Team KoalaBunny's Adventures

We were really in the mood for chinese noodles so I made a variation of this recipe from the site here:

https://omnivorescookbook.com/homemade-zha-jiang-mian-fried-sauce-noodles/

Ingredients:
lb of ground beef
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
200 grams (or 7 ounces like 1 cup) sweet bean sauce
100 milliliters (like 1/2 cup) vegetable oil
400 milliliters (around 2 cups) water
1 small onion, chopped
240 gram (9 ounces however much of the box of american pasta) fresh noodles
(optional) stir fried tomato and egg
1 cucumber, julienned

Directions:
Add beef, ginger and rice wine into a large bowl. Mix well.
Add sweet bean sauce to a medium sized bowl. Slowly blend in water and stir constantly, until water is fully incorporated.
Heat a wok (or a heavy bottomed skillet) over medium high heat. Add oil and wait until oil is hot, 2 to 3 minutes. Add beef and stir constantly, until the surface turns mostly white. Swirl in sweet bean sauce. Turn to medium heat and keep stirring constantly, until the sauce turns almost black, about 10 mins. If the sauce thickens too quickly and starts to feel like it’s sticking to the bottom of the wok, slowly blend in warm water, 1/2 cup at a time. Reduce the heat if the wok gets too hot.
Add onion into the sauce and keep stirring, until fully cooked but still crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Stop heat and transfer the sauce to a large bowl.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook noodles according to instructions.
Add noodles to serving bowls. Top noodles with sauce, cucumber, and stir fried tomato and egg.
Serve warm.

We had a lot of mandarins and yogurt left so I tried out Martha Stewart's recipe for orange yogurt cake:
https://www.marthastewart.com/948283/orange-yogurt-cake


Unsalted butter, softened, for pan (be sure to put lots of butter and the cake will just slip right out)
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (I only used half as much yogurt)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon grated orange zest, plus 1 tablespoon orange juice (I just used 2 little mandarins and blended them with a baby food masher)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan. Stir flour, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, the baking powder, baking soda, salt, yogurt, oil, orange and juice, egg, and vanilla in a bowl. Pour into pan. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Had this great recipe

http://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a45873/copycat-olive-garden-zuppa-toscana-recipe/

Ingredients:

1 lb. Hot Italian sausage, casings removed (We just bought the Italian sausage that looked like ground beef)
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
kosher salt - (just a pinch)
Freshly ground black pepper (or whatever spice you like)
6 c. low-sodium chicken broth
4 large russet potatoes, diced
1 bunch curly kale, leaves stripped and chopped (chopped was fine)
3/4 c. heavy cream
4 slices cooked bacon, chopped
1/4 freshly grated Parmesan, for serving (I didn't have this)

Directions:
In a large pot over medium heat, cook sausage, breaking up with the back of a wooden spoon, until browned and no longer pink, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate to drain.
Add onion to pot and let cook until soft, 5 minutes, then add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more. Season with salt and pepper. Add chicken broth and potatoes and cook until potatoes are tender, 23 to 25 minutes.
Stir in kale and let cook until leaves are tender and bright green, 3 minutes, then stir in heavy cream, sausage, and bacon and simmer 5 minutes more.
Season with pepper, garnish with Parm, and serve

Here's the final product and it was delicious!