Verdict

Verdict on flank steak marinade? Eh.

It wasn't terrible, but I would have definitely added more salty ingredients. For the cut of meat we used, I think the salt would have complimented the sweet/spicy flavor better. Flank steaks are not a great cut of meat. They're easy to use in different dishes, they're affordable, and easy and quick to cook. But they definitely require some love before consuming.

So if I changed anything about my recipe, I'd probably just up the salt/garlic.

The smell was incredible, but the taste was just so-so.

Good luck in your cooking endeavors, and please send me any recipes that you've found that you love! (At least while I'm on my cooking kick). :)

Flank Steak Suicide

I read this article on The New York Times and it got me thinking about how I marinade meat. And honestly I don't really marinade meat. Patrick does. I do all the other stuff, which seems to be slightly more important in my mind. But this time I wanted to try something different, and maybe even a little bit bizarre. So I opted for my own creative juices in hope they'd serve me well.

And before I go any further, in an effort to maintain full disclosure, I need to tell you that I have yet to actually try this recipe. So if I have my act together later on tonight or tomorrow, I'll let you know how it turns out. But for now, just invision what it could be, and get inspired to make your own glorious concoction.

In honor of the 8-year old at the soda fountain, we'll call this Flank Steak Suicide.

Flank Steak Marinade Suicide

2 cloves of garlic

1 chopped peach

Handful of chopped black cherries

Some red pepper, red pepper flakes, ginger, and salt

Soy sauce

Lemon juice and zest

Handful of mint and cilantro (only because they grow in my yard)

Brown Sugar

I threw it all in the blender and voila. Ugly, sludgy marinade...that actually smelled pretty good. In a sweet and spicy, garlicky kind of way. (I only used brown sugar because my buddy at the NY Times suggested it helps with mean browning over a grill.)

On my pan I put a little bit of sesame oil and some balsamic vinegar, then put my slab of flank steak down on top of it. Then I poured my thick, dark red mixture over top of the meat. And now it is sitting in the fridge soaking in all of the love it can get before we throw it on the grill.

*One suggestion other than the brown sugar that I used, was that adding a little oil to your marinade can keep your meat from sticking to the grill. Hence my additional sesame oil. Which I mean to put in the marinade. But forgot. 

Here's to a great dinner on the grill! 

Shrimp Tacos, Lemonade, Chicken, Bruschetta

So I've actually been cooking a good bit in the last week or so. I think working from home actually gives me time to think about dinner, which saves us money on Trader Joe's frozen pizzas. I've tried to get creative, and not worry if I don't have all the ingredients for something. Usually I can find a substitue that I might like even better, so I just try to throw in new things as I can.

Shrimp Tacos with Peach/Pineapple Salsa

Salsa: 2 chopped peaches, 4 chopped pineapple rings, handful of cilantro, Thai chili sauce, lemon juice

For the shrimp, I stir fried shrimp, red peppers, onion and garlic in sesame oil. I tossed in some sesame seeds and a drizzle of pineapple juice and soy sauce. Then I combined the shrimp stir fry, cheese, and salsa in a tortilla. 

These were SO good. Sweet, savory, spicy, and crunchy. We had none leftover.

Homemade Bruschetta

In the food processor, I put some tomatoes, a handful of basil, some garlic cloves, a swirl of olive oil, juice from a lemon, salt and pepper. We put it on top of a sliced and toasted baguette, then topped it with feta. LOVE. 

Grilled Gruyere and Onion Sandwich

 I caramelized some onions, and threw them onto a grilled gruyere and turkey sandwich.

 Peach Lemonade

This is delicious, but my food processor couldn't liquify the peaches a ton. So it functioned more as a smoothie. I pureed peaches and a little bit of sugar in the food processor, then added juice from 5 lemons. Easy peasy. But definitely a thicker juice. I love pulp so it didn't bother me a bit. I would also say this would be amazing to add Rum or Peach Scnapps to for a more 'adult' beverage. 

 Crunchy Honey Chicken

Adapted from here. This stuff was like cocaine to me. I did use Kefir instead of eggs, sesame oil, and I used a mix of ground flour that I had. And what made this exceptionally good was the leftovers. The recommendations say to make less sauce, but I say make all the sauce so you can pour it over the leftovers and let it sit over night. Second time around might have even been better. This would be perfect to put on a salad too. One of my favorite things I've ever made. 

Recipe Docket

In order to motivate myself, I'm posting pictures of the four new things I want to make this week. I have acquired the ingredients for all of these beauties, but let's see how much I actually cook. :) I'm kind of over my cooking phase, but I know we eat SO much better when I get my act together. And we tend to go out less. Which means bootcamp can actually be beneficial. Womp womp.

