This easy Ground Beef Stir Fry recipe is perfect for a weeknight!

With grocery prices going up and up, steak isn’t something that we buy very often. Ground beef is more affordable, but what can you do with it besides tacos, spaghetti and burgers?

Turns out, ground beef stir fry with rice is a delicious way to prepare this standby weeknight protein.

While stir fry is usually made with sliced steak or chicken, I actually kind of prefer it with ground meat! The little bits of meat get crispy and delicious, and it makes a really nice bite when served with rice.

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I don’t go to Trader Joe’s too often, but when I do stop by, I’m sure to pick up a bag or two of the frozen Mandarin Orange Chicken.

Breaded chicken covered in a sweet orange sauce that’s ready in less than 30 minutes? Sign me up (that’s even faster than my go-to fast meal, salmon with my bourbon glaze recipe for salmon).

But maybe sign me up just once in awhile. Because this won’t come as a surprise, but this dish is not outstanding in the health department.

Healthier Homemade Orange Chicken

So, just like my miso ginger dressing and balsamic glaze recipe, I took an item that is often store-bought and made it better (and healthier) at home with this orange ginger chicken recipe.

And, along with my sweet potato breakfast casserole, this is probably the Foxes Love Lemons recipe that my family makes most often.

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In culinary school, one of the early classes I took was called “Breakfast & Pantry.” Each morning, the class was responsible for putting on a HUGE brunch buffet that was open to the public for a shockingly small fee.

When I say huge, I mean huge. The class was divided into groups.

One group would do eggs, another would do meats, a third group would make pancakes and waffles and french toast, and the fourth group was responsible for fruit, salads, sandwiches and any other miscellaneous items.

On the finished buffet, there would be omelets, vegetarian quiche, scrambled eggs, eggs benedict, deviled eggs and frittatas on one line.

There was waffles AND pancakes AND crepes AND ice cream French toast in another section. Another area would have multiple kinds of sandwiches and a few salads.

There was a huge fruit platter or cups of fruit salad. There was sausage AND bacon (that was how I learned how to cook bacon in the oven), AND ham, AND usually a smoked salmon platter.

As if that wasn’t enough, there was always homemade biscuits with sausage gravy, homemade pastries and breads, and probably a bunch of other things I’m forgetting. Oh, and breakfast fried rice.

The best part was that I believe this buffet was $10 or less. I mean, this was back in 2010, but still – what a deal. Seriously, if you have a culinary school locally, see if they have a student-run restaurant that you can go to!

I’ve already shared many culinary school techniques and recipes with you, and today we’ll be chatting about breakfast rice!

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My family is still doing mostly carryout for restaurant meals these days. We eat on outdoor restaurant patios when the weather is warmer, but since we live in the Midwest, it’s takeout throughout the winter.

And I can’t say that I’m not sick of it. I am!

While some food is fine for carryout, like maybe lasagna cottage cheese or beef stroganoff from our favorite local hole in the wall, other food just does NOT carry out well. Particularly anything where the crispiness is really at it’s peak straight out of the fryer, like fried chicken.

And don’t even get me started on carryout brunch of any kind. I’ll stay home and make my own vegetable quiche, bacon in the oven and bloody mary with an epic garnish for a bloody mary, thanks.

But probably my least favorite dish to attempt to do carryout for is nachos. Nobody wants soggy chips, and they certainly don’t survive the trip home.

So, I’ve been making nachos of all kinds at home, where we can enjoy them fresh out of the oven, immediately.

We’ll do the classic ground beef/cheese/lettuce/tomato/tortilla chips variety quite often, or sometimes make them topped with my fajita vegetables recipe, but once in awhile we change it up and get creative.

These Wonton Nachos are inspired by the flavors of a pork banh mi sandwich, but turned into a crispy, crunchy plate of finger food.

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Buttermilk Grilled Chicken Marinade

Do you hate it when extra buttermilk goes to waste? I do!

But a dash just here or there leaves me with a lot of extra buttermilk, even when I buy the smallest bottle available (which is usually a pint (2 cups)).

