Coffee-Rubbed Steak

Once a year - usually in December - I clear out my stack of food magazines.

I typically keep the current year under the coffee table and the prior year stacked on the bookshelf. At the end of the year, I go through the issues on the bookshelf, tear out the recipes I want and recycle the rest. Then, I move the current year to the bookshelf to make room for the upcoming year's issues.

While I'm going through the magazines from two years ago I often find recipes that I bookmarked to make back when the magazine was new, but for whatever the reason, never got around to making.

This coffee-rubbed steak was one of them. Leaner cuts of beef were on sale last week, so put it on for last week.

For the most part I really liked this. The potatoes were just OK, and I accidentally cooked my steak longer than I should have, but the rub was delicious.

I love coffee, and mixed with the chili powder and the Mrs. Dash Spicy Blend that I used as a swap for the steak seasoning, it gave what would have been boring piece of steak a nice kick.

I even made the parsley butter, but that didn't add anything to the final dish. I love butter, but with all the spice you couldn't even taste it. If I'm going to add a lot of extra fat/calories to a dish it has to be really worth it. And honestly, it wasn't in this case.

Lastly, instead of the succotash that came with the recipe I did a bastard-ized version with black beans and jalapeno. I followed the same method, but used an entire jalapeno with some of the ribs left intact and left out the thyme. Worked well and was great on lettuce with the leftover steak the next day.

"All-American" Chili

I’m taking part in a chili cook-off tonight for charity with a chili recipe I’ve never made before.

Lord help me.

I volunteered months ago to help with the charity cook-off not realizing that I’d actually be the one to make the chili.

I don’t mind helping out. I do love food after all and it benefits a food pantry in Athens — which is a good cause.

But, here’s the thing: I don’t have a great chili recipe.

I’ll make this vegetarian black bean version a lot when I’m craving vegetables but the thought of zucchini simmering in a slow cooker makes me want to gag.

This lighter version would fare well in a slow cooker, but it’s honestly nothing special. It squelches a chili craving and it’s decent for what it is… but it’s not something I’d enter into any type of competition (even one for charity).

I was planning to go with the Turkey White Bean Chili I made a while back, until this All-American Chili from Cooking Light caught my eye.

It has some unique ingredients, a five-star rating and 145 comments. Probably the most I’ve seen on one of their recipes.

Plus, one of the reviewers won a chili contest with it? I’m sold.

Start with the usual suspects:


Then add a little twist:



Brown up the veggies with the meat and add spices and tomato paste:


Then the “secret ingredient” aka booze. I know no authentic American chili has red wine, but what the heck. Sounded good to me!


And some tomatoes and beans. Then let it simmer away.

Obviously, I decided not to go the “light” route. For one, it was cheaper to buy fattier cuts of meat. Plus, who takes a low fat chili to a cook off? I’d rather go big or go home.

Once it was done, I had a small bowl for dinner, just to taste test and it’s pretty good if I do say so myself. Wish me luck!

“All-American” Chili
Adapted from Cooking Light

2 links hot Italian sausage
1 pound ground chuck
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 jalapeño peppers, chopped
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoons ground cumin
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 bay leaves
1 1/4 cups Merlot
1 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
1 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
Additional salt/pepper to taste, plus a healthy dash or five of hot sauce

Remove casings from sausage. Brown up the sausage and beef in a dutch oven over medium-high heat with the next 3 ingredients (though jalapeno). Cook 8 minutes, breaking up the meat as you go, until the sausage and beef is browned.

Add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add in the wine and tomatoes.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Add beans and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more salt pepper and hot sauce as needed. Discard the bay leaves.

Grilled Steak with Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus

Wandering aimlessly through the grocery store without a real list can be bad, but also good. Actually, I had a list. But, by the time I pulled up to the store and grabbed my cart, I decided I didn't want to make any of the meals I had planned.

Instead, I wandered through the store — aisle by aisle — throwing random items in my cart.

Which should I give first? The good for bad news? People say I'm a pessimist (although I prefer the term realist) so I might was well go with the bad news first.

Bad news: I ended up forgetting a whole bunch of items I actually needed AND spent like $70 on just myself. Ouch.

Now for the good news: I ended up making a super simple and really fantastic dinner on a whim last night. Grilled steak with roasted potatoes and asparagus. YUM.

