Steak Salad with Cilantro-Lime Mayo

 

I got this recipe while leafing through The Whole 30, by Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig. It’s different from the meals I usually make, but it was a welcome change! Note that the recipe below makes 2 generous or 4 small servings, so feel free to double it. We really enjoyed this!

For the cilantro-lime mayonnaise (my adaptation)
¾ cup mayonnaise
1 lime, juiced
¼ cup minced fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced


Mix the ingredients together and set aside. (You might want to add a tablespoon of water or two to get the consistency of salad dressing.)


For the steak salad
½ cup EVOO
4 limes, juiced
¼ cup onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. roughly chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp. mustard powder
1 lb. beef (flank steak, sirloin, or strip steak)
4 cups greens
1 avocado
½ cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange), diced

Combine oil, lime juice, onion, garlic, cilantro, and mustard powder in a food processor and blend on low speed. Place beef in a resealable plastic bag or nonreactive bowl with a lid and add the marinade. Seal and marinate in fridge for 1-8 hours (more is better, especially for tougher cuts).

Remove steak from fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat oven to 350 °F. Heat a grill to high heat or heat a heavy skillet over high heat on stovetop. Line a baking sheet with foil.

Remove the beef from marinade; discard the marinade. On the grill or in the skillet on the stovetop, sear the beef over high heat until a light crust is formed (2-3 minutes each side). Transfer the beef to the prepared baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 8-15 minutes. Let the steak rest for 5-10 minutes, then thinly slice.

While beef rests, toss the salad greens with the avocado, tomato, and bell pepper in a large bowl, then divide between 2 plates.

Place slices of steak on top of the greens. Drizzle the dressing over the steak and salad and serve.

Late 2024 outings

I haven’t been great at updating these past six months or so, but I am still alive and well! I’ve been working on my business (did you know I’m a professional organizer and KonMari Consultant?) and it’s been busy, even though sadly not all work hours are billable hours.

In August, I did this crazy thing where I flew to Montreal on a Thursday, drove with Dear Sister and Dear Brother-In-Law to (and back from) a small town south of Quebec City for my grandmother’s funeral on Friday, flew to Dallas-Forth Worth on Saturday to meet up with the Engineer and our kids for a concert, then drove home to San Antonio with them on Sunday. I had never been so jet set in my life! Anyway, this gave me the opportunity to see a bit of Forth Worth. Of course we made it to the Stockyard for the cattle drive and walked around that part of town. We also went to Bass Performance Hall, where the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra was performing the music from Final Fantasy VII. It was a beautiful building, in a nice part of town, and we really enjoyed the show!

 

In September, my friend Jen from Montreal was in town for a conference. She was staying at the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort & Spa. I had been dying to try out their famous lazy river, so this was the perfect opportunity to spend time with a friend WHILE lazing down a river – 10/10, highly recommend.

October flew by and I don’t remember a special outing that month.

Finally, in November, we went to Escape Room San Antonio, where we escaped from the Harry Potter room with minutes to spare! It was the second escape room puzzle for the Engineer and I, but the first for the kids and my mother-in-law. We really had fun! There were a few times when we needed a hint – funnily enough, each time, one of the kids had obscured (or absconded with) an essential piece of the puzzle without us realizing it! Anyway, I loved it; I feel like it’s a great activity, it’s fun and works my brain in a different way than I’m used to, and hopefully we’ll go again next year.

This month, we’ll probably stick to driving around neighborhoods with beautiful holiday lights and enjoy the season.

Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps

 

This meal was a hit with my family! I saw the recipe on Sweet Peas and Saffron, though Coup de Pouce has a very similar one. I wanted to make sure we had leftovers, so I used 2 pounds of ground turkey and increased the quantity of carrots as well. I’ll be sure to make it again – we all really liked it!

For the sauce
¼ cup natural peanut butter
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. water (or more, if your peanut butter is stiff)
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. lime juice

For the filling
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves, garlic minced
1 Tbsp. Thai red curry paste
1 lb. lean ground turkey
1 cup shredded carrots

To serve
romaine lettuce leaves
green onions, to garnish
peanuts, to garnish

In a small jar or salad dressing shaker, put the peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, water, sesame oil and lime juice. Shake it up until smooth.

