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Thai Basil Beef
PIN THIS RECIPE!You did it. You made it through Valentine’s Day. Whether you were single out there in the wilderness of love or tied down to your lover, you made it though! I’m excited that this year all we did was eat dessert. I surprised my husband with a dessert and he surprised me with one. So what did we do?! I ate two desserts and he drank whiskey, all while watching The Office. It was quite lovely. That show truly never gets old.
We kind of celebrate Valentine’s Day early this year by FINALLY get married at the court house. Took us a while since we got married in April last year. But we had sh*t going on! So we finally made the time, my husband took off work early for once, we took the 9 minutes it takes to get married and sign the paperwork, then we went day drinking around Denver and hung out on patios since it ended up being 83 degrees that day! Insane! So I started off with a vodka cherry lemonade, then a gin coconut lime drink, then ended the night with a vodka blood orange drink. I rarely have that many cocktails in one night, but luckily we had a huge dinner at our favorite steak house, followed by an amazing dessert, then we ended up walking to another bar which was a 20 minute walk, so I walked off most of my alcohol. Boom – no Saturday hangover.
So here’s the thing. My name is already changed on my Social Security, I just haven’t changed it on my license. And I literally JUST booked our flights to Costa Rica for our one year anniversary with my old license name since I haven’t gone in to the DMV yet. And now I’m stuck with what to do. Do I go change my name on my license and go get a new passport and have to call in to change the name on all my flights AND deal with the name change to my TSA pre-check, all before we go to CR. OR do I wait until after that trip? I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard to change my names on some of the airlines here, but we are flying a Costa Rican airline when we get to San Jose, and I feel like that may be more challenging to maneuver. What to do…what to do. I know my husband is excited for me to change my name, but he doesn’t have to do jack sh*t. The bastard.
But anywho, what are you up to this weekend?! It’s suppose to be in the 60’s here so I’m thinking lots of walks with the pup, pulling out some gift cards so we actually use one for once (I swear, we have about 20 at the moment) and go to Comedy Works to see a comedian. Yep, that sounds about perfect. Kloveyoubyeeeeee!
Thai Basil Beef
- Yield: 2-3 1x
Ingredients
- 1 pound grass-fed beef, thinly sliced against the grain (I used flap meat, but you could also use hanger steak or flank steak)
- 2+ tablespoons ghee
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos (do not try to sub with liquid aminos)
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon honey
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup packed thai basil leaves
- cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- Place a large saute pan ove medium-high heat, add ghee. Once pan is very hot, space out some of the meat in the pan making sure not to crowd it, and sear until browned on both sides, about 2 minutes per side depending on the thickness. It’s very important not to crowd the pan here because you want to get a crispy crust on the meat. Once meat is browned, set aside and continue with the rest of the meat until it is all cooked.
- Add a little more ghee to the pan then add the bell pepper, onion and garlic and saute until peppers are soft and onions are translucent, scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, about 10 minutes.
- Add the coconut aminos, fish sauce and honey to the pan with the pepper and onions and let cook down over a high heat for about 5-8 minutes. Once slightly reduced, add the beef back to the pan along with the thai basil leaves and mix. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until basil is soft and wilted.
- Garnish with cilantro on top!
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41 thoughts on “Thai Basil Beef”
Hi Juli! I met you in KC at your book signing. Not sure if you remember (I know you meet a bagillion people!) But my husband had written on your instagram telling you that I would be there and am your biggest fan! He’s so right btw! I love all things Paleomg!
Ok, so I don’t know if this will help, but I recently had a similar experience with the name change, hopefully this will help:
My husband and I got married in September in California wine country. As his wedding present, I bought us tickets & flights to Phoenix for the Waste Management Open. Ibought these BEFORE our wedding, so with my maiden name.
We just went on the trip finally the first week of February. I had changed my name on SS, License, most of my credit cards, even my SW rapid rewards account, but I hadn’t changed it on the flight itself. Honestly, I completely forgot until we were at the airport. So, my name on my flight didn’t match my ID. I was so lucky that I had one credit card and my cost co card in my old name, apparently they need two forms of ID for the former name. With those two forms of proof I was able to I get out of the line and go through the additional security where I had to get a full body molestation. I know screening, which was pretty awful. My husband found it funny and of course was snap chatting the entire thing. LOL. So they did let me know my plane.
Once in Phoenix I of course called Southwest to get it corrected for the return flight,but it was Sunday when I called so apparently client services was closed. They don’t open til like 7 or 8 am Monday and our flight was at 7:20. I was told the only way to change my name on the ticket was to cancel the ticket and rebook it in my new name. However, they can’t guarantee your new rate or that you’d even get a seat on the plane! So I wasn’t able to fix it and had to go through the exact same annoyance / molestation on the way back.
