I'm a broken record--London Broil

London Broil
The Complete Family Cookbook Copyright 1969

1 2-pound flank steak or 1 ½-inch thick round steak
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon sherry
1 finely minced garlic clove
1/8 teaspoon powdered ginger
Salt and pepper

Combine sauces, oil, sherry, garlic and ginger. Coat both sides of steak with mixture. Let stand at least ½ hour before broiling. Pre-heat broiler. Place steak on rack with surface of meat 3-inches from the heat. (Recipe refers to a timetable for broiling meat – I broiled about 7 minutes per side.) Season with salt and pepper. Carve diagonally across the grain in very thin slices.
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How many ways can a person combine soy sauce, Worcestershire, oil, sherry, garlic and ginger into a marinade? We may find out! I've done it here many, many times. I can't help it. We like marinated meat and I always have all of these ingredients on hand. I'm drawn to these recipes but maybe it's time to give them a rest as far as blogging about them.

But it's all I've got for you today. I didn't get around to making some of the recipes I had planned on making.

I bought this piece of 'natural' beef on clearance. As much as I'm trying to keep my grocery bill down, I am trying to choose healthier options when I can.

I spent over $100 this week but my grocery bill was still much lower than it's been. It's not easy keeping it down.

Question of the Day: Have you given up anything at the grocery store? Last night I switched from the drawstring garbage bags to the flap bags. You get twice as many for the same price. I love the drawsting bags but that's a huge difference.

More grilled chicken--Bottle o’ Beer Chicken Thighs

Bottle o’ Beer Chicken Thighs
Weber’s Real Grilling Copyright 2005

1 bottle (12 oz) beer, preferably lager
¼ cup Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
8 chicken thighs (with bone and skin), 5 to 6 ounces each

1. To make the marinade: In a medium bowl, whisk the marinade ingredients.
2. Trim the thighs of any excess skin and fat. Place in a large, resealable plastic bag and pour in the marinade. Press the air out of the bag and seal tightly. Turn the bag to distribute the marinade, place in a bowl, and refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours, turning occasionally.
3. Remove the thighs from the bag and discard marinade. Pat dry with paper towels then grill over Direct Medium heat, skin side down first, until the meat next to the bone is opaque, about 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Makes 4 servings.
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This was another grilled chicken recipe I tried but I preferred the Sweet and Sour version (which isn't really very sweet and sour).

I bought a case of beer since I had some recipes that I wanted to try that used beer but I only made this and the Hearty Carbonnade before the beer disappeared. Thank God my husband is too cheap to buy his own beer or he might be an alcoholic. We only have it in the house a couple of times a year.

I went to buy corn yesterday and the corn stand wasn't there. I swear they were there on Monday but maybe I was wrong. The season is over I guess. My son loves corn on the cob. We did eat more of it than in previous years but I wish we had eaten even more of it. I feel that way every year when the corn season ends.

Question of the Day: Do you drink beer at home? Which brand?

Why not call it pork souvlaki?--Pork in Pita Pockets

Pork in Pita Pockets
Better Homes and Gardens New Grilling Book Copyright 2005

2 pounds lean boneless pork
¼ cup cooking oil
¼ cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely snipped fresh parsley
½ teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed
1 clove garlic, minced
4 to 5 large pita rounds, halved crosswise
1 recipe Yogurt-Cucumber Sauce

1. Trim fat from pork. Cut pork into 1-inch cubes. Place cubes in self-sealing plastic bag set in a shallow dish. For marinade, in a bowl combine oil, onion, lemon juice, parsley, marjoram, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Pour over pork; seal bag. Marinate in refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours, turning bag occasionally.
2. Drain pork, discarding marinade. On 8 to 10 long metal skewers, thread pork cubes, leaving ¼-inch space in between cubes.
3. For a charcoal grill, grill kabobs on the rack of an uncovered grill, directly over medium coals for 12 to 15 minutes or until pork is no longer pink and juices run clear, turning once halfway through grilling. (For gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place kabobs on grill rack over heat. Cover, grill as above.)
4. Serve pork cubes in pita bread. Top with some of the Yogurt-Cucumber Sauce. If desired, top each with tomato and lettuce.

