Quick & Easy Recipes

Since I've been living on my own for a few months, I've noticed I don't cook as much anymore, and I LOVE to cook. However, I feel somewhat "guilty" for cooking myself a full dinner meal, when I'm the only one eating... (Kona my kitten doesn't count.)

So I decided in order to not only save money (frozen dinners add up), but also to help my waistline (frozen dinners add up there too), I'm going in search of some quick and easy dinner recipes. I can't guarantee this will be a weekly blog post theme, but I'll try my best!!

Tenderloin Steaks with Red Onion Marmalade:

(this is derived from Cooking Light's myrecipe website, so is the picture)

Serves 4, 1 steak and 1/3 c marmalade

* I know I know, why would I need 4 servings if I'm the only one eating?? I will cut the recipe in half, make 2 steaks and 1/2 the original sauce, then have lunch for work the next day.... Yes I am a genius*

Ingredients
Cooking spray (like Pam)
1 large red onion, sliced and separated into rings (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 (4-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks, trimmed (1 inch thick)

Preparation
1. Preheat broiler. (I love that this is a broiler recipe, since I live in an apartment and do not have a grill to bbq on!)
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan. Cover and cook 3 minutes. Add vinegar, honey, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to pan. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 8 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally.
3. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, thyme, and pepper evenly over beef. Place beef on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray (I will probably use foil to cover my broiler pan so its easier to clean later); broil 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Serve with onion mixture.

Nutritional Information (Cooking Light gives you this info for every recipe, love it!)
Calories: 289 (36% from fat)
Fat: 11.4g (sat 4.3g,mono 4.3g,poly 0.4g)
Protein: 32.5g
Carbohydrate: 12.6g
Fiber: 0.8g
Cholesterol: 95mg
Iron: 4.7mg
Sodium: 369mg
Calcium: 25mg

EtsyRain Handmade Arts SHow!

Hi Everyone!

September's been a busy month, with personal things (I'm taking a Chemistry class at the local college! This is one of the pre-reqs I have to finish up!), Etsyrain things (Puddle zine we are making, October show, local meetups), and of course trying to figure out why my computer won't let me load photos to Etsy... *sigh*

Mainly I'm stoked about our EtsyRain Handmade Arts How that is in EXACTLY 3 weeks! October 12, 2008 which is Sunday (and two days after my birthday...ahem) we'll be at St. Edward's State Park!

I'm really excited because this is my first craft show, not including the farmers markets.

There will be a Bake Sale going on, and all proceeds from that will help benefit the VSA Arts of Washington (which is a non-profit that helps bring the arts to people with disabilities), not to mention the INCREDIBLE Swag Bags that the first 50 people that walk thru will get for free! These nifty swag bags will include mini samples of all the shops that will be at the Handmade Arts Show.

And did I mention that I'll be BAKING stuff for the bake sale? I'm a good cook, so that's more then enough reason to show up....

Feel free to come on by if you are in the nieghborhood on October 12! (St. Ed's park is located in Kenmore, WA off of Juanita Dr and next to Bastyr University) Admission is free!