hawaiian bbq beef and mac salad

A big thanks to Micah and Brittney for this entire meal. We learned how to make perfect sticky rice from them as newlyweds, and the meat marinade and mac salad are Micah and Brittney staples. I cannot count the times we ate this with them at parties or family get togethers (we aren’t actually family but were close enough friends to be adopted as such). Missing them today and so grateful for their friendship throughout the years. Love you, friends. And hey, thanks for the good eats. Xx

Recipe: Hawaiian BBQ (Teriyaki) Beef

Ingredients:
1.5-2 c soy sauce
1/2 c sugar
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
Oil, a splash
Vinegar, a splash
2 lb. (ish) Thinly sliced beef (sirloin tip etc)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients well then combine with beef. Marinate for 3+ hours. Then grill. Enjoy.



Recipe: Hawaiian Mac Salad

Ingredients:
16 oz large macaroni noodles, cooked & chilled
6 boiled eggs, chilled & diced
8 mini dill pickles, diced
4 Tbsp dill pickle juice
1/3 - 1/2 c mayonnaise
2 tsp mustard
Garlic powder, to taste
Salt, to taste

Directions:
Cook pasta and eggs. Chill. Dice all you need. Toss together and mix well. Serve cold.



Serve with CalRose rice. 

chili colorado

This recipe will always make me think of my dad.  When my parents were getting a divorce (sad), I was quite worried about my dad starving to death- as he had literally cooked nothing his entire marriage, to my knowledge (besides the corn dog he once exploded, thus ruining both a microwave and his chances in the kitchen in the same kaboom).  Luckily, he learned a few good Mexican dishes he could make that were simple, cheap and filling.  Mexican bachelor food.  This was among them, and when he visited, he taught me how to make it.  Derek and I really love it, and the kids seem to as well.  Very simple, very flavorful, very seemingly-authentic and very delicious.



RECIPE: Chili Colorado

Ingredients:
1 lb stew meat (or chuck roast), thinly sliced/diced
1 onion, thinly sliced/diced
4 potatoes, thinly sliced/diced
1 can enchilada sauce
garlic powder and pepper, to taste

Directions:**
Cook the meat, onion and potatoes in a pot over medium to medium-high heat.  Season with garlic powder and/or pepper if desired.  Once meat is cooked through, add the enchilada sauce.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are soft.  Serve with warm tortillas.

**Note: My sister Tori discovered that you can throw all the ingredients in the crock pot and then BAM! Dinner! I tried it, and it was awesome! The meat was so tender and perfect! I will be doing it that way from now on. The moisture from the meat/veggies made the sauce soupy, though. So maybe remove the lid for the last 20 minutes to let some moisture evaporate?? Also, add a dollop of sour cream when dishing up! Mmm, mmm, delicious!

carne asada tacos

Derek and I took our kiddos to run errands (together- weird) on Saturday. Whilst on said errands, we got hungry. So we hit up our local taqueria. Dos tacos, por favor. And mmmm, they were yummy. There's just something to be said for authentic Mexican food. Since we were going shopping right after anyway, we decided to buy some stuff to try our hand at our own Carne Asada Tacos. We did a quick recipe search on Allrecipes.com (I have an app for that) and found this one. I pretty much followed it exclusively (well, I halved it - we didn't need 16 tacos), and it turned out fabulously! We only did the marinade for an hour (the smallest time frame allotted), but we stabbed the steak a ton with a fork pre-marinade, and I think that must have helped- cause it was YUM! Pretty easy and pretty spectacular. My kind of recipe.

RECIPE: Carne Asada Tacos

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb flank steak

2 Tbs + 2 tsp white vinegar

1/4 c soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

juice from 1 lime

1/4 c olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp ground white pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 white onion, chopped

1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro

juice from 1/2 lime

10 white corn tortillas

(opt) avocado, sliced

(opt) jalapeno slices (Mezzetta has tame ones, mmm)

Directions:

1. Lay the flank steak in a large glass baking dish. Stab relentlessly with a fork. In a medium bowl, whisk together the other ingredients (stop at paprika). Then pour the marinade mixture over the steak in the dish. Turn over once to coat both sides. Cover with plastic wrap and marinade (in the fridge) for 1-8 hours.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the white onion, cilantro and lime juice. Set aside to use as a relish for the tacos.

