Rub a Dub Dub

But no three men in a tub.  Sorry.  This just isn't that kind of website.

Grilling season is in full swing here at M Cubed, and we couldn't be more excited.  Couple that with our new memberships to Sam's Club, and it's even more fun.  Last week we bought approximately 89 pounds of pork chops for like $2.  Matt had been jonesin' to grill some bone-in pork chops, and he wanted to find a marinade and a dry rub.  We started with the dry rub, since it was more Operation: Skinny Unicorn friendly, and we haven't even made it to the marinade yet because the dry rub was so tasty.

Also, next time I get all gripey and complainy about Savannah, remind me that grilling season goes from February to November and that should get me to shut up. 

Okay, okay, so I know you're dying to find out about this dry rub, so here it is.  You need some spices, but nothing too BANANAS!  (The paprika, as you might guess, is also from Sam's.  We're so far over on the dark side it's not even funny.)

Pork Chop Willy's Grilling Rub

Ingredients
3 tablespoons sweet paprika, preferably Spanish
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne

Six to eight 10- to 11-ounce bone-in pork rib chops, 3/4 to 1 inch thick
Vegetable oil spray


Preparation


At least 1 and up to 8 hours before you plan to grill the pork chops, prepare the dry rub, combining the ingredients in a small bowl. Coat the chops with the spice mixture, place them in a large plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate.
Fire up the grill, bringing the heat to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Remove the chops from the refrigerator and let them sit covered at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Spray the chops with oil and transfer them to the grill. Grill for 18 to 20 minutes total. Turn onto each side twice, rotating the chops a half turn each time to get criss-cross grill marks. The chops are done when just a hint of pink remains at the center. Serve hot.

I should note, too, that we also used this rub on some boneless skinless chicken breasts, and that was really good, too. 

What have you been grilling lately?

New Favorite Restaurants

Matt and I don't really eat out all that often for the following reasons: it's expensive, and bad for us, and less convenient, and often unsatisfying.  Since we've grown better at cooking at home, we've found that too often we go to a restaurant and spend much of the time talking about how we could make better food at home for a fraction of the cost.  I'm a cheap shrew, what can I say?

But--BUT--we do still really like to eat out when we find a good place.  These places are usually cheap and fun and serve delicious food*, food that we wouldn't make as well at home.  We have a few favorites around Savannah, like Mexico, Saigon, Back in the Day Bakery, and Blowin' Smoke.  And lately we've added two new restaurants to our little rotation.

The first one is Saigon Bistro.  It's a little Vietnamese place that's really close to our house, and the food is ridiculously good and apparently authentic.  (I wouldn't really know if it's actually authentic or not, since I've never been to Vietnam.  The clientele, however, is mostly Vietnamese, which makes us think the food must be pretty authentic.)  It's cheap and fresh and delicious and relatively guilt-free.  Get the pork spring rolls.  You'll be happy you did.

The second one is Sammy Green's.  Um, why is this place so good?  They have a really interesting menu, and, like Saigon Bistro, the food is cheap and fresh and delicious.  Sammy Green's also wins a prize because they can put stuff that I usually don't like (like cucumbers and olives) on something and make me like it.  Shoot yeah, Sammy Green's! 

Anyway, just thought I'd share.  If you live in Savannah or are planning on visiting the SAV anytime soon (we do have a guest room with a comfortable bed, people!), you should check them out.


*Like your mom.  Well, maybe not your mom, but definitely other peoples' moms.

Green Thumb?

Okay, so I'm pretty excited right now, and not just because Big Love ended in the way that I both predicted and wanted, and not just because my birthday is fast approaching, and not just because I have a new ice cream scoop, and not just because I had a full weekend of [mostly] completing some house projects.

I'm excited because I'm taking on something new: plants.

See, I really don't understand plants.  Like I just don't get them.  I mean, I'm not a complete moron; I understand that they need water and sunlight, and I understand photosynthesis* and all.  But when it gets into all of this bull jive** about shade plants and sun plants and different kinds of dirt and pruning and bees and feeding and all of that--well, I just don't know anything. 

Last summer I planted some hydrangeas, and aside from my brief foray with hydroponics, it was a huge failure.  I kept forgetting to water the little bushes, and the hot Savannah sun just made the plants shrivel into little pitiful piles of wilted sadness.

