“I think the most significant work we ever do, in the whole world, in our whole life, is done within the four walls of our own home.” – Stephen R. Covey

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Savor

Here is a post light on reading and heavy on drooling... this is what we have been savoring this week complete with pictures and recipes!

Grilled Flank Steak, Portabellos and Green Bean Salad




Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 1/4 pound flank steak, trimmed of all visible fat
4 large portobello mushroom caps (about 3/4 to 1 pound), wiped clean with a paper towel
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3/4 pound green beans, trimmed
1 (5-ounce) bag baby spinach leaves (5 cups baby spinach, lightly packed)
4 vine-ripened tomatoes (1 pound), each sliced into 8 wedges
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

Make marinade:
Directions
Combine 2 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, orange juice, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, chili flakes, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk. Place steak and mushrooms in a glass baking dish or sealable plastic bag and pour marinade on top. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 or up to 4 hours.

Make dressing:
Combine remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons vinegar, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, water, mustard, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Whisk until incorporated.

Place green beans in a steamer basket over a few inches of boiling water and steam until tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. Allow to cool in the refrigerator, or to cool quickly, drain and plunge in a bowl of ice water for 2 minutes. Drain and reserve.
Spray a grill or grill pan with nonstick cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Remove steak and mushrooms from marinade, and discard marinade. Grill steak until medium-rare and mushrooms until cooked through but still juicy, about 4 to 5 minutes per side for both steak and mushrooms. Remove to a cutting board and let rest about 10 minutes. Cut steak across the grain into 1/4-inch slices; cut mushrooms into 1/4-inch slices.
To assemble salad, toss steak slices, mushroom slices, spinach leaves, tomatoes, green beans and onions with dressing. Divide among 4 plates.

Mediterranean Salmon Salad




Ingredients
1/2 cup uncooked orzo
2 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
2 cups torn spinach
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onions
4 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

Preparation
1. Preheat broiler.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.
3. Sprinkle salmon evenly with salt, oregano, and black pepper. Place on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 5 minutes; break into bite-sized pieces with 2 forks.
4. Combine pasta, salmon, spinach, and remaining ingredients in a medium bowl; toss well.

(Can you tell we like fresh spinach salads?!)

Cheddar Biscuits



Ingredients
1 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cream of tarter
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C cold butter
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 C milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Mix flour, baking powder, cream of tarter, sugar and salt in medium bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cheddar cheese. Add milk, stir until mixture forms soft dough.

Place on a lightly floured surface; knead 8 to 10 times or until smooth. Pat out dough into a 6-inch square. Cut into 9 squares. Place on a greased baking sheet

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 9 servings

Make one of these recipes this weekend and ENJOY!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

A Musical and Celebrations

So since moving to Tulsa I have really been trying to get to know this city and find the fun things to do and great places to eat. Randomly one night we decided to buy tickets from the Tulsa PAC for "Ten Tenors" which is an Australian group of singing men. They were SO good. ... not bad to look at either!



In mid-May Chad and I headed south to College Station, Tx for my brothers college graduation from Texas A&M and his commissioning in the the United States Army. Luckily we were able to stop off in Georgetown for a night to visit our friends Mary and Kevin and their new baby girl Claire. She is adorable and I was so glad we got to visit. We were all in each others weddings back in the day and I love getting the chance to get caught up with each others lives!

Chad and I being Red Raiders have to make sure that we only allow our snide comments against A&M outside of the earshot of my brother. It is not a friendly rivalry... Anyway, here are the pics of my brother looking all grown up and official in his uniform.