Heat oil in a large pan and add the onions, garlic, and Thai red curry paste. Stir until red curry paste is heated through and mixed in evenly with the onions (2-3 minutes).

Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking it up with a spatula, for 5-7 minutes, until no pink remains and the turkey is cooked through.

Stir in the shredded carrots, then the peanut sauce. Stir to combine. Toss until everything is evenly coated, then set aside to cool slightly.

To serve, spoon the filling into romaine lettuce leaves. Sprinkle with green onions and/or peanuts, and enjoy!

Biscuits déjeuner au beurre d'arachides et à la framboise

 

Encore une recette de Déjeuners protéinés d’Hubert Cormier! J’ai décidé de faire les biscuits déjeuner au beurre d’arachides et à la framboise. Il s’agit de biscuits de style « thumbprint » que les enfants étaient bien contents d’essayer. C’est un bon accompagnement au déjeuner ou encore une bonne collation!

Pour la garniture aux framboises
½ tasse de framboises fraiches ou surgelées
1 c. à soupe de graines de chia

Pour les biscuits déjeuner
2 tasses de flocons d’avoine à cuisson rapide
¼ tasse de cassonade
1 banane, légèrement écrasée
3 c. à soupe de graines de lin, moulues
¼ tasse d’eau
1 pincée de sel
¼ tasse de beurre d’arachides en poudre
¼ tasse d’eau
¼ tasse de beurre d’arachides naturel

Préchauffer tout d’abord le four à 350 °F. Tapisser une plaque de cuisson d’un tapis de silicone ou de papier parchemin.

Dans une casserole, chauffer à feu moyen les framboises et les graines de chia environ 15 minutes en remuant fréquemment. Écraser grossièrement à l’aide d’une fourchette et réserver.

Dans un grand bol, bien mélanger tous les ingrédients des biscuits.

Former ensuite 12 boules de pâte d’environ 1 c. à soupe (j’en avais 15). Déposer sur la plaque de cuisson.

À l’aide du pouce, creuser une petite cavité en pressant sur chaque biscuit.

Déposer environ 1 c. à thé de confiture de framboises dans chaque cavité et enfourner 12 minutes.

Si désiré, garnir d’un filet de beurre d’arachides fondu.

Chicken Cucumber Avocado Salad

 

This was a simple meal that was right up my alley! You can buy a rôtisserie chicken or use leftover cooked chicken. As always, I prefer to prep the salad just before serving; leftovers keep better separately.

1 rôtisserie chicken, deboned and shredded, skin on or off
1 large English cucumber or continental, halved lengthways and sliced into ¼-inch thick slices
4-5 large Roma tomatoes, sliced or chopped
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
½ cup flat leaf parsley, chopped (cilantro would be more my thing here; basil might be nice too)
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2-3 Tbsp. lemon juice or the juice of 2 limes
1 pinch salt, to taste
1 pinch pepper, to taste

Mix together shredded chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, avocados, and chopped parsley in a large salad bowl.

Drizzle with the olive oil and lemon juice (or lime juice), and season with salt and pepper. Toss gently to mix all of the flavors through.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

I found this recipe on Cup of Jo, though it’s originally by Sara Forte of Sprouted Kitchen. I adapted it a bit by reordering the ingredients and steps and, the second time I made it, by using miniature chocolate chips, which I think was an improvement. The Engineer loves these, and the Little Prince said they are now his favorite! These muffins are moist with a crisp top, and they have fewer carbs than regular muffins. I’ll be making these again!

1 cup grated zucchini (about 1 medium/large)
¾ cup almond flour
¾ cup all-purpose flour (or superfine rice flour – I actually used white whole wheat)
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. sea salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ cup cane sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup olive oil (or avocado oil or coconut oil)
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
¼ cup lactose-free buttermilk substitute or plain yogurt
½ cup semisweet miniature chocolate chips
turbinado sugar, to finish, optional

Start by grating the zucchini. Put the gratings in a fine mesh sieve and press out excess water. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 360 °F and grease a muffin tin. (I got 12 muffins each time I made it.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, vanilla, vinegar and buttermilk or yogurt, until well combined. Add dry ingredients and stir until combined. Add the zucchini and chocolate and fold it all in.

