Archive | June, 2013
its-a-hit

Ginger-Lime Grilled Beef Salad

Today is my wedding anniversary and what better way to celebrate and praise 14 years of wedded bliss than with a perfect and delicious recipe?! This is special tribute to my husband who is a grill master (you are awesome, Honey!) and he will grill anything I ask him to!! I love that we are such a perfect couple for this: I love to cook and deliver up great recipes, he loves to grill them…:)

Summer is perfect for grilling and for salads…and when you have a recipe that combines the two, you have the perfect summertime dinner!

We love this recipe at our house. In fact, whenever my son comes home from college, he requests it! It is easy to make and nice and light for summer. It’s a fast recipe too…just marinate the meat in the morning, then grill it up for dinner! I can’t even begin to tell you how flavorful and delicious this recipe is, you’re just going to have to try it yourself. 🙂

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To make the marinade, use some simple ingredients. I always keep these ingredients on hand so I can whip this up at (almost) any time!

the-ingredients

Less Sodium Soy Sauce, Chili-Garlic sauce, ginger root, lime juice, and a little brown sugar (not pictured). Those ice cubes in front are actually frozen lime juice…if I can’t use my limes up in time, I just squeeze them and freeze the juice. And did you know that you can freeze ginger root?! It’s true…I’ve had this ginger root in my freezer for a few months and it’s still delicious and fresh tasting in this marinade! (see the full recipe below)

Just mix together all these ingredients, then reserve some aside to use later as your salad dressing. Pour the rest into a resealable bag with the meat and add a little extra lime juice. Then make sure to coat all your meat and store it in the refrigerator until ready to grill. I found that if you marinate for four hours or longer, the taste is SO much better. So make sure to stir this up for marinating earlier in the day.

You can use either Flank Steak or London Broil for this recipe. I’ve tried both and we all seem to like the Flank Steak the best. I will be experimenting with other cuts of meat, I’m sure and I’ll report back. 🙂 Now just grill up the meat:

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(Here’s the picture to prove it: My husband is the best at grilling…Happy Anniversary, Honey!)
And while that is on the grill, get your salad ready:

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I like to use the organic salad mix from Costco. It has spinach and arugula, but sometimes I just make a simple romaine bed of lettuce for this recipe. It’s always just delicious! I will add tomatoes or green pepper from the garden, and sometimes I shred up a carrot to add, too. Mmmmm….

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Let the meat rest for a few minutes before you slice it thinly. This allows the meat to retain more of it’s juiciness! Since everyone at my house likes their salad different, I will put the additions on the side so it’s more like a salad bar…then you can build your own salad and top it off with a bit of the grilled meat. Add a little (believe me, this is flavorful stuff so you only need a little!) of the reserved dressing and enjoy!

{The recipe suggests that you add all the ingredients together and combine with the reserved salad dressing, but at my house everyone likes different amounts of the dressing (or none at all) and so I just let everyone make their own plate.}

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See, it’s a hit! No leftovers!

*Recipe here

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Try this recipe and until next time, have a delicious summer!

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sending-happy-thoughts

Sending Happy Thoughts

It’s time to send a card to someone very special. (Hey, Sis, if you are reading this..don’t look! It’s on its way up to you)!
And I had a great time figuring out how to “Send Happy Thoughts” with my card.

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I love this glitter paper that I used for the backing, and it just happened to match my embossing powder I used on the word “Happy” almost perfectly! I cut circles out to serve as balloons and drew on the string…”attaching” it to HAPPY. So THIS is how you transport a little bit of happy. 🙂  After I finished this card, I decided to add a little shine to the balloons with Glossy Accents.

Sending a few Happy Thoughts your way, too!

{Linking up to Simon Says Stamp Transport challenge!}

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6-13-relationships-fabric-of-our-lives

Dose of Sunshine Monday – We are here for each other

Hello to a fresh new Monday! This week is going to be a great one.

I’d like to share gratitude for people in my life who have been there for me. I really believe that we are here to help each other. To mourn with those who mourn, and comfort those who need comforting; to help through hard times, and encourage and motivate. Sometimes the work of God is done through people here on Earth (for that I am grateful).

I sometimes start my week off by asking, who can I help this week? What can I do? Who needs a little sunshine or a smile? And usually I just know. One of my favorite things to do is help someone to smile.

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So dear reader, thank you for your encouragement, your kind comments, your support in my efforts to bring sunshine to you in my little space of the blog-o-sphere.

What can you do this week to inspire a smile? This week, be kind to others and to yourself. 🙂

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doritos-pict

Taste Test Tuesday — Chips for dipping

It’s Taste Test Tuesday! I love this day. And today I am reporting on our taste test for TORTILLA CHIPS.

tortilla-chips-taste-test

Here are the Tortilla Chip Contestants:

1) Santitas
2) Food Club
3) Doritos
4) Mission
5) Tostitos

This was a “blind” taste test. I numbered the bowls for each brand of chips #1-5. Then all the judges took one (or more) of the chips in each numbered bowl.

When I first tried all the chips, I liked them all. But we had some judges who are true “chip conneseuirs” and took this taste test VERY seriously. You may be just like me and not really care about a dipping chip…but many judges INSISTED that there is a big difference in chips and that you’ll be much happier with a truly delicious chip.

In fact, my sister and brother-in-law had already done some chip research for me and told me to make sure to include a couple brands of chips in this particular taste test. (Thanks Wendi & Kevin!)

We started out just trying the chips alone, then added homemade salsa to the mix. And most of the judges agreed on the TOP TWO chips. Care to make any guesses?

Here are the WINNERS:

first-and-second-place-winners

First, Santitas and
Second, Tostitos!

Interestingly enough, these two chips are very similar AND they are both made by Frito-Lay in Texas!  I was actually happy to learn that Santitas chips are very similar to Tostitos, but they cost much less (see the bag: $2 only!)
(Note: Doritos are also made by Frito-Lay, but they are only available in a yellow corn chip; Most judges liked the white corn chips better).

doritos-pict

I always like to include a generic brand (ie: inexpensive) for each taste test. In this case, our generic brand did not fare so well.
Last place: Food Club & Mission. Judges reported that Food Club chips were “bland” and “boring.” They reported that Mission chips were “too thick” and “too crunchy/tough.”

{A BIG thanks to all the judges for this taste test!}

So, dear readers, let me know what are YOUR favorite tortilla chips. And comment if you have any suggestions for future taste tests you’d like to see.

Until next time…

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i-ruff-you-inside

“I ruff you” Card

If you know me at all, you know that I make mostly “girly” gifts, packages, tea parties, cards, etc. I LOVE all things ribbon and lace, pink and curly. So when it comes to making more “manly” things, I have challenges!

My nephew had a birthday recently (he just turned 8), and he came down for a visit. I knew this was my opportunity to make something that he would like. I know that he loves dogs and so I got the most adorable doggie stamp set from Lawn Fawn to try out! Here’s the card I made for Porter:

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and here’s the inside:

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I tried some “masking” by cutting out a cloud from white paper and sticking it temporarily on the card front, then I used some distress ink on a cotton ball to rub on the sky color around those clouds. When I removed the cloud masks, I was left with a beautifully calm sky with the clouds left white!

I think this card turned out adorable (and not too girly). What do you think?

So guess who’s going to be using this set to make a nice Father’s Day card?! I think my Dad will smile.
Linking up to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge.

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