From food rut to fabulous!

I don't know if you have the same problem, but it seems that dinners in my home consist of the same meals week after week after week. Well, I'm on a mission to change that. I want to break free from the food rut, which means adding new foods into the mix. Last week I was grocery shopping, and I was on the prowl for something different. I wasn't quite sure what I was looking for, but I was determined to find it regardless. As you already know, I don't eat dinner...I have a protein shake instead. But Eric still has to eat, and since he's not picky like me, I want to try some new options. Eric's theory is that a meal isn't a meal without MEAT. It doesn't really matter what kind of meat, but having meat is a necessity in this household. Since prices are sky high these days, I was also looking for bargains. I found myself in the beef section, and I came across some packaged meat labeled as london broil. I'm sure I'd heard the term before, but I'll be honest...I had no idea exactly what a london broil was or what to do with it. But it looked like a good piece of meat, and the price was right, so I decided to try it. I also ventured over to the pork section and nabbed myself a good deal on a pork loin. That was also foreign to me. I'd made pork chops many times before, and I make bacon (and eggs) for Eric every weekend, but otherwise I just didn't buy or cook pork. I then finished my shopping and headed for home. I got home and logged onto http://www.allrecipes.com/, which is a pretty good recipe website that I'd used many times before. I searched for recipes for the london broil and the pork loin, and within about 10 minutes I'd found the recipes I wanted to try. I was ready to rock and roll now! I finished putting the rest of my groceries away, and then I started gathering all the ingredients I'd need from the pantry and fridge. Since I didn't have my recipes picked out before shopping, I hoped I'd have what I needed -- or at least be able to improvise. And I did. I first made the marinade for the london broil. I admit that I changed the recipe slightly due to size and the fact that I didn't have any soy sauce...I substituted Worcestershire Sauce. Once the marinade was mixed, I poked a bunch of holes in my piece of meat and put it in the marinade. The directions said to let marinate for at least 8 hours, but I opted for 2 1/2 days. I grilled the london broil over a charcoal grill for a total of about 20 minutes, and then I served it with green beans and a salad. Can I just take a minute to pat myself on the back? Eric LOVED this meal. He went on and on about how good the flavor was and how juicy and tender the meat stayed. The best part was that he had leftovers to take for lunch a couple days. I feel bad that I didn't take a picture of my masterpiece (which coincidentally I made again last night), but I'll take one and post it next time. I would definitely recommend this recipe, even if you want to put your own spin on it.

Here's the recipe:

1 - 2lb london broil

3 cloves of garlic (I actually used a large tablespoon of minced garlic)

1/2 cup soy sauce (Again, I used Worcestershire sauce)

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp ketchup

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. ground pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Poke holes in meat to allow it to better absorb the marinade. Marinate for at least 8 hours, but I would recommend 2-3 days. The directions say to grill 5-8 minutes per side and to not overcook. The first time it took about 20 minutes to cook (I flipped it every 5 minutes), but last night it took about 30 minutes. This will obviously depend on cooking temps and thickness of the meat, so you'll have to play around with the times.

The Herb Garlic and Bacon Pork Loin also turned out really good...Here's the link to the recipe if you're interested: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Herb-Garlic-and-Bacon-Pork-Loin/Detail.aspx I actually did take a couple pics of mine, which I'm posting for you to see. I thought it looked really nice, and Eric thought it tasted really yummy, so I'd say it was a success!