I finally, at 3:30pm, took a shower. It's one of those days. I woke up and had my coffee leisurely while reading a book (since I read a book a day during the summer). Then I decided to tackle my laundry room. What on earth possessed me to do that...
Anyways, I began ripping out the linoleum, cleaned the floor, and started laying new peel-n-stick tiles. I didn't think it would be that hard, but, of course, nothing is straight and level. So I feel like I'm putting together a puzzle to make these tiles look normal. Whatev. Good thing it's a laundry room and the only people going in and out of there are going to be hubby & me. So, not quite done, but so much better than before already. Now I just need to get the rest of the wall painted, the rest of the floor done, and all of the laundry room goodies back in their places.
But the real reason it's gonna be one of those days is because, in my infinite can-do wisdom, I decided that teaching three consecutive piano lessons for three hours beginning at 5 would be a good idea. Not so much - especially when one also decides to begin a blogging experience that requires one to cook every night. Stupid. But, at least I can still cook. Well, prep. Hubby will cook for himself and I'll do mine when lessons are over.
So I prepped everything for our simple summer meal. I took chicken out of the freezer and let it sit on the counter till it pretty much thawed through - which was about 1pm. Then I searched through my fridge for something to marinate it with - I found this Asian Sesame salad dressing that smelled good, so poured some of that on the chicken and back in the fridge it goes! I took our some hamburger rolls to thaw (still sitting on the counter) and decided on a green salad and asparagus for sides.
Hubby will grill chicken when he gets home and grill asparagus in our handy dandy veggie basket for the grill. It's sweet and a fantastic tool/gift for the griller in your life. Even if that griller is you. Not too exciting and not many risks taken, but sometimes, you need one of those days.
Bon appetit! I'll be thinking of you all eating while I'm sitting at a piano teaching Fur Elise for the twentimillionth time....
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Asian Pork Tenderloin, Part 2
Part Deux begins with checking the pork that's been marinating. Hubby is cleaning up right now so I can post on my fabulous dinner. Also, I should note, "Meals for Megan" is made possible because Megan lives on the west coast (I can't remember if I wrote that already or not).
So, I took the pork out of the fridge to let it get to room temp before cooking. While it warmed up, I took out my zucchini, grillin' beans, a cucumber and two tomatoes. I started with the cuc and the tomatoes and I made my salad that I had made last night. I love it - it's my summer staple and I absolutely love it, so I make it all the time. While I'm chopping away, hubby came home and turned on the grill. I don't grill, hubby does. He also cleans up if I prep. It's a pretty sweet deal.
So I had some goat cheese from a local farm out with crackers and we munched on those while we cooked. Pork goes on the grill (must consult hubby for times) - pork is cooked for about 30 minutes, turned four times for cross marks or turned once, 15 min on a side, at 450 ish. Part way through he put zucchini spears on too - about 10 minutes, also turned once. Zucchini was tossed with EVOO, salt & peppa, and some lemon juice.
Then, when the zucchini went on the grill, I opened a can of whoop ass.... just kidding... a can of Bush's Grilling Beans, the brown sugar and bourbon kind, on the stove. We hadn't tried those before, but they were delish. So when everything was done, we plated our to-go containers first so they could cool before putting them in the fridge. So a delicious dinner, with leftovers for a delicious lunch tomorrow.
So no great tips for this post. Except maybe our fave new glass-a-night wine: Black Box. I heart it. Our local ine store just started carrying it and we buy it so they don't discontinue it. We tend to favor the cab sauv and lately we've been putting a box in the fridge of either their sauv blanc or their chard. I like the sauv blanc Black Box style, but not the bottle style. Husband-of-the-year (for cleaning up) likes the bottle style but not black box. So we compromise on the chard which we both like black box. Anyways, they're a fantastic alternative to bottles. They last longer, they're less expensive, and they don't use glass or cork, so I guess they're better for the environment.
