TGI Friday style Korean Tacos

Another meal I made this week (I'm writing these down so I don't forget them) was Korean tacos based off TGIFridays. I soaked fajita meat in soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger and green onion. I fried it up and sliced it up and served it in corn tortillas with finely chopped lettuce (didn't have cabbage) and a sauce of soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar. I also had broccoli that I used some of the (boiled) marinade on, basmalti rice that I cooked with a bit of cilantro, basil olive oil, and ginger, and a side salad with soy ginger dressing.

Baja Citrus Chicken Meal

Todays meal was delicious. I used a package of McCormicks Baja Citrus Marinade. I soaked chicken breasts and baked them.

I served it with a salad with orange bell pepper, red onion, and a cilantro lime dressing and corn on the cob. the meal was called amazing. 

Paella Primavera

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/paella-primavera/

I made this using this saffron mix instead of real saffron and rice. It was tasty.

Paella Primavera

• 2 ½tsp. olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)
• 6 green onions, thinly sliced (1 cup)
• 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
• 1 tsp. crumbled saffron threads
• 1 cup short-grain white rice, such as Valencia
• 3 cups broccoli florets
• 1 cup fresh or frozen baby peas
• 1 cup halved grape or cherry tomatoes
• 12 pitted green olives, halved
• 12 pitted black olives, halved, optional
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add bell pepper and green onions; cook 5 minutes. Stir in broth, garlic, and saffron; bring to a boil. Sprinkle rice over ingredients, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, covered, 10 minutes.

2. Sprinkle broccoli, peas, tomatoes, and olives over rice. Cover, and cook paella 8 minutes, or until rice is tender. Remove from heat, and let rest, covered, 5 minutes. Season 
with salt and pepper, if desired.

3. To serve, spoon paella into 6 bowls, and garnish each with lemon wedges and parsley.

Southwestern Wrap

http://www.epicureanmom.com/2012/01/southwestern-quinoa-wrap-vegetarian.html

I made this with some tweaks - mayo instead of yogurt, more spices instead of adobo and chipotle, rice instead of quinoa. Also just sauteed the peppers and corn. It was delicious though.

For Chipotle Dressing:

Ingredients
6 oz Fage 0% yogurt (greek yogurt)
1 teaspoon adobo sauce
1/2 chipotle chili, seeded and chopped
1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/2 Mexican lime, (key lime) juiced, although lime would do just fine.
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients together.  Mix until well incorporated, set aside.

For Quinoa Wraps:

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
2- 2 1/2 cup veggie broth
pinch of salt
1 can organic black beans, warmed or cold
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 avocado, sliced
2 ears of corn, shucked
2 bell peppers, grilled and sliced into strips (Any color pepper works. I used all the colors)
4 whole wheat tortillas
hot sauce, garnish

Heat veggie broth and quinoa in a small saucepan until just boiling.  Turn to low-medium and simmer for 25 minutes, or until just tender.  Fluff with a fork and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat, add the onion.  Cook until browned and caramelized, about 10 minutes.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place shucked corn on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat.  Bake until just browning, about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To Assemble:
Slather chipotle sauce over the middle of tortilla.  Scoop a heaping spoonful of black beans, quinoa, caramelized onions and corn.  Place bell pepper strips over the top and finish with avocado slices.  Roll, serve with hot sauce and Enjoy!

Menu for 1/6/13

Back on the diet.....

Breakfasts
Smoothies
Sausage Links
Bacon
Eggs

Lunches
Salads
Balsamic Mustard Chicken Breast
Steak (for salads)
Meatloaf
Greek Meatballs/Salad
Tuna
Chicken Salad

Dinners
Bratwurst, Sauerkraut
Sauilsbury Steak, Green Beans
Orange Chipotle Chicken
Hamburgers, Bacon, Veggie?
Pork Loin stuffed with Sun Dried Tomato, Goat Cheese, Spinach
BBQ Pork
Chili
Meatloaf, Cole Slaw
Balsamic Garlic Crusted Pork Loin
Southwest Chicken Breast
Chorizo & Potatoes
Taco Lettuce Wraps

I also have lots of random meat in the freezer... I need to do inventory and figure out some things.

