Thai Beef Curry and Unforgettable Meals

Cooking for my family can be a challenge.

My daughter and husband?

Meat and potatoes all the way.

My son?

Oh wow.  He's pretty much the pickiest eater on the face of the planet and there are almost no meals I can make for the rest of the family that he will eat along with us.

Then there's me.

I was a vegetarian for six or-so years.  I eat meat now...in very, very small quantities.

I like weird foods.  Or last least a variety of ethnic foods and more "new American" fare.

If it's different and full of flavor I'm drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

Beef and Bean Chimichangas and Successful Dinners

Mexican food tends to be a go-to in our home.

First of all, there's a good chance we have all of the ingredients on hand- canned beans I can doctor, rice, tortillas, beef or chicken in the freezer, etc.

At the very least, I've always got the basics, which makes for a quick and easy dinner when I'm drawing a blank at the end of the day.

Recently, I was having one of those moments where the day was coming to a close and I simply had no idea what I was going to throw together for dinner.  I could have just thrown all of the ingredients on the counter and proclaimed it taco night, but I felt like making something new.  It was then that I came across this recipe for Beef and Bean Chimichangas and decided to give it a go.

Now...this recipe is supposed to be somewhat healthy.  Healthy...ish?

However, despite my best intentions, I ended up frying dinner.

Must Make Marinades and Summer Meals

Generally when we grill at our house we keep the meat fairly basic: Santa Maria style tri-tip, pork loin, link sausage.  Nothing too weird.  The meat is really for my family anyway so I tend to spare it from my ceaseless attempts at new recipes and just leave it the way I know they like it.  I get to play with the sides, and that's usually enough for me.

Sometimes, though...I like to mix it up.

When I told my husband about the marinades I had our meats soaking in the other day I was fully prepared to get a little push-back.

But I didn't.  Unexpected, but nice!

In addition to that delicious Chicken Club Pasta Salad, I marinated Grilled Chicken with Spicy Mango Glaze (more on that soon!) and this Scrumptious Korean Steak.

Chicken Fried Steak and Weird Diets

When I was eighteen my best friend and I moved out together.

We got a cheap apartment in a sketchy area of a sketchy little sleepy town ten minutes north of our hometown.

We were the first of our friends to move out and have adult responsibilities, though with the perspective of age I look back at those years and shake my head at the idea that I was anything close to an actual adult at that point in my life.

That period of the post-high school version of playing house left me with some amazing memories, not the least of which involved our friends surfing our inflatable couch down the apartment stairs.

Our poor neighbors!

Anyway, one thing that our apartment was never, ever without was a package of chicken fried steak in the freezer.

No, not for me.  I can appreciate the flavor but I'm not really a meat-and-potatoes type.

But my best friend was.

Oh my gosh was she.

Sweet-and-Sour Meatballs and Unhealthy Obsessions

I've mentioned before that I have a certain penchant for the less-than-gourmet inventory of a Chinese buffet.  I can't help it- load me up with a variety of dishes coated with several different thick, sweet, and savory sauces and I'm a happy girl.

I can't be trusted in the face of sesame chicken, orange chicken, General Tso's chicken, whatever chicken, or any of those fried tasty bites (I'm looking at you Crab Rangoon...)  with an *ahem* generous serving of sweet-and-sour sauce.

Seriously.  I have problems and I know it.  :-)

The other day I was craving something in that vein when I came across this recipe for Sweet-and-Sour Meatballs.  I already had all of the ingredients on hand (always a plus) and they seemed like the perfect topping for the fairly ridiculous amount of basmati rice I'd made the night before.

Happy New Year and Trying New Things

Happy New Year!

We had our fun early last night with rounds of Beanboozled and lots of laughter on a chilly evening.  My daughter's friend spent the night, and in true pre-teen fashion they huddled away together upstairs, laughter spilling from her room for hours.  My younger one stayed downstairs with us, an uncontainable ball of energy zooming around the house as he anticipated the coming of the new year.  Though I'd already made an early dinner, as the night wore on I decided to order a pizza for the kids and as it arrived we'd just bundled up and headed outside so they could (briefly) frolic in a short-lived flurry of snow.

The young pizza guy took in the joyful, frenetic scene and just laughed as I met him at his car.

It's about the little moments, though, right?

Carne Asada Enchiladas & Happy Families

It can be hard to please all of my family at the same time.

Me?
I tend to like the- as my husband calls them- "frou frou" foods.
While sometimes our tastes overlap in that category, generally my daughter steers clear.

My husband and daughter?
Meat.
They could easily be carnivores and be perfectly happy.
I've mentioned over and over again that I can really take or leave meat for the most part, so meat-heavy meals definitely aren't going to make me happy.

