Meatball Sub

 Serves: 2

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Using the leftover mini-meatloaves from the night before, they were a breeze. I opted to make a homemade marinara sauce because I didn't have any jarred stuff on hand. I'm glad I did! Best sandwich!

What It Takes:
1T Olive Oil
1 Sweet Onion, Diced
2 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1 Can (28oz) Diced Tomato, Stewed Tomato or Whole Tomatoes, undrained*
1 Can (8 oz) Tomato Sauce
1 T Tomato Paste
3 t Italian Seasoning
1/4 t Red Pepper Flakes
1 t sugar
salt and pepper to taste
6 Left Over Mini Meatloaves
2 Sub/Hoagie Rolls
1 C Shredded Mozzarella

How To Do It:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute until opaque, stirring often. Add garlic and let them cook together for one minute. Stir Constant to keep from burning.

Add all the tomato products and seasonings. Allow to come to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Add the mini meatloaves and simmer with lid on over low heat for 45 minutes. Taste the sauce to make sure it is to your liking. Add any additional seasoning that you feel necessary.

Toast rolls under the broiler until lightly toasted. Sprinkle 1/2 C cheese (more or less depending on how cheesy you like it) on the both sides of the rolls and place back under the broiler until cheese is starting to melt. Cut meatloaves in half and arrange on one side of the roll. Spoon on extra sauce and top with other half of roll.

*When using stewed tomatoes or whole tomatoes, break up the tomatoes into smaller pieces so there are small chunks. If you would like for your sauce to be a smooth texture, then using an immersion blender blend the sauce to your desired consistency. 

Sweet and Sour Mini Meatloaves

Serves: 6              Prep Time: 15 minutes        Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes

What It Takes:

1 lb Ground Hamburger or Lean Turkey
1 Sweet Onion, minced
1 Egg
1 C Bread Crumbs
Salt and Pepper
1 C Ketchup
1/4 C Brown Sugar
2 T Cider Vinegar

How To Do It:

Preheat oven to 400.

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.

Mix the meat, onion, egg and bread crumbs together. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix the ketchup, brown sugar and vinegar together in a small bowl.

Divide the meat evenly among the muffin cups. Top with 2 T of ketchup mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until meat is cooked through.

I knew that I wanted to make meatball subs with the leftover mini-meatloaves so I only made six sweet and sour meatloaves. After dividing out half of the meat, I added 3t of Italian season to the rest of the meat and then placed the rest of the meat in the muffin tin. I topped the Italian seasoned meatloaves with 2 tablespoons of marinara sauce and baked them with the sweet and sour meatloaves.

Tonight I will simmer the Italian meatloaves in some extra marinara sauce while I toast hoagie buns. I will then sprinkle the rolls with mozzarella cheese before placing the "meatballs" into the hoagie buns. If need be, I will cut the "meatballs" in half so they can fit. I will then top them with more mozzarella cheese.

Menu Monday

Monday: Mini Meatloaves, Mashed Potatoes and Frozen Veggies
Tuesday: BBQ Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Corn Bread and Broccoli
Wednesday: Meatball Subs (thanks to some leftover mini meatloaves) and Oven Fries
Thursday: Shrimp Fajitas, Black Beans and Rice
Friday: Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry
Saturday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Whatever Is In The Fridge!
Dinner: Scallops, Rice and Broccoli
Sunday:
Breakfast: Hopefully In Bed or Out!!
Lunch: Scrounge!
Dinner: Seafood Stuffed Salmon, Garlic and Parmesan Pasta and Peas
The stuffed salmon I bought from my local grocery store. It is already prepared and I just have to bake it!

Oven "Fried" Tilapia with Low-Fat Tarter Sauce

Serves: 2

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

This is one of my favorite ways to have "fried" fish but without all the grease. Plus, paired with my homemade tarter sauce and it is perfect!

What It Takes:
4 Tilapia Fillets
1 Egg
2 T Milk
1 1/2 C Panko Bread Crumbs
1 t Dried Parsley
1/4 t Fresh Ground Pepper
1/2 t Onion Powder
1/2 t Garlic Powder
1/8 t Cayenne Pepper
Pinch of Salt
1/2 C Parmesan Cheese


How to Do It:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by lining with foil and spraying with olive oil Pam.


Beat egg and milk together in a pie plate.


