Mediterranean Turkey Meatballs

I think I am going to start updating the blog again, now that I actually have my appetite back. I'm well into my second trimester and finally starting to feel better.  So, hopefully more yummy blog posts to come!

I love meatballs, all different kinds. I love how you can dress them up with sauces or change them completely with spices.  They are not fancy, but versatile and so tasty!  I was in the mood for Mediterranean food, and found a recipe from Cooking Light, it was a quick and easy meal.  As I was cooking the meatballs, I sauteed a bell pepper in another pan and made some homemade Tzatziki (by no means authentic, but still really good) sauce.  We ate the meatballs over spinach salad and topped with the peppers, Tzatziki, and feta cheese.  They would also be tasty wrapped up in pita bread!  Enjoy!

Mediterranean Turkey Meatballs:

1/2 cup panko or plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon minced red onion
2 tablespoons store-bought or homemade pesto
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground turkey breast 
1 garlic clove, minced

Mix together, careful to not over mix.  Shape into balls or disks and cook in olive oil over medium-high heat, until cooked through.

Homemade Tzatziki:

1 cup Greek yogurt
1 tsp minced garlic
1 chopped cucumber
1 tsp dill (I didn't have any, and it was still super tasty)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and store in fridge until ready to eat.

Whole Wheat Garden Pizza

I'm calling this my garden pizza because almost all of the ingredients were grown at home, in my garden, which makes me very happy!  It's a (mostly) whole wheat crust, the sauce is a homemade pesto with garden vegetables on top. This was a particularly fun pizza for me to make, because I used a new method in cooking it.  Normally, after stretching out the pizza dough I put it directly on my pizza stone and it goes into the oven.  This time, I heated up the stone in the oven and made up the pizza on a pizza spatula, then transferred it to the hot stone (it makes the crust crispier).  It was crisp and fresh and really tasty! 

I make my pizza dough in a bread maker, I like that it's hands off and super easy.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

1/2 tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup water
2 tbsp olive oil

Place all of the ingredients in your bread maker.  Keep in mind that each bread maker is different, so there may be a particular order to place in your ingredients.  After the dough is made (it takes about 1 1/2 hours), form into a ball and either roll it out, or stretch it out gently (if you know how to make pizza dough that way, if not, you could probably look it up or just roll it out).  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and place your pizza stone in the oven to heat up.  I made my pizza on a pizza peel (spatula) covered with corn meal, to prevent the dough from sticking and then transferred it to the hot pizza stone.  You could also just make up the pizza on the pan or baking dish you are going to be cooking it on.  Then for the sauce, I made a pesto with fresh basil from my garden.

Garden Fresh Pesto Sauce

3 cups basil
1 cup parsley
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup almonds
salt and pepper to taste
 1/2 cup olive oil


In a food processor, blend together everything but the olive oil, until it forms a paste.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and with the processor running slowly pour in the olive oil.  Taste to see if you need more salt or pepper.

Top with fresh, seasonal veggies (I used zucchini and peppers) and shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.   Enjoy!

Chicken Pesto Bake

I am starting to realize that I may have an addiction to pesto sauce, but I can't help it, I LOVE it!  It's so versatile, it can be plain, creamy, mixed with pasta, used as a pizza sauce, in a sandwich, so why not in a casserole?  I had some bell peppers that needed to be used up and my pesto sauce in the freezer, so I went for it!

Chicken Pesto Bake

3 cooked chicken breasts (chopped or shredded)
2 bell peppers (chopped)
1/2 onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 cup pesto sauce (homemade or prepared)
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
3 cups milk
1 cup Parmesan or Romano cheese
salt and pepper
1 lb pasta

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook pasta according to directions (if I'm baking the pasta in a casserole, I usually cook it one minute less than the directions call for to avoid soggy pasta), drain, but don't rinse.   While the pasta is cooking, saute bell peppers and onion in olive for about five minutes, then add the garlic in for about a minute, remove from heat.  In a sauce pan melt butter and add flour, cook for about one minute and then slowly whisk in the milk.  Cook until the sauce thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon, then add the cheese, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Add the pesto sauce, chicken and veggies, stir and pour over pasta.  Pour mixture into a large baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

BLTA Sandwich...Sweet Simplicity

Only one word is needed to describe the tastiness of this sandwich....yum!  I served this sandwich on Ciabatta bread, with mayonnaise and spicy brown mustard.  It's simple and seriously tasty.  All you do is cook up the bacon (I used Turkey bacon), slice a tomato, rinse and dry some lettuce, and slice an avocado.  Dinner is ready in about 15 minutes!