That’s why I developed my Black Forest cupcakes with buttermilk, and buttermilk blueberry muffins, and this buttermilk chicken marinade. It uses 1-1/2 cups of buttermilk for 4 servings of grilled chicken, so it’s almost always perfect for using up the end of a bottle of buttermilk.

Along with my buttermilk chicken tenders, this buttermilk grilled chicken is one of my go-to recipes that I’ve been using for years, whenever I have leftover buttermilk in the fridge that needs to be finished up.

I most often use this buttermilk marinade in the summer for grilled chicken (when I’m not using my Greek marinade for chicken), but it can also be used in the winter for roasted chicken (when I’m not making almond crusted chicken).

The natural acidity of the buttermilk tenderizes the meat, and also adds a tangy flavor to the chicken. This is one of my favorite meals, especially when paired with my fried goat cheese salad made with fresh strawberries and avocado, or my summer beet salad recipe.

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My husband and I have a profound disagreement when it comes to how sloppy joes should be eaten.

You see, he insists on eating them with a fork and knife. Forks and knives are all well and good for say, almond crusted chicken or orange glazed chicken.

But I say that the very essence of a sloppy joe sandwich is, well, sloppy, and thus should be required to be eaten as a sandwich in all of its messy glory. Just like I’m using my hands to eat a prosciutto sandwich and wonton nachos, I’m picking up a sloppy joes, too.

What do you think? Leave a comment below to help us settle this debate!

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Do any kids like coconut? I know I sure didn’t when I was young. Any coconut-related Halloween candy went directly to my parents as soon as I got home from trick-or treating.

But, I now understand coconut’s charm and adore it. Coconut shrimp with creamy sauce is on our menu at least once a month, and frozen chocolate bananas covered with coconut flakes and coconut creme brulee are some of my favorite sweet treats. Shredded coconut is essential in my carrot cake smoothie.

As an adult, I now take advantage of children’s distaste for coconut. Every year at Halloween, I buy a big bag of Almond Joys or Mounds bars “for the trick-or-treaters,” (wink wink nudge nudge) as well as other candy.

In the “before times,” we always passed out candy by holding out the bowl and letting the kids pick which piece they want. Shockingly – at the end of the night, we’re left with a big bowl of Almond Joys. Then I’m forced to eat them. It’s a curse, I tell ya.

This coconut risotto with lime shrimp is my way of making up for those childhood years where I didn’t like coconut. Just like my mushroom and kale risotto and goat cheese risotto, it’s a fun little kitchen project that works well for Sunday dinner.

And it satisfies my coconut craving all year around!

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Yep, it’s time for another snack dinner! Of all of the “recipes” on this blog, these types of posts are the most representative of how I REALLY like to eat, especially in the spring and summer.

With spring just around the corner (I mean, ignoring the snow flurries I saw this morning, whatever), this Banh Mi Meatball Snack Dinner will be a weeknight go-to to Jeff and I. If I can find fresh local spring radishes and carrots at the farmer’s market, even better!

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When it comes to ordering Thai takeout for dinner, we have two options in our town: the place with the really good fresh rolls but the “just ok” entrees, or the place with the really good entrees but not-quite-as-good fresh rolls. For me, Thai takeout is ALL ABOUT those fresh rolls.

I’m completely willing to sacrifice my entree in order to get the best fresh rolls. Jeff is the opposite, so we have to alternate back and forth when we order.

Now, despite how it sounds, we don’t really order carryout that often. Most nights, you can find us cooking at home like the “home chefs” that we are.

So, this holiday season,  why not try my hand at fresh rolls for a party appetizer? Maybe I could end up making a better version than either carryout place! (more…)

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I think I’ve told you this before, but growing up, sprinkling a little salt on watermelon was automatic. Expected. It’s just the way watermelon was eaten in our household. Without the salt, even the best watermelon tastes bland and flat to me.

It’s just the way my taste buds have been trained. So to me, watermelon has always leaned toward the savory end of the spectrum vs. being served as a sweet, dessert-like fruit, if that makes sense.

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