Asian Noodles with Beef

I was reading something today and decided I want to make some changes to this blog. I feel like I'm already doing something decent by showing just how cheaply I can make meals and including pretty versatile recipes, but I realized I wasn't really doing much for that cook that is just learning. So I'm going to create a section for beginner cooks and try to make a recipe each week that gives better detailed instructions on how to cook the meal. Kind of like how the Pioneer Woman does it.

This would have been a good recipe for that, but I didn't think about it until I had already started chopping and figured if I'm going to do it, I might as well do it right. Ironically, this recipe turned out to be more appetizer sized than meal sized. I still can't figure out why.

Asian Noodles with Beef
Servings: 4
Adapted from: www.allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 package sliced shitake mushrooms
1 green pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
1 red pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
1-2 lb. flank steak, cut into strips (or stir fry meat)
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tbs. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. parsley
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 big squirt (1 tsp. maybe) lime juice
1/4 box capellini pasta
oil

Directions:
1. Add the oil to a medium pan over medium heat. Add in the red pepper, green pepper and onions and cook for 3-5 minutes or until soft.
2. In a medium bowl mix together the rice vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, sugar, pepper and lime juice. Put the meat into the bowl and mix around to coat. (If you have some extra time you can let the meat marinade in this for up to 24 hours.)
3. In a medium saucepan, boil water, add some salt and add the pasta. Cook according to directions. (The brand I have only takes 3 minutes which is awesome!)
4. Add the meat and marinade to the vegetables and cook until meat is well done.
5. When the pasta is done, drain and add into the pan with the meat and vegetables. Mix well to incorporate everything.
6. Serve in bowls and sprinkle with parsley.

Maybe its just me, but usually when I go to buy a red pepper they are humongous! Usually twice the size of a green pepper which bugs me because I feel like if I want equal peppers than I need 1 1/2 green peppers to 1 red pepper. Today that was not the case. Tom picked out the peppers when we were at the store so I didn't notice the size until I started cooking.

See, this is the size that I expect a red pepper to be! Not overly gigantic and not too small. Maybe this combined with the fact that my mushrooms went bad somehow contributed to my typically dinner sized meal turning into an appetizer size. Hmmm...