Spring rolls

Firecracker shrimp

Tomato, Basil and Cheddar soup

Strawberry Lemonade Scones

And to round this all out a little bit, I bought THIS at Hop City this afternoon:

Does it GET any better than that!? I mean come on!!! It's currently chilling in the fridge, but I'm hoping to have some with dinner. Here's to hoping its as good as Woodchuck Raspberry or the watermelon wheat we had at work this week. ;)

Happy eating. And drinking. And cooking if you're into that sorta thing.

Balsamic Vinegar Addiction, and other great recipes...

Here are some of the foods I've made in the last week or so. I'll post the recipes below each of them, as well as a link to where I found them/adapted them from. I don't normally adapt recipes unless I don't have all the ingredients, so don't assume that I have any skill at that whatsoever! I just like to cook new things and am trying desperately to get better at it. 

Homemade Onion Rings

Ingredients: 

1 onion

1/4 cup cornflakes (I spun them in the food processor for a minute)

3/4 cup breadcrumbs

2 1/4 buttermilk (I used the Greek yogurt drink Kefir)

Salt

1. Slice your onion and pull apart the rings.

2. Soak all the rings for 30 minutes - 2 hours in the buttermilk/Kefir

3. Roll in breadcrumbs and crumbled cornflakes 

4. Bake at 450 for 12 minutes until crispy

VERDICT:

These were REALLY good. Definitely way better than expected. And since they are baked, there is no  oil or deep frying involved. The cornflakes provide a good crunch, and the breadcrumbs functioned like normal breading that you would get on onion rings at a restaurant. You could probably play with some herbs in the mix, but these were perfect in my opinion. Original recipe here.

Balsamic chicken

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts

Mozzarella

Red pepper

Olive oil

Crushed garlic

Balsamic vinegar (or balsamic glaze which I couldn't find)

Basil leaves

1. Marinate chicken breasts in balsamic vinegar and crushed garlic for as long as you have time for. I did 2 hours and that was sufficient, but I can only imagine what this would be like after 24 hours.

2. Bake the chicken with sliced peppers on top for 15 or so minutes. 

3. Then add a basil leaf and a slice of mozzarella underneath the peppers, and continue baking until chicken is done.

4. Drizzle with balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar when finished (that part not pictured).

VERDICT:

Killer. I'd make these a million times over. VERY flavorful and moist. Recipe here.

Fudge with marshmallow cream

Ingredients:

3 cups chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Vanilla

Marshmallow fluff

1. Boil water, and place a heat-proof bowl on top of the pan.

2. Melt chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk until smooth. I stirred a good bit to keep the chocolate from hardening/burning on the bottom of the bowl.

3. Take off of heat, add a splash of vanilla.

4. Pour into pan. Spread with cream.

5. Put in fridge for a few hours to harden. OR put it in the freezer for 30 minutes. :)

Tip: line your pan with foil, so the fudge will be easy to dump out and slice. 

VERDICT:

Great. This was VERY easy, not the least bit healthy, but fun to make. I had high hopes of adding peanut butter at some point, but the process was so quick I didn't have time to get my act together. The only tricky thing with the cream is that at room temperature, it tends to melt and drip off the fudge. That of course makes it all the more delicious, but definitely messier. Especially if you want to transport it to take somewhere. But with the dark chocolate chips, the marshmallow was a nice touch. No link for this one, I combined a few recipes I found. :)

Homemade spicy balsamic pizza

Ingredients:

(I used homemade dough, but you could easily buy dough for this)

1 cooked chicken breast (seasoned however you like it), chopped/shredded

1 onion

1 pepper

Handful of cilantro

Pepperjack cheese

Sliced/Crushed garlic

Spaghetti sauce or salsa (I used Vodka sauce from Trader Joes)

Balsamic vinegar (sorry, I'm on a kick here)

1. Preheat the oven to 400.

2. Put some olive oil in a pan, and cook the onion, peppers, cilantro, and garlic until very soft. 

3. Spread the salsa or sauce on the crust.

4. Add cheese, veggies, chopped chicken

5. Drizzle balsamic vinegar on top (just for fun)

VERDICT:

Pretty good. But honestly it was better the second day when all the ingredients sat together all night. I combined two recipes for this based on what I had on hand, and was overall pretty pleased with the outcome. Check out this and this for inspiration. 

Cucumber salad

Ingredients:

1 chopped pepper (red or orange)

Handful chopped cilantro (recipe called for parsley, but who eats parsley?)

