Real Talk. Plus Tacos.

It's time for some real talk.

Last week my heart hurt, a lot.

It started with hearing about the Boston bombing, about the lives lost.  The limbs needing to be amputated.  The people who thought they were coming out for a day of world-wide community fun and wound up with their lives never going to be the same again.

Obviously, it breaks my heart for them. It also breaks my heart for us. Not just as a nation, but as a world. As human kind. I realized last week that in the span of this school year, Scholastic has sent me three emails out of the norm: "How to talk to children about the theater shooting in Aurora" / "How to talk to children about Newtown" / "How to talk to children about the Boston bombing" ...  What is 'getting worse' to you and I is 'just life' for my nine-year-olds.  As far as they know, that's how life goes. And that breaks my heart.

Then I realize how incredibly blessed we are that this 'only' happened three times this year. If we were living in Syria or Afghanistan or SO MANY OTHER PLACES, three times would be so few, such a relief.  And that, too, breaks my heart for those who live in this daily.

Then there was the explosion in West, Texas.  Which I hardly batted an eye at, because really -- it was sad, but I was busy grading papers and putting on band-aids and making dinner.

Until I was driving home from work on Friday and the DJ on K-LOVE said that young man, a soldier actually, had just called in to talk to a pastor there (which K-LOVE has as they are a Christian music station).  He is serving in Afghanistan and was so fortunate to get a three-day furlough to see his wife and parents.  He got on the plane, eagerly anticipating to see the look on his wife's surprised face, counting down the hours... until he arrived at his home in West, Texas, so find his home was no more, and worse -- his wife had died in the blast.  And he didn't know how to go on from there...

That's when I realized what happened. That lives were lost. I cried in the car a little, for this young man I do not know but I will never stop praying for. This nameless soldier from West, Texas, whose life will never be the same...

And then, on Saturday, I woke up to the news that one of my friends, one of my closest friends, has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. I sat in bed, still in my pajamas, with tears coming from my eyes, and asked over the phone to our friend who was breaking the news, "How long does she have?" I don't really know the answer that, and I don't know if she or the doctors know, but I know that life is hard. I have lost many I love to many things -- suicide, accidents, even violent murder.  Death can come and rob us of our lives at any moment.  It could be a bomb, an unexpected accident, an illness... and I don't always know what to do with that.

However, today I echo the words of this precious friend of mine who just found out her life has taken a turn she never expected. She said yesterday:

I know life is good, I know God is good, and I know things will get better.

And this, this, is the heart of my real talk. Life is hard. For some, it is REALLY hard. But I do still believe it is beautiful. And I know God to be good. My heart? Yes, it is still broken. But I have hope. And that's what I rest in, when things around me don't make sense, just like my friend said above.

You are probably wondering why on earth I am sharing pictures of tacos with all of this. I was thinking weekend a lot about the things I shared in post. Thinking as I was cleaning, thinking as I was walking, thinking as I was cooking. Eventually, I thought to myself, "No matter how hard, life goes on."  But there, in the kitchen, where I was cooking and baking, I realized that at the hardest times of my life -- losing my mom, losing dear friends to a brutal attack inside their home, and some other things -- time kept ticking, whether we felt it should or not. So, I bring you tacos, because no matter what goes on in the world, we still need to eat. Not going to say much about these, because really, that's not why I am here today. But they are good, and you will most likely enjoy them.

Here's to life.  Here's to hope.  And here's to love that is stronger than hate and pain and brokenness!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MUSHROOM & BEEF TACOS WITH AVOCADO SALAD

SERVES 4 •  PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 20 MINUTES

ingredients

• 1 ½ T. olive oil
• 10 oz. white mushrooms, sliced
• 1 lb. low-fat ground beef
• salt/pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 2 avocados, halved and then fruit cut into medium sized chunks
• ½ onion, sliced
• juice from one lemon
• Greek yogurt or sour cream
• 1 pack soft taco tortillas (or make your own)

directions

1.      Heat non-stick skillet over medium heat with olive oil.  Add mushrooms and cook until soft, about 4-6 minutes. 

2.      Put mushrooms in a bowl and add ground beef to skillet, adding salt/pepper to taste.  Cook until browned, stirring and breaking up meat chunks regularly, about 6-8 minutes, adding the chives about half way through.  Remove beef from skillet and mix with mushrooms.

3.      In a medium bowl, gently stir avocado and onion together. Squeeze lemon juice over and top with salt, to taste.  Carefully mix so that the onion and avocado are coated yet the avocado is not mashed.

4.      Assemble tacos, beef first, then avocado salad, and top with dairy. Makes about eight tacos.

 COST: $10.72           COST PER SERVING (4): $2.68

Nutritional Information
calories 717.8   •    total fat 41.5g    •    fiber 8.9g    •    sugars 2.5g   •    protein 38.1g

(Click here for full nutritional information)

Steak with Parsley Sauce and Sauteed Mushrooms

I made steak.

So what and big deal, right?

Well, I would like to inform you that this was my first time.  In fact, from the age of 13 until I was a married woman (12 years later) I never even ate steak, let alone made it.  The first time I re-had red meat was on our honeymoon... we drove past a Brazilian steak house or churrascaria (which you need to go to at the earliest opportunity -- TRUST ME).  I turned to my husband and said, "If you would like to go, I will go with you.  And I will eat the meat -- FOR YOU."

