Mom's Favorites: Chili Lime Flank Steak

By now, you are realizing next Sunday is Mother's Day and that you've put off trying to figure out what to do to honor your mom for a bit too long. With gorgeous weather like this, I bet many of you are starting to grill your dinners. Perhaps mom would love a homemade meal, especially one off the grill. Besides, quality time of a family meal together is always high on any mother's list!

Chili Lime Flank Steak

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil                  2 crushed garlic cloves               1 tbsp. chili powder             
1 tsp. cumin                      1/2 tsp. pepper                            3/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. lime juice               1/2 tsp. hot pepper sauce           1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. honey                    2 tbsp. chopped cilantro

Directions:

1. Combine oil, garlic, chili powder, cumin and pepper in a bowl.
2. Warning: if you don't love a ton of heat in your marinade, cut the amount of chili powder down. This is a hot recipe.
3. Place steak in a shallow baking dish. 
4. Pour chili mixture over and spread to coat both sides.
5. Let sit 1 hour or cover and refrigerate overnight.
6. Sprinkle both sides of the steak with a 1/2 tsp. salt.
7. Grill 4-5 minutes on each side for medium.
8. Remove to cutting board to stand 10 minutes.
9. Combine remaining salt, lime juice, hot pepper sauce, vinegar, honey and cilantro.
10. Whisk until blended.
11. Serve with sauce on the side to drizzle over.

100 Posts ... 100 Cans

So, today's post is #100. It's hard to believe I've done this 100 days so far and even more so that I'm still enjoying the ride. 

I kept trying to think of a special way to commemorate the 100th post.  My friend Julie found the perfect connection. Andy Warhol and his 100 Cans painting. He was pretty famous for making art out of Campbell's soup cans, so in his honor, your dinner will be a piece of art too!

Mushroom Beef Stew

Ingredients:
1 lb. beef stew meat                1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix       2 4 oz. cans of sliced mushroms, drained
Hot cooked egg noodles

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except egg noodles in crockpot.
2. Cover and cook on low 8 - 10 hours.
3. Serve over noodles.

How easy was that? My one piece of advice is to keep an eye on that beef. All of my crockpot recipes seem to suggest long cook times. However, beef cooks up pretty quickly regardless. Even on low, you'll find it probably won't take nearly the 8 hours. It also depends on how you like your meat. If you need it well done, then I'm sure you'll probably end up closer to the 8 hours, but if you are like me and want the meat moist, it really is important to keep an eye on it.

As always, have fun!

Quick Dessert

Have a sweet craving that won't quit? Need a relatively quick and simple dessert you can take to a pitch in?  Perhaps you're just a cheese addict. Don't worry - this recipe will fill all your needs!

Dessert Cheese Ball

Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened            1/2 c. butter, softened              1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. confectionery sugar                  2 tbsp. brown sugar                  8 oz. chocolate chips
chopped pecans                                 graham crackers

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except pecans and graham crackers.
2. Roll into a ball and refrigerate until firm.
3. Roll ball in the chopped pecans
4. Serve with graham crackers.

Like I said, easy right? As always, have fun!

Sweet, Spicy and Cheesy?

Sometimes you don't have a reason for picking a recipe. Sometimes it's just luck of the draw as you flip through your box, hoping something will inspire you.  My sausage and potatoes recipes caught my eye but I don't really have anything profound to say about either. I will warn you the sausage patties come with some kick! Actually, both recipes do.

Paprika, red pepper, cayenne and hot sauce give these recipes some heat but I'm not a huge fan of heat, so know that the quantities listed won't leave you begging for water. Of course, you can always add in spice and heat if that's what you are into!

