Lemon & Sage Flank Steak

Review by Lyndee:

2lb flank steak, silver skin and excess fat removed, thinly sliced against the grain

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest

1/3 cup finely chopped sage

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

In a large dish combine all ingredients. Mix to combine so all of the steak is evenly coated. Let marinate in fridge for at least an hour, and up to 6.

Remove meat from fridge and let come to room temperature before cooking.

In a large skillet or sauté pan heat 1/2 tbsp over medium high heat. Lightly sprinkle salt over the meat. Working in batches cook the steak and onion pieces about two minutes on the first side, then flip and cook an additional minute, or until steak is cooked to your liking. Remove cooked steak and let it rest on a plate. Add oil as needed until all the meat has been cooked.  Once the meat has rested a few minutes, dig in!

Rob found this recipe on a paleo website and wanted to try it.  I have to say, it was really good.  A bit sweeter/tangier than I am used to when eating steak but it tasted great.  And it was something different than we usually have.  We paired it with some fried rice and enjoyed our “real food” feast. 

BLT Rollers

For our crafting at the cabin recipe, I used a recipe I found off the Kraft Recipes site -- http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/blt-rollers-124708.aspx.  Very easy, and very delicious.

Here's what you'll need (via kraft recipes):

First , I would recommend doubling this recipe if you're making it for a party.  Once batch is really not enough for more than four people or so.

• 4 oz. Cream Cheese
• 1/4 Cup Mayo
• 8 slices Bacon, cooked, crumbled (I just purchased the bacon crumbles you can find near the Baco Bits in the grocery store -- much easier and tasted just as good!)
• 1/2 cup chopped tomoatoes
•  2 flour tortillas (I used tomato tortillas)
• 1/2 cup shredded romaine lettuce (I used spinach leaves)

Here's what you do:

• Mix cream cheese and mayo in medium bowl.  Add bacon and tomatoes; mix well.

• Spread onto tortillas; top with lettuce/spinach.  Roll up tightly.
• Cut each into 7 diagonal slices.  This seemed very small to me.  So, I cut each into about four non-diagonal slices.  By doing that they sat better in the serving container, and you got more of a taste of the BLT flavor.  

These were delicious, and I would definitely make them again!

"Pig" Thanks!

Have you see the latest dessert making the rounds on the internet and pinterest with the pigs taking a bath in a chocolate pond bordered by kit-kats?  I thought it looked fun and definitely worth a try since I had to make someone special a little something to say "thanks".  Here's where I obtained the inspiration for my own take on the Pig Cake: http://diycozyhome.com/swimming-pigs-kit-kat-chocolate-cake/ and http://sodelicio.us/2013/02/little-piggies-swimming-in-nutella-in-a-kit-kat-barrel/.

I made my own revisions to this recipe.  And, made the inside more of a rice krispy dessert than pure Nutella.  This created a much less expensive dessert as well -- jars of nutella are around $4 each!!!

Here's what I did (with a few unintended bumps along the way)...

Make up two round pan rice krispy cakes.

Then, spread a little JIF Hazelnut Spread on top of one of the cakes.  I used this instead of Nutella, and was very happy with it -- it is delicious!!!!  And, it's a bit cheaper than Nutella.  

Then place them on top of one another.  

Then, I began putting the rest of the chocolate spread on top of the cake.  I used the whole jar!

Then, I grabbed my bag of Kit Kats, and noticed that I purchased the MINI sized kit kats, instead of the normal sized kit kats!!  Dang it!

So, I improvised.  I just stuck the mini kit kats into the rice krispy cake and then tied a string around the top to keep it all in place.  It didn't look as clean as the picture I used for inspiration, but it seemed to do the trick.

Then, I added my decorations.  Candy pigs are not the easiest thing to find, and there is a snowball's chance in hell that I'm going to attempt to make them myself.  So, I went to my son's toy box and found some of his farm animal toys.  I stuck them in the cake, and then (in pink frosting of course), I wrote "Pig" Thanks!  

This was a super fun, and not to difficult little cake to make!  The kids got a big kick out of it, too!

Party potatoes

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients (serves 8)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, divided

1lb country-style frozen hash browns, thawed

1/4 cup green onion, chopped

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 cup crushed corn flakes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 1/4 cup butter in an 8×8 casserole dish in the oven while it heats.

