When I think of this recipe I think of the 80's. Of riding my bike over to Anna's and then getting into an argument likely over barbies and storming home, of playing ghosts in the graveyard and the CBS nightly news playing on TV. 

It's truly the flagship recipe from my childhood and the fragrance of it cooking in our kitchen on Lantern Lane comes right back to me when I make it for my own crew.  This has always been a favorite of Emma especially!

I have to laugh when I really break it down as a recipe because it's in no way gourmet or even remotely healthy but it's so good and so easy! At some point after I was grown and flown, Grammy gave me this recipe and for years I followed it to a "T".  As I became more confident in the kitchen I started to tweak it just a bit to suit our tastes.  However, what I have now is very similar to the original I am sure with the addition of water chestnuts.  You can't serve this without the 80's mainstay chow mein noodles, if you do a cabbage patch kid loses their adoption papers. 😂

Pepper Steak
Serves 4 and can be doubled as needed

Ingredients

• 2 cups of cooked white rice
• 2 Tablespoons of vegetable or olive oil
• 1 1/2 lb. of good cut of steak for stir fry, ie flank steak, cut into 2-3" strips (The butcher will do this for you at no cost)
• 1 large white or yellow onion sliced and halved
• 1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped
• 1 can of sliced water chestnuts drained
• 1 packet of brown gravy mix
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of soy sauce
• 4 roma or plum tomatoes seeded and sliced
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Crunchy chow mein noodles

Directions

• Heat oil in heavy skillet and add meat that has been seasoned with salt and pepper
• Saute meat on medium high heat until no longer pink
• Add onion and bell pepper to skillet and cook until soft
• Mix water, soy sauce and gravy mix in a small bowl
• Add to meat mixture and turn heat to low
• Stir as sauce thickens
• Add water chestnuts
• Turn off heat and add in tomatoes, gently stirring to coat,
• Serve over hot white rice and chow mein noodles

I hope cooking this will also bring back fond memories for you!

​Love,

This Summer I flew to Asheville to visit with my baby girl and her babies!

Emma lives just outside of Asheville in the cutest apartment and has made the sweetest home for her and her (crazy) cats!

I love visiting Asheville!  The weather is always so much milder than home and there are so many great things to see.  However, this visit was so nice and low key because we didn't feel like we needed to see and do everything.  I made my tomato basil soup and grilled cheese for Emma and her friends the first night and stocked her freezer full of meals for when school started back.  It was really a very relaxing time if you don't count Toulouse terrorizing me every second.  😂

We spent one day getting her classroom back up and running and I loved leaving Asheville knowing that she was all squared away!  It's hard leaving your babies behind after visits but you have to trust that you did all of the right things to prepare them for life and hope that they are safe, happy and planning for their future; the future that they want!

It's bananas to think that at the age Emma is now, I was married with TWO kids!  🤯.  I absolutely love that she is living her life on her terms and she knows that while being a young married mom was my dream, it doesn't have to be hers!  

Love,