No real recipe for the steak. I just brushed on some olive oil, salt and pepper and grilled it. I wouldn't even call the potatoes a recipe, but I'll include my method, anyhow. I added the asparagus to the pan after the first half of the potato's cooking time and let it go until tender.

Roasted Potatoes
1 pound potatoes (I used a klondike mix)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400°. Cut the potatoes into chunk and toss with oil, salt and pepper. Place on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper.

Roast without stirring for 20 minutes. Stir the potatoes and add more oil if they stick. Continue to roast until tender but brown and crispy another 20-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. The total baking time depends on the kind of potato and the size of the chunks. Mine were done pretty fast.

Serves 4.

Nutritional info: 108 calories, 4 grams fat, 2 grams fiber

Mini Meat Loaves with Roasted Vegetables

My mom was not a short order cook. She made that very clear pretty much from day one.

She was a stay-at-home mom for most of my childhood and cooked a family dinner every night. If you didn't like what was served there was always cereal. I'm pretty sure she meant it, but neither my sister nor I tested her.

Most of the time she made whatever she thought the majority of us would eat. I was always eating around the broccoli in the veggie stir fries and my sister was always picking out any mushrooms. We got used to dealing with the bits and pieces we didn't like.

There was one exception — red meat.

My sister just wasn't a fan. In fact, I'm pretty sure chicken was the only meat she would eat when she was a kid. When she was five years old, she was asked to share about her favorite food in class. Most of the kids said things like pizza, chicken nuggets or macaroni and cheese. My sister said hers was chicken and rice with gravy (my grandma's go-to casserole).

It was just easier for my mom to avoid arguments with my sister, so obviously, I didn't eat a whole lot of red meat when I was little.

I can probably count the number of times she made meat loaf on one hand. Maybe that's why I loved it so much -- it seemed slightly forbidden and definitely special.

Now that I no longer have to cater to my family's tastes, I guess I still don't eat a lot of red meat. Mostly for health reasons. But I still love meat loaf.

Last night I made a healthier version that takes only about 30 minutes to cook — Mini Meat Loaves. Definitely an improvement over a traditional meat loaf that takes about an hour. The key? To make them individual-sized so they cook in half the time. These are similar to the meat loaf muffins, only slightly more traditional.

On the side, I roasted a mixture of green beans, mushrooms and grape tomatoes. I tossed them in olive oil and a little salt and pepper, threw them in to the oven beside the meat loaf, stirring them half way through the meat loaf's cooking time and adding a little salt-free garlic and herb seasoning.

In praise of frozen dinners

This doesn't look like a frozen dinner does it? Well it is. A homemade one.

A few weeks ago I attempted to make a slow cooker meatball dish that went awry. It dried out majorly, the meatballs fell apart and it ended up a thick meat sauce that wasn't even that good.

I had a ton of it so I froze it anyway. It was a good idea because it became dinner tonight.

After another long day at work I stumbled in hungry and not wanting to cook. Buca was giving away a pound of dried pasta with some special deal on Monday and my coworker didn't want it, so I decided to quickly defrost and heat the meat sauce to go with it.

I thought it was dry before I froze it and it was even drier after defrosting. To make it more saucy I threw in a can of diced tomatoes.



Not the best meat sauce, but it worked well tonight given my mood. And sometimes that's the most important.

What frozen dinners do you have in your freezer?

Taco Filling

My attempts to be "on time" in the morning tiring me out. My body revolts. Or maybe it was the intervals I ran at the gym this afternoon kicking my butt.

Glad I put out a heat and eat dinner.

Because I'm trying to stick to cooking from my freezer, refrigerator and pantry as much as possible, I decided it was a great time to make tacos from the taco filling I had in the freezer.

I love this filling. It's nothing fancy — in fact it's not far from the flavor of the seasoning packet. But, it has TONS less sodium and just tastes more fresh. I always make some with 93/7 ground beef and have some it on hand for soft tacos, nachos, etc. Tonight the filling went into crunchy tacos topped with low fat sour cream, red onion, tomato and lettuce and extra sharp cheddar cheese. Canned organic refried pinto beans on the side.

The entire meal came together really quickly, which is ideal after a tough day at work. And the leftovers will make a great taco salad for lunch tomorrow.

