Flank Steak & Greens!

I made 1/2 lb of flank steak with salt & pepper and Melinda made spinach with olive oil & pine nuts. It was awesome. Oh, and we topped it with shredded robusto cheese!

From the pages of Real Simple

Last night, Melinda and I made our version of this recipe, 20-Minute Shrimp with Carrot Slaw. M made the shrimp as described, but with added garlic. I cut the carrots into discs instead of chopping them julienne and, since I had no cayenne in the house (!), I added a touch of pepper and extra lime for a kick.

Overall, the meal was okay. It was a easy-to-make dish for sure, and we didn't spend more than 20 mins making it. I have a lot of leftover sour cream now, so I have to figure out what to do with it. I'm not sure I'll make carrot salad again, but I certainly don't regret trying it.

Dorito Chicken!

I know what you're thinking --- eww. Well, prepare to be surprised by this easy and delicious recipe! For six or seven drummies, you need 2 cups of crushed Doritos. Crack an egg and brush onto raw chicken, then shake chicken with Doritos in a closed bag. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes (or until thoroughly cooked). Enjoy!





You can see the colorful veggies Melinda made here to accompany our experiment.

Rainbow Chard

Last night, Melinda cooked up some rainbow chard from Aubrey's and my lil' organic garden! It tasted great. I'll post pics of the garden soon.

The Two-Week Menu

Melinda and I started something new this month. We sat down, came up with 10 dinner ideas and wrote them down on post-its. Then Melinda created a template in Word and we put one sticky note meal on each weekday (weekends are for spontaneity and restaurants).

We then made a list of ingredients we'd need and headed out to the grocery store. Now we had 2 weeks' worth of ingredients and a flexible list of menus! This way, if we don't want the spaghetti that's on Tuesday's spot, we can switch it out with something later. No more, "What do you want to eat? I dunno, what do you wanna eat? I dunno," in the evenings!

Meals have been easy to make and we've had a blast making them together.

Dr. Tima Honey Ginger Ale

Don't let the fact that I'm too lazy to take or find a picture of the bottle mislead you--this is a wonderful drink. It has a honey sweetness, balanced by a slight fruity tartness, good ginger flavor, and a balanced amount of carbonation. It comes in a clear bottle, with the label pictured wrapped around it. Apparently Dr. Tima has other honey sodas--being a lover of honey as well, I'm intrigued.

This was a good drink on which to end the gifted ginger ale reviews. I plan to continue this, though. I'll post reviews up of ginger ales that I come across, as well as ones I've had before but have never documented how I feel about them. Maybe I'll include other sodas as well.

Jackson Hole Ginger Beer

I really didn't like this one. It was way too sweet, with barely any ginger flavor, and the flavor it did have was sort of detergent-y.

Regatta Ginger Beer

Regatta Ginger Beer is a sweet, mildly fruity soda, with a flavor somewhat resembling Fresca. It has mild carbonation, and slight ginger taste that's stronger as an aftertaste. It's a decent drink, and is even kind of refreshing, but it doesn't wow me at all.

Sprecher Ginger Ale

Cute bottle with a penguin, but only a so-so drink. I think some ginger ales have more of a root beer taste to them, and this is one of those. Not that I dislike root beer, but it's not what I'm looking for when I pick up a ginger ale. Medium-bold ginger taste, good carbonation, decent sweetness, but overall, I'm just not that impressed with this one. There's almost a bitter aftertaste to it.

Cock 'n Bull Ginger Beer

Clearly a provocative name, and an attractively designed label, the bottle also says "Since 1946, The Extra Ginger Soft Drink." This is a pleasant, bold, and balanced soda. The good strong ginger taste goes with the heavy (for ginger ale) carbonation, and sweetness.