I don't think he trusted me.  The only other time he had taken me to a churrascaria was in Brazil.  Tri-tip and top sirloin, leg of lamb and other great meat, coming to our table one after another, being offered up to us to eat all we wanted.

What did I choose?

The salad bar.  And the weird sushi at the salad bar.

It was a waste of a great amount of money.

But he must have felt it was worth the risk because we went.  $45 a person is always a lot, but when you are newly married and have not that many pennies to your name, it is A LOT.  So I ate the meat.  I continued eating.  I cleared off my plate and ate a little bit more.  And I discovered something... this stuff is GOOD!  That little green/red chip stayed on green the entire time and I had the worst belly ache on the way back to the hotel.

It was totally worth it.

I don't eat much red meat still.  Except when we have BBQ.  Or the occasional hamburger.  It really is a rarity to me.  My husband loves it though, and I wanted to surprise him with a dinner just for him.  No vegetarian/chic stuff this night... I brought out the meat.  Medium-rare, just how he likes it, topped with parsley sauce and sauteed mushrooms over a bed of mashed potatoes.  A side salad with a little bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

In a word: perfection.

STEAK WITH PARSLEY SAUCE AND SAUTEED MUSHROOMS

Recipe from Great Food Fast, a cookbook by the creators of Everyday Food

SERVES 4  •  PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 25 MINUTES

steak

·        2 strip, shell, or sirloin steaks (about ¾ pound each and 1 inch thick) ·        2 teaspoons olive oil ·        coarse salt and fresh ground pepper ·        Parsley Sauce (see recipe below) ·        Sautéed Mushrooms (see recipe below)	1.      Coat the steaks with the olive oil; season with salt and pepper. 2.      Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high.  Add the steaks; cook until browned, 5 to 6 minutes per side for medium-rare. 3.      Transfer the steaks to a cutting board; let rest 10 minutes before slicing thin.  Serve with the parsley sauce and sautéed mushrooms.
parsley sauce	sautéed mushrooms
·        1 glove garlic, chopped ·        1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves ·        ¼ cup olive oil ·        coarse salt and fresh ground pepper	·        6 ounces shiitake mushrooms ·        8 ounces cremini mushrooms ·        2 teaspoons olive oil ·        1 shallot, minced ·        coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
In a blender, puree the garlic, parsley, olive oil, and 3 tablespoons water until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.  Any left over sauce can be stored in the refridgerator, covered in an airtight container, for up to 3 days. Makes ½ cup	Cut off the shiitake mushroom stems and discard; thinly slice the caps.  Trim the tough ends of the cremini mushrooms, then quarter each mushroom.  Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the shallot; cook until lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add the cremini; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium.  Add the shiitakes; cook until tender, 5 to 7 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper. Serves 4

COST: $20.48  COST PER SERVING (4): $5.12

+ mashed potatoes and salad: $5.85 per plate

(Click on 'mashed potatoes' above to be taken to the recipe.)

Beef Parsnip Stew

I've been keeping up with my get-veggies-first, make-weekly-menu-after plan.  And it has been EXCELLENT.

First of all, who doesn't enjoy spending time out in the sunshine, browsing the farmer's market?  It is a ten minute walk from my house and has become one of my favorite parts of my week.  Peace.  That's what I feel on the walk there, the exchanging coins and bills for fresh produce, the chit chat with others, listening to jokes about redneck vasectomies...

Ok, so that last one didn't bring me peace, but it did make me chuckle in a "I feel like I shouldn't laugh but I just have to" kind of way...  and laughter is the best medicine.

So, what seasonal/new thing did I get this time?  These guys:

That's right, parsnips.

I have never had a parsnip in my life until this week.  Actually, until about three months ago I thought they were called 'white carrots'.  Silly me.

Having no idea what to do with them, I turned to my favorite resource: Everyday Food.  One of my archived magazines had a whole parsnip section.  And one of those recipes called for other items I had already purchased at the farmer's market.

And that is the beauty of shopping like this.  Peace, yes.  But having things on hand that are fresh, easy, and cheap to try new recipes is the winning part.  I settled on a beef parsnip stew and the only thing I had to buy at the store was beef.  Everything else I already had on hand.  Score.

I continued to make my meal plan for the week this way.  Asking what veggies do I have on hand? first, and what can I make with these? second. Wanna know how much I spent for us to eat for the entire week, breakfast, lunch, and dinner?  $48.  That's nine dollars at the farmer's market, plus $39 dollars at Trader Joe's.  I was shocked.  Chalk up another point for my new plan...

As for the stew?  My husband immediately said, "This is a TEN!  Feel free to repeat this one anytime!"  And later, "Babe, you MUST make this when my parents visit from Brazil.  They will LOVE it!"

I guess low prices are not indicative of low taste, but rather quite the opposite.

EXCELLENT.

Recipe from Everyday Food, October 2012

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup flour
• Coarse salt and pepper
• 2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced medium
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup tomato paste (from one 6-ounce can)
• 1 pound fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise
• 1 pound parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-by-2-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, season flour with salt and pepper. Coat beef in flour, shaking off excess. In a large heavy ovenproof pot, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium. In batches, brown beef on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add remaining tablespoon oil, onion, garlic, and tomato paste and saute until fragrant, 2 minutes. Add 3 cups water and bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits. Add beef and any accumulated juices, potatoes, parsnips, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cover, transfer to oven, and cook until meat is fork-tender, 1 hour. Stir in vinegar and serve.
   
   

   COST: $13.22     COST PER SERVING (4): $3.31

   facebook/twitter/pinterest