Kung Pao Pork and Noodles

I found this recipe in one of my cook books and decided to try it out. I used some of my Pork Roast meat from my freezer, but you could use whatever.

What you need:

1 TBS vegetable oil

1 bag (1 lb) broccoli slaw mix (you can use regular cole slaw if you want but you miss out on the great texture the broccoli gives)

1 lb pork boneless loin, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 med. red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup spicy Szechuan stir fry sauce (I didn't want spicy so I went with regular stir fry sauce)

1 TBS honey

1 pkg (6-7oz) rice stick noodles

2 tsps sesame or vegetable oil

2 TBS salted peanuts

What to do:

1.Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add vegetable oil; rotate skillet to coat bottom. Add slaw mix; stir-fry 2-3 minutes or until crispy/tender. Remove broccoli slaw from skillet; keep warm.

2. Start a pot of water boiling for the noodles. Add pork to same skillet you cooked the slaw in; stir-fry over medium high heat 5-6 minutes or until brown. Stir in bell pepper and water. Cover and cook 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pork is tender. Stir in stir-fry sauce and honey; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 1-2 minutes.

3. Add noodles to the boiling water. Boil 3 minutes; drain. In large bowl, toss noodles and sesame oil. Divide noodles among 4 individual serving bowls. Top with broccoli slaw and pork mixture. Sprinkle with peanuts.

Sweet and Sour Pork

This is another one of the dishes that I make with my Pork Roast. It's quick and easy and yummy.

What you need:

1 bag cooked pork meat (see Pork Roast post)

1 bell pepper, chopped into bite size pieces

pineapple chunks (however many you think looks like enough)

1 onion, diced

1 can/bottle sweet and sour sauce(whatever you can find at the store)

cooked rice

What you do:

Saute your onion and pepper in a little bit of oil. You don't want your veggies totally mushy, but you don't want them raw either. You decide how crunchy you want them to be. Toss in the rest of your ingredients and cook until hot all the way through. Serve on top of your rice and enjoy!

Southwest Spaghetti Pie

Abigail participated in the 4-H Favorite Food Contest again this year. She wanted to make Stuffed Manicotti but we found out that it would take longer to bake than the time she was given, so she decided on this dish instead. She worried that a casserole would be ordinary, and it doesn't look very fancy, but it tastes delicious! She won the red ribbon in the Junior category and had lots of fun at the contest. She chose her place setting with Stuffed Manicotti in mind and she got dinged a couple of points on her score card because the judge felt that she should have had a more southwestern theme reflected on her table.  But, she'll have a chance to change the place setting when she goes to the district food contest later. I've posted more about the contest here.

Southwest Spaghetti Pie

6 oz. uncooked spaghetti, broken into thirds
½ lb. lean ground beef
½ cup chopped green and red bell peppers
1 cup prepared salsa
1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes, do not drain
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
¾ cup frozen corn, thawed
½ -1 teaspoon cumin, according to taste
6 oz. (1 ½ cups) shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
½ cup small curd Cottage cheese
1 egg

Cook the spaghetti just to al dente. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 1 ½ quart casserole with nonstick cooking spray. Cook ground beef with peppers until no longer pink, stirring often. Drain. Stir in salsa, tomatoes, black beans, corn and cumin. Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir in ½ cup of the cheese.

Beat egg in a medium bowl until well blended and foamy. Add cottage cheese and cooked spaghetti; toss to coat. Spoon spaghetti mixture into sprayed casserole. Spoon meat mixture on top of spaghetti. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheese over top and return to oven for 10 minutes or until crust is light golden brown. Let sit for 10 minutes or so before serving. Makes 6 servings.