Healthier Garlic Butter Steak & Noodles

Healthier Garlic Butter Steak & Noodles 

Ingredients: 

1 1/4 lbs (450g) sirloin steak cut into small cubes

4 medium zucchini, spiralized

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons butter, divided

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/4 cup (60ml) beef or vegetable broth

1 tablespoon minced parsley

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup soy sauce (or coconut amino for paleo)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon hot sauce (we used Sriracha)

Fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Instructions:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the ingredients for the marinade (soy sauce, olive oil, hot sauce, pepper, and lemon juice) and add the steak bites. Mix well and marinate for 15 to 20 minutes minimum, while preparing the other ingredients.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Drain steak from the marinade. Keep the remaining marinade for later.

3. Place the steak in the skillet in a single layer. Do not overcrowd the skillet or meat will steam, so you may have to work in batches depending on the size of your skillet. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until steak cubes are golden brown. Repeat with remaining meat if needed.

4. Add 2 tablespoons butter and garlic to the skillet; cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring to coat the meat in the sauce. Remove to a shallow plate and set aside.

5. In the same skillet, add butter, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, beef broth, and remaining marinade juices. Bring to a simmer and allow to reduce for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly.

6. Add the zucchini noodles and toss for two to three minutes to cook it up. Stir in the fresh parsley and thyme, then allow the cooking juices to reduce for one minute if the zucchini renders too much water. Push the zucchini noodles on the side, add the steak bites back to the pan and reheat for another minute.

Yields 3 Servings 

Cheeseburger Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs lean ground beef
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 diced celery
• 1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 tps worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 7 cups baby spinach
• 4 oz reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Brown ground beef. Added the onion and celery; saute until tender. Remove from heat and drain any liquids. 
2. Added in tomatoes, broth, worcestershire sauce, parsley, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer on low for about 20 mins. 
3. Add in the spinach and cook until wilted which is about 1 to 3 mins. 
4. Top each serving with one ounce of the shredded cheese. 

This recipe makes 4 servings and takes about 35 minutes to cook and 10 mins to prep. 

Detox Water

Detox Water:

Just follow these simple steps:

·         Slice: Wash the fruits and herbs, then, slice.

·         Assemble: In a big enough container, put alternate layers of ice and the sliced add-ins.

·         Steep: Then, add the water and allow the flavors to infuse for 45 minutes. Then, drink as usual!

Here are a few combinations that you can try for an enjoyable experience:

·         Citrus: orange, lime, lemon, grapefruit, fresh ginger, mint leaves

·         Citrus Berry: orange, lime, lemon, blueberry, strawberry, fresh ginger, mint leaves

·         Cucumber Rosemary: lime, lemon, English cucumber, rosemary, mint leaves

·         Tropical: lime, orange, English cucumber, pineapple, kiwi, mint leaves

Wet Burrito Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 4.5 oz diced green chile peppers
• 16 oz refried beans
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 10 oz enchilada sauce
• 15 oz chili no-beans (Hormel)
• 6 flour burrito tortillas (about 12 inches)
• 2 cups shredded lettuce
• 3 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• Chopped green onions (for garnish)
• Any additional desired toppings

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Brown the ground beef and onion in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook and stir until evenly browned and onion begins to soften. 
3. Drain grease, and season with the garlic, cumin, salt and pepper. Stir in the green chilies and refried beans until well blended. Turn off heat, but keep warm.
4. In a saucepan, combine the tomato sauce, no-bean chili, and enchilada sauce. Whisk together until mixed well, and cook over medium heat until heated through. Turn off heat and keep warm. 
5. Divide the beef and bean mixture into 6 portions in the pan.
6. Place a burrito sized tortilla on a plate and place 1/6 of the ground beef mixture onto the center.
7. Top with a little cheese and lettuce. Leave the lettuce out if you don't want it baked inside. You can substitute or add other veggies as well.
8. Fold in the left and right side of the tortilla over the filling, holding in place with your fingers. Then fold in the top and bottom sides of the tortilla over the filling (like an envelope) making sure to overlap well so no filling can escape.
9. Repeat with the other 5 tortillas.
10. Place seam side down in two greased 9 x 13 oven safe dishes. 
11. Pour the entire saucepan of the sauce over the top of the burritos.
12. Top with the remaining cheese sprinkled over all evenly.
13. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until burritos are heated through and cheese is melted.
14. Top with more lettuce, tomato, sour cream and dried chives, or your choice of toppings.

Weigh-In Tuesday

Week 1 complete. That's right, I survived week 1. Last week my beautiful daughter MiKayla and I hired a personal trainer and nutritionist. I logged 5 out of 7 days but of those days I stayed within my calories. After week of watching what I ate.. the results are in and... 

Family Room - Sliding Barn Doors

It is happening.... We are finally back to working on the family room. This past week the weather here in Northern Michigan was calm which gave Ed some downtime and in turn time to work on basement family room remodel. When we last updated you we had finished up the back wall unit.

Here is a link to phase 1.

