Potatoes, Parrots and other GREEN things

Tonight's dinner was cube steak, baked potatoes and corn.  I wanted REAL steak but feeding a family of five + one requires some frugalness!  I needed steak as I have been dying to make a chimichurri sauce ever since I had it at a restaurant. And I must say, it turned out beautifully!

This is what I did:

(1) large bunch of cilantro, stems chopped off
(1) large bunch of Italian parsley, stems chopped off
(3) cloves of garlic, chopped and smashed
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
water

I do not own a food processor.  If I did, I definitely would have used it!  I put the most of it in my Kitchen Aid blender.  I added the garlic and then (1) tablespoon of the oil, vinegar and water.  I pulsed it for a minute then continued to add the liquid ingredients a tablespoon at a time until I got a smooth-like consistency.

I then transferred the ingredients to a bowl and let sit and "marry" while my son (God bless him) went outside in the 29 degree cold weather on the back porch to grill my steaks! He put the fire pit on to keep his backside warm while the front side of him was kept warm by the grill! It was not too bad for him out there!

I guess by now you are wondering where the potatoes and parrots come in, right?  We had one baked potato left over after dinner.  Our parrot LOVES potatoes!  I cut open the potato and put it in his cage where he happily proceeded to eat it.  He is such a goof ball.

Dinner was successful overall.  There was no steak or chimichurri left over. And the last potato went to the parrot!  This is a picture of me and Louie! My lovable, crazy Yellow Naped Amazon Parrot!

So dinner is finished.  Here is what my plate looked like:



That is a thin slice of meatloaf, homemade mac & cheese, green beans and a slice of tomato with some fresh mozzarella with some olive oil drizzled on it.  It was tasty.  The meatloaf was rather good although I prefer baking it with ketchup on it and I did not do it this time.  It was a new recipe!  One I made up out of my head (see previous post).

Even the bird liked dinner! Here is a picture of Louie eating his mac & cheese.  For an Amazon parrot, he sure loves his pasta! I think he must be from Italy, not South America!!

Louie is a yellow-naped Amazon parrot and he is a real character!