Well, bon appetit and I wish you luck with your pork! It's delish... you'll love it :)
So, I took the pork out of the fridge to let it get to room temp before cooking. While it warmed up, I took out my zucchini, grillin' beans, a cucumber and two tomatoes. I started with the cuc and the tomatoes and I made my salad that I had made last night. I love it - it's my summer staple and I absolutely love it, so I make it all the time. While I'm chopping away, hubby came home and turned on the grill. I don't grill, hubby does. He also cleans up if I prep. It's a pretty sweet deal.
So I had some goat cheese from a local farm out with crackers and we munched on those while we cooked. Pork goes on the grill (must consult hubby for times) - pork is cooked for about 30 minutes, turned four times for cross marks or turned once, 15 min on a side, at 450 ish. Part way through he put zucchini spears on too - about 10 minutes, also turned once. Zucchini was tossed with EVOO, salt & peppa, and some lemon juice.
Then, when the zucchini went on the grill, I opened a can of whoop ass.... just kidding... a can of Bush's Grilling Beans, the brown sugar and bourbon kind, on the stove. We hadn't tried those before, but they were delish. So when everything was done, we plated our to-go containers first so they could cool before putting them in the fridge. So a delicious dinner, with leftovers for a delicious lunch tomorrow.
So no great tips for this post. Except maybe our fave new glass-a-night wine: Black Box. I heart it. Our local ine store just started carrying it and we buy it so they don't discontinue it. We tend to favor the cab sauv and lately we've been putting a box in the fridge of either their sauv blanc or their chard. I like the sauv blanc Black Box style, but not the bottle style. Husband-of-the-year (for cleaning up) likes the bottle style but not black box. So we compromise on the chard which we both like black box. Anyways, they're a fantastic alternative to bottles. They last longer, they're less expensive, and they don't use glass or cork, so I guess they're better for the environment.
Well, bon appetit and I wish you luck with your pork! It's delish... you'll love it :)
Asian Pork Tenderloinm Part 1
First installment - this is a two-parter. So I finished painting three walls in our office this morning plus I did the last touch-up mudding in the laundry room. Now hubby needs to finish putting up drywall so I can tape, mud, and paint! But that has nothing to do with food...
After lunch today I took out the two tenderloins for dinner tonight/lunch tomorrow and removed the silver skin so I could marinate them in huge ziploc freezer bags. I mix my marinade in a liquid measuring cup cause it's easier to see how much i'm making. So I put about a third cup of sesame oil, then a quarter cup soy sauce, with a tsp of mustard, about a clove of garlic, and about a tsp and a half i think of grated ginger. Then I put some Siracha sauce cause it's spicy and delicious and mix and taste. If it tastes good, leave it, if not, add whatever you want. I usually put more mustard or siracha in if I don't like it. Mix well, pour over the tenderloin in the bag, zip and fridge it flipping it every hour and a half or so.
Trick with ginger - the pre-grated & ground stuff just isn't good enough. Go to the store and get a ginger root, clean it (get rid of the fuzzy stuff), and put it in a ziploc bag in the freezer. This way, when you need it, you just get your handy dandy microplane grater and grate some fresh. It grates better when its frozen and it stays good for longer.
Now I have to clean my kitchen from yesterday... I was lazy last night and didn't want to clean it up. Be back later for part deux...
After lunch today I took out the two tenderloins for dinner tonight/lunch tomorrow and removed the silver skin so I could marinate them in huge ziploc freezer bags. I mix my marinade in a liquid measuring cup cause it's easier to see how much i'm making. So I put about a third cup of sesame oil, then a quarter cup soy sauce, with a tsp of mustard, about a clove of garlic, and about a tsp and a half i think of grated ginger. Then I put some Siracha sauce cause it's spicy and delicious and mix and taste. If it tastes good, leave it, if not, add whatever you want. I usually put more mustard or siracha in if I don't like it. Mix well, pour over the tenderloin in the bag, zip and fridge it flipping it every hour and a half or so.
Trick with ginger - the pre-grated & ground stuff just isn't good enough. Go to the store and get a ginger root, clean it (get rid of the fuzzy stuff), and put it in a ziploc bag in the freezer. This way, when you need it, you just get your handy dandy microplane grater and grate some fresh. It grates better when its frozen and it stays good for longer.