Because dinner was a snap, I even have time for a quick yoga session before the season premier of Biggest Loser. AWESOME.

What's staples do you keep around for heat and eat meals?

Late Summer Chili

It was beautiful today. Not overly cloudy and not too hot. In fact, we've had a cold snap recently. It barely reached 70 degrees on Sunday. It feels like the first taste of fall although it really hasn't been a hot summer.

It might be feeling like fall, but I have my "summer" vacation coming up this week. Tomorrow's my Friday already. If only every week could be this short :)

I'm really looking forward to some extra time off for rest and relaxation. Seems silly to be in only for two days, but these two days ended up being needed to finish up some things and set stuff up for my co-workers who are covering for me while I'm gone.

I spent most of my afternoon going over loose ends with my co-workers, actually and by the time I made it home I was STARVING. Since it's been so cool outside I've been craving soup. That's when I remembered seeing this chili and I knew I had to make it.

It's a beanless chili, which some argue is the correct way to make chili. What I loved about it, though, was that it was chock full of vegetables — zucchini, corn, bell pepper, onion, jalapenos. It was really hearty even though it lack beans and made the best of summer produce.

I used 93/7 beef to make it leaner and cut back on the oil. If you want to add beans, I think black beans would be good, but it doesn't need them in my opinion. It's delicious all on it's own. And, it made a GIANT bowl of chili, which I was definitely thankful for. I topped the bowl with pepper jack cheese and scallions and had a small hunk of corn bread on the side. Seriously good.

And now it's bedtime. Hopefully everyone had a great Monday!

Steak with Spinach Quinoa

Tonight's dinner really hit the spot. Maybe I was just really hungry or maybe it was really as delicious as I thought. It definitely hard to slice up the last half of that steak for tomorrow's salad. I could have stood there at the sink eating the other half straight off the cutting board. And the garlic in the quinoa and the feta.. yum! I can see myself making this side dish again.

The recipe was essentially Steak with Spinach Couscous from the July issue of Real Simple, but since I just made couscous with pine nuts last night, I decided to switch it up with quinoa. And the sirloin steak I had in my freezer was a little more affordable than flank steak.

I love quinoa. I know it scares some people, but it's very similar to couscous, but with a nuttier flavor. I love it. It's cooks in the same amount of time as white rice, but has more nutritional benefits. So it's perfect for a weeknight dinner.

I've used it in recipes specifically calling for quinoa like this Quinoa Stuffed Pepper or Quinoa Salad. (BTW.. wow, my photography has gotten much better in 2 years!) But mostly it gets used interchangeably with rice. I use it in place of couscous like I did tonight or even use it with stir fries instead of rice.

The rest of the day was a typical weekday filled with work and such. Thank God tomorrow's Friday I'm so ready for the weekend. I've got some fun things planned so I can't wait. I may even bring the camera along this time.

Beef Stir Fry with Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans

I'm feeling much, much better today thankfully. I was able to finish up the rest of my errands and get some housework done. I still took it easy, but wasn't sitting around like I was yesterday. I should be back to 100 percent tomorrow.

Last week I was looking through the magazine rack at the grocery store and I saw a new issue of Clean Eating magazine. I think I bought an issue last year but never actually made anything out of it. But a stir fry with beef, sweet potatoes and green beans caught my eye in this new issue so I bought it.

I'm not sure I buy the "eating clean" thing. I checked the Eat Clean Diet book from the library and I'm not sold on it. I think that some of the ideas are good — fill up on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy and lean protein with plenty of good fats. It also suggest you avoid added sugars, saturated fats, trans fats, white flour and alcohol. What it doesn't seem to leave much room for are treats or the occasional food that's not "clean." It just feels too strict.

I also thought some of the recipes in the book and the magazine seemed plain and thought it would lack flavor, but I was pleasantly surprised with the beef stir fry. It was actually delicious. I used sirloin, the marinade actually made a little gravy that coated the vegetables.

Beef Stir Fry with Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans
Serves 4. Adapted from Eating Clean Magazine

1 pound top sirloin steak, trimmed of all visible fat and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, crushed
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cups sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 cup green beans
4 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Combine sirloin, applesauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and red pepper in a small bowl.

Bring three cups of water to a boil and add sweet potatoes. Cook sweet potatoes for 2 minutes, then add the green beans to the pot. Boil 4 minutes. Drain and set to the side.

