BBQ Meatloaf Minis

This week's assignment in Child Nutrition and Cooking was to make a balanced dinner. It had to include protein, vegetables, and a carbohydrate. This wasn't too difficult for us as that is typically what we do for dinners made at home anyway. A "normal" meal at home will be served with at least one to two vegetable sides, sides of rice and/or bread, and a dish with meat in it.

I already had this meal on the menu, so I threw it together for dinner tonight and turned it in! I got the recipe from a Taste of Home Magazine, but threw in a few extra ingredients. The original recipe was just meat, stuffing, water, BBQ sauce, and cheese. I felt like it needed some vegetables and seasonings added to it so this is what I came up with!

6 oz package stuffing mix

1 cup water

2 Tbsp BBQ sauce

1 lb ground beef

1 cup spinach, shredded

2 carrots, shredded

3 green onions, chopped

Desired seasonings, to taste

Mexican style cheese

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Combine stuffing, water, and BBQ sauce.
• Mix in ground beef.
• Mix in spinach, carrots, green onions, and seasonings.
• Divide up among 12 ungreased muffin tins.
• Bake for approximately 18 minutes (until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees).
• Top with additional BBQ sauce, if desired, and sprinkle with cheese.
• Bake for another 5 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Something in my kitchen that I LOVE for cooking meat is this thermometer my mom got me for Christmas. It's nice because you can use it as a normal timer or you can set a desired temperature, insert the thermometer, and it will go off when it reaches that temperature. There's a long flexible cord that attaches the thermometer to this unit that will reach into the oven and the door can be closed on. Rather than setting a timer for "x" minutes when cooking a meat dish, I like to set this to the correct temp for whatever meat I'm cooking (it comes with a chart for various meats) and wait until it goes off!

Egg Tagliatelle with Ham and Peas

I got this recipe out of a Rachel Ray magazine. It was pretty fast and really easy!

The cheese and the tarragon were a little strong, so if you don't like one of those I would suggest maybe switching them out for something else. Maybe Parmesan and rosemary? Also, we couldn't find any egg tagliatelle at the store we were at, so we used egg fettuccine.

I went with slightly less pasta than the recipe called for and slight more peas and ham and it turned out just right. Don't be afraid to alter this the way you like!

Salt and pepper, to taste
1 lb egg tagliatelle
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 Tbsp butter
2 large shallots, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 lb ham, cubed
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
Freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup peas
3-4 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
Grated parmigiano-reggiano

• Bring a pot of water to a boil, add salt, and cook pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat.
• Add buter and melt until foaming.
• Add shallots and garlic, cook for about two minutes.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Add ham and cook until lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes.
• Stir in wine and cook until reduced by half.
• Stir in cream and season with nutmeg.
• Stir in peas and tarragon.
• Remove from heat.
• Add pasta and cheese to the ham mixture and toss together.
• Season with salt and pepper, top with more cheese.
• Serve and enjoy!

Breakfast Scramble

The dish for this week in Child Nutrition and Cooking was a balanced breakfast. It had to have things like a fruit or vegetable, complex carbohydrates, and protein.

For this dish I decided on something I've always loved to make when we go camping. I'm not very good at keeping an omelette in omelette form, so I've always just scrambled everything together. It's nice because you can chop or prepare almost everything ahead of time and store it until you're ready to cook. You can also cook it one serving at a time so everyone can put in the ingredients and amounts that they like, or you can cook it in one big pan.

6 eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 oz ham, cooked and cubed

2 oz sausage, browned

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

1/2 tomato, chopped

2 oz mushrooms, sliced

Mexican blend cheese, as desired

• Beat eggs together, stir in milk.
• Mix ham, sausage, bell pepper, onions, tomato, and mushrooms in with eggs.
• Heat large pan over medium heat and pour egg mixture in pan.
• Stir mixture until eggs are cooked through, pour off excess liquid.
• Dish and top with cheese. Enjoy!

Also shown in the picture: Star fruit, whole grain sweet dark bread, and chocolate milk.

