No Time For Chit-Chat

Not sure where time has gone these past 2 weeks or why it has eluded me as of late but I have a pile of ironing that continues to grow while the "laundry fairy" attempts to keep the dirty laundry from overtaking the closet floor.  She is putting up a good fight but her powers are waining.  Meanwhile, I have found it is near impossible to keep a food blog going when you haven't made time to the grocery store in weeks and you only have some cheesesticks and almonds in the fridge. My to-do and to-call lists are lengthening and the mental list to keep up with the physical lists wakes me at 2am to obsess about its priorities.  So today is catch-up day.  Washer is washing, ironing board is set up, grocery list is ready to go and I am blogging.  I will sleep well tonight. So enough of this chit-chat.

Below you will find a recipe of sorts for a stir-fry I made last week.  It uses Baby Bok Choy and if you have never tried this veg; this is a great introductory recipe.  Bok Choy, aka a super food, is a little sweet, has a bit of a crunch and great Asian flavor.  I use the term "recipe" loosely, as it is really more of a list of ingredients I threw together and called it a stir-fry.  Look at your spice rack and play with the flavors.  Add other veg or meats if you wish.  Stir-fries are great go-to meals as long as you steer clear of the soy sauce and MSG found in most ready-made mixes.  Give these spices a try. You won't miss the soy sauce one bit!

Baby Bok Choy and Grass-Fed Beef "Stir-Fry"

Meat Marinade:

olive oil- enough to cover meat

smoked paprika* this is my secret to great meat dishes. it has amazing flavor.

garlic pepper grinder

steakhouse pepper grinder

ground ginger

Combine spices and oil a baggie, add in meat, toss and refrigerate until ready to use.

*Don't be shy with the spices.  Make sure all the meat is covered. Taste the marinade before you add the meat if you aren't sure about amounts.

I cooked the meat and veggies separately just because I didn't want the marinade to take over the taste of the veggies but you can cook them together if you want. Cook the meat in a a hot pan with olive oil until desired doneness.  (Don't let the olive oil smoke) Serve over veggies. I salted the dish right before serving but no other sodium was added.

Veg Portion:
baby bok choy-cleaned and chopped on the diagonal
purple onion-chopped in proportion to bok choy
matchstick carrots
Heat pan, add olive oil and onions.  Once onion begins to caramelize, add bok choy and carrots.  Cook until just tender.