About one day I week, I push myself to an intense workout session. Today was that day. 82 degrees at 7am. Oh, and the humidity was off the charts. It was one of those mornings when your glasses fog up when you step outside, and stay fogged for 10 minutes. After warming up I started off the blocks like a deer…ended up like a sappy dripping turtle clopping across the finish line. After rehydrating with several glasses of water, I craved something cold and sweet. I stood extra long in front of my open freezer door because it felt so good. After digging a bit, I came across a bag of frozen blackberries and another surprise. (will share later in this post)
I threw frozen blackberries and grapes in my VitaMix, along with fresh blueberries, a few strawberries, a scoop of protein powder and POM pomegranate juice. I had two glasses of this nutrient rich smoothie!
So, what about that other surprise? Remember last week when I posted about Hess beef? I thought that was our last package, except for a soup bone that I was going to toss just to make room in my tiny freezer. I know, I know that sounds totally wasteful, but in this heat, the last thing that I want to make is soup… Alright, so I dug, shuffled and pulled this last piece of Hess beef out of the freezer. Voila! Not a soup bone but this…
Now, the healthy side of my brain says, “Just trim off all the fat and cut into strips for a stir-fry dish.” The nice wife side of my brain says, “Ron will jump for joy when he sees rib-eye steak!” Which side of my brain won? (read on)
Several weeks ago as I was perusing the aisles of the Dollar Store, I came across something quite unique and perfect for our living situation.
Our outdoor patio is about 4’x8’ (if even that) which also includes the air conditioner unit. We were afraid that our grill would have caught the entire apartment building on fire, so we have been grill-less this summer. You read where it says “just use a match to light”, well a half a box of matches later I got it going. I wanted to surprise my sweetums.
It has been years since we grilled with real charcoal so this was really a treat! The grate sat right on top of the hot bricks, so the steaks cooked a bit faster that we were used to. The flavor was fantastic and once again, Hess beef rules!
I served these steaks with garlic smashed potatoes and steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. Since I am off dairy products, I used this in place of sour cream in the potatoes, along with minced garlic and chopped fresh parsley. You should have seen Ron grin when he saw the steaks! His mother used to treat her sons to rib-eyes for breakfast when they came home from college!
Nothing better than fresh fruit for dessert. I put a dollop of coconut milk yogurt on top.
