Thursday, February 24, 2011

Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs & Stir Fry

Need dinner in 10 minutes (no joke!)? My daughter & I played "Iron Chef" and she timed me. We were both laughing so hard as I literally *threw* items into the wok. A fun memory and a delicious, low-fat & cal, high fiber & protein meal. What more could you ask for?

I grabbed 2 bags from the freezer & all my remaining fresh veggies. Guess what? The WHOLE family LOVED it!

Ingredients:
1 bag of Trader Joe's Turkey Meatballs
1 bag of Trader Joe's Pre-cooked Organic Brown Rice (organic is key, regular = disgusting)
1/2 bag of Trader Joe's broccoli Slaw
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 zucchini, finely chopped
1/2 container of crimini mushrooms
1 handful of mini carrots, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 handful of snap peas, sliced on diagonal
{remember: you can just use any hard vegetables left in your drawer, you don't have to use all of these or you could add more)
2 T peanut or vegetable oil (EVOO will NOT work with stir fry, gets too hot)

Sauce:
1/2 C (or more) Soyyaki sauce
2 T cornstarch
2 T honey

Directions:

1. Turn stove onto high heat (7 or 8); Add oil into Wok.
2. When oil is hot, stir in vegetables, salt & pepper to taste & cook until they begin to look transparent. Remove.
3. While vegetables are cooking, defrost meatballs for 2 minutes in microwave (entire bag).

4. Turn Wok heat to medium. Add in sauce & stir quickly, add in meatballs. Keep stirring. Don't let sauce burn. Coat meatballs in sauce until saturated and covered.
5. While meatballs are coating in sauce, put rice in microwave & cook.

6. Serve meatballs over rice, vegetables on the side or add on top of rice, then meatballs.

Enjoy!

Patatas a la Pobre

A typical Spanish tapa. An easy side dish that is loved by every guest of all ages.

Ingredients:
3-4 yellow potatoes (depending on how many people you want to feed, average 1.5 potatoes per person).
paprika
salt
EVOO

Directions:
1. Finely slice potatoes into rounds (about 1/16" thick)
2. Lay flat on a large cookie sheet
3. Coat both sides with EVOO, salt & paprika, mix them around if needed.
4. Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes (watch)
5. Some will be crisp as potato chips, others crisp and soft.

Serve as a Tapa with sauce (mayonnaise w/ a few dashes of hot sauce mixed in) OR as a side dish to any BBQ meal.

Slow Cooker BBQ Pork

Ingredients:
1 Pork Shoulder
1 bottle of Jack Daniels Original BBQ Sauce
1/2 C brown sugar
1 mini can of pineapple juice
2T of Worcestershire sauce (if you have it)

Directions
1. Put pork shoulder in slow cooker on high for 4-6 hours, until it almost falls off the bone.
2. Once it's completely cooked, skim off fat, remove bone and shred pork. {keep bone for the amazing bean soup recipe posted here}
3. Add in BBQ sauce, sugar & juice - stir. Cook for 1 hour longer (on high or low, depending on when you want to serve it).

Make into "Bro-hams" and serve on a bun with coleslaw, and "patatas a la pobre" {see recipe)

Easy coleslaw: Buy pre-shredded cabbage & mix in with Brianna's poppyseed dressing.

Burning Man Chicken Noodle Soup

Not sure about you, but when I got sick, my mom always made me chicken noodle soup. Guess what? Mom was right! http://www.unmc.edu/chickensoup/

I call this the "Burning Man Chicken Noodle Soup" because if you've ever watched the "Sam, the Cooking Guy" show, you've probably noticed that he burns himself ALL the time. Oscar started watching him a year ago and totally got me hooked. I love our mutual cooking hobby.

Ingredients
A whole chicken (skin + bones too) chopped up ($8 @ Trader Joes)
4 celery stalks chopped, angle
1/2 bag of mini carrots, chopped in 1/2 angled (or 2-3 large carrots)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
chicken stock (extra broth @ the end, if needed)
Egg Noodles - mini/thin or large - up to you
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Place chicken in the pot, cover with water so that there is 1" above the chicken.
2. Boil on high for 30 minutes, drain fat from top with a spoon (throw out)
3. Continue boil for 30 minutes.
4. Drain broth & chicken - save broth, set chicken on a cutting board. Remove skin & bones and chop chicken into large bit sizes (if needed), place into pot with broth.
5. Add vegetables into chicken & broth, cook another 30 minutes
6. Add in noodles, cook until done.

Enjoy!

Turkey Meatballs by M. Lazaro

Ingredients:
1lb of ground turkey
1/2 packet of Italian dressing mix
1 C of Italian bread crumbs
1 egg
1T olive oil

Directions:
1. Mix all together, except EVOO
2. Form into meatballs
3. Add EVOO into pan & brown meat balls on all sides
4. Place onto a baking sheet and cook @ 375 for 20-25 minutes (watch).

Serve alone w/ rice OR with your traditional spaghetti and Bolognese or Marinara sauce.

*This is a VERY easy recipe that your children will love to make "by themselves".