So, I recently tried pre-marinated, ready-to-cook beef tri-tip steak from Costco ($6.49 / lb). To my pleasant surprise, not only was it easy to cook, it tasted really good.
I’ve also had Costco’s boneless ribeye steak ($16.99 / lb) which isn’t pre-marinated and though the results can taste good as well, it doesn’t taste $10 / lb better!
Here’s a pic of the tri-tip easily cooked to perfection.
and here’s a pic of boneless ribeye (or maybe this was of NY steak). Either way, the pre-marinated tri-tip at Costco is just as good, if not better, and a much better value.
If you’re trying to lose weight and/or want to eat something simple and yummy that will keep you from feeling hungry for a long time, then the recipe below is one of my favorites.
Ingredients
Banana Nut Crunch Cereal (2 cups) – available at Target
Kirkland Ancient Grains Granola (1 cup) – available at Costco
Blueberries (1/2 cup)
Chopped walnuts (1/4 cup) (if you want more walnuts than what’s included in Banana Nut Crunch)
Unsweetened Almond Milk (2 cups)
Instructions
Combine everything, wait 5 minutes for ingredients to soften from the milk, eat.
There are many stir fry vegetables recipes online but they seem more complicated than they need to be (unless I’m just not picky enough about how stir fry vegetables is supposed to taste). The main thing the be concerned with is sodium / salt. You typically add soy sauce to the vegetables but unless you get low sodium soy sauce, the sauce will be already salty so you don’t need to add salt to the vegetables.
For the ingredients, all you need is a stir fry vegetable blend (I get mine from Costco) and soy sauce.
I sometimes add chicken to if I want to add protein.
To make the dish look colorful, I like to add one red bell pepper chopped into bite-size pieces.
You don’t need to defrost the vegetables. Just get a wok, put in some olive oil, wait a bit for the wok to heat up, throw on some frozen veggies, and toss periodically.
Once the veggies are soft, pour on some soy sauce and toss periodically again. the picture below shows it with chicken. If you want a darker look, add dark soy sauce. Dark soy sauce is less salty than regular soy sauce. After a while, give it a taste to see if it needs more soy sauce or not. If not, you’re done.
The soy sauce is only 15 calories / tbsp.
UPDATE: I tried some other recipes that call for a mix of various sauces and I think it did taste better BUT it come with a lot more calories to the all the sugar in Hoisin sauce. If you don’t care about calories, then try this recipe for the sauce instead:
1 tbsp Hoisin sauce (90 calories)
1 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp black vinegar splash of toasted sesame oil
If you do care about calories, omit the Hoisin sauce.
Beef Instead of Chicken
If you prefer beef, you can add precooked, pre-sliced beef sirloin (available at Costco).
Or, to get more for your money, you can buy pre-marinated tri-top (available at Costco).
I tried this out and it came out great. Just preheat an over to 375 (convection bake), stick in a thermometer and set the target temperature to 135. When it’s done, your oven will (should) beep. Take it out and leave for 10 minutes.
Then just add to your veggies.
Fire-Roasted Vegetables
Costco also sells frozen fire-roasted vegetables as well.
This was good but the vegetables were smaller and I didn’t care for some of the vegetables. Nevertheless, it was still very good. In the pic below, I added yellow bell pepper.
KETO UPDATE
If you are on the Keto diet and want to limit carb intake, then here’s a modification of the recipe above.
For the vegetables, use Kirkland Normandy vegetables.
Since this vegetable medley isn’t carb free, you can mix it with Shirataki / Konjac rice (0 net carbs) or riced cauliflower (low carbs) to add bulk to your meal.
For the soy sauce, all you need is Lee Kum Kee Supreme Soy Sauce. It’s got 0 carbs.
For protein, I prefer pre-grilled chicken breast from Costco.
Below is a picture with riced cauliflower.
To simplify cooking, mix the frozen vegetables and refrigerated chicken breast in a covered microwaveable bowl (leaving a small opening in the cover) and heat for 4 minutes. Then transfer to a pan and cook with olive oil. When almost done, add the soy sauce.
I prefer angel hair pasta. Since it’s long, break it into 3.
WARNING: Pasta will grow like crazy when cooked. Put half or a third of the raw pasta amount.
3. Cook the pasta
Put the pasta in the pot and cook till it reaches your desired hardness
4. Prepare meatballs
For convenience and speed, just buy pre-cooked, frozen meatballs. Then, heat them up in a microwave on high for 4 minutes.
5. Prepare pasta sauce
For convenience and speed, just buy premade pasta sauce. Rao’s marinara sauce is particularly good and available at Costco. Pour an adequate amount over the cooked meatballs.
then heat in a microwave for 2 minutes.
6. Strain pasta
When pasta is cooked, strain it and put it back into the pot.
7. Mix sauce, meatballs and pasta
Pour the sauce and meatballs into the pot of pasta and mix.