Italian Soup Stuff

Thought I'd post my soup that I made before I forget what I did.

1/2 lb hamburger
bit of chopped onion
2 tsp chopped garlic
1/2 cup of that concentrated vegetable stock
some water
1 can great northern beans
tsp or so basil and oregano
salt and pepper
1/2 can fire roasted tomatos
1/4-1/2 bag frozen corn, peas, green beans, and carrots mix

It was quite delicious.

Metza!

It... was.... delicious.....

I took 1 pound of ground beef and mixed in McCormick Tuscan seasoning, italian seasoning, garlic and onion powder. I then smashed it super flat on a cookie sheet. I used 10% fat beef and  it shrunk quite a bit so becareful with the high fat stuff. 

I then baked  it for maybe 20 minutes at 450. When it was done I spread pizza sauce on it and put on my toppings (here it was salami, pepperoni, italian sausage, pineapple, olives, jalapenos, feta and goats milk cheddar). I then baked it another 10 minutes or so till the cheesy was all cooked looking. It was pretty epic. I have enough for dinner and lunch tomorrow. Probably should of been 3 meals but eh, lol. 

Granola Bar Attempt

I was craving chocolate and coconut last night so decided to try my hand at some homemade granola bar. I couldn't find a recipe that I liked really. This 5 ingredient one was the closest I could find. I didn't want peanut butter though. So I said screw it and went in the kitchen and started throwing things in a bowl lol. I ended up using.

agave syrup
coconut oil
almond butter (I didn't want the peanut taste)
 microwaved it till melted and creamy

added chopped walnuts
sweetened coconut
chocolate chips
old fashioned oats

I baked it at 300 for about 20 minutes before I was so impatient I took it out. It never firmed up. Its a gooey mess. And a little too sweet. But pretty amazing. Its kinda like a no bake cookie.

Heres a quick terrible pic...

Fragrant Shredded Beef Stew Recipe

I worked a weird shift yesterday/today so I threw this fragrant shredded beef stew in the crockpot early this morning before I went to bed for lunch when I woke up.

Ingredients

1 1/2 

cup of 

reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/4 

cup of 

sherry vinegar

2 

celery

1 

large onion

1 

large red bell pepper

3 

garlic

1 

tablespoon of 

ground cumin

1 

teaspoon of 

salt

1/2 

teaspoon of 

freshly ground pepper

3 

pounds of 

flank steak

1/2 

cup of 

packed fresh cilantro leaves

1/2 

cup of 

chopped pickled jalapenos

10 

corn tortillas

Preparation Instructions

Combine broth, vinegar, celery, onion, bell pepper, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper in a 6-quart slow cooker. Add beef, submerging it by tucking the vegetables under, over and between the pieces.

Put the lid on and cook on low until the meat is fork-tender, about 8 hours.

Transfer the meat to a cutting board; let stand for 10 minutes. Shred the meat with 2 forks and return it to the slow cooker. Stir in cilantro. Garnish with jalapeno and serve warm tortillas on the side.

I did some tweaking based on what I had. I used red wine vinegar - I might use less next time. It was a bit sour or maybe acidic and I assume it may have been this? I used some chopped red, orange, and yellow bell pepper and some jarred roasted red pepper. I used a bottom round steak. I also used just a few whole jalapeno slices since I didn't want it real hot. I cooked it on high for about 5-6 hours. Any longer and it would have been overdone. It had cooked down more than the picture which I actually preferred. I just ran the fork around and it fell apart and I scooped it in a bowl with more cilantro, some green salsa, wished I had had an avocado, and ate it with corn tortillas. It was really great to wake up to.

Menu 11/25/12

I'm not really planning a menu this week. There are too many random things that never got eaten before lol. Sunday we had nachos, Monday I made pork loin pieces with leftover thanksgiving rice. Tonight, well I forgot to take something out of the freezer so we'll see lol.