Category: Uncategorized

Bring your filet mignon to room temperature. For this recipe we only used 1/2 of the filet. We are a small family and it fit nicely in our pan.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Chop a handful of thyme and take the petals off several stems of rosemary. I use a coffee bean grinder, I’ve dedicated to herbs to grind up the herbs. Chop about a 1/4 of a small yellow onion or two shallots. Chop up three cloves of garlic. Put the onions and the garlic in the coffee bean grinder and zizz them up to make a paste.

Rub the onion and garlic paste on both sides of the filet. Sprinkle with the rosemary and thyme dust, fresh black pepper and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt.

Melt 1/2 stick of salted butter and equal portion of olive oil in a oven safe pan on high heat. Add the filet and sizzle on each side for 4 minutes per side.

We added two cups red skinned potatoes cut in half and two large carrots cut into large chucks to the pan with the filet.

Place the filet in the oven for 30 minute. We like a medium well piece of meat. If you prefer less check the meat after 20 minutes.

Remove the filet from the pan and tent with foil to rest. Continue cooking the potatoes and carrots if needed.

Used the pan to make a quick red wine dipping sauce for the filet. Remove the potatoes and carrots and add 1/4 cup of flour to the pan. Bring to a paste over medium heat. Add 1/2 cup of red wine and 1/2 cup of beef broth. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat continuing to scrap the brown bits from the pan.

Serve the filet with potatoes, carrots and red wine sauce.

1 1/4lb ground lean beef

1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

1/2 cup of frozen chopped kale*

3 Tbls ketchup 

3 Tbls A1

3 dashs Worcestershire 

3 dashs garlic powder

2 medium carrots shredded 

2 green onions white and greens

2 eggs
Bake 350 for 30 minutes. Add ketchup to top if you like the last 5 minutes. My four year LOVED it. She asked me to put it on our food list. I think she means my blog. LOL 

*Tip: I keep a bag of chopped kale in my freezer. When I need some I just grab a handful and break it into what ever I’m cooking. I pull out the thick stems. I add to kale to so many dishes this way. It’s always ready to go!

We were on a 4-day vacation and the eating out options was not so great.  Only two restaurants with crazy long waits for nothing but fried food.  So I wanted to feed my family healthy options without making a mess of our boat grill Magma Products, A10-104 Marine Kettle Charcoal Grill w / Hinged Lid, Original Size since cleaning a grill on the boat is not fun. Plus, storing it in the cabin dirty is just gross.  I had two successful meals. This one was my favorite.

Refried Black Beans

Refried Beans

Carribean Style Rice

Cooked chicken from a rotisserie

Mexican Cheese Blend

I found the beans in the Hispanic aisle at our local grocery.  They come in a plastic pouch which was perfect to not have to worry about a can opener on the boat.  The rice was also in a plastic pouch too, already cooked just needs to be warmed up a bit.  I poured the beans side by side in a circular foil pan (our grill is a circle so that’s why I opted for the circle size). I poured the rice on next then topped with the cooked chicken, covered with cheese and the foil that is non-stick.  Put on the grill until it was melting and bubbly.  We topped them with premade guac and sour cream.  Everyone loved them.  PS, this made sooo much I could have fed another family.

This is a great dish for potlucks.  I’m often requested to bring to the office lunches. Everyone loves it. It’s light, refreshing and makes you feel better about the meatballs and queso you also have on your plate.

This salad is perfect for summer since it’s served chilled. I usually stock up on the canned veggies when they are on sale, toss in some fresh veggies and it easily becomes a dinner night staple.

2 Boxes of Suddenly Salad Classic (I’ve also mixed one box classic and one box caesar)

1 Can Artichokes

1 Can Black Olives

1/2 Pint of Grape Tomatoes cut in half

1 Small Bunch of Arugula

2 Green Onions/Whites and Green Parts

Mrs Dash Garlic & Herb Salt Free Blend, 6.75-ounce

Prepare salad as the box recommends. Chop all the veggies and coat with Mrs. Dash. Mix veggies in with the pasta and dressing from the box. chill and serve.

I really love Mexican food and could eat it every day. This chicken is perfect! I used four fresh chicken breasts. Drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with taco seasoning. Placed them in a glass baking dish. Poured about 1/2 jar of my favorite salsa verde over the chicken. Baked at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Sprinkled with Mexican blend cheese and put back in the oven for another 10 minutes until the cheese is bubbling. I served this with cilantro lime rice and grilled peppers and onions. The peppers were from our garden. PS I ate the leftovers in a soft taco with sour cream. It was even better!

Our little garden is doing really well.  This week we plucked our first eggplant, green pepper, and tomatoes.  Elli is really enjoying the excitement of growing our own veggies.

I was trying to find a way to cook the eggplant without frying it.  I think I found the perfect alternative.  I purchased a Spiralizer 5-Blade Vegetable Slicer, Strongest-and-Heaviest Duty, Best Veggie Pasta & Spaghetti Maker for Low Carb/Paleo/Gluten-Free Meals, With 3 Exclusive Recipe eBooks. I read many reviews that say there’s waste with eggplant.  I guess if you cared how pretty the curls are then yes.  But no if you plan to roast with other veggies.  Elli and I spiralized 1 Japanese eggplant, 1 yellow squash, 1 zucchini, and two carrots. We put them on a cookie sheet with olive oil, Mrs Dash Garlic & Herb Seasoning Blend Salt-Free 6.75oz, some fresh rosemary, and basil. We put them in the broiler for 10 minutes.  While they were getting toasty.  I then made a simple meat and spaghetti sauce. I put the meat sauce on the bottom and topped with a bunch of roasted veggies and a little parmesan and mozzarella cheese. YUMMO Everyone loved it!

So Ellington and I have been working on our very first garden.  It is doing so well!  We (Michael and I) weren’t really sure how this would go so I began to Pinterest away.  I really loved the look of a galvanized tub, plus if the garden didn’t work out we could just recycle the tub like it never happened (LOL). I did a bunch of research to see if the galvanized would leach into our food.  Many of experts say it may but in a minimal way, since we are not using pesticides or anything like that I feel we are still winning. Since our little garden won’t be providing the boosts of fruits and veggies that we love, we signed up for Space Girl Organics . They deliver local organic fruits and veggies to the Central Florida Area.  If you are in the Orlando area check them out.

Wish us luck on our little garden.  More to come soon!

  Yep enough said!

‘Pop Up Inflatable Wine Cooler by Franmara