I haven't been posting the samo-samo meals I've been eating recently, and in fact have started getting bored. So the last few days I've tried to shake it up a bit, using food I already have stockpiled. (For those of you following my grocery shopping posts, I haven't done a big shopping in at least a couple of months - yeah, I have that much stuff on my shelves and in my big freezer! Just filling in with the perishables, such as fresh produce, and dairy.)
Sunday dinners I like to "fancy it up a bit" especially since my mom spends Sundays with us - the nursing home where she lives has good food, but it tends to be a bit "institutional" anyway. This past Sunday I made some NY strips on the griddle. First I started frying up a pound of bacon because I needed the fat. While that was cooking I seasoned the steaks (onion/garlic/chili powders, sea salt) and let them sit while I halved half-thawed brussels sprouts and yellow squash slices - just had a small amount left in each package I wanted to use up - and quartered, then thinly sliced, a medium yellow onion.
After spreading some fresh bacon fat on the hot hot hot griddle, I put the steaks on. Then I removed the bacon from the frying pan and much of the remaining fat for later use, and tossed the veggies in the same frying pan. They required frequent tossing to brown evenly and cook through. The steaks cooked about 5 minutes on the first side and 3 on the 2nd, then I removed them to a platter and tossed about a cupful of straw mushrooms (from a can) right on the hot griddle with the bacon fat and the seasonings the steak left behind. As the liquid came out of the 'shrooms and I scraped/tossed them, they deglazed the griddle nicely and picked up some wonderful flavor. Meanwhile I also add butter, sea salt, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar to the vegetables.
What a lovely meal! A platter of medium-rare steaks with a pile of delicious mushrooms and colorful vegetables next to them...it was a feast for the eyes as well as the palate! Unforunately, after a day trip the day before, I'd left my camera somewhere out of reach (found it later) and we were too hungry to wait for me to find it...but I will definitely be making this again!
The steaks had been on sale for $2.49/lb - I used 3# of meat - certainly less than $2 in vegetables (and that's figuring HIGH), a $1 can of mushrooms...some butter, bacon fat, and seasonings - dinner for 4 adults plus a toddler for right around $10!
Every time I make a meal like this one, I want to defy the lowcarb naysayers to show me why they think that low carb eating is unhealthy...pfffffft! :)
actually. All 3 of us (hubby, me, and 16MO grandson who lives with us) had our spaghetti different ways. Pete had his with SF spaghetti sauce and cheese - the traditional way. The baby had a hard-boiled egg with his, and parmesan cheese on top. He decided to put the egg actually into the spaghetti, and mash it all together with his fork - and loved it that way!
flat bread and loaded it up with more spinach leaves and leftover (warmed) bacon, then rolled it up - it was really loaded and really thick - and REALLY REALLY GOOD! Excellent lunch!
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