Show us your life - Main Dishes

I am linking up with Kelly's Korner again this week for show us your life friday.  This week is all about recipes for main dishes.  I love to cook!  I especially love to cook foods that impress my husband and have guests asking for the recipes afterward.  Here are two of my favorites:

1.  Pepper steak

I don't have a picture, so this is a picture from Paula Deen's magazine of her version of pepper steak, and it will basically look like this.

This is one of my most favorite dishes that my mom would always make growing up.  It is always the dish my brother and I request for her to make when we visit.  She doubles this recipe, by the way, but this should yield between 2-4 servings.  I have started adding this to my cooking repertoire since  getting married and it has now become my husband's favorite dish as well.  It is an Asian stir-fry type of meal.  I have altered it a little and usually add in extra garlic powder.  Enjoy :)

Ingredients:
3/4-1 lb round steak (freeze for about 15 minutes and cube)
2 Tbs veg. oil
2 large green peppers (sliced in thin strips)
1 large tomato (peeled and coarsely chopped)
1 jar sliced mushrooms
2 Tbs soy sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 can beef consomme
Hot cooked rice (I usually make enough for 4 servings)

Directions:
1.  Cook steak in oil in a large skillet until brown - drain.
2.  Stir in green pepper, tomato, mushrooms, soy sauce, sugar, garlic salt, pepper, and ginger.
3.  Cover and simmer 15 minutes.
4.  Pour out enough consomme to add in the cornstarch and mix it up - then stir into steak mixture.
5.  Cover and simmer 30 minutes or so (I usually cook it until my peppers are no longer bright green and crispy.
6.  Serve over rice.
*When finished, combine the rice and steak mixture - it is great leftover too!


2.  Poppy Seed Chicken

I didn't have a pic for this either, so this is from a google image search, but it will look exactly like this.

A lot of people I know have their own version of this, but it is still one of my favorites and thought I would share for people that may not have a recipe for this.

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts - cooked and shredded
1 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 sleeve Ritz crackers - crushed
1/2 stick butter - melted
poppy seeds -  around 1 Tbs, but I just shake them in to my liking

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350
2.  Lightly grease baking dish (you can use a 9x13 dish, but because I like my casseroles a little thicker I use a little smaller dish - I think mine is 7x11.  Often I make this as a meal to take people, so I do 2 8x8 pans)
3.  Put shredded chicken in an even layer on bottom of dish.
4.  Mix together the sour cream and soup and spread over the chicken.
5.  Mix together the crushed crackers, butter, and poppy seeds, and spread in an even layer of the top.
6.  Bake for about 45 minutes - top will start to get golden brown.

I usually serve this with green beans and roasted red potatoes.

*Just as a tip - If you are making a large dish or multiple dishes with shredded chicken, you can cook your chicken (I usually boil mine) and then throw them in your standing mixer with the paddle attachment on low for a minute or two = perfectly shredded chicken every time.  And, what a time saver! 

Enjoy!