My son.
Oooooh my son.
We've talked about him.  The autism and sensory issues that carry over so significantly and frustratingly to his eating habits.  He'd be happy with chicken nuggets (sans sauce) and pizza for every meal for the rest of his life.

So.  Menu planning and meal times can be quite challenging!  To be honest, for your average weeknight meal I often plan around the carnivores, go to the old stand-by's for my son, and just graze a bit myself since I'm rarely desirous of a big heavy meal anyway.

One Pot Spanish Style Beef & Rice

Do you know what I don't like?

Dishes.

I have a tendency to use every utensil and dish I own when I cook, and I get so tired of dealing with dishes!  Rinsing them, loading the dishwasher, hand washing, unloading the dishwasher, drying, putting them away...whatever.

There just isn't anything fun at all about dishes, amiright?

Thankfully this dish uses exactly one.

Best Beef Enchiladas

Honestly, I haven't tried a lot of enchilada recipes.

I grew up eating my mom's cheese enchiladas and they have always been one of my favorite dishes.

Why mess with a good thing, right?

Well, we had company coming over for dinner a few weeks ago and I found myself looking for a recipe that would help me use up some of the ground beef in the freezer.  I did an ingredient search and came across a recipe for beef enchiladas.

I had most of the ingredients already and everything I needed for a couple of Mexican side dishes, so I went for it.

The first thing I loved about these enchiladas was that there is ZERO mess.  I'm used to making enchiladas where the tortillas are dipped in warm sauce before rolling.  I scald my fingers and make a big splattery mess every. single. time.

Puffy Cheeseburgers, Tasty Game Day Food

It's no secret that game day foods are one of my favorite things in the world to make.

They're always just so much fun!

Truth be told, fun foods and the chance to cook were definitely a catalyst for me when it came to actually enjoying- and even looking forward to- watching football.

 When I shared with you the BBQ Beef Cups last month I promised that it was just the beginning of a long football season full of fun foods and I'm back with another great game day recipe!

I was recently given the opportunity to work with Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Sheets® to create a dish that you guys would love and I knew immediately what I needed to make...

Cheeseburger Rolls.

Or as my daughter has decided they should be called- Puffy Cheeseburgers.

BBQ Beef Cups and Football Season

Drumroll please...today I bring to you THE FIRST FUN RECIPE OF FOOTBALL SEASON!

Woohoo!  Game day food!

Good night, what has happened to me over the past few years?  When I did I actually start to care about and look forward to football rather than simply suffering through it next to my husband?

I don't know exactly how all of this transpired...but it has.

And here I sit- actually eagerly anticipating the Seahawks/Cowboys preseason game this week.

What.  Is.  Wrong with me.

Dunno.

Do you know what I do know?

Football food is fun and you and I?  We have several months more of fun game day foods to go.

Beef Stew and Grandma's Cooking

So in my last post I made mention of my Grandma Martin and her cooking skills.

She had quite a repertoire- none of it fancy, all of it freaking delicious.

One thing that really sticks out in my memory- in addition to her pizza, goulash, butter noodles, and can of McCormick MSG hanging out on the windowsill in the kitchen- is her beef stew.

I LOVE beef stew.

So much so that when I was a vegetarian for 5 or 6 years there in high school and slightly afterward I asked my mom to make me a separate batch of beefless stew when she would make it.  FYI that's called potatoes and carrots.

But whatever.

Sloppy Joes and Childhood Memories

For almost 30 years Sloppy Joes have been forever entwined in my memory with Grandma Martin.

Not my Grandma Martin, though I did have my own one of those who did some rather amazing cooking of her own, but rather my childhood friend Molly's Grandma Martin- we each had one.

 I always thought that was kind of neat.  :-)

The first time I remember ever eating a Sloppy Joe was at Molly's house.  Her parents were out and her Grandma Martin was babysitting.  She was so full of life and such a fun lady to have around.

Also, I LOVED her Sloppy Joes.  Love at first bite.

The next time I stayed for dinner when her grandma was there she made sloppy joes again- and I loved them just as much.  I don't know if this was a regular thing, or if she just happened to make those sloppy joes twice and I was there both times.  It doesn't really matter.  Forever more I will think fondly of those nights with the Other Grandma Martin and her sloppy joes.

Cheesy Beef and Bean Bake: Sometimes Good Food Is Ugly

I'm just going to throw my cards on the table from the start and say this is one ugly meal.  It's also not something I would normally have thought to try.  On the surface it just doesn't sound all that good.

But it is.  It's actually very good.

 You see, one day last week I was extremely busy with popcorn orders.  I didn't have time to run to the store, I didn't have time to defrost the whole chicken I had in the freezer, I didn't have time- or energy- for much of anything.  What I did have was leftover mashed potatoes- you know, the same recipe I wrote about a few days ago.  So I searched for recipes that used mashed potatoes as an ingredient.