Fill the muffin tins about 2/3 full (they don’t rise much) and sprinkle turbinado sugar on top, if using.

Bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes, or until golden around the edge and a little tap on the center bounces back (I used the good old toothpick method).

Vegetables Pancakes with Sesame Fried Eggs

 

I got this recipe from Real Simple. It’s inspired by Korean vegetable pancakes, and it was really good! I used the food processor to make fast work of all the vegetables. This was great for lunch!

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
5 Tbsp. cornstarch or potato starch
2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into matchsticks
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 large bunch of scallions, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and cut crosswise into 3-in. lengths; plus more, thinly sliced, for topping
6 Tbsp. neutral oil (such as canola), divided
2 Tbsp. sesame seeds
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 250 °F and place a wire rack inside a baking sheet.

Whisk flour, cornstarch, and 1 ½ teaspoons salt in a large bowl until combined. Gradually whisk in 1 ½ cups ice-cold water until smooth (batter will be thin). Stir in sweet potato, mushrooms, and scallions.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high. Using tongs and letting excess batter drip back into bowl, add about 1 ½ cups vegetable mixture to skillet and pat into an even layer (about ½ inch thick). Cook until browned on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer cooked pancake to prepared rack and place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining vegetable mixture to yield 4 pancakes total, wiping skillet clean and adding 1 tablespoon oil between each pancake.

While last pancake is cooking, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add sesame seeds; cook, stirring often, until seeds turn pale gold, about 1 minute. Add eggs and sprinkle with remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Cook, spooning hot oil and sesame seeds over eggs, until whites are set and yolks are still runny, about 3 minutes.

Serve eggs on vegetable pancakes. Top with thinly sliced scallions.

Pepperoni Pizza Hand Pies

 

I’m always open to variations of pizzas for the kids’ lunches, because that’s an easy sell with them. We all really liked these pepperoni pizza hand pies! They were great warm and dipped in pizza sauce. If they are going to school in a lunchbox, it might be a better idea to include a bit of pizza sauce in the pies themselves instead of dipping them.

1 box refrigerated pie crust, at room temperature (14 oz.)
3 oz. sliced pepperoni
1 ½ cups lactose-free shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup pizza sauce

Preheat oven to 425 °F. Allow pie crust to come to room temperature before unrolling (see package directions).

Unroll pie crusts and cut 6 circles from each crust using a 4-inch biscuit cutter. You may have to re-roll the scraps to get the 6th (or 7th) circle. I got a total of 15 little hand pies.

Place about 3 pieces of pepperoni and a big pinch of cheese in the center of each circle. Fold the sides over and pinch the edges closed. Press the edges with the tines of a fork to seal.

Bake on a parchment paper lined baking sheet (1 inch apart) for about 13-15 minutes, until browned.

Serve immediately, with pizza sauce, if eating at home.

 

Mrs. Bean's Nutmeg Apple Ginger Snaps

 

The Fox (my youngest) was obsessed with Fantastic Mr. Fox (the movie), so I decided to make Mrs. Bean’s nutmeg apple ginger snaps – a recipe created by The Live-In Kitchen. This is a great fall cookie for anyone, but even better if you’re a fan of the movie! (Full disclosure: while the Fox was tickled that I made the cookies from the movie, and while he thought they looked nice, he still refused to taste them.)

After a bit of trial and error, I decided that it is best to shape each cookie with a scant 1.5-oz scoop of batter; I got a total of 30 cookies, of which 4 were not topped with sliced apple, but the Fox still didn’t want them. I would have gotten a few more cookies had I figured out my scoop measurement from the start.

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for topping if desired
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. grated nutmeg
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch salt
2 cups butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
6 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. molasses
1 Tbsp. fresh grated ginger root
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
4 Gala apples (Braeburn or Honeycrisp would be good, too)
organic refined sugar and cake sparkles for sprinkling, or any coarse sugar, like turbinado

Preheat the oven to 325 °F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Set aside.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed until light. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, molasses, and fresh ginger and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed until fully blended.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three parts, carefully and on low speed, until the ingredients are fully blended.