Though you can find baklava all over the world including in the US and the Middle East, I find that the best baklava is Turkish baklava. This should come as no surprise as you will find baklava shops on almost every street in Istanbul and probably all over Turkey. Since a main ingredient in baklava is pistachio, and the center of pistachio cultivation in Turkey is in the city of Gaziantep, some consider Gaziantep baklava to be the best. In 2013, Gaziantep baklava became the first Turkish product with a European protected designation of origin and geographical indication.
According to the Lonely Planet guide book on Istanbul, following are some of the best baklava shops there.
Karaköy Güllüoğlu Karaköy, Rıhtım Cad. Katlı Otopark Altı No: 3-4 Istanbul / Turkey T: +90 212 293 09 10
Köşkeroğlu Restaurant Kemankeş Karamustafa Paşa Mahallesi, Mumhane Caddesi, No 2/D, Beyoğlu, Istanbul – Tel: 0212 245 35 14
Kaşıbeyaz Baklava Nispetiye Mahallesi, Aytar Caddesi, No 31/C, Beşiktaş, İstanbul – Tel: 0212 281 10 50
Emiroğlu Baklavacısı Murat Reis Mahallesi, Nuh Kuyusu Caddesi, No 289/A, Üsküdar, İstanbul – Tel: 0216 334 58 26
Hacı Bozan Oğulları Bahçelievler Mahallesi, İzzettin Çalışlar Caddesi, No 13, Bahçelievler, Istanbul – Tel: 0212 575 49 49
Gaziantep Baklavacısı Küçükyalı Merkez Merkez Mahallesi, Rüştü Sarp Caddesi, No 25/A, Maltepe, Istanbul – Tel: 0216 417 71 20
Gaziantepli Altınoğlu Baklavaları Kadirga Liman Cad. 17, 34450 Istanbul, Turkey
I have personally tried Emiroğlu baklava and can confirm that it is one of the best. It’s got just the right amount of moisture unlike some other baklava which are too dry or wet.
One baklava shop you will most likely see in Istanbul is Hakkizade Hafiz Mustafa 1864. Their baklava is good but a bit too dry for my taste. Emiroglu is better.
While unit is preheating, pat steaks with paper towel to remove oils, rub canola oil over steaks and sprinkle on salt and pepper
Insert thermometer from the side into thickest part of steak
When unit beeps, add the steaks
When unit beeps again, flip steaks
When unit beeps again, remove steaks and allow to rest for 5 minutes
Grilled Barbecue Chicken Legs
Ingredients
Chicken legs or breast
Kinders Mild BBQ Sauce
Canola oil
Salt
Black pepper
Instructions
Push Grill button
Set temperature to “MED”
Set time to 25 minutes
While unit is preheating, rub canola oil over chicken and sprinkle on salt and pepper
When unit beeps, add chicken and set timer for 10 minutes
After 10 minutes, flip chicken and set timer for 5 minutes
After 5 minutes, liberally baste both sides of chicken with bbq sauce then set timer for 5 minutes
After 5 minutes, repeat previous step and cook for another 2 minutes.
If internal temperature is below 160 F, keep cooking until it reaches 160 F.
When internal temperature reaches 160 F, remove chicken and let rest for 5 minutes
Air Fried Chicken Legs
Ingredients
6 chicken legs
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbs vegetable oil
Instructions
Add all dry ingredients to a large zip top bag and shake to mix well.
Massage oil on each chicken leg
Add all chicken to bag and shake until all chicken is coated
Let chicken marinate in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. The longer the better. Overnight is best!
Preheat air fryer for 5 minutes at 380 degrees (F). Add chicken to air fryer and use “air fry” setting at 380 degrees (F) for 18-20 minutes, turning chicken halfway through. Internal temperature of chicken should be at least 165 degrees (F).
Moroccan Shakshouka and Turkish Menemen are very similar. Here’s my version of these dishes.
Ingredients
3 eggs
1 8oz can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes (Target / FoodMaxx)
2/3 cup frozen diced onions (Smart n Final)
1//4 cup cilantro for garnish
2 tbsp wet minced garlic
10 tbsp olive oil
Smoked paprika (not regular paprika)
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp tomato paste (optional)
Pita bread
Instructions
Pour olive oil in medium 10″ pan on medium-high heat
Fry onions and garlic until slight brown
Pour in diced tomatoes and sprinkle in smoked paprika, salt and pepper to taste (optionally, add tomato paste)
When mixture is not too runny, make 3 deep dimples in the pan and crack each egg into them
Cover and poach on low heat until egg white changes from translucent to white. Turn off heat so that egg yolk is still runny.
Garnish with cilantro
Cut some pita bread in quarters and warm for 15 seconds in microwave
Eat
Fry diced tomatoes and garlic in olive oilCook fire-roasted tomatoes with smoked paprika, salt and pepper and optionally tomato pasteMake dimple in mixtureCrack eggs into dimples without breaking yolkCover and poach eggs on low heat until egg whites are white, not transparentLike thisGarnish with cilantro and warm up pita quartersEat directly from pan
