Categories
Asian Beef Broccoli Ethnic - Regional Mushrooms Steak

Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry

Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry

Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry

This BEEF & BROCCOLI recipe is better than take out.

INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb flank steak, trimmed of fat and sliced thin against the grain
½ cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp cornstarch
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp white wine
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced or dried ground ginger
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Sriracha sauce, or to taste
½ cup beef broth
2 heads broccoli, cut into small florets
1 can whole mushrooms
INSTRUCTIONS
In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, cornstarch, garlic, wine, brown sugar, ginger, sesame oil, Sriracha sauce and beef broth. Set aside until ready to use.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and cook the steak until it starts to brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add sauce and stir in with the steak, it should start to thicken immediately. Add broccoli and mushrooms and cook for an additional 2 minutes until broccoli is tender and sauce is thickened. (Add additional water if sauce becomes too thick.)
Serve over rice or noodles.

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Categories
Dressings

Homemade Raspberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

Homemade Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

Homemade Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

Since moving to Australia, I have been missing my favorite salad dressing, so I found a recipe online, which I modified to my taste, and this is the result.  It’s very nice to have this tasty treat that reminds me of summertime salads I enjoyed back home.  Give it a try!

Ingredients
¾ cup olive oil
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried basil or fresh basil, sliced thinly
½ cup fresh raspberries
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons stevia or sugar

Instructions
Press the raspberries through a wire strainer.  Discard the seeds left in the strainer.  Place the raspberry juice and rest of the listed ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth.

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Categories
Holidays Peppers Salads Vegetarian

Valentine’s Day Salad

Valentine’s Day Salad with Red Bell Pepper Hearts

Valentine's Day Salad

Make this salad for your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day.  Simply carve up some red bell peppers into heart shapes and add them to salad greens, sprinkle on some grated carrots and cheddar, and serve with your favorite dressing.  This Spicy Thousand Island Dressing is an excellent choice.

Sweethearts Valentine's Day Salad

Red Pepper Hearts Salad for Valentine's Day

Serve with a special Valentine’s Day Dinner.  They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.  This will win over both!  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Sharon Springfield

Sharon D.

Cooking With Sharon SpringfieldFacebook Page - I Love To CookFollow Me On PinterestFollow Me On Instagram

Categories
Appetizers Cakes Casseroles Coconut Crabmeat Desserts Holidays Main Dish Pasta Salads Sauces Seafood Shrimp Ziti

Romantic Valentines Day Dinners

Happy Valentines Day!

Romantic Valentine’s Day Dinner Ideas

Are you staying in for Valentine’s Day and are looking for something special to cook for your sweetheart?  Here are some ideas for making a memorable Valentine’s Day dinner at home.

Coconut Shrimp

coconut_shrimp

Sweet (Pepper) Hearts Salad

Red Pepper Hearts Salad for Valentine's Day

Seafood Baked Ziti

Seafood Baked Ziti

Red Velvet Poke Cake

Red Velvet Poke Cake

Have plenty of candles lit and wine chilled.  Use your Valentine’s Bouquet for the table centerpiece.  Have a wonderful, romantic Valentine’s Day!

Pin This Post!

Sharon Springfield

Sharon

Cooking With Sharon SpringfieldFacebook Page - I Love To CookFollow Me On PinterestFollow Me On Instagram

Categories
Asian Carrots Chicken Ethnic - Regional Main Dish Pasta Poultry Seafood Shrimp

Bang Bang Shrimp or Chicken & Pasta

Bang Bang Shrimp or Chicken & Pasta

Bang Bang Chicken Pasta or Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta

Tonight I had a craving for something out of reach – Bang Bang Shrimp.  So I decided to make something like it, at home.  Since I didn’t have enough shrimp to make a decent meal for 3, I used chicken breast instead.  The result was fabulous!  Introducing my Bang Bang Shrimp or Chicken Pasta recipe!

bang_bang_sauce
Bang Bang Sauce Recipe

This sauce is so tasty, I’d love to have it on everything!  Well, almost everything.  It’s sweet, spicy, garlicky and citrusy (is that a word?), all rolled into one.  It nicely coats the pasta and the shrimp or chicken, and brings this one dish wonder to a level of it’s own.

