Balsamic Glazed Sliced Steak Salad

Perfect song on the radio 

Sing along 'cause it's one we know 

It's a smile, it's a kiss 

It's a sip of wine, it's summertime 

Sweet summertime 

Oh, pardon me. I didn't realize you were listening. I do have a tendency to sing loudly when I'm alone in the kitchen. I typically don't sing so loudly when other folks are present, unless you have the good fortune of being one of my children. In that case you'd be asking me to be quiet because it's embarrassing. But since you're surely not one of my children I won't be singing for you any time soon. Unless you're stopped next to my car at a red light. In that case you'd be smiling awkwardly at me over the passenger seat because you find my singing to be so off-pitched it hurts. Then you'll see me slowly rolling up my windows and looking even more awkwardly back at you. But anyhow, I'm singing today because this is today's theme song. And theme songs are meant to be sung along to. The first day of summer. Summer solstice. The longest day of the year. A day for grilling out. A season for salads.

And today, boy oh boy, do I have a salad for you. Balsamic Glazed Sliced Steak Salad is the perfect mix of light and hearty, sweet and savory.

This has become the favorite salad in our house. The other night I prepared enough to last two dinners but was pleasantly surprised to find my children asking for seconds and thirds. Sure enough we finished off the whole batch in one sitting.

The key to this salad is the balsamic reduction. Since I don't have a lot of extra time on my hands and I prefer to do things the easy way, I made sure my balsamic reduction was super simple. It needed to be something I could do while candying pecans. So I dumped a bottle of balsamic vinegar in a heavy saucepan and put the heat on. Then I reduced the liquid to half while stirring continuously. Now that's what I'm talkin' about.

Enough talk. Let's get to it.

Balsamic Glazed Sliced Steak Salad

Ingredients:

1-2 pounds flank steak (or whatever you want to cook up tonight)

1 large head of romaine lettuce, chopped

2 cups candied pecans

1 cup dried cranberries, sweetened

10 oz grape tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise

16 oz sliced button mushrooms

1/4 head shredded red cabbage

1/2 liter balsamic vinegar

balsamic vinaigrette dressing

The Preparation Method:

Let us begin by taking a closer look at the tastiest salad I've made in years...

Now that we have our inspiration for the task ahead of us, we shall carry-on.

Word to the wise with this salad—plan ahead. Make the balsamic reduction yesterday. Make the candied pecans the day before yesterday. There is no good reason why you should be eating dinner at ten o'clock at night just because you forgot to make these most crucial items ahead of time. They both keep on the shelf nicely. Make them when you have an extra half hour in the day and be amazed at how quickly you can pull this salad together.

I posted about the candied pecans the other day. Click here for the recipe.

The balsamic reduction glaze is easy. Pour a bottle of balsamic vinaigrette in a heave saucepan. Use half a liter or a full liter. (The glaze that is left over can be stored in an airtight container in the cupboard to spruce up most meat or fish entrees.) Turn the heat on medium-high. Stir continuously. Bring to a slow boil. When the vinegar sticks to a wooden spoon, as seen in the picture above, the reduction is complete. It should be thick like molasses. This process took me about 30 minutes. Beware of letting it go too long for fear of it burning. Immediately take off the heat and let cool. Set aside. (The cupboard is fine. The refrigerator will turn it hard as a rock.)

Next begin preparing the other toppings...

Thinly sliced red cabbage.

Grape tomatoes cut lengthwise.

Sweetened dried cranberries.

Thinly sliced button mushrooms.

Now it's time to get the steak on the grill. Get the grill nice and hot before you put the steak on. Help the steak stay nice and tender by only flipping it once. Keep the lid on the grill while it's cooking.

Grill your steak how you like it. For us this was about four minutes on each side to achieve nice grill marks on the outside and medium-rare in the center. This steak was a little thick. Less time if your steak is thinner.

Bring off the grill and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness. This will allow all the juices to settle into the meat rather than run all over your cutting board. Then thinly slice the steak.

