Basil-Lime & Garlic Ribeye with Basil-Garlic Potato "chunks"

Dinner tonight was amazing. We had some steaks that were getting "aged" and needed to be eaten up asap. They were tender and delicious, and here is a quick, last minute recipe to cook some up. Its raining outside so this recipe is cooked using stove top pan frying, which is not, by any means my fav way to cook a steak... I'm sure grilling would be 100 x's better. You'll have to try it and let me know! ;)

STEAKS:

2 Rib eyes
Texjoy(heres where you can find it) its a steak seasoning, but we use it on EVERYTHING.
1 med sized Lime
Fresh Basil, about 6-7 leaves, chopped
Fresh Lemon Balm(optional) 2 leaves, chopped
1-2 cloves Garlic

Lightly Sprinkle steaks with Texjoy(or any other, not quite as good as the best, steak seasoning). Add Basil, lemon balm and garlic. Press into meat well so seasonings stick and flavors will lock in.
Squeeze 1/2 of lime juice onto steak and let rest for about 15 min.

Set frying pan on med/high. Add steaks, squeeze rest of lime juice into pan and cook until done but tender. (however "done" is to you. If you like your steak brown all the way through, don't come bitching to me when it has no flavor, isn't tender, or doesn't taste good... that's NOT how a steak should be cooked. Grab some ketchup, take your steak and go elsewhere)
Once cooked to desired temp, remove from heat and let rest about 5 min.

POTATOES:

4 or 5 Gold potatoes, chopped into "chunks"
2 tbs. Fresh Garlic, minced
1 Tbs. Fresh Basil, chopped
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 c. all purpose flour
Oil for frying








Set fryer at 375 degrees.
Wash potatoes, cut into cubes and dry on towel.

In a bowl, mix rest of ingredients.
Add potatoes to bowl and coat well.


Once hot, fry potatoes for about 3 minutes. Shake off excess oil and put back in flour mixture bowl. Toss in flour mixture well while still hot and coated in oil. Put bowl with potatoes in fridge for about 20 min.


Dump entire bowl contents into fryer and cook for about another 5-8 minutes until potatoes golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve hot!



I added some season salt to these and they were just perfect!

Pineapple Chicken (and Pineapple Terryaki Chicken)

Find the Chopsticks! Asian(ish) food time! I serve this over white rice. When cooking I add about a 1/2 cup more water to the rice than directed so its slightly sticky and not too dry.


For Pineapple Chicken use the following recipe (For teriyaki, see below*)

1 tbs. sesame oil
1/4 c. plus 1 tbs. soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic, minced (about 1 tbs)
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 tbs. white rice vinegar
2 tbs. brown sugar, packed
2 tbs. orange marmalade
1/2 tsp. season salt (Lawry's)
1/4 tsp. crushed red peppers
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
2 chicken breast, sliced into thin pieces
1 (20 oz.) can pineapple sliced, in 100% juice. DO NOT DRAIN.



Place skillet or Wok on med heat. Add sesame oil and soy sauce to pan. Once hot, add garlic and onions and cook about 5 min until tender, not brown. Add vinegar, b. sugar, marmalade, season salt, crushed red pepper, and ginger. Stir well.
Add green and red peppers and about 1/2 the juice from the can of pineapple. Cover and let cook about 6-8 min until peppers start to get soft.
Add chicken. Add remainder of juice and pineapple slices from can(you can cut them up if you'd like, i just kind of mash them in the pan while cooking).
Cover and continue to cook about 10 minutes or until chicken is done, stirring occasionally.
Serve hot over white rice.

*the only difference for the teriyaki chicken is that i usually marinade the chicken strips for at least 24 hrs prior to cooking in glaze, plus i use about 1/2 bottle of glaze. Then when cooking, after adding the chicken, i add the rest of the bottle of glaze to pan.

"Kids" Mac N' Cheeze

I was asked to make mac and cheese for a friends daughters 1st bday party. And I was challenged with what to do! GO figure. I can make some damn good spicy adult mac n cheese, but for kids I was stumped. So I went with the staple... Velveeta. Its fake, creamy and cheesy... perfect for kids! I couldn't leave it at just that, and simply follow the recipe on the package, so here is what I did: (and let me tell you, it was tasty! the adults couldn't keep their hands off it either!!)

1 stick (unsalted) butter
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 c AP flour
1/8 tsp Ground Mustard
1/2 tsp Pepper
2 cups whole milk, divided
1 egg
32 oz Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 lb box uncooked pasta shells
1 c. Cheddar cheese, shredded

Melt butter over med heat. Add Salt. Once butter is melted, whisk in flour, stir CONSTANTLY and cook about 5 min, until it starts to thicken up. Add g. mustard and pepper. Beat egg with 1 cup milk and add SLOWLY to roux mixture. Continue whisking. (it will turn to this thick paste almost at this point...its ok, the cheese will mix with it nicely!)  Add rest of milk. Mix well, and add cheese, about 1/3rd at a time and mix often. Cook pasta al dente while cheese sauce is cooking. When pasta is done drain well and pour into 13X9 casserole dish. Then add cheese sauce and mix well (you want to get the cheese all crammed up into those shells!). Top with cheddar cheese and bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20min, or until cheese is melted. ENJOY!

mmmmm, cheese sauce.

Zebra Gum(fruit stripe) scented laundry soap... that works AMAZING!!! Yay, doing laundry is (somewhat) enjoyable now

Homemade laundry soap, that smells like zebra gum(if u dont know what that is, then educate yourself, or dont talk to me ever again...cuz thats stuffs amazing)
2 cups Borax
2 cups Washing Soda
1 cup Oxy Clean
1 1/2 cups purex crystals scent booster, lavander blooms(or something like that)
1 bar Ivory soap, grated
1 bar Fels-Naptha soap, grated (can be found in the laundry isle)

Put all ingredients in a blender(or... food processor) and blend until a powdery substance. Use about 2 tbs per load. This stuff is potent, you really don't need a whole lot. You could probably even get about with 1tbs per load. We wash some heavy duty laundry tho. I've got one kid who wets the bed, and another who is in cloth diapers and potty training, work clothes covered in food and grime, work clothes smelling like asphalt, random stains and messes that all kids are so good at acquiring... takes it ALL out, including the smell. I have never been able to find another product that does as well as this laundry soap. AND. It's cheaper to make it yourself.
I also highly recommend doing a prewash/soak cycle on urine soaked clothes/sheets. This has make a huge improvement in overall smell and cleanliness.<----that goes for all detergents. :)