Zesty Summer Steak Salad: A Lazy Blogger's Meal

So...it's summer. Ya, you probably already noticed what with the sweltering heat and what not. But...summer means something else too...lazy bloggers. I logged into my reader today to find that over the last 10 days I've chalked up 81 posts to read. Seems like a lot, right? Nope. Usually 10 days would land me with over 300 posts to read. But I am very much not upset...because...that means that my blogging laziness is totally on par. That's right. I'm average. I'll totally take it.

It's way too easy to distract myself from blogging with other things. I won't lie though, they aren't all summer activities. The primary time suck? Sims 3. Yup. That's right. A computer game. And I am not ashamed...I am living life vicariously through my Sim. She has steady income, a nice cute house that she can clean in about 20 minutes, cheap food and horses. Ya...I'm totally jealous of her.

But I digress...the point is...today I am blogging. It should be celebrated. You're welcome.

And in the spirit of lazy summer, I am providing  you with a relatively lazy lunch/dinner idea. It's hearty, but still light. I know...contradictory. Just go with it. 

What You'll Need:


1 lb. flank steak
1 tbsp. Mrs. Dash
1 medium red onion, diced
6 c. chopped lettuce
1 medium tomato, sliced
4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and sliced

Dressing :
1/3 c. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. Mrs. Dash


What You Do:


Combine dressing ingredients in small bowl and refrigerate.

Press 1 tbsp. seasoning onto steak. Grill on medium heat 3-4 minutes per side, turning once for medium rare. Let steak rest for 5 minutes prior to cutting.

Carve steak into slices or bite sizes. Toss with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and eggs. Drizzle with dressing.

See...not that hard. In fact, downright easy. And the mess is pretty minimal too. Thank goodness, because I hate cleaning the kitchen. Unlike this recipe, I not contradictory. I am nothing if not consistent. All lazy, all the time. Go me!

Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce

Okay...I admit it. I have a serious crush on Greek food. I don't know what it is, but I am just enamored with it. Particularly tzatziki sauce. Is there anything as delicious? Who knew that a cucumber could be such a marvelous thing.

The other day I had myself a Greek Chicken Flatbread sandwich from Quiznos and it made me start thinking about this recipe. I found it on Pinterest (where else?) and it is heaven. Honestly, I'm pretty sure I ate about 1/2 of the tzatziki sauce with a spoon. Yum! If I had all of the ingredients at my disposal right now, I'm pretty sure this is what I'd be having for dinner. It ranks up there with some of my favorites...like the Grilled Flanksteak with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce.

The best part...it's really not that difficult. It does take time to prepare, but most of it is waiting...not doing. I'm totally okay with that kind of recipe.

The picture doesn't do these babies justice. I'm pretty sure it would look better if I had been reasonable on the amount of tzatziki I added. Whatever. Delicious. Trust me when I tell you that you won't be able to get enough of this.

Here's What You Need :

Tzatziki :

16 oz. plain yogurt
1 cucumber peeled & seeded
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. lemon juice
Olive oil

Chicken : 

4 cloves garlic, smashed
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. plain yogurt
1 tbsp. dried oregano
Salt & pepper, to taste
1 1/4 lb. chicken pieces

Other :

8 large pitas
2 medium tomatoes, sliced and seeded
1/2 red onion, sliced
4-6 oz. crumbled feta

Here's What You Do :

Strain yogurt using cheesecloth over a bowl. Refrigerate and let it sit for several hours to drain the moisture. This is typically a giant pain in the butt. I'm still working on an easy way to complete this step. But even in my completely jacked up manner it came out just fine. I guess what I'm saying is...don't fret. Just get some water out of it and you're fine.

Tzatziki : Shred the cucumber. You want this fairly fine. Wrap in a paper towel and squeeze to remove moisture. Mix with 16 oz. strained yogurt, garlic, vinegar, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Drizzle with olive oil. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. The longer the better...it's basically a marinade...a delicious, delicious marinade.

Chicken : Combine garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, yogurt, oregano, salt & pepper. Whisk until mixed well. Add the chicken pieces and mix to coat. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.

Cook chicken under broiler. (You can also grill if you prefer.) Let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into strips.

Heat pitas. (I pulled mine into pockets, but you can just use the fill & fold method.) Top with chicken, tzatziki sauce, feta, tomatoes & onions. I'm thinking about adding kalamata olives next time. I'm also currently drooling, but that's beside the point.