Stove Top Chili - FAST

This isn't my normal "cook all day" chili, but it was a pretty tasty substitute.  I had to make a pretty quick dinner one night, and already had some ground beef thawing, so I whipped up some yummy chili using a few shortcuts in just about 30 minutes.  Here's what you'll need:

1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
2 cans Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilis)
1 can tomatoes
2 cans beans ( I used pinto, but you can use whatever you'd like)
2 cups frozen corn
2 tablespoons dehydrated onions
1 tablespoon dehydrated garlic
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp dried parsley
1-2 tsp salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (I know weird...but trust me)

Brown the beef (season with a little salt and pepper) and then add in the onions and garlic.  Cook for about 1 minute and add in the rest of the ingredients.  Simmer for about 20 minutes, taste and add any additional seasonings it may need.  Serve with sour cream and/or shredded cheddar cheese and enjoy!

Stir fry lettuce wraps

These were so good, even my two year couldn't get enough.  I just stir fried some meat and veggies added a little soy sauce and we had a tasty meal wrapped up in some romaine lettuce leaves (that's all I had, I would normally use butter lettuce).  Also, I just used whatever vegetables I had lying around, you could substitute with whatever you prefer.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
2 carrots (chopped)
3 green onions (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
2 cups chopped kale
1 green bell pepper (chopped)
1/4 tsp ginger
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
Lettuce for wraps

In a large skillet, add olive oil and turkey, season with salt and pepper. After the meat is cooked through, set aside in a bowl.  Add vegetables to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes, add ginger and soy sauce and then the meat back into the pan.  Cook for another couple of minutes and take off the heat.  Fill the lettuce leaves and enjoy!

Sauteed Chicken with Herbed Brown Butter Sauce

This dish was amazing!  It's modified from a recipe I saw in Cooking Light magazine.  The browned butter in the title caught my eye.  I love browned butter, in savory and sweet dishes.  I served the chicken with garlic, buttered orzo pasta and a salad. If you are looking for a quick, but flavorful chicken recipe, definitely try this one!

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon chopped lemon thyme
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon minced shallots
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Place each breast half between 2 sheets of plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; coat with cooking spray. Place flour in a shallow dish (season with salt and pepper); dredge chicken in flour.

Add chicken to pan; sauté for 4 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan.2. Add butter and lemon thyme and parsley to pan; cook over medium heat until butter browns.  Add shallots; cook for 30 seconds. Add lemon juice; cook for 30 seconds. Serve on top of chicken

Creamy Pesto Sauce

I have a special place in my heart for creamy sauces over pasta.  I know a good cream sauce is calorie rich, and probably has more fat in it than I should consume in a day, but it's so worth it.  Last night I made a creamy pesto sauce with tomatoes, and it was AMAZING!  You can my recipe for pesto sauce here, or even a store bought pesto, if you want a really easy dinner.

Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup cream
2 tbsp butter
1 cup pesto sauce
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 can diced tomatoes (drained)

Heat cream on low to medium heat for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add butter, and once butter is melted add pesto sauce and tomatoes to pan.  After sauce is heated thoroughly, add Parmesan cheese to sauce.  Pour over pasta and enjoy!

Chicken Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce

I know...sounds weird, but really, it's quite tasty...and it's a great way to use left over pumpkin puree.  This is my favorite way to make enchiladas, and one of my favorite things to do with shredded chicken.

This recipe was adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe I've been making for years.

1/2 leftover Roast Chicken skin removed, meat shredded
6 scallions, thinly sliced (or a 1/4 of a small onion chopped)

1 can white beans (drained and rinsed)

1 cup chopped spinach or kale
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 jalapeno chile, quartered (remove ribs and seeds for less heat, if desired)
1 teaspoon chili powder
18 corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese (6 ounces)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, scallions(or onions), beans, and spinach. Season generously with salt and pepper; set aside.

 In a blender, puree pumpkin, garlic, jalapeno, chili powder, 2 1/2 cups water, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until smooth (hold top firmly as blender will be quite full). Pour 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of an 9 x 13 inch pan (or other shallow baking dish).

 

When I make enchiladas, I like to do it the lazy way.  So, instead of rolling the tortillas, I layer.  

Lay six tortillas on top of the sauce.  Then place half of the chicken mixture on top of the tortillas and pour another cup or two of sauce on top of the chicken.  Repeat, one more time.  Finish with tortillas on top.

Pour remaining sauce on top; sprinkle with cheese. Place dish on a baking sheet; bake until cheese is golden and sauce is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Best Roast Chicken Recipe

I used to be a bit intimidated at the thought of roasting a whole chicken.  I had no idea that it is one of the easiest and tastiest ways to cook chicken.  I have been using this recipe from Allrecipes for a few years: Roast Sticky Chicken.  This chicken comes out tasting just like rotisserie chicken, because of the way it's cooked.  It is cooked at a low heat for about five hours, so make sure you plan ahead if you want to make this recipe.  I do play with the herbs a bit, and add a little more or less of each, or just add different herbs all together.  For a basic recipe, this is great, but you can use any herbs or spices you think would taste yummy.