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high to high heat (my burner runs hot so medium high was enough for me). Add the beef and onions and salt and pepper to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, 3 to 4 minutes until onion is tender and beef is cooked. Add the reserved potatoes and green beans, cook about 1 minute until warmed through. Serve alone or with brown rice.

Steak with Parsley Sauce and Chili-Rubbed Oven Roasted Potatoes

Steak with Parsley Sauce

This morning after having a late-ish breakfast of cinnamon raisin french toast and grapes, I headed to the gym for another Couch to 5K workout. It was either too hot or I was a little dehydrated because the 30 minutes were TORTURE. And I caught a glimpse of myself as I was leaving and I looked like hell, which wasn't too far from how I felt. I let my breakfast settle before leaving, so it wasn't that. Maybe it was also because I took the week off last week.


Cinnamon Raisin French Toast

I came home, slugged water like it was my job, and did a 25 minute yoga download to stretch out. By that time I was starving so I repurposed some leftovers in to this salad. The salad had leftover grilled steak, leftover oven roasted potatoes, carrots, cukes, tomatoes, red onion, a little blue cheese and some Good Seasons Italian dressing. It was the packet kind you mix yourself (I used half the oil it called for). I forgot how much I love that dressing.


Leftovers, reinvented

The original meal was Steak with Parsley Sauce and Chili-Rubbed Oven Roasted Potatoes. The potatoes were supposed to be more like french fries, but I only had baby red potatoes, so they were more like a roasted potato. Tasted just like the fries usually do, actually.

I made this meal for the first time a while time ago when I was still with the ex. His friend came dinner and I figured it would be something he'd like. His friend's parents had just moved out of state, he was a recent grad working at a coffee shop, and after he paid the rent I think he had just enough money for Ramen and gas to get to work. So, I invited him to dinner whenever we had extra food, figuring he could always use a good home-cooked meal. Plus, he seemed enthusiastic about dinner, which was always better than the "it's OK" that I usually got from the ex.

I put this on my menu plan this week after I leveled my parsley over weekend. I needed something to use up a boat load of parsley, fast. This is really just a parsley pesto sauce, simple but tasty. I usually don't like a whole lot of extra flavor to my steak, but lean steak, like the top round I used, can sometimes need a little help in the taste department. It doesn't have any marbling going for it.

I don't like to reheat steak so I was originally planning a steak sandwich, but it just sounded WAY too heavy after my terrible run. So a salad it was.

The rest of my Sunday was cleaning, which I hate. It's boring and time consuming. But I like living in a clean space, so it's got to be done!

Dinner wasn't photo worthy, but it was great. Chili beef stuffed zucchini and refried black beans. The recipe was a Rachael Ray recipe I remember seeing a couple of years ago and it was actually pretty healthy. It was a surprise, actually. All I had to do was cut back the oil a bit, use 2% sharp cheddar and 93/7 ground beef. The beans were Meijer organic refried black beans with red jalepeno peppers. The nutritional info was great.. 80 calories, 0 grams fat, and 5 grams fiber for 1/2 cup. There were just beans, jalepenos and salt and it was all organic. Definitely less scary than most canned refried beans. If you live near a Meijer — look for them.

Alright.. I'm off to relax.

A question for the day on my way out, though: What do you do to get through a tough workout? I'm not going to lie, I wanted to call it quits halfway through today!

Grilled Steak Salad with Green Beans and Blue Cheese

Grilled Steak Salad with Green Beans and Blue Cheese

Today was a pretty good day eating and exercise-wise. I even lost a little this week. I'm on a roll.

Not a whole lot happened today, actually. Everything was same old, same old. Sometimes uneventful days are the best.

I was running late this morning per usual because I actually didn't fall asleep last night until after 1 a.m. Getting out of bed this morning was a challenge. I ended up grabbed oatmeal from the cafeteria topped with brown sugar and cranberries and a carton of skim milk. For about $2, it's a quick and fairly economical choice for mornings like today where I'm a complete spaz. I also didn't have a chance to make coffee so I drank the free office coffee, which is pretty terrible. But I can't complain too much.. it's free!

