Bulgogi (Korean BBQ)

When making dinner I have to take into consideration my picky eater and my "I'll eat anything" eater. 
Luckily, I have found a dinner plan that works for us. See as the head chef of my kitchen, the ruler of the home roost....ok not a ruler, more like a...as my husband says "An admiral running her ship."
No I don't make them swab the deck, but it would be fun to try. ;-)

So when it comes to dinner I, as the head chef, decide WHAT we eat, WHERE we eat(dining room table) and WHEN we eat (dinner time is 6pm).

My picky eater decides WHETHER she eats. There is no fighting at the table to get to her to eat, but there is NO desserts. 

Anywho, that is a whole other topic. Tonights topic is on "What's for Dinner?"

Answer to that ::: Bulgogi or Korean BBQ

 Bulgogi is my all time favorite Asian dish (fried rice is right behind it). Being my all time favorite its also one that I have always wanted to make, so tonight I did.

Here is all you will need. 

For the Meat:

Beef sirloin, cut thinly, (I used roughly 1.75 pounds of sirloin)
1 cup onion, sliced
1/2 cup carrot, sliced

For the Marinade:

6 tbsps soy sauce
3 tbsps sugar
3 tbsps Asian pear juice
3 tbsps water
3 tbsps green onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 tbsp garlic, minced
1 pinch ground ginger
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp sesame oil 


It seems like a lot for a marinade but it smells delicious and totally worth the extras on the shopping list. ;-)

Here is what you do.

In a bowl combine your sauce ingredients together with a wisk. Then add your thinly sliced meat and your sliced vegetables together. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge for atleast 6 hours (or overnight).

Cook on medium-high heat until beef is completely cooked through.

Then you enjoy. 

 

 

 

Sausage and Cheese Tortellini

My picky eater HATES anything with tomato sauce, so in a way I tried to tease her with this crock pot meal.
Yes, it has tomatoes. Sorta, its hidden with the cream cheese. It turns to look more like a vodka sauce, but much tastier.


Since the Navy made our home for three years the state of Texas we have been grilling out and enjoying the warm sunshine..YES! Warm in late October and early November. It was an adjustment for me, but I am sure loving it!

I made this meal on the day that a nice COLD front decided to make its way down to our area. Which was an amazing thing cause a nice warm pasta dish is always nice on a day when the weather draws cold.


The ingredient list is simple. :) 

32oz of chicken broth
1 pkg tortellini (I used frozen tortellini. I had those in my freezer)
1 lb Italian Sausage
2 cans of diced tomatoes (basil, oregano, and garlic)
8oz of cream cheese, cubed

 

Directions:

 

Brown and crumble your Italian sausage. 

Add sausage and tortellini to the crockpot. Pour in the diced tomatoes (liquid and all) then pour in the chicken broth. Add the cubes of cream cheese. Stir to evenly distribute and cover the tortellini mixture. Cook on LOW for 4.5 hours, stirring at 2 hours and a 4 hours. Remove the lid for the final half hour. 

 

Enjoy the meal with some yummy garlic bread or breadsticks. 

Happy Cooking :) 

 

 

Smothered Pork Chops

Tonight I had a craving for pork chops and lucky me, I bought some yesterday when I was running my errands....AND I was completely shocked that I haven't made pork chops in 9 years. My kiddo has had pulled pork and pork roast but never pork chops and tonight was the night to put an end to that nonsense.


Ingredients:::

3 to 4 pork chops
1/2 cup flour
4 tbsp. butter, divided
1 onion, diced or sliced (whichever your prefer)
8oz of mushrooms ( I cheat sometimes and buy the already sliced mushrooms)
1 to 2 orange bell peppers
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup cooking sherry, divided

 

 

Dredge the pork chops in the flour ( if you want to season your flour go right ahead, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.)

 

In a large skillet melt 2 tablespoons butter, then add your pork chops and fry up for 10 minutes, 5 on each side on med-high heat. Then remove the pork chops from the skillet add remaining butter, onion, mushrooms and bell peppers, and 1/4 cup cooking sherry. Sautee for about 8 to 10 minutes.

 

Once the mushrooms and peppers have softened add your chicken broth and remaining cooking sherry. Mix well. The smell is rather intoxicating. Place your pork chops back in the skillet.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

Cover your skillet and continue cooking on med-low heat for 30 to 40 minutes.

 

Serve with your favorite side, but I think mashed potatoes goes ahhhmazing with smothered pork chops.

 

 

 

 

Now, that looks good enough to eat....and it is. :)

 

Happy pork chopping. Enjoy :) :)



Strawberry Cake Donuts

Its funny today is my wedding anniversary and one of the things my husband would always do on our anniversary is go buy some donuts and bring me back a HUGE Starbucks coffee....that's love right there :) So, since he's deployed right now, I decided to continue the tradition and have donuts this morning, who doesn't like donuts?

