Experiment 3 - The Selection

I took yesterday off in support of the SOPA/PIPA blackout.

This week, I pulled out something that isn't a clipping from the Hartford Courant.  Hooray!  I selected what must be a sample page from "Betty Crocker (R) Recipes for Today".   Copyright 1986 by General Mills, Inc.  There is a photograph on the front side, which is labeled as page 57, the recipe is on the reverse.  I figure it's a sample page because I know I don't have the whole book.

And the recipe is ....

Pepper Steak

Says right here that it's a good source of protein, vitamins A and C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and iron, so I got that going for me, which is a good thing.

1 1/4 pounds beef top round or sirloin steak, about 1 inch thick
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 medium onion, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 medium green peppers, cut into strips (3/4 inch wide)
Uncooked instant rice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 to 3 teaspoons sugar (optional)
2 tablespoons soy souce
2 medium tomatoes

First thing I'd like to ask is "what is UP with the order those ingredients are listed?"  Scanning through the actual cooking directions, I see that the rice is cooked separately, and the pepper steak is served over it.  So why is it listed in the middle of the list?  I think Betty was into the cooking sherry.  Anyway, I'll skip the "instant" rice and make the regular stuff.  I'll be skipping the sugar too, and it seems that there's a lot of oil which is basically just used for browning the beef.  I'll play that by ear.  Finally, I have garlic powder, but not garlic salt, so I'll use a little table salt and a little powder and see how it turns out.

As written, this should be four servings at 760 calories each.  It's unclear if that's with or without the sugar.

There's also a recipe on this page for Beef Kabobs, so maybe I'll throw it back into the box for potential future selection.