Wontons and Fried Rice

This Wonton recipe is from my friend Julie's cooking blog, Real (Good) Cooking.  To learn how Julie and I are almost related, check out the guest post she did for me back in December. 

 

I have been wanting to try Julie's Wonton recipe for awhile, but I have to admit, I was a little intimidated. I mean, I have never made wontons or anything like that myself, and I have never even thought of purchasing tofu before! Fortunately, she blogged about the recipe and added some great step-by-step pictures. Funny how pictures work, isn't it? I immediately added the wonton recipe to this week's menu plan, and look how great they turned out!

 

 

Note: this recipe makes 30-40 wontons, way more than my family could eat in one sitting, so I froze some uncooked wontons to fry up on leftover night.

 

printable recipe

Wontons 

 

3/4 lb. lean ground beef  (or if you're feeling frisky, use chopped, raw shrimp)
1/2 package tofu (firm works best)
3-4 scallions, chopped
1/2-3/4 cup chopped bean sprouts
1/4 tsp. each of salt, pepper, garlic powder

2 Tbs. soy sauce
1 package wonton wrappers (found in the produce section by the tofu and refrigerated salad dressing)
canola oil

 

Place the raw ground beef, tofu (cut into chunks), scallions, sprouts, seasonings, and soy sauce in a large bowl and mix with (clean) hands.

 

Heat about 1/4 inch of oil in the bottom of large pot over medium heat.

 

 

To assemble the wontons: Spoon a small lump of the filling onto the middle of each wrapper.

 

Using your finger dipped in water, wet the edges of the wrapper and fold in half to make a triangle shape. Make sure they are sealed all the way around. If you get a hole in the wrapper, tear off a small piece in the corner to patch it.

Once you have several wontons prepared, gently put one in the oil. You know the oil is ready when the wonton starts to bubble and sizzle. Once the oil is ready, cook 4-5 wontons at a time. Cook until golden brown (3-4 minutes on each side). 

 

Watch your oil carefully. If it starts to sizzle a lot and the wontons are browning quickly, turn down the heat. If the wontons brown too quickly, the filling will not be cooked. You probably want to cut open the first couple right away to make sure the filling is cooking through all the way.
 

 

Put wontons on paper towel lined plate to cool.

Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce
apricot jam
soy sauce
 

Heat jam in microwave in 30 second intervals until runny enough to push through a fine mesh strainer. Strain out the chunks and add soy sauce to taste (a couple of Tbsp soy sauce per cup of jam).

 

Fried Rice

serves 3-4

1 cup rice

sesame oil (or canola oil)

4 scallions (green onions), chopped

2 eggs

soy sauce, powdered ginger, and pepper, to taste

Cook the rice and let cool for a few minutes.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat (be conservative if you use sesame oil, it has a strong flavor).

Add the onions and saute for a minute.

Dump in the rice. I do have a way with words, don't I?

Add some soy sauce, ginger and pepper.

Cook and stir for a few minutes until heated through.

Push rice to the side, add eggs and scramble.

Mix scrambled egg into rice, cook and stir for a minute or two more and serve alongside Fried Wontons or Thai Honey Peanut Chicken.

This recipe is featured in Menu Plan 12.

Parmesan Pasta with Meat Sauce

This is a great, easy, satisfying recipe from my mother-in-law. My husband has been requesting this meal for a couple of months now so I was thrilled when I called his mom for the recipe and found out I had all the ingredients on hand! The only exception was the penne pasta, but I substituted thin spaghetti and all was well.

printable recipes

Parmesan Pasta with Meat Sauce

serves 4

1 lb hamburger
salt and pepper
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 cans beef broth OR 4 cups water and 4 tsp (or cubes) beef bouillon
8 oz uncooked penne pasta (or another kind)
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup fresh shredded parmesan

Brown ground beef in a large skillet, drain off fat, and season with salt and pepper. Be generous with the pepper.

Add parsley and broth and simmer for 5 minutes.

Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain, and toss with butter and parmesan.

Place pasta in individual serving bowls and top with beef and broth mixture.

This recipe is featured in Menu Plan 11.

Taco Soup

This is such a yummy, easy soup. Start it in the morning and no matter how busy your afternoon is, you'll have dinner waiting for you when you get home!

I got this recipe off of my friend Julie's blog, Real (Good) Cooking. The flavors are mild, making it very kid-friendly. If you don't have kiddos to worry about and like a bit of a kick, add a few drops of Tabasco.

printable recipe

Taco Soup

serves 4

1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

1 packet of taco seasoning, or if you buy the big containers like I do, 2 rounded Tbsps

2 cans of diced tomatoes (with chiles if you have them)

1 can corn

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, and sour cream for garnish (optional)

Cook ground beef and onion together over medium-high heat until beef is browned and onion is translucent. Drain off fat.

