type of cubed beef)
1 medium green bell pepper
1 large onion
1 cup of Brown rice
1 can of no salt peas (8.5 oz)
4 tbsp of butter or margarine
1/3 cup of water
1 tbsp Tony Chacheres
1.5 tbsp of Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce
1 tbsp of worcestershire sauce
2 tsp of black pepper
1 tsp of cayenne pepper

Optional Ingredients:
Other sliced vegetables
white rice
Noodles

Ingredients

Step 1) Throw one cup of brown rice, two cups of water, and the can of peas into a dish and microwave it for 20 minutes or so, until all the water is gone.

Cooked rice and peas

Step 2) Take a pan and turn the stove top to medium-high heat. Chop up your onion and pepper into thin long strips. Throw them into the pan and put the butter on top. Stir and let cook for about 15 minutes or until the onion and pepper are a golden color and are no longer hard.

Cooked onions and peppers

Step 3) Season your meat and throw it into the pan as well. Try to move the onions and pepper aside so that the meat can be touching the bottom of the pan. Just throw the onions and pepper on top of the meat. Let cook for about 10 minutes and then add your browning sauce. Stir the pan to make sure everything is nice and mixed.

After the meat is thrown in

Step 4) By this time your rice and peas should be done. Pour the mix into the pan and add the water. Stir so that everything becomes mixed. Turn the stove down to medium, cover the pan, and let cook for about 10 minutes.

After the rice is thrown in

That's it! Everything should be done now.



Now, if you want to make this using a microwave, here is how I would do it.

Step 1) Microwave the rice and peas same as above.

Step 2) Throw your seasoned meat into a separate, larger bowl and microwave it until it is completely cooked. Not sure how long this would take. I'm thinking about 15-20 minutes, just make sure to stir the meat every 5 minutes or so since the microwave cooks unevenly.

Step 3) Throw your onion, bell pepper, and butter into a third bowl and microwave until the onions and peppers are a golden brown color. I'm thinking at least 10 minutes, but I don't know as I haven't tried it yet.

Step 4) Mix all three bowls into one large bowl (hopefully one of the three was large enough to handle everything together) Throw in your browning sauce and water in as well and stir thoroughly. Stick back in the microwave for about five more minutes.

Done! I just want to say that I haven't tried the microwave steps yet, that is what I would do in the dorm room though, feel free to make adjustments. Just make sure the meat is cooked, that is the most important step.

Crescent Roll Pizza

This one is actually one of my mom's recipes. Apparently when I went off to college she started trying out all kinds of new recipes, this being one of them. I had no intentions to cook this today, but my mom really wanted to make it, so that's what we did.

The reason this pizza is unique is mainly because of the crust. Instead of a traditional pizza crust, my mom opted for a crescent roll crust. I am a huge fan of crescent rolls, so as soon as she showed me that was what she was planning on using as the crust I got excited. Also, since I'm trying to watch what I eat we decided to use turkey pepperoni and fat free cubed ham. I didn't notice any lack in taste and I actually enjoyed it more so than a typical pizza because it wasn't anywhere near as greasy.

Anyways, remember that this is a very general alternative pizza recipe, you can use just about anything you want to throw on this pizza. My girlfriend's parents like to make pizza at home as well and they tend to use an already made pizza crust and they grill some bacon and vegetables and throw that on top of the pizza. So again, this is just one of the many options you have with this pizza recipe.

Ingredients:
2 Cans of Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations
1/2 Jar of Bertolli Vineyard Marinara (8oz)
John Morrel Diced Ham (8oz)
Turkey Pepperoni (6oz)
Shredded Cheese (8oz)

Ingredients

Optional Ingredients:
Any meat
Any cheese
Any vegetables

Step 1: Unroll both sheets of the Crescent roll onto a cookie sheet, overlapping them slightly. Bake them in the oven as the instructions on the can indicate.

Two sheets of crescent roll

Step 2: Once the crust is done baking, take the sauce and pour it in the center of the sheet of crust. Take a spoon and spread it around evenly, leaving about half an inch border around the crescent crust, this allows the crust to get a little crispy on the edges.

Step 3: Spread all but about a handful of cheese over the sauce evenly.

Cheese and Sauce

Step 4: Throw the diced ham and pepperoni on top of the cheese spreading it evenly. If you'd like any other toppings, throw them on as well. If the toppings require cooking before hand, do so. You probably don't want to throw any raw toppings on top unless they are meant to be raw.

Step 5: Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top of the toppings.

Pizza with all the toppings on it. The ham is under the pepperoni.

Step 6: Put the pizza back in the oven at the same temperature you used to cook the crescent roll. Leave it in for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the toppings are cooked.

Done! Enjoy your pizza. This was my first time having this and I actually liked it more with every piece I had. It's much lighter than a normal pizza, and the pasta sauce is a nice change to the normal pizza sauce. There are tons of options with this pizza, or with any pizza really. Just try different ingredients and you can easily use this recipe over and over again.

Summer is Here!

Well, summer is finally here and that means I'm finally done with school and I'm back home in Texas. That means I'll be able to dedicate all of my time to trying out new recipes and posting them here for all of you to enjoy.

Before I start posting recipes, I wanted to note a few changes you'll all be noticing.

First, a lot of the recipes I'll be making won't necessarily be able to be made using only a microwave and a grill. I'll try my best to adjust my recipes so that they can be cooked in the dorm, but I'm back home now and I have access to an oven and a stove again and I plan on using them.

Second, I am continuing in my efforts to lose more weight. I lost 30 lbs during the semester and I plan on losing even more in the summer now that I won't be eating fast food or anything like that. I plan on posting recipes for just about everything I eat, so a lot of them won't necessarily be thrilling or life changing. I want to state my purpose for this site again. My goal is that people who view this site will understand the variety of dishes out there, a lot of which are very common and simple. I just know that in my life I use to tend to eat the same 10 or so meals over and over again. I'm hoping this site shows everyone that there are other options available to you.

Lastly, I'm thinking about changing the layout soon, so I'm hoping the transition goes well and everyone is happy with the new look.

So, now that all of that is out of the way. Here come some new recipes!