While the steak is resting, start dressing the salad plates...

A handful of mushrooms.

Just a touch of red cabbage.

A small handful of dried cranberries.

Some grape tomatoes.

And a few candied pecans. Unless you are one of my children. In which case you would grab the whole bowl and dump it on your plate and leave none for your siblings or your parents. Sneaky buggers.

Even though Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing is quite possibly one of the easiest salad dressings on the planet, I opted for a store bought variety. Newman's Own is one of my favorites! Pour a light drizzle over the salad at this point.

Now add the slices of steak over the top and give a heavy drizzle of the balsamic reduction over the top of the warm meat. In a minute or two it will melt into the meat and turns into magic on a plate.

Enjoy on the back porch—or stoop or balcony or fire escape—tonight.

Happy summer everyone!

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What is better than a video with Karaoke style lyrics? Come on and sing along with me. I promise I won't  give you any awkward looks.

Kenny Chesney - Summertime

It's the Simple Things in Life

"So, what's it like?" she says to me with bright eager eyes.

"What?" I ask knowing full well what she wants to know.

She's inquiring about my husband. She wants me to spill all the juicy details of having him back home now that his four year love affair with Grad School is officially over.

If I was collecting pennies for every time I have been asked this question over the past month I would have six dollars and twenty-four cents in my pocket.

Every girlfriend I see greets me with huge eyes and a smile that reaches from ear to ear. I can feel their excitement for me and my family. A lot of these women have walked alongside me over the years and have seen me through buckets of tears, fits of anger, physical exhaustion and mental delusion.

"I can't imagine what it must feel like."

"How different is it now?"

"Are you loving it?"

I must admit I'm walking on Cloud Nine, it feels so right and, yes, I absolutely love having him around. I simply can't get enough. By having him with us so much, I believe I am just now waking up from a dark haze to see what we were missing for so long.

First off, we accomplished more around the house in one weekend than had been attended to in an entire calendar year while he was in school. It blew my mind. Finally those squeaky doors, overcrowded closets and small—but important—handyman jobs got some much deserved attention.

In addition to cleaning out closets, over the past few weeks of summer vacation I have been working on centering myself in the things that are most important for the health of my family. 

I'm finding it's the little things that are the most meaningful to me. I have filled up my eye sockets with tears of joy more times than I can count since my sweet husband's graduation day. 

The main theme over the past few weeks in my family has been The Simple Life. (Was that a TV show? Who knows. We don't have TV. I think I recall something about Paris and Nicole. Must be a memory from the grocery store gossip magazines. Got to love those little treasures. Too much irrelevant information is imprinted on my brain from those five minute exposures. I will admit though, I do like these magazines. Put one in front of me and I'm captivated for hours. Is it because we don't have TV? Who knows. All I know is you should see me in a hotel room with cable TV. Oh, Lordy!)

Back to our house. Back to the simple life. Yes. A theme for us. Something to strive for.

The obvious truth is that it's the simple things that are the biggest blessings...

Sharing a cup of coffee together in the morning before walking into our respective workplaces.

A lunchtime communication just to ask, "How are the kids doing today?"

Playing catch in the backyard no sooner than walking through the front door.

Family meals. Two adults, three children. Finally a decent ratio.

Washing dishes in peace while someone else gets the kids ready for bed. Lord knows that I've hit my limit with the kids somewhere around the six o'clock hour. Who knew a woman could cling to the kitchen sink so desperately after dinner.

All that to say, focusing on the simple things in life has brought the most joy to our family over the past few weeks. And as of today I'm feeling inspired not to loose this feeling. So I'm creating a little project for myself.

Once a week I will be sharing a Simple Joy. Captured in a photo, one simple thing that brings me joy. Something that I see, feel, taste or experience that keeps me dancing in the kitchen. We all know that life can be hard, unpredictable and difficult to navigate at times. I'm fairly certain these realities won't ever disappear. Nor should they disappear entirely. It's the joy and the pain, the highs and the lows that make this such a rich and complex existence.

