Stir Fry with Beef in Satay Sauce

Veggie Stir Fry with Beef in Satay Sauce

Stir fry is one of the easiest dishes because you don't really need a recipe, you just sautee (stir fry) anything you want, however there is an art to it. Not all veggies cook at the same interval, so you need to know which veggies are going to quick cookly vs those that cook slowly.

I always start off with hot oil, a little butter, onions or shallots and garlic then add the slower cooking veggies first, and as they reach a certain cooking stage I add the faster cooking veggies in.

Once veggies are done, take out of hot wok and place in a bowl to keep warm (do not cook veggies to a soft state, make sure they still have a little crunch).

If you are going to add protien to your stir fry, begin cooking in the hot wok, also using oil, onions/peppers/garlic and stir fry until completely cooked. Once the protein is finished cooking, take out and place in a bowl or platter.

Now it's time for your sauce!
I use hoison, soy, ginger, honey, sirrachi (thickened with cornstarch) place in wok and heat until it thickens, then add the protein and veggies and stir fry all together until done.

I serve with steamed rice, so so good!

Bon Appetit!

Pancakes with banana and chocolate

Made a big pancake for weekend breakfast, and didn't eat it. It stayed there in my fridge for 2 days before I took it out and tore a bite out of it, then tossed it in the trash. The reason it didn't get eaten, was because I also made some cinnamon honey pancakes that got gobbled up.


I made my own batter

- 1 C Wheat Flour
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 2 tsp. Baking Powder
- 1 Egg
- 1 C Soy Milk
- 2 Tbsp. melted butter
_ 1 tsp. cinnamon

pour the batter into a buttered pan, and add any ingredients you wish ~ flip, cook and eat alone or with powdered sugar/honey/syrup/whip cream

ENJOY :)

Green Bean Casserole from scratch

Saw some delicious looking organic green beans at the grocery store and "grean bean casserole" immediately came to mind. I have been preparing Green Bean Casserole for years, and as time goes by I have refined the recipe:

I make my own mushroom sauce and fried some scallions for the topping

Geenbeans
sautee with fresh scallions in olive oil until tender
salt/pepper

Mushroom sauce:
1 lb fresh button mushrooms
1 tablespoon of butter
1/4 cup heavy cream

this sauce is so easy it's ridiculous. I melted butter in a pan, sauteed the mushrooms, and added the heavy cream, when the sauce was incorporated, I added the sauteed green beans to the pan, and topped it with some fried scallions that I prepared in a matter of 2 minutes.

Fried Scallions:
2 cups chopped scallions
2 tablespoons of instant pancake batter
salt/pepper

pan fry in olive oil until crip, and add as a topping to casserole. I also added gruyere cheese as a finish

very delicious and so much better then the canned gloppy mushroom soup

my potato pancakes

pictured above: dinner: chorizo grilled chicken breast and savory potato pancake w/ crema fresca. I also included photos of the step by step preperation of the savory potato pancake. A potato pancake has to be one of my favorite dishes, the potato is so versatile in its raw and cooked state, it's one of the most lovely root vegetables. I easily clean, peel and grate each potato one by one(5-6 potatoes), then squeeze out all of the starches. I place shredded potato in a bowl, and mix with sliced green onion, kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, flour(1 tablespoon), water(1/4 cup), and one egg (bind very well). I mold the pancakes, and place in a skillet with heated olive oil...cook for a few min on each side then serve.

I prepared my pancakes as a side dish with crema fresca

Poem by Evana Vleck

working on a poem. I thought about the phrase "Life goes on" and to me it's not really true, only to some degree. For me life is breathing and existence, and death is a part of life. Death goes on moreso than life, and with death, memories are the strongest.



Life Goes On in memory of Javier Pena RIP 1/21/76 - 7/27/2010

You know the phrase, “Life goes on”
Well…it does.

But it mainly pauses.

It comes to a standstill as you may have experienced…
It comes to a halt, as you might have noticed.
Life takes a hiatus at times: seldom when solemn, rarely when lethargic,
but often, when tragedy plagues.

As life gaps, our consciousness proceeds to a voyage into the past.
The tour is muted and vague, but the destination vivid, like the Valley Sun shining on Christmas day

Life sits in limbo as our mind journeys as we choose only the memories we desire to evoke
We take a road trip,
A road trip of the mind…
Those are the best kind. A memory that turns into thousands of entangled roads
Intersecting at: “that one time”
Making a U-turn at “our first kiss” or getting lost at “secrets we both shared in pure bliss”.

We mentally expedite to revive laughter, to resuscitate happiness because those are the things that we chose to remember about you.

My mind can see you, even though my fingers can no longer touch you
My mind can hear you, even though you are no longer here.
You made your impression, and it has seemed to exceed you! Your impression is valued above many things tangible and solid. Your impression is eternal more so than material; it’s influential and it soars with the South Texas sun, it burns –burns- burns and brands itself within us all.

Never-ending smile
Perpetual
Inimitable
Vigorous
Caring