Aunt Janie, Dad, Mom, Matthew, Me, Chad, Grandma



Getting his stripes pinned on by Mom and Dad


Commissioned

Next up was my 25th birthday on the 21st of May and our 2nd Anniversary on the 26th of May(got that?)! For dinner we went to this great little restaurant in the Brookside district called Sonoma Bistro and Wine Bar. It is a amazing. I loved just sitting on the patio drinking my pinot noir and enjoying the people watching. For our anniversary we went to Whole Foods and got all the ingredients for a delicious picnic and headed to Woodward Park and the Tulsa Rose Garden. It was a beautiful night and perfect! The roses were beautiful and I think we'll head back there later in the summer when Chad's parents come into town.



Last weekend we headed to the Tulsa PAC again to see the musical The Drowsy Chaperone. It was hilarious and we had a great view of the show. The musical was about an agoraphobic man who lives by himself and obsesses over the Broadway show The Drowsy Chaperone. As he plays the record (LP) of the musical pieces of the show, the performance begins with the music. The show itself is pretty simplistic and about a couple who is getting married. Unfortunately the brides chaperone is a drunk and she ends up seeing her husband to be on their wedding day and all sorts of craziness ensues. If you love all the old-timey musicals this show is for you. It references The King and I which is one of my all time favs!


Up next... fabulous recipes and photos of the results!

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Busy, busy bees!

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost two month since I blogged... I guess that shows how dang busy we have been!

At the end of April we decided to check out the local farmers markets. Spending a Saturday morning wandering around the booths of local vendors is my FAVORITE thing to do. I love all the tomatoes, greens, breads, honey, meats, eggs, CHEESES (sigh), salsa and of course a million different herbs. I love this probably because I have the far off dream of eating totally fresh and "whole".



We also attended the Jenks Herb Festival which was great. I was expecting a mini-farmers market but this was a full out Fair! To me... if you have funnel cakes and corny dogs then it's a fair and I LOVE the fair (however my allegiance will always be with this one).

In early May we headed down to Texas to visit with Chad's parents and be there when his Mom got back from her retreat this weekend. The ACTS retreat has really been sweeping the Catholic community and I could not be more excited. In the last year and a half I have lived in 3 different states and attended countless Catholic parishes trying to find the right one for us and I think this retreat gives an amazing renewal for all who attend. I have not been yet but I did attend a similar college oriented retreat while at Texas Tech (I apologize for the horribly designed website).

I have also started to get into the obsession called "couponing". What I understand so far is that the idea is basically matching up store sales and promotions up with the coupons you have clipped in order to get the cheapest price for whatever you need to buy. The key is stocking up on things so you will have it when you need it because it may not be on sale when you need it. There is even a woman here in town that is making a living teaching others her money saving secrets, and I commend that! I have gone to a class she teaches and I plan on going to one she is teaching about saving at Whole Foods. I think this is especially timely right now when a lot of families are now trying to live on one income or are trying to prepare in case they do have to live on one income. Everyone likes to save money and for me it is more about getting a good deal so I don't feel extravagant by buying my specialty coffee, spices etc.



In early May we closed on our house! I spent the entire morning before trying to get the sellers real estate agent to make sure the house was in good condition for our closing. There was still nasty q-tips and broken deodorant etc. in one of the bathroom drawers, the floors needed a good sweeping, the garage still had a couch and washer and dryer inside and the backyard had a pile of rotting wood. I was NOT buying a house where this crap was my responsibility to get rid of. Luckily about 4 hours before closing someone showed up the clean up and haul everything away and I breathed a long sigh of relief. I suppose that is what happens when the owner is out of state and has to do everything from long distance! We have since moved in and have all of the essential boxes unpacked. The remaining boxes are being sorted through slowly as they are actually a lot of crap that just needs to be either donated or organized and stored in the attic. For some reason my husband has the need to save about 40 legal pads of his notes from random classes in college. The worst part is that all the pads only have about the first 20 pages written on and the rest is blank! The neat organized freak in me wants to rip out all the written on pages and put them in a 3-ring binder and then we can use the blank pages.

Anyway, this is getting pretty long so I'll just leave it at this for now. Coming up later... the Felderhoff's explore the Tulsa night life!