I'm excited to identify just a few of the highs on this here bloggy blog every Monday morning—one little way I can start my week off with positive perspective.

Bringing the Joy of Family Vacation Home

It has been one month since that glorious day in May when my sweet husband walked across the commencement stage to receive his diploma for our—eh, I mean, his—four years of hard work in Grad School.

In the past six weeks our family has traveled 2,784 miles by car and 4,334 miles by air to three amazing destinations for a some much needed R&R, in addition to visiting one very average middle America town to honor the life of a very important person.

Evidence seen here...

My road trip with the three kids halfway across the country. Dada stayed home.

Graduation vacation in Mexico. The whole family together. Delightful.

Camping in Moab, Utah. Multi-family fun.

Our annual trip to California to visit with my family. Just me and the kids.

Across the miles we've had plenty of time together to talk and dream and laugh and dream some more.

The most amazing thing about trips in general is that we get to take a step back from the day-to-day happenings in our lives. Remarkably, when not in the middle of the normal flow—be it the busy, mundane or chaotic flow—of our lives we start to see things a little differently. And if we're lucky we'll be seeing things a lot differently by the time we get home. That's why I love taking trips so much. The new perspective is so refreshing.

I especially like road trips—even with three rowdy kids in the back. The focused time I get with my hubby is precious to me. Endless hours of talking. Endless hours of hand holding. For some reason we don't seem to get much of that goodness when we stick around the house. And the kids are strapped in. Have I mentioned before my love of little children who sit still?

Still and quiet children aside, upon arriving at home my main goal was to translate the wonderful things we've seen, breathed and felt from our time away into our day-to-day living.

However upon arriving at home, the busyness of our schedules, mundane household chores and chaotic ambiance inside our four walls took their proper places front and center in our day-to-day happenings.

Hardly shocking. But honestly, I was shocked. How did we go from peace and harmony on the beach to three short people fighting, screaming and whining all day long? I imagined our family vacation bliss would last a few weeks at the very least, while I was secretly hoping for slightly more. We must have forgotten to pack the good vibes, mellow moods, and go-with-the-flow attitudes in to our suitcases. These delightful ways of functioning together have likely found anther family of vacationers to overwhelm with their joy by now.

But I want them back. Mellow moods, mellow moods, where are you?

So I've been thinking. What are the factors that contribute to such greatness as a family when on vacation?

A few points that have been sitting with me strongly...

Simplify everything. On vacation the schedules are simple. They are not overcrowded with nonsense. We do the essentials. Not much more. Cooking becomes a family activity. Tidying is a mindful practice.

Detach from the stuff. On vacation our space is not overcrowded with ten thousand little things. Or a hundred items of clothing. Or sixty pairs of shoes. Everyone has one outfit for now, one in the laundry and one for later. Just one pair of shoes per person. One hat. One book. In a hotel room or vacation rental there is a place for everything and everything in its place. This is so much easier to do when there are one hundred things to deal with instead of one hundred million things.

Allow children their fair share of the Earth's elements. For my kids, this is no less than eight hours a day feeling the sun's warmth and getting up close and personal with the forces of nature—be it a wave, dirt path or tall rock.

Plan well. There is a time and place for everything in the day. Try to feed the kids a meal two hours late and watch the madness unfold. Try to get just one more thing done on the computer before we leave for that bike ride I promised and watch the madness unfold. Meal prep, kitchen clean-up, quiet time and mama's work all have proper spots. When well executed this ship runs smoothly.

I'm excited to actualize these concepts in our home this week. First stop... delivering bags of stuff to the thrift store. Yay!

Green Mountain Gringo Salsa

For the longest time our gluten-free family found solace in Mexican restaurants when going out to eat. Remarkably, our favorite place in town would feed our family of five on one large chicken fajita platter. The free chips and salsa really do a bang-up job as an appetizer for my crew.