Strawberry Ice Cream Cake

This recipe was in a Food Network Magazine. There was a section of birthday cakes that all looked delicious! I love strawberries and chocolate cake, so I knew we had to try this one out. The chocolate cake recipe it uses would be fantastic for any chocolate cake, strawberry ice cream or not. I ate quite a bit of it plain and it was fantastic!

This was actually the second time I made this cake, the first was a disaster! I now know what NOT to do while making it... I'll let you in on that. First, don't let the ice cream get too soft before you put it in the middle, otherwise it will run out all over your freezer. Second, I thought it would be a great idea to put chopped up strawberries in the ice cream as well. Nope! They froze much more solid than the rest of the cake and I could not get a knife through at all. My suggestion would be to follow the directions on this one pretty closely!

Side note: The whipped cream at the end looks and tastes just like cool whip. If you would prefer, I'm sure you could use that instead.

Chocolate Cake
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
Filling and Topping
3 cups strawberry ice cream
2 & 1/2 cups raspberries and/or quartered strawberries
1/4 cup sugar, divided
3/4 cup cold heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Coat two 9" round cake pans with cooking spray.
• Whisk the cocoa powder and 1 & 1/2 cups boiling water in a medium bowl until smooth, set aside.
• Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
• Add eggs, vegetable oil, sour cream, and vanilla. Beat with mixer on medium until smooth.
• Add cocoa mixture in stead stream, mix on low, until just combined. Finish mixing with a rubber spatula.
• Divide batter between two pans and tap against counter to help settle.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in middle comes out clean.
• Let cool on rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and let cool on racks completely.
• Trim tops of cake with serrated knife to make level.
• Place one cake layer on a platter, scoop ice cream on top and spread to the edge. Top with second cake layer.
• Freeze until firm, about four hours.
• About 30 minutes before serving, remove cake from freezer and let sit at room temperature.
• Toss berries and 3 Tbsp sugar in a bowl, set aside.
• Beat the heavy cream, vanilla, and 1 Tbsp sugar with mixer on medium speed until peaks form.
• When you're ready to serve, spread the whipped cream on top of the cake, top with berries, and spoon berry juices over the top. Enjoy!

Chicken Stir-Fry

I'm taking a class on Coursera called Child Nutrition and Cooking and the first week's assignment was to make a colorful vegetable dish. I decided to pull out the wok we got for our wedding (but hadn't ever used) and try out a stir-fry! I took the kids to the grocery store, told them to pick out some colorful vegetables, and we came up with this. I can't believe I haven't used the wok before, it was so fast and easy.

Sorry about the weird numbers, I didn't measure things out before I threw them in the wok, so that's about how much I put in there. You can change the amounts (or even the types of veggies) depending on what you like, make it your own!

1 lb chicken
2 bell peppers
2 carrots
10 broccoli florets
1/2 onion
10 mushrooms
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic
Teriyaki sauce, to taste (there's a good recipe for it with this post)
1 cup dry rice
1/2 bag frozen carrots and peas
1 egg
4 Tbsp butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
Sliced almonds

• Chop all vegetables and chicken into bite size pieces and set aside.
• Prepare rice as directed on package.
• Heat butter and 3 cloves pressed garlic in a large pan over medium-high heat until butter is melted.
• Add egg and slightly scramble.
• Add pea and carrot mixture, stir to thaw.
• Add rice and fry. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and keep warm.
• Meanwhile heat olive oil and remaining cloves of pressed garlic in a wok over medium-high heat.
• Add chicken to the wok and cook through, adding teriyaki (to taste) for flavor. Set aside and keep warm.
• Put onion and carrots in wok, cook for a couple minutes.
• Add broccoli and cook for a few more minutes.
• Add mushrooms and bell peppers, add teriyaki sauce for moisture. Stir and cook, then lower heat to medium-low and cover to steam in the flavor.
• Plate the rice, top with large serving of vegetables, top with a few pieces of chicken, and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Enjoy!

