back to work eatin'

The count down continues... Tomorrow is Passover and then Tuesday I am back to work.

Back to the daily rush to figure out meals. On good days, I have everything figured out, or time to prep dinner in the morning. On bad days, if there's nothing in the freezer, then we either eat some crap (which the pocketbook will not allow at all for the next couple of months) or we eat at about 10:00, after baby (now babies!) is taken care of and meal is made. Not ideal.

So, I have been trying to start my work week on a good foot and get all our meals figured out ahead of time. Criteria for weekday meals:

1) Easy enough to be made or prepped by Dustin.
2) Able to be made ahead of time and frozen.
3) Can be made in 15 minutes.
4) Can be prepped in the morning.
5) Nutritious.

Meals must meet one or more of the above criteria, with #5 being the most important. Eating McDonalds every day would be easy, but then we would just get sick, and I don't have the time and energy for that. (Plus, McD's is disgusting.) It's also great when I can have leftovers for lunch the next day.

Enter the stir fry (horns bleating, drums rolling)... My best meal friend. This week we made a new stir fry that is yummy delicious and will be making a repeated performance over the next couple of months.

BEEF AND LEEK STIR FRY
Marinade: (From Rasa Malaysia)
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tblsp water
1 tsp rice wine, Shaoxing wine or white wine
About 1 pound of grass-fed beef cut into small strips

Ingredients:
3 carrots, sliced diagonally
2 leeks, white and light green parts sliced diagonally
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tblsp fresh minced ginger

Sauce:
1 1/2 tblsp oyster sauce
1 tblsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tblsp water
Pinch of red pepper flakes
3 dashes white pepper
Salt to taste

1. Marinate beef for about 30 minutes (or all day) in fridge.
2. Heat wok on high. Add about 1 tblsp oil (I use olive). Cook beef until barely red and take out.
3. Add more oil if needed. Put garlic and ginger into the wok and cook for 1 minute.
4. Return beef to wok. Add vegetables and cook until carrots are tender.
5. Add sauce and cook for 1 minute more.
6. Eat with rice (thanks sis for the supremely awesome rice cooker!) and enjoy!