Eating out or eating in?

This week I decided to try a recipe my husband had pointed out as being interested in, Korean Bbq Beef Skewers, and at the last minute I paired them with some bacon wrapped asparagus on the grill, a recipe I already shared a while ago here. The skewers were surprisingly tasty, and if you've done some of the recipes before from the blog you might already have most of the ingredients around the house! After I had made these I took the time to think through all of the ingredients I had bought and how much it was as opposed to how much it would cost us if we had eaten out, and the results made me very happy. I got pretty much everything on sale: my steak, bacon and asparagus, and with drinks and such it was about $20 to make this meal that feeds 4. It is a little on the high side for the meals I usually make at home, but it was a great meal, and after figuring in the tip and drinks, if we would have eaten out something like this it would have cost somewhere around $60. It's not quite the same experience as going out to eat of course, but when money is tight and you want to still have a date night, a nice meal paired with a bottle of wine and some candles can do in a jiffy and save you money :) That's enough on that though, time for the recipe!



Korean BBQ Beef Kebabs

(yay! My photos are uploading normally again)

• 1 1/2 lb. sirloin steak, cut against the grain into thin (about 1/4″) slices
• 1/2 c. rice wine or pear juice (1 4 oz. bottle of pear juice from the baby food aisle is perfect and cheap)
• 1/2 c. low-sodium soy sauce (I used regular soy sauce and thought the taste was fine)
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. Sriracha chili sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil

Combine wine or pear juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, chili sauce, and sesame oil in a large bowl. Add sliced steak. Marinate at room temperature for 1 hour or up to 8 hours in the refrigerator. Preheat the grill (or grill pan, in my case). While the grill is heating, thread the steak pieces onto (pre-soaked) bamboo skewers. Cook over medium-high heat for about 3-4 minutes per side, being careful not to let the meat get too cooked. If you like your meat more rare lean towards closer to 1-2 minutes, mine cooked very quickly. Serve immediately; serves 4-6.

(recipe from Our Best Bites )