I Secretly Want to be a Food Blogger

Well, you all know how much I love food. Last week, Lan and I made an amazing dinner, and I felt the need to share the recipes we used with you. But first, some background. A long time ago, I had a steak at Harvey's that was marinaded in soy sauce and pineapple juice. Well, it was delicious, and ever since then, I've been interested in trying a similar marinade, which is how we ran across this Teriyaki Pineapple Juice Marinade from Pineapplejuice.com.

We have now used this recipe twice (once for the steaks and once on chicken) and have loved it both times. I will say that if you have never cooked with Sesame Seed Oil before, you may be a little surprised. I almost substituted canola oil for it, but they definitely aren't the same. When I added it to the marinade, I instinctively regretted it, because the smell is very strong, but not to worry. Stick with the recipe and it will turn out great. The smell may be strong, but the flavors are balanced in the final product. Also, both times I've made it, I halved the recipe. It was almost too much for the chicken (2 large boneless breasts), but just right for the steak (3 small steaks-- maybe 8 ounces each?).

And, for your viewing pleasure...

The finished product! The picture turned out a tad bit blurry, but it was DELICIOUS.

The second recipe we tried that night was for Grilled Corn Salad. This is a recipe of the Neely's, who I love, so I was not surprised when I loved this recipe. We didn't exactly follow the recipe, though. We left out the arugula. Though I thought it would be delicious, Lan doesn't do salad, so we left it out so he would like it. Also, I didn't really do the Lemon Dressing. I didn't have fresh lemons, and I knew store bought lemon juice wouldn't be a good substitute, so I just tossed the salad in olive oil and seasoned it with salt and pepper and the Neely's BBQ Seasoning (to taste), though it would have been delicious with just salt and pepper.

One more thing... we halved the recipe, and it was waaaaaay too much for two. We ate it that day, and ate it again with two of our friends last Sunday. So if you're cooking for two, half is probably going to be too much.

The finished corn salad- YUM!

Okay, that's all my food info for now. For those of you not interested in our food life, here's what's new with us... Last weekend, we made a trip to New Braunfels to float the river. I've been to rivers in Mississippi many times, but I've never floated a river in my adult life. We had a really good time! We went with our friends Chris and Marley and one of Chris's work friends.

This weekend, Lan went back to Mississippi for some awesome football. I am very proud of the bulldogs and very pleased at the outcome of the Ole Miss game :) He's not quite home yet, but I know he had a really good time seeing friends and watching football.

I spent the weekend resting and getting things done. Yesterday, I got my hair cut and had an awesome afternoon of shopping for work clothes with Emily! We went to Katy Mills, a REALLY BIG outlet mall in Katy. Last night, I went over to Jonah and Anne Marie's (our friends in Katy) and we grilled steaks, went to HEB (a really cool Texas grocery store!), and watched Star Trek. I spent the night and went to church with them this morning. I had a great weekend!! Oh, and I saw Beth Moore at church this morning! She's doing a study on Tuesday for the women of church, so I'm really excited about hearing her speak. More on that next time :)

Love from Houston,

Jennifer and Lan