Southwest Steak and a Walmart Giveaway!

During the summer, we love to grill! But grilling good steak can get pricey! Luckily, I was asked to try Walmart's new USDA Choice Steaks so that I could let you know what I think. They have a variety of choice cuts- flank steak, tri tip, ribeye and sirloin are what I saw. And they will give you a refund if you buy them and don't like them- that lets you know they really think that they have a good product.

For our barbecue on a budget, I got some ribeyes. They grilled up deliciously- very tender and great flavor!

Want to try Walmart's USDA Choice Steaks? Leave a comment about your favorite barbecue dish or your best grilling tip and you could win a $25 Walmart gift card! I love being able to share this with one of you! I will pick a comment at random on Friday, August 17th.

So how did I cook my delicious steak, you ask? If you know my blog, you know that I love Southwest flavors! So I wanted to add a Southwest kick to our steaks- a chipotle dry rub and a lime compound butter. And on the side, some Mexican grilled corn. It was all super yummy!

Compound Butter:
2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. lime zest
2 tsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. salt
Combine all; roll into a log in plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator until ready to eat.

Dry Rub:
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. chipotle powder
1 tsp cumin

2 12 oz. ribeye steaks

Sprinkle steaks with salt to taste, then sprinkle on dry rub and rub in. Grill to desired doneness. Top with slices of butter.

Actually Making Pinterest Recipes?!?

So, I tried to resist the Pinterest for a long time. I mean, what good can come of a website where there are a plethora of delicious recipes, super cute and fun party ideas, beautiful house ideas and craft projects that I will most likely never have the time to try? Then I gave in, and starting pinning with a vengeance, but for months I never actually looked at any of my pins again. I have decided that, while most of my recipe pins are not so healthy, that I should search out the not so deadly ones and actually try some. A few ooey gooey ones slipped in too… It has gone fairly well, and I have tried many veggie recipes. I thought I would share what I found:

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Really, just the title should be enough! I tried this one two ways- the recipe on the tagged section and the recipe on the actual website it came from. The recipe from the website was much better!
http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/04/bacon-wrapped-caramelized-sesame-asparagus/

Loaded Potato Casserole
Not a healthy treat- hashbrowns, bacon, cheese, deliciousness… Very yummy!
http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/01/crack-potatoes.html

Best Broccoli of Your Life
At least, that is how the website advertises it. And, as someone who does not like broccoli at all, it was pretty darn good!
http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2008/11/the_best_brocco.html

Parmesan chicken Bake
This was super yummy- chicken coated in greek yogurt and parmesan and spices. The chicken was moist and quite tasty!
/www.mykitchenescapades.com/
Mac-Quinoa and Cheese
I came up with that name myself and I must say I am pretty proud of it. It is a pretty healthy recipe that uses quinoa (really high in protein and generally quite healthy) in place of the pasta in macaroni and cheese. And I added yellow squash so there would be a vegtable but without anything green giving it away. It was pretty bland (Hannah was with us, so I omitted the hot sauce it calls for) but when we added a little seasoning salt, it was quite delicious.
http://aroundthetableri.blogspot.com/2012/02/cheesy-quinoa-mac-cheese.html

Lemon Meringue Pie
This was a really good, but time intensive recipe. It was worth it, as I got perfect meringue, but the lemon filling was a bit tart for my taste.
http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2011/05/lemon-meringue-pie.html#more

S'mores Bars
When we went up to stay at Andrew’s parents’ Utah house, it was semi-camping (cabin living, at least) and what would outdoor living be without s'mores? I’d had my eye on this recipe for quite a while, so I jumped at the chance to make them. Yuuuuum!
http://melssweetlife.com/2012/04/05/peanut-butter-cup-smores-bars/

Crème Brulee Cheesecake Bars
Yum, yum, yum. The only thing about these was that I put them in the fridge immediately to cool them down, and the topping wasn’t crunchy. I think there was some condensation from the warm bars that softened the topping. So it did not have the crunch I wanted from a crème brulee bar, but the taste was spot on.
http://passtheplateblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/creme-brulee-cheesecake-bars-and-my.html