Skirt Steak Sandwiches on Bacon Waffle Bread

This is another Rachael Ray recipe that I tried. I think next time I make it I'm going to make some tweaks, but overall it was good!


Who doesn't love bacon? Matthew could eat a whole package by himself just like his mom. He really is my kid through and through.


Today's Ingredients:
6 tablespoons Mayo
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 1/2 pounds skirt steak, cut into 6 pieces
EVOO for brushing on the steak
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 cups pancake batter
Lettuce
Tomatoes

Pancake recipe if you don't have a good one:
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Mix together wet ingredients. Sift together dry ingredients. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients.

This made probably about 4.5 cups of batter. I used 3 cups and put the rest in the fridge and made pancakes easy peasy for the kids the next morning. I was a little skeptical that it would work because it wasn't fresh batter, but it worked great and the kids loved it!


I would get your grill pan or grill heating up. S&P your steak and rub just a little with olive oil. Cook about 8 min. total for medium rare - turning once.


Get your bacon cooking. Once it's done crumble.


Juice your lemon. Quick tip - microwave your lemon for 30 seconds if it's coming right out of the fridge and then roll it a few times before juicing. This will help release more juice. I learned this tip from some show and I tell you it works like a charm!


Combine your mayo, lemon juice and 1 1/2 tablespoons mustard together for a spread. Set it in the fridge to use later.


Mix together your wet ingredients for your pancake batter.


Sift together your dry ingredients and then add to the wet ingredients. Take 3 cups of batter out.


Add your crumbled bacon to your pancake batter and 1 1/2 tablespoons of dijon mustard.


Mix together nicely and cook in your waffle maker.


Spread both sides with the mayo and then layer the meat, lettuce, and tomatoes.

To be honest, I didn't really taste the bacon in the waffles, but Matthew ate it up since we told him bacon was in the waffles. I thought the spread was ok, but I really don't love, love, love dijon mustard. Here are some alternatives I'm going to try for next time.

-Find a marinade for the meat
-Make a bacon mayo or buy baconnaise - here
-Leave bacon out of waffle batter
-Add bacon strips to sandwich
-Add sliced avocado to the sandwich

You could always treat it like a traditional BLT, but replace bread with waffles to mix it up. It was fun to make and it did taste good, but I'm going to try some changes next time to elevate it to the next level.

Skirt Steak Sandwiches on Bacon Waffle Bread Printable Recipe

Chicken and Mushroom Bake

This is a Rachael Ray recipe out of her magazine that has become a staple in our household. We LOVE mushrooms here at our house and it is the perfect recipe to use leftover rotisserie/baked chicken or even leftover turkey which we did after Christmas. Such a good and easy recipe. Even my son will eat the chicken and mushroom part - he has an aversion to rice.


So so good and super easy!


Today's ingredients:
1-2 tablespoons butter
10 oz. mushrooms
1 ½ tablespoons flour
½ cup marsala wine or white wine or chicken stock
½ cup heavy cream or half and half
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
S&P
1 cup long-grain rice
2 packed cups coarsely chopped or shredded rotisserie chicken
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese



If you don't have any leftover chicken or turkey around, but still want to make this, about 2 chicken breasts will suffice. I just brought some water to a boil, added my chicken and lowered to a simmer for about 10 min. If you keep boiling instead of simmering you'll get tough chicken instead of nice juicy chicken. Once it's done, drain and let cool. Shred or dice.


Preheat your oven to 350. In a large skillet, heat the butter over medium-high heat until just melted. I only used 1 T. of butter this time and it worked just fine.


Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. This recipe calls for 10 oz of mushrooms, but I used 16 oz. since we love mushrooms in our household. It doesn't affect the recipe at all.


Sprinkle the flour on top and stir for 1 minute.


Stir in the wine or chicken stock and cream* and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.

*Last time I made this I had some leftover half & half and decided to try and see if it would work. Worked like a charm, so if you need to cut calories fat free half & half works great!


Stir in 2 cups water, the parsley, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.


In a greased 9x13 pan, layer the rice.


Then the chicken.


Then the mushroom sauce.


Cover with foil and bake for 35 min. Uncover, add 2 T. of grated parmesan cheese and cook for another 5 min.


So delicious! Enjoy!

Chicken and Mushroom Bake Printable Recipe

Meatless Monday: Best Ever Potato Soup

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I originally found this recipe while looking for a soup to use up some ham leftover from New Year's. I actually really like this as just the Potato Soup with nothing else added. It is so scrumptious AND EASY!!!


Today's Ingredients:
3 ½ cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely diced onion
3 ¼ cups water
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules or base
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk or 1 cup milk + 1 cup heavy cream


First prep your potatoes, celery, and onion. I used red potatoes as they seem to hold up better in soups. The first time I made this I used baking potatoes and it worked, but they were definitely starting to crumble. Any waxy potato works well.


