Quick and Easy Chinese Orange Beef
It is not very often that I like to make something twice, and it is also rare that I like to eat leftovers… so the fact that I made this twice in one week, AND had the leftovers for lunch, should tell you that this meal was a total winner. The first time I made it, I wasn’t expecting much. I mostly just made it to add some variety to our menu, as I have a hard time incorporating lean beef. Then I made it and completely fell in love. For non-marinated flank steak, it was incredibly tender and orange flavor really shines through. Plus, any meal that satisfies my sweet tooth with something nutritious and delicious, is an obvious A+ (Think Blueberry Salmon, Mango Salmon, and Strawberry Pizza). I think this will be a regular in our rotation, because it really does make great lunches the rest of the week.
This meal is ready from start to finish in less then 30 minutes, but some of the steps are more time consuming then the others. For example, the zesting the orange and grating the ginger. To save time even more time you could easily buy the ginger in a squeeze bottle in the refrigerator section, or make the sauce ahead of time. Be sure to start the rice early so it’s ready when the meat is done! 
Quick and Easy Chinese Orange Beef
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
2-3 teaspoons grated orange zest (I just zest 1 whole orange)
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons Asian chili sauce
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons cornstarch
vegetable oil for pan
1-1/2 pounds flank steak (to clarify: that’s one steak, that weighs about 1.5 pounds)
3-4 green onions, sliced
hot white or brown rice for serving
Instructions
Trim fat from flank steak, then slice as thin as possible across the grain. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Whisk orange zest and orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, chili sauce, ginger, and cornstarch together in a bowl.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Drizzle pan with oil and tilt to coat. Add half of beef, breaking up any clumps and let cook without stirring for one minute. Stir beef and continue to cook until browned, about 2 minutes; transfer to a bowl and cover. Repeat with remaining beef and transfer to bowl.
Whisk sauce to recombine, add to now-empty skillet, and cook over medium heat until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Return cooked beef, with any accumulated juices, to skillet and toss to combine. Serve over rice and garnish with green onions.
Source: Our Best Bites
Baked French Toast
After 5 straights days of early wake-ups to cold, dreary rain, sleeping in on a Saturday and enjoying breakfast sounded like a much better idea then running. Back in Toledo, when the weather gets bad I tend to hit up the treadmill at our apartment complex, but on my last away rotation, it just seemed like a waste to brace the weather to drive to the gym, just so I can run in place. I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised that my runs in the cold rain have been pretty enjoyable, it’s just much harder to take that first step out the door on a Saturday morning. In fact, I’ve now made it my goal to run outside all winter this year. So in comes this amazing french toast, that can be made the night before and ready within 30 minutes of waking up on a sleepy Saturday.
This is really the perfect meal for company because to make a double batch would be no extra trouble. It certainly beats sitting over the stove and flipping pancake after pancake while the finished ones sit in the oven getting soggy. Besides, I have always preferred French toast to pancakes, which likely stems from my childhood (okay..and high school..and college) obsession with all things French. This dish is really wonderful enough to eat on its own, with out added syrup or butter, which is something I would rarely say about pancakes. We served it with some turkey sausage, and it made for such a cozy warm Saturday morning. And thanks to some help from lululemon (my unfortunate new obsession), I still had a good run in the rain later that day.
Baked French Toast
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 loaf (about 1 pound) brioche or challah, sliced 1 1/2 inches thick
- 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup milk (at least 2%)
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- sprinkling of ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- Maple syrup, confectioners’ sugar or fresh fruit for serving, optional
Directions:
Combine the butter and brown sugar in a 9×13-inch baking dish. Arrange the bread slices in the dish. (It’s fine if they overlap.) In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread and allow it to soak in. Top with pecans and nutmeg and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 3 and up to 12 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350º. Set the dish out while the oven is preheating. Bake until browned and set, about 35 minutes. Allow to cool slightly on a wire rack before serving.
Adapted from: Cook Like a Champion, Originally from Bon Appetit, Y’all
Blueberry Yogurt Multigrain Pancakes
While I don’t really consider myself a breakfast person, getting up before 5 AM has a way of turning anyone into a breakfast person. I’ve found that after 10 weeks of surgery, my ability to sleep in past 10 am on the weekends has seriously diminished. When you’re used to waking up at 4:45, suddenly 8 am becomes a reasonable sleep in and when you find yourself with a whole morning to fill with weekend fun, it doesn’t get much better than a morning run followed by breakfast.
One of my biggest qualms with normal brunch food is that I feel like it sets me up for a day of feeling stuffed, tired and overall unhealthy. Breakfast is the one meal of the day where I always try to have some protein, fiber and fruit – and pancakes with syrup doesn’t really fit the bill. But these pancakes. These pancakes are an entirely different story. Multigrain = fiber. Blueberries = fruit . Yogurt = protein (and calcium!). And to make it even better, I think my favorite part about these pancakes is that they are divine with a dollop of yogurt and a slight drizzle of honey – no butter or syrup needed. I had actually gotten the butter dish out, just in case, and had to laugh out loud when John goes “Why did you even get the butter out for these pancakes?” If you understand John’s obsession with butter, you will understand how shocking this statement was.
These are also quite simple to make, and I’ve made them several weekends in a row. I tried them with some chopped frozen rasberries, and the combination of raspberries + lemon is also really out of this world. If you are looking for something fun, easy and festive to make for Mother’s Day, look no further. I’m pretty sure all Mom’s will appreciate something that is both delicious and healthy for breakfast.
Blueberry Yogurt Multigrain Pancakes
Makes about 6-8 large pancakes (Feeds 3-4)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt, (fat free, low fat or greek yogurt are fine)
- 2 -3 tablespoons milk, plus more depending on preference
- 3 tablespoons butter, plus extra for buttering skillet
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup barley or rye flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup blueberries, frozen, or rinsed and dried
- Yogurt and Honey for serving
Melt half of butter. Remove from heat and stir in second tablespoon of butter until melted. This helps to cool the butter to room temperature before adding it to the other ingredients.
Whisk egg and yogurt together in the bottom of a medium/large bowl. Add in 2-3 Tablespoons milk.. If you’re using a thick yogurt, 1-2 more Tablespoons of milk. Whisk in melted butter, zest and vanilla extract. In a separate, small bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir dry ingredients into wet only until dry ingredients are moistened. A few remaining lumps is fine. Batter will be thick.
Preheat your oven to 200°F and have a baking sheet ready (to keep pancakes warm). Heat your skillet or saute pan to medium. Melt a pat of butter in the bottom and ladle 1/3 – 1/2 cup of batter at a time. Press a few berries into the top of each pancake. The batter is on the thick side, so you will want to use your spoon or spatula to gently nudge it flat, or you may find that pressing down on the berries does enough to spread the batter. When a few bubbles on the pancakes rise to the surface and pop, (about 3-4 minutes), flip them and cook for another 3 minutes, until golden underneath. . Transfer pancakes to warm oven as they are done cooking, where you can leave them there until you’re ready to serve them.
Serve in a big stack, with yogurt and honey.
Spice Is Nice 