Asian Beef & Veggie Bowls

Howdy! :)

How is your evening going?! 3 posts from me in one day, this is definitely a first!

This afternoon, I had a few errands to run, and I was super excited to find out that all 3 places I needed to go were within a 2-block radius. Score!

Or so I thought...

Things were going pretty well until I got completely lost (within 2 blocks, I know!) and what should have been a 1 hour trip turned into a 2 & a half hour trip.

Yikes!

Desperate times call for desperate measures...

Hey, I walked around the grocery store hungry as a heeiiipo without so much as breaking into a bag of chips, so I think I deserved a jolt of caffeine & some chocolate on the way home.

I was instantly disappointed when I got into the box of Fiber One Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies because, although the picture might not depict it, they were friggin' tiny!

I don't know why I continue to fall for this trick. It needs to finally sink in that if they advertise it as being "100 calories (or less)," it will, in fact, be made for Tiny Tim.

But, it seems I turned my nose up at this product a little too soon, because once I took a bite, it was a whole different ball game, folks.

These things are AMAZING.  We are talking almost better-than-a-chocolate-Vita-Top amazing.

Even though it is small, the brownie is super thick and it actually has peanut butter chocolate chips inside the baked goodness.

I'm sold.

After my errands fiasco, I came home on a caffeine and sugar high feeling re-charged and ready to make us a nice dinner.

I've had my eye on this recipe over on Peanut Butter Fingers for "Asian Beef & Cucumber Bowls," for a while, and tonight was the night!

For some reason I wasn't feeling the whole cucumber thing, so I decided to put my own twist on the recipe with the cucumber's first cousin, the zucchini!

My, oh my.  If you're a beef lover, you've gotta give this one a try!

It is super creative, super easy, and super de-to-the-licious.

Here's what went into the mix: 

1.2 pounds of lean (97/3) ground beef
1 zucchini, chopped into large(ish) chunks
1 can of sliced water chestnuts, strained
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp minced garlic
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp lite soy sauce
2 tsp chili sauce with garlic (find it where the Thai foods are!)

Here's what you do: 

Step #1: In a large frying pan or skillet (sprayed with PAM or with a little EVOO), add the minced garlic and onion, and let them brown up for about 2 minutes at medium-high heat.

Step #2: Add the ground beef and let it brown about 75 percent of the way.

Step #3: Add the zucchini, followed by the water chestnuts.  Let the mixture cook on medium for about another 5 minutes.

Step #4: Add the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and chili sauce.  Stir everything up until the beef & veggies are well-coated.  Reduce the heat and let everything simmer for about 2 minutes.

You can serve up your beef & veggie bowl by itself, or stirred up with some brown rice to round it out with some carbs.

Let me know if you give it a try! :)

It's getting darn near my bed time, so I better hit the road.

Sweet dreams!

xoxo

Jess