Lunch, like always was leftovers and snack was another Yoplait. They are pretty sweet tasting, maybe a little too much so, but they were 50 cents a carton and it was triple coupon day. I have a hard time passing up a deal especially when they're not bad for you overall. A little artificial sweetener won't kill me, I just prefer to avoid it because I don't like the taste of it all that much.

Dinner was this Grilled Steak Salad with Green Beans and Blue Cheese. My version had 4 ounces of grilled top round steak, 1 tablespoon of blue cheese, five olives and a tablespoon of good extra virgin olive oil per salad. It was delicious. I don't often think to put green beans on my salads, but I should. And dressed simply with oil and vinegar, the fresh ingredients really shined. If you want to make it lighter you can use less oil and/or meat, although I think I would leave the cheese and the olives as I had them so you can benefit from their strong flavor.

I'll definitely make this again.

Tonight's late snack will probably be another skinny cow. I'm boring, I know.

Hope you're enjoying your evening! Night!

Chipotle Nachos

It feels like it should be much later than it actually is. They let us leave at 2:30 today, which was a pleasant surprise. Too bad much of the day was stressful.

I worked off the stress downstairs in the gym before I left and even had time to get the carpet cleaner from my parents. Since I have a long weekend and all, I thought I would catch up on some overdue chores on Monday while it's supposed to rain. I can also maybe get some planting done on my little balcony this weekend. I'm planning to plant basil, maybe chives, and some other herbs.. whatever I can find. I don't have a green thumb, so I'm hoping just to find mature plants to stick in some dirt. I might buy another planter and put a few flowers in them as well. Who knows.

Last night's dinner is nothing to write about (a fried egg sandwich — my favorite quick meal) and today's lunch was a riff on this salad minus the cheese but with grilled salmon instead of chicken. It was also over arugula instead of spinach and mixed greens.

The other night, though, I did make Chipotle Nachos. They're supposed to be vegetarian, but I'm not generally a fan of faux meat substitutes, so I used 93/7 ground beef instead. It was on special this week for $2.79 a pound, which is UNHEARD of.

I used my favorite baked chips — the blue corn baked ones from Trader Joe's. Overall this wasn't terrible, but it wasn't my favorite either. I loved all of the toppings except for the beef/bean mixture. It just didn't have enough oomph. I prefer my taco meat to have a kick.

So far, I think I like the taco filling I usually make better. I could always add beans to that and cut back on the beef the recipe calls for.

Tonight's dinner is in process and I'll post about that tomorrow. Apparently I'm craving bar food because I'm making homemade pizza tonight. :)

Lighter Beef Chili - Take Two

Ugh. This day started off rough and it's my own dumb fault. I blew off exercise last night and sat on my butt watching TV. Then, I couldn’t fall asleep and ended up being awake past 12:30 a.m. I struggled to be awake before 7 a.m. this morning.

Feeling tired in the morning is a recipe for disaster. Chocolate chocolate chip cookies were sitting in the empty cube across from mine — calling my name. I caved around 10:30 and had one. Oops.

I even flirted with the idea of ditching my lunch and buying it in the cafeteria. But not surprising, today's cafeteria options sounded more disgusting than my leftovers.

After lunch, I slugged more coffee and it gave me a short pick-me-up. But I was already feeling the crash by 4 p.m. And I was facing a busy evening of stopping by the library to drop off my overdue books, the grocery store to pick up breakfast goodies for the office’s breakfast for charity thing tomorrow, exercising, blogging, cooking dinner and after dinner clean up and folding the three giant baskets of laundry that have been sitting in the middle of my kitchen since Sunday.

Even if I weren’t exhausted, looking at that to-do list is tiring. Maybe I’m trying to accomplish too much. By the end of the day, I just felt inspired to finish something. Maybe it was the gorgeous weather.

Because I was so lazy last night, though, I failed to cook the pinto beans for tonight’s chili, so I ended up throwing in black beans instead. Then I added a handful or so of frozen corn and some cumin, and used fire-roasted diced tomatoes instead of plain — just because it sounded good. Like I said, I felt inspired. I liked it the first time I made it, but I think this was a fun twist. In fact, I really liked it this way.

I also made a boxed corn bread mix, but lightened it with egg beaters and skim milk. I’m generally not a fan of egg beaters, but I don’t notice the difference in most baked goods.

I’m a day behind on my full disclosure food journal.. so here's yesterday and today.

