Meatballs

I was going for a meatball with pene pasta and melted mozzerlla cheese bake. But I didn't have any pene and I didn't have any mozzerlla. But I did end up with some very delicious meatballs despite the fact that they were turkey. I used rigatoni, Parmesan and some jarred marinara, but the meatballs, they were the star of the show!
-Amanda

Italian Meatballs

1.5 lbs of ground turkey
1/3 of an onion
2 cloves of garlic
4 slices of bread
1 egg
2 tbsp italian seasoning
salt & pepper

If your ground turkey is frozen, defrost over night in the refridgerator. Or go very very slowly in the microwave. You do not want the edges to start to cook in the microwave or your meatballs will not turn out right. Place ground turkey in a large bowl. Grate 1/4 of an onion over the meat. Grate the garlic also. I use a microplane. Using a food processor pulse the bread into breadcrumbs. You can substitute Panko Breadcrumbs if you wish to buy premade ones. Add breadcrumbs to the bowl. Add egg and seasonings. Mix gently with your hands just until all the ingredients are incorporated.

Use a 1 tbsp cookie scoop to scoop out balls onto a greased cookie sheet. Spray meat balls with cooking spray. Set broiler to HIGH. Place cookie sheet under broiler about 4 inches away. Cook meatballs for about 7 minutes or until brown. Flip them all over and broil the other side. If you just want the meatballs and not in the pasta dish, but them in the middle of the oven farther away from the broiler and cook for longer until cooked through.

Put the meatballs in a baking dish with cooked pasta, cheese and marinara. Return to the oven and cook through for 25 minutes or until meatballs are cooked all the way and cheese is melted. I made enough meatballs and pasta to make two casseroles. I froze the second casserole, so it just needs to be reheated through.

Chili Casserole

Finished casserole.


Spoon chili into baking dishes.

This recipe is perfectly adaptable to campfire cooking. As a matter of fact that's how I had it the first time, prepared in a huge castiron dutch oven. It was so good I didn't want to wait until the next campout to have it again, so it can be done in your home oven. Substitute ingredients as you see fit, the main idea is to make a yummy chili and top it with a yummy cornbread.

My playgroup has decided to do a meal swap. I picked this meal to make for our first swap for a couple of reasons. It's easy to make in bulk (I needed enough for 3 families), it is perfect cold weather food, and I had all the ingredients on hand! You can scale it down to suit one family meal or make it in bulk and freeze the extra casseroles!
-Amanda

Chili Casserole

Chili:
1 onion
2-3 pieces of bacon
2.5 lbs of lean ground beef
2 cans of black beans, drained
1 can of tomato paste
1 can of fire roasted tomatoes
1 can of diced green chilies
4 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
salt & pepper

Cornbread: (You can also use a Cornbread Kit)
2 1/2 cups of cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup shredded mexican cheese
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk (give or take)

Dice bacon into tiny bits. Saute the bacon with diced onion and garlic. Add ground beef. Break up the beef with the end of your spoon and add seasonings: chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Add tomato paste and mix it into the ground beef. Add drained beans and fire roasted diced tomatoes. Last, add the diced green chilies. Continue cooking over medium high heat until meat is fully cooked. Transfer over to baking dishes. I made 3, 9"x9" casseroles.

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix all the ingredients for the cornbread into a big mixing bowl. Spoon wet cornbread mixture over the chili in a thin layer. Sprinkle the top with extra cheese. Bake for 25 minutes.

Curry Burger with Cinnamon Sweet Potato Fries

I asked John if he had any ideas for dinner this week and he said we hadn't had hamburgers or spaghetti in a while. The poor boy he asks for spaghetti and hamburgers... last night I served chicken puttanesca (sorry, I didn't photograph it for The Frickin Chicken!) and tonight I made Curry Burgers. Not exactly what he had in mind! But they were SO good. I was licking my fingers. The girls ate them too, while saying yummy, yummy. The other thing... they were a snap to make!
-Amanda

Curry Burgers

16 oz ground turkey meat (I'm don't know how beef would taste but it worth a try)
3 tablespoons of a tandoori chicken seasoning mix

Gently mix the seasoning into meat. Don't over mix or your burgers will become tough. Divide into very thin 4 oz patties. Cook on a hot griddle, about 3-4 min per side, you must cook turkey until it is done, but don't over cook it. I served on Oroweat Sandwich thins with a curry mayo.

Curry Aioli (Fancy Mayonnaise)

1 small grated garlic clove
1 tsp lemon juice
3 tbsp mayo
1 tsp curry powder

Stir all ingredients together.