Add half the packet of taco seasoning (or 1 rounded Tbsp) and 1/4 cup of water to the meat mixture. Cook and stir until seasoning is blended in and water is absorbed.

Place meat mixture in the bottom of your crock pot and add corn and juices, tomatoes and juices and the rinsed black bean. Sprinkle remainder of taco seasoning on top.

Add 1/2 cup of water (tomatoes will give off more juice while cooking) and stir.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. I loved how my house smelled while this was cooking all day!

Serve with chips, shredded cheddar cheese, and a dollop of sour cream!

 This recipe is featured in Menu Plan 9.

 

Pioneer Woman's Favorite Burger

I heart Pioneer Woman. I really do. Many times when I am making the menu plan I have to remind myself that I can't just pull all of my recipes off of her website. Well, I could, but it's probably not a good idea. For one thing, my readers would probably just defect to her blog if all I had were her recipes, because let's face it: her pictures are wayyyy better than mine and she's funnier. For another thing, have you seen the price of butter these days? I can't afford to only cook her recipes.

That being said, I did pull a couple of recipes from her site this week: the upcoming Ranch Style Chicken, Dilly Bread, and the topic of this post: PW's Favorite Burger.

Be proud of my health consciousness. I made burgers, yes. BUT... I skipped the potato chips and served them with Broccoli and fresh apples! Baby steps...

I do need to say one thing about this recipe. It was delicious but PW claims that even blue cheese haters will love it, and I have to disagree. The flavor of the blue cheese was still apparent and although my blue-cheese-hating husband ate the burger, I think he could have lived without the blue cheese. I love blue cheese and consequently loved the burger. But if you hate blue cheese, no need to be ashamed, just use another kind of cheese.

printable recipe

Pioneer Woman's Favorite Burger

serves 4

1 lb beef, shaped into 4 patties and seasoned with salt, pepper and tabasco

red onion, cut into slices

2 heaping Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

4 hoagie buns

1/4 cup mayonnaise

Tabasco

lettuce (whatever kind you like atop a burger!)

In a skillet, saute onion slices and brown sugar over medium-low heat.

Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until carmelized, about 10 minutes.

Lightly butter the buns and place face down on a hot griddle, toasting lightly.

Mix the mayonnaise and a couple of dashes of tabasco sauce until the desired heat is reached.

Meanwhile, cook burgers on grill. When they are getting close to done, add the onions and a small handful of blue cheese on top.

Spread the mayonnaise on the toasted buns.

Place lettuce on one side, burger on the other side of the bun.

Put both sides together and serve with your favorite burger side dishes.

This recipe is featured in Menu Plan 9.

Tacoritos

This recipe is a fun combination of tacos, burritos, and enchiladas. The key is to use HOT ground sausage, to give the flavor a good kick. I like to serve it with lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream, alongside my friend Amy's Zesty Mexican Rice.

This recipe is adapted from one I found in a Taste of Home magazine last year.

*Note: this recipe can be easily doubled to serve 8, just bake it in a 9"x13" pan. Alternatively, you can double the recipe and freeze half before baking for an easy pull-out-of-the-freezer-and-bake meal for a busy day.

Tacoritos

printable recipe 

serves 4

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
2 cups water
1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb HOT pork sausage
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
1/2 cup refried beans
4 flour tortillas (8 in)
2 cups (8 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. 

Stir in flour until smooth. 

Gradually add water and bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute, mixture will start to thicken a bit. 

Stir in chili powder and garlic salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. 

In a large skillet, cook the beef, sausage and onion until the meat is no longer pink, drain off the fat. 

Stir in the refried beans and heat through.

Spread 1/4 cup sauce in a greased 9x9 inch dish, or I like to use my rectangular Corningware casserole dish.

Spread 1 Tbsp sauce on a tortilla.

Spoon a quarter of the meat mixture (about 2/3 cup) down the center of tortilla. 

Top with a handful of cheese (about a quarter cup).

Roll up and place seam side down in prepared dish.

Repeat with remaining tortillas. 

Pour remaining sauce over the top. 

Sprinkle with remaining cheese. 

Bake, uncovered, at 350F for 18-22 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly. 

Serve with toppings such as shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, olives, sour cream, cilantro or whatever your heart desires! 

 

This recipe is featured in Menu Plan 7.