Soy-Maple Salmon

First, for some fun and exciting news! A friend of mine has asked me to do a recurring guest post on her blog!! The first Monday of every month I'll be doing a guest post on her blog of one of my favorite recipes. Check her out at Today Was a Fairytale, my first post will be up on Monday, May 6th.

Now for the new recipe. Lately I've been trying to branch out into recipes I wouldn't normally try. We've been falling into a rut lately of the same type of chicken and beef recipes with some fish and pork thrown in every once and a while. I got this recipe from a recent Food Network magazine, and the different part of this recipe for me was the cauliflower side. It's not something I normally would have eaten if I was eating with my eyes, but it was surprisingly good!

2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp fresh orange juice
3 cloves garlic, pressed
4 - 5 oz salmon fillets
4 cups cauliflower florets
1/4 cup fat-free low-sodium chicken broth
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp dried cranberries
2 Tbsp chopped pistachios or almonds
1 tsp grated orange zest
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Mix the soy sauce, maple syrup, orange juice, 2 garlic cloves, and 2 Tbsp water in Ziploc bag. Add salmon and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, put cauliflower and broth in microwave safe bowl, cover loosley with plastic wrap, and microwave for approximately 6 minutes.
• Season fish with salt and pepper, place on aluminum lined baking sheet, and bake for approximately 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat olive oil and remaining garlic in large skillet over medium-high.
• Add cauliflower with broth, cranberries, nuts, orange zest, parsley, 1/4 tsp salt, and pepper. Stir to heat through.
• Serve fish and cauliflower together and enjoy!

Lemon-Rosemary Salmon

I was asked to do a guest post on a friend's blog last week. I was getting ready to go on vacation so I didn't have much in the house. Because of this, at first I turned her down. Then my husband had to work late and I had to come up with something to make myself for dinner. I had a filet of salmon in the fridge, a bunch of stuff in the cabinets and my garden, so I just made something up! It tasted good so I e-mailed her back and told her I had something!

It was my first guest post and I had a lot of fun! I was so flattered she thought to ask me to post on her blog. Thank you Kelly! You can see the guest post here on Today Was A Fairytale. That post was a little different from what I normally do, here is the version for my blog.

As usual with my fish recipes, this would work with any type of fish that makes you happy. I like salmon so that is what I chose. If my husband had been eating with me, I probably would have used either cod, halibut, or sole for him.

1 filet of salmon

Lemon-pepper seasoning (to taste)

4 cloves of garlic

4 sprigs rosemary, divided

2 Tbsp lemon juice

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 
• Line a 9 x 13 pan with aluminum foil, leave excess hanging over the edges. 
• Pat the salmon dry and place in center of the foil.
• Sprinkle the lemon-pepper seasoning over the top of the salmon. (I like to use Mrs. Dash because it doesn't have any salt in it.) 
• Press the cloves of garlic and rub over the top of the salmon.
• Pull rosemary leaves off of two sprigs and sprinkle over the top of the salmon, place a sprig on each side as well.
• Pour lemon juice around outside of salmon and fold foil up around it like a bag.
• Place both the salmon in the oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes. It should flake easily with a fork when it is done.

For a recipe for for the potatoes, see this post: Rosemary Baby Reds

Frito Supreme

I logged in to my homepage to check my e-mail a while back and saw an article for a "healthier" Frito supreme. Anyone who knows me knows I don't particularly care for "healthier' recipes, I prefer to go for moderation. Seeing that article prompted me to look around for some recipes for the original Frito supreme! I found one on Frito-Lay's website, I read over it, and altered it for what I like. This is what we ended up with for dinner that night!

Every year we go to a fund raiser at a local church called the Sausage Fest and they serve Frito Supreme. Once a year is definitely not enough for me, so I was more than happy when this tasted exactly like the Frito Supreme they serve! This was also one of my favorite dishes served at school when I was growing up. I'm so glad to be making this at home now!

