Best of the Month October 2013

A review of my most popular blog posts from October.

I really enjoy looking back to see which posts were the most popular every month.  I don't like to check my stats daily because I feel like it's 'watching the pot that won't boil'.  Instead I like to review once a month and sometimes I'm surprised about what was popular or how popular something was.

I'm still trying to grow my social media presence and it seems to be working.  I am getting more views, more +1s, more likes and just a little more notice.  I enjoyed blogging before but it is so much more fun and exciting knowing that more people (other than just my family) are reading my blog.  I don't expect to get famous but I enjoy sharing my recipes and ideas and I hope to inspire others to cook more.

Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches

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Beef roast slow cooked in broth and beer until tender then placed on a baguette and topped with melted cheese.  The cooking liquid can be used as a dipping sauce.  These sandwiches were delicious but I can't take all the credit for this recipe I found it on another blog Five Heart Home.  This post received 512 views and 21 +1s.

Best Burger Buns

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This is another recipe I found on another blog Utter Epicure.  These burger buns are so soft and delicious I had to share them.  These are soft, fluffy burger buns that don't fall apart or leak and they are the best I've ever made or had.  There is no more need to ever buy store bought burger buns again.  This post received 309 views and 52 +1s.

Spicy Vegetable Fried Rice

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Finally a Joybee original recipe.  This is a spicy fried rice made from leftovers.  Main ingredients are cabbage, onion, bok choy, and carrot, plus eggs for protein.  Recipes like these are why I started blogging.  I love to use leftovers in new ways so I don't waste any food.  I love when others like these kinds of recipes too.  This post received 292 views and 20 +1s.

Baked Vegetable Spring Rolls

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 Yay, another leftover recipe.  For these I was using up leftover Asian slaw.  They are crispy spring rolls filled with cabbage, daikon, and carrot, then baked instead of fried.  This post received 232 views and 52 +1s.

French Onion Dip

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I love dip recipes.  This is a slightly beefy, very oniony, sour cream dip perfect for gameday snacking (or any day). Yum yum I need to make this again soon. This post received 190 views and 22 +1s.

Thanks to all my followers and those who stop by occasionally.  Enjoy.

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Spicy Vegetable Fried Rice

A spicy fried rice made from leftovers.  Main ingredients are cabbage, onion, bok choy, and carrot, plus eggs for protein.

Fried rice is a great way to clean out the fridge.  Anytime I have a bunch of leftovers I always think about fried rice.  Fried rice not only is a great way to use leftover rice, but you can add just about anything to it.  If you have left over meats, by all means add them but I only had vegetables so I made this vegetarian.  My inspiration for this dish was kimchi fried rice, which is popular around here and is very tasty and quite spicy.  I didn't have kimchi (a mix of spicy fermented vegetables--mainly cabbage), but I had plenty of cabbage, bok choy and a carrot, so I used these and added sriracha to make it spicy.  It's not the same as kimchi fried rice, but it was a very good and filling dinner (I also made vegetable spring rolls as a side--will post later).

Ingredients:

2 eggs
2 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp ginger
2 Tbsp garlic
1 onion, chopped
1/2 head napa cabbage, shredded (just sliced into relatively thin slices)
1 carrot, julienned
about 1 pound baby bok choy, shredded (sliced as above) (4-5 cups)
2 cups cold rice
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
dash of chili oil
2 tsp sriracha

First scramble the eggs and set aside.

Mix together soy sauce, vinegar, chili oil, and sriracha and set aside.

Heat a large saute pan (or wok) over medium heat then add oil.  Next add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant.  Add the onion and stir fry until just tender.

Then add the cabbage and carrots and stir fry for couple of minutes and add the bok choy (the bok choy will mound out of the pan just stuff it in because it will shrink a lot as it cooks).  Add a little water and cover pan to steam.  Let steam for about 5 minutes or until bok choy wilts.

Uncover pan and add the rice (you may want to add more oil to help prevent sticking, but mine always ends up sticking a little, just stir as rapidly as you can, don't make it too oily).  Then pour on the soy sauce mixture.

Stir fry until sauce mixes well with ingredients and rice is cooked to your liking (I usually only cook the rice for a few minutes to get it heated through).

Lastly stir in the scrambled eggs and remove from heat.

Serve immediately, I had vegetable spring rolls on the side.  Makes at least 2 servings.

Enjoy.

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