Working in batches as necessary, roll 2-3 tablespoons of dough into balls and use your hand to flatten them on the prepared cookie sheet to about ¼ inch high and 2 inches apart.

Slice the apples as thinly as you can (crosswise so you can see the star of the core in the middle) and press slices firmly into the center of each cookie. Sprinkle coarse sugar and extra cinnamon evenly over cookies to coat, making sure to cover the edges (I had turbinado sugar, but it would have been prettier with white cake sparkles).

Bake 20 minutes or until the edges are golden. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with more sugar, if desired, and cake sparkles. Let cool a few minutes on the cookie sheet before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Acai Bowl

 

It was inevitable that I would make an acai bowl at some point, right? Acai is regarded as a superfood for its antioxidants; I don’t think it has more than most berries, though it does have less sugar. For this recipe, I didn’t freeze all the fruit, because I felt like the mixture would be too stiff, but as a result my smoothie bowl was actually too liquid. I guess you should follow instructions; just remember that you need enough liquid in your blender to get things moving.

1 banana - sliced and frozen
½ cup blueberries - frozen
½ cup strawberries - frozen
¾ cup milk or juice - use your favorite milk (lactose-free dairy milk, soy, almond, etc.) or juice (apple or grape)
½ cup lactose-free plain yogurt - (substitute with lactose-free milk or juice if desired)
200 g (2 packets) frozen acai purée - broken into pieces
assorted toppings - nuts, seeds, fresh fruit, granola, coconut, etc.

If you haven’t done so ahead of time, slice your banana and transfer it to a small baking sheet or plate lined with parchment paper. To the same plate, add the blueberries and strawberries (store-bought frozen fruit will work just as well). Transfer tray or plate to the freezer and allow fruit to freeze completely.

Put the milk and yogurt in the bowl of a large, high-speed blender with a tamper (I have a Vitamix). Add the frozen blueberries, strawberries, banana, and broken up acai. With the blender on low, use the tamper to push the frozen fruit down, mixing around as much as possible. Continue to blend on low until smooth, only adding additional liquid when needed.

Divide the smoothie into two bowls and top with all your favorite toppings. Popular additions include sliced banana, nuts, seeds, granola, and berries. Serve immediately.

Poêlée de gnocchis à la pancetta, aux tomates cerises et à la sauge

Voici une recette simple de Coup de Pouce que j’ai bien aimée!

Pour la sauge frite
¼ tasse d'huile d'olive
16 feuilles de sauge

Dans un petit poêlon, chauffer l’huile d’olive à feu moyen-vif. Ajouter les feuilles de sauge et cuire, en brassant, 30 secondes ou jusqu’à ce qu’elles soient croustillantes. À l’aide d’une fourchette, déposer les feuilles de sauge dans une assiette tapissée d’essuie-tout et laisser égoutter.

Pour les gnocchis
2 cuillères à table d'huile d'olive
2 paquets de gnocchis (500 g chacun)
1 paquet de pancetta cuite, en dés (175 g) (j’avais 8 oz de bacon)
2 gousses d'ail, hachées finement
1 barquette de tomates cerises (283 g)
¾ tasses de crème à cuisson 15%
1/3 tasse de fromage pecorino (ou parmesan) sans lactose, râpé
sel et poivre

Dans une grande poêle, à feu moyen, faire chauffer l’huile, puis faire revenir les gnocchis, en remuant occasionnellement, de 7 à 10 minutes ou jusqu’à ce que les gnocchis soient bien dorés. Réserver au chaud dans une assiette.

Ajouter la pancetta dans la poêle et faire revenir de 3 à 4 minutes ou jusqu’à ce qu’elle commence à dorer. Ajouter l’ail et les tomates cerises. Faire revenir de 2 à 3 minutes de plus, jusqu’à ce que les tomates commencent à ramollir.

Remettre les gnocchis dans la poêle, ajouter la crème et réchauffer les gnocchis en remuant délicatement pendant quelques minutes. Saupoudrer de pecorino (ou de parmesan). Garnir de sauge frite. Saler et poivrer.