Chinese Green Beans with Ground Turkey

So, in my hunt for a little flare to go with my large amount of ground turkey I found this recipe on pinterest. It's super quick and probably different than your typical weeknight dinners. Supper Yummy too. You can get the original here at WearyChef. You can also check out their really pretty picture there. Mine didn't turn out as pretty. lol.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 cup diced onion (or green onion)
2 cloves garlic
1 pound ground turkey
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
1 pound beans (I used frozen)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar (I used regular and I'm not sure this is necessary anyway)
1 bag steam-able wild rice

Instructions:
Heat large skillet over high, add sesame oil, and saute onions and garlic for about 2 minutes.
Stir in ground turkey and saute 3-5 minutes, until meat is mostly cooked
Stir in chili sauce, hoisin sauce, and ginger. Add green beans and soy sauce and stir to coat.
Continue cooking on high for 7-9 minutes, stirring frequently, until beans are slightly tender.
Stir in rice vinegar and cook one minute longer.
Serve over rice

This meal went SUPER quick. You need time to brown the meat and get the beans tender and your good to go. I opted for the microwavable steam bagged rice so that I could put that in and forget about it vs having to make rice on the stove which could easily be done. As a note, this was a bit spicy but far within the mild category for level of spicy. Our 18 month old ate the beans without batting an eye so it couldn't have been too bad.

Fluffy Pancakes

Contributor photo from allrecipes

One more for you today. I made these pancakes a few days ago and I think I finally got the recipe "right."  The original recipe is, once again, on allrecipes. I highly suggest making a double batch. Worst case scenario, you have some for the following morning.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of milk
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 cup flour
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg (I used egg substitute)
2 tbsp butter melted (or more)
Cooking Spray (optional)

Directions:

Mix milk and vinegar, set aside for 5 minutes
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt
Whisk egg and melted butter into soured milk
Pour flour mixture into liquid mixer and whisk until all lumps are gone
Heat large skillet on stove.
Pour 1/4 cup portions of batter into pan
Flip pancake once it starts to bubble on top

Tips:

1. My batter was REALLY thick so I spread it out with a spoon after I poured to make the pancake a little wider. They still came out thick and fluffy. Very similar to the photo above.
2. Andrew mentioned they could use a little more butter to draw out that flavor a little more.
3. KEY TIP - Add vanilla to the liquid mixture. I put a few drops twice (double batch). It gave the pancakes just a little more flavor.

Summary:

Recipe was well liked by all and probably the most by Austin who has been eating them for breakfast. I think with a slightly stronger buttery flavor with the vanilla they would be perfect.

Teriyaki Stir Fry

I'm back (sorta) from my hiatus. My laptop is broken so updating has been rather cumbersome. I've kept track of most of the items I have done the past few weeks but don't know if I'll get around to going back through them and getting them posted but I'll do my best and hopefully get at least the good ones up.

This isn't an actual recipe... as much as a cheap meal I happened across and in this house, that's just as good. Given that its super quick and easy is another bonus on nights where we are pressed for time.

Ingredients:
2 lb 5oz Bag of stir fry vegetables with sauce packet & noodles (found at aldi for $3.49)
2 pieces of chicken (I used frozen, maybe $2 worth)

Note: You could make the mix yourself using approximately 2 bags of stir fry vegetables, thin pasta (broken up), and 1/2 cup of teriyaki sauce. It might save you $.50-$.75 but I'm not a fan of most stir fry veggie mixes so I'm sticking with this one.

Directions:
1) Heat up oil in a frying pan
2) Cut the chicken into bite size pieces or strips (I did pieces)
3) Fry the chicken in the oil until cooked (about 5 minutes)
4) Add the vegetables/noodle mix, fry until tender (about 5 minutes).
5) Add sauce mix and continue for about 5 minutes
6) Serve

You'll have to excuse the mess... there is a TON of
food to try and keep in the pan!

Synopsis:

We all really liked this meal, including Austin. He eats the red peppers first! So, with it getting approval from everyone this is definitely going to become a staple meal here.