3. Heat a (preferably cast-iron... seriously, there's nothing better) skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the meat from the marinade and put it in the hot pan. Let it brown a bit on one side then flip it over. Then reduce heat a bit and continue to cook through. Remove from heat and cover in tin foil. Set aside.

4. Wash the previously used skillet and then warm it again- on medium-high heat. Warm the tortillas for about a minute on each side. (This can also be done in the microwave but is nowhere near as yummy.)

5. Prepare your tacos- combining meat, onion/cilantro relish, and any other toppings of choice (avocado and jalapenos are yummy options). Serve warm and enjoy!

steak and cheese quesadillas

This recipe is based on one from For the Love of Cooking- a foodie blog I occasionally "stalk." The author does a fantastic job and posts lots of recipes that an average cook might actually cook for dinner that night {unlike many too-fancy-though-fun blogs}. I mostly followed her recipe but changed a few things to accommodate the ingredients I had on hand, as well as the let's-eat-now time frame we had that night. It's pretty tasty. The meat would be awesome in a carne asada burrito... but we were fresh out of avocados atm.

RECIPE: Steak and Cheese Quesadillas

Ingredients:
1 lb. steak, thinly sliced {about 1/4"}
1/3 cup vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder {or a few onion rings if you're out}
1 1/2 tsp oregano
2 Tbs. lime juice {or lemon, if it's what's on hand}
6 cloves garlic minced



1/2 onion, diced
1 Tbs. olive oil
cheddar cheese {We love sharp.}, shredded
flour tortillas
butter

Directions:
Put all above ingredients (the FIRST grouping) in a pan and simmer/boil until meat is thoroughly cooked. Remove meat. {Note: The original recipe uses these ingredients in a marinade... which is a fabulous idea, but we were in a hurry. This worked pretty well, though.}

Caramelize onions in a pan with the olive oil... probably over medium heat. {Be careful not to burn the onions, as they smell like hell and taste icky, too.} Remove from heat.

Butter one side of each flour tortilla. On one {out of the two necessary for a quesadilla} non-buttered side of the tortilla, layer shredded cheese, steak slices and caramelized onion. Add another small layer of cheese, to insure sticking. Top with another tortilla (buttered side out).

In a skillet over medium/medium-low heat, grill the quesadilla until browned -- flip and do the same to the other side. Cut into triangles and serve warm! {Sour cream, salsa and guacamole are all great toppers... so is Cholula hot sauce... yum!}

steak with roasted broccoli and steak fries

I really dislike most "raw" vegetables. Always have. I have a few exceptions, but broccoli is definitely not one of them. Broccoli was just one of those vegetables... the kind where you're not surprised by the stereotype that always names it as what no kids will eat. I could stomach it {cooked}, but still thought it was blah. Until.... dun dun dun... Rachael Ray introduced me to ROASTED broccoli.

It's divine. It's nutty and somewhat sweet, with crisp edges and tender, savory insides. You'd never guess broccoli could taste this way. I love it. And my family does, too {especially James, which is sayin' something}. So we eat it a lot. A lot a lot. Here is one example of that.

RECIPE: Steak with roasted broccoli and steak fries

Yield: 2 1/2

Ingredients:

2 steaks

1/2 bag frozen broccoli (any work, but spears are prettiest)

4-5 potatoes

EVOO

Lawry's (or your fav seasoned salt)

Spade L Ranch (or your fav steak seasoning)

salt/pepper (I always use freshly ground pepper... it's tons better.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F and fire up the grill.

Wash and cut potatoes (into wedges, about 8 wedges per potato).

Place potatoes and broccoli on a cookie sheet/stone. Drizzle EVOO over potatoes and broccoli then rub it in with your hands. Sprinkle generously with pepper and a) salt for broccoli / b) Lawry's for potatoes. Give 'em a rub again if they need it.

Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through and broccoli has blackened edges.

For the steak, make sure it's thawed and rub EVOO on both sides, followed by a thick rub of Spade L Ranch seasoning and ground pepper. Grill until done to your specifications. (In the above picture, we used the George Foreman since our grill is buried under a mound of snow. It's not as pretty, but it was actually very tasty.)

Serve warm, heaped together on a plate, and enjoy!