Where's the Beef?

I have a love affair with vegetables (see my soup recipe), fish, and poultry.  If a meal calls for ground beef I substitute ground turkey.  As it turns out men like red meat.  womp womp.  And as a wife I think I have a duty to make my man happy...hah...I apologize women of the feminist movement.  But seriously, it was time to let Jason know I'm not completely anti beef.  I decided what better time to make a delicious beefy dinner than Jason's Catholic birthday?  One year ago, on April 24th Jason was baptized, confirmed, and received his first communion.  One of the happiest days of my life!  And I think it's important to celebrate this day.  I looked to the cook book Jason registered for at Bed Bath and Beyond (hmmm I think he was trying to tell me something) to find a delicious yet healthy meaty recipe.  This is what I came up with:

Bridal Edition!  That means it has lots of tips for beginners :) 

                   

                    Southwestern Tri-Tip Roast: Spicy, meaty, low fat, and easy...everything I was looking for 

nom nom nom

 I ended up substituting a spicier dried red pepper for the chipotle. I added quite a few of them, keeping Jason's love for spicy in mind.  

I put the rub on the night before and let it sit over night and through the day .  When I got home we popped it in the oven while Jason and I went for a swim at our apartment's lap pool.  

Cheesy scalloped potatoes.  Not healthy, but very tasty 

The finished product! 

I think it was a little underdone, but the rub was delicious.  The meat had also sat in the freezer for a couple of weeks so it was a little tough.  Next time I'll buy the meat closer to the time I use it so there's no freezer time.  This meal also works great as a leftover.  Jason had a delicious sandwich the next night.  

 Mother's Day Feast

Following Jason Wagner's graduation (WHOOP)

  

 We headed to Houston to visit Jason's mom for Mother's Day!

We decided to fix a Mother's Day Feast on Sunday Night consisting of New York Strip Steaks, salad, baked new potatoes and corn and ice cream for dessert.  

Jason was in charge of the meat.  He put on a simple spice rub and tossed them on the grill

Fresh salad: spinach, red leaf lettuce, summer squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and green onions

Potatoes and Corn with olive oil, lemon juice, rosemary, garlic, oregano, and whatever else Jason put on it :)  Placed in oven covered for about 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees 

Oh yes, and we had jumbo shrimp cocktail! 

The Feast! 

Finished steaks.  They were cooked to a perfect  medium rare 

And dessert...yum! 

 And there you have it!  We will be having these leftovers for dinner tonight.  I'm pretty excited about it. 

Crafty Becca

Side, non food related story:  Sometimes I get this rush of a desire to be crafty.  This time it came in the form of making wedding shower invitations.  Jason always laughs when these hit because it usually goes like this:  I have this really awesome idea; look at this design; purchase all the materials; get 10% done; okay I'm tired of being crafty.  And then I beg him to help me finish my project :)  Lucky for me he does always help me.  And the finished product was pretty cute;  I was pleased with our work.  

Finished product ready to go into the envelope (Kendall don't read the date ideas.  Okay thnx ) 

Also, this is our refrigerator right now...ahhhhh busy summer.  Good news is, not all of those are invites.  Phew.   Also, yes that is the news paper article I was mentioned in hanging on our refrigerator like I'm in 4th grade and just got an A. Back off.  

That's all for now.  Until next time

The VrlyFries