Homemade Meatballs

I have a confession to make. I didn't like Spaghetti and Meatballs as a kid. I know--it's strange. How can I even claim to be American?

The real problem was that I hated onions and tomatoes.  Nothing out of the ordinary as a kid. I would pick at my pasta sauce, trying desperately to separate the onions from the tomatoes. I didn't find out til' recently that my mom actually pureed the onions.... sneaky.

I guess my taste buds have grown up, because now I love tomatoes, onions, and pretty much any combination of the two.

This next week I'm headed home, and leaving the husband to fend for himself. Well, not completely. I've decided to load the freezer, and made some meatballs that can easily be defrosted. Best of all is that they are HOMEMADE!

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 small onion, finely diced
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup parmesean
1/4 cup panko ( japanese breadcrumbs)
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tbsp of milk
dash of nutmeg
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Mix all ingredients together. Form golf sized balls. Place on cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 35 minutes until done.

Healthier Chicken Salad with Apples and Almonds

Chicken salad has never been one of my favorites. It probably has to do with the fact that the traditional American Chicken salad is smeared in mayonnaise. ANYTHING coated in globs of mayo seems to be unappealing to me. I like a little, just not a lot.

However, I tried the Sonoma Chicken Salad at Whole Foods and I was quite surprised. So when the husband requested some chicken salad the other day, the Whole Foods recipe came to mind and I decided to tweak it a bit.

First, I wanted to make it healthier. So I cut A LOT of the mayonnaise and substituted plain non fat greek yogurt for the majority of the mayo in the recipe.. Greek yogurt is simply wonderful and can be substituted into a vast array of recipes. Use it in place of sour cream when baking, or in creamy soups and casseroles. Truly a miracle ingredient! For the rest of the mayo I used an olive oil based mayonnaise.

Next, I wanted to add the sweetness that comes with chopped apples.

Finally, I wanted CRUNCH. And some chopped almonds seemed to do the trick.

The final product turned out to be quite the hit. We made some sandwiches on a hearty whole grain bread and packed them for the beach. I say "hearty" because you gotta have a bread that is sturdy enough to hold the ingredients. No wonder bread, please!

Don't they look good?? (Added some cheese for the husband, and lettuce for me. I need lettuce on my sandwiches....)


Inspired by Whole Foods Sonoma Chicken Salad
Makes about 4 decent sized sandwiches

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, poached
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1 small fuji apple, chopped
1/2 cup almonds, coarsely chopped and toasted
1/4 cup greek yogurt
2 tbsp olive oil mayonnaise
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey ( or agave nectar)
black pepper to taste (about 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp poppy seeds

1. Heat up a small sauce pan with water over high heat. When water is boiling, reduce heat to simmer and add chicken breasts and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and allow chicken breasts to sit in water for 15 more minutes. After remove and place on cutting board. Shred into bite sized pieces.

2. Toast the almonds over medium heat. Remove from heat and let cool before adding to salad.

3. Whisk together greek yogurt, mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, honey, black pepper and poppy seeds. Add Chicken, celery, apple and almonds. Mix it all up.

3. Spread onto some hearty whole grain bread. Add Cheese or Lettuce if you like!

*Note: I like it when the salad has been able to sit for a few hours in the fridge..lets the flavors set in.

Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins

These were kind of a last minute decision.
Sometimes when I walk into the kitchen I can't resist the urge to cook. I start throwing all kinds of things together. I open every cupboard to search and see what ingredients I have. Then I try and figure out what in the world I'm craving.
Sometimes this is the hardest part. 
Trying to decide what to bake.
First I thought blueberry muffins. Well, no blueberries. Guess not.
Next, Lemon muffins. If I had lemons, that would help...
Since all those options were out, I decided to go with something "healthier". I just bought whole wheat flour and applesauce. So, I decided to go with it.
I found a recipe on Food.com, but wasn't completely satisfied with it. So I altered it to fit my taste and I'm happy to say that these turned out quite lovely. Yes, lovely.

Adapted from food.com

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
1 egg
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp skim milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Streusal topping:
1/3 cup oats
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 tbsp melted butter

Preheat Oven to 400
Spray 12-cup muffin pan or prepare with muffin tins.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. (Whole wheat flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg).
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg, vanilla and brown sugar together. Stir in applesauce. Add in milk and mix until combined.
3. Fold in dry ingredients and stir together until combined.
4. Make streusal topping and combine all three ingredients in small bowl until crumbly.
5. Scoop batter into prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle one generous tbsp of topping onto each muffin and press down lightly.
6. Bake until golden brown. Approximately 18 minutes. (I always set my timer for about 2 minutes earlier and check muffins to be sure they aren't over done)

Cool in pan for 5 minutes on a rack.

Eat up!

Brownie, caramel, cookie bars

These are dangerous.
After you make these, quickly get rid of them!! Send them away because you will eat a ridiculous amount of them and will fall into a complete food coma. Belly bloating coma...

Anyways, I would still make them again. Everyone loved them and if you love brownies + caramel + cookies these are PERFECT.

 

Ingredients:
For Brownies:
1 stick butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Caramel middle:
1 bag kraft traditional caramels, 14oz bag
1/2 cup evaporated milk

Cookie:
1 stick butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 375

For brownies:
Combine dry ingredients ( flour, cocoa, baking powder) in small bowl, whisk together well.
In a separate bowl, Combine butter, sugar and vanilla, salt. Add in eggs and whisk together. Add in dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Spray 9x 13 in pan and pour brownie batter in.
Bake for about 15 minutes. Brownies should be more on the "underdone" side but not completely liquidy.

For cookie topping:
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, baking soda) and mix together. 
In a separate bowl, beat butter until soft. Add in sugars and mix together (with beater). Add in egg, salt and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Mix in dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips.

