Family, Food

Winner, Winner, Steak Dinner!

Retirement Reflections

It all began with this mini-golf game. Looks harmless enough, right?

Then someone suggested we make the game ‘interesting.’ The winner would get his/her choice of homemade dinner. The loser would make the full dinner from scratch.

From the beginning, I had a good guess who that loser would be. I prepared early, singing my theme song:

Loser’s Theme Song

To everyone’s surprise, especially my own, I was in strong second place…right until the last two holes. Still, I kept singing my song. My son chastised me for my negative thinking.

Turns out, Creighton was right. The negative thinking did not help. With shockingly unlucky play in the last two holes, I lost by two (measly) strokes.

Richard was quick to announce that he would like stirfry (easy enough)…with homemade teriyaki sauce (hey, what’s wrong with the bottled stuff?) and thinly sliced steak (totally out of my repertoire).

After a quick trip to the grocery store and some online help from Sara from Dinner at the Zoo, the preparations were quick and easy.

Easy Steak Stirfry Ingredients
Did I mention that Richard also requested a Tomato-Mozzarella Salad? Sara had that covered too!
The Winner..
And his steak dinner!

Easy, delicious, something that we don’t usually have and it included lots of laughs. What could be finer on a Thursday afternoon?!

Recipes here: Dinner at the Zoo Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry and here Dinner at the Zoo Cherry Tomato-Mozzarella Salad.

So what’s been on your plate recently? Deb (cohost) and I would love for you to share.

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Published by Retirement Reflections

Prior to retirement, I lived and worked in Beijing China for fourteen years (Middle School Principal/Deputy Director at The Western Academy of Beijing). Leaving international life behind, my husband and I retired to Vancouver Island in June 2015. To document both this transition and our new adventures, ‘Retirement Reflections’ was born. I hope that you enjoy reading these reflections, and will be willing to share your own.

76 thoughts on “Winner, Winner, Steak Dinner!”

  5. I’m notoriously bad at mini-golf, so I won’t be accepting any bets based on winning a game. I think I even managed to hit a ball onto the roof of the place during one game many years ago!

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  14. Hi Donna – always fun … and a great choice for dinner – relatively simple, yet very tasty. I’m not sure what you’d have got if you’d won? – dinner out?! I’m doing food this month – the Write Edit Publish (17th) is Chocolat … so the rest of my posts are following along – I need some simple ones to write up. Cheers and see you there – no Roman concrete, nor concrete lemon from last year … things I made many many years ago … cheers Hilary

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    1. If I hadn’t lost, Creighton would have made dinner. He is an excellent cook. Being a kind mother, I would likely have given him his choice of meal to make. (Softy, I know). There is little chance that Richard would have lost. If he did, he actually can cook — but it is a talent that he prefers to hide!
      I look forward to your upcoming Write Edit Publish posts. Your blog publishing system still does not like me, but I will try to check on my own more regularly!

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      1. Thanks – I’ll sort something out in the next few weeks … I need to clarify a few other things … and then make sure I’m doing/making the best choice. It’ll happen this year – she says!
        I gather RIchard can cook – he’s obviously comfortable in the kitchen – and yes Creighton’s showing his inherited talents … lucky three of you (and other siblings) … cheers Hilary

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  16. What competition could you engage Richard in and ensure that you will be the winner? What would your dinner of choice be? Roasted Italian sausages with coleslaw morphed into a noodle bowl with orzo, carrots, kale & Thai sauce; naan pizza with kale. BBQ pork chops with green beans was on repeat x 2. Can you tell the garden is producing? I made 5 pints of mustard beans yesterday & canned 6 qts of beans earlier in the week.

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    1. Hi, Mona – Knowing the lyrics to random songs from the 50’s – 80’s would work for me. But since Creighton was born at the tail end of the 80’s, and is an alternative music guy, he wisely would not have accepted that bet!! Your noodle bowl sounds scrumptious!

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  23. Donna, we’re meeting up with all of our grandchildren next week, and mini-golf will be on the agenda. Thanks for the inspiration! I have a new Blackstone Griddle and am always on the prowl for Stir-Fry recipes. I saved the Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry recipe for my next attempt at impressing my lovely wife with my cooking skills. After she raves about it, I promise to give you full credit ;-). Have a great weekend. Joe

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  24. Oh dear Donna – the power of negative thoughts seem to have played out. You should have played Eye of the Tiger and got your winning Rambo vibes going 😃You were obviously a very gracious loser, stepping up to the dinner requests with aplomb! The stir fry looks fantastic!

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  29. Donna, a great start to a post and of course, I just had to read on! Oh, you were doing so well but I’m not surprised you had the song in your head – a new one to me and very catchy! The steak part of the dinner would have me reneging on the deal – as a vegetarian, I haven’t cooked with meat for ages! The meal looks delicious and lovely to read your fun post! Mini-golf is always a laugh! xx

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  31. Stir fry anything is good. I would NEVER bet against my husband in golf! Bernie
    Ps.despite re following you I am still not getting any notification at all. 🤔

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    1. Hi, Bernie – It was a ‘friendly wager’ sprung on me at the last minute. Since I would have been cooking dinner if we didn’t bet, I thought “what the heck?”.
      And speaking about ‘what the heck’, I honestly do not know what is happening between our blogs. I will send you a direct message via Instagram. See you there!

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  32. It must have been a good feeling that you were leading in the game of golf…at least you gave it a good try! Your stir fry steak looks fantastic! Richard looked like he was very impressed too 🙂 Definitely sounds like an easy dish. Sometimes when I want a quick and easy meal I do a steak or chicken stir fry. Or maybe just frying up the steak or chicken and putting that into a wrap. The other day I was in the mood for cooking and made pizza dough and made myself a pizza with fresh mozzarella. It was delicious.

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  36. You guys are so much fun!
    Both your salad & steak look spectacular! And thanks for the teriyaki sauce recipe – I haven’t been able to find our favourite bottled brand in a while, and maybe this is the impetus to try making it. The ingredients looks easy enough – it’s the simmering bit that might be tricky for me – my children insist I walk away for too long and things on the stove tend to misbehave!

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