Easy Marinade!

Here is an easy marinade you can use for a last minute steak dinner or to give your meat dish a little extra flavor.

Using a Ziploc bag or air tight container place your meat inside with the following.

1 cup olive oil

1/2 cup Vinegar
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic (or granulated garlic)
1 tablespoon fresh minced onion (or onion powder)
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes. 

Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 24 hours then prepare meat as desired.

 

Easy Homeade Tomato Sauce!

I never use tomato sauce from a jar, so whether I am making a quick pasta sauce or sauce as part of a larger recipe, I have a quick and easy way to make fresh homemade tomato sauce.  Below is a recipe that will generate 2 Cups of tomato sauce.  It is perfect for a pasta dinner for 2 or 3 people.  For a larger amount of sauce, just double or triple the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 Can of basic plain tomato sauce

1Tbsp Olive Oil

A handful of fresh cherry tomatoes

3 Garlic cloves (minced)

1/4tsp Salt

1/8tsp pepper

Basil (1Tbsp fresh or 1tsp dried)

Oregano (1Tbsp fresh or 1tsp dried)

Thyme (1tsp fresh or 1/4tsp dried)

TIP: here is an easy way to cut fresh herbs

 

In a large skillet over medium heat add Olive Oil and Garlic.  

Cook and stir for about 30 seconds and then add tomatoes and herbs.

Allow the tomatoes to cook in the hot oil while occasionally stirring until the skins begin to crack.

 

Once the tomatoes begin to break apart, you can use your spatula or spoon to help break down the tomatoes.

After the tomatoes start to break apart, you can add the tomato sauce.

   

After adding the tomato sauce, you can add the salt and pepper.

Continue to stir the sauce occasionally, and using your spatula or spoon, you can continue to break down the tomatoes further.

 Allow the sauce to simmer over a low heat for ten minutes

Then Enjoy!

 

Tip:If you don not have tomatoes on hand or prefer a thin pasta sauce just omit them from the recipe.  They do however add a great deal of flavor and texture to the sauce.

Do you think you would like this recipe?

Wordless Wednesday! Remember!

Tuesday's Tip! An Easy Way To Chop Fresh Herbs!

I always love cooking with fresh herbs.  Since it's been summer I have been using them more than ever.  It can be tricky and time consuming chopping or mincing lots of fresh herbs for a recipe. I recently started using an old trick for finely chopping herbs quickly.  

Using a small glass and a pair of kitchen shears you can quickly cut any kind of herb quickly.

Just put a handful of whatever leaves you are using in a tall glass, then using the kitchen shears snip the leaves until they are minced. The glass holds the leaves compressed in a small space so it is easy to cut them up. The sharp scissors are much better at cutting the herbs more finely than a rougher knife would be.

 

I used this trick the other night while making homemade pasta sauce.  I filled the glass with Basil, Oregano, Greek Oregano & Thyme picked fresh from the garden and in 30 seconds they were all chopped.

It was quick, easy, and no mess. All the herbs went straight from the glass into the sauce.

Have you ever used this method to cut herbs?

A New Look For Only $0.96!

While I was organizing my new place I came across a piece of furniture that I didn't have much use for.  It was an old shelf that I have had for a while.  I remember when I was a kid we had it in our house, at that time it was a dark stained wood.  A while back my mom gave it a new life by painting it white and putting on a some new white knobs with a flowery design.  In my new place though I didn't have any place where this shelf would look good.  I got to thinking and decided to give this old shelf a facelift.

 I started by taking the shelf outside and with a drop cloth behind it I spray painted a fresh coat of black paint that I purchased for only $0.96.

 After I allowed the shelf to dry I brought it inside.  I didn't need to buy new knobs since I had some old knobs saved from old furniture.  I had both silver and brushed brass knobs to choose from.  After trying both I decided the brushed brass looked better.

 

Once the shelf was fully dry it was ready to hang.

  

I decided to use my new shelf as an addition to my homemade bar.  Now I have somewhere to display my glasses in the same area.

 

The shelves also come in handy for a bar idea.  They are the perfect size to hold bottle openers, cork screws  and bottle stoppers.

    Here is the whole bar area now.

 So for only 96 cents I was able to breathe new life into an old shelf and spruce up my new home.

Thoughts?

An Easy Dinner Using Leftovers!

Tonight I created a yummy dish utilizing leftovers, a pantry staple and a few things picked fresh from the garden.  When I looked around tonight thinking about what to make for dinner I remembered I had about 11oz of ground beef in the freezer left over from homemade burgers earlier this week and a small amount of Italian sausage from making homemade pizza a few days ago.  I also a had a small amount of fresh picked grape tomatoes from the garden.  I got to thinking and instantly knew I could make a meat sauce.  I also knew I had a whole plethora of fresh herbs from the garden at my disposal.  Here is a quick and simple recipe.

The left overs I had were 11oz of lean ground beef and 1 1/2 Italian sausage links





On hand I had fresh genovese basil, oregano, greek oregano, thyme and garlic. I always try to use fresh herbs when possible.  Obviously if you dont have all or any, dry herbs can be used. 

