Easy Steak Sauce

Now that I am a married woman I have had a rekindled love for new recipes. I find that recipes are like clothes, after a while they get a little worn out and sometimes you just want something new to wear. Because of that I have a bunch of new recipes that I would love to share with you all! So this is officially my restart.
For Valentines Day we decided to stay in and make a nice dinner to celebrate. We decided on steak. Jake prefers to have sauces or gravy with his meat, so I set out to find a sauce to go with the steak. I found this recipe online and decided to give it a try. I have to say it was a success! We also have baked red potatoes to go with it and the sauce was great with the potatoes.

Ingredients
3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil, Divided
1 Medium Onion, Chopped
4 Cloves Garlic, Chopped
1 Fresno Chile or Red Jalapeño, Seeded, Chopped (couldn’t find those so we just used a green jalapeno)
Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
½ Cup Worcestershire Sauce (or soy sauce if needed)
½ Cup Red Wine Vinegar
¼ Cup (Packed) Dark Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Whole Grain Mustard (I just used yellow because we had that on hand. Still good!)
Few Dashes of Hot Sauce
Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and chile; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add tomato paste to saucepan and cook, stirring, until beginning to darken, about 1 minute. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, and hot sauce; simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender and purée with ½ cup water until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl, if desired. Set sauce aside. (We didn’t strain it, but we have a really good blender so there weren’t any chunks really)
Steak sauce can be made 1 week ahead. Cover and chill

Microwave Score: 5.0 microwaved well. And didn’t separate like some sauces do.
Freezer Score: It says it would keep for a week in the fridge I don’t see why you can’t freeze it if you want.
Jake Score: 5.0 He mentions it at least once a week…
Overall Score: 5.0 I am not a fan of steak sauce but this had a great sweet and savory flavor, and it really wasn’t spicy despite the spicy ingredients.

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/easy-steak-sauce-with-seared-hanger-steak

Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

I love the combination of salt, caramel, and chocolate. One of my favorite things in the fall is the salted caramel hot chocolate from Starbucks  So when one of my coworkers brought in this treat I had to break my "no sweets in the office" rule and take one. Boy am I glad I did. They are fantastic!
12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I like more, so I add another 1/2 cup)
11 ounces caramel candy squares, unwrapped
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Sea salt, for sprinkling over caramel and bars
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 2-quart baking pan (which is an 11 X 7 pan-I used a glass Pyrex dish) with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Mix the melted butter and sugars together until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. In a large microwave safe bowl, combine the caramels and heavy cream. Microwave caramels on High until caramels are melted, stirring every 20 seconds. This will take about 2 minutes, depending on your microwave.
4. Divide the cookie dough in half. Press half of the cookie dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. Pour hot caramel over the cookie dough. Sprinkle caramel with sea salt. Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough over the caramel and spread dough with a spatula until the caramel is covered. Sprinkle the bars with additional sea salt.
5. Bake cookie bars for 30 minutes or until the top of the bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan. Cool bars on a wire rack to room temperature. Cut bars into squares and serve.

Microwave Score: tried them when they were at room temp.
Freezer Score: probably won't last that long.
Overall Score: 4-they aren't a bad treat, but I know what a 5 tastes like and these aren't quite there, but still so very good!

http://www.thebakerupstairs.com/2014/01/salted-caramel-chocolate-chip-cookie.html

Bean and Cheese Chimichangas

I found this recipe online and after tweaking it a few times, I am proud to call it a masterpiece!

Ingredients

12 tortillas
2 egg whites
1 can refried beans
1-2 cups shredded cheese (depending on personal preference)
1/2 can Diced Tomatoes and Chiles
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Instructions

Place beans, tomatoes, and cheese in a pot and heat until cheese is melted.
Warm up tortillas.
Separate egg whites and whip with a whisk.
Put beans in the middle of a tortilla, sprinkle with more cheese and brush egg whites all around the beans.
Fold top and bottom of tortilla, wrap one side of tortilla securely, close with other side of tortilla.
Fry chimis by placing in pan of oil on medium heat. Heat both sides until golden brown.

Serve with salsa, sour cream, ketchup, or anything else you want to experiment with.

Microwave Score: -- haven't tried it, but not sure it would work out well, we make enough to eat at one time.
Freezer score:-- again, haven't tried, but not sure it would work well.
Rob score: 5.0 He LOVES these, he hates when I buy frozen burritos now, because these are way better.
Overall score:4.0 Not sure they would work to reheat, but they are easy to make, and really yummy!

