Maui Ribs and Mac & Cheese

Tonight we had a great meal together, it is a holiday here in Canada, Victoria Day so it was a nice day to do little things around the house and read this book which I am having a hard time putting down, I was even reading at the counter while dinner was cooking.  The Headmaster's Wager is the first book that I am reading on my Kobo Vox as well, I love it.

So I marinated flanked cut short ribs for four days, recipe following.  Broiled them in the oven, turning once.

And they turned out amazing.  Tender and flavourful.  We love Maui Ribs but are horrified at the price of the name brand ones.  After tinkering a recipe I found online we are now able to have them more often.  The only problem is that I can't find this cut of ribs and look for them when I am out of town on one of my stocking up trips.  These freeze very well in the marinade and cook on a grill great which make this a great camping item as well.  When grilling they can burn easily due to the sugar content, so keep a watchful eye one these when cooking then on the grill.

Maui Rib Marinade

1 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup Cider Vinegar
4-5 Garlic Cloves
1/4 Sesame Oil
2 cups Brown Sugar

Combine all ingredients and marinate flanked cup short ribs (Korean Style) for up to 4 days.

Grill or broil, due to high sugar content, they will burn quickly if heat is too high.  No need to baste meat, discard marinade.

Enjoy, they are awesome.

Tonight I also made Mac & Cheese with the Wolfgang Puck 1.5 Cup Versacooker.

This is a favourite of my daughter's and I just needed another lil'something to go with dinner.  The recipe is one from the little booklet that comes with the unit.  We have not made anything else with it but I use it for brown rice tomorrow.

 So simple to make, I forgot to time it but will next time.

 Comes out with a little crust on the bottom which is nice.

Just the right amount for a small family to try a little, will post how to is with cooking brown rice tomorrow.

Have a great week everyone.

Meal Plan Monday for week of May 21st

Okay so blogging again has fell off the to do list and am hoping one day for this to become a daily routine which I am going to aim for this week.  At the moment I have a couple freezers that are well stocked due to great deals at the grocery store and also due to a couple of trips out of town to out nearest Costco which is four hours away.  I love Costco and envy people who have one just minutes away.  So this week's meals are going to done around meals that are frozen and ready to go or just using things up from the freezers.  

I use a meal plan note pad from Modern Emotive Etsy Store but I see she is currently on vacation.  I typically only really plan for dinner as I use leftovers for lunches for my husband.

Meals for week of May 21st

Monday-Maui Ribs, Baked Potatoes, Edame and Mac & Cheese
Tuesday-Salmon Fillets, rice and broccoli (freezer meal)
Wednesday-Grilled Pork Chops, Asian Salad and carrots (freezer meal)
Thursday-Chinese Chicken, garden salad and corn on the cob (freezer meal, using slow cooker)
Friday-BBQ Beef Ribs, fries, veggies & dip (freezer meal, using slow cooker)
Saturday-Friend Wonton, fried rice, broccoli, veggies & dip (company for dinner)
Sunday-Cabbage Role Casserole (will make two, one for freezer)

Meal planning usually goes quite well until the husband has to make a last minute trip out of town or until I decide to go out of town for a couple days.  When it is just me and my daughter at home we survive on leftovers and take out so that is why a couple of my posted meal plans did not go as planned.   Also when I am making my meal plan I like to note if it is a freezer meal, using slow cooker or if I am expecting company.  Tomorrow I am going to do my shop for the week, mostly veggies so this week will be on the cheap.  Hoping to post tonight's dinner too.  Have a great week.

Old Bay Seasoning Steamed Shrimp

Tonight we had Old Bay Seasoning steamed shrimp.  The recipe was right on the can and it was so good, here it is:

Old Bay Seasoning Steamed Shrimp


1 tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar
1 lb. shrimp

In saucepan combine first four ingredients.  Bring to a boil.  Add shrimp. stir gently.  Cover; steam until tender.  Drain, remove shell and enjoy.

I multiplied the recipe by two and it was fabulous, no leftovers and super, easy, fast dinner.

Meal Plan Monday

It's going to be a busy week, so glad I took the time to make a meal plan, it will help a lot this week.

Week of May 7th-

Monday - Old Bay Seasoning steamed shrimp, corn on the cob and green salad
Tuesday - Tune Takati, edamame and asian salad
Wednesday - Mexican pork chops and green salad (freezer meal)
Thursday - Bacon wrapped Sirloin steak, steamed artichokes and garlic muchrooms
Friday - Chicken Souvlaki, Poutine, veggies and dip
Saturday - Out for dinner
Sunday - Taco Rice (freezer meal)

I hope to be blogging very regularly this week, have a great week everyone.

Chicken Scampi, Freezer meal

Tonight I cooked up one of the freezer meals that I made from my first blog post when I made four chicken freezer meals from one 4 kg box of frozen chicken breast that I got on sale from Safeway.

Chicken Scampi was thawed out, reheated in a saucepan.  I used whole wheat spaghetti to serve it on and topped with fresh chopped tomatoes and Parmesan cheese.

The meal was easy and tasty, the only addition I would be more fresh ground pepper.  Also there is a lot of leftovers, maybe I would have split the  recipe in half or made two dinner portions instead of one.

Recipe from Once-A-Month-Cooking, Family Favorites
By:  Mimi Wilson & Mary Beth Lagerborg


Chicken Scampi

1/4 cup chopped green onions
3 teaspoons chopped garlic
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into1-inch strips
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1/2 pepper
*pasta and fresh tomato for serving day

In a large skillet, sauté the green onion and garlic in butter and oil.  Add the lemon juice, chicken, parsley, and pepper.  Cook the chicken, stirring occasionally for 12 to 15 minutes, unit no longer pink inside.  Cool.  Pour into a labelled 1-gallon freezer bag and freeze.

To serve, thaw chicken mixture.  Cook pasta according to package directions.  In a large skillet, cook the chicken mixture over medium heat for 6 to 190 minutes or until chicken is heated through.  Spoon the chicken over the pasta.  Garish with chopped tomato.

Serves 8

ENJOY!

Best Grilled Steaks EVER

Last Summer I picked up a really great grilling cook book from Williams-Sonoma.

I have always wanted to be a better griller and knew this was the ticket and I was right.  This $40 cook book has taught me the way to grill perfect steaks.

Sure the method is easy, might not have needed the cook book but the other recipes all look delicious and look forward to trying them this summer.

Plus it is nice to take a break from freezer meals, once in awhile.  Plus my family was super happy with their grilled steak that were tender and juicy!!

Happy grilling everyone.

Italian Slow Cooker Chicken, Freezer Meal

I cooked up one of my freezer meals that I made on my first post.  I thawed out the Italian Slow Cooker Chicken.

I put it in the slow cookers and added potato wedges for the last two hours of cooking.

Very easy quick dinner, only the slow cooker insert and lid to clean!  Family liked it, I thought it could use more pepper.

I know I must work on my photography skills, doesn't look to appetizing here in this photo.


Italian Slow Cooker Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing (I used Zesty Italian)
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
fresh ground pepper to your liking
*2 potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges to use on cooking day.

Combine all ingredients in Ziploc bag, label and freeze.

Thaw and place content of bag in slow cooker on low for 6 hours.  Add potatoes wedges for last two hours of cooking.  Cooking times can change due to your own slow cooker.

Enjoy!!