What's For Dinner...

For a shower gift my mom mailed recipe cards to both Eric and I's family and friends. It's been so much fun to try out these recipes.


Thanks mom for such an awesome gift and also thanks to all of you who mailed back recipe cards to be included in our book.




Asian Beef - StirFry by Jean Waters was on the table for dinner last night! A new twist on Ramen Noodles. Eric and I had this amount left-over from dinner last night and he took it for lunch today.


Cooking Time: ~15 minutes
Serves: ~4

1 lb flank Steak
2 pkg Asian-Flavored Ramen Noodles, crumbled
2 C Frozen Vegetables - Stir Fry Mix
1 C Water
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 T sliced green onion
~1/4 cup stir-fry sauce OR a dry packet of stir fry mix

Marinate flank steak in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. I put the steak in a plastic bag with marinate mix after I woke up and let it marinate all day.

Problem with a One-Bedroom apartment....we don't have a place for a grill. Therefore, I cooked the steak on the George Foreman Grill for about 8 minutes (until the center was slightly pink) Then I cut it across the grain. Set Aside.


Put all other ingredients except onion and stir-fry sauce in a skillet. Boil 3 minutes or until ramen noodles are soft. Add steak to skillet and heat through. Add onion and stir-fry sauce as needed for flavor.

ENJOY!!

Nutrition Bites:

• Flank Steak is one of 29 ways to enjoy lean beef. A 3 ounce portion has 6.3 grams total fat with 2.6 grams coming from saturated fat.
• Add Frozen Vegetables to your meal to increase the volume and decrease the calories. In this recipe we used frozen vegetables to increase the amount of food on our plate: however we didn't add a lot of extra calories. --Other ways to use frozen vegetables: In pasta, in soup, as baked potato toppings, or in casseroles or lasagna
  

For Richer For Poorer:

• Some of you may be saying steak is expensive I can't afford that. GUESS WHAT! You can. I checked out the circular this week and Flank Steak was on sale this week. Checking out the weekly circular and see what's on sale for the week and plan your meals around those sales.
  

Can we say Ramen isn't just for College Students Anymore

Change is Inevitable - Except from a vending machine

Welcome to my blog! I thought I'd start off by updating you on the adventures of my life over the past 6 weeks:
Top 10 Changes in my life...

1. Changed my Name

Eric and I tied the knot on 08-08-09 and I became Jill Ladd after 23 years of having an 11-letter last name...

2. Went to Jamaica

Yeah Mun! We went to Jamaica after our honeymoon (I had to go with my 11 letter last name :-) We stayed at Couples Negril which was an all inclusive resort. We laid out on the beach, ate, went snorkeling, ate a lot, went on a glass bottom boat ride, ate again, went ZIPLINING and of course ate some more.

3. Moved to Omaha and put away all of our Wedding Presents...



Did I mention that we live in a one bedroom apartment here in Omaha...it was a challenge to find places for everything but I managed to do it. Yes there are several wedding presents hanging out with our clothes in the bedroom closet!

4. Bought a Bigger Bed


After getting back from the honeymoon it took us 2 days to decide that Eric and I were not going to last long in the full size bed. Eric being over 6 feet tall was sleeping diagonally before I showed up so off we went to Nebraska Furniture Mart...........the next day our KING bed was delivered. I will admit at first I thought it was too big but I LOVE it now!

5. Got a Nebraska License


With much resistance I relinquished my Kansas License. It was exciting to have my name be Jill Ladd but I just wasn't super excited to become a native Nebraskan. I am still dragging my feet to get the plates on my car changed. I'll let you know when I finally give in....

6. Flew to Nashville



I just can't say away from one of my favorite places. At the beginning of September I went to a conference as Jill Ladd (kinda weird) to receive a Certificate in Adult Weight Management; HOWEVER, I think the biggest draw to go was seeing lots of my intern friends and staying with my friend Kristen P and her husband. Thanks for letting me crash at your place :-)

**TIP OF THE DAY** Airports frown at paper IDs that the DMV gives out so it was a good thing I packed my passport

7. Turned One Year Older


Eric was out of town for my birthday but don't worry we still celebrated. On Saturday we headed to the Henry Doorly Zoo here in Omaha. We were there at 9:30 right when it opened. We had heard great things about the zoo and we (okay I) was REALLY EXCITED to go. I felt like a little kid before we left and if you ask Eric he will probably tell you that I acted like a little kid hyped up on sugar :-) Hands down the best part of the trip was seeing the little baby gorilla who had gotten hurt and therefore had to have a human "mom" see picture below... I made Eric go back before we left so we could see it again. TOO CUTE! Of course monkeys and gorillas are my FAV....

(I went to Atlantic, IA to visit Eric's parents on my actual birthday: I guest spoke at a class entitled Healthy Relationships, we went to a waffle feed (YUM), saw the movie Julie and Julia, and I stayed the night)

8. Said Goodbye to the Intrepid and Hello to the Nissan Altima


We decided to stimulate the economy and trade in the Intrepid with 160,000 miles. For all of you new college grads (Out for 2 years or less) OR those of you currently working on your Masters Nissan offers a rebate for YOU. We also got a nice rebate that Nissan was offering up until the end of September. We've already began racking up the mileage by taking 2 trips to Manhattan in one week....we just can't stay away!

9. Named K-State Family of the Year


The Bob and Janis Moore Family was named the K-State Family of the Year. Bob and Janis happen to be my grandparents and therefore I'm part of the family :-) We've had 4 generations of K-Staters starting with my Great-Grandpa Neelly who played Varsity Football for KSU. Both Grandpa and Grandma Moore went to K-State and all of their kids went to K-State. Of course they choose K-State Grads to marry. All of the grandchildren (that's me) who are old enough have gone to K-State and those of us who are married choose to marry K-staters. We've all been going to School at K-State for over 72 years.


So one might ask, What does one receive after being named K-State Family of the Year? Well, a press release, a yummy brunch, a plaque, and an appearance on the Field and Jumbo Tron between the 3rd and 4th quarters of the Football game of course. (It was also a good excuse for me to buy a new Purple shirt...can you ever have to many?)

10. Start a Blog

And now we get to the heart of the matter. I've decided to start a blog probably to help combat the boredom of my life as a newly graduated, newly married, unemployed Registered Dietitian in a new place...

Future Blog Topics to look forward to:

• What's for Dinner

• For Richer, For Poorer

• Daily Happenings of a Stay-At-Home Wife

• Nutrition Bites

• Updates on the Job Search

Well most of my blog updates will not be this long but I had a lot to catch everyone up on!