Add the potatoes, celery and onion to a soup pot and add the water.


Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10-15 min.


When the potatoes are almost done melt your butter in a separate pan.


Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute.



Slowly stir in milk* as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4-5 minutes.

*I had leftover cream from making homemade ice cream and so made it with half milk and half cream. It just adds a nice richness, but all milk works just as well, even skim.


Stir in the chicken bouillon or base* and S&P to the pot.

*I really love using my Penzey's chicken base. It provides such good flavor and is way less salty than chicken bouillon. I did see some chicken base (looks like a thick paste) at the store the other day as well.


Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through.


Serve immediately.

Additional ingredients that you could add in:
-Add in ¾ cup diced cooked ham
-Add shredded chicken
-Add 1 can corn
-Add bacon, shredded cheese and green onions for baked potato soup

The first time I made this I added ham - yum! I've made a different potato soup before and added corn - yum! At Halloween we usually have potato soup with all the baked potato fixings to add on top - yum!

So in essence a great plain potato soup, but a great base to build upon if you want!

Best Ever Potato Soup Printable Recipe

Spinach Bow-tie Pasta

I got this recipe from a friend in London about 8 years ago. It is so good and beware does feed a crowd. You can always halve this recipe if you have a smaller family and don't want to be eating leftovers for days. The secret to this salad is letting it sit overnight and soak up the dressing.

So delish!

Today's Ingredients:
Salad:
4-6 Chicken Breasts (grilled and sliced)
12 oz. egg pasta cooked
1 orange pepper, stripped
1 yellow pepper, stripped
1 red pepper, stripped
Half bunch fresh spinach
¼ cup sesame seeds toasted
½ cup fresh parsley

Dressing:
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
½ cup olive oil*
½ teaspoon salt & pepper

The original recipe calls for 2 greens peppers, 1 yellow pepper and 1 red pepper. I bought a pkg of 6 peppers at costco and really loved using 1 orange, yellow and red. It just made the salad sweeter. So if you can't find what I've listed you can substitute any combination of sweet peppers you want and it will still work out well.

(note added 2/20)

*I made this again today for a friend get together and decided to replace part of the olive oil with sesame oil. Oh my goodness - it just pumped the flavor up. If you have sesame oil replace 1-2 T of the olive oil with sesame oil. I put the sesame oil in a measuring cup first and then filled up my olive oil to 1/2 cup. Try it - amazing!


Salt & pepper and add a little olive oil to your chicken and get it grilling. I only used 2 chickens, but you can use anywhere between 2-6 depending on how many people you are feeding.

Also, get your pasta water going and cook your pasta according to the package.


Toast your sesame seeds. They do have oil in them so make sure you watch them because they can burn very quickly.


Nice and toasty brown.

Mix your spinach, peppers, sesame seeds and parsley all together in a big bowl.


Mix your salad ingredients together.


The chicken is nice and done and ready to be sliced.

Once your pasta is done drain well and add to your spinach ingredients.

Add the sliced chicken and toss well with the dressing ingredients. Let sit overnight. This is crucial to develop the flavors. The salad just won't be the same if you don't do this.

Seriously so good! I made this for a friend for lunch (and then Jordan & I ate lots of leftovers) and she didn't think she liked peppers, but really loved this salad.

Spinach Bow-tie Pasta Printable Recipe

Minced Chicken Curry

We started cooking this recipe because it was on the opposite side of our Tikka Masala recipe. This recipe comes from Pakistan and it is so good. If you are a little trepid about curry this is the perfect one to start with. Very mild and both of my kids ate this up. I usually use ground turkey instead of chicken.


Such deliciousness!


Today's Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil or corn oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 lb ground chicken or turkey
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
5 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
¾ - 1 teaspoon salt
8 oz red or waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into ¾-inch dice

Prep your potatoes, onion, garlic and tomatoes. I do have to admit something here. My tomatoes are canned. I was peeling and chopping my "real" tomatoes and they felt a little slimy (they had been in the fridge for a bit) so I tasted one and it was so disgusting. They tricked me still looking all nice and good in the fridge.

I pulled out a can of chopped tomatoes, drained them and chopped them up further. I would recommend using the real ones, but canned ones work in a pinch!

Add your oil to a heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and fry until the onion is brown at the edges.

Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add the chicken or turkey, turmeric and cayenne pepper. I added an 1/8 instead of a 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper and it wasn't too hot for the kiddos a 1/4 would have been pushing it.

Add the yoghurt and stir and cook until the yoghurt is combined.

Add the tomatoes, salt and potatoes. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Cover and reduce the heat to low, and cook gently for 15 min. or until potatoes are tender.

Serve over rice. Naan is also great with this too.

Minced Chicken Curry Printable Recipe