Korean Tacos

Are you lazy but really love tacos? This is the recipe for you. Everything can be prepared ahead of time so you can throw together quick tacos for many meals. Heck we had tacos one night, tortilla wraps for lunch the next day and nachos last night. The meat you throw together in the crockpot will be flavorful and is perfect for when you are busy.

What you need~
Pork butt (2 pounds is what I bought)
1 cup seltzer
1 cup Gochujang sauce

Gochujang what the heck is that I bet is what you are thinking right now.

Per WIKI:
Gochujang or red chili paste is a savory, sweet, and spicy fermented condiment made from gochutgaru, glutinous rice, mejutgaru, yeotgireum, and salt. The sweetness comes from the starch of cooked glutinous rice, cultured with saccharifying enzymes during the fermentation process. Traditionally, it has been naturally fermented over years in jangdok on an elevated stone platform, called jangdokdae, in the backyard.

I bought it at Aldi in a bottle. Most grocery stores sell it. Look for it in the ethnic isle.

I always start by placing my meat in my slow cooker on the low setting for 8 hours. I pour in the
seltzer around the meat and then Gochujang sauce over the meat. Let this cook down for the full 8 hours. Shred it and then let it sit for another half hour before eating.

Like I stated above it goes well on everything. It is not overly spicy which I adore. It reheats well in the microwave or oven for a couple days. I highly doubt you will have much left over by the end of the week though. I serve mine with cilantro and spicy coleslaw I made.

Can even use the meat for nachos!

Until next time~
XoXo Emily

PS: We are getting a plumber in to work on the toilet and moving some plumbing this week. Bathroom renovation is chugging along. This is exhausting but I can see the finish line.

Travel Adventures: Red Hot Chili Peppers (Summerfest 2017)

Rain, Rain and more rain. I like to think of it being stuck in a hurricane and watching an intense rock band. It was a memory and an experience we will not soon forget that is for sure. We are smart and we watch the weather so we knew it was going to rain. Dressed for rain we traveled down to Milwaukee WI to Summerfest. For the first couple hours it rained but it was light and spotty the whole time. That completely changed around the time that the gates for the Red Hot Chili Peppers show opened. The skies opened with torrential rain that beat on us at a strange left angle. We were soaked completely thru within minutes. Getting into the venue was a mess the lines all smashing to get in. Once in it was hard to miss the leaking roof waterfalls as we made our way to the back of the grass area. We did not drink anything the entire concert and we barely made it for Red Hot Chili Peppers to start. Between the rain and constant lightening it was actually I hate to say it fun. Once you come to terms with the fact you have no control over anything and that you are soaked you just go with it. Word to the wise if you are like me always bring a full change of clothes to change into for the ride home. Would I do a show like this again? I think I would but it has to be a special band like this time. Then and only then do I think I would brave the elements. Did I mention that the Red Hot Chili Peppers put on an stellar show? Because they rocked our faces completely off. For their age they still can bring an intense energy to their shows.

Ryan made the leader board playing this racing game at one of the tents.

This is our BMW Z4M in race form. Fun!

We spent some time with my parents before the concert. We bummed around and people watched some crazies. Mom is that "grape Lennies?"

The only beverage I had the whole time. A grape slushie. For $2 it was refreshing.

The best fried pickles. That spicy sauce paired so well with the thick chips.

We somehow got chicken in our Hawaiian noodles even though we did not order it. It was still really tasty and filling.

The sky was angry. This was the calm before the storm.

I will be real with you. This is the only Red Hot Chili Pepper picture I attempted to take. It was raining so hard that my fingers were really wet and this is the only picture that even remotely turned out okay.

I was water logged at this point. This is at the end of the night. We made the best of the situation and still had fun.

Recap picture of all the fun!

We came home to a giant tree branch in the yard that we had to cut up Thursday night. I did not notice it was not an actual tree until like 3 hours later. It was just a huge branch.

 Every trip is not going to have perfect weather it is what you do in this difficult situations that makes the difference between fun memories and bad experiences. We could have easily left and went home but we would have missed an awesome show. Some times you have to ride that storm out.

Until next time~
XoXo Emily

PS: I hope to get the bathroom finished soon for a full before and after post. 

Stuffed Chicken Breast 2.0

Weew. My life has been insanely busy this past week. Hence the lack of awesome posts. It was Ryan's 30th birthday this past weekend and his only birthday request was to complete our master bathroom renovation. We are really close to having it complete.  A giant updated post will come when we are done with progress pictures. In the middle of the madness that is home renovation I managed to make a couple meals. I have made this type of stuffed chicken breast before. I always change up my recipes from time to time so I wanted to share this version with you that I made this past week.

What you need~
2 chicken breast (pounded to 2 inches thick)
1/4 cup pesto
Turkey pepperoni
2 slices of cheese (I used fontina)
1/2 cup marinara
1/4 cup shake and bake





Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees much like you did in my last post see above hyper link. The main difference between that recipe and this one is the light dusting of the shake and bake and I used far less sauce. I prepped the chicken by beating it thin between two pieces of parchment paper. Then I layered the pesto, cheese, and pepperoni in the center of the chicken. I slowly rolled the chicken and then placed it in a shallow casserole dish that had a small amount of the sauce in the bottom of the pan. Top the chicken with a dusting of the shake and bake. I placed diced potatoes around the chicken and topped that with the remaining marinara sauce. You could use any type of vegetable you would like zucchini would work well too. Bake for 30 minutes before serving.