This is a quick meal to prepare, great for a weeknight dinner.  Fast, easy clean up and delicious – a busy, working mom’s dream.  This recipe is a keeper so be sure to pin it!

Here’s how you make my delicious Bang Bang Shrimp or Chicken Pasta Recipe:

First, prep your shrimp or chicken.  Julienne 2 carrots and slice 2 green onions.  Bring a pot of water to boil for cooking your pasta.

Mix together the Bang Bang Sauce ingredients in a bowl.  Set aside.

Saute the chicken or shrimp, as instructed below.  Add carrot and onion to frying pan and lower heat to low.

Bang Bang Chicken

Boil pasta until al dente’.  Drain.  Add to cooked chicken or shrimp, top with Bang Bang sauce, stir and Enjoy!

Here is the recipe for Bang Bang Shrimp or Chicken Pasta:

INGREDIENTS

3/4 – 1 lb of fettuccine, linguine, thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta
1 1/2 lbs of diced chicken breast or shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 Tbsp – coconut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp Paprika
2 green onions, sliced
2 carrots, julienned
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Bang Bang Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise or light mayonnaise to lower calories
1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp of lime juice
1/8 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

In a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta and drain well.

Place the uncooked chicken or shrimp in a medium sized bowl and add the paprika, 3 cloves of garlic and pepper.

Heat the coconut oil on medium high heat and add the coated uncooked chicken or shrimp. Stir constantly while cooking until shrimp is pink for approx. 7- 10 minutes, or chicken is no longer pink inside.

Remove from heat and set aside if pasta is not ready.

In a large serving bowl, combine the pasta, shrimp and sauce mixture and toss.

Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.

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Bang Bang Shrimp / Chicken Pasta Recipe

PIN IT!  Here’s the link:  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/280278776787516684/

Sharon Springfield

Sharon

Cooking With Sharon SpringfieldFacebook Page - I Love To CookFollow Me On PinterestFollow Me On Instagram

Categories
Chicken Chicken Breasts Gnocchi Italian Mushrooms Onions Spinach

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

2 chicken breasts, diced
200g box of mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
3 oz cream cheese
3 cubes frozen spinach
fresh basil, thinly sliced
grated Parmesan cheese

Saute mushrooms in 1 tablespoon coconut oil.
Remove to a bowl.
In same pan, saute chicken in 1 tablespoon coconut oil.
Add garlic and onion and saute one minute.
Add mushrooms back to pot.
Pour in broth and milk and bring to a boil.
Add Gnocci.
Simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in basil.
Add cream cheese and stir until melted.
Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

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Categories
Appetizers Dips

Spinach Artichoke Dip – Olive Garden Recipe

Olive Garden’s Spinach & Artichoke Dip Recipe

1 14-oz can artichoke hearts, drained and sliced
1 lb cream cheese, room temperature
8 oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
5 green onions, chopped
Salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
1 6-oz pack fresh spinach, chopped
8 slices crusty Italian bread
Extra virgin olive oil (to drizzle)

Preheat oven to 325ºF

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, except bread and extra virgin olive oil.  Coat a large non-stick baking pan with pan spray; fill pan with mixture.

Bake at 325ºF for about 25 minutes or until bubbling and center is hot.

Drizzle both sides of bread with extra virgin olive oil.  Grill bread on both sides. Sprinkle top of heated dip with Parmesan cheese.  Serve hot with grilled bread.

Olive Garden's Spinach Artichoke Dip[amd-yrecipe-recipe:6]

Categories
Breads Breakfast Desserts

Banana Bread

Banana Bread is a family favorite and always reminds me of my childhood.  My daddy grew bananas in our back yard, so we often had a huge surplus of bananas to use up.  My mom would wait until the bananas were nice and spotty then whip up a few loaves of Banana Bread.

