Beef & Onions Bowl

Start with mostly frozen (difficult to slice if too frozen or completely thawed) beef flank and slice thinly. Marinate for half hour. Slice one small/medium onion and stir fry with a little vegetable oil until onions are softened, then add the beef. I used a teriyaki style marinade from TJ's ,and should've diluted it, so it turned out on the strong side. Here's one from my mom:

• 1-2 tbsp sugar (brown or white), to taste
  
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup (or less) rice wine vinegar
  
• 1 tsp sesame oil
  

Ken thinks this tastes pretty close to Yoshinoya's beef bowl. We like our dishes with spinach and over plenty of rice.

Very Delicious Chili

Part of this recipe came from a Zone cookbook and the rest I just made up.

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 16 oz ground beef
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 chopped onion
• 3 tsp chili powder, or to taste
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 7-oz can Herdez Salsa Cacera
• 1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 15-oz can crushed tomatoes

Heat oil and garlic. Brown meat. Add chopped onions and cook until opaque. Add white wine and cook on high until the wine reduces. Stir in chili, cumin, pepper and salt. Add the remainder of the ingredients and simmer for about 30 minutes. Or you can do what I did and throw all the ingredients into the crock pot after the wine and spices were cooked into the meat mixture, then eat your chili after running your errands. Great with tortilla chips, over tator tots, over (red) baked potatoes, and your favorite toppings (we had creme fraiche, broccoli, bacon, grated Parmesan). This was enough to make several meals.

Sugar Snap Peas

I discovered a very simple but very tasty way to stir-fry veggies. First, heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the veggie and close the lid. Toss every few minutes or so. When the veggie is browned on all sides, add about 2 teaspoons (or to taste) of soy sauce and about the same amount of water, toss, and cover until desired tenderness. Uncover and let the liquid reduce down, and it's ready to serve! Here we have sugar snap peas alongside pork loin chops in marsala sauce and TJ's asparagus risotto.

Global Knives & the Chain Mail Glove

Ken's friend, Justin, gifted us these ultra-precise Global knives (the middle 3) as a wedding present. I put off using them because they were so sharp and was afraid I'd injure myself, so Ken suggested we get a chain mail glove for protection. We went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get some of the other items on the gift registry, including this nifty magnetic knife holder. The glove was only available online and before the order came in, I decided to give the knives a try. And of course, I managed to give myself a little knick--on the cutting hand! The glove finally came in today and this was my storage solution for it.