I have tried different ways to make donuts, but my favorite is to use a box of cake mix, because Sunday mornings, even I can be a little lazy ;-)

This morning with the help of my chef/baker in training we made strawberry glazed donuts.

Its an simple and easy recipe, that my 9 year old loves, because she gets to do almost all the work...what a way to bake, right?

Cooling after baking.

Ingredients:::

1 cup milk
1 stick of butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 box of cake mix ( we used Pillsbury Strawberry)


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a donut pan and set aside. In a large bowl, beat your eggs, milk and melted butter. Add the cake mix. Stir until moist, don't over mix the donuts will become harder.

Spoon the cake mixture into the donut pan and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. I baked mine for 12 because my oven runs a little hot.

The glaze we made for the donuts are really simple too.

1/2 cup powdered sugar/confectioner's sugar
1 to 2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Add all ingredients into a bowl and whisk together.


Now, after we had baked the donuts, let them cool so we could dredge the donuts in the glaze my little baker decided to decorate with sprinkles. Feel free to add your own flare. They are, after all, your donuts.

The finished product.

Tot Topped Cassrole

If you are anything like me you like an easy weekend night meal...and casseroles are my go to meals for the weekend. This weekend I switched up our normal Tater Tot Casserole, which is a hit with my picky eater. 

Ingredients :::

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (I used ground elk, but hamburger works just fine) 

1/2 onion finely chopped

1cup BBQ sauce

1 can corn (not creamed corn)

1 can cheese soup

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 bag tater tots

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Then you're going to brown your meat with the onion in a large skillet over medium high heat. Once your meat is fully cooked through add the BBQ sauce, cheese soup and can of corn to the meat stir it all together and let it heat through, roughly 2 to 3 minutes. 

Place the meat mixture in a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle the cheese onto the mixture then layer the tater tots and bake for 50 to 60 minutes until the tots are brown and cooked through. 

Let it set for 5 minutes then enjoy the easy peasy lemon squeezey meal.

I love casseroles since they're easy and filling and almost a comfort food. Let me know if you like it and I'd love to hear the changes you make to it. 

Chicken Doggie Treats

I like to spoil my furkid, Harley. So I make a lot of dog treats at home, its fun when the kiddo helps out and its even more special when the dog likes the treats you make her...I think its the love that goes in to the biscuit.

She normally doesn't get a lot of chicken treats so this time I decided to do something different and make her some chicken flavored doggie biscuits.

Here is what you'll need.

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth

Add all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix until well blended. It doesn't take too long

I used metal dog bone cookie cutters (you can find them on Amazon) on a baking sheet in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

Place on a cooling rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Store in the fridge in an air tight container.

The will be softer than store bought biscuits, but your dog will still love them.

 

 

 

 

Also, if you like the crunchy dog treats. Once the biscuits are done baking you can dry them out a bit by placing all your baked biscuits on a baking sheet and placing them in the oven at 350 degrees and turn off the oven. Leave in the cooling oven 4 to 6 hours to dry out.

 

Enjoy.

Chicken Fried Steak with Smokey Spaetzle

Normally on soccer practice nights we have quick meals since practice starts before dinner and ends after our normal dinner time, but tonight was an exception to that rule. Tonight the kiddo wanted chicken fried steak and she was lucky that I happened to have some cube steak on hand.

OK, here's what you'll need
 

2 to 3 cube steaks. ( I get the pack of 2 when the hubby is deployed)
1/2 cup flour
2 tbsp. Grill Mates Sweet and Smokey Rub
1 tsp. ground chipotle chile
pepper to taste ( I love pepper so my flour mixture gets A LOT!)
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk

Beat the milk and eggs together in a shallow dish.

On a large plate whisk together the flour, the rub, the ground chile, and pepper.

Dredge the cube steak in the flour, then in the egg, then back in the flour mixture. Continue with the remaining cube steaks.

In a large pan heat up vegetable oil to 350 degrees.

Once the oil is hot. Place a floured steak in the oil and cook for 3 to 4 minutes then flip. Continue with remaining steaks. Drain the steaks on a paper towel lined plate until ready to serve.



Spaetzle is a German dumpling and boy does my kiddo love it...almost as much as she loves Mac and Cheese.

For the spaetzle I used a bag of dried spaetzle from the store. I haven't built up the courage to try to make my own (I'm not German, so I might muck it up)

You'll need

1 bag of dried spaetzle
1/2 stick of butter
2 tbsp. Grill Mates Sweet and Smokey rub

Cook the spaetzle according to the package directions. Drain the water from the spaetzle, return to the pan.

Add the butter and the rub. Stir until the butter is melted.
Voila! Dinner is done.

Normally, we do have gravy with the chicken fried steak and we normally have mashed potatoes, but my 8 year old was freaking hungry after soccer so I had to make dinner as fast as I could.

If you try the spaetzle, let me know how you like it. :)