Monday's Meals: Steak

There are several ways in which to eat "Paleo." This diet is also commonly called the "Caveman Diet," which means you only eat what cavemen ate, or what we think they ate...Some people are very strict and don't do any starches or dairy, ONLY eating meat, fruit and veggies. We are a bit looser with it in our house. We have dairy (in moderation as dairy seems to have adverse effects on all 5 of us), and we eat potatoes/sweet potatoes as well as some beans (kidney, garbanzo, etc). We are OK with this. It works for us. It might not work for you.

In any case, it's Monday and I have promised meal ideas! Oh, and sometimes I might not do meals...I might just do 1 dish, or side, or dessert. I'm leaving my options open. We love meat in our home. Sorry, no vegetarians here! In fact, when we lived in OH we would buy sides of beef every year. We still have a freezer full right now. We also eat a lot of chicken, because I can get it cheaply (and good quality) at Aldi. We occasionally have pork to mix it up a bit. However, we notice pork makes us retain a bunch of water and makes us feel bloated, so it's not something we have even weekly. And, even more infrequently we have fish. We all like fish (well, except for Ben, but he might if he would just try it...), but it's so darn expensive, and we find the staying power of fish isn't as good as other meats.

Often in our home we eat beef, our favorite is STEAK! I never ate so much steak in my life until I got married! How do we prepare our steaks? My husband is a grilling machine and very good with marinades and spice rubs (things he makes up on his own), but our favorite with steak is what he calls "the 4 Friends"--salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. We have learned over the years the less you do to a steak the better it is. And so, we put those 4 ingredients on both sides of THAWED steaks. It's best for your steak to be at room temperature before it cooks, and, as always, rest your steak for a good 5-10 min (covered with foil) before eating. We like our steaks to be cooked medium to medium-well. To accomplish this my husband grills them for 4-5 min on each side (thickness of your steak will make a difference, ours are pre-cut at 1/2 inch from the butcher).

If you don't like to grill you can certainly cook them inside! Cook them in a skillet for 2-3 min on both sides then finish them off in a 350* oven for about 8-10 min. YUM!!!

Here's what we will often have with our steak, and the recipe I'll share! Well, recipe is a loose term...

ROASTED POTATOES:
potatoes (we prefer redskin potatoes, but any kind is fine)
salt
pepper
garlic
parsley
olive oil

1. Cut up potatoes in bite-sized pieces. Feel free to peel if you prefer, but we like to have the skins on.
2. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on a sheet pan (best to have a pan with sides), about 1-2 Tbsp.
3. Drop potatoes on pan
4. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, parsley and garlic
5. Using your hands, "toss" potatoes in the oil and seasonings until all pieces are well-coated.
6. Put in a preheated oven of 375* and roast for 45-60 min. or longer. They're done when you can poke a fork in them and pull it out easily.

It's also yummy to saute some sliced onions, peppers and onions to have with your steak!!!

Bon appetit! Enjoy your steak and potatoes!! I think I'm hungry now...