Marinated Flank Steak

This is quite the tasty treat! It sure had a kick too! I cooked this with REALLY thin steaks so that i could cut them up for my salad and i think if you did it on a thicker steak it wouldn't be as spicy! But Soo good!
Ingredients

* 1 (1-1/2 to 2 pounds) flank steak
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tablespoon dried, crumbled
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram or 1 teaspoon dried, crumbled (i didn't have any)
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried, crumbled
* 1-1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
* 1-1/2 teaspoons paprika
* 1 teaspoon coarse salt
* 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for grill pan

Directions

1. Trim fat from steak and place steak in a shallow dish. Stir together rosemary, marjoram, oregano, garlic, paprika, salt, and peppers in a small bowl. Stir in the oil until combined.

2. Spoon herb mixture evenly over both sides of steak, rubbing in. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

3. Preheat grill pan over moderately high heat. Lightly coat pan with oil and place steak in pan. Grill, turning once, until a meat thermometer inserted into center of steak registers 125 degree F for medium rare, 10 to 12 minutes.

4. Transfer to a cutting board. Cover and let stand 10 minutes before cutting, across the grain, into very thin slices. Makes 8 servings.

Valentine's Day Steaks

Chris and i had a very LAZY and relaxing Valentine's Day... it consisted of us doing well really nothing... we took a nap! WHOO HOO! We did go grocery shopping so that we could have a nice yummy dinner at home! Don't you LOVE how grocery stores ALWAYS have really good steaks on sale for this holiday! Even if you don't celebrate Valentines Day you should AT LEAST take advantage of the steaks! YUMM! We'll we did and i created a creations using some Parmesan and peppercorn salad dressing we bought!
Ingredients
Steaks, doesn't matter the cut, kind, etc just get what you want!
1/4c about of Parmesan Peppercorn Ken's light and healthy salad dressing
1 c of sliced mushrooms
splash of white wine
pepper
Put all of this in a small skillet and cook over low heat for as long as the steaks take

We Broiled our steaks (b/c it was COLD) with a broil seasonings rub.

Once your Steak is done pull it out and top it with the mixture in the skillet (the liquid should be very little and creamy since the mushrooms should soak up quite a bit.
Then top with about a tablespoon of the salad dressing and sprinkle fresh Parmesan cheese on top and some fresh ground pepper and voila! Yumminess!
Chris has decided we're going to start having this once a week... riiight!

Roasty Toasty!

On Saturday Chris and I had a small dinner party and it was so much fun! I love cooking and it was a great time with friends! We started our day by going out and cutting down our own Christmas Tree, then we picked up a half cord of wood, and finally cleaned the house and cooked a meal so that we could con our friends that were coming over to have patience with us to take a Christmas picture of us for the cards~ Thanks Katie!

My Menu for the party was
App: Sausage Cream cheese Dip
Meal: Roast with onions and carrots
Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
Green Beans with Caramelized onions
Rolls
Dessert: Gingerbread Pumpkin Trifle!

Above you see my roast, I'll have to tell you how to make it later when I find the recipe that I used! I PROMISE I won't make a habit of this! HA!

Also here's the Green Beans I served... still working on uploading that recipe~

This was our dinner on Monday night! Steak, marinated in a Jack Daniel's Mesquite sauce, Sweet Potato French Fries, and Salad.
The salad is rather "normal" where it's from a bag, has cheese and salad toppers on it.

Ahhh but the Steak and Sweet Potato fries were amazing! YUMMM

Just the right side! Thanks to Katie I knew what I wanted to eat with my Steak and how good it was too! You don't need anything to dip these tasty treats in, but Chris still loved dipping in Vinegar, he's all Maryland!

