Julie Surprise: Super Simple Stirfry

Here is my recipe for the fastest easiest stirfry ever! This is a regular meal at our house. I hope you all enjoy it! There are no exact measurements for this recipe. I just eyeball it, the possibilities are endless!

Julie Surprise: Super Simple Stirfry

Ingredients:

• Frozen Asian Mix Veggies (My faves are available at Costco)
• One or two skinless boneless chicken breasts
• Your choice of Asian dressing or marinade. (I love Lighthouse Sesame Ginger Dressing. Or Panda Express Orange Chicken Sauce now available at Costco)
• Rice

Directions:

1. Saute the chicken breasts with a little oil (peanut oil would be ideal but any will work)
2. As the chicken begins to cook use your spatula to cut it up into smaller bite sized pieces.
3. Once cooked through, add the dressing or sauce of your choice. Water it down, or add soy sauce or other seasonings if desired.
4. Then add frozen veggies and stir it all together and simmer until veggies are soft enough to cut with the spatula.
5. Meanwhile, have rice boiling or steaming in your rice cooker.
6. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Update: 09-03-12 Things have changed. Check out this post for a slightly more healthful version.

Julie Surprise: Black Bean Tortillas

These are an invention of mine. I must confess I'm very proud of. The healthiest, easiest, best homemade tortillas you'll ever have! (Now if I could only find someone to pay me for inventing them.)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour of your choice (we like gluten free)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon cold butter
• 1 can of black beans drained and pureed.

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine together flour, salt and baking powder. With a fork and butter knife work in the cold butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
2. Add the black beans and mix until the dough can be gathered together. If necessary, add more flour (1 1/3 cup at a time) until the dough comes together. (It's okay if it's still a bit sticky)
3. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 15 minutes.
4. Dust your work surface and your hands with flour and sprinkle flour on top of the dough in the bowl.
5. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll into rounds. If it is too sticky to work with work a bit more flour into each ball.
6. On your floured surface, use a rolling pin to flatten and stretch each ball into a thin circle.
7. Cook on an un-greased skillet over medium high heat until bubbles appear and then flip and cook a minute or two more.
8. Keep covered with a clean, dry towel until ready to serve.

Julie Notes: Leftovers can be refrigerated or frozen.

Black Bean Burgers

These are a favorite recipe of my friend Kayleen, and make a great veggie burger/ meat substitute.

Black Bean Burgers

12 oz. can black beans, rinsed
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 large egg
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
shredded cheese
oil for frying

In a large bowl, mash together beans, breadcrumbs and egg. Add onion, corn, garlic, salt, cumin and chili powder. Mix well and form into 6 balls of equal size. Flatten into 1/2 inch thickness. Heat oil in pan on stove. Add burgers and cook each side for 2-3 minutes. Serve on whole grain bun with lettuce, tomato and other condiments of your choice.

Homemade Hobby Horse

Someone on Kaboodle posted a link to these cute hobby horses you can make yourself. I thought it was a cool idea for a simple homemade kids gift and a great way to re-use old jeans. Click on the picture to be taken to the how-to.
Enjoy!

Dinosaur Design

I've been trying to work on art lately and practice drawing more and as a result I came up with a little dinosaur sketch. So I decided to turn it into a cafepress design.
Initially I was thinking as a kids shirt but I decided to add it to a few adult sized products as well, just in case someone out there never got over their dreams of being a paleontologist.Tada!

Cortaid Poison Ivy Care Toxin Removal Cloths

I discovered these cool toxin removal wipes and thought it would be a good thing to share.
These would be great to take in your first aid kit when you go camping or if you live in an area where poison ivy grows and your kids are likely to stumble upon some.

I'm not sure if you can buy it at local stores, but I'm guessing you probably can. On Amazon.com it ranges in price from $12.00-$6.00