steaks

My sister took my grocery shopping and bought me these top sirloin steaks that were crusted with a smoky paprika garlic crust.  I needed another quick supper, so I whipped up a salad, steamed some asparagus, cut up a watermelon, and grilled the steak for way less time than I thought would be needed...on my stovetop grill pan.  I let the meat rest for 5-10 minutes before serving it, and what do you know:  No supper left on anyone's plates!
The asparagus was mushy though, I got a little overconfident since it's been a long time since I've messed that up, so I forgot about it, thinking it was no big deal.  What did we have?  Green asparagus mush that tasted like we were eating dirt pudding.
Oh well, it was healthy, and I guess I like the taste of dirt.
Divine!  And super fast!

Be open minded for this one!

There's this fabulous thing that my dad's cousin showed us how to make.  Then I went over to Jason and Patti's and when I was there, she made it for me.
Try this:  even if you don't like sauerkraut
Fry up 2 chopped up onions in butter.  Then add a can of drained sauerkraut.  Fry it for a long time, it sweetens up and the sauerkraut isn't so pungeant.
Then take the mixture out and set aside.  In the fry pan, put more butter and let it melt.  When the pan is good and hot, add a layer of cooked noodles.  Cook the crap out of them, so they get browned and chewy. When that's done, add the mixture back into the pan with the noodles and put in a pint of cottege cheese.  Let that warm up, add salt and pepper...
Seriously, you will never go back to hating sauerkraut.  The dimensions of the dish are amazing.
Try it!  Once you start eating, you won't be able to stop.  Trust me.  It's THAT good!

Spinach or Spinage?

We've been having this ongoing argument with some friends of ours.  Is it spinach or spinage?  I know it's spelled spinach, but they INSIST it's pronounced "spinage".  What do you think?
I made roasted garlic creamed spinach.  Mmmmmmm!  Divine!  I want it every day of my life.
I but the top off the garlic head and drizzled olive oil all over it and wrapped it in foil, and baked at 450 for about 45 minutes.  Then I took the garlic out and squished it out of every clove into a food processor.  Blended it with cream and milk, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  Then put olive oil in a pan and heated it up, added some diced onions, added more garlic, and cooked it.  Then added the spinach, warmed that up, and added the cream sauce.
I am SO in love with spinach!  Or spin----age?  Which one is it?

Orangy pork-wiches

So I decided to do a spin on french dips tonight.  I have this huge pork loin I bought awhile ago and wanted to use that.  So I roasted half the loin after coating it with salt and pepper.  Meanwhile, I made an au jus with chicken broth, sliced oranges, thyme, rosemary, parsley, onions, and garlic.  Put the meat in a bun and top with a mixture of orange zest, rosemary, thyme, and parsley.  Delishus!  And by the way, I got the recipe from Rachael Ray again.  It was so good and so different than usual!  Mom made "party in your mouth" potatoes to go with the sandwiches.  Cubed potatoes, crm of chicken soup, sour cream, cheese, and butter.  Except she did something I never have done...she puts crushed Lays potato chips ontop and bakes it.  Original plain chips.  And drizzles butter over the top. 
Could it get any better???????? 
Such a fresh summery meal.

Mexi burgers

So....we had the most divine supper last night!  Corn on the cob and watermelon.  And burgers on the grill!  That's right people, on the grill.  Nothing beats the grill, and nothing says summer more than our supper!  So for the burgers, we mixed them with onions, green onions, garlic, salt, pepper, and cilantro. 
To assemble the burgers, you put it on a grilled tortilla with pico de gallo and guacamole.  And sour cream if that's what you like.  It's a little too mushy for me then.  Oh yeah, and we topped the burgers with cheddar cheese.
I ate 2 of them!  That's how good they were!
Horrible gas though.  Garlic and onions...
Horrible gas.

Granny burgers

I went "big" grocery shopping and had this package of hamburger that was ready to be used...or thrown in a couple of days.
SO, I went to my favorite website, Rachaelray.com

We had salisbury steak.  Really, WHO in their right mind cooks salisbury steaks besides old grandmas, and they always add canned peas into the rice for some reason.  I guess I do.  My mom loves salisbury steaks, and I think I follow that trait.  I even like the banquet tv dinner ones...that is, until I bit hard on something that resembled bone.
Back to business....so I took 2 lb of beef, put saltines, an egg, salt, pepper, 2T of grated onion and juices and worcestershire (commonly referred to as "What's That There?!?!" sauce)  I molded them into oval shaped patties.
Molded-see...molding something while cooking is never a good sounding word.  It's like those pressed ribs they serve at school.  Those are molded. 
I did mold the patties, put them on a cookie sheet, drizzled olive oil over them, and cooked them at 375 for 20 minutes.  I also threw some rice in the microwave...uncle ben's rice.  It's the best.  Expensive, but worth the money.
Then I chopped 2 whole onions up, put them in butter on the stovetop, in a pan of course.  Let that cook down with salt and pepper and a bay leaf.  Then added 3 cloves of garlic and italian seasoning.  Then added 1 and 1/2 c of  beef broth and 2 T of "What's that there??!" sauce.  More pepper, and some cornstarch and water to thicken it. 
The girls thought it was too spicey. 
Mike loved it but didn't really say much because he's got this horrid cold.  He doesn't talk when he has a cold.  I loved it though.  I'll make it for you someday.  Request it.  Moldable meat.
My oldest daughter is riding her bike as fast as she can down the driveway with our middle daughter pushing our baby in her stroller as fast as she can, chasing the oldest girl.  Oh yeah, and they're all in robes and slippers.  I better put a stop to that.  Someone's gonna lose an eye.

chicken burrrrrrrrritos!

I had to make supper quickly last night because Mike got home and I was still spiffying up the house and putting groceries away.  It was my big grocery shopping day for the month, and after almost $300, our fridge still doesn't look full!  What's up with the grocery prices?  However, by previewing the shopping ads and using coupons, I  saved almost $80.  Hooray!
So, I cut up some chicken, cooked it, and put salsa verde in the pan with it.  Stirred it.  Then I made a salad of corn, black beans, avacados, orange peppers, green onions, and cilantro with salt and pepper.  We ate the chicken and salad in tortillas.  Yum!  And healthy too.
I picked up some new Tostitos chips-Hint of Pepperjack.  They're pretty good.  Not overpowering.  Delicious with salsa.  You should try them!  By the way, Tostitos are on sale EVERYWHERE right now.  Go pick up a bag!
The kids ate cheese quesadillas.  What a suprise.