Korean-Style Beef Tacos

October 2, 2022 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

This isn’t a new recipe. I think this cookbook is a handful of years old but it’s full of great recipes.

I made this for our weekly Taco Tuesday for us moms, however Averi was caught eating leftover steak off the cutting board.

*This recipe wants you to skewer the meat, I didn’t do that, it was just an extra unnecessary step for this occasion.

Ingredients

⅓ cup sugar

5 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce

1 ½ tablespoons gochujang paste

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

12 ounces flank steak, sliced against the grain into thin strips

⅛ teaspoon salt

Cooking spray

8 (6-inch) corn tortillas

Quick Pickled Cabbage (recipe to follow)

3 tablespoons sliced green onions

1 fresh jalapeno, sliced for serving

Directions

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Add steak to bowl or combine all in a gallon size freezer bag; . Marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour, turning after 30 minutes. (Can hang out in the fridge for longer).

While the meat is marinating, make the pickled cabbage.

Pickled cabbage

3 cups chopped/shredded napa cabbage

2 garlic cloves

1/2 cup rice vinegar

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Teaspoons gochujang paste

Combine 3 cups of shredded napa cabbage in a bowl with the garlic. Bring vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and gochujang to a boil in a small sauce pan. Pour hot vinegar mixture over cabbage; toss. Let stand at least 30 minutes before serving.

Preheat grill to medium high heat.

Remove steak from marinade, and discard marinade. Grill the slices of meat, 2 minutes per side.

(Thread steak onto 8 (8-inch) skewers; sprinkle with salt. Place skewers on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 2 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness).

Grill tortillas 30 seconds on each side or until lightly charred; keep warm.

Place tortillas on plate, and divide steak evenly among tortillas. Divide the Quick Pickled Cabbage evenly among tacos; sprinkle with onions and jalapenos.

Cowboy Pasta Salad

August 9, 2022 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

This pasta salad is truly addicting. When I read the ingredients for the dressing, I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was. Creamy, tangy, sweet and as spicy as you’d like depending on if you’re feeding adults or children…or adult children.

The girls and I made this again at home. I went a bit heavier on the heat by also adding some cayenne pepper. I thought about adding some bacon, but honestly it’s good as vegetarian side dish.

We had it for dinner, it’s just as good as the first time.

The next day, I tore some arugula and added it to the pasta salad. I suggest trying this too!

Cowboy Pasta Salad

Ingredients

1 lb. bowtie pasta

Olive Oil

1/2 cup mayo

1/4 cup your favorite bbq sauce

1 tbs spicy brown mustard

1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

1-2 tsp of your favorite hot sauce

2 ears of fresh corn

2 cups cherry tomatoes

8 oz. cheddar cheese, grated

8 scallions, chopped

Salt and pepper, to taste

Arugula, if you want.

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta per box instructions, drain in colander.

Put cooked pasta in a large bowl and drizzle with evoo, so the pasta doesn’t stick together, set aside.

Husk the corn and cut kernels off the cobs. Add corn to pasta.

Halve the tomatoes, add to pasta.

To make the sauce, whisk the mayo, bbq sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce in a medium bowl until combined. Add the sauce to the pasta, tomatoes and corn, toss to combine.

Finely chop the green onions, add to pasta. Top with the grated cheddar cheese.

Taste for salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Cooking with Kids

August 4, 2022 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

A few months before our trip to Greece I landed a gig to teach a summer cooking class to kids. The days, times and location worked out brilliantly with our schedules. I was given all of the recipes for the cooking session, then I went shopping for the ingredients on the Sunday before class or that Monday morning. There is a Pavilion’s right near the school, that was so handy! The company dropped off bins full of the cooking utensils and tools I should need beforehand, so all I had to do was unpack the groceries and prep for the class.The plan was to teach two separate sessions, three weeks each. The first session was a cooking class the second was a baking class.

My cooking group consisted of 3 boys and 3 girls, ages 6-11 and they were awesome!

Each day we made two dishes/recipes. I would get to the site early and prep all of the ingredients (mis en place), the cooking equipment we would be using, and presented it on a table for easy accessibility. I wrote on each recipe card who was going to do what. Little Billy (names have been changed) will cut onions, Rose will grate cheese and so on and so forth. That way I knew that everyone was participating throughout the entire class. After a quick demo of what we were going to make and asking them about some of the ingredients, we dove in. I didn’t do any of the cooking, they did it all. I guided them, I handled the hot oven, any boiling water and the washing of knives, but other than that, they did it all. And man, they kicked ass!

The first week we made.

Gumbo, flapjacks, carrot casserole, porridge bites, egg casserole, spinach mac n cheese, Spaghetti with meatballs, and omelettes.

They were pretty good eaters. I will say that by the second week, one girl was begging to stop using onions, HAHAHA! I feel like every recipe called for onions.

When we were done with both dishes of the day, we sat down and ate together. I would bring in juice mix and they would take turns making a pitcher of lemonade or fruit punch, yes, of course it was sugar free, not my first rodeo lunatics. Then, if we had any free time before the class ended, we would play heads up or trivia or maybe just draw Whatever they wanted to do as long as it wasn’t swinging from the rafters or playing chase, boys, I am looking at you.

The second week we made;

Mash and gravy, meatball stroganoff, brussels sprout and parmesan salad, hot dogs with a veggie chili, Naan personal pizzas, macaroni and cheese and a fruit salad.

This pasta recipe, you guys, was soooooo good. I know it doesn’t look great and honestly when I read the recipe I wasn’t sold. But it’s good, guilty pleasure BBQ side dish good.

I will share the recipe.