Spicy Black Beans and Rice

Alright this is a recipe that Kelly and I found in college, and it continues to be a favorite for me. Pretty easy to make, very filling, and seriously yummy.

Ingredients

1/2 cup onion
4 cloves garlic minced
2 Tbsp oil
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can Mexican styled stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 cup salsa
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups rice

Instructions
In a saucepan fry onion and garlic in oil over medium heat until tender, but not brown.
Stir in beans, tomatoes, salsa, salt and cayenne pepper.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes, will thicken slightly. Serve over rice mounds.

Microwave score: 5.0 I really think this microwaves well. I've never been able to tell a difference between the first day and the 3rd day
Freezer score: 5.0 This freezes AWESOMELY. Just make the rice fresh each time.
Rob score: 4.8 He really likes this dinner, as long as I don't make it every single week :)
Overall score: 5.0 I love love love this recipe!

Maquel's critique: This is an easy to make recipe. It isn't something I crave, but it's a nice winter meal. With the hot rice and spicy salsa you can't help but feel warm when you eat it.

Slow Cooker Apple Crisp

One of my favorite parts of fall is all the yummy food! I found this recipe and it is SO DELICIOUS. Plus ridiculously easy, how can you go wrong with that?!

Ingredients

8 apples, peeled. cored and sliced thinly

1/2-1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup oatmeal

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

Instructions

Generously spray a crock pot with non stick cooking spray, line with apples. 

Melt butter, and mix with the rest of the ingredients in a bowl.

Cover the apples with this mixture, spreading evenly.

Every crock pot is different, but cooking on low worked way better for me then high. I did low for about 5 hours. If it looks like the sides are starting to caramelize, it's done. This was SO delicious, I really can't even say how often we make this, because it's embarrassingly often. :) Enjoy!

Microwave Score:4.0 This is amazing for breakfast the next morning! The "crisp" is a bit soggy, but still just as delicious.

Freezer Score: Never tried, but I bet it would work!

Rob Score:5.0 Like I said, we make this A LOT

Overall Score: 4.8 Aside from the reheating soggy habits, this is amazing :)

Banana Carrot Zucchini Bread

I went to the farmers market this weekend and bought zucchini. Just like in the fall where I have a pumpkin obsession, in the summer I have a severe obsession with zucchini. I will post a couple other zucchini creations of mine later but right now I will share with you a family recipe that I absolutely love. I could eat this bread at any time, day or night. With 2 vegetables it just seems like it's a healthy alternative to some of my other favorite snacks. Although I'm sure as you look at the ingredients below you will see that it's really not all that healthy... :) This is good hot out of the oven or room temp, butter or no butter, by itself or topped with homemade raspberry jam. YUM!

Sift-

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

Mix-

1 cup oil

4 eggs

1 cup shredded carrot

1 cup shredded zucchini

1 cup mashed banana (best when really ripe)

Mix the wet ingredients together and then add in the dry ingredients. Bake for 45 mins at 350 degrees.

Batter will make one large loaf or 3 small loaves. I usually try to make it in 2 largish loaves.

Microwave Score: N/A - Never tried cause it's good in every way.

Freezer Score: 5.0 - I'm sure my mom has done it and it's never a problem.

Overall Score: 5.0 - No explanation needed.

Easy Shrimp Scampi

Confession: This is probably the most adult meal I've ever made. Ok, maybe not, but I was really nervous trying this out for the first time. Turns out this is now one of my fastest/easiest meals to make! It was AMAZING.

Easy Shrimp Scampi

25-30 medium shrimp (shelled and deveined)

1 Tbsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 Tbsp vinegar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

pepper

Heat a saute pan on high heat.

Lower heat to Med-High and add olive oil and butter.  

Once butter melts,  foams up and subsides, add garlic.

When garlic begins to brown add shrimp. Then add the chicken broth and vinegar. Stir so the shrimp is coated in the juices.

Spread shrimp out so they will cook evenly, turn heat to high and let boil for 2-3 minutes.

Turn the shrimp over and cook for another minute or two.

Remove from heat, add lemon juice and pepper.

Can serve alone, with crusty bread, pasta, or over rice. 

Microwave Score: TBD...there is no way I will ever have enough of this left over to even try probably.

Freezer Score: TBD. I really don't know how this would do frozen...not sure I want to try?

Rob Score: 5.0 Before I could even ask him what he thought he yells "oh my gosh this is a 5! Who needs Johnny Carinos?!" haha

Overall Score: 5.0 I'm giving this a 5. I haven't had a lot of shrimp scampi to compare it to, but this was delicious and I can't really imagine anything tasting better :)