We carried-on the Saturday night fajita plate tradition for years until we determined that our Celiac son was also allergic to corn. Without corn and wheat and dairy, dining at Mexican restaurants has become slightly less appealing. 

Since then we've been making plenty of wonderful Mexican dishes at home sans the corn. However, one of my favorite things about Mexican restaurants is the mouth-watering fresh salsa. I could make a meal of it alone.

Bound and determined to find a store bought salsa that brings as much joy as the restaurant varieties I came across Green Mountain Gringo brand salsa.

Green Mountain Gringo offers everything I love about homemade salsa but easy to grab off the shelves when in a rush.

Fresh flavor, perfectly blended spices and five heat levels that are kind to my palate. The chunky texture of this salsa is lovely for pouring over the top of tacos and burrito bowls. And the complexity of flavors will keep you coming back with your chip or cucumber or whatever you use to dip. 

Long live restaurant quality Mexican food at home!

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Word up—This is not a paid advertisement. I like salsa. I like Green Mountain Gringo. 'Nuf said.

Simple Candied Pecans

It's almost Christmas in July! And if you've been hanging around this blog for any length of time you'll certainly recall what that means... SUGAR NUTS. 

Christmas in December, July, September or August only means one thing in my book. Remember those out-of-this-world Burnt Sugar Almonds I fell in love with last December? They were so good I found myself making a batch every other day for every reason I could think of... teacher's gifts, neighbor's gifts, gifts to myself for going through all the hard work of making them. I promised myself that this would be a holiday tradition only, so to minimize the need to buy increasingly larger pant sizes as the year carries on. I am proud to say that the sugar nuts have maintained their proper position until now—sugar and nuts, sitting separately in their respective positions in the cupboard. 

Until now that is! Christmas in July is a great reason to sprinkle sugar nuts on salads, over ice cream sundaes, or mix them in with the gorp as a special surprise for the kids.

This recipe is so easy and so good. Give it a try and I guarantee you'll be happy you did. 

Simple Candied Pecans

Ingredients:

2 cups raw pecans halves (broken once more in half lengthwise)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

The Preparation Method:

Combine sugar and water in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved.

Pour in 2 cups of the halved and halved again pecans.

Still over medium-high heat, stir the pecans to coat them well in the sugar syrup.

Continue stirring the pecans. Don't stop stirring. You will see the syrup turn into a dry crumbly coating over the nuts. This is good. Very good. Keep stirring.

After a few more minutes watch the crumbly coating begin to melt back into a liquid. Keep stirring as the thick liquid coats the nuts slightly.

The batch is finished when the nuts are slightly shiny—but mostly bumpy—in appearance.

Immediately spread onto a piece of wax paper to cool.

Try not to eat them all in one sitting, my friends!

Beach Survival Skills With Little Kids

For the past seven years we've taken family vacations in Southern California to visit with relatives. 

For the past seven years I have had no rest on the beautiful sandy shores of the Pacific Ocean. 

In the weeks leading up to the trip I would always dream of relaxing on my beach towel, cool drink in hand, rolling over ever now and then to grab a snack from my cute and tidy little whale patterned lunch sack. 

Somehow that dream never came to fruition once we hit the beach.

Usually, you'd find me chasing a toddler into the sea. Running after a preschooler down the coastline. Or picking up the trail of a young lad on his way to the snack shack.

Not anymore, my friends. 

I'm not sure why it took me so long, but on this trip I decided to take notes.

"Watch what the locals do, Judith, and do what they do," I repeated to myself as we shuffled our feet through the deep sand.

By doing so, we took a trip that normally leaves me feeling like this...

And made it into a trip that has left me feeling like this.

Through observation of the locals, I learned there are two simple strategies to surviving the beach with little kids.

Strategy #1: Bury the children.

Bury them deep and bury them often.

With legs immobilized under 10 pounds of sand, there is no more chasing Big Bubba down the coastline.

Make the child a race car and say goodbye to the endless requests for the snack shack.