Sweet & Spicy Sausage Patties

Ingredients:
1 tsp. onion powder           1 tsp. garlic powder      1 tsp. red pepper           1/2 tsp. fennel
1/4 tsp. paprika                  1 tsp. salt                      1/4 tsp. black pepper     1 lb. ground meat
1 tbsp. & 1 tsp. brown sugar                                   1 tsp. olive oil

Directions:

1. Mix your meat with all the seasonings.
2. Portion it into 8 balls.
3. Flatten each ball to 1/8 in. thick.
4. Heat oil over medium high heat.
5. Sear patties on one side until caramelized about 2 minutes.
6. Flip to cook 1 minute more.

Cheesy Vacation Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 potatoes, sliced 1/8 in. thick          oil and salt, to taste             

pico de gallo:  2 roma tomatoes       2 scallions              1 tsp. hot sauce      1 tsp. lime juice

                       1/8 tsp. cumin            1/8 tsp. cayenne

casserole:       1 tbsp. unsalted butter         1/2 c. jack blend cheese         1/2 c. mozzarella

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375.
2. Fry potatoes in 1 inch of oil, 3 minutes on each side.
3. Season with salt.
4. Prepare the pico de gallo in a bowl and set aside.
5. Butter an 8x8 pan.
6. Layer half the potatoes then half the jack blend cheese, then half the pico de gallo and half the mozzarella.
7. Repeat the layers, ending with mozzarella.
8. Bake until cheese melts (app. 18 minutes).

So there you go, a pair of fun recipes that aren't super hard to put together.  Oh and I absolutely don't remember why they are called vacation potatoes. As always, have fun.

Kid Friendly Vegetarian

Most kids love burgers, spaghetti and meatballs, hot dogs, pizza, chicken fingers etc. The thought of making them eat a vegetarian meal might make you quake and quiver. Vegetables are not fun! They don't taste good! And of course they are healthy! What are we thinking? Well, with feeding a family, sometimes you need to make your meals stretch and your grocery budget would be helped out quite a bit by one night a week not having to pay pesky meat prices.

So, I give you a casserole with a lot of flavor and a lot of ways to keep the budget under control as well as keep it healthy.

Tomato Sour Cream Casserole

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped                               2 tbsp. oil              1 lb. 12 oz. can of tomatoes
1 pkg. mexican style sloppy joe seasoning     4 oz. green chilies, chopped
5 1/2 oz. package Doritos, slightly crushed    3/4 lb. monterey jack cheese, grated
1 c. sour cream                                               1/2 c. cheddar cheese, grated

Directions:

1. Saute the onion in oil.
2. Add tomatoes, seasoning mix and green chilies.
3. Simmer, uncovered, 10-15 minutes.
4. In greased, deep 2 qt. casserole dish, layer ingredients in the following order: sauce, doritos, jack cheese, sauce, jack cheese.
5. Top with sour cream.
6. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.
7. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bake 10 minutes longer.

Ways to make it healthy:

• Use fresh tomatoes instead of canned to cut your salt intake.
• Use lowfat cheese
• Use lowfat sour cream.

Ways to spice it up:

• Switch up the sloppy joe seasoning with chipolte or hot spices.
• The original recipe recommends nacho cheese doritos but I say use your favorites.
• Use pepper jack cheese.

As always, have fun!

Asparagus Stuffed Chicken Rolls

I really had no good blog topic in mind tonight, so I figured why not go through my chicken recipes. I mean, chicken is kind of an easy default. Even picky eaters usually don't have an issue with chicken. In fact, as an event planner, I've often joked about the "rubber chicken" dinners you get at most hotel functions. 9 times out of 10 the chicken is not in fact overcooked. It's more that because it's so user friendly that most big groups go with it.  In fact, I've tried some sauces and vegetables with chicken that are typically out of my comfort zone at events and found that I really like them! It's just sometimes tiring to have chicken at every meal.

Tonight's recipe is one of those out of my comfort zone instances, mostly because of the choice of veggie. Once I find I like something, I tend to beat it to death, so you get yet another asparagus recipe!