Now I have to clean my kitchen from yesterday... I was lazy last night and didn't want to clean it up. Be back later for part deux...
Monday, June 28, 2010
Spaghetti & Meatballs!
Alright, dinner tonight was a success! First, I forgot to explain earlier. The Meals for Megan that I'm doing are for my bff Meg who lives in California. Hence, why I'm able to post now and she can read it as she makes dinner on the west coast.
So when making all of this, you have to do it in the right order. It is never acceptable to use jarred sauce. G'ma would flip. [so would Gram in her grave]. It is also never acceptable to use frozen meatballs. You always make your own, homemade, of both. So first, make the sauce so it has time to simmer.
Giant pot with some EVOO on the bottom - some garlic minced on the bottom to brown. [Notice I use no measurements, it's cause I as never taught using measurements. I'll try to make some up for you though...]. Uh, two tablespoons EVOO, about 2 cloves of garlic. Once that's simmering & browning, open two jars of crushed tomatoes and add to the pot. To clean out the jars for recycling, slosh about half a jar of water in each and pour into the pot. Add some salt, pepper, basil (fresh preferred, dried acceptable), and crushed red pepper if you want it spicy. Note: NEVER EVER EVER put oregano in spaghetti sauce. Oregano goes in pizza sauce, not pasta sauce.
Once the sauce is brewin', start making some meatballs! It's best to use meatloaf mix but if your local supermarket doesn't carry it, make your own! I make lots of meatballs cause my hubby likes them for lunch so sorry, but it's gonna be a lot. I eyeball everything but the general rule of thumb is 1 to 1 to 1 to 1 to 1. So, 1 pound of meat, 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese, 1 cup of breadcrumbs, 1 egg, some parsley, some garlic in a bowl. Mix with your hands (spoons just don't have enough love), and form into balls. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, put meatballs on a baking sheet and bake till they're done. Oh right, measurements... uh, about 10 minutes? Then, let them cool for half a second on the pan and put them right into the sauce until you're ready to use them.
Boil water for pasta (any pasta will do) once it's boiling, add some salt and the pasta. Cook till it's al dente - italian for "tooth" - so, till there's just enough bite. It's delish.
Then, put some sauce at the bottom of a bowl, put the drained pasta on there, sauce on top, and add some meatballs. Enjoy with some parmesan cheese on top if you want!
Bon Appetit!!
So when making all of this, you have to do it in the right order. It is never acceptable to use jarred sauce. G'ma would flip. [so would Gram in her grave]. It is also never acceptable to use frozen meatballs. You always make your own, homemade, of both. So first, make the sauce so it has time to simmer.
Giant pot with some EVOO on the bottom - some garlic minced on the bottom to brown. [Notice I use no measurements, it's cause I as never taught using measurements. I'll try to make some up for you though...]. Uh, two tablespoons EVOO, about 2 cloves of garlic. Once that's simmering & browning, open two jars of crushed tomatoes and add to the pot. To clean out the jars for recycling, slosh about half a jar of water in each and pour into the pot. Add some salt, pepper, basil (fresh preferred, dried acceptable), and crushed red pepper if you want it spicy. Note: NEVER EVER EVER put oregano in spaghetti sauce. Oregano goes in pizza sauce, not pasta sauce.
Once the sauce is brewin', start making some meatballs! It's best to use meatloaf mix but if your local supermarket doesn't carry it, make your own! I make lots of meatballs cause my hubby likes them for lunch so sorry, but it's gonna be a lot. I eyeball everything but the general rule of thumb is 1 to 1 to 1 to 1 to 1. So, 1 pound of meat, 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese, 1 cup of breadcrumbs, 1 egg, some parsley, some garlic in a bowl. Mix with your hands (spoons just don't have enough love), and form into balls. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, put meatballs on a baking sheet and bake till they're done. Oh right, measurements... uh, about 10 minutes? Then, let them cool for half a second on the pan and put them right into the sauce until you're ready to use them.
