Wok's For Dinner: Grilled Steak Salad

This meal was really light & refreshing, not to mention quick & easy to make!

Grilled Steak Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 lb sirloin or ribeye, cut into strips

2 Tbsp vinagrette salad dressing (I used Balsamic Vinagrette)

Tossed salad

Directions:

Sear meat in a hot skillet until seared on all sides (I know, not exactly grilled but it worked for me!). Stir in vinagrette. Stir and cook for 4- minutes until meat is browned and cooked through and liquid evaporates. Serve over a tossed salad. Drizzle your favorite dressing on top.

Menu Plan Monday: 8/9-8/15

With hubs & the kids finally home, I can really dig into my cookbooks and menu plans and we can finally eat real meals again. I still have plenty of meals left from my July freezer menu that I can pull from. (There hasn't been a lot of cooking around the house for a few weeks since hubs & the kids took a vacay without me--had to work and couldn't take off at the last minute like they did).

Here's the menu plan for this week. I know it's a little late posting. Better late than never. ;)

Monday--Creamy Beef Over Noodles, Corn on the Cob

Tuesday--Creamy Enchiladas (I'm sensing a "creamy" theme), Apples

Wednesday--Baked Potatoes, Green Beans, Mandarin Oranges

Thursday--Crispy Mustard Pork Chops, Lima Beans, Cucumbers

Friday--Chicken Stir Fry, White Rice

Saturday--Grilled Steak & Salad, Cantaloupe

Sunday--Chicken Apple Salad Sandwiches, Cantaloupe

Stop by Org Junkie for over 300 menu plan options each week!

Wok's For Dinner: Creamy Enchiladas

For a little over 2 weeks, I didn't do a whole lot of cooking. Hubs and the kids took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Minnesota to visit family, and I just wasn't in the mood to cook for one. I had a bit of a dilemma, trying to figure out if I should make a menu each week, but knowing that I wouldn't be doing a lot of cooking and didn't want to feel like I was lying to you. Nor did I want to advertise that I was flying solo on the homestead. As for the few meals that I did make, I wasn't even able to take a picture & post the recipe because my husband took the camera with him.

Suffice it to say, I survived the solitude (I never knew just how lonely it would get!). The family arrived home safely & soundly.

And hubs decided that he wanted enchiladas. He had some very specific instructions for me. No corn tortillas. No homemade tortillas. No fresh peppers from the garden (the weeds kind of took over while he was gone). Lots of cheese. And not having enchiladas was not an option.

Here's what I came up with:

Creamy Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1/2 lb cooked pork roast, shredded

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1/2 block (4 oz) cream cheese, softened

8 flour tortillas

1 cup shredded cheese, taco-flavored

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat shredded roast in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in Rotel tomatoes; simmer and bring to a slow boil. Stir in cream cheese until melted and heated through. Spoon mixture evenly over tortillas and roll up enchilada-style, then spoon any remaining sauce over top of tortillas. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Hubs loved, I mean LOVED, these enchiladas! He commented over and over about how good they were. It definitely was a boost to my ego! :)

Tax Free Weekend Is Here

Each year, North Carolina recognizes a sales tax-free holiday that begins the first Friday in August. Thankfully, this year is no exception.

Most of the items that you can buy are in some way or shape school-related, but not all. Here are just a few of the highlights:

1. All clothing items $100 or less per item, including:

• aprons
• baby receiving blankets
• bandannas
• bathing suits
• belts & suspenders
• coats, jackets
• costumes (yes, Halloween costumes)
• diapers (children & adults, including disposables)
• earmuffs, gloves, mittens, hats, caps
• formal wear, wedding appearal (see what I mean by not all items being school-related?)
• garters, leotards, tights, pantyhose, socks, undies
• insoles for shoes
• neckties
• rainwear
• sandals, shoes, shoelaces, slippers
• uniforms (both athletic & nonathletic for nonbusiness use)

2. Sport or recreational equipment $50 or less per item:

• ballet & tap shoes
• cleats
• gloves
• goggles
• hand, elbow, mouth, shin guards; shoulder pads
• helmets
• life preservers
• skates
• wetsuits & fins

3. Computers $3500 or less per item:

• central processing unit
• monitor
• keyboard
• mouse
• speakers

Note: must puchase the monitor, keyboard, mouse & speakers with a CPU in order to be tax-exempt.

4. Computer supplies that are $250 or less per item:

• memory sticks, diskettes, CDs
• PDA's & hand-held electronic schedulers, except devices that are cell phones
• printers
• printer supplies, paper & ink

5. School supplies that are $100 or less per item:

• Binders, notebooks
• Chalk
• Backpacks
• Calculators
• Crayons
• Erasers
• Folders
• Glue, glue sticks
• Highlighters, markers, pencils, pens, pencil sharpeners, pencil boxes & other school supply boxes
• Index cards & boxes
• Legal pads, composition books, sketch & drawing pads, writing tablets
• Lunch boxes
• Paint & paintbrushes, watercolors
• Paper (loose leaf, copy, graph, tracing, manila, colored, poster board, & construction paper)
• Rulers
• Scissors

6. School instructional materials $300 or less per item (great for home-schoolers and college students!):

• Reference books
• Reference maps & globes
• Textbooks
• Workbooks

See you at the store--I'm going shopping after work!

For the complete list of items exempt during the sales tax holiday, visit the NC Department of Revenue here.