Rachel Ray Ain't Got Nothin' On Me

For I am crowning myself the QUEEN of the 30 minute meals…

Now both PWG and TW love watching Rachel Ray – doesn’t matter what she is hawking – be it dinner in under 30 minutes or spending $40 a day (Ha…I could stretch $40 into 3 days…the trick is making sure you pick a hotel that not only has a continental breakfast but also an evening “social hour” – load up those pockets in the morning and you have lunch – eat enough peanuts, popcorn and sip enough bad boxed white wine and you have dinner)

Anyway with working full-time there is very little time to prepare an elegant dinner most nights (ok not most nights…every night)…so I live hard and fast by the “get er done” cooking method…

Now one thing I will admit - I am horrible at getting my children to partake in “Adult Food” - that food where it is either

• Somewhat expensive (i.e a nice piece of NY Strip Steak)
• Somewhat spicy
  

I would have to say out of a 5 day workweek at least 2 night a week I try to prepare “Adult Food” – it is these nights I pray in homage to Chef Boy-r-Dee and the man at Tyson who said “lets mash a bunch of leftover chicken together in a flat round disk shape and call it a ‘patty’” – because without these two people (Oh the person at Eggo that said - "let's take half of a regular waffle and half of a chocolate waffle and fuse them together" - they must never get rid of that wonderful concoction that makes morning at my house so very nice)…I would be one very unhappy momma…

Last night was an “adult meal” – I had a nice piece of Flat Iron Steak and some Portabella and Crimini Mushrooms (mushrooms courtesy of my boss who brought in huge boxes of them cultivated from some place called the Mushroom House in PA…)

• Tangent time – Flat Iron Steak is a relatively new cut of meat…it is similar to Flank steak…if you want to know more check HERE - anyway the meat is fairly inexpensive – I got a nice sized piece for 2 people on sale for about $5 – it was delicious….very tender and I WILL be buying it again (on sale of course)
  
  

So I threw some Worchester Sauce, Balsamic Vinegar, Olive Oil, minced garlic and some steak seasoning in a glass pan and let the meat marinate for about 10 minutes. I threw the same ingredients in a glass bowl in which I threw the cut up mushrooms in. Don’t ask me the ratios – I just added a splash here and a splash there…(I did put a little too much vinegar in the mushroom bowl though)

Third Child threw the meat on the grill for 10 minutes on medium heat while I sautéed up the mushrooms…nuked a turkey dog for TW and a Crabby Patty for PWG (that beloved Tyson Chicken Patty…one day the girls wouldn’t eat anything – then I offered them a “Crabby Patty” and it has been love ever since…) – opened a can of Mandrian Oranges (I am not completely a horrible mom…they do get fruit and veggies on occasion :)

I let the meat rest for about 5-6 minutes – sliced that puppy up – threw the ‘shrooms on top and ate it up…YUM-MO

PIS-SHA – Rachel Ray…I finished in 26 minutes.