After the chicken is roasted, you can shred all of the meat and use it for a couple of meals.  I made chicken salad with honey mustard dressing. I'll share the other meal I made on Monday!

Honey Mustard Dressing:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Shepard's Pie

I LOVE one dish meals.  I love that the cleanup is minimal, they are usually pretty easy to make, and I just really like stuffing as many vegetables as I can into one dish!

Here is my recipe for Shepard's pie:

4-5 potatoes (I used two Yukon Gold, and three red potatoes)
1 pound ground turkey (or beef)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 large onion chopped
2-3 carrots chopped
2-3 stalks of celery chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp butter

Dice and boil potatoes in large pot.  While the potatoes are cooking....

In a large pan, add oil and ground turkey and season with a bit of salt and pepper (a few shakes of each). Cook turkey all the way through and set aside.  In same pan, add in onion, carrots, and celery.  Cook for about five minutes and then add the corn and peas. Cook for a couple of minutes and add the turkey back into the pan.  Season with salt and pepper again, and add the Worcestershire sauce.  I also add about 1 tsp of no salt added organic seasoning from Costco ( I love that stuff).  Cook for another couple of minutes and taste the mixture.  Add more salt or pepper if need and pour into a baking dish.  You can use an 8x8 dish, or any medium sized casserole dish.  I like to sprinkle feta (or whatever cheese sounds good) over the top of the meat mixture, before the potatoes go on top.

Boil potatoes until fork tender, drain liquid, and return the potatoes to the pan.  Season with salt and pepper, and 2 tbsp butter.  Mash with a potato masher if you like the potatoes a little chunkier, if you like it smooth, whip them up with a mixer.  Spoon potatoes over meat mixture evenly, and bake at 400 degrees until bubbling and brown.  Enjoy!

Tortilla pizza

My family has been sick off and on for about a month now, so I've had quite a few "what are going to have for dinner tonight" thoughts at 4:30 in the afternoon.  I didn't have anything thawed out or planned for dinner one night and I really wanted pizza.  It was too late to make dough, but I did have flour tortillas, so I made tortilla pizza. It was kind of more like an Italian tostada, whatever you call it, it was yummy.  I had all of the ingredients on hand, and it took less than 20 minutes to make this meal.

Tortilla Pizza:

4 flour or whole wheat tortillas
1 can no salt added tomato sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Pizza toppers (I just used whatever I had on hand, peppers and onions)

Homemade Pizza sauce:

Pour tomato sauce into bowl, add 1/4 tsp garlic salt, a few shakes of pepper, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/2 tsp dried oregano.  Mix together and taste the sauce to see if you need to anything else.  I always taste and add more of something.  If you like a thicker sauce for your pizza, you can mix in a little tomato paste too.  You could also use pesto for the sauce, I have a recipe for a yummy pesto here.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, and brush both sides of flour tortillas with oil.  Place on cookie sheet and cook until tortilla puff up and just start to brown...it doesn't take very long (less than five minutes), so check often.  Top your pizzas with tomato sauce, pizza toppers, and cheese.  Bake for another five minutes or so, until the cheese is melted.  Enjoy!

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, and brush both sides of flour tortillas with oil.  Place on cookie sheet and cook until tortilla puff up and just start to brown...it doesn't take very long (less than five minutes), so check often.  Top your pizzas with tomato sauce, pizza toppers, and cheese.  Bake for another five minutes or so, until the cheese is melted.  Enjoy!

Pasta with Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This is such an simple tasty sauce, I cooked this meal in less than 30 minutes.  All of the ingredients are ones that I would typically have stocked up, so it's an easy "what am I going to make for dinner tonight" meal.   Also, the fresh basil is from my garden last Summer.  When I had an abundance of it, I rinsed and dried (completely) the basil and put it in a ziploc bag to use for the rest of the year.  It keeps it's flavor very well.  Here is the recipe....

2 jars roasted red peppers
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/4 large onion chopped or 1/2 small onion
1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half
2 tbsp freshly chopped basil or 1 tbsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste (about 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper)

Drain peppers, place in blender and pulse a few times.  It's okay if they are still a little chunky.

 Heat olive oil over medium-high heat and add onion.  Cook for 4-5 minutes, then add in garlic.  The garlic only needs to cook for about 30 seconds, don't let it cook longer than that or it may brown.  Add in the red pepper puree, and season with salt and pepper.  Reduce heat to medium-low and stir occasionally for a few minutes, while the pasta is cooking.  

When pasta is done, drain and set aside.  Add cream to sauce and chopped basil to sauce, and taste to see if you need to any more salt.  Add pasta to the sauce and mix around. You can add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese for extra yumminess.  Enjoy!

