Heirlooms

I am too excited. I just booked my flight home in October. Now it's just a waiting game until that time rolls around! I will be working then, so I hope it isn't too much trouble to ask time off from work.

I took a job as a medical-surgical nurse at the local hospital. I do not start until the second week of September, though. Until then, I'll be fine-tuning my brain, watching a lot of crappy TV, organizing my closet, and cooking a bunch of new recipes because, well, I have the time.

I also started playing volleyball with a team on base. It's just for fun, and it really is! Most of the players are boys in Chris' squadron so last time I played I had to come home to tell Chris, "If everyone is talking about the girl who got smacked in the face on the first play yesterday, that was me. I'm sorry!" He tried not to laugh as he hugged me.

Yesterday I caught up on "The Mindy Project" (new favorite show) and worked on Excel spreadsheets for the cabinets, fridge, and freezer. Yes, I am that nerdy. I have my reasons. I can't stand the idea that I might go buy another can of evaporated milk at the store when I have one at home. I've also been organizing closets. All of this is great, but I still have two rooms that I really need to clean up. My priorities are out of whack. :)

Anyway, on to the more enjoyable things-last night's dinner was FABULOUS. Chris and I have a ratings system where he gives it 1-5 stars. If something gets 3 or less stars and I can't improve it, I never make it again. We can do this because I've got 30+ cookbooks (no joke) and we don't have time to waste on "okay" recipes. This brings me to "Heirlooms". When I die, what I would love to be able to give our grandkids my cookbooks with all of my notes scribbled in them. The notes are overly honest and often I scribble how to improve the recipe in the margins. I've been known to write, "THIS IS CRAP" when something really sucks. This did not suck, and it was not overwhelming with the wasabi. I'm sure you could lessen or increase the amount of wasabi if you wanted to!

Well, here is a five-star recipe (in our opinion):
Wasabi Beef Fajitas
1 large sweet red pepper, julienned (I used a green pepper)
12 green onions with tops, cut in half lengthwise (I used 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion)
2 tbsp sesame oil, divided
1 lb. uncooked beef stir-fry strips (I used flank steak)
2 tsp cornstarch
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp prepared wasabi
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp minced garlic (I used two, we like garlic)
8 (8-inch) flour tortillas, warmed
1 cup coleslaw mix (I just used chopped cabbage)

Directions:
In a large skillet, stir-fry pepper and onions in 1 tbsp oil for 3 minutes, add cabbage, saute until all ingredients are tender. Remove and set aside. In the same skillet, stir-fry the beef in the remaining oil for 5 minutes/until no longer pink.
In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, soy sauce, wasabi, ginger, and garlic until blended over beef. Bring to a boil; cook and stiry-fry for 2 minutes or until thickened. Return pepper mixture to the pan, heat through.
Spoon 1/2 cup mixture down the center of each tortilla. Fold one side of tortilla over filling and roll up. Serve immediately.
Makes 8 servings.

We added guacamole with the typical ingredients: avocado, onion, tomato, cayenne pepper, garlic, salt and pepper, but I've made a new discovery down here that I haven't seen before-fajita seasoning. I added a tsp or so to the guacamole and it made it very, very delicious. I was quite impressed.

Enjoy! :)

I might be a bit psychotic about my cookbooks, but since I have about fifty of them I feel the need to be, not to mention all of the recipes I get from allrecipes.com and pinterest. I always write down the best recipes from the internet so that if the internet ever crashes and burns I will still have them all written down. I flag allof the recipes I want to try, and I just added two excel spreadsheets to my list: "Recipes to Try", and "Favorite Recipes". This way I can keep track of what we will try and what we have tried and loved. This is easily the most organized section of my life.