Cinnamon Sweet Potato Fries

1 large sweet potato
1 tsp cinnamon
salt
oil

Cut sweet potato into french fry lengths. Coat all of the fries in oil. Sprinkle with salt and cinnamon. Broil for 10 minutes, flip the fries with a spatula and then broil for 10 more minutes.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

First, let me apologize for how horrible this picture is. I am a terribly food photographer. I’m working on it. If it means I need a fancy new camera, then so be it. That’s the lengths I will go to for you people. I’m just that generous.

College cafeterias are supposed to be miserable, right? Poor quality, high calorie, all seemingly designed to accelerate the addition of the Freshman 10 (or 15 or 20) to the fastest rate possible. Mine was no different. Although, I will admit, after a little awhile, I developed a sort of Stockholm syndrome and actually started liking the food. It is with a heavy heart (among other heavy things) that I make that admission.

One of my favorite meals was stuffed bell peppers. I’m sure they were just mass produced Stouffers numbers, but Stouffers knows how to make nicely edible comfort food, so points to the cafeteria for knowing what works.

I wanted to make this dish at home, but the versions I’ve always had included cooked rice, which I usually did not have on hand, and I didn’t want to add extra time to a dish that already needed a fair amount of oven time. By then, my husband’s beloved Giada (his foodie princess) showcase a recipe that didn’t use rice. Yay for no extra carbs! Plus, ketchup! I always have plenty of ketchup (say what you will about the carbs there, but I don’t care)! Win win!

So I’ve tweaked the plan a bit, and this is how I make it at home. Feel free to make a Mexican version with salsa as a topper (as said husband does even though I’ve already made it with slightly Italian leanings).

Stuffed Bell Peppers

1 large bell pepper
½ lb. lean ground sirloin or ground turkey (or ground chicken, it’s versatile)
1 egg
½ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup (or whatever good amount you like) grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
Dash of dried oregano and parsley, unless you have fresh, then go for it
Diced tomatoes or bruschetta topping

Cut the bell pepper in half and remove seeds and ribs to create a small pepper boat. Mix the remaining ingredients (expect for the tomato topping) gently until combined. Fill each pepper boat with stuffing and top with tomatoes. Sprinkle with cheese. Arrange in a casserole dish and bake in a 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
-Julie

Turkey Chili Mac

This is another one of those dinners that I was just going through my pantry/fridge and came up with. There are lots of versions of this, my Mother-in-law makes something similar she calls Chili Soup because hers is thinner and this is thick. Since I made it while the girls were napping and my kitchen was clean, I took pictures of the steps. I'd like to do that more often, but I usually don't have the time or I forget. And don't let the long list of ingredients worry you, at the end of the recipe I put some easy substitutions! Oh and this passed the toddler test, although after they ate about half of it they decided it was too spicy. (But they kept eating more!)

Turkey Chili Mac

10 oz ground turkey meat
1 can of pinto beans
1 can of fire roasted tomatoes (or stewed)
1 can of tomato sauce
1 carrot
1 stalk of celery
1 small onion
3 cloves of garlic
banana pepper or can of green chilies
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup parsley
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 cup beef stock
2 cups dried pasta


This is most of the ingredients. I decided not to put in two cans of tomatoes, instead I used some beef stock for more liquid. I also added some vinegar and Worcestershire sauce to "brighten" the flavor at the end.


Chop your onion, garlic & peppers pretty small (especially if you are hiding them for toddlers)


Put them in a big skillet and saute.


While they are sauteing chop your celery and carrot and add to the skillet.


Add your turkey meat.


This is a nifty tool I bought from Pampered Chef. It helps break up meat and it works really well. Lean meats can sometimes be harder to break up than higher fat meat. Also, I never drain my meat, because I cook with such lean meat there is usually no fat to drain. If you sub a higher fat beef or even a higher fat turkey meat you may have to drain before you add seasonings.


Once the meat is broken up a bit, add the seasonings. I like to add them before the meat is fully browned. I think this flavors the meat more. Once it is brown, it doesn't take in the seasoning as much (in my opinion.) Stir the seasoning in to mix with the meat and veggies.


Add your liquids: the tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans and beef stock. I added the Worcestershire sauce and vinegar later because it needed the acidic element added. I didn't drain or rinse the beans because the liquid that they are packed in is high in starch (leached from the beans) and will help thicken the chili. Add your raw noodles, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes or until the noodles are tender.
Serves 6 (Weight Watchers 4pts per serving)

substitutions: you can sub beef for the turkey. If you don't have tomato sauce use either some tomato paste and extra beef stock or water. OR use a squirt or two of ketchup. You can skip the parsley, I just had it on hand. You can probably play around with the seasonings but I'd stick with the chili season or perhaps substitute a taco seasoning (it'll taste a bit different of course!) The main idea is cook with what you have and don't feel like you have to follow the recipe exactly!
-Amanda