Manti Aka Steamed Dumplings

Steamed dumplings are a very popular dish in Uzbekistan. Traditionally, the dough of the dumplings is made from scratch.  But these days, us mamas just don't have time for that! That's why we used egg roll wraps instead.  They are very similar to the homemade dough.  It may seem like there are a lot of steps for this dish, which in a way there is, but it's very simple once you get the hang of it. 

Manti are perfect for any kind of gathering, especially if you're planning on feeding a fairly large crowd.  It's very convenient to make this dish because in the steamer you are able to fit about 25-30 dumplings (depending on the size of the pot you're using).  You can purchase the dumpling stainless steel steamer on Amazon.

Ingredients:

1 onion

1-2 sticks of butter

2 potatoes (medium size) or 1 large

1-2 Pack of Nasoya Egg Roll Wraps

1.5-2 pounds of beef (we used sirloin steak from Nugget Market)

1/2 teaspoon - 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper 
(If that seems like it's not enough for your liking, feel free to add more)

First wash the meat, then dry it with a paper towel and cut it up into smaller pieces.

Once again, we are using the amazing KitchenAid Stand Mixer for our recipe.  This time the recipe called for the KitchenAid Food Grinder Attachment.  I love the fact that I don't have to purchase a whole other machine to take up space in my kitchen.  The attachment is easy to assemble and use.  
I would highly recommend it!

We made ground beef and onion with the KitchenAid Food Grinder Attachment. We then chopped up the potatoes (not pictured). I have the KitchenAid Cup Food Chopper and I love it!  It's the perfect size for the small amount of potatoes that need to be chopped up in this recipe.  After grinding and chopping everything, add salt & pepper. 

Fill the pot with water about half way. We will let the water boil and then add all dumplings on top. It is best to do this step closer to when your almost done assembling the dumplings.

You will need some oil for greasing the pan and also the bottom of the dumplings which will be pictured below.

Add a little bit of water on all four sides of the egg roll wrap. This will make it easier to seal the dumplings up.  Add about 1 and half table spoons of the ground beef mix as well as a small cube of butter in the center of each dumpling.

First, we will take the right bottom corner and the left top corner and seal it with a small pinch.

Then  we will take the bottom left corner and top right corner and seal.

We will carefully seal the sides now.

Pinch both corners.

We can push the middle part a little down making it look like a dumpling.

Once the water is boiled put all dumplings on the stove and cover with the lid. Turn the stove on medium heat and it will take about 45 minutes to cook.

Now they are finally ready to be enjoyed! A lot of people like to eat Manti with sour cream. It also goes great with a simple salad of your choice.

Jello Mousse Cups

Jello Mousse Cups

We are excited to announce that we finally have a sweets recipe on our blog! It's the perfect dessert for any occasion. Bridal showers, baby showers, birthdays- you name it! I got this recipe from my mom-in-law.  It's very simple to make and now that summer is here, what can be better than a jello dessert?! (No baking near a hot stove involved!) You can definitely make this recipe ahead of time and you should not limit yourself to the flavor of the jello.  We used strawberry but there are plenty of other flavors you can choose from. We hope you try this recipe out! 

Ingredients

2 tubs of 8 oz Kraft Cool Whip

5 tablespoons of Daisy Sour Cream

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

2 packs of 3 oz gelatin/Jell-O 
(we used two different ones because that's what we had on hand)

Start off by preparing the gelatin. Empty out one pack of the gelatin in a mixing bowl.  Add 1 cup of hot water. Mix just until the gelatin dissolves in the water and let it cool to room temperature while you prepare everything else.
                             

In a separate bowl, empty out both tubs of the cool whip, the sweetened condensed milk and five tablespoons of sour cream. 

Mix the three ingredients mentioned above with the cooled gelatin well so that there are no clumps and everything is fully incorporated.
We used the KitchenAid hand mixer for this part - makes things quick and easy!

This is for the top layer of our jello cups. Here you repeat step one of the recipe but this time after adding in the cup of boiling water you also add in 1/2 cup of cold water and let it cool to room temperature. When the jello for the top layer has cooled down you can add it on top of the bottom layer.  We put in more mousse than jello but you can make your own proportions.  If you want more jello on the top layer then just get a bigger pack of jello and add more water according to package.

And here is your finished product! :)
 You can serve this dessert a number of ways. We used tiny jello cups along with mini spoons but for bigger servings you can go with a wine glass or martini glass.