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!

A Couple of Months of Quick Up-Dates

So I know it's been a while since I have done any kind of post about the farm, our family, or what we have been doing, so here is a quick up-date of what all we have done since June.

 We spent a lot of time in the field this spring. The wheat did really well this year, which means we have some happy farmers...

that is as long as they think about wheat and not corn or beans. ;)

Caleb actually got to spend a lot of time in the combine this year since Pop was still out recovering from heart surgery and no one else really knew how to run the new machine.

Chester got to ride a lot and usually wasn't happy if we went to the field and he didn't ride. We would often spend a lot of time riding close to his nap time and some times he didn't make it through a ride without falling asleep.

We had lots of picnics while we were in the field. I was so very happy when we were finally done with field work and I didn't have to pack up everything and take it to the field, but it won't be long till I will be doing it again for corn a bean harvest.

We got to play with a few fireworks too.

Finally when everything calmed down we were able to make a trip to Northeast Missouri to visit my family and play with a few chickens.

WARNING: If you leave your sonic cup setting around at my folks house it is fair game for anyone to snatch it up and drink it, so be careful.

Chester got to spend a lot of time playing with his cousin...

He also got to take a late night bobcat ride with them and Grandma.

And nothing beats cuddling up with grandpa and watching some videos of tractor pulls. 

I helped the youngin's catch a snake. I was then told by my mother that it must die....it was just a little garter snake....but I did what I was told and we took it up to the chickens to feed them. After they let us down and didn't attach it my niece there decided to stomp the crap out of it till it was dead....your welcome mom! 

We also go to do my favorite pass time and we played in the creek.  I use to spend hours upon hours in the creeks on my folks farm.

After all that we had one tired little boy.

We also got to spend one weekend celibrating the marriage of this wonderful couple. Wendy is my first cousin and we were the best of buds growing up. Fact: In high school Wendy and I could kick the butt of about anyone in 2-on-2 basketball! I am so very happy for her!!!

Actually my sister and I did all the photography at the wedding....it was a long day! I got to do a lot of the bossing and staging of the groups.

Here was my partner in crime for the day. We sure did have a lot of fun working together on these pictures!

We also celebrated 66 years of marriage with these two. 

Chester loves Grandma and Pop....probably because every time he goes over there Grandma loads him up with chocolate. Not a bad deal if you ask me. ;)

And Me, well I have spent a lot of time here, at my sink putting up lots of produce....I think at this point I have put up over 70 quarts of produce and I hope I will still get a little more! 

Oh and I have an ever growing belly! :)  

Fact: at 20 weeks I had only gained 3 lbs and in the past 8 weeks I have gained another 14....I am on the same track that I was on with Chester, so we could be looking at another big baby...lol I would probably help if I stayed away from cheetos, but really who wants to do that ;)

Well there ya go, that's what we've been up to. I am tired just from thinking about all that, so I'm gonna scoot.

Later,

JP

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple-Walnut Cream Cheese Icing - Gluten Free Style

So a few years ago I posted about these cupcakes, but since then our house has become gluten free. I was in the mood for these again the other day so I thought I would try making them gluten free and....

It was a success!!! 

All I did to make them Gluten Free was used a gluten free all purpose flour.  I use Better Batter Gluten Free Flour for my cooking and it worked great. You couldn't tell the difference between the GF and the non-GF ones. I even took a couple down to our neighbors who had just gotten home from the hospital and the husband could believe how good they were....especially since they were gluten free! 

So here it is again...

Pumpkin Cupcakes

The Line-up: Flour (Gluten free flour Mix like Better Batter Flour - if you flour doesn't contain xanthan gum then add a teaspoon of it to the recipe), Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Coarse Salt, Ground Cinnamon, Ground Ginger, Freshly Grated Nutmeg, Ground Allspice, Brown Sugar, Granulated Sugar, Unsalted Butter (melted and cooled), Eggs (it says to use 4 large eggs, but I two large one small and one XL cause that's what I had in my fridge), and 15 Ounce Can Pumpkin Puree

First preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Put 2 cups of all purpose flour, now add in a tsp of xanthan gum,  tsp of baking soda, a tsp of baking power, a tsp of salt, a tsp of ground cinnamon and a tsp of ground ginger.

You will also add in a 1/4 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg, but if you are like me and don't have any nutmeg cloves to grate, then you can use the already ground stuff.

You also need to add a 1/4 tsp of ground allspice.

I don't have any of the ground allspice, so here's what I do instead...

I take about a dozen of the little allspice balls and...

...I place them in a ziploc bag. Then I take my meat pounder and start smashing them.

I probably don't get them ground as small as I should, but its a whole lot easier than driving to the store to get a bottle of ground allspice, cause I live out in the middle of nowhere and it takes a while to get to the store. One of these days I will remember to put it on my shopping list. Until then this works for me.

Now in a large bowl break in all four eggs and whisk them together.

You need two sticks of unsalted butter, melted and cooled.

Now to the eggs add 1 cup of white sugar, 1 packed cup of brown sugar and the melted butter.

Now whisk them all together, and then...

...add in the dry ingredients.

Whisk them until smooth.

Now add in the pumpkin puree and...

...whisk it in.

Now spoon the batter evenly into the cupcake tin liners. Fill them 1/2 to 3/4 the way full.

Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, so for about 20 to 25 minutes. You might need to rotate pans depending on your oven. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely before adding the frosting.

Ok now lets make the icing or frosting (whichever you call it)

Maple - Walnut Cream Cheese Icing

Icing Line-up: Cream Cheese, Unsalted Butter, Brown Sugar, Maple Syrup, Maple Flavoring (I must have lost my maple flavoring cause I couldn't find it this time but it was just as good without it!), and Chopped Walnuts

Your butter should be at room temperature. As you can see mine was a little melted, but it still worked.

Now using an eclectic mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until blended.

Now beat in two packages of cream cheese.

Add in 1/4 tsp maple flavoring and...

 

I couldn't find my maple  flavoring this time so I didn't add any and they tasted just as good without it.

...one cup of maple syrup and beat them in.

Now you need about one cup of chopped walnuts.

Now using a spatula fold in the chopped walnuts.

Chill for about 20 minutes so it can firm up.

Once the icing is ready and the cupcakes have cooled, ice them and enjoy. 

I hope your cupcakes turn out as good as mine did!  if you have any questions give me a shout!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Makes 18 – 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose Gluten Free flour ( I use Better Batter)
1 Teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your flour already contains this)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed.

Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.


Maple-Walnut Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon maple flavoring (Optional)
2 cups walnuts, toasted, chopped

Directions

Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until blended. Beat in cream cheese, then maple syrup and flavoring. Fold in the chopped walnuts. Chill until beginning to firm, about 20 minutes.



They are so yummy, I just know ya'll will love them!

JP