Carne Asada

This recipe is probably the best tasting carne asada I've ever made. Very flavorful and just enough of a little kick. I didn't follow the entire recipe (found HERE) because of time and a lack of ingredients, but the marinade I made came out wonderfully. I grilled the meat and heated up the tortillas on the BBQ. I don't like really spicy things but this was great. The chili pepper did get a little bit much after one taco but I think if I add guacamole or sour cream next time it will be perfect.

Carne Asada Marinade

Ingredients

3 pounds flank steak
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
 
 
Directions
 
Mix all ingredients, except steak, in a large bowl. Add meat and let marinate 1-3 hours. Grill until meat gets a nice brown carmalized char.

Lemon meringue pie

Lemon Meringue Pie has got to be one of my favorite summertime desserts. Cool, refreshing, sweet and tangy. Think they're hard to make? Think again. They are really pretty simple. The best part is being able to adjust the lemon juice based on your tang preference.  The recipe posted has a fairly average lemon tang, I usually add more than what it calls for. But that is totally up to you.


Ingredients


1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water
2 lemons, juiced and zested
2 tablespoons butter
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
4 egg whites
6 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.

To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

Father's Day

Father's Day was full of surprised for Chad. As far as he knew, he was just going to a brunch at his Dad's house. Little did he know ;) About two hours into the brunch, my brother Isaiah - who has recently bought his own limo - arrived to chauffer the dads around for a wine and beer tasting. A great time was had by all! I'm so glad everyone had fun. We tried some great beers and well as a new fabulous winery. Thanks Per Cazo! After our wine tour, I whisked Chad and the boys off to Morro Bay to stay the night at a really cute Beach Bungalow. Then breakfast in the morning and an afternoon at the beach. Perfect weekend.

Green Stuff

I am the maker of the Green Stuff. A few years ago, Chad described a cold summer salad that his Aunt always used to make. Green, nuts, pineapple, marshmallows..... I had never heard of such a thing, and wasn't sure I cared too. But thanks to allrecipes.com and their awesome ingredient search function, after some searching I had found it. It was really called Watergate Salad - not to be confused with Waldorf Salad.  Now there is an unspoken rule that I bring the Green Stuff to all family functions. Seems I have assumed the duty that was once his Aunt's, and happy to. This salad is super easy to make, cool and refreshing. The ingredient list may sound like it won't go together, but trust me. It's yummy!

Ingredients

2 (3.4 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix

1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, with juice

2 cup miniature marshmallows 

1 cup chopped walnuts 

1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions

In a large bowl, mix together pudding mix, pineapple with juice. Stir in marshmallows, and nuts. Fold in whipped topping. Top with chopped nuts if desire. Cover with plastic wrap and chill.

Keegans first motorcycle ride

Anyone who knows Keegan, knows that he loves all modes of transportation. Especially anything that he gets to ride in/on that isn't his moms car. Cars, trucks, trains, planes, motorcycles, you name it.  His Uncle Toby owns a motorcycle and was more than happy to give a squealing toddler his first motorcycle ride. It was just around the block but the smile on Keegan's face when he came back was bigger than the helmet on his head.

Backyard Camping

To celebrate Memorial Weekend, we decided we wanted to go camping.  However, we didn't want to deal with crowds and chasing two kids around in them. So we opted to campout in our backyard! Perfect solution, well was perfect until the over zealous golf course sprinklers came on. Good thing we put the rain cover on! So we pitched our huge tent in the backyard, inflated our air mattresses, the slip and slide and our pool. We set up the pack n play in the tent and a mini weber grill to be our bonfire pit. All the fun of camping plus all the comforts of home just a few steps away. The boys had a great time.

                                                      We let Reece loose on the Jell-O

Reece's first campfire. Notice our impressive use of our space saver high chair

Keegan roasting his first marshmallow

And trying to eat it all in one bite.

Kick off to Summer!!

Let's get back into recipes! What better way to celebrate the Memorial Weekend than to share two of my favorite get together recipes. Whether it's for a cookout, BBQ, or grilling get together, whatever you call it, the season is upon us. Time for longer nights, warmer days, and bigger parties.  Beside how wonderful these taste, I love them because they are great do ahead recipes. Perfect for allowing you to socialize, lounge around and drink with your guests.

First off is Bacon Cheddar Deviled Eggs. It's true what they say you know. Everything DOES taste better with bacon. Besides deviled eggs, you've got Bacon Risotto (you can find HERE), and how else do you get the hubby and kids to eat asparagus than to wrap it in bacon!

Bacon Cheddar Deviled Eggs

Ingredients


12 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 slices bacon
2 tablespoons finely shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon mustard

Directions

Place eggs in a saucepan, and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover, and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, and cool. To cool more quickly, rinse eggs under cold running water.

Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. You can also wrap bacon in paper towels and cook in the microwave for about 1 minute per slice. Crumble and set aside.

Peel the hard-cooked eggs, and cut in half lengthwise. Remove yolks to a small bowl. Mash egg yolks with mayonnaise, crumbled bacon and cheese. Stir in mustard. Fill egg white halves with the yolk mixture and refrigerate until serving. The easiest way to fill the eggs is to load up a ziploc bag with the mixture, cut the top off of one end, then pipe the filling into the eggs.


Next up with have Sweet Potato Salad.  This salad has a great combination of regular russet potatoes and sweet potatoes.  It's also a great base if you love lots of extras in your potato salad. I'm a plain jane kinda girl and just the potatoes, mayo, mustard, eggs, onion, salt and pepper are fine with me. But feel free to add whatever you love in yours: olives, celery, onions and yes even BACON ;)

Ingredients


2 potatoes, chopped
1 sweet potato, chopped
4 eggs
1/2 onion, chopped
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm. Since it usually takes longer for sweet potatoes to cook than russet, I boil in two sepearte pots. Drain and cool.
Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water; cool, peel and chop.

Combine the potatoes and eggs.

Whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper. Add to potato mixture, toss well to coat. Refrigerate and serve chilled.




Enjoy your summer!!