For caramel sauce:
As the brownies bake, melt caramels and evaporated milk in a double boiler over medium heat. Whisk frequently. When done, remove from heat.

When brownies are done baking, pour caramel sauce over brownies. Drop cookie down on top by spoonfulls. Gently pressing down so dough distributes across top of bars.

Place back in oven and bake for approximately 15 more minutes. Check bars and remove when golden brown on top and still soft. (Check with a toothpick, only a few crumbs should be stuck to it)

Let cool for at least an hour ( not on top of the stove)
I had to even put mine outside on the porch so they would cool faster. The caramel takes a while to harden, otherwise they are a complete gooey mess!!

Finally, cut em' up and enjoy!!

Baby Potatoes topped with Green Beans & Poached Egg

Sometimes the most delicious meals are those created with the simplest ingredients.
This easy to create dish is incorporates less than 5 ingredients and boasts the fresh flavors of the produce and parsley used.

Ingredients:
 3 cups teeny tiny potatoes, diced ( I got these at Trader Joe's, but if you don't have any of these you can use regular potatoes  diced into small pieces)
1 small onion, diced
3 cups green beans
2 eggs
fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lemon
Pinch of red pepepr
tad of butter

1)  Place tad of butter on skillet in medium-high heat. When heated up, add potatoes and onions. Cook until translucent and potatoes are soft. Season with salt and pepper, pinch of red pepper.

2)  Put a pot of boiling water on the oven. Add 3 cups of green beans ( trimmed). Blanch green beans for 3 minutes. Immediately remove, drain in a strainer and let cool.

3) Add olive oil to pan over medium high heat. When heated, add green beans and cook until slightly toasted.

4) Poach 2 eggs.  If you need an awesome tutorial on how to poach an egg. Visit Smitten Kitchen. The pictures are beautiful and directions step by step.

Put it all together. Place potatoes on a plate. Top with green beans and poached egg. Season with salt and pepper, freshly chopped parsley, squeeze of lemon and even add some parmesean.

Bon Appetit!

Serves 2.

Pasta with Sausage, Onions and Bell pepper in Cajun Cream Sauce.

This recipe was an experiment. Pretty much looked in the fridge and saw what I had.
Andouille sausage, check.
Mini bell peppers, check.
A ton of pasta in the pantry.

Well, what isn't a good night for pasta? I'm a CARBivore. I absolutely love carbs- bread, noodles, rice,  and pastires (YES, apple danishes..) The list could go on, but you get the picture.

I decided upon something with a little kick. I wanted FLAVOR and some spice in my life. This did the trick, and the husband seemed to think so too. (Although, he is sorta obligated to say everything I make tastes good..)
Let me know how you like it!

Ingredients:

6 oz Andouille sausage( really, a little extra sausage wouldn't hurt...)
1 medium onion, sliced
1.5 cups sliced red, orange or yellow bell pepper ( A little color makes it fun)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 box Barilla whole grain spirals (approx 12 oz)
2 tbsp olive oil
1.5 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream (or half and half if we're trying to be waist friendly...)
Cajun spice mix- 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 1/4 tsp garlic salt
1 tbsp tomato paste
Tabasco sauce
salt
pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley


Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt as desired. When boiling, add pasta noodles and cook per directions on box. Try not to overcook and get that perfect "al dente" noodle. When noodles are done, drain water and return to pot.

2. Slice sausage into thin diagonal slices. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in big nonstick pan over med-high heat and add sausage. Cook for approx 4 minutes until sausage is browned on both sides.

3. Remove sausage from pan and place in separate bowl.

4. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to pan. Add sliced onions and bell peppers.  Sprinkle on Cajun spice mix and cook until tender (approx 3-4 minutes). Remove from pan and place in bowl with sausage. 

5. Add garlic to pan and cook for 30 seconds. Add white wine and chicken broth to "deglaze" the pan.  Cook on high heat for approx.  3 minutes or until mixture has reduced to about half the amount.

6. Add 1 tbsp tomato paste and stir into mixture. Reduce heat to LOW and stir in cream. Cream should start to thicken and incorporate. Add a few dashes of Tabasco sauce to taste. Stir in Parsley.

6. Pour sauce mixture into large pot over pasta noodles. Add in the cooked sausage and vegetables. Stir together. Turn on heat to med-high and let mixture bubble for about 1 minute until heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with a big green salad and some sliced bread. EAT AWAY!!!

Marinara Sauce

Sometimes I wish I was Italian...just for the food at all the family gatherings. I mean, SERIOUSLY, they know how to cook!  Plus, who doesn't like pasta, bread, and CARBS.
I could never go on one of those low carb diets.
NO bread!? Sounds like torture.
Anyways, now that I have shared my absolute love of the grains food group with you, I am going to post a recipe that is the complete opposite. I guess it could go with the pasta or could be used to dip fresh breadsticks in.

OH, I'm back to the bread again...

Moving on... I'm going to share a Marinara recipe with you.

This is a simple, easy to make sauce. You can quickly whip it together and serve it over pasta. And the best part is you can tell everyone that you made it! Everyone will oooHHH and AHHHHH and think that you're such an incredible chef. But in reality, it wasn't that hard.

So get ready to impress. Put away that Prego and Ragu!

Quick Marinara Sacue

Ingredients:
1 small onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1/3 cup of white wine
1 tsp oregano, dried
1 bay leaf
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
10 basil leaves, shredded

Directions:
1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over med-high heat in a large pot.
2. Add onion and garlic. Saute until soft.
3. Add wine to pot and allow it reduce ( for about 2 minutes).
4. Add can of crushed tomatoes, oregano, bay leaf, sugar, and salt and pepper.
5. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer on low heat. Cook for 25 minutes (until slightly thickened).
6. Add shredded basil. Remove bay leaf.