This recipe is actually really easy and good as well. I will continue to make it and I am thinking of using pork chops in the future.

Wish us luck on finishing the bathroom this week. Updated pictures to come soon!

Until next time~
XoXo Emily

Travel Adventures: Indy Car Races at Road America

Fast. If you are not careful watching these cars you will get whiplash.  This weekend turned out to be perfection. The weather held out and it ended up being the perfect temperature. Many of my readers have never heard of Road America. I will now state my personal opinion about this race track. It is my favorite and I would argue the best race track in America. I have been to many tracks, heck my dad even ran a race track in South Dakota for two years so I feel like I have seen my fair share. The track itself is difficult and a road track. See their site for the history and some pictures of this 14-turn road circuit track. I would say the scariest part of the track is "the kink". It ate up 4 cars this weekend. As far as watching the races turn 5 is my favorite as it is a good location to see turn 5 and turn 14. The food and drink at this track is really good and not as expensive as you would think. I like to get the corn, ice cream and brats. The track is part nature park, park race track and it is beautiful. I have included some picture high lights from watching the Indy cars going 180 MPH plus around the track. They also had the GT series there which was fun to watch as well.

It was so hard to take pictures of the Indy cars. They move so fast! This is the hill going into turn 5. They get to upwards of 180MPH on this stretch of course.

Saturday day one with the track in back of us. This is before we got really sunburnt. We did find a beer stand in the woods walking along the track. This place is awesome.

This is the legit speed of the cars going into corner 5. This sign would tell you their speed as they came into the corner.

Day two started with a fun drive with some family friends to breakfast. We always have a blast on the way to breakfast. :)

I have read this book two times. It was time to stop by Mr. Levy and get my signed copy and sticker for my car. This book is fantastic if you want a good read about cars.

The Indy cars are super fun to watch but so was the GT series. Look at all those BMW's!

This is legit. A Mader golf cart. Ryan was laughing so hard. He asked me if I thought that the golf cart followed the race cars around asking if they needed help.  

This poor Maserati was in third for most of the race. He spun himself out at corner 14 towards the end of the race. I always sing that Joe Walsh song "My Maserati does 185"... Sadly this one is doing 0 MPH. Had some damage to the front.

My mom recently sent me an article about how people that spend money on experiences are happier in life I think I would have to agree.

Until next time~

XoXo Emily 

 

Strawberry/Rhubarb Bars

Tart and yet sweet this is the perfect dessert or breakfast bar. It is rhubarb and strawberry season everyone! I made this on my day off Friday. My rhubarb plant is once again a dinosaur and huge in the backyard. What that means it is time to bake a ton.  I wanted to branch outside of my usual breads and crumbles I usually make. This is a new favorite. I could eat an entire pan by myself I swear.

Crust

Crust

Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cold butter

Rhubarb

Filling:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup diced strawberries
1 cup diced rhubarb




Filing

Start by pre-heating oven to 350 degrees. Whirl the crust ingredients in a food processor. Make sure that the butter is firm it needs to not be melted. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper. Press the crust mixture into the pan. Bake the crust for 15 minutes. While it is baking whisk together filling items adding the strawberries and rhubarb at the very end. Then pour over hot crust and return to the oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cool before removing from pan and cutting into bars.

Ready to bake

The smells!

Removed and ready to cut into bars.

Yum!

 This was one of my favorite things I have baked in recent memory. I like it because it is not overly sweet. I really like having it for breakfast with a cup of tea.

Until next time~
XoXo Emily

Sweet Potato/ Broccoli Bake

Finally another food post!
Traveling and adventuring does not usually allow for much time at home or cooking/baking for that matter. Felt good to settle in and cook a real home cooked dinner. Last night during the crazy storm I threw together this tasty veggie bake with some fish. This made a 9x13 pan and I had a ton of leftovers which is great.

What you need~
Two sweet potatoes peeled and diced to about 1 inch cubes
About 2 cups of broccoli
1/4 cup panko breading
Seasonings of your choice
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

Yum! Chili mix.

A favorite.

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F. Start by boiling a pot of water. Flash boil the potatoes and then broccoli till almost tender. Potatoes for about 5-6 minutes and broccoli for about 3-4 minutes. Strain the potatoes and broccoli and add to your 9x13 pan. Coat the veggies in your seasoning. I used the texas seasoning I love so much that  I use for chili. I had also mixed some of that seasoning in the bread crumbs. Top the veggies with the cheese and then the seasoned bread crumbs. Bake this for about 10-15 minutes. You want the topping brown but not burnt.




Boiling the potatoes.



Boiling the broccoli.

Ready for toppings.



Baking.

YUM!

 Serve right away and it is a big hit. It was cheesy from the cheese but had a great crunch from the topping. I would make this again and you can do it with a lot of different types of vegetables.


Until next time~
XoXo Emily

Crunchy and cheesy goodness.