Thinly sliced cucumbers (1 used 5 small Persian cucumbers)

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp finely grated lemon rind (this would have been great had I known how to do it)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

*I added a little bit of honey because it was pretty tart

1. Slice cucumbers.

2. Mix everything together, and let soak until you're ready to serve.

*Some people add sugar or substitute rice wine vinegar.

VERDICT:

This was good as a side item for a bigger meal. Its colorful, very light, and refreshing. It would compliment a lot of other foods because it is pretty tart. I thought it might taste more like pickles, but it really just tasted like cucumbers with some other flavors. You can add red pepper flakes or chili powder for a kick. The recipe did also call for radishes, but I'm pretty sure I've never bought/eaten a radish in my life. So I left those off. :)

Happy cooking everyone! 

Vietnamese Summer Rolls

Cooking new foods is an invigorating process for me. I feel like I always get stuck in a rut with dinner, so finding new recipes and actually making them is a big step. This recipe for Vietnamese Summer Rolls I pulled from Pinterest, and literally had zero idea how they would turn out. I've never done any kind of roll or wrap before, but this one seemed easy enough to replicate. 

Ingredients for the rolls:

Handful of lettuce

Cilantro

Carrots

Rice sticks

Chopped mango (I used mango salsa)

Steak (the recipe didn't call for this, but I thought it'd be a nice addition)

Rice paper

Mint (the recipe calls for this, but I did not use it)

1. Soak the noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes or until soft. 

2. Cook steak (or meat of your choice in sesame oil)

3. Chop lettuce, cilantro and carrots

4. Dip the rice paper in water and soak for a few seconds. Dry off.

5. Put the cilantro, lettuce, noodles, meat, carrots and mango salsa on the first third of the wrap.

6. Fold over the end closest to you (where the ingredients are), fold in each side, then roll.

7. If you wanted to bake or fry the roll at this point, you could. However, eating them raw is great. And better for you. 

Ingredients for the dipping sauce:

4 tbsp soy sauce

4 tbsp warm water

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp rice vinegar (I used white wine since I didn't have rice vinegar on hand)

Ground ginger and/or garlic

Red pepper flakes

1. Mix all ingredients together. Make sure the sugar dissolves in the mix.

I highly recommend a dipping sauce of some sort (even if you don't use this one). The flavors are a little bit bland, although the mango salsa kicked it up a little bit. I really liked this dipping sauce, and you could probably do any variation of these ingredients, or any of your choice. 

I loved making this as it gave us a needed break from baked chicken, tacos, and spaghetti. They would be great for an appetizer at a party, or as part of a bigger meal. I really loved them, and hope you'll give these a shot! Here are some iPhone pictures of my ingredients, but I'll replace them with real pictures once I get them on my computer. 

Healthy Recipes

On Sunday, I had the privilege of visiting the Dekalb Farmer's Market for the first time. Its a hike from our house, but we had gone out to lunch in Decatur for my brother's birthday. And of course Patrick was practically BEGGING me to go since we'd never been before. Not. I had to drag Patrick kicking and screaming(which surprisingly stopped once he realized that the beer and wine section at the Farmer's Market was OPEN. ON SUNDAY. AND THAT HE COULD BUY STUFF). I'm not complaining though. He was a good sport, as Sunday has to be the absolute worst time to go. 


The main reason I wanted to go was to switch out some 'traditional' ingredients and foods for some healthier ones. We have a Whole Foods near us, but it is so expensive that we don't go in that often. That and I get kind of annoyed with the whole health food thing. And the people involved. And I can't bring myself to buy flour at Whole Foods for $78 when I don't know that it'll be that much better for me. Or worth my $78. Because I would kind of rather spend that money on shoes. 


So the Farmer's Market is the perfect place (in my mind at least) to swap out a few old things, try a few new things, and learn some different ways to prepare your food. For dirt cheap.


So I bought a bunch of fruit and vegetables, but I also bought flax seed, hard wheat, couscous, millet, and raw un-pasteurized honey. Now the couscous doesn't really fit into the 'abnormal' category by any means, but buying 2 pounds for $1.10 was AWESOME. 


Once I got back, I went to Patrick's house to use his mom's wheat grinder. Because she has an incredible blueberry muffin recipe that is to die for. And it is completely guilt free. 


I wanted to give you guys the recipe because I love it so much, and could eat muffins and pastries as my sole source of sustenance if they weren't terrible for you. So why not find ways to make them better? And this is definitely the better way to go.

