Three Recipes (from three different sources) Equal a Full Course Meal (and a nasty note about aspartame)

On the first warm day of the season (back in March?), I got a hankering for BBQ steak. So inspired was I that I found and made two other recipes for the same meal. This post is a quick run-down of the dinner I made for my family that day.

Braised Cabbage with Homemade Spicy Croutons

I've made this recipe a few times. It's that tasty and easy! This time, I didn't feel like taking time to remove all the crust from my skinny baguette, and I discovered that they tasted just as great with the crust as without!

Let's just break it down nice and simple for my fam- er, friends who don't like to cook but wish to partake of tasty grub! Above is the quick process of tearing apart the bread. Below is a picture of the spices used .

This (hopefully) shows how easy it is to fry 'em up in the pan with those spices and oil.

Cut the cabbage in 6 wedges (I make 4-5), as well as the lemons.

Braise (high-temp fry) the cabbage in the same pan as you made croutons.

Throw it on a platter and garnish with the lemon wedges and croutons and whatever spices the recipe calls for.

Creamy Risotto with Corn and Tomato

I've also made this recipe a couple of times. It's not MY favorite, but everyone else raves about it. Again, for my friends who think recipes are complicated and take too much effort, here's a run-down:

Drained, rinsed corn; basil; chopped tomatos

Risotto is, I admit, more time consuming than most dishes, but considering it provides such great flavor and reward, I deem it worth the extra time. Here, I'm stirring the hot milk mixture, half a cup at a time, into the risotto mixture (see recipe!)...

End results are soooooo delicious!

STEAK STEAK STEAK STEAK STEAK STEAK STEAK

I believe this is the first time I BBQ'ed a steak alone without my husband here 'guiding' me along. And to my surprise and utter delight, he gave me 100% kudos! Cooked to perfection!

Of course, while I toiled at the BBQer, funny 4 year old played in the water table.

And she even took her first useable photo of me! Hooray, my face will finally make it in scrapbooks and on blogs! LOL.

Here it is...

Presenting BBQ'ed Steak, Braised Cabbage and Spicy Croutons, Creamy Risotto w/ Corn and Tomato

Heard of aspartame, haven't you?

 But do you know what it's made of? Suffice it to say that aspartame is a  genetically modified E.coli bacteria... but if you want more info than that, read this, and be DISGUSTED!