Tenderloin, Country Couscous, Garlic mashes potatos, Tips from Brittany's kitchen

I make awesome meals, I know that. Even my MIL has commented about how well my culinary skills are, and that's saying a lot! So....why the mini brag-fest?? I am (if I'm not too lazy) going to be posting awesome recipes from meals that I had the day before. I believe it will give my boring complain blog a little zip!

And of course I will still have my random thoughts, to-do lists, and general crap.

Tenderloin
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1.Pick out good cuts of meat. Nobody likes gnawing on fat.
2. I like to tenderize the crap outta my meats, especially for the little ones. Take a fork and jab 1,000 holes into the meat. It will help the seasonings sink in later. Take out you're trusty meat tenderizer and beat the living crap out of it with the jagged side. By the time you are done (make sure you flip and do the other side!) it should almost double it's size. If you have an old wooden tenderizer, burn it up in your fire pit and go to your local Younkers (hehe) and buy a nice metal one. Mine's not dishwasher safe, but wood ones hold all the VERY harmful bacteria inside your uncooked meats. Don't be a douche by getting your loved ones sick, k?
3. Pick out a nice steak rub. Most grocers carry them now. I chose not to drown mine by marinating it b/c I wanted more of the steak's natural flavor to show through. So just sprinkle a bit of rub on it, and well..rub! Flip and repeat.
4. Slap that baby on your grill and slow-cook it until it gets to your perfect "done". Can't tell when it's done??? Head to your local Younkers (hehe) and buy one of the new digital grilling forks. Preset rare-well done, poke it in, and it will tell you where your meat is!

Country Couscous
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1. There are premade couscous, but what fun is that?? Go out and buy an "original" package of couscous.
2. Dump in a bag of vegetable medley. I thaw mine first so that when you dump it in the water, it has more time to soak up the juices of the water. I like the brocolli, cauliflowerl, and carrot medley.
3. Put in a couple chicken bouillon cubes to taste **. I stick in 4, but whatever.
4. Make sure you add more water than what the box of couscous says! Or you will be peeling burnt couscous off your pot! More bulk=more water!
5. Keep an eye on it, stirring, until the water is pretty much gone.
**Instead of adding water (like the box says) you can add chicken broth in a box/can. Does the same thing, but water and bouillon cubes are cheaper.

Garlic Mashed Potatos
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You can go the easy way and buy the pre-made box stuff, go the hard way and boil/mash potatos, or do an in-between. That's what I did. I didn't want to make a feast yesterday =).
1. Grab a box/bag of instant mashed potatos. Add the water/milk/butter in the amounts that it says
2. Dump a bunch of garlic powder (I just eyeball it) and parsely flakes in.
3. Once you got that sucker boiling, add your potato flakes, stir, and serve!
You CAN mince up some garlic. But if you don't have a processor (head to your local Younkers and buy the super-easy super-compact Cuisinart model, hehe) or don't feel like dirtying up any more dishes, garlic powder does just fine. Plus, no one likes to crunch on a not-well-processed chunk of garlic. Least of all vampires. (I'm funny and you know it....)

*****TIPS FROM BRITTANY'S KITCHEN*****
What kind of cutting board do YOU have??
Wood---toss it. It holds sooo much harmful bacteria. If you care about your family's health, toss it. "I don't cut meat on it." you say?? Veggies/fruit hold insane amounts of chemicals, and cheese also has bacteria. Just toss it already.
Tempered glass---woohoo. you care about your families health. good for you. Now do you care about your blades?? How can you make chef-quality meals with dull blades?? I've never seen a product chip so many knife blades. We have people trying to return QUALITY knives because of these stupid boards. Ummmm....ma'am, you just voided your warranty on these. Take it up with the company. Seriously, some companies will void your knife warranties. "Oh, but they are such pretty designs under them and they compliment my kitchen" Shut up and toss them.
Plastic/polyurethane---Still dulls knives faster than wood, but not a poor choice. Design wise, they are ugly. Don't toss it. Keep it up for a backup board, incase your good one's in the wash.
Flexible plastic---You're basically cutting on a placemat. Whoever invented this should be shot. After a while of use, you'll cut right through the thin plastic and scratch up your beautful coutertop. Don't toss it. Use it as a placemat.
SO WHAT DO I BUY??? Bamboo---Brittany's Top Pick. And since I deal with kitchen crap all the time at my job, take my advice. If you don't have one, buy one. 1. Bamboo grows faster than other woods, so it's very eco-friendly (a big plus in my house). 2. It's more dense than wood, so it doesn't hold in all that harmful bacteria. 3. It's just like wood where it won't dull your knives as fast. 4. It's very pleasing to the eye. 5. If you don't like the scratches that it will get (just like wood), pull out your sander and go to town.