Teriyaki Flank Steak

This is some awesome steak right here!  A long time ago, I had this steak at a friend's house and I've been making it ever since.

This is super easy.  Just buy a nice piece of flank steak.  Ours served four, so we got two meals out of it.  The second day, I made fajitas with the leftovers.

I let my flank steak thaw for about an hour and then put it in a plastic ZipLock bag.  I then poured a little over half of a cup of teriyaki sauce in the bag.  I laid the bag flat on the counter and left it there for around three hours.  If your steak is already thawed, you can just marinate it in the refrigerator.

Now for the grilling.  When your grill has warmed up, turn the heat to about half way down.  Grill the steak for 10 minutes on each side for a total of 20 minutes.  It doesn't take long.  If you like yours a little more well done, go for 12 minutes on each side.

After grilling, let the steak rest for about five minutes before cutting into it.  This will allow the juices to stay in the meat and not on the plate.  Slice across the grain, salt, pepper, and your ready.  This made a great meal with some veg and pasta.  Enjoy!

Good Old Chicken Noodle Soup

I hope this picture makes you want soup because there is nothing better than a warm bowl of homemade chicken soup.  The glistening fat droplets beckon you from the bowl as the little noodles of love swim around the....Oh, excuse me.  Was having a moment there.

I cooked a whole chicken the other day and decided to save the carcass and extra meat for soup.  My mother-in-law has always made the best chicken soup.  I could never figure out how she got her broth so clear.  She told me she strains it.  So, I would strain my broth.  Still, not so clear broth.

I asked her again recently and found out she had left out a very important process to her clear broth.  She puts the chicken broth in the frig over night and skims off the top of the broth.  So, I did this with the batch of broth and it came out great.

I boiled the carcass for about 45 minutes along with the leftover broth.   Chopped up half an onion, two carrots, and two ribs of celery.  When the broth was ready, I discarded the carcass and strained the broth twice.  I reheated the broth and brought it to a boil adding the vegetables.
Meanwhile, I took the leftover meat off the bones and cut it up in small pieces.  I boiled the broth and veggies for about 20 to 25 minutes.  I then added really thin egg noodles but you can add any you like.  After the noodles were tender, I turned the soup way down and added the chicken at the last minute to reheat it.  The seasonings I used were minced garlic, garlic salt, pepper, onion powder, and pepper.   Mmmmm...now that's heaven.

Splenda and my Sore Burning Tongue

As some of you may know, I was diagnosed with diabetes in July.  Since then, I have lost 15 pounds and my sugar is closer to normal than it has been in a long time.  In my effort to lose the weight and keep a more healthy blood sugar level, I have changed my diet and made exercise a part of my day. 

One thing I've missed is soda.  I never was a really big soda drinker but I would have maybe three or four a week.  However, all that sugar is now a big no no.  So, I started drinking diet drinks.  To my surprise, they were quite good, especially diet Dr. Pepper or diet rootbeer.  After a while, I really could not tell the difference between a full sugar drink and these diet drinks.  So, I would have one or two a day. 

Then I noticed something.  I started developing very sore bumps on my tongue.  I've had bumps on my tongue before but these were quite painful and stayed with me for a lot longer than the normal bumps I've had in the past.  I figured it was the diet soda, more specicially, maybe the citric acid that so many sodas have in them.  So, I stopped drinking them....for about two weeks.  Then I caved in and bought more.  I went back to my two drink a day habit.  After a while, the bumps came back.  However, another disturbing new symptom emerged.  I developed a very irritated burning tongue.  I've never had this before.  I decided to quit the sodas again . . . for three days.  Burning went away and the bumps.  Then, one day, while at my mother-in-law's house, I noticed she had diet coke.  So, I had a couple of glasses.  Within about an hour, the burning started again.  I finally put two and two together and realized is must be the diet drinks.  But what was it in the diet drinks?  I've known for a while that sucrolose (aka Splenda)  is probably not the best thing to put into your body but I never had a reaction to it before.  I decided to consult the internet.  I was quite surprised to learn that a burning tongue is quite a common symptom after drinking anything with Splenda in it.  I found that Splenda has quite a dark side to it.  It is the trade name for sucralose, a synthetic compound stumbled upon in 1976 by scientists in Britain seeking a new pesticide formulation. 