I never comment on people’s blogs like this, but I literally JUST went through all this so I hope it helps you to figure out what is best for you to do.
P.S. You are my favorite account that I follow on snap and insta and favorite blogger by far. Don’t ever stop being you and thank you for all the wonderful free content you provide! especially recipes and work outs! My favs!
-Annie
Dude especially with all the immigration/customs mess going on right now, I’d definitely wait. Changing your name is the worrrrrst!
Also quick question–do you know where you’re staying in Costa Rica? Is it safe enough to do a regular hotel and go out and explore on your own? We’ve only done the Domincan and Mexico and stayed at resorts and traveled with excursion companies, but I’ve been eyeing Costa Rica for awhile now!
This beef looks delicious! I just cooked up some flank steak and I totally would have loved it for this recipe!
★★★★★
Costa Rica is SUUUPER safe. My husband and I went last year–we went to La Fortuna (rain forest) and just called a taxi to take us into the town and from there we walked around to different restaurants and shops. We also did a beach town for a couple of days and it was still super safe to walk around at your leisure. There are a TON of ex-pats living in Costa Rica and they are so welcoming to Americans 🙂
This dish looks amazing! If I was in your name change situation I would wait until after the trip to change license and passport. I am not sure about Costa Rica, but some countries require that your passport has been valid for at least 6 months before they will let you enter. Also, most airlines charge some kind of ridiculous fee to change your name on your ticket. If you are leaning towards changing your name right away, I would just look into these things first. Good luck!
i’ve never heard of that! that’s good to know!
I had this same circumstances and traveled to Costa Rica. I left the reservations and kept my former name for the travel and changed it after. I think the hassle and risk of trying to get the airline to understand the change outweighed getting the new name.
good to know!
Uggghh I’m OBSESSED with Thai food. Can’t wait to try this!
I had the same issue flying to Saint Lucia after I got married. I didn’t want to take any chances messing with my passport so I just waited until after our trip to change my name on my license and passport. Somehow we ended up in a conversation about it with a ticket rep and she was like, oh that was smart of you (which I of course bragged to my husband about like “fuck TSA requirements…THIS lady says I’m gold!”). I agree with some of the comments above that it might be worth it to wait until after your trip and avoid the potential hassle.
p.s. this beef looks delicious and I am definitely going to try this.
ok good to know! i’ll have to show my husband this comment lol
It took me nearly 2 years to change my name on my license because of flights. I finally pulled-off the bandaid in a hot second we didn’t have one booked. It’s a pain!!!
Hi Juli. Just wanted to pop in and thank you for flipping my life upright. I have spent the better part of 20 years counting calories, starting my diet Monday, even going the fucking Slim Fast and Hydroxycut route (So hard to admit. So embarrassing). I started paleo in June, with a shitty recipe book and no real information. I discovered your blog in August, eventually got all of your books, and make about 3 of your recipes a week. I have never felt better. Anxiety, shaky hands that I never understood, and the absolute NEED to nap everyday have all disappeared. Slimming up was effortless and delicious. Part of my success is your recipes, but a big factor is your podcasts when you are brutally honest about why people fail in their goals. Take control of your life, do what you say you are going to do, plan ahead, be an adult. I’m finally completely adulating at 42. I’m also finally watching The Bachelor at 42, so I guess you could say I’m a well rounded human being now. So thank you for everything! You are the best!
THIS COMMENT IS FUCKING AMAZING!! thank you, erica. you made my day, my week honestly! it’s all about being an adult and taking responsibility. and good for you for doing it and seeing the positive changes that come from taking control! you rock, erica!!
DEFINITELY WAIT until after CR to change your name. It can be a huge hassle with airlines so better to wait until you don’t have any flights booked. Then once you have your new info, change it in ALL of your frequent flier accounts for all airlines. My boss was grounded for 3 weeks going through all of the changes. And ditto what someone else said about the passport being valid for 6 mos before a trip. HAVE FUN IN CR! Its amazing there and the people are wonderful!
Keep the Thai inspired recipes coming. They’ve all been delicious and Thai food is my guilty pleasure 🙂
http://bit.ly/SpinachFetaEggMuffins
I was in the same predicament before vacationing in Thailand/Tokyo – a trip in which we had 9 flights in total! I was super nervous about getting hassled at the airports due to having one last name on all my reservations and another on my passport (airlines wouldn’t change my reservation name, ugh). Anyways, my biggest piece of advice is to bring your marriage license with you. Good luck, Costa Rica is amazing and I can’t wait to see what you do (and eat!)!
