P.F. Chang’s Copycat Mongolian Beef

With these two months that I have off of work, I set a goal for myself: to learn how to knit. I’ve never been a knitter and have never tried, so I was really going in blind with this task. I didn’t have anyone to teach me, either. We all know that my DB isn’t very skilled in anything related to domesticity.

I’ve always wanted to learn how to knit since it’s useful and it’s something that I can do anywhere. Knitting is the perfect hobby for me to do while traveling, too. I can pack lightly with a ball of yarn and two sticks. Not only that, but imagine all the possibilities of knitting! I can make scarves, headbands, beanies, leg warmers…. the list is endless. What I’m really saying is that in the case of an apocalypse, I won’t be naked. That’s the most important part.

So off I went to the closest craft store to gather my materials. I went into the knitting/crocheting section and was completely overwhelmed. I mean, I’m usually at Joann’s on a regular basis for gift wrapping materials, specialty baking needs, scrapbook paper, and other odds and ends… but there are FOUR aisles of yarn in my Joann’s. FOUR. How did I miss these aisles before? It’s funny how you never notice something that’s right in front of you.

Of course, those four aisles of yarn kept me occupied for a good hour. I’m not ashamed. I went through every single row and every brand, touching and feeling the differences in all the fabrics while little ol’ ladies would zoom past me, grab their yarn, and leave in a second.

I wasn’t in a rush to make a decision. In order for me to learn, I have to start with the basics. I have to get to know my materials and understand the differences between them. It’s the same thing as baking. We all have brands and styles of pans that we love and adore, while there are others that we aren’t very fond of.

Example? Silicone pans. That’s just a big no-no for me, even though some swear by it. I’ll stick to my no-stick, steel pans, thank you very much.

After what seemed like two seconds to me in the store, I bought my yarn and bamboo needles. I went home to figure out what the heck I was going to do with them. A couple of YouTube videos later and I was on my way to knitting… something. I just started and went with it. A swatch? A baby sized placemat? What could I turn this rectangular shape into?

Once I finished learning how to knit with two separate needles, I went back to Joann’s for my next task: learn how to knit using a loom.

I couldn’t find any good tutorial online to figure out how to do it. I watched numerous videos and pieced them all together in order to create a scarf. Once I got the hang of it, I was in beast mode. The loom gives out way better results than knitting by hand!

So now, loom knitting has taken over my life. I. can’t. stop. It makes me feel productive when I’m not. I can watch five shows on Netflix and not feel so lazy because hey, I got an infinity scarf out of it.

That totally justifies sitting on the couch for the past four hours, doesn’t it?

I’m so addicted to this loom knitting thing that I’m even working on a tutorial post for you guys. Of course, my first tutorial post on this cooking blog would be about a craft. It just makes sense. As my high-school-volleyball-playing-self would say, “I do what I want.”

So just a heads up: If you don’t care about knitting, are offended by it, or can’t stand the sight of large needles, look away from my next post tomorrow.

I’m always looking for meat recipes since my DB is such a big carnivore. He loved this recipe– just meat and rice. I added more garlic to mine because we’re big garlic lovers, but even with the recipe unaltered, it’s a keeper. Flank steak cooks quite quickly, which is another reason why I love this recipe. Anything that takes less than 30 minutes in the kitchen to make gets extra bonus points from me. This mongolian beef recipe comes from Six Sisters’ Stuff.

Oh, as for the P.F. Chang’s copycat part, I have no idea if it tastes anything like it because I never eat at P.F. Chang’s. I went there once in high school and thought every dish was too salty and too expensive. I’d choose Panda Express over P.F. Chang’s any day.