Cooking my way through.....

I hate to cook, yet I love to buy cookbooks.  I flip through each cook book and imagine how great of a cook I am and how everything will taste amazing.   Then reality hits and I realize I just suck at cooking. I try to make it "healthier" and end up using substitutes or low fat/low calorie ingredients and it ends up tasting like crap.  Im a much better baker where directions are straight forward and exact.

 Im also danger to myself and others in the kitchen.   I once sliced my thumb down to the bone using a cheese grater, resulting in passing out and hitting my head on the stove on my way down.  I've also had my finger caught between the beaters when I was trying to mash potatoes.   So as you can see...I have an aversion to cooking!   Im making a commitment to myself to start cooking my way through some of these cookbooks.   Now Im not doing the whole Julie,  Julia thing where Im cooking every recipe.   I hate fish and I cant be trusted with dessert so those are out.  Well, maybe the occasional dessert.  Im also not going to cook everything, just things that I havent tried before or something thats different than one of my tried and true recipes.    Since Im single I will be halving the recipes.  I've learned that when it comes to cooking, converting things to half or double a recipe doesnt always work out because sometimes you have to change the proportions of certain ingredients.....see COMPLICATED.   I'll let you know if the recipe is any good and how it is once I convert it for 2 servings.

The first cookbook up is the Cooking Light fresh food fast weeknight meals 2010

Orange Beef and Broccoli

Prep: 7 minutes; Cook: 7 minutes

YIELD: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

COOK TIME:7 Minutes

PREP TIME:7 Minutes

COURSE: Main Dishes

Ingredients

1 (12-ounce) package refrigerated broccoli florets

1/3 cup fat-free, less-sodium beef broth

1/3 cup low-sugar orange marmalade

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 (1-pound) flank steak, trimmed and cut into thin slices

Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Microwave broccoli according to package directions.

2. While broccoli cooks, combine broth and next 3 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk; set aside.

3. Place cornstarch in a shallow dish. Dredge steak in cornstarch.

4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steak; sauté 5 minutes or until browned on all sides. Add broth mixture; cook 1 minute or until thick. Stir in broccoli. Serve immediately.

          Nutritional Information

Amount per serving (1 cup)

Calories: 238

Calories from fat: 25%

Fat: 7g

Saturated fat: 2.4g

Monounsaturated fat: 2.2g

Polyunsaturated fat: 0.4g

Protein: 27.7g

Carbohydrate: 16.6g

Fiber: 2.5g

Cholesterol: 37mg

Iron: 2.6mg

Sodium: 570mg

Review:  This really satisfied my craving for some chinese takeout.  It was very easy to half the recipes and still tasted great!  Some of the modifications I made:

1)  Sauteed half an onion and about 4 oz of white mushrooms to add to this

2)  Added some crushed red pepper

3)  Added some Penzeys Orange Peel to give it more orange taste without having to add more marmalade.

4)  Instead of the normal white rice I served it with the Near East Quinoa Blend.   

I froze a serving of the quinoa topped with the Orange Beef and Broccoli.  It made for a great lunch later that week and had even more of a kick from the crushed red pepper.  YUM.  I will definitely make this again could easily make this for company.  Also, the recipe mentioned "for convenience, ask the butcher to cut the steak into thin slices"...SUCH a great tip.   Not only was this a time saver,  more importantly anything that makes it less likely for me to slice and dice myself is a keeper!