Here is the recipe:

2 1/4 cups freshly ground wheat (you want to use it within hours of it being ground or the nutrients start to deplete)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder (aluminum free)

1 cup buttermilk (I used nonfat Kefir - its like Greek yogurt)

1 egg

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup raw honey, unpasteurized

1-1.5 C organic blueberries

1 tsp organic cinnamon

1 tsp organic vanilla

(I added a handful of millet because it is high in vitamins and gives an extra crunch)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the wet ingredients. Add batter to muffin pan. Cook for 15 minutes.

My other favorite recipe that I made this week was MANGO SALSA. I've posted the recipe before, but since its been awhile, here it is again:

3 mangoes

1 red pepper

1 cucumber

1 red onion

handful of chopped cilantro

lime juice to taste

*this time I also added some mint leaves from my yard

Chop everything up and voila! The PERFECT mango salsa. It's great on tacos and turkey burgers. And anything in between. I would give vats of it as gifts but I eat it too fast to give it away. :)

Boot camp at work starts next week, so I'm excited to have some more regularity to my work-outs. Mine and Ginny's schedules are now opposite, so my main motivation is now gone. But hopefully this free bootcamp class twice a week will get me back in gear.

PS - I tried a lemon kale pasta the other day, and I'll do my best to post the recipe. The jury is still out on this one. Ginny loved it, but kale and I are not quite warm and fuzzy yet. 

Recipes, Showers, Learnings and Laughs

I don't have anything really poetic to say here, other than enjoy these life snapshots from the last two weeks! I'll come up with something wittier for the next post.

Stacy, Amy, Juli (and baby Jesus/Margarita), me, and Fiona at Juli's amazing shower thrown by Stacy. So blessed to be a part of this celebration! I love these women and they are such a huge part of who I am today. I'd like to thank Stacy and Juli in particular for helping me hone my sarcasm skills. Surely that's a great resume builder?

Learning to process each thought, even the painful ones. Changing my perspective on 'blessed are those who mourn' as I now see "mourning" as a means to wholeness and freedom. The book Supernatural Power of Forgiveness by Jason Vallotton has been incredible in this journey. 

Bethel gave us all prophetic words for Easter yesterday.  Which meant yesterday was probably the greatest Easter ever. I was consumed with the love of God and His presence, and wished I could have stayed in those moments forever. I also encountered God through hymns (and Kelly Smith) in a way that I've never experienced before.

Balsamic Flank Steak. AMAZING. Recipe adapted from  here. Really great for the Easter dinner crowd.

Ranch Roasted Potatoes = heaven. I even ate all the charred pieces because the flavor was so good. They also kept well over night surprisingly! Definitely an easy go-to side dish. And a weight watchers item as well! 

Sweet and Spicy Honey Grilled Shrimp. My happy place. These were easy peasy, and after marinating them for the afternoon, they took a grant total of 3 minutes on the grill. Recipe adapted from here. But I toyed with the recipe and just used honey, lime, and sweet chili sauce (which I could bathe in its so good). I brushed on a little extra sauce before serving. FAB. 

If honey lime shrimp is my food happy place, this is my beverage happy place. Mirko Sangria. Can't. Get. Enough.  I have to be extra careful when consuming said drink because of the chatty-ness in pulls out of me. But for $1 on Thursdays and $3 every other day, you just can't beat it. 

In my season of alone-ness (no I'm not being melodramatic), I have been taking Lucy on jogs every day. Not long ones, but enough for us both to stretch our legs and see the flowers. There is another black lab that she loves to visit, so I'm sure the neighbors think I'm a nutcase when I stand at the end of their driveway with Lucy waiting on her friend to come out. They romp around for a few minutes and then we're on our way. But if we don't stop at her bud's driveway, Lucy cries and cries. And of course, as all good moms should do, I stop to tend to her every need (infer sarcasm). In this case though, I do tend to this need. Because I see it as allowing her to release some energy and do some learning that doesn't have to be done on Bailey the cat. Because Bailey is not amused by Lucy's chasing and antics.

And in closing, I leave you with a few quotes from one of my dearest friends:

"I asked if there were viles of the west nile virus accessible. Thats me trying to have a Kingdom attitude about it."

"Mourn with those who mourn idiots!"

"Whitney Houston died." -Me

"What? How?" - Friend

"Hasn't been released yet." - Me

"This feels like 9/11." - Friend

"I don't want to shock you, but I'm sitting down to read the Bible. I may need an intervention."

"I just thought you would appreciate knowing that, as I was praying, I, in all seriousness, accidentally told God, 'Well, I'm the shit.' If heaven has an equivalent of coal for your stocking...I've got the most of whatever it is."

"I am SO excited about heaven for the open bar."

