Pepper Steak

I started looking for a recipe for Pepper Steak last week - because I had steak, and I had peppers, and it sounded good. Would you believe how many recipes there are for Pepper Steak? And I only looked at Cooks.com because I grabbed a couple recipes from there a while back. I looked at the recipes I wanted to try before, but neither one of them sounded right - and I neglected to make any notes about which one I tried and how we liked it. So I just started looking again, found one and adapted it.
 

Pepper Steak

• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/4 c. salad oil
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 lb. steak, cut into strips
• 1 green pepper, cut into 1" cubes
• 1 lg. onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 c. diced celery
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/4 c. water
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• cooked noodles (about 5 handfuls)

Mix soy sauce, garlic, salt, pepper,oregano and salad oil together and pour on steak strips. Let set for 1 hour. Pour into frying pan. Allow meat to brown thoroughly on all sides. Add peppers, onions and celery. Cover and cook 5 to 10 minutes over medium low heat or until vegetables are tender. Stir in cornstarch dissolved in water. Stir until thickened. Add tomatoes; cover and cook 5 to 10 minutes or until meat is tender. Add cooked, drained noodles and mix well. Cover and cook for a couple more minutes to heat through and blend flavors.

The original recipe said round steak. I'm not sure what kind of steak I used - just whatever was in the freezer. It turned out really good.

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Chocolate Coconut Bars

I cut this recipe off my brown sugar package. It's been sitting on top of my canisters for a couple weeks just waiting for me. Today I finally made these bars - haven't tried them yet, but they smell wonderful!

Chocolate Coconut Bars

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick), softened
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces (6 oz.)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 cup coconut, flaked

Instructions:

1. Grease 13x9x2-inch-baking dish.
2. In large bowl using a pastry cutter, fork, or your fingers, combine first four ingredients until crumbly. Pat into baking dish. Bake 10 minutes at 375°F.
3. Sprinkle chocolate pieces over hot crust; return to oven about 1 minute to soften. Spread chocolate evenly over crust.
4. In medium bowl, beat eggs until thick and lemon-colored. Beat in sugar and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt and beat into sugar mixture. Stir in coconut. Spread evenly over chocolate layer.
5. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in pan and cut into bars.

Makes 2 dozen

This recipe was copied from the C&H website, slightly edited. There are lots more great-sounding recipes to choose from, too. It looks like I don't have to save the recipes from my sugar bags any more, just visit the web page and look them up.

ETA: These were a big hit at the church potluck.

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A Dip Recipe or Three

I made the first dip yesterday. The other two recipes I found on my yogurt container and on the Triscuit box. I haven't tried them yet, but they sound really good. I'm saving them here so I can throw the Triscuit box and the foil from the top of the yogurt away.

Cajun Tuna Spread

• 3 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• 3 T. mayonnaise or salad dressing
• 1 t. paprika
• 1/4 t. ground black pepper
• 1/8 t. garlic powder or 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/8 t. ground red pepper
• 1 6-1/2-ounce can tuna, drained and broken into chunks
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red or green sweet pepper
• 2 T. thinly sliced green onion (1)

In a small mixing bowl beat cream cheese, mayonnaise or salad dressing, paprika, black pepper, garlic powder or garlic, and ground red pepper until well combined. Stir in the tuna, sweet pepper, and green onion. Cover; chill for 3 to 24 hours. Serve with crackers. Makes 1-1/2 cups.

from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

The recipe says to use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, salad dressing and spices, but I just used a mixing spoon. It seemed to work fine. Also, I didn't have any green onions so I just used some chopped yellow onion. Really good with Triscuits and Wheat Thins.

This recipe came off the Triscuit box:

Creamy Spinach & Red Pepper Dip

• 1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
• 4 oz. (1/2 of 8 oz. pkg.) cream cheese or 1/3 less fat Neufchatel cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup chopped roasted red peppers

Mix all ingredients; cover. Refrigerate several hours or until chilled. Makes 1-1/2 cups.

more dip recipes from Triscuit

Image by bcymet via Flickr

This one came from Dannon:

Creamy Salsa Dip

• 2 cups Dannon All Natural Plain Yogurt
• 1 cup salsa
• 3-1/2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 t. sea salt

In bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Cover and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

more dip recipes from Dannon

I think all of these would be really good with either crackers or cut up veggies.

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