Ground Beef, Ginger and Teriyaki Egg Rolls

OK, so, you are running out of different ways to cook ground beef. Try this one.

You Need:

A deep fryer filled to the max fill line with oil or deep frying pan with  1 1/2-2 inches of oil in it.

2 lbs. ground beef.

1 pkg. of large Won Ton wrappers

Pickled Ginger, about 3 ounces.

Ground Ginger powder, about 2 tablespoons.

Sesame Seed Oil, about a half teaspoon.

1 bottle of thick Teriyaki sauce. (Kikkoman makes a good Teriyaki baste sauce).

1 small dish of water.

Brown and drain the ground beef. Add the pickled Ginger, ground Ginger and sesame Seed oil to the ground beef and stir. Then add about three tablespoons of the thick Teriyaki sauce to the ground beef and stir. Use just enough to moisten the beef, but do not soak it in sauce. The rest of the Teriyaki sauce can be used for dipping the egg roll in.

Heat up your deep fryer to between 350 and 375 degrees F. (If using a frying pan with oil, do not turn your stove on past medium.)

Take a large Won Ton wrapper and place it on a plate so one of the corners is facing you. Take 2-3 tablespoons of the ground beef mixture and place it in the center of the Won Ton wrapper in a rectangular pattern. (East to West) Using your finger, stick it in the small dish of water and moisten the perimeter of the Won Ton wrapper. Pick up the corner of the wrapper closest to you and fold it over the meat mixture  tightly towards the opposing corner. Then fold the right corner of the wrapper to the left and the left corner to the right. Tuck in and roll the wrapper to the opposing corner. Place folded wrapper corner side down on a plate.

Place 4-6 egg rolls in your deep fryer and cook for three minutes, then carefully turn the egg roll over and cook it for another two or three minutes. Remove from fryer, let drain on paper towel. Give them a few minutes to cool down and enjoy something a little different than what you may be used to.

Couscous Cabbage Rolls

Use your favorite cabbage roll recipe, but instead of cooked rice, use cooked couscous instead. Also, when we put the rolls into a crock pot, we just pour V8 juice over them and it tastes great.

The couscous adds a bit more flavor than the rice. 

Taco Bell Copycat Steak Burrito

Here's an easy one. A couple of decades back, Taco Bell came out with a steak burrito that was made with steak, tater tots, cheddar cheese, a light sauce and sour cream. I can't remember the exact sauce, but a drizzle of olive oil works.

Steak should be rare to medium rare and you should cook the tots to the point they are crisp.

This makes a tasty burrito.

Chinese Buffet Seafood Bake

1-1.5  lb. imitation crab meat 

12 oz. small shrimp cooked, shelled, cleaned and rinsed
3/4 c. sour cream 
1 tbsp. lemon juice 
Pinch of garlic salt 
2 c. Cheddar cheese 
1 1/2  pkgs. cream cheese (softened)
3 tbsp. mayonnaise 
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 
1 medium onion, chopped and caramelized

3-4 stalks cleaned and chopped celery

Mix together in casserole dish. Save half of Cheddar cheese to sprinkle on top. Bake at 325-350 degrees Fahrenheit  for 30 minutes..

The ingredients for this will run you about $15. It will feed four or serve six. 

Burger Time

Spring has sprung, so, it's time to do some grillin'. 

If you have a hankerin' for a good burger, try this one out:

It's a 10oz pre-cooked weight ground beef patty on a Ciabatta bun with melted Muenster cheese, tomato, bacon, avocado slices, refrigerated Dill pickle slices and a light swipe of mayo.

The best part is if you can find most of these ingredients on sale, you can crank these puppies out for around $2.25/each. If you decide to go out to a mid-priced family restaurant for one , you'll pay $10.99 and up (at least in my area).

Crock Pot Hawaiian Ham

So you have some leftover ham shank/butt. Let's make a meal.

Get the crock pot out and if you want, spray the inside of the crock with non-stick cooking spray as it makes clean up a bit easier. I also add about a cup and a half of water to the crock. 

Put about three pounds of leftover ham in the crock. (Scale this recipe up as needed.) Then add a 20oz can of crushed pineapple. On top of this pour a 12-16oz bottle of Hawaiian marinade.

Set crock pot on low and cook for 7 hours. We serve this over steamed/cooked rice.

Total cost for this is between five and six dollars.

Egg Drop Soup

You can substitute corn starch for potato starch and you can use black pepper instead of white pepper. It's quick, inexpensive and most kids will eat it. 

You can kick it up a notch by adding fish, shrimp or chicken.