But then I went outside the other day, and wouldn't you know it?  Those hydrangeas are some resilient little suckers.

So, inspired by my very, very slight success with the hydrangeas, and inspired by Cassie (who is basically a plant genius), I'm trying to find some actual success with plants this year.

But since I'm still a plant idiot, I got this little greenhouse thing from Target.  And it's kind of awesome--so far, at least.

Because, see, you start with these weird little pellets.

And then you pour warm water over them, and they grow BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES!

And then they kind of look like all kinds of things that you will want to make immature jokes about, but that you won't because you're about to turn 30 in a week.

And then you add some seeds.

And then you run out of seeds, but try to find some in the refrigerator.

Then you cover them with dirt (or so I remember from the third grade), and then you put in your little plant markers, and send out happy thoughts.

Wish us luck!

 These are for Caitie, who is newly obsessed with spaghetti squash.

And if this goes well, we'll tackle this next.  Eek!

Any plant tips you'd like to share, friends?


*When Matt and I first started dating, I wowed him while we were watching Jeopardy! by knowing what ATP stood for.  Adenosine triphosphate, for those of you who are wondering.  He was impressed, as he should have been.  I was impressed that that was actually the right answer. 


**My students taught me this term.  Also, it is awesome.

This and That

1.  If Richard Blais doesn't win Top Chef All-Stars, then I will never watch that show again.  If Richard Blais loses to Mike Isabella, then I will never watch TV again.  Mike Isabella is so skeezy!

2.  There is a handful of movies that I will watch every time I see them on TV.  This list includes, but is not limited to: Groundhog Day, Father of the Bride (parts I and II), Forgetting Sarah Marshall, A River Runs Through It, and the first Sex and the City movie*.  Slate had a pretty cool article recently about what makes a movie re-watchable.  What movies can you watch over and over?

3.  Operation: Skinny Unicorn is going pretty well.  I have been eating much better (and much less!) lately, and have been feeling pretty good.  I say that now.  Last week I might have had a tantrum where I just kept telling Matt, "I'M HUNGRY!"  while throwing my body around like Paul Rudd's character Andy on Wet Hot American Summer.  Maybe I then threw myself on my bed and cried for several minutes and was just a big baby? 

This week has been much better, and I'm determined to win, because I need some new shoes.  Check out my favorite school shoes.

4.  I have tomorrow off of school because it's St. Patrick's Day.  Isn't that awesome?  And Friday is a teacher workday.  Unfortunately, I won't see a ninth grader until Monday.  Oh, shoot.

5.  Modern Family needs to come back with some new episodes.  I'm going through withdrawal!

6.  I've been completely obsessed lately with watching Brothers and Sisters on Netflix instant.  Why is it so good?  Also, it's kind of terrible, and the writing is the worst, but I love it anyway. 

7.  Mitch is still the cutest dog on the planet.

8.  I only have ten more days of my twenties.  That's freaky.

9. I want this flying car.

10. This week Matt and I went over to the dark side; we joined Sam's Club.  You don't have to scold me, but you can judge away.  And then be jealous of the 30-pack of awesome sweet and salty granola bars that we have in our pantry.

*I actually hate the Sex and the City movie, but am, for some god-forsaken reason, completely unable to tear myself away from it--especially the part where Carrie asks, after she was stood up by Big (except not really stood up--she's just crazy), "Will I ever laugh again?"  I really hate that movie, and should institute some sort of punishment for myself each time I watch it.  But isn't watching the movie punishment enough?

Phew!

Um, uh, did we get a pet rabbit?

And is this rabbit trying to tell us something?

 

Nope.  Just a dingo who wanted a little midnight snack.  Phew!*

*Um, also, I was so relieved that it was only dog food in my bed, and not, in fact, excrement.  Where did my life go wrong?**

**Also, it's not like we often have excrement in our bed.***

***Ever.  It's not like we ever have excrement in our bed. 

I Swear I Didn't Plan It!

So, I've been trying to get Matt to let me put a TV in our bedroom for about four years.

But Matt forbids it.

He says that if I have a TV in the bedroom, I will never leave the bedroom. 

And, well, I can't really argue with that. So I don't push the issue.