Mix all the dry ingredients together in a separate pie plate.


Dip a piece of tilapia into the egg mixture. Coat very well, pressing the crumbs down onto the fish, with Panko crumbs. Continue with all of the pieces.

Place fish on the baking sheet. When all four have been well coated, spray the top of the breading with more olive oil Pam.

Place baking sheet in the oven and cook fish for 10-12 minutes. Until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

While fish is cooking, prepare the tarter sauce by mixing together:
1/2 C Light Mayonnaise
1/4 C Sweet Relish
1 T Sugar
1/2 t Dried Parsley
1/4 t Onion Powder

I place the mixture in the fridge until the fish is ready.

Menu Monday

Monday: Panko Crusted Tilapia, Asparagus and Mashed Potatoes
Tuesday: Rib-eye Steak, Lobster Tails, Broccoli and Baked Potato
Wednesday: BBQ Chicken Legs, Mashed Potatoes and Sweet Corn
Thursday:  Barbacoa Pork, Sweet Corn, Black Beans and Rice
Friday: Turkey Sloppy Joes and Oven Potatoes
Saturday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal and Banana Pancakes with Ham Steak
Lunch: Leftovers or Out
Dinner: Pork Soft Tacos (from the leftover Barbacoa Pork) and Black Beans
Sunday:
Breakfast: French Toast and Bacon
Lunch: Out
Dinner: Shrimp Fajitas, Black Beans and Rice

Chicken and Veggie Stir-Fry

Serves: 4-6, depends on the portion

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

I made this stir-fry with the veggies just hanging out in my fridge and some other pantry items. SO good!


 What It Takes:
2 Chicken Breasts, small, bite size cubes
2 T Cornstarch
2-3 t Vegetable Oil
3 t Sesame Oil (I use the red chili sesame oil)
10 Asparagus Spears, cut in bite size pieces
2 Zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and then make half moon pieces
4 Small Carrots (2 Large), cut at on a biased into discs
1 Sweet Onion, cut in half and then in half moon pieces
4 T Soy Sauce
4 T Honey
1 T (overflowing) Sriracha Sauce
1 1/2 t Fresh Grated Ginger
Salt and Pepper to Taste

How To Do It:

Heat oils in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat chicken in cornstarch. Add chicken to skillet and cook until cooked through (~5-8 min).
Add all of the veggies to the skillet with the chicken and cook until crisp tender but not soggy (6-10 min), season with salt and pepper.
While veggies are cooking, mix the soy sauce, honey, Sriracha and ginger together.
Add sauce to cooked chicken and veggies and let heat through and thicken for 1 minute.
Serve with Jasmine Rice.

Spicy Bok Choy

Serves: 2-4 (depends on the "head" of bok choy you get)



Prep Time: 5 minutes



Cook Time: 5-10 minutes







What You Need:

1 Head of Bok Choy, cut into 1 inch pieces (stem and leaves)
2 Pieces Bacon, cut in small pieces
2 t Oil
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
Salt and Pepper, to taste

How To Do It:

Place bacon pieces in pan over medium high heat to render the fat. When bacon is starting to cook, add 1-2 teaspoons of oil. The amount of oil can depend on how much fat the bacon renders. Add garlic and cook 1 minutes to infuse grease and oil with garlic flavor.

Add the bok choy pieces and stir to coat with grease and oil. Lower heat to medium and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Cover and let wilt for 3-5 minutes.

Menu Monday

Well, we had a couple of "eat out" nights so I am using quite a few of my recipes from last week this week. I'm a stickler for using what I have on hand!!

Monday: Fish, Bok Choy, Bread
Tuesday: Sesame Chicken with Asparagus Chicken and Veggie Stir-Fry and Jasmine Rice
Wednesday: BBQ Chicken Pizza
Thursday: Leftovers!
Friday: Beef and Bean Burritos
Saturday:
Breakfast: Probably fast food because we are hosting our 2nd annual egg hunt at our house!
Lunch: It is a potluck egg hunt so I will contribute: Carrot Cake Cupcakes, Pineapple Cupcakes, Eclair Cake and Italian Sandwich
Dinner: What ever is leftover from our egg hunt!
Sunday:
Breakfast: Breakfast Burritos
Lunch: Either eat out or have leftovers
Dinner: Panko Coated Oven Fried Tilapia, Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Veggies

"Healthier" French Bread (No Kneading Required!)

