Meal Plan for Labor Day Dinner {Recipes Galore!}

Steak Dinner Anyone?

Its Labor Day weekend and that means everybody gets a little extra time to spend with their friends and family.  What will you do with that extra day?  Will you be having a BBQ?   I am and I’ll be serving steak, salad, broiled asparagus, and my favorite parmesan potatoes.  I thought I’d share the recipes with you today.  They are super easy recipes which make them great for entertaining because they won’t take you away from your guests for very long.  But, if you’ve already got your menu all planned out you can file these away for when you need a quick, delicious {and company worthy} meal.

Broiled Asparagus

:: Broiled Asparagus

1 bunch of asparagus, washed {or how ever many you need}
FRESH parmesan {from a block – NOT a shaker can – you’ll be glad!}
Seasoned Breadcrumbs
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Boil the asparagus for about 3 minutes (until just tender). Remove them from the pot and place them into a baking dish with all the heads facing the same way. Sprinkle a handful of breadcrumbs across the bottoms of the stalks {this is one of those great recipes that don’t require REAL measurements – you can’t do it wrong!}. Then, shave fresh parmesan across the bottom of the asparagus, right over the breadcrumbs, using a microplane. Drizzle across the cheese and breadcrumbs with a small amount of olive oil. Pop the pan into the oven/broiler on hi/broil until the cheese is browned {just a couple minutes so you need to watch it!}.

Parmesan Potatoes

:: Parmesan Potatoes

1 potato per person, plus a few extra
Lowry’s seasoning salt
FRESH parmesan
Butter

Bake the potatoes in the way you normally do, microwave, oven, whatever you like, until done. Split the baked potatoes in half. Slit the potato halves and place a very small amount of butter into each slit. Sprinkle the tops of the potatoes with Lowry’s season salt. Grate fresh parmesan over the tops of the potatoes with a microplane. Place the pan in the oven/broiler on hi/broil for 7 to 10 minutes (until browned and bubbly {broiling happens fast so keep an eye on them!}.

And, let’s not forget the steak.  Are you someone who uses a specific sauce or marinade while grilling your steaks?  Not me.  I think all a GOOD steak needs is a little salt and pepper.  I’ll be serving Ribeyes from Walmart.  Why Walmart?  I took the challenge to give Walmart’s steaks a try to see if they were as good as they were saying they were.  {Have you seen their commercials?}  I figured it was worth a shot – they are 100% satisfaction guaranteed.

I typically eat grass fed beef.  We go in with a few families to purchase a whole cow and then split the beef.  That usually includes lot of ground meat, beef stew cubes, cubed steak, roasts, and steaks.  All of this meat is good and lean, but the steaks have been a little disappointing this last time around.  So, when Walmart asked me to give these steaks a try, I was really interested in seeing if they were as good as they explained.

Well, they were.  This was the best steak I have had in a long time.  Will I by all my beef at Walmart?  Nah.  I like my grass fed beef.  If my local Walmart ever starts carrying local grass fed beef I’ll definitely reconsider.  But, I will not hesitate to buy a couple steaks every now and then for a treat from my local Walmart because these were fantastic!

*Disclosure: I am a Walmart Mom. This post is sponsored by Walmart.   Walmart has provided me with product and/or compensation in exchange for my time and efforts in creating this post. My participation is voluntary. As always, my opinion is my own.