1 - 9.25 oz bag Fritos
2 - 15 oz cans chili
1 - 8 oz package Mexican blend cheese
1 tomato
1 - 6 oz can black olives
1 bunch green onions
1 bunch spinach
Sour cream
Salsa

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In medium sauce pan over medium-high heat, heat the cans of chili.
• Pour bag of Fritos into an 8 x 8 glass pan and top with a portion of the heated chili.
• Place in oven for about 10-15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, chop tomato, black olives, green onions, and spinach. Place each in separate bowls.
• Set remaining chili, cheese, sour cream, and salsa with bowls of chopped vegetables and serve buffet style. Each person tops their dish with desired toppings!

Ham and Vegetable Gratin

This is not normally the type of recipe I would try, but I decided to go for it and it was a great choice! The inside was fantastic and could even be used for something like a pot pie if you wanted.

The only thing we changed was we added cheese. My husband was looking at the recipe and made a comment about how he thought gratin had cheese in it. Apparently (according to dictionary.com) au gratin means "cooked or baked with a topping of either browned bread crumbs and butter or grated cheese, or with both" so we decided to add a bag of cheese.

My oven isn't very big, so I did all of the stove top work in a skillet then dumped it into a 9 x 13 pan. If you don't have an ovenproof skillet or just can't put your skillet in the oven, it worked just fine.

4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 large Yukon gold potatoes, diced
1 - 10 oz package frozen mixed peas and carrots
1/4 lb ham, chopped
3 Tbsp whole-wheat flour
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 & 1/2 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
1 - 8 oz bag cheese
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley Kosher salt Fresh ground pepper

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 
• In a large ovenproof skillet, over medium-high heat, melt 1 Tbsp butter. 
• Add the onion, potatoes, frozen peas and carrots, and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables begin to soften. 
• Add the ham, flour, and thyme and cook, stirring until combined. 
• Stir in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. 
• Stir in the milk and simmer until slightly thickened, about three minutes. 
• Sprinkle approximately half of the cheese over the ham and vegetable mixture. 
• Transfer to the oven and bake until the potatoes are tender (about 20 minutes). 
• Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. 
• Add the panko, parsley, and 1/8 tsp each salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the panko is slightly toasted. 
• Scatter more cheese over the ham and vegetable mixture then top with the panko and remaining cheese. Let rest five minutes before serving.

Szechuan Pepper Beef Noodles

This was the first time I have tried my hand at any sort of Asian cooking. It turned out really good, although there are a few changes I think we'll make for next time as well as a few ways we could try this for something different!

First, there were WAY too many noodles. The original recipe called fro 1 lb dried noodles with 1 lb of ground beef. I'm pretty sure my beef was at least 1.5 lbs. We buy our beef by the cow and it's packaged by a local butcher, I don't actually remember how big I told them to make the packages. I could barely find the meat in all of the noodles.

Second, I think this would be GREAT with stew meat, chicken, or any other type of meat... even a combo of meat! I think next time we make this I'll cut back the noodles and put some other types of meat in it as well :)

Last, I could NOT find the ground szechuan pepper. I ended up buying a mix that had szechuan pepper in it. Of course when I went to make the recipe I noticed a website listed at the top where I could buy some, Penzeys.com.

Salt
1/3 lb dried chinese noodles or thin spaghetti
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, minced
1 small red chili pepper, minced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 - 1 inch piece ginger, minced
2 tsp ground szechuan pepper
1 tsp chinese five-spice powder
1/4-1/3 cup tamari
2 cups shredded lettuce
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
Chili oil or sriracha

• Bring a salted pot of water to a boil, add noodles, and cook until al dente. Drain.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the oil over high heat until smoking.
• Crumbled the ground beef into the hot oil.
• Add the onion, chile, garlic, ginger, szechuan pepper, and five-spice powder to the beef.
• Stir-fry until the onion is slightly softened (about 2 minutes).
• Add the noddles to the beef mixture.
• Stir in tamari.
• Remove from heat and toss with the lettuce and scallions.
• Serve with the chili oil or sriracha.