Big Mac Salad

I used to be a manager at McDonald's, many many years ago.  It was for three years, pre-Air Force, the last couple of years of high school and shortly after.  It was years before I would eat there again, and honestly I rarely go there to this day unless the kids want to visit Playland.  It was...an experience.  I have witnessed people get so angry over believing they had been overcharged by a dime that they felt it necessary to hurl a Super Size Coke at a fellow human being.  I have cleaned grease traps.  I have seen what's lurking in the ball pit (side note: my kids aren't allowed in ball pits...).

Anyway, while I almost never actually eat at McDonald's there are a couple of things that I really crave sometimes- namely Mac Sauce and McChickens.
Don't judge me for loving those hot little cheap chicken sandwiches please.  :-)

For some reason we were not allowed to give people a side of Mac sauce when they asked for it.  The only reason I was ever given was that the health department wouldn't allow it- which is not a response hungry customers really enjoy receiving when they just want some sauce in which to dip their fries.  Here's a silly answer from McD's itself as to why they won't serve it on the side.  Anyway, regardless of the reason, we deprived lots and lots of hungry throngs their favorite dipping sauce for those hot, salty fries.

Delicious Cheeseburger Egg Rolls

I went through a (pretty great) phase where I was really into having lots of appetizers and snacks made up and frozen.  Things like Southwestern Eggrolls, wontons, pierogis...I had an awesome collection going in that freezer!  I would triple or quadruple whatever recipe I was making, lay the extras flat on wax paper in the freezer, and then transfer them to a freezer bag for storage.  

Remind me why I haven't done this in awhile...?

Anyway, lots of those little bites used wonton and egg roll wrappers and I have tons of them in my freezer I've been trying to work through lately.  

No seriously.  Like 20 packages or something crazy like that- my husband noticed them recently while digging for something in the basement freezer and mentioned that we should do something about them.

So do something I did :-)

Easy Slider-Style Mini Burgers

My daughter likes for me to make "normal" foods when her friends come over for dinner.

Pizza.  Corn dogs.  Maybe tacos.

She's reaching that stage where the smallest thing embarrasses her and God-forbid I make a casserole or something for her friends.

I get it.  Totally.  I remember being terribly embarrassed by the most benign things my mom did when I was a kid, and I can absolutely suck it up and make something kid-friendly and less-than-healthy when she occasionally has company over for dinner :-)

Anyway, she had a friend over recently and I was out of ideas.  I wanted something cheap and easy and I came up blank trying to think of some basic kid-friendly food for them- so of course I turned to the internet.

Fajita Stuffed Jalapeños

You may have picked up on this already, but I'm a bit of a fan of food.  And eating.  And excuses to eat.  I'm really a fan of eating food that doesn't make me feel guilty stuffing my face.

My favorite excuse of late?  Football.

That's right.  Football.

Football is an amazing excuse to make delicious, snackable foods.

And I've made a lot of them lately :-)

While they aren't all low carb, there's a certain joy I get in making a yummy snack that we can all enjoy, regardless of dietary preferences.

These Fajita Stuffed Jalapeños fit the bill perfectly- they're delicious and low carb too!

Zucchini Ranch Meatloaf and Bountiful Gardens

So you're still drowning in zucchini, you say?

Still overwhelmed by the sheer volume of ginormous specimens your plant has produced?

Missed out on "Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch Night"?  Didn't know that was a thing?

Well, judging from the sheer volume of you that have been checking out the zucchini recipes on the blog lately, I'd say there's a good chance you're suffering from whatdoidowithallofthiszucchiniitis- and thankfully I've got you covered!

Just to recap (and help you out with your zucchini issues!) I've written about...

Asian Zucchini and Chicken Burgers

Easy Zucchini Banana Bread

Zucchini Patties

Amazing Muffin Cups with Zucchini Crust

and Zucchini Scallion Frittata Cups

Marvelous Meatballs (and My Secret Ingredient!!)

I've always enjoyed meatloaf, and I have fond memories of my grandmother's version- unfortunately, despite many attempts, I'd never really been able to make it very well.  The taste was merely acceptable, the texture subpar.  

Until last Fall, that is, when I discovered The Trick.  I was following a meatloaf recipe that called for pork sausage, an ingredient I'd never thought to include, and it was wonderful.  The texture perfect, the flavor outstanding.  I will never, ever make meatloaf without it again!

The best part?  I use the cheap stuff.  No joke, the tube of sausage that's $1.50/lb.  The stuff that's a little fattier than the expensive stuff and you really wouldn't want to fry up as patties for breakfast.

Super cheap- and for some reason PERFECT when combined with pretty much any other ground meat.  In fact, I think I oddly prefer meatloaf made with that cheap pork sausage and ground chicken to ground beef!  Weird, right?  I know.