Steak with Melon Relish

I've never really been sure about relishes that combine fruit and vegetables, so when this recipe hit my inbox today from Self I have to say, my interest was piqued. I happened to have a huge ripe cantaloupe on my counter I brought at Trader Joe's over the weekend. So I figured why the heck not? With this new attempt at cutting down on carbohydrates I'm feverishly trying to find new recipes.



And it wasn't too bad! I would probably pair it with chicken or pork next time I make it, though. But the balsamic vinegar went great when paired with the cantaloupe. My little peanut sure enjoyed the cantaloupe as a snack (ok, it was her dinner...and that's all she ate. But I'm okay with that.)

Steak with Melon Relish
from Self Fitness Magazine

1 large cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and diced
1 medium red onion, diced
1 cup Italian parsley, chopped
1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
2 tablespoons white balsamic (or cider) vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 pounds of your favorite steaks
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Toss cantaloupe, onion, parsley, mint, vinegar and oil in a bowl. Set aside. Heat a grill, grill pan or large skillet over high heat. Season steaks on both sides with salt and pepper. Cook 5 to 8 minutes on each side for medium rare, 8 to 10 minutes per side for medium and 10 to 12 minutes per side for well done. Remove from heat and allow to rest on a clean cutting board for 5 to 7 minutes. Cut steak diagonally into 1/8-inch-thick slices and transfer to a platter. Spoon half the relish on top. Serve remaining relish on the side.

The Easiest Salad Dressing Ever

I'm not kidding when I say it is the easist ever...

My favorite salad at the moment is spinach with steak, red onion and tomatoes with this dressing. A little bit goes a long way here with this dressing, just to warn you. It is sweet and the vinegar cuts through to give it a nice tang to it.

Teri's Favorite Dressing

1/4 cup Canola Oil
1/4 cup White Vinegar
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar

Combine all three ingredients in a canning jar, close lid and shake for about 3 minutes until all sugar has dissolved.

Store in the refrigerator. Give it a good shake each time you use it. The oil and vinegar doesn't live a harmonious life together so they will separate in the jar as it sets.

Enjoy!!

Menu for May 10th - May 14th

With a busy schedule yet again, I've planned out my dinner menu for this week! Can I share it with you?

Monday: Chicken Marsala with brocolli
Tuesday: Steak with Melon Relish and Peas on the side
Wednesday: Hamburger Soup
Thursday: Homemade Chicken Nuggets, oven fries and green beans
Friday: Panko and Parmesan coated Tilapia with Risotto and brocolli

Oh, my mouth is already watering. I'll try to post the new recipes after I make them this week. Since I started this blog a month ago I sort of put on a few pounds with all the baking...so I'm trying to refocus on healthy meals! But don't worry, the sweets will make a return soon! I have a graduation party coming up that I'm hosting so that will guarentee some good treats coming your way.

Rhubarb Crisp Bars

Did you know it is supposed to SNOW tonight in Minnesota? What? We had full weeks in April of 70 degree weather and now in May its going to snow? How is a person supposed to cope with this? Can I tell you a secret and do you promise not to tell my husband? I coped very well by treating myself to $120 cowgirl boots and by baking this Delicious rhubarb pie/crumble/bar type thing. They were divine. Rhubarb isn't quite ready yet this season...but I still had some frozen and stashed in my freezer from last year. I couldn't decide if I wanted to make a pie or a crisp so I did both! The base layer is a press-in pie crust with rhubarb in the middle and an oat based crisp on top. Wow...were they awesome...so awesome I ate half the pan and vowed never to make them again. We'll see.

Rhubarb Crisp Bars

For Pie Crust:

1 cup flour

2 tbls sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

For Rhubarb Filling:

3 cups chopped rhubarb

3/4 cup white sugar

2 tbls corn starch

For Crisp Topping:

3/4 c sugar

3/4 quick cooking oats

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

7 tbls butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the crust, combine flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and using a pastry cutter, work ingredients until it is well combined. The dough will be crumbly. Press crust into an 8x8 glass pan with your fingers or the bottom of a measuring cup.

Next for the rhubarb filling, combine rhubarb, 3/4 c sugar and cornstarch in a bowl and dump over crust, speading until even.

Last for the crumb topping, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Cut butter into pats and with your hands work the butter into the dry ingredients until it is combined and crumbly. Then break mixture into little crumbs over the top of rhubarb, speading evenly over the top.

Bake for 40 minutes if you have fresh rhubarb...mine was frozen so I ended up baking it for 60 minutes. When entire top is nice and golden brown pull it out of the oven and dig in immediately! Serve with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream if your into that.

Enjoy!

Lemon and Blueberry Cake

So, after a full 9 hour day at work followed by a 4 mile run and grocery shopping I finally arrived home last night at 7:30 pm. And I still had to make dinner. We had sausage, rice and brocolli. Not much effort put in there.


Back to the point...I pulled into the garage last night and swung open the door where I had tossed the groceries in a hurry to get out of the rain and guess what happened...the eggs came crashing down onto the hard concrete floor of my garage. OF COURSE that had to be the one bag to hit the floor. Not that eggs are all that expensive, it just the principle that out of my own ignorance and stupidity that the eggs hit the floor. Its just kind of how my week is going.


So I managed to salvage 4 eggs out of a dozen, but they were broken so they had to be used. Luckily I also had a lemon on my counter and sour cream in my fridge that need to be used also. I've had the intentions of making this recipe for about 2 weeks now after I found it on My Baking Addition, but everyone I know seems to be on some sort of carbohydrate free diet so I haven't had anyone to share my sweets with.

