Baked Egg Rolls.

Here is the recipe for the Baked Egg Rolls that I made for our open house. The original recipe is this one. I tweaked it a bit to include both the meat and more vegetables. It does make a large batch but they were a huge hit and none were left.

Baked Egg Rolls
Serves/Makes: approximately 42 pcs

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons corn starch
8 cups finely shredded napa, Chinese or regular white cabbage (OR you can use a 16oz bag of coleslaw mix to save shredding the cabbage yourself)
1 12 oz bag mung bean sprouts, chopped a bit.
2 medium or large carrot finely grated (about 1 cup)
4 finely sliced green onions (use both green & white parts)
8 cloves finely chopped garlic, divided
1 pound ground turkey or hamburger (optional)
2 cups fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
4 teaspoons grated ginger root
2 packages egg roll skins found in produce section of grocery store


Directions:
These can be made with or without meat (if not using meat add an extra 2 cups of vegetables).

Mix soy sauce with corn starch. Set aside.

Spray non-stick skillet or wok with nonstick cooking spray or heat one tablespoon cooking oil. Over high heat stir-fry 4 cloves garlic and ginger for a few seconds. Add cabbage, bean sprouts, carrot and green onions. Stir fry a few minutes until cabbage is wilted. If cooking meat, remove vegetables from pan.

Add remaining 4 cloves garlic. Add ground turkey or hamburger. Stir fry until no longer pink. Drain off any fat.

Add reserved soy sauce/corn starch and the vegetables. Cook 1 minute or so until thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

TO MAKE EGG ROLLS:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Turn eggroll skin so it looks like a diamond. Place 1/4 cup filling just below the center. Fold the lower point of the diamond over the filling tucking it under the filling. Fold the left and right corners over that. Tightly roll the egg roll. Moisten the top corner with a bit of water to prevent it from unrolling. Repeat until you run out of skins or filling. (Note: Keep the eggroll skins in their wrapper or cover with a moist towel so they don't dry out.)

Place eggrolls seam side down on the pan. They can be close together but not touching. Lightly spray the egg rolls with the nonstick cooking spray. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

*This recipe can be halved easily*

A Homemade Life - February 27th

I wanted to share two things this week for the "Homemade Life" post. One of the great things about making things is the money that is saved. I buy whole chickens when they are on sale for 89c /lb (usually every few weeks I can get them for this price) we usually get 3-4 meals out of a chicken plus I boil up the bones and make homemade chicken broth to either use for the next night's meal or to freeze. Homemade chicken broth is so easy to make. I simply put the bones in a pan cover with water and bring to a boil. Then I cover it and simmer for 1-2 hours. I have added seasonings to the water to give it a deeper flavor but generally I just leave it plain so that I can use it in any recipe calling for chicken broth.

*Frugal tip* - Don't throw away those plastic containers you get from the deli. They make great containers for holding broth (or snacks or a small child's lunch). I simply wash them out and then, to use for the broth, I measure 1 Cup of broth into the container cover and place all the containers in a zipper storage bag and then into the freezer.


The second homemade item I wanted to share is a sweater I crocheted for my 3 year old daughter. I was a bit disappointed in how it came out because the pattern for the size 4T runs very small. My daughter is very petite and it is a little small on her. Also, next time I would use a single color yarn because I think the variegated yarn with the cable pattern looks too busy. I will hold onto this sweater and when my younger daughter gets a bit older she can wear it. Here are a couple pictures. I still have several skeins of this yarn so I think I will make another sweater for her just using a different pattern.



Be sure to check out all the other great homemade ideas over at Life on a Back Road

A homemade life

Carrie over at Life on a Back Road has recently started a weekly feature called "A homemade life" where she encourages her readers to share what they are making at home.

This week was a busy week here as I was preparing for an open house/game night that we were having. I did quite a bit of baking & cooking which was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed it too. I made four different kinds of cookies: M&M, Oatmeal Raisin, Mint Brownie Bites, and Sugar cookies with Rolos. I also made homemade baked egg rolls and mini-quiches.

Everyone seemed to really enjoy the food and the egg rolls were very poplular.

I was hoping to have some time to work on a sweater I'm crocheting but I wasn't able to find the time. Hopefully this week I'll have a bit more time.