Boil water for pasta (any pasta will do) once it's boiling, add some salt and the pasta. Cook till it's al dente - italian for "tooth" - so, till there's just enough bite. It's delish.
Then, put some sauce at the bottom of a bowl, put the drained pasta on there, sauce on top, and add some meatballs. Enjoy with some parmesan cheese on top if you want!
Bon Appetit!!
Hallelu! We're back!
Ok, thank goodness for summer, even though the heat makes me angry. School is out, kitchen is unpacked [finally], and I've had a huge request to make weekly meal plans. So here you go, my first shot at creating "Meals for Megan", a weekly plan. So I went shopping this afternoon for my week of meals. Now, if you decide to make my week of meals too, please look carefully at my recipes too cause some things that I have in my fridge and pantry, you may not. So i'll try to include everything [whether or not I buy it this week] in my shopping list. My goal is to take a page from Rachael Ray and do a whole week of meals for under $100. We'll see if I can do it.
Alright Meg, here you go:
This week I'm trying to recover from our crazy past weekend where we ate our way through two graduations. My brother & hubby's cousin both graduated from high school and we had a great weekend of celebrating and, as any good Italian family does, eating. It was crazy. So we're trying to eat healthier, portion-controlled, and with a variety of proteins. Eat them in whatever order you want, but my week is going to be:
Monday: Spaghetti & Meatballs with Garlic Bread & Cucumber/Tomato Salad
[or i might make baked macaroni in meat sauce... i can't decide]
Tuesday: Asian Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Zucchini and Brown Rice
Wednesday: Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Green Salad
Thursday: Asparagus Risotto with... something... cucumber/tomato salad or i dont know...
Friday: Swordfish steaks with a red pepper sauce with broccoli mashed potatoes
So... I went to our local P&C [which is in the process of changing over to a Tops]. I buy for 4 portions usually because we then use leftovers for lunches. Here's my shopping list with prices as best as I can split up by meal:
Spaghetti & Meatballs with Garlic Bread & Cucumber/Tomato Salad
Texas Toast... 2.19
Ground Pork (1 lb)... 2.91
Ground Beef (1 lb)... 3.69
Eggs 1 doz... 1.19
Kraft Shredded Parm Cheese... 5.59
Cucumbers (2 @ 99cents each)... 1.98
Tomatoes... 1.41 lbs @ 2.49/lb... 3.51
Tomato Paste 1 can... 1.29
Crushed Tomatoes (4 cans for $5)... 5.00 - we'll only use 2 for this, but buy on sale cause i use them all the time
[Spaghetti was already in my pantry...]
...............................total for meal: 27.35
...............................this will make at least 6 portions and you'll have ingredients left over
Asian Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Zucchini and Brown Rice
2 Tenderloins... 10.46
Zucchini [1.46 lbs @ 1.49/lb]... 2.18
Asian spices & Brown Rice I had in my pantry so here's what I'll use that most people have (or should have) in their pantry
Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
Mustard (I use Chinese Mustard)
Siracha Sauce (it's basically chinese hot sauce)
Garlic
Ginger
then a cup of Brown Rice
...............................total for meal:12.64
...............................this will make at least 8 portions - one loin for dinner, one for lunch the next day
Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Green Salad
Chicken Breasts (I buy in bulk so I can freeze some and keep them)
^ this is a huge pack of about 10-12 breasts.... 7.76 (love them sales!)
Packaged Greens... 2.50
I have rolls, condiments, and salad dressing already plus bought tomatoes & cucs for the salad already
...............................total for meal: 10.26
...............................I'll only make two breasts for two sandwiches tonight
Asparagus Risotto
Asparagus... 1.97 lbs @ 3.49/lb .... 6.88
^ I bought more than I really need because I wanted more to use as a veg for other meals
Arborio Rice... 18.00 ish - I bought this before now but this risotto rice is expensivo...
