Derek's mom gave me an awesome recipe book that has "top secret restaurant recipes." So far, I've only tried one of the recipes, but it is sooo good and sooo easy! So, I thought I'd share. Here is a picture I took of my finished product and the recipe.
P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef
Menu description: "Quickly cooked steak with scallions and garlic"This recipe serves 2
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger (I used powdered)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic (powdered works if you have to)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 pound flank steak (stew meat works)
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 large green onions
1. Make the sauce by heating 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Don't get the oil too hot or you'll get a major splatter when adding the other liquids. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2 to 3 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Remove it from the heat. (Mine has never thickened, but it's just fine runny!)
2. Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4 inch thick bite-size slices. Tilt the blade of your knife at about a forty-five degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts. (It doesn't really matter.)
3. Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very this dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.
4. As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (you may also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil). Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking. (I didn't want to deep fry mine, so I just put enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan so it doesn't stick!) Add the beef to the oil and saute for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges. You don't need a thorough cooking here since the beef is going to go back on the heat later. Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly. After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon or a spider to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour the oild out of the wok or skillet. (If you use only a little oil, like I do, you just need to drain any excess oil.) Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute. Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green onions. Cook for one more minute, then remove the beef and onions with tongs or a slotted spoon to a serving plate. Leave the excess sauce behind in the pan.
I put it over rice with some steamed brocolli and cabbage, pour a little bit more of the sauce on top, not much, then sprinkle sesame seeds for a garnish! Hope it works for you, enjoy!!
And here are a few more babes! All three of us had babies last year, so it was great to see how fast these sweet girls have grown! Essence (4.5 months), Sofie (5.5 months), and Ashlynn (10 weeks) are like the best of friends now :) 
And here is Grandma Kathy insisting on holding all three at once.
Sofie's saddened countenance as she realizes that she's already 5 1/2 months and has no boyfriend for Valentine's. 
My sister Shayla visited and the two babes are beginning to seem closer in age now that Sofie is bigger. (Not neccessarily a great picture of either baby, but it's nearly impossible to get two babies to hold still at the same time for a picture!!)
The content messy rice face. (The camera doesn't do it justice...I promise there is rice there, and in her nose!) I still can't figure out her eye color!! 