Arugula Pesto

I know that typically pesto is made with basil, but I love the flavor Arugula gives pesto sauce.  It's slightly peppery taste yields a richly flavored pesto sauce.  I made the sauce in my food processor and it took about five minutes for three batches.

Here is the recipe:
4 cups Arugula
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup walnuts
salt and pepper to taste
 1/2 cup olive oil

In a food processor, blend together everything but the olive oil until it forms a paste.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and with the processor running slowly pour in the olive oil.  Taste to see if you need more salt or pepper.  Use the pesto as a sauce for pasta, pizza, or as a sandwich spread.  I made a couple of extra batches to freeze and use for later, it freezes very well.  Enjoy!

Roasted tomato sauce

This was my favorite sauce to make last Summer with my fresh tomatoes,carrots, basil, and parsley.  You can use tomatoes and any combination of veggies that you would like to roast.  The recipe can be found here.  The only changes I made were adding in extra veggies and a some fresh parsley. 

I had so many tomatoes last year, that I was able to freeze about 6 bags worth of this sauce.  I just pulled out my last bag a few days ago, heated it up in a skillet and served it over some tortellini.  You could also add some ground beef or turkey (seasoned with salt and pepper) to the sauce if you want to.  Enjoy!

Vegetable pot pie

Oh comfort food...how yummy you taste on a cold snowy day.  Though, I've been known to make this dish in Summertime too.  I make a double crusted pie, and modify a Martha Stewart recipe that I have used before.  I usually put shredded chicken in my pot pie, but I just ran out of time last night.  If you've never made your own pie crust before, it's way easier than you would think and so much tastier than store bought crust.  I make my pie dough in the food processor and it takes about two minutes.

Double pie crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1/4 - 1/2 cup ice cold water

Combine flour and salt in the bowl of food processor and pulse a couple of times.  Add in the cubed butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal. 

With the processor on, add in the water in a steady stream and pulse just until the dough holds together. 

 The dough will look crumbly, that's normal. 

Divide dough in half and shape into two discs, chill in the fridge while you make the filling for your pie.  While your filling is cooking, roll out the first disc of dough and gently press inside the pie pan.

This carrot was planted last Summer.  I love planting carrots, they are tasty and I'm ensured at least a little bit of homegrown goodness in January and February.  They will stay in the ground without rotting all winter. 

 For the filling:

Dice up 1/4 of a large onion and whatever other vegetables you want in your pie.  I cut up one very large carrot and 3 celery stalks.  Next cook veggies in a skillet over med/high heat for 8-10 minutes.  Add 1/4 cup flour and cook for another minute, stirring constantly.
 

Gradually add 2 1/2 cups of milk (I used 1 1/2 cups of low fat milk and 1 cup of half and half)  and cook, stirring until mixture thickens.  Once it's thick, remove from heat and stir in peas and corn.  Season with 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and I like to use about 1 tsp of Kirkland's no salt seasoning mix.  I have a bit of a thing going with feta cheese these days, so I went ahead and added a bit of that on top of the mixture.  Then roll out the other disc of dough put it on top, pinch the ends together and cut vents in the top of the pie crust. 

 Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly.  Let cool for a few minutes before serving and enjoy!

Taste as you go

I love to make pasta, all kinds of pasta with all kinds of different sauces and toppings.  This dish is one of my favorites for many reasons. It's simple, flavorful, and quick, but mostly I love it because it reminds of something my Grandma used to make quite often.  She was an amazing cook, her family owned an Italian restaurant for years and she had a love for making people happy with her food.  One cooking tip she taught me early on was to taste as you go and season accordingly.  A lot of the recipes that are posted on here will be seasoned to my liking, so if you really like parsley, oregano, or red chili pepper flakes...by all means experiment and add in whatever you think would be tasty!

Broccoli and Cannellini bean pasta:

Get the water started for your pasta.  This sauce will make enough for about a half pound of pasta.  While your water is going.  You can get started on the sauce.

3 cups chopped broccoli
3 tbsp olive oil
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 can Cannellini beans (drained and rinsed)
1tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup cooked, frozen spinach or 3 cups fresh spinach
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese for topping

Cut broccoli into bite size pieces and set aside. Mince garlic cloves and saute in 3 tablespoons of olive oil.  Cook over medium-high heat.  Be careful not to overcook the garlic, it only needs to cook for about 30 seconds, then add in the one can of Cannellini beans.   Season with salt and pepper.  Cook for a couple of minutes and add in the broccoli, cook together stirring occasionally for about five minutes, then add in the spinach.  Cook for another couple of minutes, turn on low and simmer until pasta is ready.  Also, I always like to add a few shakes of garlic salt at the end too.  Taste as you go and add more if you think it's needed.  If you like heat, you can add some red chili pepper flakes, I'd start with 1 tsp.  Top the pasta and veggies with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy!