3rd Anniversary

Roasted Garlic Beef & Vegetable Stir Fry
Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 15 minutes

     2 teaspoons cornstarch
     1 cup water
     2 tablespoons soy sauce
     1 tablespoon roasted garlic & bell pepper seasoning
     1/2 teaspoon ginger, ground
     1 tablespoon oil
     1 1/2 pounds boneless beef sirloin steak, cut in 1/4-inch strips
     3 cups asst. vegetables (broccoli florets, mushrooms, red bell
        pepper strips & snow peas)
     Cooked rice (optional)

Mix cornstarch, water, soy sauce, seasoning and ginger in small bowl until smooth. Set aside.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add beef in several batches; stir fry 5 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove from skillet. Repeat with remaining beef, adding additional oil if needed. Add vegetables to skillet; stir fry 3 minutes. Return beef to skillet.

Stir soy sauce mixture. Add to skillet; stirring constantly, bring to boil on medium heat and boil 1 minute. Serve with cooked rice, if desired.

6 Servings.

Recipe Review:
Absolutely incredible! This was our first time making stir fry from scratch - and boy do we need to do this more! We decided on stir fry for our 3rd Anniversary because we live for rice and veggies lately. The rich beef and vegetables flavor surprised us in this recipe because we weren't expecting something so great in such a quick, easy and tasty dish! I think that substituting tamari sauce for the soy sauce gave it a richer flavor, which makes it one we will make again!

Fried Rice
Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 15 minutes

     2 ½ cups of cooked rice (can be cold)
     2 or 3 eggs
     ¾ cup frozen peas
     ¾ cup frozen corn
     ¾ cup chopped, peeled carrot
     3 cloves of garlic minced
     3 tablespoons oil
     2 tablespoon gluten-free soy sauce (I used San J Organic
        Tamari instead)
     Salt & pepper, to taste

Heat wok (or deep pan) to piping hot. Water droplets should dance across the pan excitedly!

Add 1 Tablespoon of the oil and heat thoroughly. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and carrots. Stir fry until the food is half way done. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Return the work to piping hot again. Add the remaining 2 Tablespoons of oil and heat again. Add rice and stir fry (fry while stirring continually to avoid the rice sticking) until the rice has been heated through.

Add pepper to taste.

Add remaining veggies (in this case, frozen peas & corn) and continue to stir fry until the peas & corn are warmed and the rice is host.

Return the garlic and carrots to the pan.

Add soy sauce (2-3 Tablespoons to taste – depending on the saltiness of your soy sauce). NOTE: Fried rice is typically NOT dark in color but rather a light golden color with the soy sauce brining more flavor and a tinge of color. This is unlike most American fried rice restaurant recipes.

Continue to stir fry until well combined and everything is practically cooked perfectly.

Add eggs. Continue to stir fry until the eggs are distributed and cooked through.

Recipe Review:
This was such a fabulous meal! I was so glad that we decided to make the fried rice 'homemade' as well. But now that we've made it, I don't know if I'll ever enjoy the stuff from restaurants again because this was so great! The only thing that was missing was the scrambled egg pieces, but even without the eggs, it was incredible. I researched soy sauce, only to find out that almost all soy sauces have gluten in them, so we used organic tamari sauce instead. The peas and corn were a great addition. The fried rice could be eaten as a dish alone - but it was great with the beef & veggie stir fry.