Teriyaki Flap Meat & Tri-Color Bell Peppers

We discovered flap meat at the market a couple of weeks ago. It's a cut akin to skirt, flank and hanger steaks (think carne asada and stir-fry) that is full of flavor, a bit on the chewier side, and priced just right. So far, we've been just grilling it, but the grills were out of propane today so I just cooked them on the stove top. The steaks were marinated in Yoshida's teriyaki sauce overnight. Add a little bit of vegetable oil and pan fry. I sliced up the meat after frying then returned the slices back into the pan to coat with teriyaki sauce. I had also gotten some beautiful bell peppers at the farmers market last Thursday and stir-fried those. In addition, we had corn and brown rice on the side. One trick to flavor the rice is to add some olive oil and whole cumin seeds. This was a very easy and tasty meal.

Shrimp & Shallots Over Spaghetti

This recipe I got from the packaging of Trader Joe's shallots. The result was very yummy. I bought some Chinese long beans from the South Pasadena Farmer's Market last Thursday and sautéed that on the side. We were gifted a mini deep fryer so I took it for a test drive with ready-made pork and shrimp mini spring rolls. The rolls actually came out less oily than they would've if I had fried them up in a pan. I can't wait to try more stuff in the fryer!

• 1 lb shrimp (peeled & cleaned)
• 4 shallots, chopped fine
• 1/4 lb melted butter
• 1/8 cup oliver oil
• 3 cloves chopped garlic
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped (substituted w/ cilantro)
• 1 lb linguini (substituted w/ spaghettini)

Mix melted butter, olive oil, shallots, garlic, pepper, parsley and lemon juice in a bowl. Toss shrimp into mixture. (I also added a 1/3 bag of Trader Joe's langostino lobsters.) Heat skillet on medium. Pour shrimp mixture into skillet and sauté until shrimp turns pink in color. Serve over noodles.

The Crock Pot

I'm glad we have one of these things, even if it's a hand-me-down from my mom. Wednesday night, we got home later than usual because we met a real estate agent for our first home tour. Exhausted from the work day, we decided to take a nap before having dinner. Now, knowing Ken and the way he takes naps, it could be awhile before he's ready to get up. So I smartened up and prepped all the ingredients for a hearty spaghetti sauce (ready-made meatballs, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, marinara sauce) and threw them all into the crock pot. The sauce was ready for us by the time we woke up and the only thing that needed to be done was to boil the noddles. Talk about cooking while you sleep!