Garlic Butter Steak Bites with Lemon Zucchini Noodles

I was pretty on the fence when trying this recipe. I had never had zucchini noodles before. I know that probably sounds crazy, but I’ve always been a “give me all the pasta” kind of girl. But this recipe was better than I could’ve imagined! Easy to make and filled me up fast with barely any carbs. Can’t beat that!

Ingredient

1 - 1.5 lbs sirloin steak cut into small cubes

4 medium zucchini, spiraled (or a 24 oz bag of store-bought zucchini noodles)

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons butter, divided

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/4 cup beef, chicken or vegetable broth

1 tablespoon minced parsley

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes, optional

Juice of 1/2 lemon (or ¼ cup)

Marinade:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon hot sauce (I used Sriracha)

Fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

Juice of 1/2 lemon 

Instructions

In a ziploc baggie, combine the ingredients for the steak marinade (soy sauce, olive oil, hot sauce, pepper, and lemon juice) and add the steak bites. Mix well and marinate for 15 to 20 minutes minimum, while preparing the other ingredients. I let this marinade for an hour, flipping halfway through.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Drain steak bites from the marinade. Keep the remaining marinade for later.  Place the steak bites in the skillet in a single layer.  Do not overcrowd the skillet or meat will steam, so you may have to work in batches depending on the size of your skillet. Cook steak bites for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until steak bites are golden brown. Repeat with remaining steak bites if needed.

Once all the steak bites are golden brown, add 2 tablespoons butter and garlic to the skillet; cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring to coat the meat in the sauce. Remove the steak bites to a shallow plate and set aside, leaving the juice in the pan.

Add 1 tbsp butter, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, beef broth, and remaining marinade juices. Bring to a simmer and allow to reduce for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly.

If you spiral your own zucchini: add the noodles and toss for two to three minutes to cook it up. Stir in the fresh parsley and thyme, then allow the cooking juices to reduce for one minute if the zucchini noodles render too much water. If you use a steam and serve bag like I did, cook the zucchini as directed then drain. Add zucchini and coat in the sauce. Push the zucchini noodles on the side, add the steak bites back to the pan and reheat for another minute while mixing. Serve immediately your garlic butter steak bites and zucchini noodles. Enjoy!

Note: I didn’t have any parsley. And my thyme was the dried kind in a shaker, not fresh. I did add a couple extra shakes of red pepper flakes.

Baked Firecracker Chicken

When it's snowing in October I will find any reason to turn on the oven. Sunday meal prep for lunches this week...baked firecracker chicken. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup hot sauce (I used Sriracha)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp oil

1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the hot sauce, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and chili pepper flakes in a small sauce pan until the sugar has melted into the sauce.

Heat the oil in a large oven safe skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and brown, about 3-5 minutes per side.

Transfer to oven safe dish. Pour 1/3 of the sauce over the chicken and bake until cooked, about 10-15 minutes, basting with the sauce every 5 minutes.

Enjoy with the remaining sauce!

Jalapeno garlic cream cheese and bacon stuffed sweet peppers

Ingredients:

12 baby bell peppers cut lengthwise and seeded

2 teaspoons olive oil

8 oz package jalapeno cream cheese (if you don't like spicy you can use regular cream cheese) 

2 stalks green onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic minced

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sriracha

Ground black pepper

1 tbsp bacon pieces

Shredded cheese (I used Colby Jack)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the bell peppers lengthwise, remove the seeds and stems. Lightly oil the bell peppers by tossing them in a bowl with some grapeseed oil or olive oil. Place the peppers on a baking sheet skin-side down. Roast in the oven for 8-10 minutes until the edges begin to show some color. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

While the peppers are roasting, prepare your stuffing. Place the cream cheese, garlic, salt, sriracha and black pepper in a bowl and mix until creamy. Add the green onion and bacon. Fold in to the cream cheese until combined. Test the cream cheese for flavor. If you would like, add more salt and/or sriracha.

Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Use a spoon (or a piping bag) to stuff the peppers liberally and place them back on the baking sheet. Sprinkled with shredded cheese.  Bake about 8 minutes. Change oven setting to high broil and bake an additional 2 minutes, until the tops of the cream cheese begin to brown (If they’re already brown at this point, skip the broiling).

Lyndee's Yum Dip

Ingredients:

1 tsp garlic powder

3 tbsp Hidden Valley dry ranch mix

2 cups shredded cheddar

1 cup bacon pieces

2 blocks cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup mayo

1 tbsp sriracha

2 stalks green onions, chopped

Mix cream cheese, mayo, garlic, ranch, sriracha together until well blended.  Stir in bacon, cheese and green onions. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving with crackers, tortilla chips or veggies.

Note: The amount of sriracha can be more or less depending on your taste for heat.  It was just right for the average tongue but next time I might try a wee bit more. 

Sriracha ranch and bacon cheeseburger sliders

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 package king’s Hawaiian rolls

6 pieces bacon, cooked and cut in half

½ cup ranch dressing

2 tbsp sriracha

Cheese slices (I recommend sharp cheddar or pepperjack)

4 tbsp butter

Garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 by 13 inch pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix together the ranch and sriracha sauce. Set aside.

Brown ground beef and drain. I seasoned with salt and pepper and added some minced garlic and chopped white onions. Mix ground beef and ranch sauce.

Put the bottom of the rolls in the baking dish. Butter and sprinkle with garlic powder.

Spread the ground beef and sauce over them. Top with cooked bacon, cheese and top with the top half of the rolls. Mix the butter and garlic salt together and spread over the top of the rolls.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 more minutes. Serve immediately.