Serves: 24 Slices

Prep Time: 90 Minutes

Cook Time: 20-25 Minutes

This is a no-knead french bread that I bumped up the "health" factor by substituting a little whole wheat flour in place of the refined white stuff.


What You Need:
 1/2 C warm water
2 packages dry active yeast (4 1/2 t from a jar)
2 C VERY hot water
1/3 C oil
3 T sugar
1 T salt
4 C all-purpose flour
2 C whole wheat flour

What It Takes:
Combine the warm water with the yeast and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the hot water, oil, sugar, salt, wheat flour and 1 C all purpose flour. Stir with a wooden spoon.
Add yeast mixture and stir.
Add the rest of the flour and stir. Leave spoon in dough and let rest 10 minutes.
Stir dough and let rest for 10 minutes.
Repeat the stir/rest process for a total of five times.
Divide dough in half.
Turn out half the dough on a lightly floured surface. Press into a rectangle and then roll toward you like you are making cinnamon rolls. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Repeat with other half.
Cover with kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm, draft free place for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees,
Make three slits in the top of each of the loaves and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Oven Potatoes

One of the big ways that I cut calories at dinner time is to make oven potatoes instead of using french fries or tater tots with a hamburger or sandwich. Monday night was no different! We at MM favorite sandwich, PW style with a side of my yummy taters.

Not only are they a dinner staple but, I love to make extra potatoes so we can have them for breakfast in a skillet or scramble.

Serves: 4    Prep time: 10 minutes    Cook Time: 30 minutes

What It Takes:

10 Yukon gold potatoes, cut into bite size chunks
2-3 t vegetable oil
dried parsley, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder

How To Do It:

Preheat oven to 415 degrees.

Place potato chunks on a foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle oil over potatoes and toss to coat.
Season potatoes with as much of each seasoning that suits your taste buds. Toss to evenly coat potatoes in spices. If the seasonings look a little sparse, season again and give it a light toss. Spread the potatoes out into a single layer.

Place baking sheet in the oven for 30 minutes.

Menu Monday

Monday: The MM sandwich, PW style and oven potatoes
Tuesday: Cheese Stuffed Ravioli with Turkey Spaghetti Sauce and Homemade French Bread
Wednesday: Tilapia, Jalapeno Cheddar Bread, Spicy Bok Choy
Thursday: Slow Cooker Fiesta Chicken and Rice
Friday: Leftovers or Beef and Bean Burritos
Saturday:
Breakfast- Banana and Oatmeal Pancakes and Bacon
Dinner- BBQ Chicken Pizza
Sunday:
Breakfast- Breakfast Burrito
Dinner- Leftovers

Healthy and Delicious Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

These pancakes are so yummy plus they are so much healthier than a regular pancake. If your used to boxed pancake mix, these will take a few extra minutes to prepare but are so worth it! Serve them with some peanut butter and a little syrup, YUMMY!

Prep Time: 10 minutes   Cook Time: 10 minutes  Serves: 6 (2 pancakes serving)

What You Need:
1 1/2 C quick cooking or old fashioned oats
1 T baking powder
1/2 t (scant) salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 C whole wheat flour (if using old fashioned oats you may need to increase to ~3/4 C)
1/2 C white flour
1 T brown sugar
2 C milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 t vanilla
2 bananas, mashed
1/2 C apple sauce

How To Do It:
Combine all of the dry ingredients until well blended. Stir in milk, eggs, vanilla, banana and apple sauce. Let sit 3-5 minutes. If you feel that the batter is to thin, add a little more wheat flour until it reaches your desired consistency.

Make pancakes in a pan or on a griddle set to medium to medium-high. I can make 12 1/2 C pancakes on my griddle in two batches. I just use the 1/2 C measuring cup. Cook until sides look slightly dry and there are bubbles forming on the top of the pancake (~ 3 minutes) then flip and cook for ~1 minute.

Best Ever Sloppy Joes

I have learned that there is no point in buying a can of sloppy joe mix when you can make it healthier and tastier from scratch.

