Well, hello there!

Well, hello there!
Matt & I in Costa Rica over Christmas...So beautiful there!
It's simple. Really. We're a young married couple that loves cooking together. We always try to eat healthy and, if it's simple and doesn't break the bank, we're into that, too! We hope you'll visit often and tell us what you think about what we're cooking! We'd love to hear from you. Drop us a note, a suggestion or a recipe!













Wednesday, March 16, 2011

kebab. kabob. whatev.

I'm always confused on the spelling of this genius on a stick. Who cares? It's so good and everyone knows what it is. Typically when you, or at least when I think of kebabs, I think of my old back yard and our pool and everyone being outside on a sunny day...grilling up a storm. That's just me.
Monday night I thought we'd have some sort of beef. I opened the freezer and behold, a purchase I'd forgotten we made the last visit to our neighborhood Kroger. No, our actual neighborhood doesn't have a Kroger, but that'd be wonderful. Sometimes the two that are within a two-mile-radius from our 'hood seem inconvenient to trek to!
Anywho. During our last visit to the store (sans a list, which I cannot stand to do!), Matt grabbed a package of "miscellaneous beef". Yep. Sounds a bit scary, right? By miscellaneous, they actually just meant lean beef tips. Good for stewing, normally. The fate of the miscellaneous beef was meant for kebabs AND kebab stew. Yep, two meals. WE WIN.
To compliment the beef, I used some of our favorite veggies. Delightful.

According to Matt "these are the best vegetables I've ever eaten".

You're probably wondering what I did to make them soooooo delicious, right?
Just keep on reading, then!

Miscellaneous Beef Kebabs

What you'll need:

~1 Lb. beef tips, er, uh, miscellaneous beef. If frozen,thaw completely.
~1/2 Red bell pepper
~2-3 Oz. sliced (or whole) baby portabella mushrooms
~1/3 Red onion, sliced and chunked
~1 Zucchini squash, halved lengthwise and sliced into half-moons
~1/2 C. Worcestershire sauce
~1/4 C. lemon juice (fresh or from concentrate)
~1 Tsp. black pepper
~1/2 Tsp. garlic powder
~4-6 metal (or wooden*) skewers *If you're using wooden, soak them for about and hour, so that they don't splinter and/or burn on the grill. No bueno.


What to do:

~In a large mixing bowl, place the beef, sauce, lemon juice and seasonings and mix thoroughly until beef is well coated in the marinade.
~Set aside and let marinade for about an hour.
~Pre-heat grill on low-medium heat. You'll want to do this because the veggies will take a little longer, and you don't want to burn them!
~Assemble the kebabs with the beef and veggies onto the skewers (we made 4 GIANT ones)in any order you like and pour about 1/2 C. remaining marinade over the skewers.
~Grill for approx 10-15 minutes (or until you feel like everything's ready for you to eat).
~Enjoy!

My thinking is that these kebabs would be accompanied well by a brown rice/black beans/chopped tomatoes mix. We had them by themselves. It was just right for that night!

The only thing missing from that was the pool and the sunny day. Hmmm...maybe next time? I sure hope so!

Friday, March 11, 2011

do you groupon?

I'm Ron Burgundy? (Please, please PLEASE tell me you've seen Anchor Man.)
Anyway... Turns out Groupon is AWESOME. Why? Well, the deals typically run between 50%-90% off the original price. I know this is a food blog, but hear me out...this IS actually about food. It's just, well, we're not cooking it. So, the other day we purchased out very first Groupon. I signed us up for email alerts a long time ago thinking "this could be a good way to get some stuff". Since the New Year, Matt & I have taken turns planning a date night every week. Matt planned the first week, I planned the next...you get it. Last week was my week to plan and we got an email with a Groupon for $15 for $30 worth of sushi @ Zake Sushi Lounge Downtown. If you know us, you know we really (really, really) like sushi. And, two of our favorite people, my sister Maren and her hubs Phillip took us to Zake right after they started dating. It's so good...the atmosphere is very nice, too. Romantic/modern. I love it. So, all that goes to say, we're big fans of Groupon now! We're going to Zake tonight (YESSSSSSSSSS!) We were unable to have my date night last week so, we're having mine tonight and Matt's tomorrow. Woohoo! Double date weekend :)
Promise I'll post more recipes later.

~Meg