They say the more time between grocery shopping trips, the less money spent on groceries. Sounds good to me! It's about that time again, so I thought it might be fun to start sharing with you the meals I create with leftover ingredients. To start, I peeked into my fridge and pantry and here's what I found:

• 4 peppers I had meant to eat earlier in the week for a snack. Better use 'em up before they turn to mush!
• a variety of possible sauce ingredients
• brown rice
• beef broth

Looks like stir fry is on the menu! I grabbed a couple of beef steaks to add to the mix, and got cracking. Here's how I threw together this easy meal.

I N G R E D I E N T S:

1 lb of beef (you could substitute broccoli and/or tofu)
2 red peppers
2 yellow or green pepeprs
2 C rice
4 C water 

Sauce:
1/2 C beef broth (or any broth)
2/3 C soy sauce
1/4 C water
2 T sesame oil
2 T red wine vinegar
3 T sugar
1 t crushed red pepper
4 cloves (minced) garlic
2 T flour

D I R E C T I O N S :

Prep: Begin cooking your rice (using 2 C rice and 4 C water). Combine all sauce ingredients (except for garlic and flour) into a bowl and set aside. Chop meat and vegetables into small pieces and mince garlic. Make a roux (or thickening agent) by combining 2 T flour and about 3 T water.

Create: Saute meat in an oiled wok (or large frying pan) on high heat. After meat has browned, reduce heat to low and add minced garlic, stirring for about 30 seconds. Now add the sauce and bring to a simmer while in another frying pan, fry the vegetables in oil on medium/high heat for about five minutes or until tender crisp. Now add the roux to the meat and sauce, stirring until thickened. Add the sauted peppers to the mix, and serve over a generous portion of rice.

Voila! A very yummy, unplanned meal to round out the week before another trip to the store. I'm a happy girl, and my belly is full.

I was just having a conversation with friends today about Pinterest pounds. It’s this new thing going around, much like the freshman fifteen, only the number is up to the discretino of each Pinterest user. For me? It all depends upon my refrigerator’s stock of Fontina cheese. That gnocchi and cheese is killer. Seriously killer. Check out these other side dish ideas (found via Pinterest) that I can no longer live without.

• Moroccan Roasted Cauliflower from Snail’s View
• Baked Parmesan Tomatoes from Eating Well
• Absurdly Addictive Asparagus from Food 52
• Savory Gnocchi and Cheese from The Cutting Edge of Ordinary

Everybody loves Hitchcock. The stories he presents have something for everyone- engaging storylines, suspenseful moments, relatable themes, stylish costumes, and, of course, beautiful blondes! Andrea, of Paper Sparrow, had a fantastic idea to host a Hitchcock Blog Party, with one day being all about cocktail themes in Hitchcock’s movies. (You never knew there was so much drinking, did you?) Thanks to Andrea, I decided to create a new cocktail inspired by the most notorious of Hitchcockian themes- the icy blonde.

This was my first time combining these ingredients, and I’ll warn you, I like my cocktails strong. So be wary of my notes, alright?

T H E   I C Y   B L O N D E :

• 2 parts Spiced Rum (I used Sailor Jerry, which is quite potent)
• 1 part White Chocolate Liqueur (I used Godiva, and it’s not too sweet)
• 2 parts Whole Milk or Half & Half (I also enjoy using vanilla soy milk for a sweeter taste)

Combine ingredients over ice into a cocktail shaker and vigorously shake. Enjoy your strong, blonde, and subtly sweet cocktail strained and served over ice in a lowball like I did, or you might try serving it in a martini glass for something more fancy and feminine. If you can’t tolerate a strong drink, and like something a little sweeter, I would suggest substituting one part of spiced rum for butterscotch schnapps or remove the one part of rum altogether and try vanilla soy milk instead of regular milk. Of course, it wouldn’t be the same cocktail, but I’m sure it would be delicious!