Yesterday
Breakfast: Smoothie made with ¾ cup nonfat vanilla soymilk, ½ large banana, 3 tbsp orange juice, 5 oz. frozen strawberries and a slice of Great Harvest honey whole wheat with a tbsp natural PB on the side

Lunch: Leftover spicy asian noodle dish with the snow pea and water chestnuts on the side. I don’t think I’ll share the photo, it didn’t look that appetizing. Oh, and an apple.

Snack: ½ cup of the leftover tuna salad with 4 Kashi party crackers. Meant to eat only 2 crackers, but I was snacky.

Dinner: Chicken and chorizo fajitas, which were a take off the fajitas I order at a local Mexican joint. They were good, but not as good as the Mexican place. Probably healthier though.

Late Snack/Dessert: 2 small corn tortillas (snacked while cleaning up the kitchen. Ugh.) and yogurt with strawberries.

Today
Breakfast: Ezekiel sprouted grain English muffin, roma tomato, slice of 2% cheddar.

Snack: Cookie. Oh well.

Lunch: leftover fajitas, apple

Snack: 2 oz. lean ham, 1 tbsp light cream cheese wrapped around green bell pepper slices.

Dinner: Chili and cornbread. Yum. Looks like I’m light on veg again today. Cornbread counts, right?

Dessert: Yogurt and strawberries… again. I heart them.

Steaks with Tomato-Mushroom Ragout

I woke up to the smell of roasting chicken this morning — sort of.

Last night things in my life kind of went to hell in a handbasket and my plans for roasting a whole chicken in my brand spanking new roaster pan flew out the window. Instead, I sat on my parent’s couch watching Wheel of Fortune and watching CBS sitcoms while stuffing my fact with Chipotle.

By the way, I’m pretty good at Wheel of Fortune. Jeopardy, on the other hand, is a whole other beast.

I made it home around 9:30 ish and didn’t want to take the time to roast the bird in the oven, so into the Crock-pot it went. I actually hate doing it this way because it all falls a part and making stock from the carcass is more difficult, plus the chicken is just meh. It has that unmistakable Crock-pot flavor and texture. Do you know what I mean?

But I had to do something – I had thawed it out entirely and I didn’t want it to spoil. I got the whole chicken on special for 89 cents a pound. So now I have tons of Crock pot chicken for another use — probably enchiladas or soup. The roaster will have to wait until the next time there’s a chicken sale.

Speaking of sales, I have new dishes! I got the whole 16-piece set for $20 and I even found two open stock white porcelain plates for 62 cents a piece. The set isn’t bright white like I was hoping, and a few have imperfections, but for the money, I’m pleased. They look nicer in pictures than my slightly chipped retro Corelle with the orange and pink flowers.

And in the spirit of being thrifty, I even put out a frozen sirloin steak. It’s another pricey-ish cut of meat I usually only buy when it’s on sale. Then, I freeze it for later. And it comes in handy for this recipe.

What drew me to the page was the creamy polenta the steak was sitting on, honestly. I needed to make a batch of soft polenta for something later this week, so why not make it double-duty and use up some of the frozen meat chilling out in the freezer?

Pretty good, though, if I must say so. But I’m biased, I love steak and mushrooms and polenta. Definitely three on my favorite foods list — especially when they’re together on a plate (my new plate to be exact). YUM!

Steaks with Tomato-Mushroom Ragout
Everyday with Rachael Ray

1 pound sirloin steak
salt and pepper
4 tsp olive oil
6 ounce package cremini mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, minced
One 28-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes (such as Muir Glenn)
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Parmesan cheese, for serving

Heat 2 tsp oil over medium high heat in a nonstick pan. Salt and pepper the steak on both sides and add the steaks to the pan. Cook 3 to 4 minutes per side; transfer to a plate.

Wipe out the skillet and warm the last 2 tsp over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and garlic. Cook, stirring for about 3 minutes or until the mushrooms are browned. Stir in the tomatoes, 1/2 cup of water and the crushed red pepper flakes and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occaisionally.

Stir in the vinegar, then add the steaks back to the skillet to warm through. Serve the steaks on top of creamy polenta and topped with the tomato ragu and grated cheese.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

I made this spaghetti and meatballs recipe for the first time shortly after the ex and I first decided to make the leap from "just dating" to "relationship." I made it with a salad (which he hated but pretended to like) and then made these apple turnovers for dessert.