The fireplace has been wonderful and really helps to make the space feel warm and inviting but the space was far from finished and we knew we wanted to complete the space and really give our family staying here from out of town a private space to sleep at night. We already have a guest room so this space is more of an over flow space so it will act primarily as a family room but since we are over flowing with children and adult children and now grand children, I anticipate this space getting plenty of overnight guest as well. 

Our current phase of this project is to build a wall enclosing the space off from the rest of the basement. We also wanted to add insulation to the ceiling and new wall for some much needed sound proofing. Of course the major transformation part of this phase of the project is the addition of sliding barn doors. 

The wall wasn't as bad as I thought it would be to build. Ed is so handy and really knows what he is doing so it took all of one day to build. We sat in the space for awhile after the wall went up and really thought through what all we wanted to have in this space. First thing that came to mind was adding some more outlets.  The basement has always lacked in outlets so this was the perfect time to wire some up. I wanted to make sure that we allowed our guest ease of charging phone so we used the same outlets that we used in some other spaces in our home.  

Why not wire up some additional lighting while you are at it. We decided that rather than manually turn on each of the custom wall unit lights one by one.. why not put them all on a switch?! But, I didn't want the wall unit to come on with the overhead lights so why not put them on separate switches? so that is what we did. We wired up some recess canless lights in the ceiling on one dimmer switch and put the whole back wall unit on another. Genius!! 

Now it was time to insulate the ceiling and walls and put up the barn door slider unit. wait.... we can't insult the whole ceiling as we found a couple small projects before we can finish it up.. but that is a story for another day... 

Here is the current view from inside the room. 

View outside room with doors closed. 

View outside with doors open. 

We bought a couple items used to build the barn doors. After looking at all the options we decided to by premade doors. Lowes carries 36-84 Zpine Barn Door kits. Each kit was on sale for $89.50, bought 2. The kit came with door, track and hardware. The only thing I don't like about the doors is that they are Z shape and I want X so we bought (4) 3/8-4-36 pine boards for $3.40 each and will make our own X. Stay tune for door update in my next update. Total door cost less stain which we have on hand is $192.60. Of course this does not include the cost to building the wall but for most the wall is already in place. 

We are now able to provide our guest a place to sleep in private.

Fudgy Mint Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

Ingredients

Cookies

·         1/2 cup butter

·         2 cups granulated sugar

·         1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

·         1/2 cup milk

·         1 teaspoon vanilla

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         3 1/2 cups oats I use quick

·         2 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut

Frosting

·         1/2 cup butter room temperature

·         1 1/2 cups icing sugar

·         1 tbsp milk

·         1/2 tsp mint extract

·         green food coloring

Ganache

·         3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

·         1 tbsp milk

·         1 tbsp butter

Instructions

1.             Line 2 cookie sheets with wax paper.

2.             In a large pot, combine butter, sugar, cocoa and milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, and boil 1-2 minutes.

3.             Stir in vanilla and salt. Add oats and coconut and stir to combine.

4.             Drop into 24 spoonful’s onto wax paper. Refrigerate until set.

5.             Meanwhile, make the frosting. To a stand mixer (or use a hand mixer), add butter, icing sugar and milk and beat until creamy and blended. Add in mint extract and food coloring. If necessary, add an extra tbsp sugar or milk to achieve the right consistency — you do not want the icing runny.

6.             Remove cookies from the fridge and spread with frosting. Return to the fridge to let the frosting set.

7.             Make the ganache: In a small pot, combine chocolate, milk and butter over very low heat. Cook and stir constantly until chocolate is smooth. Set aside to cool 5-10 minutes. Spread on cooled cookies, and return to the refrigerator to allow chocolate to set.

8.             Because they are slightly gooey, I like to store them in the fridge or freezer with wax paper between layers so they don’t stick together.

Binzebo - Construction Part 2 of 4

If you have been following along we did it!!! We purchased a Pinterest inspired item that I thought was just a dream project that would stay pinned in the land of things I wish I could... and never turn into a how lucky and I to have item. We purchased a 1950's grain bin with hopes of turning it into an outdoor bar/lounge aka Binzebo.

Grain Bin On Original Farm Site

In part 1 of this 4 part series I talked about the cost and process of obtaining this beauty. Make sure to check it out: Part 1

Part 1 Total $1450.00

Construction process was a long one even though we had the installation manual we felt very overwhelmed. We started out by laying all the pieces out and deciding which ones we planned to use and where. The original setup was far shorter than our planned design so we had to figure out how to increase height. After ordering all new bolts we began the reconstruction process. The farmer that we purchased from had informed us that the top had to be constructed first then lifted with walls being built as it was slowly lifted up. 

It was a slow process. We worked on a couple pieces at a time, pressure washing as we went. With full time jobs, side jobs and other home construction projects it took us 2 months to get the top constructed. We set 7 post at 12 feet. We chose 12 feet because we wanted 9 foot plus head room and post went right to top along the almost 3 foot side wall. 

As you can the yard is sloped so we had to take that into consideration when putting the post in. Don't worry, yard will be leveled during landscaping phase. The next step was to get top onto 7 preset post. 