If you wind up with extra tzatziki (quite possibly blasphemy and would never happen here) it also works well as a chip dip. Then again, it works just fine on a spoon all by it's little lonesome...

The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty

I think it's time for a book...don't you? It's been a while. I'm also learning that I need to do my reviews more quickly after reading the book. It's a lot more difficult to remember all of the little details that I had in my head upon reading. I guess I'll just have to start writing down my opinions as I read.

I received The Hypnotist's Love Story as a Goodreads win. It was a really cute love story. I have to say that it did surprise me. I liked it a lot more than I expected. The title sounds kind of corny, but it's really well written and has a smoothly executed plot. Liane Moriarty is a wonderful author and I look forward to reading more of her work.

In The Hypnotist's Love Story, Ellen O' Farrell is a hypnotherapist. She runs her private practice from the home that she inherited from her grandparents. Her business is budding. She is helping patients with phobias, stresses and relationship issues. She loves her job and feels rewarded by the results she obtains.  With her career on the rise, she has decided that it's time to find someone to share her life with.

She has used online dating sources before with a couple of disastrous endings that still plague her, but she soldiers on and gives it another try. It turns out to be an excellent decision. She meets Patrick, a widowed surveyor with a young son. He is her perfect match.

She falls fast and hard. But the fairy tale comes with a price. Patrick has a stalker. Saskia is his ex-girlfriend and she is obsessed with his every move. So much so that she adopts a pseudonym and schedules an appointment as one of Ellen's clients.

The book is light and fun. It isn't overly serious, but still stays focused and entertaining. I read it fairly quickly. I was slightly disappointed in the ending - mostly because it becomes a little too predictable. However, overall I quite enjoyed it. I would recommend it to those who enjoy "chick lit" from authors like Jane Green, Sophie Kinsella or Meg Cabot.

I gave The Hypnotist's Love Story 4 out of 5 stars. It's well worth the read.

Every Day Should Be Vacation

Well, my hiatus is officially over. I went back to work today. It was really nice to have a pile of days when I didn't have to do a darned thing.

We took an RV trip as a family and more or less toured Oregon. We hit up a pile of museums, saw the ocean, the Redwoods and Crater Lake, and visited a super cool animal safari.

I am currently uploading my 1425 photos...no joke. Maybe I'll share a few later on this week.

The relaxation does still continue somewhat. I have to go to work, but my duties at home have been lightened. Darian is spending a couple of weeks with Grandma Carole. It's nice to come home and fix dinner whenever I darned well feel like it. (And I don't have to share the Wii.)

I was really hoping that my pictures would download super fast while I was typing this so that I could at least share a couple. Umm...nope. It's currently at picture 283. The computer might need a little "me" time.

An update on the 4 month meal plan...I am sailing along. In fact, I have "added" an extra two weeks' worth of meals since I am apparently a horrible estimator of how much we will have in leftovers. Our fridge is constantly stuffed. So...I've frozen some veggies and moved a few things out until the end. (I am experimenting with some of the freezing, so I may give out some tips on that in the next couple of months.)

At the current rate, our 4 month meal plan will end up extending through most of November. (That's six months!!)

There have been some casualties. I've learned that I got too greedy on my produce and didn't space out the purchasing enough. I have lost a few tomatoes, pieces of green peppers, an avocado and some green onions. I figure it's about $5-7 in lost produce this far. Drat. But hey...I'm learning. Next time I'll be a total rock star at this.

Well...I've blathered on as much as possible, but the photo uploading isn't even at 50% yet. So...I guess I'll save that for another day. Now...I'm off to play Zelda. With the kiddo gone it's all mine.

Oh! I almost forgot. There was a bit of a catastrophe a few days before we left. I got sick of my dirty dishwater blonde and decided to dye my hair. Collin has worked for years to get me to dye my hair black. I finally relented. But...the black I bought was actually violet black. I decided I wanted a little shiny tint. Uh...ya...I got a LOT of shiny tint. Apparently my hair decided that the black portion of the dye should be omitted. And so...purple hair. Seriously. There was panic.

The color has now tamed down slightly - I'm now at kind of a dark reddish brown - but it's still not what I would consider "normal". I'm not sure what I want to do next though...so I guess it will stay this way for a while. I'm debating on a major cut.

And now...for your viewing pleasure...purple hair. (The picture was taken with my iPhone and then posted to Facebook, so it's not the hottest quality. But...you get the gist.)