Bury the girl in a whimsical horse castle and say hello to your beach towel, cold beverage and clean snacks.

Strategy #2: Dig a deep hole directly in front of your towel. And welcome endless hours of jumping, sliding, hiding, digging, and pure... simple... joy.

Better yet, encourage that strong lad of yours to dig the deep hole.

Digging so deep that he finds water keeps will keep him busy for hours.

Now Mama, watch yourself sink into that deep relaxation you've always dreamed about!

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Xavier Rudd - Mother

Gluten Free Rice Pasta by Tinkyada

I'm Italian. I like my pasta. And I'm picky.

Upon going gluten-free, I was very, very sad to give up my homemade pasta noodles.

Additionally, I was very, very sad to give up the $1 packages of pasta at the grocery store.

And finally, I was very, very sad to give up the all-you-can-eat pasta nights at the local restaurants.

Despite the fact that wheat pasta noodles were no longer welcome on my plate, I wasn't ready to give up on my pasta cravings entirely. I set out to find the pasta that most closely mimics the hearty pasta noodles that I remember my Grandmother serving up at family dinners.

In my search, Tinkyada brand rice pasta has stood high above the rest. 

Texture is incredibly important to me when it comes to enjoying my gluten-free Italian dinner. All of Tinkyada's pastas have hit it right on the mark. The perfect texture compliments all of my favorite family recipes. 

White Wine Infused Spaghetti and Meatballs

Fettucini Alfredo (gluten-free and dairy-free)

Depression Era Pasta e Fagioli

The best part about Tinkyada is the neutral flavor of the noodles. Certain gluten-free pasta alternatives can taste very strange. That is not the case with this brand. Tinkyada offers a pasta that would fit right in with the family at my Grandmother's dinner table.

Next to the taste and texture, the best thing about Tinkyada pasta is the 18 varieties they offer. Choose from lasagna, penne, elbow, spirals, fusilli, shells, fettucini, spaghetti, and never again worry about what to do for your next Italian meal.

Let it be known that this is not a paid advertisement. I really, really like me a good old fashioned pasta dinner. And I really, really like this brand.

Family Taco Night

Family vacation. 

Eight individuals sitting down to dinner. 

One vegetarian. 

One lactose intolerant. 

Two no beef and no pork. 

Two Celiacs. 

One corn allergy. 

Two casein allergies. 

What to eat? What to eat? I need a foolproof meal in a snap that will surely satisfy everyone's needs.

The answer every time ~ Family Taco Night!

With this recipe, I'm able to prepare a little something for everyone and the folks can pick-and-choose to their liking. 

Our vegetarian fills her tacos with black beans and sweet potatoes.

Our cholesterol conscious folks fill theirs with the ground turkey.

Our little corn allergy buddy takes his in a bowl with all the fixin's.

So easy. So fast. So satisfying.

Family Taco Night

Serves: 8 

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cans black beans (drained)

1 can sweet potatoes in syrup (not drained)

2 lbs ground turkey (or beef, or buffalo, or ostrich)

4 TBS taco seasoning

4 ripe avocados

4 medium tomatos 

shredded lettuce

shredded cheese

rice

corn tortillas

2 limes to squeeze over the top of the finished tacos

The Preparation Method:

Start the rice to cook.

With the rice going, brown the ground meat in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Once no longer pink, approx. 8 minutes, add 1/2 cup water and 4 TBS taco seasoning. Mix well to combine as some of the water boils off. Turn heat to low to keep warm.

While the meat is browning, in a separate saucepan combine 2 cans of black beans and 1 can of sweet potatoes with their syrup. Cook over medium heat until heated through. Mash the sweet potatoes with a fork. Mash a few beans while you're at it.

Dice ripe avocados, tomatos, and lettuce for the topping.

Shred the cheese if you have cheese eaters in the group.

Once the rice is finished cooking, you're ready to go. 

Set everything out in an assembly line and let the folks have at it.