Serves: 4    Prep Time: 10 minutes  Cook Time: 30 minutes

What You Need:

1 lb. ground meat (I normally use turkey but of course beef in the norm)
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped (I have also used a whole zucchini and it turns out great)
1/2 t garlic powder
1 t mustard
3/4 C ketchup (more if it is to dry)
3 T brown sugar
2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 T red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

How to do it: 

Brown meat with the veggies. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until well combined. Let simmer 20-30 minutes. Taste to make sure sauce is to your liking. At this point you may feel it isn't sweet enough (add more brown sugar) or isn't spicy (add some hot sauce).

I serve mine over a slice of bread and eat it open faced.

Weekly Menu

This week my menu came from Tasty Kitchens and all of the wonderful recipes that are submitted by home chefs from all over. I will give a link to all of the recipes I plan to use. Once I use them, I will give a review of the recipe at the recipe link and mention any changes I made to the recipe.

Monday: Meat and Potato Skillet
Tuesday: Baked Chicken Taquitos and Black Beans
Wednesday: Mexican Meatloaf, Broccoli and Steamed Rice (I steam my rice in chicken stock rather than water *edit* I also added half a can of Rotel to give it a kick)
Thursday: Beef and Broccoli with Basmati Rice
Friday: Ham, Cheese and Potato Casserole with California Blend Frozen Veggies
Saturday:
Breakfast: Pancakes and bacon
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: Slow Cooker Fiesta Chicken with Mexican Rice
Sunday:
Breakfast: Fried Potatoes, Eggs with Cheese
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: Sesame Chicken with Basmati Rice

Monday

I bought an already marinated turkey breast from our local Aldi store that I had to pop in the oven for one hour. It couldn't get much easier than that!

As for our sides, I made mashed potatoes and a simple gravy and some steamed frozen broccoli.

Mashed Potatoes:

8-10 bite size Yukon gold potatoes, quartered
2-3 T butter
1/4-1/2 C skim milk
pepper

Boil the potatoes in enough water to cover. Once they are fork tender, drain and leave in colander.
Place butter in potato pot to melt over medium-low heat. Add 1/4 C milk and let it warm through. Add the potatoes back to the pot and mash. Add more milk if they are not creamy enough. Season with pepper.


Gravy:

2-3 T butter
2-3 T flour
1 C chicken stock
1/2-1 C milk
pepper

Make a simple rue by melting the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Let butter brown a little and the add in the flour. Cook the flour butter mixture for 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken stock in and stir well to combine. Add as much milk as you need to make it creamy and the consistency you prefer. Season to your taste with pepper.

Weekly Menu

Monday: Roasted Turkey Breast, Mashed Potatoes w/ Gravy and Steamed Broccoli
Tuesday: Homemade Sloppy Joes and Oven Roasted Potatoes
Wednesday: Barbacoa Beef, Corn and Steamed Rice
Thursday: Oven Roasted Tilapia, Bok Choy and Four Cheese Pasta
Friday: Beef Tacos/Burritos and Mexican Rice
Saturday: Look Elsewhere, No Food From My Kitchen!
Sunday: Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken and Mashed Sweet Potatoes

My Cornbread Dressing

Serves: 6-8        Prep Time: 15 minutes         Cook Time: 40 minutes

This dressing is a staple in my household come fall and winter. I have requests to bring it for Thanksgiving and it typically gets gobbled up pretty fast. I love making it all throughout the fall and winter because it is such a great side dish.

What it takes:

2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix (plus egg and milk to make it)
1 onion, diced
2-3 apples, diced
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 zucchini, diced
2 tbsp butter
1-2 tbsp poultry seasoning
chicken stock

How to do it:

Prepare cornbread as directed on the box. You can do this a day or two ahead to save time (and oven space) the day of cooking. Crumble the cornbread and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt butter in a large skillet. Add onion, apples, celery and zucchini. Cook until tender. Add the crumbled cornbread and poultry seasoning. Stir to combine.

Add enough chicken stock to moisten the dressing to your desired softness. Some like it really wet and others like it a little on the dry side. So, add as much stock as you see fit.

Place your skillet in the oven for 20 minutes to brown up the top a little.

Enjoy!

Turkey Meatballs with Cranberry Sauce

Serves: 30 1" meatballs

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

These were some pretty yummy meatballs! It was like a mini Thanksgiving dinner but without hours of work. I think next time I would make my cornbread dressing and make it even more authentic.