Meanwhile, combine hash browns, green onion, sour cream, cheese and soup in a large bowl. Transfer mixture to the casserole dish after the butter has melted. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Melt remaining 1/4 cup butter in the microwave, then mix with crushed cornflakes. Sprinkle on top of the potatoes evenly and bake for 15 more minutes.

I did these in the crockpot on high for 3 hours, then added the toppings the last 30 minutes.  Instead of using corn flakes I used fried onion strings, like the kind you put on top of green bean casserole.  The potatoes were really good but came out super buttery! Like there was almost a golden halo on your plate from them.  Next time, I would not add the second ¼ of butter. I would just put the corn flakes or fried onions on top and let the butter that’s already in there do the work.  They went over well and totally hit the spot but just  bit on the buttery/greasy side.  

Mississippi Sin Dip

Review by Lyndee

16oz sour cream

8oz cream cheese, softened

2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

½ cup chopped ham

½ cup chopped cooked bacon

1 green onion, chopped

1 tbsp chopped green chilies (optional)

¼ tsp hot sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

salt

pepper

16 oz French bread loaf

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, except French bread; stirring until well blended.

Cut a thin slice from top of bread loaf; set slice aside. Using a gentle sawing motion, cut vertically to, but not through, bottom of the loaf, 1/2 inch from the edge, to cut out center of bread. Lift out center of loaf. Fill hollowed bread loaf with the dip. Wrap loaf with foil.

Bake dip at 350° degrees for 1 hour. Remove foil last 10 minutes.  Serve with reserved bread cubes, crackers, or potato chips.

This dip was awesome! And addictive.  Once you started dipping you couldn’t stop.  We tried it with bread, crackers and tortilla chips and all ways were delicious but the majority of us kept going back to the bread.  Very easy to make! I made up the dip portion the day before and then Saturday morning, just cut the bread and plopped it in there before it went in the oven.  Everyone thought this would be a great super bowl or tailgating recipe.  

Buckeye Bark

Review by Lyndee:

2-1/2 lbs chocolate candy coating

1 (16.3 oz) jar creamy peanut butter

2 c Confectioners’ sugar

8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Melt half of the chocolate candy coating according to the package directions, then spread over parchment paper or a silpat-lined cookie sheet. Spread to a large rectangle, but not too thin – approximately 1/8″ to 1/4″ thickness. Place in freezer to firm up.

In a large bowl, beat together the peanut butter, Confectioners’ sugar, melted butter and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy. Remove first chocolate layer from the freezer and spread the peanut butter mixture over the top. Return to the freezer and melt the remaining chocolate candy coating. Once that is melted, spread it over the top of the peanut butter layer and freeze until set.

Break up the bark into small pieces using a butcher knife. Store in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to serve.

This was awesome! So much easier to make than the little balls and it tastes just like a Reese’s peanut butter egg.  The only thing I would change next time, is to spread it out on a bigger pan so it wasn’t quite as thick.  For some reason my I had a lot more peanut butter mixture than chocolate coating.  But it was still delicious! 

Twix Bars -- Instead of Two Bars in a Package You Can Have A Whole Pan!!!!

These Twix Bars are nothing but super yummy!  They are a family favorite, and whenever I bring them to an event, I come home with an empty pan.

Here's What You'll Need:
Club crackers
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. milk
1 cup finely crushed graham crackers
2/3 cup peanut butter
1 c. chocolate chips

Here's What You'll Do:
Line bottom of 9x13 inch pan with Club crackers.  In the picture below, I'm using a larger pan, and I just doubled the above ingredients.

Then, bring the butter, sugar, brown sugar, milk, and graham crackers to a boil.

Then, continue to let it boil for five minutes while continuously stirring.  

Pour that mixture on top of your layer of club crackers, and spread it all out evenly with a spoon.

Then, add another layer of club crackers on top of that.

Then, melt together the peanut butter and chocolate chips.

Then, pour those over top of the second layer of club crackers. (My chocolate looks bumpy because all I had in the house was crunch peanut butter -- so the bumps are the bits of nuts.)

Then, place in the fridge to set.