"I just texted your husband that I needed to start my period."
BE BLESSED MY FRIENDS. AND HAPPY MONDAY. PRAYING THAT YOU WOULD EXPERIENCE THE LOVE OF GOD TODAY IN A WHOLE NEW WAY, AND THAT YOU WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME. 
Love love.

Weddings and Recipes

This past weekend I had the blessing of being the Matron of Honor in my dear friend Lauren's wedding. She's truly my best friend and the sister I never had. We have been friends for about 8 years now, and surprisingly enough we've stayed just as close as we were the summer we first met. Which is amazing considering we've only lived in the same state for 2 months out of those 8 years. I think we do friendships the same way, value the same things, have similar life perspectives, and generally just love to be around each other 24/7 - so she and I go really well together.  :)

The wedding was one-of-a-kind, and at some point in the next week I hope to write a post on how much I learned and gleaned from the experience. But if that doesn't happen, then here are a few pictures from the event:

RECIPE RE-CAP

Balsamic chicken and spinach pasta salad.

Ingredients:

1 yellow or red pepper chopped

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1/2 c Balsamic vinaigrette 

1 package cheese tortellini (I used whole wheat)

A handful of chopped spinach

1 pound of chicken (I used tenderloins)

Balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Marinate chicken tenderloins in balsamic vinegar (10-15 minutes).

2. Use a grill pan to grill chicken. Once cooked through, chop into small pieces and add peppers.

3. Cook tortellini on a separate burner.

4. Mix 1/2 c vinaigrette with 1 tbsp dijon mustard in a small bowl

5. Put spinach in bowl.

6. Add chicken/peppers to the spinach.

7. After tortellini is drained, add that to the mixture as well.

8. Mix in the vinaigrette and dijon mustard and toss.

Serve hot or cold. 

Easy blender salsa.

Ingredients:

5 tomatoes

2 cans diced tomatoes (1 rotel, 1 regular)

1/2 onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

lime juice from one lime

1 teaspoon honey

1 handful cilantro

Directions:

Blend it all. Add any other flavors you might want (cumin, hot sauce, vinegar, lemon, etc.)

Recipes

Here are some recipes from my weekend that were absolutely worth sharing:

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Thai Coconut Curry Soup

Broiled Grapefruit

Buffalo Chicken Pizza:

Dough:

1 cup of water/beer

3 cups of flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dry yeast

1 swirl of olive oil

A dash of basil and garlic (or fresh basil if you have it)

Directions: 

Warm the water or beer in the microwave. Add flour, salt, olive oil, and any other spices/ingredients. Knead until you have a ball of semi-sticky dough. Cover and let sit in a cool dry place for 1 hour.

Pizza Ingredients:

Ranch

Chicken diced

Buffalo Sauce

Bleu Cheese

Mozzarella

Onions (or any other pizza faves)

Directions:

After one hour, roll dough out onto a pan. Bake at 375 for 2-3 minutes. While it is baking, cook diced chicken in buffalo sauce in a pan. In separate pan cook onions with a little bit of butter to brown them. Brush a thin layer of ranch dressing over the crust (I used a fat free version). Then add mozzarella, chicken, onions, blue cheese, and any other ingredients that you like. Then for extra flavor I drizzled buffalo sauce on the top. Bake 10-13 minutes (or less depending on your over) at 375. 

Thai Coconut Curry Soup (adapted from this):

Ingredients:

2 lemons

2 limes

2 cans coconut milk (I used one Lite and one regular)

1 heaping handful of chopped cilantro

1 heaping tablespoon of Thai Chili Paste

2 cups chicken broth

2 chicken breasts

8 ounces of rice noodles

Directions:

1. Chop up the cilantro, lemons, and limes

2. Put a some of the coconut cream from the top of a can into a pan, along with the chicken, Thai curry paste, and cilantro.

3. Saute together for 5 minutes until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

4. Squeeze lemons and limes into the pan and add the peels. Then add chicken broth, the rest of the coconut milk, and a dash of soy sauce (optional). Bring to a boil. Then add your noodles.

5. Let simmer together for 15-20 minutes. Then its ready to eat!

Broiled Grapefruit:

Ingredients:

Cinnamon

Brown Sugar

Butter

1 grapefruit cut in half

Directions:

1. Turn on broiler.

2. Cut grapefruit and segment.

3. Melt butter, then stir in cinnamon and sugar.

4. Put grapefruit halves on a broiler pan. Smear with paste.

5. Put the pan as close to the top of your oven as possible. Cook for 4-6 minutes. 

And voila! A really delicious snack, dessert, side or breakfast item. 

As always, thanks to Pinterest for fulfilling all my recipe needs.