Teriyaki Flank Steak

Looking for a healthy meal? But also one that has all the flavor? Well, this is it! When you think of frozen food, typically healthy and flavorful don't come to mind. This recipe will change your thinking, because this Flank Steak is DELISH! The key to freezer meals, is having fresh fruit and vegetables to add as side dishes. I love fresh food, so..... Yes. You can have fresh and frozen all in the same meal (although you aren't eating your meal frozen, duh!)

Teriyaki Flank Steak

Ingredients:

2.5-3 lb flank steak

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tsp ground ginger
2Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp veg. oil
1 Tbsp dried minced onions

Directions:
Put all ingredients into a gallon size ziplock bag, seal tightly getting all air out. Label/date and Freeze!

When ready to eat, thaw completely.

For grill: turn heat to medium/low. Cook on each side for 5-8 minutes done to liking.

For oven: heat oven to low broil. Bake on each side for 5-8 minutes done to liking.

Let meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing against the grain. Serve with grilled portabella mushrooms, corn on the cob, and spinach salad, or any of your favorite grilled veggies!

I have to share one more thing... Recently we went to Disneyland this summer. One of my favorite things I love to eat at the park is a Chili-Lime Corn on the Cob. As we were eating corn with this dish, I decided to replicate my own Chili-Lime Cob. This was an afterthought as I prepared dinner, so I went searching through my spice cupboard and sprinkled this and added a dash of that and, it was pretty darn close to the real thing. Except we ate sweet white corn instead of the typical yellow corn at the park. This was such a treat, I felt like I was right back in Disneyland with each bite!

Ingredients:
Corn on the cob
Butter (I use spray butter, don't hate me!)
2 tsp lime zest
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp dried cilantro flakes

Directions:
Boil as many corn on the cob as you like. Spread butter on each cob, with a sprinkle of the lime zest, chili powder and cilantro flakes to liking.

Pot Stickers & Yakisoba

I am a lover of sushi. There. I said it. We ate at one of our neighbor sushi joints the other night and it inspired me to break out my Japanese cooking skills! This right here is making me hungry for more!

These three ingredients I ALWAYS have on hand...and you can make anything Asian-style!

• Pure Sesame Oil

• Soy Sauce 

• Rice Vinegar

GOYZA

Ingredients:

·         1/3 cup chopped cabbage (boiled)

·         2 tbsps chopped green onion

·         1/2 pound ground pork

·         1 tsp sesame oil

·         1 tsp sugar

·         2 tsps soysauce

·         1/2 tsp garlic salt

·         1 tsp grated fresh ginger

·         20 gyoza wrappers

·         1 tbsp vegetable oil

*Makes 4 servings  (I ALWAYS double it because they are a hit at our house)

Preparation:

1. Combine all ingredients other than oil in a bowl and mix well by hands.

2. Place a teaspoonful of filling in a gyoza wrapper and put water along the edge of the wrapper by fingers.

3. Make a triangle, gathering the front side of the wrapper and sealing the top down to the edges. 

4.Heat oil in a frying pan. Put gyoza in the pan and fry on high heat until the bottoms become brown.

5. Turn down the heat to low. Add 1/4 cup water in the pan. 

6. Cover the pan and steam the gyoza on low heat until the water is gone.

You can't have goyza without a dipping sauce! It just wouldn't be right!  

Spicy Gyoza Sauce

• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Whisk together the rice vinegar, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic, ginger, green onions, and sesame oil in a bowl; allow to sit 15 minutes before serving. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week.

I usually serve Yakisoba with the Pot Stickers. Yakisoba was a personal staple in my diet while I lived in Japan. I was thrilled to find it in the local grocery store when I came back home. Since I've introduced this to my hubby & kids, well, its been love at first taste.  (And YES, it is WAY better than chow mein noodles!)

To find Yakisoba in your local grocery store, go to the Asian section (usually where tofu is sold) or ask for help. Cooking instructions are on the package. Add your favorite vegetables. The usual vegis I put in vary; but aren't exclusive to: chopped cabbage, 1 sweet onion (halved & sliced), minced ginger, sliced celery, carrots, japanese eggplant, mushrooms, bean sprouts, scallions (for garnish), or anything else that may satisfy you.

Apricot Asian Chicken

Fridays are very busy! Coach M and I are running a soccer camp and its on Fridays...and that means between regular work stuff, kids stuff, jewelry stuff...I was happy to pull a meal from the freezer to thaw overnight so we could enjoy it after chasing the soccer balls for the majority of the day!

I do have to express how much my family enjoyed this meal. We even ate it for leftovers, AND that says it all, right there!

Apricot Asian Chicken:

Ingredients:

• 1 jar Apricot Pineapple Jam
• 1 Lipton Onion soup mix
• 1 Frozen bag Asian style vegitables with liquid seasoning (if you don't have the extra liquid seasoning, add 4 Tbs Hoison sauce)
• 2 tsp fresh minced ginger
• 1 can water chestnuts
• 4 large chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch lengthwise strips.
• 1/2 cup cashews, add to garnish

Preheat oven to 375. Put all ingredients (except for last) into 9X13 pan. Stir til chicken and vegetables are coated well. Bake for 40 minutes.

If you are eating it right away, garnish with Cashews. Otherwise put into a labeled gallon ziplock bag (With date & ingredients), lay flat and freeze.

I reheated the meal over the stove on medium heat and I served it over sticky rice. We also like this meal over Kung Fu noodles, but I will save that for another post.

Meet my Japanese rice cooker, her name is Ai-chan {pronounced I-chan}. Since living in beloved Nihon, I can't use anything else!

On to dessert...my version of a homemade "Pazookie". A "What?" you say. A Pizza-Cookie, which is deliciousness (aka store bought cookie dough) pressed into a small pan.........

Baked in the oven at 375 for 15minutes.....

And topped with Vanilla ice cream, drizzled with your favorite carmel and chocolate sauces.

On Fridays, we love to make it an extra "special" night with the kids. So we find a fun family movie to rent, close all the blinds, gather around our coffee table with our pillows and blankies, and DIG IN to the silkiness of the ice cream and crunchy sweetness of the cookie. Its like a brownie sundae, but better.