Lighter Side - Asian Influenced Beef Salad

We love Newman's Own "Lighten Up" Sesame Ginger dressing!! It has great flavor, and portion control is easy because the amount suggested (2Tb per serving) is actually enough to dress a serving of salad and make it actually TASTE like you added dressing!!
So last night we had simple salads of romaine lettuce and cooked carrots (bought baby carrots on sale, so I par-cooked and froze in portions to use later) tossed in that dressing, along with roasted red and green bell peppers, and beef that I very thinly sliced when it was still partly frozen (makes it easy to get really thin pretty slices) and tossed in 1 heaping teaspoon of hoisin sauce, 1/2 teaspoon curry paste, 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic, and teaspoon of red wine vinegar. I cooked the beef in a saute pan just long enough to cook thru, which was around 4 minutes total, since I sliced it so thin (good for really quick dinners!).

The Hub really liked it... I think I would add less hoisin to the marinade/coating for the beef next time, and maybe kick up the spice a bit more - I thought the beef was too sweet, and since the salad dressing is also sweet, it would have been nice to have a little variety. But it was VERY quick and healthy (which I need to remember to concentrate on when I meal plan next week!)

Why Can't I Quit You!?

Friday night I just HAD TO give in to a craving for Nachos... had to be done, and they couldn't be "diety"...

I read on a blog somewhere that shopping in the "ethnic foods" (don't shoot the messenger, that is what they call it - I know nacho sauce isn't authentic!) can land you cheaper prices on items you normally buy outside of it.. example, this can of sauce was in the "Hispanic foods" section, next to things that were mostly labeled en Espanol... it cost half as much as the crappy salsa/queso mixes in the jars by the "Mexican food" supplies... I'm not saying it is right or wrong to segragate the queso, I am just saying it was cheap and GOOD (Like exactly like you would get at the ball park good!) King Soopers had wicked sales on their Kroger brand chips last week, so I grabbed a bag of tortilla chips for a buck and we had those with cheese, and some left over steak from steak sammies the other night diced up small, and jalepenoes... I also had some diced onion and canned tomatoes on mine.. Yum... oh neon orange "cheese", how I love you...

Saturday was basket ball game night for us, since I had been offered 15 dollar tix at work... they even included a hot dog and a medium soda (and we splurged and got a beer each too).. Stadium food a-plenty for Keri this weekend!!

Sunday I finished off a less-than-healthy weekend with shamelessly UN-portion-controlled plates of spaghetti with canned tomato sauce jazzed up with ground turkey and fresh basil, and garlic bread made from a demi loaf of frozen bread from Target coupons...


Here is my problem... free bread is indeed, FREE bread... but pasta and potatoes and bread and all of this is going to turn us into roly-poly versions of our former selves quickly...
I have always let weekends be a "break" from anything too diety or strict - but I have to really watch what I am serving during the week...

Any favorite cheap and healthy meal ideas?

Bad blogger... what have I been cooking? (and get some bread!)

Ok, so when I got back into town on Tuesday night, we had a frozen pizza for dinner...
Wednesday I was headed to Target for more beef (don't judge me!) when I learned of this little ditty... Target has a coupon for $1.00 off Archer Farms Artisan Breads... a smart shopper pointed out that they have mini loaves (perfect for two people, actually) for $0.99... yep, that's free kids... free really good bread...
So Wednesday night we had steak sammies, thin sliced chuck steak quick sauteed and seasoned with garlic powder and some Worcestershire sauce; served on a mini Cibatta bread square (perfect for two cut diagonally!) warmed in the oven with a bit of 2% cheddar melted on it... We had oven fries as well...
Tomorrow is the last day to use the Target meat coupon, BTW (if you are obsessed, like I obviously am.)

