Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Monstrous Mongolian Beef

I missed a fairly large event that happened in my life withing the last year. I reread my last post and realized I skipped right over the fact that I got engaged! Ms. Grown-up Life will be marrying Mr. Occasionally Updated on November 8, 2014.

Wedding plans keep me occupied, but not busy yet. We have a  year... however, 6 months of an engagement already down, I have a fair bit planned out. It is kind of frustrating, honestly, because I have the dress, venue, date, officiant, photographer, bridal party, hotel... and we are a year and a week out still. What can I do at this point? Well, I will soon be sending out my save the dates (which will be early, but I want to do something!)... Long story long, I am getting married, and I forgot to list it among the things that happened to me last year. Oops :/


The review for today is WW Mongolian Beef

Originally, the recipe I had pinned was a PF Chang's knock off recipe and it looked amazing, but it stupidly had put a calorie count on the site, and at 800 cals per serving, my pre-wedding body didn't think it was the best decision. Instead, I went with this WW recipe. Don't get me wrong, most WW recipes are pretty good. This is not the first one featured on this blog... however, this one was really not very good.

The flavor was fine. It tasted like any typical Asian inspired beef dish. The onions were soggy and tame, and the heat from the pepper flakes were almost non-existent (even though the recipe claimed it would be too hot. And I am not a person who likes spicy food, typically).

The texture is what really got me. When I think Mongolian Beef, I think almost spicy BBQ in texture. It should be dark, and rich in color... and you don't have to deep fry anything to get that. That should be in the sauce... this was... well... gray. It was what I imagine in Gruel would be colored in a Dickens novel. It was gray, gelatinous, goop.

I follow these recipes to a T, so I can properly recreate them, and there are quite a few things that could be done differently to improve this recipe. I would nix the corn starch and focus on grilling that meat as dry as possible... get a glaze going with the drippings, and wait to add the onions til last.

I will be back with more... looks like I'll be doing a Diabetes friendly Pumpkin Pie soon. I'll let you know how it goes!

Monday, October 28, 2013

No Longer Neglected Blog!

It's been almost a year... I could have had a baby, or bought a house, or... I don't know... done something impressive in the time it's been since I've posted last. The truth is... I'm just lazy. I'm like, the laziest person
I know. But since my last post, I have gone through 3 jobs, and 2 shows, plus a major professional audition, and a move from the 'burbs to the city... again.

My journeys have shown me a few things:

1. I hate not acting. I feel useless and blob-like.
2. I still have a child-like tendency to defy any rules put in front of me.
3. I have a handful a friends, and a lot of friend-like acquaintances.
4. Turns out, I hate playing league sports.
5. I am kick ass with customer service.
(...I suppose you can say that this makes me a tolerant person... and I am. Professionally. In my personal life, I use to be, but man... I'm feeling too old for other people's drama!)

I have been cooking. A lot. I just haven't been posting it.
What I've been doing is pinning recipes that look good, and then trying a few each week... and pinning the one's I've tried to another board... with the intent on reviewing each one. I didn't do that either... so I figured, the best way to get rid of two unfinished projects is to combine them.

Neglected Blog, meet Unfinished Recipe Reviews.

There have been some that were simply amazing... and then, well, not so much as well.

So, to kick off this whole shebang, and re-christen my long neglected blog, I give you the first review of the series:

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

For those of you who know me on a personal level, you will know I love this soup. Even better if it's in a bread bowl.
I am picky about this soup.
Very picky.

I loved this. There was none left. It was absolutely amazing. I mean, if you are clueless about what you want for dinner tonight, do this. Do it. You won't be sorry. It was really simple to make, and very quick. I made the soup, combined the ingredients, and let it simmer while I baked rolls (no bread bowl, but hey, it filled the void), and it was perfect when everything was done.

The only criticism I would give this recipe is that it didn't make very much. I fed three people one medium bowl, and though the soup is filling, it wouldn't go very far in a group setting.


So, now you should all be set for dinner tonight.

You're welcome.