I went through the same thing recently as well, same annoyance over him not having to do anything! (And same former last name as you as well!). To keep it simple – I changed my name on my license, but kept my passport with the maiden name for now. For tickets that were already booked under my maiden name, I just use the passport instead of the license, and everything matches, without any questions, (I also keep a copy of my marriage license handy in case any questions arise, but I’ve never had to use it.)
Very excited to try this recipe!!!
You can change your name whenever, just retain your old passport/license. Thats what I did and I didn’t have any problem on our honeymoon to Mexico.
this looks great! must make! My last name was under my maiden name when we flew out somewhere shortly after our wedding (husband didn’t think to book it under new name) but my new id had my new last name. I just brought my marriage license and a copy of my passport which showed my maiden name…… the airline wouldn’t change the name on my ticket though I can’t remember why now. Only one person TSA person questioned it but her supervisor said it was ok because everything matched on my passport/old license. After that I didn’t have any issues! Dudes, they have it easy. GOOD LUCK! 🙂
Do you have a solution for those of us in the food desert? It is ridiculously expensive to get fresh basil here. Thank you.
This recipe looks absolutely mouth watering. I cant wait to get home and give it a try. Keep up the great content!
★★★★★
Love your recipes and this has become one of my favorites!! Served with cauli-rice! So much flavor!!
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Hey Juli!
So, I’m the one that recommended my family’s treehouse in Costa Rica to you! Anywho, wanted to clarify what people were saying – luckily CR doesn’t have the 6 month passport validity rule! BUT, that totally does not matter much since you should totally wait like all the other awesome ladies commenting on this were saying. I’m so excited about your trip to CR and cannot wait to read your post about it in a few months – Pura Vida friend!
P.S. Your podcast is amazing.
P.P.S. I just bought your eating evolved bundle, and I am so fucking excited about it!
P.P.S. I probably should have just continued my post, but oh well!
yayyyyyy! the trip is getting so close, I’m so so excited! i may email you soon about some excursion recommendations and also restaurants! i want to do as much as we can while we are there! and YAY, hope you love the bundle! their products are seriously the best!
Yes yes, please do! I’m so excited for you guys – just let me know which cities you know you will be in for sure other than the Manuel Antonio/Quepos area where the treehouse is and I’ll round up some restaurants. And I have more excursion recommendations than you could possibly want!
Just echoing what everyone else said, don’t change your passport. You could change your license now (if you wanted to). I changed my name with Social Security and my driver’s license in October and was flying to Europe for Christmas under my maiden name. I checked with US Passport 3 times leading up to the trip (paranoid)…anyways your passport is valid until the expiration, regardless of changing your name with Social Security or your state license. As long as your ticket and your passport names match, you are set!
I would recommend carrying a copy of your marriage record with you…just for peace of mind (or at least that’s what I did!).
ok good to know!
Where the heck does one find thai basil?
i find it at whole foods or specialty stores OR sometimes i’ll go to an asian market
This was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Served over cauli rice. Just delicious and super simple to make!!
★★★★★
Love this recipe! I still use my passport that has my maiden name and don’t plan on changing it until it expires. We have gone on numerous international trips and never had an issue. I did change my DL & SS and my name a week after our wedding; just not passport…we have been married over 7 years.
My husband and I tried this recipe tonight, and we both LOVED it! I can’t decide if I like this or the Pad Thai Casserole more, which we had earlier this week. Please keep the thai recipes coming!!! I’m obsessed.
This was super delicious served over cauli rice. Thanks for sharing!
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I made this tonight and it was delicious! Both my husband and I loved it.
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This recipe looks wonderful!! Can’t wait to try it! How essential is the honey? I’m trying to make it whole30 compliant 🙂 thank you!!!
you can remove it if you prefer, but it definitely changes the taste a bit
Juli, I’m not able to find thai basil anywhere, what can I sub besides sweet basil, not sure I can find that either! Thank you!
you can always just use regular basil!
This recipe is so yummy! My boys and I loved it tonight! I used fajita steak and it was delish. The basil adds just an extra layer of flavor that I wouldn’t expect but this is going to be going in the rotation for sure!
awesome!! glad you liked it Seggan!
Finally made this recipe today…very delicious and easy! Alas, got so focused on cooking it that I, er, stopped paying attention to the rice I was making to go with and completely burnt it…Whoops! Live and learn.