Spy Thai Beef - A back to School Recipe and $50 Visa Giveaway - Winner Announced!

So around here school is back in session and that means life is busy once again for many moms, and if you are like me, last thing you want to do after a long day of work the last thing you want to do is spend all evening in the kitchen fixing a meal. 

Since we have a freezer full of beef I was excited when I was contacted by the Kansas Beef Council about trying and sharing some new recipes that are not only quick, but also easy and tasty. Today I am gonna share the Spy Thai Beef Recipe and when I am done I will have link to it as well as the other recipes that the Beef Council came out with.

I had to change just a little in the recipe, because the original recipe called for wonton wrappers and since Caleb and I are gluten free we can't eat those. But that was an easy fix and it still turned out good.

Al right here's what you will need: Ground Beef (93% lean or leaner), Creamy Peanut Butter (reduced-fat if you have it or regular sunflower seed butter), Soy Sauce (reduced-sodium or Gluten free if you are like us), Garlic Powder, Ground Ginger, Fresh Lime Juice, Crushed Red Pepper, and Stir Fri Rice Noodles.

Start by browning your hamburger (ground beef) over medium heat in a non-stick skillet.
 

You will need to break the hamburger into small pieces. Once it's cooked you will need to drain any grease you may have from the pan. If you are using lean beef then there shouldn't be very much grease.
 

In a separate bowl combine the water, 
 

Peanut Butter,

Soy Sauce,
 

Lemon Juice,

Ground Ginger, and

 Red Pepper Flakes

And whisk them all together.

Meanwhile you need to be cooking your noodles.

Once the meat has browned pour all the mixture in with the hamburger.

Now stir it to combine and...

allow it to cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

I then plated it with over the cooked rice noodles and topped with slices of red peppers and lime wedges. I actually liked adding more lime juice over the top if it to give it a little more zip of flavor.  

The original recipe calls for placing it over baked wonton wrappers, but I think it would also be good if you placed it in a tortila shell with some sliced red peppers and carrots. 

Ok so here is the original recipe for it.

Ingredients

• 1 pound Ground Beef (93% lean or leaner)
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons reduced-fat creamy peanut butter or regular sunflower seed butter
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• Baked wonton wrappers (optional) or Rice Stir Fry Noodles

Directions

• Heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Add Ground Beef; cook 8 to 10 minutes, breaking into 1/2-inch crumbles and stirring occasionally. Remove drippings.
• Meanwhile, combine water, peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, garlic powder, ground ginger and red pepper in a separate bowl and whisk together.
• Stir peanut butter mixture into cook ground beef. Continue to cook over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.
• Evenly divided beef mixture over six wonton triangles or rice noodles, if desired. Garnish with toppings, as desired

 Optional Toppings


Red bell pepper strips, shredded carrots, cucumber slices, sliced green onion, sliced fresh pea pods, sliced basil or cilantro leaves, shelled edamame, pickled ginger, lime wedges

Here's some links to not only this recipe as well as some other new, quick and easy recipes.

Easy-to-pack Lunch Collection:

•   Sweet Potato Beef Mash Up: Ground Beef and sweet potato chunks get wrapped up in a whole-wheat tortilla.
•   Rock and Roll Beef Wrap: A colorful way to introduce quinoa to your kids with ranch-seasoned Ground Beef and slaw.
•   Mu Shu Steak & Apple Wraps: Hand-held and perfectly portable, these Steak, apple and slaw wraps are great on the go.

Nutritious Dinner Collection:

•   Spy Thai Beef: Peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger and garlic introduce ethnic flavors to picky palates.
•   Sweet and Sloppy Joe: This recipe incorporates lots of veggies for a nutritious take on a kid favorite.
• Hoisin BBQ Steak-On-A-Stick with Pineapple Salsa: Little and big hands alike can enjoy bite-sized beef cubes, topped with a colorful four ingredient salsa.

If you are looking for more tasty beef recipes check out the BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com website, they have all kinds of tasty ideas!!! Also if you are on Pinterest be sure and follow Kansas Beef Pinterest Board to get more great ideas. 

OK Now for the Giveaway....

The Kansas Beef Council is wanting to give you guys a chance to try one of these recipes too without costing you much of anything. They are gonna give away one $50 Visa Gift Card to one of my lucky readers!!!

To enter just leave a comment telling me what your favorite beef meal is...

For Caleb it would be "Chicken Fried Steak".....for me I like a good steak and beef pot roast, but I Love when my momma makes "Fried Beef Liver and Onions"  Yummy!!!!

Ok what's your's??

Entry's will be open till Saturday night September 7, 2013. I will pick a winner on Sometime on Sunday and announce it on Monday.

*You can earn  second and third entry by sharing this contest with your friends via Facebook or Twitter! Be sure to share the link, then come back and let me know you did with another comment and link to your post.

Good Luck!!!

And the winner is.....Nicole W. who love a good steak....if you haven't checked out her blog Life's a Beach you need to...it's wonderful and I love keeping up with her and her family! 

Congrats Nicole!!! If you could shoot me an e-mail with your address so I can get the gift card headed your way! 

Thanks to all who entered and a special thanks to Kansas Beef Council for this opportunity!

Beef on My Plate

I was recently contacted by the Kansas Beef Council about try out a new online assessment tool called My Plate, My Way, on the "Beef It's What's for Dinner" website. This is an interactive tool offers personalized tips and recipes to guide healthy eating choices that are tailored to you, while fitting in with USDA’s dietary guidelines.

It's a really neat tool. You will take an 8 question quiz and when you are finished it will give you your eating personality as well as some great recipes to try.

So when I took this I came out as a Flavor Saveur. And here's what they said about me...

Flavor rules in your book. Life is too short to eat foods you don’t enjoy, so you look for foods that will provide taste above all else. You love reading and trying new recipes on your quest for flavorful food.

They gave me two different recipes to try...

Filet Mignon with Herb-Butter Sauce and Mushrooms or Smoky T-Bones with Chunky BBQ Sauce

So they both sounded soo yummy, but I choose to the Smoky T-Bones....why, because I have T-Bones in freezer, but I still want to try the other recipe, but I might try it with ribeyes instead of the filet. But that will be for another time so back to the T-Bones I cooked. Well here's what they looked like...

I won't lie I was a little scared when I was making this for Caleb cause its a steak that you add BBQ sauce onto it and it has pineapple in it...

I should say this, Caleb likes his food "Plain Jane". No "fancy" ingredients. So I really didn't expect him to take to the idea of this steak topped with Pineapple BBQ sauce, but...

Not only did I love this recipe but so did Caleb. I though he might just go for the steak with no sauce on it, but he put it on the side and just plain loved it, he even started stealing some from my plate when he ran out of sauce. The only thing I didn't do that the recipe called for was rub chili powder on the steaks.

I'm sorry I didn't do a how-to picture post of this recipe, I was kind of in a rush when I made these, but I plan on making them again soon, and hopefully I will be able to do it next time. Once again here is a link to the Smoky T-Bones with Chunky BBQ Sauce again. If you get chance to try them, do, cause they are wonderful! Also take some time and go over to the Beef It's What's for Dinner website and check out all the great tools they have over there. Also go check out the My Plate, My Way. I would love to hear what your eating personality is.

Until we meet again.

JP