Sweet Potato Garlic Fries

Ingredients:
5 large red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams)
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp kosher salt
5 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/8 c. flat leaf parsley, minced

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 500 degrees and line 2 baking sheets.
-Wash and dry sweet potatoes (leaving skin on) and slice into 1/8 inch thick wedges.
-Place into large bowl and combine with olive oil and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper.
-Lay out sweet potato wedges on baking sheets, dividing evenly between them, and place in oven.
-Bake for 30 minutes, turning occasionally, or until edges begin to brown and wedges are tender.
-Remove from oven, sprinkle evenly with salt, garlic, parsley, and serve immediately.
Juicy and Delicious!
This was Chris's idea, while we were grocery shopping he came across a marinade bag of this Jack Daniel's sauce and it was amazing!

Beef Stew! YUMM!

Doesn't this just look like comfort in a bowl??? Well it IS!!! What goes better with a chilly night, a fire crackling, and dogs cuddling? STEW! Even better, i made this on Election Tuesday so in case there were long lines at the polls I wouldn't have to worry about making dinner. Well, our lines were not even there, yea NO ONE was in front of me, but the stew was still GREAT!
Ingredients
2lbs lean beef cutlets (stew meat)
around 5-6 potatoes cubed
half a small cabbage chopped
Large container of low sodium beef broth
4 mini cans of veggie juice
bag of mixed veggies
1 medium onion chopped
garlic powder, pepper, and salt to taste.
throw it all in a crock pot and cook on low for 8ish hours. My cooked for 10 and was fine! Oh and one bowl (about 5c) is 6 Weight Watcher points!

South of the Boarder Casserole

I'm on a Mexican kick lately, must mean I miss my parents! So I came across this recipe here and decided that I must try it. Chris was a big fan... hey if it has cheese and noodles, he's a fan!

Ingredients

1 pound of lean ground beef (I used 93%)
1 jalapeno
1 large bell pepper (I used orange)
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
28 ounce can of whole tomatoes (I used fire roasted tomatoes, which makes a HUGE difference!)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1-2 tablespoons of cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups reduced fat sour cream
8 oz penne or ziti (I just put a good amount in a bowl and threw it in, I have no way of measuring ounces!)

In a large deep skillet, brown meat until no longer pink. Drain fat. Add the olive oil, peppers, onions and garlic, cooking on medium to high heat. Saute until softened, about 8-10 mins. Add chili powder and cumin. Add the can of tomatoes, breaking up the whole tomatoes with a spoon, but still leaving big chunks. Add sour cream, stir until mixed. Add pasta. Cover and cook until pasta is al dente, about 25 mins. Make sure to stir frequently so the pasta doesn't get stuck to the bottom. Serve with cheddar on top if you're feeling like having a coronary.

I thought the recipe needed more kick so I added in red pepper and it also needed more cheese... or if you're Chris, LOTS of cheese! But it was great!

Spiced Beef Corn Bread Cobbler

I had a pound of ground beef in my fridge and I wanted to make something different (without having to go out and purchase lots of new ingredients) and I found this recipe on epicurious. I made a few alterations so my recipe is not exactly theirs but I like to believe BETTER!


INGREDIENTS

1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
2 tbsp Veggie Oil
2 tsp minced garlic (mine was from a jar)
3/4 can of corn (drained)
1 lb ground beef
1 tsp sugar
1/2 ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp salt
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 tiny can tomato juice

1 box jiffy (made to boxes instructions but also add in 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup grated sharp Cheddar)... don't bake yet

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray pam on a pie plate. Cook Diced onion and bell pepper in oil in a skillet until edges are golden brown. Add in garlic and cook another minute. Add in beef and cook for a few minutes... once half the beef is brown add in corn and cook until all of beef has browned. Now add in sugar, spices, and 1 tsp salt and then cook another minute. Add in tomatoes and juice and simmer until liquid is about 1/4c. Now move beef mixture into pie plate and then pour cornbread mixture over it. Top with 1/4c of cheddar cheese. BAKE! around 20-25mins... make sure when you enter a toothpick it comes out clean!

Now I know you're reading these spices thinking REALLY???? but YES REALLY!!! IT's so good! It's perfect for a great winter dish... you think it's sweet, then it has a great kick then you get the cornbread! AMAZING!



Now enjoy!