So, after reading up on Splenda I decided to just go cold turkey.  I'm now back to my flavored seltzer water with a bit of juice in it.  Now, if I could just find a good canned soup without MSG in it.  More on MSG in a later post.

omg........BRIE!!!!!!!

I was never a big brie eater.  However, I bought a wheel of brie the other day to serve as an after dinner snack to some guests.  We were so full from dinner, we could not eat it.  So, I made it for me and my husband to go along with a Cesar salad the other night.  I remember reading somewhere that you can bake brie or leave it out to get soft at room temperature.  I found a recipe on the internet for baked brie.

It was very simple.  Cut the top of the rind off the brie and bake it at 290 degrees for half an hour.   The rind acts like a cup to hold the brie while it bakes.  You can then stir in garlic or nuts.  I'm sure there's a million ways to serve brie.  I served this with some warm crusty french bread.  Oh my goodness!  It was like heaven!!!   gonna buy more brie tomorrow...  hehe

Sweet and Sour Pork UPDATE!

Hey guys.  Just made Sweet and Sour Pork yet again, last night.  I added pineapple chunks (canned) at the last minute.  Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.  That really made it special.  Try it!  p.s. Used the juice from the can in the recipe too.  Saved me from having to buy a huge can of pineapple juice.

Sweet and Sour Pork

Here's a very yummy recipe by the ladies of Cook Yourself Thin.  This is the very first recipe I made from their show.  My hubby came home one day and caught me watching the show.  They were making Sweet and Sour Porkchops.  He was so impressed by the recipe that he went to the store and bought all the ingredients.  We made this dish together.  It was so delicious, it has become a staple in our kitchen.  After that, I had to buy the book.

I like this dish because it doesn't raise my blood sugar too much.  I think it's better than a similar Chinese takeout dish.  The most amazing thing of all, it introduced me to bell peppers.  I never liked peppers but this dish made them awesome.  I have modified the original recipe a bit.

Please note, the key to this recipe is to leave all the cut up bits "chunky."  This gives the dish a really nice "mouth feel."  Also, when you add the pork, JUST LEAVE IT!  Arrange it in a single layer and let it cook before you start moving it.  This will create a wonderful crust on the meat.  You can tell when it is ready to turn when you can see the edges are getting cooked.   Okay, here we go.

You will need:

1 tablespoon of dry sherry
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
2 tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 pound of boneless porkchops cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons of pineapple juice
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
3 tablespoons of canola oil
1 red onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 (1 orange and 1 yellow or any ones you like) bell peppers cut into 1-inch cubes
Brown Rice (I use Uncle Bens Microwavable brown rice...it rocks!)

Combine the sherry, pepper, 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon of the brown sugar in a bowl.  Add the pork cubes and toss until well coated.  Let this marinate in the refrigerator.  I add a little more soy sauce if it looks like the pork needs more coating.

Next, mix the pineapple juice, ketchup, vinegar, the rest of the soy sauce, and the remaining teaspoon of the brown sugar in a bowl until combined. 

Heat a tablespoon of oil (I use a little more) in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  I have a wonderful electric skillet which I recommend every cook have.  Add the onion and cook until browned and a little crisp.

Add more oil and add the peppers.  Stir until browned but still crisp.  Transfer to a dish.

Add a bit of oil again if needed.  Cook the pork cubes in a single layer.  LEAVE THEM ALONE AND LET A CRUST FORM.  Turn over after about 1 1/2 minutes.  Return the onion and peppers to the pan, add the pineapple juice mixture and stir.  Cook an additional 2 minutes.   Serve over brown rice.   Enjoy!!

The Starlight Ball at Lowry Park Zoo

The hubby and I had a wonderful time last night at the Starlight Ball at Lowry Park Zoo hosted by the University Community Hospital.  I touched a giraffe!!!  This was a fund raiser for UCH's Center For Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine.  We actually know someone who has benefited from this treatment, so it was nice to participate in the event.

The best part of the evening was meeting Jorge and Jessica.  What a wonderful couple!  (Jorge and my husband work together at UCH.)  And I got to meet the woman behind the blog (http://www.thenovicechefblog.com/).  It was so nice to speak with her and pick her brain.  She is very sweet and both she and Jorge have a wonderful sense of humor.  Her blog inspired me to start mine.  I hope we will see them again as we really enjoyed their company.  Thanks Jorge and Jessica!!  P.S.  We went in the best haunted house ever at Lowry Park.....NOT!!

Trip to Alaska on the Infinity!