 

In a saute pan I browned the ground beef in a little olive oil with fresh garlic.  When the beef was browned I I crumbled in the sausage.

Once all the meat was cooked I removed and drained the meat and put it aside in a bowl

At this point I put a pot of water on and once it boiled I added some rigatoni I had in the pantry.  Obviously a recipe like this can be altered in many ways and you can choose what ever kind of pasta you have or prefer.

After wiping the saute pan clean I added some Olive Oil, chopped fresh herbs, grape tomatoes and a little salt.  I sauteed them over a low heat until the skins of the tomatoes began to crack.  

 

Once the garlic began to brown and the tomato skins cracked, I added a can of tomato sauce puree. I added a dash of salt and a pinch of salt to taste as well as a dash of cracked red pepper flakes.  Using my wooden spatula I also applied pressure to the tomatoes to break them down a little further.  After that I added the meat to the sauce and allowed it to cook for a few minutes.

After the sauce began to simmer I removed it from the heat and used it to top off my rigatoni.  After adding a small amount of fresh Romano cheese on top I had a perfectly De-Lish dinner!

 

Have any other ideas for making a dish with these ingredients? 

A Fresh Coat For $3.99!

I HATE white walls.  For me a house, apartment or condo with floor to ceiling white walls just doesn't work.  No amount of artwork, photos, trinkets or drapes can make the place feel homey.  When I moved into my new place I wasn't to excited to see bright white.. everywhere!  Before I moved in I painted the master bedroom and living room a neutral beige tone.  Instantly the whole place had a different feel.  I used the above mentioned accessories to pull it all together and without  painting all the rooms I was able to turn it into a home.

 

The only other down side was the back splash in the kitchen.  It was a horrible deep yellowish color that should be named "puke yellow".  At around 2am last night while organizing my kitchen I decided I really hated it and thought..why don't I just paint it?  While trying to save money after a big move it occurred to me that I still had half a bucket of beige paint. 

I was a little nervous because most of the back splash was wall, but there were two shelves made of pressed wood I'm guessing and covered in laminate.  Since I was awake last night when I had this idea I decided to stay up ten more minutes and tape it off.  This way in the morning I could paint.

After a quick trip to the store to buy a paintbrush I was in business.  Two coats later and a little dry time, I had a whole new kitchen.  A coat of paint can truly change something's appearance.  It can also give the space a whole new feeling.

Next time you want to make a change to a room think about what you have that you can utilize.  Since I had extra paint laying around the only thing I needed was the brush.  So for only $3.99 I was able to spruce up a kitchen I didn't particularly like.  Now I LOVE my new kitchen!

Here is a look at a room with half of the wall painted.  What a difference!

Any other ideas for making cheap improvements to your space?

Your Next Breath Is Never Guarenteed!

“Your next breath is never guaranteed.  Stand up for what you believe in!”

I thought this the other day and wanted to post it on the Hungry For Living Facebook page.  It dawned on me though that I would be encouraging the people I disagree with to continue to feel a way that I believe is wrong.  But just because they don’t believe in the same things as me I cannot fault them.  Everyone is free to hold their own ideas about anything and everything in this world. It’s one of the benefits of having our own mind and a privilege to voice them in this country. 

I realize though that there is a difference.  If I choose to express my opinion and views on others I am spreading awareness on a topic I am passionate about.  When you berate, condemn, or ostracize someone else for their beliefs you are spreading hate.

I have never judged, beat, tortured, discriminated against, humiliated, persecuted or even murdered someone because their beliefs differed from mine.   We all have the right to grow, cultivate and form our own opinions.  No one is born to hate another individual, hate is learned.  It sickens me the way so many people take it upon themselves to judge how others live their lives.  Its irritating to see people hate how others live when it in no way impacts their own lives.  After all the progress we have made in following the mantra that all men (and woman) are created equal, you would think people would think twice before disregarding another human being.  You wouldn’t hate someone for voting differently from you, believing in a different religion or even choosing to dress differently than you, so why than can you not help but hate someone who loves differently than you.  

We all have a right to live our lives the way we want to, and that includes loving whoever you want to.  Just because it may not be the way you feel love should be does not give anyone the right to stop that love from happening.  These are rights everyone has and should not need to be voted on.  It’s hypocritical to take our god given rights and let others choose whether or not you deserve them.

People are up in arms right now about gay rights and whether homosexual couples should be allowed to marry.  Why not?  What will allowing two people in love to marry change for anyone else?

I myself have two moms. They are no different than any other couple and have a wonderful stable, loving marriage.  The thing is my two moms raised me to accept others and their beliefs.   No matter the color of their skin, religion, gender, economic background or sexual preference.  I do not discriminate against you because you may not agree with my opinions or if my family disgusts you and that’s the difference.  You may not agree with me but I would never hold that against you.  Think about that the next time you judge someone for something they cannot control.  Whether or not you agree with them why spend the time trying to take away their rights as a human being.

When I grow old I will look back on my life happily and know I enjoyed every moment to the fullest  Do you really want to look back and realize you wasted your life spreading hate and being angry over other people’s lives and forgetting to enjoy your own?  

What do you think?