It was time to get to lifting. We hunted and hunted for heavy equipment without any luck. we had no chose but to hire some big guns and hire a crane truck. 

This was the most exciting day ever. The work was far from over but we could now start to see it coming together. We spent several late nights putting up the back wall.

But man doesn't it look fabulous?!! 

Ed climbed up and put on the cap and we were ready to start painting post, adding a fun touch and deciding where the fire ring would go. 

The next step will be level the area and then add the fire bar under the BUTLER logo.

P.s. Having BUTLER painted in was a special project. I had to have it, and since our grain bin is generic it was not originally on it. 

Part 2 cost:

- $175 bolts

- $280 Post and concrete 

- $150 crane

- $30 paint

- $50 BUTLER logo 

Part 2 Total = $685 

Project Total (so far) = $2035

Binzebo - The Big Purchase Part 1 of 4

Yee Haw!!! It has started. Have you ever been browsing Pinterest and come across something fabulous and thought to yourself I would love to have that but man we could never afford it or construct it? This was/is one of those items. About a year ago I came across this picture of a farm grain bin that had been turned into a gazebo and it was love at first sight. I pinned it for later.. aka never going to happen but I don't want to lose it. A couple months later it popped up again and again I thought man I really want. Knowing that Ed would say umm no I showed him and to my surprise he said let's make it happen. Dang! That is all I needed to hear to start the planning juices flowing. I don't normally get a yes so fast and when he does I don't normally get planning participation but this was different... secretly I think he was also experiencing love at first sight. 😍

Pinterest Inspiration Picture

Additional Pinterest Inspiration Picture

Excitement set in and the ideas started flowing. We both agreed that we wanted it near our current firepit and maybe even have it where you could sit at the bar and firepit at the same time. We also knew right away we wanted a solid back wall with a TV mounted (much like inspiration picture). With excitement flowing through my fingertips I started planning. Location and style were set but there is so much more to putting up such a huge structure then that. We started hunting for the perfect yet inexpensive grain bin to buy. After months of hunting online we found one. Perfect size of 14' in diameter. Great condition for age. Grain bin was set on family farm in 1950's and has been used by 3 generations. The only downfall was distance from home and the big one... how are we going to get this huge grain bin disassembled and hauled home. The farmer was amazing he offered to disassemble for us and had the original setup manual. First nice day in February we headed the 7 hours south and out of state and loaded it up in the truck and trailer and brought it home. The pile was heavy and huge but home.. now the real fun could begin. How are we going to assemble this beast?! **Being the sorta person I am; all I could think of is how will I decorate it. 😂**

Purchased Grain Bin Original Site

Loaded up and heading home.

How much did it cost? Keeping with my moto of keeping life transparent here you go. 

• Grain Bin $1000
• Extra for Farmer to take down $100
• Travel cost $350; (truck/trailer rental and gas) 

This makes running total $1450

9 Week Challenge

What is it going to take to get motivated, to get off my butt and take my health seriously? Maybe a 9 week weight loss challenge?! 

November 1st it starts. My work place started a 9 week weight loss challenge. The basic challenge premise is as follows:

- $20

- Lose 4% of starting weight

- Split winners pot

Okay so there is more to it then that but I am sure you get the point. Because I believe is putting myself out there and being honest to myself and to you here it goes... it is weigh-in day.

Wow 225.0 pounds, how embarrassing. I am going to try not to pout and cry over it. I did it to myself. I ate the extra candy bar (s). I sat on the couch when I should have been working out. If I was giving myself a pep talk;  I'd tell myself to suck it up, get off my butt, put the candy bar down and do what I need to do to drop the weight and regain my healthy happy body. The comfortable couch girl doesn't even know where to start. This week I plan to research, meal prep and shoot to workout 30 mins 3 times this week. 

I have 9 pounds to lose by end of the year and it starts with week 1. 

Buffalo Chicken Burrito's

Grab your chicken and chop it into small pieces. I use rotisserie, canned, or even Tyson frozen chicken cooked up. I used Tyson fajita chicken. 

INGREDIENTS FOR TWO:

• 4 oz cooked chicken breast (about one cup) shredded - any chicken you want. 
• 1 Light Laughing Cow Wedges
• 1 Tbsp Franks Buffalo Hot Sauce – I cannot stress the importance here that you MUST use the Buffalo sauce not just the Franks Hot Sauce here. It’s completely different and you’ll love it more if you use Buffalo sauce!
• 1/2 tsp Hidden Valley ranch dressing seasoning powder or 1/4 tsp garlic salt- Honestly, either one. I go back and forth all the time. I found the spicy ranch packet and used it for an additional kick. 
• 2 Tbsp nonfat Greek Yogurt - used Fage lactose free non fat. 

* could add lettuce or celery or really anything else you enjoy with buffalo chicken. 

Stir it all together and microwave for about 45 seconds. Divide dip among 2 Low point/low carb tortillas fold into a burrito and crisp in heated pan with olive oil spray. 

Eat one now and enjoy the other for lunch following day. Could enjoy it with zucchini fries or simple fresh fruit salad.