Yogurt-Cucumber Sauce: In a medium bowl stir together one 8-ounce carton plain yogurt, ½ cup finely chopped cucumber, 1 tablespoon chopped onion, 1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and 1/8 teaspoon garlic salt. Cover and chill up to 24 hours.

Makes 8 to 10 servings. Per serving: 303 cal, 11 g fat, 64mg chol, 310 mg sodium, 20 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 29 g protein
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I found a pork tenderloin in the freezer and this recipe caught my eye since my main grocery store has started carrying Fage yogurt! I was surprised since they're the least exotic out of all of my local grocery store options. I can get Greek yogurt in Wal-Mart now too but it's not Fage.

I can't stand regular plain yogurt but Greek yogurt is excellent. I didn't have to doctor up this sauce, unlike last time I made it. I debated adding a clove of garlic, which I think would have made it better but I'm trying to avoid too much garlic for the baby's sake.

I prefer chicken souvlaki and I prefer the pocketless pitas (grilled with butter) but this was good too. It was kind of a pain to thread all that pork though. If I did this again, I'd toss the cubes on the Griddler or use a grill rack so I didn't have to use the skewers.

Last week, my grocery bill was under $100. That hasn't happened in I don't know how long. I really controlled myself and my total was $99.56. It's time to get strict, since we'll have two kids in daycare in less than two weeks.

I've got more to catch up on but there's just too much to do around here.

Question of the Day: Have you tried Greek yogurt? What do you think of it? I prefer it when I need plain yogurt. I've only tried one flavored Greek yogurt and I actually prefer several non-Greek varieties when it comes to flavored yogurt, so far.

Enjoying the fruits of my labor

I started this blog to motivate me to use my cookbook collection. The ultimate goal being that I would find some great recipes that I could add to my repertoire. I got caught up in constantly making new recipes so I don't really have a 'repertoire' right now or not one that I've made use of anyway. I feel like making a repeat recipe is a lost opportunity to make something new to blog about and things I've already made are forgotten.

But with the new baby, I just don't have the time and energy to search out new recipes all of the time so I've been making a lot things that I've made before and it's been nice, very nice to revisit these recipes.

Some of the recipes I'm made again lately are:

Beef Kabobs With Oriental Sauce:



Creamier and Chewier Oat Cookies (from last week but my son really wanted more and so did I):



Oat-Fashioned Strawberry Dessert:



Asian Pork Ribs: (using peach preserves I still had from canning last year):



Hawaiian Franks (I was able to update it with a better picture):




After I go back to work, I'll be even more pressed for time and effort so I'll probably be making even more 'reruns' and I'm looking forward to it.

My worst picture ever--Quick Baked Chicken

Quick Baked Chicken
Greatest Ever Potato Copyright 2002

1 lb. 2 oz. ground chicken
1 large onion, chopped finely
2 carrots, chopped finely
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 ¼ cups chicken bouillon
Pinch of fresh thyme I left this out
Generous 3 ½ cups mashed potatoes, creamed with butter and milk and well seasoned
¾ cup grated semihard white cheese
Salt and pepper


1. Brown the ground chicken, onion, and carrots in a nonstick pan for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
2. Sprinkle the chicken with the flour and cook over low heat for 2 minutes more.
3. Gradually blend in the tomato paste and chicken bouillon, then simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add a pinch of fresh thyme.
4. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken and vegetable mixture to a casserole and let cool.
5. Spoon the mashed potato over the chicken mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Bake in preheated oven, 400 degrees, for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling and golden, then serve, straight from the casserole.
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Yeah, yeah the picture is horrible (I purposely chose one that was dark!). No comments from the peanut gallery. Trust me, it was tasty. More importantly, I had everything in the house to make this. It's basically Shepherd's Pie, although I think Shepherd's Pie is with lamb and Cottage Pie is with ground beef. I'm not sure what you would call it with ground chicken. Apparently the authors of this cookbook didn't know either - Quick Baked Chicken is a really bad name for this recipe if you ask me.

Unfortunately the guys don't enjoy mashed potatoes as much as I do so I don't think it thrilled them although there were no complaints. I don't understand not liking mashed potatoes.

Question of the Day: Do you like mashed potatoes?