Sriracha Bacon Sliders

When you’re having a Cards Against Humanity party and you know how much your friends love bacon and sriracha, these sliders are an absolute no brainer. I was a bit worried they would be too hot but they were nothing short of spectacular and were a huge hit with the crew. 

Ingredients:

1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 sriracha sauce

24 slider rolls, sliced in half but kept as one large piece (I used King Hawaiian Sweet Rolls)

3 cups cooked turkey or chicken (I used canned chunk chicken)

2 cups shredded cheese (I used Colby Jack)

4 Tbsp butter, melted

1/4 tsp garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 by 13 inch pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise and sriracha sauce. Set aside. Put the bottom of the rolls in the baking dish. Spread the sriracha sauce over them. Add the cooked turkey/chicken, bacon, cheese and top with the top half rolls. Mix the butter and garlic salt together and spread over the top of the rolls.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 more minutes. Serve immediately.

Asian BBQ pulled pork

Marinade Ingredients:

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. sriracha

1 Tbsp.  chili sauce

2 Tbsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp. chopped onion

1 tsp. ginger

1/2 cup BBQ sauce (I used sweet baby ray’s)

1 boneless pork ribeye roast (2-3 lbs)

Guy Fieri Asian BBQ and Wok sauce

Mix all ingredients (except for roast and Wok sauce) together in a bowl.  Set aside.

Place roast in crockpot with 2 cups of water.  Sprinkle with pepper.  Place minced garlic and onion on top of roast.  Pour half of the marinade mixture over the roast.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Add more water to the bottom of the crock if needed. 

Place roast in a bowl.  It will be tender and fall apart.  Shred with two forks.  Add the rest of the marinade and mix.  Add ¼ cup Guy Fieri Asian BBQ and Wok Sauce and stir until meat is coated. 

Serve warm plain or as a sandwich. I put my meat on a toasted garlic bun and added a bit more wok sauce.  Completely amazing!!!  Perfect blend of sweet and spicy Asian flavors. 

Dragon Noodles (spicy noodles)

Do you love Asian food but don’t think you have the time or skills to make it?  Just made these dragon noodles and they were phenomenal! Super easy to make and taste amazing.  Had just enough spice to  make it nice but not painful or overbearing.  Total time was just under 10 minutes and I had all the ingredients on hand except for the lo mein noodles which I found at the local Asian mart.  This recipe will definitely be going in the rotation for wonderful, quick dinners! Next time I might try adding some chopped up chicken for protein.

Ingredients:

4 oz. lo mein noodles

2 Tbsp butter

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

1 large egg

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp sriracha (rooster sauce)

1 handful fresh cilantro

1 sliced green onion

Begin to boil water for the noodles. Once the water reaches a full boil, add the noodles and cook according to the package directions (boil for 5-7 minutes).

While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl stir together the brown sugar, soy sauce, and sriracha.  In a large skillet melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat. Add the red pepper to the butter as it melts. Whisk an egg in a bowl and then add to the melted butter. Stir gently and cook through. Once the egg is done cooking, turn off the heat.

When the noodles are tender, drain the water and then add them to the skillet with the cooked egg. Also add the prepared sauce. Turn the heat on low to evaporate excess moisture, and stir until everything is coated well with the sauce. Sprinkle the sliced green onions and cilantro leaves (whole) on top and serve. 

Firecracker Shrimp

Review by Lyndee:

I love seafood.  All of it.  But especially shrimp! When I saw this recipe I was pretty excited to try it.  It was easy to make and pretty dang tasty.

Ingredients:

1 cup of mayonnaise (I used fat free)

¼ cup of Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

1 tablespoon of Hot Sauce

1 pound of frozen fried popcorn shrimp

Chopped lettuce

½ cup of chopped scallions

Instructions:

Preheat your oven per package directions on your popcorn shrimp. Spread the frozen shrimp out on your cookie sheet in a single layer and bake according to package directions.

While shrimp is baking, mix your sauce. First, mix your mayonnaise with the Thai Sweet Chili Sauce. Add Sriracha. Mix well.

Once shrimp is cooked, allow for a few minutes to cool. Toss the shrimp in the mixing bowl so it gets coated with the mixture. On a separate plate, make a bed from your chopped lettuce. Once your shrimp is coated, lay it out on your bed of lettuce for some lovely presentation. Sprinkle with chopped scallions.

Sriracha mayo dip

Review by Lyndee

I’ve seen this recipe online a few times so I decided to give it a whirl last night with my Biggest Loser sweet potato fries!   

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used fat free)

1/4 tsp cayenne Pepper

1 tsp Sriracha Sauce

1 dash of garlic powder

This took about 30 seconds to make.  It doesn’t get much easier than that.  I used fat free mayo, sriracha and cayenne.  I decided to add a dash of garlic powder even though it wasn’t on the original recipe and I think it really added a great flavor. I ate this as a dip for my sweet potatoes but I think it would be great on many things like burgers, chicken or potato skins as well.  

Sriracha chicken strips

Review by Lyndee:

3 chicken breasts cut into strips

1 cup flour

2 eggs

½ cup milk

2 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce

Corn flake crumbs

Pepper

Mix eggs and milk together.  Sprinkle in pepper.  Add sriracha sauce.  Dip chicken strips in flour and then let chicken strips soak in the liquid mix for a few minutes.  While they are soaking heat oil in a skillet or preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Dip the strips in a bag of corn flake crumbs and fry for a few minutes (until a dark golden brown) or bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. 

These are good enough to eat plain or dip in some ranch or blue cheese.  You can add more sriracha if you like a lot of heat.  Or sprinkle the strips with some pepper and cayenne before dipping in the cornflake crumbs. 

Maia and I thought these were awesome but Rob didn’t think they had enough kick so next time he will double the sriracha amount.  Nothing like a good tongue fire to complete dinner.