An Easy Valentine Family Dinner

Meat Marinade

This is an easy and delicious marinade for any kind of steak or chicken.

2 pounds of meat(chicken or steak)
3/4 Cup vegetable oil
1/4 Cup Soy sauce
3 Tablespoon honey
2 Tablespoon vinegar(balsamic vinegar is really good on steak)
1 tsp. powdered garlic
1/2 tsp. ginger
6 green onions finely chopped

Mix marinade and pour over meat in a ziploc bag or shallow dish. Marinade at least 4 hours, but overnight in the refrigerator is even better. If you refrigerate overnight, take it out at least 1 hour before grilling. Grilling really cold meat can cause the meat to shrink.


Roasted Vegetables

1 pkg California frozen veggie mix(broccoli, carrot and cauliflower)
olive oil(I usually use 1-2 tsp)
seasoning salt( I use Morton seasoning salt)

Put frozen veggies on a cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle with seasoning salt. Roast in oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes; then rotate pan or stir veggies. Then put back in oven for another 10-15 minutes.


Cheese Muffins This is a copycat recipe from Jim N Nicks(in case any of you have been there) They are really good. My kids love them. We have them at least twice a month. A great substitute for rolls. WARNING--These do not have a cheesey taste. My kids didn't even realize there was cheese in them the first time we had them.

1 1/2 Cup all purpose flour
3/4 Cup sugar
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 Cup milk
1 egg, beaten
4 Tablespoons of butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt

Mix ingredients together, pour into greased muffin pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until light brown. Yields 12 muffins.


Sugar Cookies

You can't forget dessert :) This recipe is from Emilie Johnson who use to live in our ward. They are really yummy!

1 Cup butter
2 Cup sugar
2 eggs
1 Cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
4 1/2 Cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. baking powder
1/3 tsp. salt

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, blending them in one at a time. Cream in sour cream and vanilla. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the creamed ingredients. Refrigerat dough for 3 hours. Use a floured rolling pin and surface to roll out dough. Use 3 inch width cookie cutter and place cookies on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Depending on the size of cookie cutters, you will get 24-48 cookies. Decorate cooled cookies with cream cheese frosting(see below) or store bought frosting.

Cream cheese frosting

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened(room temperature)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.