Another Beef Dinner

Another weekend gone, and summer is nearly over.

My last college student left Sunday afternoon, so Saturday was spent in pursuit of getting him ready. For Mom, that meant baking a cake in a disposable pan which he could take, and a couple of loaves of banana bread. It also meant treating the windshield of his truck with Rain-X. If you've never had the pleasure of Rain-X, allow me to introduce you. I'm not big on hype, but I hate the reduced visibility that comes with driving in the rain, and this stuff prevents most of that problem. I've told Patrick every time he leaves (and everyone else) to Rain-X their windshields, and while the others listen, Patrick doesn't. About 2 years ago, he called me in amazement to report that he was the only car left moving on the interstate, thanks to me doing this for him. Evidently, he forgot this experience, because, while I insisted on his wrapping everything in his truck bed in plastic, he scoffed at my contention that rain can happen on a 300 mile ride. 12 miles from the end of the journey, he called me to say he'd just been through a monsoon, and Rain-X kept him moving, and my plastic saved all his crap (yes, he's in college, and it's all crap). Sometimes, it's nice to be Mom and be right.

So, no sewing got done this weekend, and no great or glorious desserts - plain ol' cake will suffice when it's needed - but, once again, I didn't want stupid, boring steak for dinner. So, here's what I did:
and here's how I did it:

2 pounds steak, cut into strips
liberal amounts of garlic powder
about 1 tsp of ginger
liberal amounts of freshly ground black pepper
1 pound whole green beans, fresh or frozen
1 can of mandarin oranges
1 handful chopped almonds
1 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water whisked with 3 tbsp cornstarch
2 beef bouillion cubes (I know, I know)
Rice

When the rice is nearly done, put the beef strips in the bottom of the broiler pan, sprinkle with the spices, and broil for 2 minutes. Turn over, spice the second side, and broil for 2 more minutes. Meanwhile, precook the green beans for 3 to 4 minutes in the microwave without water or salt. Boil the cup of water and orange juice with the cubes, and whisk in the water/cornstarch mix. Cook until it thickens, and it will be thick, but it thins out in the final cooking with the meat. After broiling both sides of the meat, spread the green beans and oranges over the top, and pour the sauce over it all. Broil one minute, top with the almonds and broil for one more minute. Very flavorful, very fast, very colorful. What more could anyone want? Oh, yes, they could want Peppermint Patty cake for dessert. Lucky for them, it was ready.