Don't forget to squeeze the lime over the top of your taco. Yum!

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This song grows on me every time I hear it. I love the line about the "ice cold beer sitting in the console". First thing, I haven't heard the term "console" in a while. Second thing, I haven't had an ice cold beer in an even longer while.

The lack of real beer is the thing I miss most about being gluten free. I'm reminded of how much I love beer when I hear this song. It's the only time in my gf existence that I chant "damn gluten free."

Jason Aldean - Dirt Road Anthem

Moab Madness

Please excuse me if you haven't seen the dancing cook doing her dancing while cooking thang lately. It's not that I haven't been dancing and cooking. For I have. 

But I've also been dancing while doing a handful of other things over the past few weeks. 

Namely dancing while driving. 

Dancing while flying. 

Dancing while beaching. 

Dancing while dreaming. 

More time on the road has meant a whole lot of egg dinners, mushed beans and camp food. 

Despite the lack of kitchen time for me in the month of May—a welcome break mind you—I have had more than my fair share of outdoor time. 

Upon return from our graduation vacation to Mexico where we spent every bliss-filled day on the beach, we turned around the next morning and drove to Moab, Utah for the Memorial Day weekend.

The American West is a magical place to find yourself in the summer. The children insisted on referring to our destination as The Wild West where people do things the old fashioned way. Indeed it felt that way with the vast rocky landscape and endless blowing dust. 

The eight little kids on our camping trip were in outdoor adventure heaven in Moab. Despite the mad crowds for mountain biking, four-wheeling, ATV-ing, and camping over the holiday weekend we felt like we were the only ones out there in The Wild West. Within minutes of setting foot in camp the boys took to their bikes and dashed off to hunt dinosaur fossils.

I took to my camera and dashed off to capture the miraculous beauty of the desert found in the form of sparse vegetation,

wind,

and sky.

Perhaps the most interesting part of our trip to The Wild West town of Moab was the local city park where we spent a lot of time escaping the 55 mile per hour wind storms that were tearing through the camp higher up on the rocks.

This park had the most interesting playground equipment I'd ever encountered.

Large, big-as-life, musical instruments.

Chimes, drums, bells, xylophones and cow bells.

The kids were really into it. 

But I must say, I think the adults enjoyed it even more. By the time four adults were playing, it turned into a downright chorus of spontaneous jamming. 

A genius idea for a park. It was amazing and magical and just the right touch to end our weekend trip out to The Wild West.

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Speaking of xylophone's... all xylophone lovers must check this out. Do yourself a favor and watch this three minute clip. It is joyous!

Forest Xylophone Plays Bach

Gluten-Free Rolled Oats by Bob's Red Mill

Last summer we made the family decision to reduce our grocery spending by significant proportions. 

One week into The Project we realized that boxed breakfast cereal was out of the question if we wanted to meet our budget. 

Daily oatmeal became the standard for breakfast. Regular oatmeal is cheap as all get out. Certified gluten-free oats are quite a bit more expensive, yet still cheaper that boxed cereal and certainly more hearty. 

For my family, eating boxed cereal for breakfast is equivalent to eating air and calling it a meal. Without oatmeal in the morning, my three monkeys are starving and out of their minds. With oatmeal in the morning, the monkeys are satisfied and stable until 10 o'clock snack time. We need our oatmeal.

For Celiacs, certified gluten-free oats are a necessity, not a want. Regular oats throw my Celiac son into a tailspin.

The oat/gluten connection can be confusing. Allow me to break it down for you:

Oats in-and-of-themselves do not contain gluten. But since they are a major agricultural product they are typically handled in the same grain elevators and processing plants as wheat, barley and rye. Thus, oats are cross-contaminated with gluten on their way to your cupboard. 

Bob's Red Mill produces great certified gluten-free Old Fashioned Rolled Oats. My major grocery store carries them, as do all of the local natural grocers and Amazon.com. Find yourself some yummy certified gluten-free oats today and find yourself happy tomorrow morning!