Stay tuned...coming soon.

And now...for something completely different...

Well, I found out a few weeks ago that I am now a Type 2 Diabetic. This changes my blog site a bit as I will now be presenting recipes that are more attuned to a diabetic diet. My good doctor, Dr. Todd, has been very thorough in my care. She also believes that I can get my sugar under control through diet and exercise. So far, I have been trying to do both. Even though I am not perfect, it does seem to be working.

I really believe that the most important part of curing diabetes is exercises. For example, yesterday I had my mom and mother-in-law over for lunch. I made a wonderful dish (recipe to be posted above) and a dessert. Both recipes were from my new favorite cookbook, Cook Yourself Thin. Although it is not really a diabetic recipe book, the dishes are low in calories and very healthy. The only problem I have with the book is the fact that there are no nutritional facts listed other than calories. It would be nice if the carbohydrates and sugars were listed.

So, we had lunch, which was a wonderful Sweet and Sour Pork, and then had dessert. The dessert is called Deep Dark Chocolate Cake. It is made with almond flour, regular flour, buttermilk, etc. It does have some sugar in it but not much. After dessert, the moms left and I started to get extremely tired. I have learned that this tired sleepy feeling is the first sign that my sugar is high. I tested my sugar and it was 194. Yikes! That damn cake! I laid down in my bed for about five minutes and realized that this was not going to get my sugar down. So, off to walk! I walked for about 20 minutes. I then re-tested my sugar and it went down to 104! That is a true testimate to the power of exercise in lowering blood sugar. I felt soooo much better.

Another lesson learned...even though something may be low in sugar, it may not be low enough for me. Even some foods that are considered okay for diabetics are not always right for me. So, there is a testing phase when you have diabetes as to what foods will raise your sugars.

I will post more updates regarding my progress in the future.

CINEBISTRO/COBB THEATER WESLEY CHAPEL, FLORIDA

The hubby and I went to the Cobb Theater here in Wesley Chapel, Florida for the first time. The theater has been open for almost a year now but we never had the desire to go. Now, keep in mind, we have not been to the movies since Titanic! We are just not movie people. We have a nice TV at home with cable. My husband hates the movies because of the kids running around and people talking constantly, etc. Maybe we have just had isolated incidents of bad luck in movie theaters because our recent experience was quite pleasant.

Friends of ours came over and we went out to eat at Wasabi's Japanese Restaurant, which I will review later. Our friend, Tori really wanted to see The Hangover. Well my husband really did not want to see this movie as he had heard it sucked. However, we were done with dinner in time to hit the movie, so off we went.

When we arrived at The Cobb Theater, (http://www.cobbtheaters.com/grove16.aspx) we were disappointed to see the parking lot practically completely filled up. Tori dropped off me and her husband and we ran in to inquire about the Cinebistro part of the theater. Cinebistro (http://www.cobbcinebistro.com/grove-reserv.aspx) is an adults-only part of the theater where you can order food and alcoholic beverages about 30 minutes before the show starts. The cost per ticket is a bit more ($14.50 plus food) than the general seating ($9.50) tickets.

We walked upstairs to the Cinebistro area and inquired about tickets. They were sold out, so we went back downstairs to get general seating tickets. Instead of walking back outside, we saw three kiosks. So, instead of waiting in line again, we went ahead and purchased our tickets right there. Easy!

This theater is very nice. There is a wonderful concession stand downstairs with everything from nachos to chicken sandwiches. I bought a small popcorn and small drink for $9. Whoa! Actually two people could have easily shared the small.

We then went back upstairs to the Cinebistro as there is a bar, cafe, and nice seating areas. George and Mike ordered a couple of beers. They were quite large and priced pretty cheaply. I think they said it was $4.50 for a beer which was apparently a good price. I have no idea since I don't drink. You cannot take alcoholic drinks into the general seating theater.

Tori and I decided to go ahead into the theater and save the boys their seats. The theater is small and quaint. Kind of feels like you are in your own living room. The theater seats are awesome. Very plush with leather? headrests, a place for your drink, and the chairs actually rock. I could see where the Cinebistro area must have been as there was a very tall wall behind me. The Cinebistro area was above us in the same theater.

The theater filled up pretty fast and the movie was hysterical. The last three minutes of the movie are the best and tears were streaming down my face from the laughter.

We had a really great time. I am glad to see that business is good since I would like to come back and try the Cinebistro theater.