Tri Tip Steak and Sweet Potato Fries

6 portions of Tri Tip Steak
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp kosher salt
pepper to taste
little olive oil

I mixed everything listed above, except the steak, and rubbed it all over the steak.  We cooked that on the grill.

For the Sweet Potato Fries I mostly followed a recipe from ourbestbites.com for their Oven Steak Fries:

2 sweet potatoes, skin removed and cut into large fries

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Mix spices in a medium bowl. Add olive oil and combine well.

Add potato wedges to seasonings and toss to coat.

Lightly crumple some aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray and then arrange potato wedges on foil. This makes cleanup easy because your potatoes won’t stick and it also ensures they’re cooked evenly.

Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes.  Increase the oven temperature to 425 and cook for another 20 minutes or until the fries are as crispy as you'd like.  

Ours were still a little soft for my liking so I'll have to play with the temp and time next time we try this.

Husband rating:  4 stars
Boys say:  thumbs up

Honey Baked Chicken

adapted from allrecipes.com, submitted by Gretchen Ramey

INGREDIENTS:

6 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts halves 1/4 cup butter, melted 1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup prepared mustard 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon curry powder

DIRECTIONS:

1.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.

Place chicken pieces in a shallow baking pan. Combine the melted butter, honey, mustard, salt and curry powder and pour the mixture over the chicken. Bake, covered, in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake another 25 minutes or until the chicken is nicely browned and tender and the juices run clear. I used dijon mustard.  I made this with brown rice (as a tip, cook the brown rice in chicken broth instead of water) and asparagus. Husband rating:  3.5 stars Boys say:  thumbs up

French Market

For Spring Break our family visited Disneyland.  Most of the food in the parks is the hamburger/pizza variety of food.  One place we all liked that was healthier was the French Market.  It's in New Orleans Square in Disneyland.  If you're at the Pirates of the Caribbean ride you're really close to this restaurant.  You walk through the line and they will make a salad for you or you can pick another meal like chicken and rice, French Dip sandwiches, and yes, you can even buy macaroni and cheese for the little ones.  The portions are filling.  You can expect to pay around $7 for a kids meal to $14 for an adult.  Tables are outside for you to eat and enjoy the warm southern California weather.

Husband rating:  4 stars
Boys say:  thumbs up

Rocky Road Popcorn

adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff

Ingredients:

6 cups popped popcorn
6 cups of mini marshmallows
1/4 cup butter
2 cups of chocolate chips (or any other chocolate candy)
1 bag of caramels
1/3 c evaporated milk

Directions:
Pop popcorn.  Pick up big handfuls of popcorn and shake to allow any seeds to fall to the counter.  Put sifted popcorn into a large bowl.  Over medium-low heat in a medium sauce pan, mix together caramels and evaporated milk until smooth.  In the microwave melt the butter in a large bowl.  Add the marshmallows and mix.  Return the bowl to the microwave and heat about 1 minute.  Mix the marshmallows.  Pour the marshmallows and caramel mixture over the popcorn.  Mix the popcorn. Mix in chocolate chips.  Let it cool completely and enjoy!

Boys say:  thumbs up!

Kalua Pork Pizza

this is a mix of two recipes with my own twist:  ourbestbites.com Kalua Pork and Michelle Tam's Slow Cooker Kalua Pork

Kalua Pork:

3 bacon slices
about 3 lb pork sirloin tip roast
about 1 tbsp coarse red Hawaiian Sea Salt (or another type of sea salt if you can't find that)
Hickory flavored liquid smoke

Rinse the pork roast and pat it dry. Pierce the entire roast with a fork. Sprinkle generously with the liquid smoke (about 1 tablespoon, more if you have a very large roast) and sprinkle with the sea salt (start with about a little less than tablespoon and see how far it gets you; you can always add more after it cooks).   Rub the salt into the roast.  Place the bacon slices on the bottom of the slow cooker.  Place the roast in the slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the meat shreds easily with a fork.

Remove the roast from the pan and place it in a serving dish or on a serving platter. Shred the pork.  Drizzle enough of the cooking liquid over the pork to re-moisten it and keep it from drying out. 

Pizza:

pizza crust
sauce
pineapple tidbits
any peppers, red onions or other toppings you like
mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Make a pizza dough or buy a pizza crust.  Place crust on cookie sheet (or you could put this on the grill once it's all assembled).  Put pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce on the crust.  Add pork, pineapple and other toppings.  Top with cheese.  Place in oven for about 8 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

I'm not sure I can express how much I liked this pork!  I practically ate the entire pork on my own!  This is great in the pizza (I added chopped red onions and orange and yellow peppers to mine) but is also great for salads, on rice or just plain.  It's soooo tasty!  Try it.  You won't regret it!

Husband wasn't home so my rating is 5 stars
Boys say:  thumbs up (it's a pizza, what else are they going to say?!)

Grilled Chicken with Cucumber Melon Salsa

from ourbestbites.com

Chicken:1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
Juice of 4 limes (about 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 2-3 cloves)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salsa:2/3 cup honeydew melon, cut into 1/4″ cubes
2/3 cup cantaloupe, cut into 1/4″ cubes
1/3 cup cucumber, peeled and seeded, diced
1/3 cup red onion, diced
1/2 large jalapeno, seeded and diced
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon sugar, honey, or agave
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Rinse the chicken and place in a large Ziploc bag. Whisk together the remaining chicken ingredients in a small mixing bowl and pour it over the chicken. Marinate the chicken for at least 4 hours, no longer than 24 hours.

An hour before serving, combine the salsa ingredients in a small-medium mixing bowl.

To cook the chicken, preheat a grill to medium heat. Cook over medium flame/coals for about 7 minutes per side. Remove from the grill and allow to stand 5 minutes before serving. Top with salsa. Makes 4 servings.

I served this with a quinoa mix.  I left the jalapeño out because the boys and I don't like our food too spicy.  

Husband rating:  3 stars
Boys say:  mixed reviews

White Chicken Enchilada Casserole

from Six Sisters' Stuff

White Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup
2 (4 oz) cans diced green chilis
1 (16 oz) container sour cream
1/2 onion, finely diced
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste
1 (10 oz) package tortilla chips
1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients except for the chips and cheeses together. Spray a 9x13" baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place chips in the bottom of the baking pan and pour chicken mixture over chips. Top with grated cheese and bake for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Serve with your favorite toppings (lettuce, tomato, salsa, avocado, hot sauce, etc).

Serves 6-8.

Other than using less diced green chilis because of personal preference, we followed the recipe exactly.  

Husband rating:  3 stars

Boys say:  thumbs up