Chicken Stock and spices etc are all in my pantry already
...............................total for meal:24.88
...............................I'll make about 4 portions of this
Swordfish Steaks with Red Pepper Sauce & Broccoli Mashed Potatoes
Ok, so I planned to do broccoli mashed, but no broccoli today so we'll see if I can get more later this week or I'll change my plan. So this isn't a complete list yet, sorry. I'll get it to you as soon as I find the rest of the ingredients!
Alright, time to relax before it's time to make dinner. Maybe even take a nap. Summers are great when you can rest for a bit :)
Happy shopping & I'll be back later to share my secret sauce & meatball recipes :)
Alright Meg, here you go:
This week I'm trying to recover from our crazy past weekend where we ate our way through two graduations. My brother & hubby's cousin both graduated from high school and we had a great weekend of celebrating and, as any good Italian family does, eating. It was crazy. So we're trying to eat healthier, portion-controlled, and with a variety of proteins. Eat them in whatever order you want, but my week is going to be:
Monday: Spaghetti & Meatballs with Garlic Bread & Cucumber/Tomato Salad
[or i might make baked macaroni in meat sauce... i can't decide]
Tuesday: Asian Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Zucchini and Brown Rice
Wednesday: Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Green Salad
Thursday: Asparagus Risotto with... something... cucumber/tomato salad or i dont know...
Friday: Swordfish steaks with a red pepper sauce with broccoli mashed potatoes
So... I went to our local P&C [which is in the process of changing over to a Tops]. I buy for 4 portions usually because we then use leftovers for lunches. Here's my shopping list with prices as best as I can split up by meal:
Spaghetti & Meatballs with Garlic Bread & Cucumber/Tomato Salad
Texas Toast... 2.19
Ground Pork (1 lb)... 2.91
Ground Beef (1 lb)... 3.69
Eggs 1 doz... 1.19
Kraft Shredded Parm Cheese... 5.59
Cucumbers (2 @ 99cents each)... 1.98
Tomatoes... 1.41 lbs @ 2.49/lb... 3.51
Tomato Paste 1 can... 1.29
Crushed Tomatoes (4 cans for $5)... 5.00 - we'll only use 2 for this, but buy on sale cause i use them all the time
[Spaghetti was already in my pantry...]
...............................total for meal: 27.35
...............................this will make at least 6 portions and you'll have ingredients left over
Asian Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Zucchini and Brown Rice
2 Tenderloins... 10.46
Zucchini [1.46 lbs @ 1.49/lb]... 2.18
Asian spices & Brown Rice I had in my pantry so here's what I'll use that most people have (or should have) in their pantry
Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
Mustard (I use Chinese Mustard)
Siracha Sauce (it's basically chinese hot sauce)
Garlic
Ginger
then a cup of Brown Rice
...............................total for meal:12.64
...............................this will make at least 8 portions - one loin for dinner, one for lunch the next day
Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Green Salad
Chicken Breasts (I buy in bulk so I can freeze some and keep them)
^ this is a huge pack of about 10-12 breasts.... 7.76 (love them sales!)
Packaged Greens... 2.50
I have rolls, condiments, and salad dressing already plus bought tomatoes & cucs for the salad already
...............................total for meal: 10.26
...............................I'll only make two breasts for two sandwiches tonight
Asparagus Risotto
Asparagus... 1.97 lbs @ 3.49/lb .... 6.88
^ I bought more than I really need because I wanted more to use as a veg for other meals
Arborio Rice... 18.00 ish - I bought this before now but this risotto rice is expensivo...
Chicken Stock and spices etc are all in my pantry already
...............................total for meal:24.88
...............................I'll make about 4 portions of this
Swordfish Steaks with Red Pepper Sauce & Broccoli Mashed Potatoes
Ok, so I planned to do broccoli mashed, but no broccoli today so we'll see if I can get more later this week or I'll change my plan. So this isn't a complete list yet, sorry. I'll get it to you as soon as I find the rest of the ingredients!
Alright, time to relax before it's time to make dinner. Maybe even take a nap. Summers are great when you can rest for a bit :)
Happy shopping & I'll be back later to share my secret sauce & meatball recipes :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)