Thai Beef Salad

Not my photo, but I swear it looked like this-ish.

Its not very often I host guests at the POD* due to the sheer size limitations...Lets just say, its super cozy with more than two people and an 80 lb dog in the house. 

Last night we hosted my fabulous future sister-in-law and her "best friend".  I saw this tempting recipe on Pinterest, and decided to give it whirl.  I had a picture of our guests enjoying this tasty salad, but accidentally deleted it, so there is no proof that I was successful.

Anyhow, its super easy, healthy and hopefully great for leftovers.

Here is what you'll need:

Ingredients

1/2 C fresh lime juice (approx. 5 limes)
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbspThai fish sauce (Asian Foods section)
2 tbsp chile paste with garlic
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (1 1/2-pound) flank steak
2-3 roma tomatoes

1/2 red onion sliced thin

2 heads of romain lettuce

1 1/4 C thinly sliced English cucumber

2 tbsp chopped fresh mint

 

Step 1: Marinade meat: mix first six ingredients together and poor half of the mixture into a plastic resealable bag with the steak.  Set other half aside for dressing later.  I marinade my meat overnight, but an hour in the fridge will do just fine.

 

Step 2: Chop lettuce, onion, tomato and cucumber. Toss lightly in large bowl. Set aside.

 

Step 3: BBQ meat (or grill pan on stove top) for about six minutes on each side.  Once cooked to your desire, set aside for at least five minutes to rest.  Biggest mistake in cooking meat it not allowing it to rest! I have learned this the hard way on many occasions. Once well rested, slice meat against the grain into thin pieces.

 

Step 4:  Add about a tbsp of olive oil to the remaining marinade and whisk together.  Drizzle over salad and toss lightly.  Place a handful or two of the salad on a plate, lay meat slices on top, and garnish with a lime wedge.  I added avocado to our salads as well, which turned out to be a nice complement to the heated dressing.

 

ENJOY!

 

*Running Joke: POD = Place of Death.  We live in a very small condo we may never be able to leave :)

"Wedding Hair"

Why do all brides feel it necessary to have long hair for their wedding day?  I don't really know... but I've become one of them.  The embarrassingly extensive period of time I have gone without cutting my hair is actually two-fold: a) I would like to have long pretty hair on my wedding day as stated above and b) I have very curly hair that I would like to actually wear curly due to the simple fact that is takes half the time to style and I'm all about ease these days.  Sometimes I wish I was an adult in the 80's... my hair would have been all the rage.

Since I'm no Jennifer Aniston, my hair doesn't magically jump to a different length category overnight. So, I did a little research and discovered these:

According to my Bing research, vitamins like these containing L-Cysteine and others, can promote hair growth perhaps a little quicker than mother nature can.  Since they appear to be all natural, I'm willing to take them and see what happens.  Today was my first day and so far Ive had no adverse reactions.  Stay tuned.

You can pick up these up for $17.99 for 120 tablets at any Super Supplements or online.

Happy Hair Growing!

Scarves, Scarves, Scarves!

My favorite accessory HANDS DOWN, is a scarf.  My lovely mother has always worn scarves, so naturally, I adopted her timeless fashion sense (see below circa 2008 - this was unplanned!!!).

I love me some scarves because...

1. You can wear them ALL YEAR LONG

2. So many different styles/types/lengths/textures/patterns

3. Countless ways to wear them per below

4. They can add a little "fancy" to a plain white tee and a pair of your fav jeans

5. They go with anything and everything

6. Multipurpose including, but not limited to: hiding a hickey, warmth, stylish broken arm sling, baby carrier, head band, belt, cover up... I could on

7. They are CHEAP.You can get pashminas at the airport in any color for under $20

8. Great gifts

9. Easy to hand make with any fabric

10. They will never go out of style, ever

Hopefully you've been scarf inspired!

Pork Chops and Apple-shauce

Another winner from Pinterest, I would recommend this for a quick and healthy weeknight dinner!

Ingredients4 pork chops (1.5 - 2.0 inches thick)
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 med yellow onion, sliced
1 granny smith apple, sliced
2 Tbsp salt free butter 
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp chicken or vegetable bouillon +1 C water

Heat a splash of oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. While the skillet is heating, season pork chops with salt and freshly ground black pepper and place season side down into the pan; season other side.

Let the chops cook undisturbed for 5-7 minutes or until the bottoms form a nice brown crust. If they are sticking to the pan, that means they have not formed a crust yet. They will "let go" once the crust forms. Flip the chops and cook the other side for another 5-7 minutes or so.
Once the chops have seared on both sides, remove them from the pan and place on a plate; cover with foil. Add the apples, onion and butter into the pan. Stir and cook for about five minutes or until the apples and onions begin to soften.

Next, add the bouillon + water, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to the skillet with the apples and onions. Stir until everything is mixed together then return the chops to the pan. Nestle the chops down in the mixture, making sure some onions and apples are on top of the chops. Then simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by half. Stir occasionally, moving the apples and onions around so they all have a chance to simmer and soften.

Serve each chop with apples, onions and sauce spooned over top.

I made these with some blanched french green beans tossed in a lemon mustard vinaigrette - whisk 2 Tblsp of lemon juice with 2 tsp ground mustard and 1/3 C of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

*Not my pic below, but they looked just like this :)

Dorothy Perkins

I recently discovered a new online shopping source...via Pinterest (of course)... a week later, my goodies arrived in this nicely packaged...package! 

Check out this adorable site now! 

I swear, the UK has all the best stuff...and pretty reasonably priced too.

Happy Spring Shopping!

Weekend Eats

I am going to attempt to recreate a recipe or two from Pinterest at least once a week! 

I am a lover of anything that you may find at a French bistro, so thought I would give this one a try...

Ham & Cheese Turnover

  I also plan to try this sustenance-rich looking shake before my run on Sunday!

Oatmeal Banana Shake

And finally, I get to taste some potential menu items for Forever Young on Saturday, by this amazing local Chef.  Can. Not. Wait.

Happy Birthday Mr. Presidents!

Mason Jars...

I kinda love these guys... I have about 100 of them chillin' in my storage, waiting to be filled with beautiful things this coming May...

I am very excited to repourpose them thereafter, and have been collecting ideas along the way to do so. Here is one, that I just love, and would be so perfect for the barn I dream about having some day, located on my dream property, just outside of my dream home, somewhere in dreamsville. Some day perhaps...