Chili & Cornbread

I renamed this to be called Marvelous Beef Chili.  I'm a chili lover and am absolutely saving this recipe forever.  That's all.

This cornbread was very moist.  Surprisingly.  It was the first recipe I cooked out of the A Taste of Oregon cookbook we I received for our wedding and, in Mike's words, "didn't taste like any cornbread we'd ever had before."  It's sweeter than most but the most refreshing part of it was that it didn't taste like you were putting a spoonful of dry bread crumbs into your mouth.  Yes, I'm saving this one, too.  Taste of Oregon, you are 1 and 0!

Print the Chili recipe here.
Print the Cornbread recipe here.

Crockpot Lasagna?

Who would have thought?

Admittedly, as much as I enjoy Italian food, the classic dish of lasagna has never been one of my favorites.  So when a bunch of us were getting together for a party and multiple people signed up for lasagna, I planned on having lots of room for dessert...ha.

When the night finally arrived and dinner was served, it was hard to resist trying a little bit of everything.  I served myself some of someone's lasagna...Um, was I just ravenous or was this the best lasagna I'd ever tasted?!  I think "B"!

Several weeks later, having obtained a copy of the recipe from my friend Heather, I HAD to break out the really nice wedding Crockpot!

By the way, we are just about all unpacked! Thanks for sticking with me!  I hope to be slightly more active on here again...

We had our first guests over a few days ago.  Needless to really say on this particular blog, I LOVE feeding people. :)  Plus, it was my family so I was really looking forward to having them over.  We'd only spent the last 8 months living in their basement, but I guess I wasn't too tired of them!  Nor they of us...heh.

Okay, all that to say - I plumb forgot to take final pictures.  I was just chatting away with my mom, planning to play a freshly unpacked game with my dad and sister and I was very distracted!

You will need these ingredients:

Chopped Onion (I used more than what the recipe called for just because I love it)

Minced Garlic

Ground Beef & Italian Pork Sausage (I used a little more than a pound of each)

S&P, Tomato Paste, Crushed Tomatoes

Lasagna, of course!  I used half whole wheat and half enriched "regular"

And one of the best ingredients...Cheese!

Like I said, I was too excited (or something..."spacey" comes to mind...) to take any more photos.  Now you will just HAVE to make this easy recipe that, so far, everyone I know has enjoyed.

Click here for the printable recipe.

Peanuts Peanuts Peanuts

Original Roadhouse Grill.  Not to be confused with Texas Roadhouse or other “Roadhouse” restaurants scattered across the USA.  Though most of them DO allow peanuts to be thrown all over the floor…

 They have a largely varied menu, covering ribs, steak, seafood, burgers, sandwiches, and much more.  Going out with more people than just us two for a change gave us a larger variety of plates to review!

Mike loved the BLT, but he’d like to warn all of you not to eat so many peanuts beforehand or it won’t be quite as enjoyable. J

Others enjoyed the baby back ribs (received 5/5), the Tri-Tip (3/5 this time but once before was 4/5), and the Original House Cheeseburger (5/5).  I ordered the Hana Highway Chicken and would totally give it a 5/5.  After heating up the leftovers the next day, it was still just as good!

Half the plates came with fries which most people wanted to give a SIX out of 5, they were so good. J

On the flip side, service left a bit to be desired.  This time I would need to give it a 3/5 although I hear it’s been better for others at different times.  Bathrooms and Ambiance – both 5/5. 

Overall…I will definitely return.

Birthday Beef

Okay, Readers, raise your hands if you’ve ever made enchiladas before…Oh?  What’s that?  Almost ALL of you?!

Well, now I’m finally in the cool club.  Happy birthday, Dad!

My First Lomo Saltado

I put these pictures on facebook, but of course I should log it here!  I, in my own humble opinion, made a very good rendition of the famous Peruvian dish, Lomo Saltado.  I was very pleased with how it turned out and everyone else seemed to gobble it up as well.  I will definitely make it again!

Dad was a good sure helper!

Steak & Strawberries

After so much traveling for hosting our short-term projects in other cities, I was pretty worn out.  I was going to be home for a couple weeks, and, after talking with my mom, realized maybe my lack of energy was not enough red meat.  I thought about that and, sure enough, I'd mostly been eating chicken because that's almost always what Peru restaurants serve.  When we're on the road, we obviously can't cook for ourselves so we usually eat what the restaurants are serving our short-term volunteers.

Anyhow, I decided to go buy some meat.  I spent some time talking to the meat lady and she recommended two kinds, one of which was incredibly expensive so I chose the other "good" kind.  Well, meat here just never really stands up to American standards - thick and juicy?  More like thin and tough. :)  I ordered "one" because Mike was out of town.  Well, "one" is still gigantic.  It filled a whole large dinner plate:

I covered it in tons of spices to give as much flavor as possible.  I'm writing this blog a month later, so I don't really remember what I used, sorry.

Then I cooked it on the stove.

Then I ate a third of it, saving more for lunch at work the next day.

With strawberries...