How to grill a steak

There are many ways to grill a good steak, here is my proven way to grill a great steak.  Just as a warning this method takes a little longer to cook so plan ahead, you don’t want your hungry “customers” forcing you to speed up the process resulting in a lesser steak.

1. Season steak generously with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper on both sides of steak.
2. Leave steak on counter to come up to room temperature and let seasoning get into the meat for 20 minutes.  Do not skip this step it is critical…
3. Add water soaked wood chips to disposable aluminum small bread loaf pan and place below grill grate.
4. Close grill and preheat grill on high
5. Add meat to the grill and close cover, after 5 minutes flip over the steak and close cover for another 5 minutes.
6. Reduce heat to low and move steak to upper rack and close grill.  Check every 5 minutes to see if the meat is at the proper temperature for how you want it cooked.
1. Rare: 145F
2. Medium: 160F
3. Well: 170F
7. Once you hit the right temperature place the meat on a cutting board to cool for 10 minutes.  This is when things get hard, you are hungry you can smell the steak but if you cut into the meat early much of the delicious juices will be lost.  Trust me it is worth the weight.
8. Enjoy

 

Spicy Homemade Chicken Chili Recipe

I decided to try my luck with some homemade chili.  After perusing a few different recipes it became clear that chili should be a dish you just through together and adjust as needed.  After a couple attempts here is my favorite version and a piece of cake to make.

Spicy Chili Chicken Chili Recipe

• 16 oz can Pinto beans
• 16 oz can White beans
• 16 oz can Black beans
• 10-12 oz of cooked chicken breasts
• 16 oz can of Diced tomatoes
• 16 oz can of Tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1-2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Onion powder
• 1/2 tsp Ground cumin
• 1/4 cup diced jalapenos
• 1/2 tsp Paprika
• 2 tablespoons Ketchup

Directions

Just dump all ingredients into crock pot and set to high for one hour. Reduce to low and cook for 6 more hours. Feel free to add remove spice to taste with the advice, much easier to add spice later than try to remove if you add too much.

If you are feeling very adventurous add a 1/4 tsp of Bhut Jolokia powder for a very unique flavor.

You can add some chips, cheese, and sour cream for a more filling meal or skip them for a pretty nutritious snack with the nutritional information below.

Homemade low carb protein bar/cookie recipe

Though many of my previous posts have been some serious fat/flour intensive creations, like many of us I have a few extra pounds to shed.  The problem is eating healthy can sometimes get expensive especially when you are out of town.  With an upcoming vacation coming and not wanting to spend $3-4 each for some convenient protein bars I set out to make my own. 

Not finding a recipe I liked or matching the final nutritional balance I was looking for I created a recipe based on my protein/carbohydrate/sugar/fiber/fat needs and left taste to chance.

Low-carb Protein Bar Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups oat flour (don’t have? any just grind oatmeal with a blender)
• 1 cup soy protein
• 15 packets artificial sweetener
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 tablespoons flax seed meal
• 2 envelopes Hot Cocoa Mix (No Sugar Added)
• 6 heaping teaspoons clear fiber supplement
• 6 tablespoons natural peanut butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup of water

Directions

Add all dry ingredients and mix thoroughly, in separate bowl add peanut butter and microwave for 30 seconds then mix in remaining wet ingredients and then slowly mix in with dry ingredients.  Add water until you get the consistency of cookie dough (slightly sticky)

Drop on cookie sheet, you can place these very close since they should not spread.   Should make about 2 dozen cookies

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes

After you take them out of the oven tap them with a fork to flatten them out a little (for storage) and enjoy warm or store in air tight contain for about a week.

Results

Though I was looking at taste as a secondary quality it turns out they a tasty and a nice soft cookie.  Though they will crumble if abused but they can easily be squeezed back into whatever shape you desire.  Cooking the bars/cookies a little longer would allow them to withstand a little more abuse if you are planning on throwing these in a backpack for a long hike, etc.

Nutritional Info

Serving Size: One Cookie

Fat: 5.4 grams
Carbohydrates: 6.9 grams
Fiber: 3.8 grams
Sugar: 3.5 grams
Protein: 10.7 grams

How to make homemade breadcrumbs

 

Like much of the population we never eat the heals of the bread on top of that my wife and daughter like to cut the crusts of their bread so we have quite a bit bread going to waste, so made perfect sense to try my hand at making some breadcrumbs.

The process is very simple, cut up your bread into equal size pieces and lay them on a single layer on a cookie sheet and place them in your oven.  Set oven to 300 F degrees and once it preheats, flip over bread and “cook” for 5 minutes and turn the oven off (leaving bread in oven).  Let the bread cool and it should be very brittle and break when bent.

Add bread crumbs into food processor and grind until your breadcrumbs are at your desired consistency.

Store in a sealed bag or freeze and use as long as mold does not appear.  In our case most of these crumbs consist of crust so it theory should have some fairly high fiber content and get some great breadcrumbs to coat of fish/chicken or to stretch out some hamburger/meatloaf.