This Banana Bread Recipe makes 2 loaves.  Banana Bread freezes well, so you can eat one of these loaves now, then freeze the other one for later.  Just put the banana bread in a ziplock bag, squeeze out the air, and stick it in the freezer.  When you are ready, just take out the frozen banana bread and leave it sitting out on your counter for an hour or so, in the bag.

You’ll notice that in this recipe, I use Coconut Oil.  If you don’t have it on hand, you can substitute whatever cooking oil you have on hand. (Canola, sunflower, corn, vegetable)  But I would encourage you to give coconut oil a try, because it really gives the banana bread a great tropical flavor that you will love!  Plus, it’s better for you.  I got organic, cold pressed, extra virgin coconut oil from Costco.  When it’s cool, it will be solidified, so I had to microwave it to make it a liquid in order to pour and measure it properly.

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banana_bread

Allow the banana bread to cool before attempting to slice it.  It will be difficult to wait, because this smells so good!

Banana Bread

If you want to try something different, spread Nutella or Peanut Butter on a slice of banana bread.  It’s SOOO GOOD!!!  It’s like dessert heaven!

We usually eat banana bread with breakfast or an afternoon snack.  I hope you enjoy this recipe for Banana Bread!

Remember to PIN this Banana Bread Recipe!

Sharon Springfield

Sharon

Cooking With Sharon SpringfieldFacebook Page - I Love To CookFollow Me On PinterestFollow Me On Instagram

Categories
Breakfast Turkey

Homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausages

Homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausages

When we moved from Florida to Australia, I quickly found that there are many grocery items that could not be purchased here.  One of those was breakfast sausages.  What they call sausages here are more like hot dogs.  Not exactly appetizing for breakfast.

That’s why I came up with this recipe.  It took several tries before I got the seasonings right, but this is as close as I could get to the turkey sausages we used to buy in America.

Homemade Turkey Sausage

This recipe makes a lot, and can be cooked and frozen.  When ready to serve, just microwave the number of sausages you want for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

These homemade turkey sausages are healthy and since you make it at home with your fresh ingredients, you can feel good about eating them.  No preservatives or mystery ingredients. 🙂

Minced_Turkey

Minced Turkey

Sausage_Mixture

Sausage Mixture – Minced Turkey and Sausage Spice Blend

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This goes well with my Home Fried Potatoes recipe.

Remember to PIN this Homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausages Recipe!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/280278776787458929/

Homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausages

Sharon Springfield

Sharon

Cooking With Sharon SpringfieldFacebook Page - I Love To CookFollow Me On PinterestFollow Me On Instagram

Categories
Breakfast Potatoes Side Dishes Vegetables Vegetarian

Home Fried Potatoes

Home Fried Potatoes – Breakfast Homefries

Homefries

A big breakfast with these delicious Homefries will start your day off right!

How do you make Homefries?

They are surprisingly easy and quick, if you plan ahead.

Make up some baked potatoes the night before, and cool them overnight in the fridge.  In the morning, slice the potatoes up and brown them up in a frying pan on the stove top.

Use your favorite seasonings to flavor the home fries.  Our family loves Everglades Seasoning.  Just use your favorite seasoned salt spice blend, and you’re sure to love these delicious breakfast home fried potatoes!

Dicing the Potatoes for Homefries

Dicing up the cooled baked potatoes.

homefries-2

Panfrying the home fried potatoes in seasoned oil & butter.

homefries-3

Browning up the home fried potatoes on the stove.  Almost there…

Home Fried Potatoes

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These homefried potatoes are also great as a side dish for dinner.  (Great Meat & Potatoes guy food.)

Breakfast Homefries - Homefried Potatoes

Try my homemade turkey sausage recipe, to complete your big breakfast menu!  (Pictured above with below the home fried potatoes.)

Don’t forget to PIN this Homefries Recipe!  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/280278776787458714/

Sharon Springfield

Sharon

Cooking With Sharon SpringfieldFacebook Page - I Love To CookFollow Me On PinterestFollow Me On Instagram