Now let's switch gears a bit.  Matt and I also never get money back from our taxes.  What we get back from federal we always seem to owe to state, so it's always a wash. 

But this year we did.  It wasn't anything too crazy, but it was enough that we thought it would be okay to buy ourselves a present or two.  Last Sunday, I dragged Matt to Target because I wanted to look for the complete series of Six Feet Under (birthday gift idea!).  As he does every time he walks into my home away from home, he made a b-line for the back to look at the TVs.  We've been wanting a nicer TV for our guest room for a while now, but it was just never much of a priority.  But there were a bunch on sale, and about 15 minutes after walking into Target, we were walking out of Target with a new 32-inch baby.  Fair enough.

So we set it up in the guest room, on top of the new Expedit.  Truth be told, the new TV was supposed to help with us losing weight (because I can rationalize any purchase with "it will help me to lose weight") because we could put the Wii in there and stream Netflix instant, which would make us (and by us I mean me, because Matt is an ellipting addict already) want to work out more.

Now here's the part I didn't count on.  We have a really comfortable bed in the guest room. 

Uh oh.

This has been my view for the last few days.

Mitch loves it, too.

So, anyway, I subconsciously manipulated my husband into doing what I want.  And I'm pretty pleased with myself.



If you need me, or Mitch, you know where to find us.

Weekend Fun!

Ahhh. . .what a lovely weekend it's been.  It was both restful and productive.  The weather was fantastic, the dog was as cute as ever, and, while we didn't really leave the house much, we had lots of fun. 

Grading essays kind of sucks, but it sucks less when you get to sit in

The Lagoon and look out the window at this cuteness.

Graded papers.

Dinner visit with our three favorite girls.

Husbands who are ellipting fools.

DELICIOUS chicken fajitas.*

And I don't just want to leave you with pictures and nothing else.  We made a really tasty marinade for our chicken, and it was a hit.  Here's the recipe for the marinade. 

Fajita Marinade for Chicken

Ingredients

Juice from three limes

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 jalapenos, minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Directions

Combine all ingredients.  Put into ziploc bag with pounded boneless skinless chicken breasts.  Marinate for two hours or more. 

*Operation: Skinny Unicorn folks.  Each one of these fajitas was 6 points.  Mmmmmmmmmm.  I ate three.

Dear Mary. . .

Sorry I've been MIA.  Nothing's really wrong, well, except for my absolute inability to complete a task these last couple of weeks.  As soon as I manage to finish some stuff, I'll have lots to share with you.

But I can't wait until then to share these little gems with you.  They're from Sapling Press.

And my personal favorite. . .

So if you just thought to yourself, "OMG!  Mandy's birthday is only two weeks away and I have yet to buy her a card and gift," then just get me one of these.  And maybe one of these.  And these.  And this.*

Well, shoot.  Now I'm being greedy. 

*Not really with the last one.  I'm terrified of needles.

Grilled Chicken Wings

Look!  I just got another tool to ward off murderers!

And now I kind of want to be a butcher.

Or a landscaper?*

Anyway, I got this new meat cleaver because we wanted to make grilled chicken wings for dinner.  Truth be told, I wasn't all that jazzed about making grilled chicken wings, but they were going to be the healthier alternative to our fried wings, you know, since I'm on a quest to be less fat.  When we started, I was rather unenthusiastic about the wings (but not the chopping part where I got to use my meat cleaver and make crazy eyes), so much so that I didn't document the process at all.  Fortunately, there wasn't much to document.  Oh, and they're out of control delicious.

So here's what you do.

1.  Chop wings like a psychopath.  Be sure to cut off the tips.  I don't know why, but you're supposed to.
2.  Toss the wings in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, some salt, pepper, and cajun seasoning.
3.  Grill the wings.
4.  Toss them again in a large bowl with sauce. (We used Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce, but you could use whatever you want.)
5.  Eat.  You will get sauce all over your face and hands, so these are not to be eaten around polite company.

They're easier to make than they are to eat, and I think they taste better than the fried ones.


*I've always secretly wanted to be a landscaper, even though I don't know anything at all about plants.
**Oh, and for those of you who have joined Operation: Skinny Unicorn, it's 10 WW points for 8 wings.