 What it takes:
1 lb lean ground turkey
1/2 c bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp thyme, sage, rosemary or Italian season
1 c cranberry sauce (jelly or whole)
1/4 c cider vinegar
1/4 c orange juice
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp Dijon mustard

How to do it:

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine meat, bread crumbs, egg, salt, pepper, and seasoning of your choice.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.

Shape into 1" balls (I used a the small scoop from Pampered Chef but a melon baller or just plain ol' eye balling it should do the trick). Place on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 25 minutes or no longer pink in the center.

While meatballs are cooking, simmer the rest of the ingredients over medium heat for 10 minutes or until thick. When meatballs come out of the oven, place the meatballs in the cranberry sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.

I served mine with some mashed potatoes and broccoli but I think my cornbread dressing would have been even better. I'll post my dressing recipe tomorrow but it won't have a picture with it.

Huevos Rancheros

Serves: 2

Prep Time: 8 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

I came up with this last night while rummaging through my cabinets and fridge. It turned out to be mighty tasty. So much so that I made it this morning for my breakfast!

What it takes:
 4 eggs
1/2  a medium onion, chopped
2-3 tbsp pickled jalapeno, chopped
1 can black beans, drained
2/3 cup salsa, divided
1/2 cup cheese, divided
2-4 corn tortillas
1 tbsp + 1 tsp oil

How to do it:

Preheat oven to 250 to keep tortillas warm.

In small sauce pan, heat 1 tsp oil. Add chopped onions and cook until translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add the jalapenos and beans and stir to combine. Let cook over medium-low heat until ready to use.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a medium skillet. When drop of water sizzles in oil, place one tortilla in the oil to brown, about 2 min. per side. Repeat with remaining tortillas and place on heated oven rack to keep warm and crisp.

In the same skillet the tortillas were prepared in, cook the eggs the way you like them. I make ours over-medium but traditionally they would be cooked sunny side up. When eggs are almost done, put salsa in the pan with the eggs to warm the salsa.

Assemble the huevos rancheros by placing a tortilla on the plate and topping with bean mixture. Either top the beans with cheese or another tortilla. If you placed another tortilla, place cheese on top of the tortilla. Place two eggs on top with half the salsa. Top with a sprinkle of more cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

*If I would have had an avacado on hand, those would have made this dish even better! I squeezed 1/8 of a lime on mine and I really enjoyed the extra freshness it added.*

Shrimp Potstickers

Serves: 30 potstickers

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes/batch

These were amazing and SO easy. The hardest part is having the patients to fill and fold them. Worth EVERY minute. If you don't use them all, you can freeze them to have for later! I'll tell you how at the end.





What it takes:

1 c peeled and deveined, precooked shrimp, chopped
1 c carrot, shredded (I used my box/cheese grater)
1 c cabbage, shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, divided (some of the green part will be used as garnish but also in the dipping sauce)
2 teaspoons ginger, grated and divided
2 dashes hot chili sesame oil (you don't have to use it if you don't have it on hand)
1 package won ton wrappers
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/2 c soy sauce
1 teaspoon sriracha sauce (red stuff with the rooster on the bottle in Asian food isle)

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, carrots and cabbage. Season vegetables with pepper and sesame oil. Cook until soft. When soft, add the green onion whites and some of the greens, shrimp and ginger and heat through.

When mixture is done being heated, place in a fine sieve (over a bowl) and push the excess liquid out. When drained, take a teaspoon full of mixture and place it in the middle of the wrapper. Dip your finger in a bowl of water to wet the edges. Fold into a triangle and press edges to seal. Do that until all of your filling is gone.

Two cooking options:
1) place a 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a skillet, that has a lid, over medium-high heat. Place potstickers in skillet and brown for 2-3 minutes. Add 1/3 cup water and cover with lid. Let them steam for 3-4 minutes.
2) boil water in a double boiler. Spray the steaming basket with cooking spray and line with a thing layer of cabbage. Place a single layer of potstickers over the cabbage (I could only cook 5 at a time) and steam for 10 minutes.

While the cooking is going on, make the dipping sauce. Place the soy sauce, sriracha sauce, ginger and green onions in a bowl. Stir to combine.

Enjoy!!!

For any potstickers that do not get cooked, place them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper and sprayed with cooking spray. Place in the freezer for 1-2 hours. Then place the potstickers in a plastic bag for later use. When ready to use, let them defrost a little and them cook them with whatever cooking method you prefer.