Easy Sunday Afternoon Steak Marinade

It has been awhile since we made this marinade, but it will be on our menu again soon! I will note the pictures for this blog post are not exactly "pretty." Let's face it...I was taking pictures of a slab of meat. And, that is exactly what it looks like.

I threw this together and forgot about it when I made it, so our meat actually marinaded for a few days. It still tasted delicious. So, I would figure marinade the meat for at least a few hours would do.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Steak Marinade
Ingredients
1/3 c. low sodium soy sauce
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 T. parsley
1 t. minced garlic
1/3 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. Worcestershire
1 1/2 T. garlic salt
3 T. basil
1 t. cayenne pepper
pepper
(beef cut of your choice)

Step by Step Directions
1. Mix all of your ingredients together. (easy clean up, mix them all in the resealable bag)
2. Pierce the meat a few times and put into bag.
3. Marinade for at least 3-4 hours.
*We grilled the meat to our liking of medium rare. Grill to your desired temperature.

Summertime means Grillin Time!

First off, I must apologize. I fell off the face of the Earth or at least maybe it seemed like it. My time in the kitchen was replaced by my time spent in the CLASSROOM! I went from a day to day sub to a long term substitute to being a full time 3rd grade teacher! I cannot express how happy or relieved I am to be back in the classroom. That being said, my creativity was mainly used in the classroom rather than the kitchen. Now that school is out for summer, the creativity is in full swing in the kitchen.....or the GRILL as this post will prove.

So, I did a couple of things last night for dinner. The meal was set to be brown sugar marinade grilled salmon recipe, grilled asparagus and rice...but then I found another recipe originally used for chicken, but I knew I had some frozen shrimp, so I decided to throw in some shrimp too. Here is a picture of our feast last night:

Spicy Honey Lime Grilled Shrimp Skewers
Ingredients
1/2 pound - 1 pound thawed shrimp
2 limes, juiced or store bought lime juice
1 1/2 T. honey
3 cloves minced garlic
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 t. red pepper flakes (I was generous)
1/2 sea salt
pepper

*Soak wooden skewers in water prior to grilling for approximately 1 hour*

Step by Step
1. Pour all of the ingredients into a resealable plastic bag. Mix it together by "smushing" the bag. (technical term, I know)

2. Add your shrimp. Smush some more.

3. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

4. Slide the shrimp on the skewers. Top with more red pepper flakes and/or pepper.

5. Place the skewers on the grill (top shelf) and grill for about 3 minutes on each side. Grill until the shrimp is pink on both sides. Keep an eye on the wooden skewers, my skewer did catch on fire even after soaking.

Shrimp on the top shelf (with the asparagus packet)

6. Remove and serve! YUM!

Brown Sugar Grilled Salmon 
(Recipe tweaked from this recipe found on Pinterest)
Ingredients
salmon filets (skin on or off)
1/3 c. low sodium soy sauce
1/3 c. water
1/3 c. light brown sugar
1 T. vegetable oil/extra virgin olive oil

Step by Step Directions
1. Pour ingredients into resealable bag. Shake to mix.

2. Place salmon filets into bag.

Terrible picture, but salmon is in the bag!

3. Marinade for at least an hour.

4. When grill is heated, place salmon on grill. Grill 6-8 minutes per side.

*Our salmon had the skin on it, so we didn't flip it so we had extra crispy skin*

Make sure the meat is flaky before removing from the heat. Use a fork to lightly flake away the middle. If it flakes easily, it is done.

Sweet and Spicy Steak

First, I MUST apologize for my laziness...I have no excuses other than, I just needed a break from trying new recipes in the kitchen! So, I had to tap into my creative juices tonight because I just had to get back into the kitchen....

This was a "thrown together" meal (I know, yet again), but I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome!

Sweet and Spicy Steak
(a super QUICK marinade)

Ingredients
*flank steak
(the following ingredient measurements are up to you)
*red pepper flakes
*light brown sugar
*honey
*low sodium soy sauce
*garlic salt

Step by Step
1. Rub light brown sugar into flank steak.

2. Slice steak into strips.
3. Sprinkle red pepper flakes (use more than you might want, the sweetness will balance the pepper flakes out) and garlic salt over the steak.

4. Pour soy sauce over the steak and then drizzle some honey over the meat, as well.
5. Marinate for AS LITTLE as 30 MINUTES! (that was all the time I had to let it sit! And, it worked!)

6. Grill or cook on a grill pan on a stove top to your desired liking.
ENJOY!

(FYI...that would be bread crumb coated zucchini...that recipe is still to come!)

 

Beef Marinade...mighty tasty!

I had 2 steaks that I needed to do something with...

So, to Pinterest I went...and typed beef marinade and I got this recipe: Plain Chicken Southwestern Skirt Steak (good site...when you get a chance)

The best part about it???

I had all of the ingredients in my kitchen....I didn't have to go to the dreaded grocery store!!!!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground cumin
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 pounds skirt steak (I did not have 2 lbs...but used the same amount of marinade)

Whisked all of the ingredients (minus the steak) in a bowl:

So, put all of that in a Ziploc bag, sealed it and put it back in the refrigerator. Then, I definitely forgot the beef was in there and didn't make it until today. So, it sat in the fridge for 3 days.

marinade and steak in a ziploc

And, we didn't eat dinner at home tonight, so I had to make it quickly....

I previously wanted to grill the steaks, but had no time...so I pulled out the grill pan for the stove top...coated the bottom with some PAM...turned it on high heat (dumb idea)...sliced the beef and put it in the pan..

The beef was only in the pan for (literally) a minute or so...and done! Back into the fridge for lunch tomorrow, but the few pieces I tried....they were delicious! So easy, and so flavorful!!!

Definitely recommend!