Before I give you the recipe let me tell you a few things about my picture above here. Remember it was 7:30 pm when I broke the eggs? And I still had to cook dinner? Well, it was 9:45 before I pulled it out of the oven...and it didn't quite bake completely. It probably could have used an additional 10 minutes, but I still had to put the kids to bed and take a shower so I pulled it out and said poo on it. Also, when I was young and just starting my kitchen collection, the silicone bakeware was the in thing. So, I bought a silicone bundt pan and have never replaced it with a real pan. Well, the batter for this cake is rather heavy, and resulted in a very flat top on my bundt cake. Please use a metal bundt pan...and if you could buy me one too! And last of all, there is an icing that goes with this cake but it was way to late to pull that together. And once I tasted the cake with powdered sugar sprinkled on the top I decided it was sweet enough to forgo the icing. But the recipe is listed below just in case you'd like to use it!

Blueberry-Lemon Bundt Cake
Adapted by My Baking Addiction from Everyday Foods

For the Cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 teaspoon for blueberries and zest
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
2 cups blueberries
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
juice of one lemon
Nonstick cooking spray, for pan (I used Baker's Joy and it worked great)

For the Cream Cheese Glaze:
1 (4 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk

Directions for the Cake:
*For best results, coat the inside of the Bundt pan with cooking spray just before filling it with the batter to prevent it from pooling in the bottom.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk 2 1/2 cups flour with baking powder and salt; set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in vanilla and lemon juice. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of sour cream.
3. In a bowl, toss blueberries and zest with remaining teaspoon flour; gently fold into batter. Coat a 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan with cooking spray. Spread batter in prepared pan.
4. Bake cake on bottom rack of oven until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Invert onto a rack; cool completely, top side up. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving or drizzle with the cream cheese glaze.

Directions for the Cream Cheese Glaze:
Mix the cream cheese with the butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and milk in a bowl. Heat in a microwave oven for 10-15 seconds. Drizzle spoonfuls over the cooled cake.

Cheesy Potato Soup

It is really amazing how quickly this Potato Soup comes together. It really is perfect for a weeknight meal when you need some wholesome comfort food. Usually when its been a particularly hectic week where I haven't been able to get into the kitchen long enough to make what I would qualify as a "real" meal, I always make a big batch of soup.

You can make it super creamy by using heavy cream or half and half in the recipe, or depending on your current diet, use skim milk like me. This recipe is very forgiving when it comes to the type of dairy you decide to use. I've had no problems at all with it thickening adequately with skim milk.

Cheesy Potato Soup

4-5 medium potatoes
1 stick butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, minced
1/2 c flour
2 quarts milk
2 tbsp dried parsley flakes
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup grated cheddar/monteray jack cheese
bacon, crumbled for topping
cheese for topping

Peel and cube potatoes. Cover with water and boil until tender. Make a rue by melting the stick of butter in a large soup pot. Add minced onion and garlic and saute until tender and translucent. Add flour and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes. Using a whisk, stir in the milk. Continue to stir every few minutes until mix begins to thicken. When potatoes are tender, drain and add to soup base. Stir in seasonings and cheese. Heat until soup is bubbly and thick.

Serve with crumbled bacon and cheese on top.

English Muffins

First off, thanks to my first (and only follower at this point) Megan, from Food and Whine. Thank you for your lovely comments and also for posting this Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin recipe. I made them the with the cinnamon and raisin on Wednesday night and they were so good I made a regular batch on Thursday night so I could make my own egg muffins with them. I absolutely love how light and chewy they are (at least mine were).

Had I ever known how easy english muffins were to make I wouldn't have ever paid over $3.00 for six of them at the grocery store! And...I didn't knew they cooked on an electric fry pan either. Boy, I really must be living a sheltered life.

Semi Whole-Wheat English Muffins

1 cup milk
2 tablespoons of honey
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
.25 ounce package of active yeast

1 cup whole wheat flour
4-5 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
cornmeal

Heat milk in microwave for 1 1/2 minutes so it is hot enough to melt the butter. Add honey, butter, and salt to milk and set aside until milk is lukewarm.

In a warmed mixer bowl (do this by running bowl under hot tap water) add water and yeast until yeast forms a foam over top of water (about 5 minutes should do it). In a separate bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, 2 cups all-purpose flour and sugar. Add to your yeast/water in the mixing bowl and turn mixer on low (speed 2 for a KitchenAid) using the dough hook. Let mix in for 2 minutes. Add remaining flour slowly, 1 cup at a time. Once all flour is incorporated, mix for an additional 2 minutes.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning dough over so top is greased. Cover and put in a warm place to double in size for about 1 hour (I always turn my oven on 400 degrees for 2 minutes, then turn off oven and place dough inside oven). Punch dough down and divide in half. Roll dough out on a very lightly floured surface to about 1/2" thick. Cut out circles depending on how large you want your muffins. First I used a 2 1/2" biscuit cutter and those turned out too small so on my second batch I used a cup that had about a 3 1/2" diameter and these were prefect for my eggs and turkey the next morning.

Place about 1/2 cup cornmeal in a soup bowl. Lightly press both side of english muffin in cornmeal and place on baking sheet. Let muffins rise until doubled again, about 45 minutes.

Cook muffin on a very lightly greased (I gave it a very quick spray with Pam) electric fry pan at 275-300 degrees for 7-10 minutes on each side. They cook quickly so make sure to keep an eye on them so they don't burn. While the muffins are still warm...poke holes all the way around the middle of the muffin so they easily pull apart.

Enjoy!