Then the date ended early because we ended up eating two apple turnovers in addition to splitting an entire bottle of red wine. Drunk + stuffed = felt like I was going to puke.

That was his first and most certainly not last introduction to “beached whale” syndrome, which is short for lying belly up on the sofa groaning in discomfort.

So when my mom requested spaghetti and meatballs for dinner last weekend, I figured this one would go over fairly well.

Making your own spaghetti sauce can be fussy and time consuming, especially this recipe. Having it simmer for 45 minutes and then adding the meatballs for another 15 minutes of simmer? Ugh. For an hour-long process, this sauce needs to be tastier, in my opinion. Don’t they know I have a short attention span?

This isn’t quite as good as my favorite marinara, but my mom liked it because it was lighter and fresher tasting than many jarred sauces. You could certainly use jarred sauce. You’ll need at least a jar if not more, basically enough to cover the meatballs for simmering.

The meatballs, though, are the shining star of this recipe. A mix of sweet Italian sausage and ground sirloin, these little babies are a snap to make and are full of flavor. The only change I made was using dried basil and whole wheat pasta. Otherwise, I made everything as written.

Next time, though, I’ll make different sauce. The meatballs are a keeper.

Diner Meat Loaf "Muffins" and Skillet Roasted Potatoes

Today was the first full snow. Blech. I hate snow. If it's a day off and I don't have to go anywhere, I like the snow, otherwise, I could totally do without it.

I'm not really even good at winter sports like skiing. Once, a former boyfriend took me on a ski trip with his friends to the West Virginia/Maryland state line. I've heard that these ski resorts in good skiing areas claim they have a bunny slope, but really they don't. And this one was no exception. I got off the lift and immediately it's a downward sloping righthand turn. If you don't make the turn, there's a trees and lots of them.

No one bothered to take the time to teach me to ski or offer to let me take lessons, instead, I had to figure it all out for myself. And did I mention I'm afraid of heights? The ski lift was traumatizing enough -- but on the second "bunny" slope, it was so steep I ended up screaming about a 1/4 of the way down the hill, until I nearly lost control and sat down. I then slid down the hill on my butt the rest of the way.

I will not ski again. And I hate snow.

Tonight's meal was a great for this kind of weather. Diner Meat Loaf "Muffins" with skillet roasted potatoes. I can't believe I've never written about these muffins. They're a fantastic way to make meat loaf on a weeknight as they cook in less than 30 minutes, and even though you end up using extra lean ground beef -- they're super moist and flavorful. Hands down my favorite way to make meat loaf and they even come with built in portion control.

On the side I made skillet roasted potatoes. They aren't the lightest recipe in the world, but they are crispier than traditional oven roasted potatoes.

Skillet Roasted Potatoes
1-1/2 pounds small red skinned potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Cut the potatoes in half if they're small (if they're less than 2 inches diameter) or in quarters (if they're 2 to 3 inches), making 3/4 inch to 1 inch chunks. Rinse the potatoes in cold water, and spread on a kitchen towel and pat to dry.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until oil shimmers, but isn't smoking. Add the potatoes cut side down and let cook 5-7 minutes until browned.

Turn potatoes skin side up if halved or turn to the other cut side if quartered and cook for another 5-6 minutes.

Stir potatoes and rearrange into a single layer; cover and reduce heat to medium low. Cook covered for another 6-9 minutes, or until a paring knife slices through the potato easily. Season potatoes to taste and serve. Makes 4 servings.

The potatoes are 4 points per serving and the meat loaf is 6 points per serving.

Beef Polenta Pie

Wow, I need new lighting.. pronto. This is awful. Seriously awful. I've been tossing around the idea of specialized lighting for a while, but I've been too scared to make any real purchases. Maybe I'll just start with a bulb and see where it goes. This doesn't look very appetizing, but maybe I'm just picky.

I assure you it wasn't as bad as it looks. The Beef and Polenta Pie wasn't a dinner that wows, but it was cheap and cheerful — meaning it filled my stomach, didn't take much time to make, and was cost-effective. By using 1 pound extra lean ground beef and 4 tsp of oil, it comes out to about 10 points per serving. And I felt the portions were fairly large.