*******
Yesterday we got a little mini-blizzard in Denver... it was pretty hairy while it was going on, but getting out and about today was not a problem.. So last night we had Chicken and noodles. My family has a wonderful recipe for a delicious totally homemade version of Chicken and Noodles, but it is best on a Sunday.. for a quick weeknight version I cut a large chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and browned all sides in a sauce pan before adding a can of cream of chicken soup, half a can of water, and a sprinkle of dried thyme... meanwhile, I boiled some dried egg noodles, adding frozen broccoli for the last 2 minutes of boiling, and drained.
Stir saucey chicken with broccoli and noodles and eat hardy... it was GOOOOOD and really perfect for such a cold night!

Sorry - no pics.. I will be back in tip top blog updating form next week, promise!!

Now go buy beef and mini bread!

Cooking for sissy..

I am making Sissy and BIL the Spicy Honey Brushed Chicken from Cooking Light tonight... love it!! (I am using boneless chicken breast)

I will be back to frugal and healthy cooking entries and menu planning when I jet back to Denver from Indy next Tuesday...

Eat well!

Orange Margaritas and Beef fajitas

After last year's um, "grease fire incident" that signaled the end of grill season, I spent Sunday with a can of Easy-off and a scraper making sure that my grill pan was clean as a whistle and ready to go... I decided to use it last night to make our fajitas since yesterday was so pretty)

To compliment our dinner, I decided to make a recipe for Orange Margaritas I found on the web, since I have lots of OJ (stocked up because of a good sale and coupon from Safeway this past weekend) and only had a tiny little bit of lime juice left... (ahhhh yes, "use what you have drinking") Actually, it was a really yummy switch!

So I tossed some onion slices in tin foil and my peppers on the grill first, since the peppers cook pretty fast - I like to blister on each side, including inside: And then removed the peppers and tossed the meat on (yep, it is Target coupon meat, and nope, you don't even need to bother asking that for at least the next month, probably more - the answer is a big old YES!) - I seasoned it with cumin and ground red pepper..

I sliced the meat super thin, served it with all the fixin's I could find, and The Hub and I both kicked it up a notch with some tabasco-type hot sauce on our fajitas... with our Margaritas it was a tasty and affordable way to celebrate the first grilled meal of the year!

Singapore Noodles with Hoisin Chicken

I found this noodle recipe on The Nest, and it turned out really well. The sauce was spicy and it was a fresh way to use pasta, which is such a great staple but can lead to a maranara rut, yo? I did thicken the sauce using a bit of cornstarch slurry, just because I like a sauce that clings. Also, I didn't have any Sesame Seeds, so I just left them out - and since The Hub is Mr. Picky pants, I omitted the scallions...
Here is the recipe:

Singapore Noodles
Ingredients
½ cup lite unsweetened coconut milk
½ cup vegetable broth3 tablespoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon Curry Powder
1 teaspoon honey
¼ teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/8 teaspoon Ground Red Pepper
½ pound angle hair pasta, cooked and drained
¼ cup chopped scallions (white and green parts)
½ cup diced red bell pepper
1 tablespoon toasted Sesame Seed
Preparation
1. Stir coconut milk, vegetable broth, soy sauce, Curry Powder, honey, Ground Cumin and Ground Red Pepper in small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Place hot pasta in serving bowl.
3. Add sauce to pasta and toss to coat. Sprinkle with scallions, bell pepper and Sesame Seed. Serve hot.


To go with it, I diced up a chicken breast and tossed it in a teaspoon of hoisin sauce and then baked it covered at 350 for about 12 minutes (since it was diced it cooked fast).

Good recipe - I would make it again...

Old Faithful Beef Stew

Last night I made my dependable, cheap, and very quick beef stew using some of the fabulous Sutton and Dodge beef I have been stocking away from Target thanks to the sweet sweet deal I mentioned on Tuesday.. It amazes me how much The Hub loves this recipe - it is so easy that I almost can't stand it, but he would eat it once a week for the rest of his life and be happy as a clam..
Crusty thick sliced bread for dipping and mopping scores extra points...