Flavor Explosion: Thai Beef Salad

While Andy and I traveled throughout SE Asia, our absolute favorite place food-wise was Thailand.  The food was so uniquely flavorful and fragrant.  The weather in the PNW has been strange for October; it's been for the most part mild and sunny with cool evenings. So I decided to make a crock-pot salad--half summer, half winter.  Andy couldn't stop raving about how much he loved this dish (which is funny, Andy doesn't love anything with the word "salad" attached to it)...it's not a typical, super easy crock pot recipe, but if you have the time, this meal is worth it.  It's so deliciously amazing. 

Ingredients:
1 large onion, thinly sliced into rings
1 1/2 pound flank steak, fat trimmed
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
3 tbs. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tbs. peeled and minced fresh ginger
1 tbs. toasted sesame oil
black pepper to taste.

1 package of vermicelli rice noodles (or angel hair pasta)
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
4 tsp. low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. ginger juice (grate and squeeze fresh ginger)
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
4 tsp. thai sweet chili sauce
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (use less if you don't like spicy foods)
juice of 2 limes
14 fresh mint leaves finely chopped
1 bunch of green onions chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 bunch of watercress (or green leaf lettuce)
1/4 cup chopped roasted salted peanuts (optional)

Directions:
1.  Coat the inside of crock with nonstick cooking spray and arrange onion slices over the bottom.  Make very shallow horizontal slits against the grain across the top of the steak and lay on top of onion.

2.  In a small bowl combine the garlic, sugar, soy sauce, lime juice, ginger, sesame oil, and pepper.  Pour the mixture over the steak, making sure to coat all exposed surfaces well.  Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours, checking at 4 1/2 hours until tender when cut with a knife.

3.  Cook pasta, drain, and rinse under cold running water.  

4. Place vinegar, soy sauce, ginger juice, sesame oil, chili sauce, cayanne and lime juice in a container with a lid and shake to combine.  Place the pasta in a shallow boil and toss with mint, green onions, and cilantro.  Toss with the dressing.  You can let the pasta sit at room temp or refrigerate until the meat is done.

5.  Remove meat to a cutting board, cover with aluminum foil and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.  On a platter or salad plate make a bed of the watercress (or lettuce) and bile the noodles on top.  Cut the steak across the grain into 1/2 inch thick slices and lay over noodles.  (sprinkle with peanuts if you choose).

It's definitely not your easy, toss in a crock pot recipe...but this is seriously so tasty, I can't wait to make it again!

Chicken Wire and Fabric Doors

Remember the beautiful built in bookshelves Andy built? The final detail of the project was mine to complete, which was to add cabinet doors at the base.  The problem was the baseboard heater Andy built around; we didn't want to fully enclose the base and trap heat there, so I scoured Pintrist and found the idea of using chicken wire and fabric to help the heat escape. 

I used Andy's old seminary text books to help flatten out the chicken wire. (Looks like those books were useful after all!)

 Andy made the frames and painted them white.

 I measured the chicken wire and started cutting with wire cutters.

 Flatten the chicken wire as best as you can and use a staple gun to secure the edges around the frame.

 Measure and cut out the fabric.

Lay over the chicken wire, pull the fabric tautly, and staple around the edges.

 We added hinges and screwed the doors on to the left side (which is the side we need access to to adjust the heat).

The left side we just screwed on (instead of adding hinges) since we don't really need the space for storage.  I love the finished look!  Have you gotten any great ideas from Pintrist lately?

Le Sigh...

It's been one of those weeks...months, rather.  You know what I mean right?

You Have To Make This: Crunchy French Toast

There is a local restaurant in Tacoma that makes Cap'n Crunch crusted french toast.  (I haven't tried it yet, but people rave about it).  So I decided to make my own version last weekend.  I must say, I don't think I'll go back to regular french toast after this. 

Slice up real french bread and gather your usual ingredients. ( I add a splash of vanilla and a dash or two of cinnamon).  I didn't have Cap'n Crunch in the cupboard, so I crushed up some cinnamon Chex.

 Coat the bread in batter and then cover in cereal crumbs. 

 Cook over medium heat.

 Serve with bacon and maple syrup and you've got yourself a gourmet breakfast!

Gettin' Crafty

I have a confession.  I always thought JoAnn's fabric was just a fabric store.  You can imagine my surprise when I walked in and a world of crafting and decor ideas poured into my head...they have everything you can imagine there!  I've said it before, I'm not a crafty person; but ever since Pintrist, I'm addicted to the desire to make a million different little projects.  Last weekend I went to Goodwill and picked up a few items to create some DIY projects.  Here is the finished project of my DIY wall art. 

A couple of things I picked up at Goodwill.

 Frames!  I'm not sure what my project will be yet...but you can always use frames right?  The frame on the left was brand new, still in wrapping! I paid $10 total for both.

I bought these jars for 99 cents each!  I was going to paint them white, but after I bought some silk flowers at JoAnn's and put them on my bookshelf, I think I'm going to keep them baby blue.

 I look forward to sharing my future DIY projects with you!

Peas In a Pod

I realized I never introduced you to our foreign exchange student, Minari, from Japan.  When she came she greeted us with Japanese candy and of course, Hello Kitty mugs.

Our two new editions are getting along quite nicely.  

Augustus, after chasing the ball in the Puget Sound.  Too cute right?

Anything new in your life?

The Mother of All Projects

Andy really outdid himself this time.  We have been going back and forth about purchasing bookshelves and figuring out where we wanted to put them.  We reluctantly decided we needed to put the bookshelf to the left of the window and brown couch in this picture.

But I just wasn't liking the furniture arrangement.  I originally liked the couches switched, like in this picture. (This pic was taken prior to painting). 

I wanted to put 2 bookshelves to the left and right the window and keep the brown couch centered.  The problem is we have a baseboard heater that runs the length of the wall.  If we put bookshelves there we would need to pull them out pretty far from the wall which would look strange.  After hemming and hawing about the placement and the purchase, Andy decided he would build "built in" book shelves and cut the base of the shelves around the heater.  I loved that he wanted to do this because real wood book shelves are freaking expensive!  After Andy built ours, I understand why; we spent about $380 on materials.  

 You can see here how he cut around the heater.

 I love the lighting Andy added around the window.

They're not finished.  Andy's still working on the doors to put on the base of the shelves and I need to get some more decor to fill in some empty space, but they turned out amazing!  I'm so happy we were able to arrange the furniture in this layout; it just flows so much better and the built in bookshelves give the room so much character!  Of course, I'll update you when the project is fully finished. 

Rustic Benches

We realized quickly that 4 chairs around our dining room table just wouldn't be enough.  We have company over often, so Andy decided to build a bench to go with the beautiful table he built. 

Andy's already built 2 more tables and sold them, and is currently in the garage building 3 more because of requests!  He's turning in to quite the carpenter.  He built another bench we have in our bedroom out of leftover scrap wood.

Cute huh?