I think my general dissatisfaction with dinner this week stems from the salt shaker. I cook with pinches of kosher salt here and there. Because it's a coarse salt, I can see how much is going in to the dish. I've been at my parents house and my mom does things the way she's always done things.. with a salt shaker.

It works for her, but not for me. I just can't seem to get the right level of seasoning and I'm constantly having to taste the dish, whereas a taste or two at home usually is enough to ensure the seasoning's right. And a dish like there, without much in the way of spices or herbs, really needs to have the right balance of salt and pepper. Otherwise it's just kind of tasteless.

Tonight's dinner, which I plan to share on Monday, should be amazing, though. Looking forward to it :)

Stuffed Squash

I should just admit it to myself: I’m not a fan of squash. Butternut squash is just OK in my book, especially the work I have to do to get it into an edible form. And the frozen winter squash puree and I tried and (lucky for you) didn’t actually post wasn’t very tasty, either.

And now I’m pretty sure I can add acorn squash to my “take it or leave it” squash list. So that means pumpkin is the only one I like so far, and maybe spaghetti squash. It’s been a long time since I’ve made that one.

I can’t say I hate acorn squash in all its forms. I didn’t exactly hate it when it was mixed with the stuffing in this stuffed squash recipe. When mixed in with the couscous (whole wheat, of course), walnuts, extra lean ground beef, and dried cranberries, it was a sweet-like complement to the filling.

But the minute I ran out of stuffing to eat it with, oh man. I could hardly take another bite. Even adding extra salt, pepper, and a little butter didn’t help. It was just too squashy tasting — which I should’ve expected because, hello, it’s a SQUASH. But whatever. I learned from my mistakes, though, and while eating the leftovers for lunch took care to make sure eat bite had the perfect ratio stuffing to squash.

I think if you like acorn squash, this is a good fall recipe to try (I LOVE cranberries and walnuts). But if you’re undecided about squash make sure you get a bit of that squash with every bit of stuffing, otherwise you’ll just end up like me with too little stuffing and too much squash.

Pepper Crusted Steak with Summer Bread Salad

It seems like every time I plan to use my grill, it rains. And not just sort of rains. We're talking torrential downpours. So when I woke up to see dark skies and lots of rain last week. I figured we'd have to find some other way to make the top sirloin steak I put out the night before.

But happily, I was wrong. It cleared up just in time for dinner. I think the sun even came out.

The boyfriend wanted to do the grilling and I was skeptical. Once, he fed me a still cold in the center hot dog. And last time, he burned the chicken to a crisp (although I think it was more the skin factor rather than the boyfriend can't grill factor). I was busy making the Summer Bread Salad, so I reluctantly agreed.

And this time, he actually came through. I also armed him with an instant read thermometer so I didn't end up with well done meat or meat that was still mooing. I prefer a nice medium rare.

To add extra flavor we crusted it with salt and pepper. Delicious. The bread salad was a nice complement, although I was lazy and skipped through half the steps by just throwing the whole thing together. I didn't even toast the bread, but I needed to. It was a bit on the soggy side. Otherwise, it tasted great.

The salad says it makes 6 to 8 servings. I halved the recipe and made it four servings for 4 points a serving. I also used a whole grain baguette instead of ciabatta. I estimated the steak comes out to 5 points a serving for four servings out of a 1 1/2 pound top sirloin steak, well trimmed. But what you buy might vary. Always use the info on the package.

I'm so proud of the boyfriend's grilling. Next, I'll have to teach him how to put grill marks on the meat.

Beef and Bean Chili Verde

I'm still on the search for the perfect chili to call my own. So far, I think this one is in the lead, but it doesn't stop me from trying new recipes.

I liked the twist on this one. Salsa verde (green salsa) is added. I thought it would give it a bit of a kick and a slightly different, but delicious, flavor. Unfortunately, the Beef and Bean Chili Verde from Eating Well was a bit of a let down. In reality, it was kind of bland.

As the weather is starting to turn cold, there's nothing better than a good bowl of chili. And who cares if the boyfriend hates it and won't eat beans? They say it can take up to 10 times to get used to a new food. I've only made two kinds of chili for the boyfriend, so that means I've got 8 more tries before he's allowed to officially say he hates it.

Which chili should I try next? Any favorite recipes out there? E-mail them to me or leave them in the comments section.