Melissa’s Best Ever Stir Fry Sauce And A Break (Whole 30)

Hey Guys,   I have really been struggling with my blog since I finshed my Whole30.  Part of the reason is I haven’t quite figured out how to incorporate the changes I am making in my diet into my blog while remaining true to the original intent  of my blog.  The other part is I am spreading myself pretty thin lately.  I work a fulltime job as a cashier/cake decorator and a part time job that pays very well but eats up almost all of my weekends.  Most of my freetime durning the week is spent working on a project for a couple of my friends who want to do a Whole30 but who have never cooked much.  I am spending a lot of time putting together resources and quick and easy Whole30 compliant recipes for them and teaching them how cook the basics.  As I told my friend, Audrey a while back, something as got to give and it’s better it is your blog rather than your sanity.  For the rest of June and probably  some of July, I am going to take a little  break from blogging and focus on some of my other projects. I’ll be back in a few weeks and ready to blog like crazy.

Before I go, I want to leave you with one last recipe.  Just before I finished my Whole30, I found Melissa Joulwan’s blog, Well Fed, and her cookbooks, Well Fed, Well Fed 2 and Well Fed Weeknights.  I totally fell in love with them.   Melissa as a nice variety of recipes inspired by food from all over the world.  All her books include  the recipes for the sauces and spice blends used in her book.  I love being able to make spice blends because nothing is more frustrating to me, then finding a recipe I really want to try only to find  it needs a spice blend I don’t have and don’t have easy acess to.   The best part of Melissa’s cookbooks is that a lot of her recipes have variations so you can find a  recipe  for what you have on hand.

This stir fry sauce is one of my favorite recipes of Melissa’s. In addition to a using it as a wonderful stir fry sauce you could use it as an awesome dressing for a salad.

Melissa's Best Ever Stir Fry Sauce

• Difficulty: Easy
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recipe from Melissa Joulwan’s Well Fed Cookbook

1/2 tsp rice vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 TBS fresh orange juice

3 TBS coconut aminos ( sub tamari or light soy sauce)

In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, garlic,  and 5 spice powder.  Mix  into a smooth paste.  Add the orange juice and stir well.   Add the coconut aminos and stir well again. Use as a sauce for about up to 8 ounces of meat and 4 cups of vegetables.  

Stir Fry Sauces

Stir fries are a great way to use up the little bits of meats and vegetables that accumulate over the course of the week. You know the stuff I am talking about, those meats and vegetables that aren’t enough to make a meal but are too much to throw away. You can use things like leftover cabbage, celery, carrots, mushrooms, bell peppers, onion, green beans, baby corn, pork, chicken or beef. What you use for the vegetables and protein doesn’t really matter because what really makes a stir fry shine is the sauce.

I have been collecting and trying different stir fry sauces from different sources for years. I have even attempted my creating my very own from stuff I had in my fridge. Here are a few of my favorites. All the ingredients should be easy to find at your local grocery store.

I never really measure my vegetables when I make a stir fry. When my 3 quart frying pan is full I stop. Have all the vegetables chopped and the sauce made before you start cooking once the first veggies hit the pan things move very quickly.

Mollie's Stir Fry Sauce

• Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients
¼ cup soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBS rice or distilled white vinegar
1 TBS ketchup
2 tsp fresh ginger, mince
1 tsp dark sesame oil
Whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.

Adapted from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest

Sesame Oyster Sauce

• Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients
1 TBS minced ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBS soy sauce
1 TBS oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp chili garlic sauce
½ cup water
1 ½ TBS cornstarch
Mix all the ingredients together and stir well. Use over a stir fry of pork, mushrooms, green onions and cashews

Julie’s Stir Fry Sauce

• Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients
¼ cup soy sauce
2 TBS hoisin sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour over sautéed stir fry vegetables and cook until slightly thickened.

This is the recipe I created