Asparagus Stuffed Chicken Rolls

Ingredients:
8 fresh asparagus spears            2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (abt. 5 oz. each)
1 tbsp. dijon mustard                   4 fresh sage leaves               2 slices provolone cheese
2 slices deli ham                          1/4 c. flour                             1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs               1/4 c. parmesan cheese       1 1/2 tsp. butter
1 1/2 tsp. olive oil                         1/4 c. white wine or chicken broth

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, bring 1/2 in. of water to a boil. 
2. Add asparagus and cover and boil for 3 minutes.
3. Drain and immediately place in ice water.
4. Drain and pat dry.
5. Flatten chicken to 1/4 in. thick.
6. Spread mustard over one side of each breast.
7. Down the center, place two sage leaves, a slice of cheese, a slice of ham and 4 asparagus spears.
8. Fold chicken over asparagus and secure with toothpick.
9. Place flour and egg in separate shallow bowls. 
10. In a third bowl, combine bread crumbs and parmesan.
11. Dip chicken in flour, egg then breadcrumb mixture.
12. In a large skillet, brown chicken on all sides in butter and oil.
13. Transfer to an 8 in. square baking dish coated with cooking spray.
14. Add wine to skillet, stirring to loosen brown bits from pan.
15. Pour over chicken.
16. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.

As always, have fun!

Food & Family

No recipes today. Just a few quick stories.  Today I celebrate a woman who welcomed me into her family within moments of meeting me for the first time. A woman who cried tears of joy when Jeremy and I announced our engagement at Thanksgiving dinner at her house. A woman who a lot of people are missing right now. Rest in peace Grandma Marge.

A lot of my memories right now seem to involve food. I think that's because all great family events and holidays seem to always have a strong food component. 

The first time I met Marge and my mother in law Suzi - we met for lunch. I stressed for hours about the right outfit and what I would say that wouldn't make me look like a buffoon. Do I remember most of what happened that day? Heck no! I remember Marge sitting across from me asking me questions and pestering the waitress about exactly what was in every dish and thinking she was hungry then not and changing her mind quite a bit. I even remember she got the appetizer sampler because I couldn't imagine she would eat it all but she insisted that's what she wanted. Guess who got to take 2/3 of it home at the end of the dinner date because she didn't eat it and knew it would go to waste if she took it home.

Remember that happy tears Thanksgiving I mentioned earlier? Another great memory ... especially for those of you who know how much I struggle to find Turkey Day food I actually eat. I loved going to Grandma's house for dinner because she made her noodles.  Nothing made me happier than having turkey, Grandma's noodles and Grandpa's scalloped corn (courtesy of Aunt Judy). In fact, I'd always go back for multiple helpings. As I sit here and think about it, I wonder why I never asked her how she made them - it would be a great addition to my cooking skills.

My mom came up with a great idea for my bridal shower that my new family carried over into their shower as well. Everyone brought a recipe for me to start my recipe box. I've got some great ones including Marge's Meatloaf. Though, my friend Julie and I laughed as I read it and Marge shouted out about how I needed to know she was not the Marge in question. It was a family friend, I think, and though it wasn't her personal recipe, it was one of the family favorites.

In recent years, we did less cooking at Grandma's house and more going out to eat. That was always an adventure as Grandma could never decide what she wanted. She also had to ask the poor waitress a million questions about the menu. When she finally decided what she wanted, she almost never ate even half of it and usually sent home the leftovers with us. That's just Grandma Marge!

All in all, we're pretty lucky. We both had really great grandparents that love us very much. I imagine they're all hanging out together now, watching over the whole crazy lot of us. Marge had more than her fair share of health issues, so I do firmly believe she's finally at peace. That doesn't make the loss any less as there are so many of us still here that will miss her dearly as she was one of a kind.

Hug your loved ones a little tighter and tell someone what they mean to you. Make your favorite dish or maybe a loved one's favorite dish. Food and family go hand in hand.