Pasta with Turkey Meatballs

This was a cover recipe on a Food Network Magazine. The picture just sat there calling to me, asking to be made. I finally listened to it and it was delicious!

I made a couple changes to this one because I couldn't find ingredients. Instead of broccolini I used regular broccoli, instead of orecchiette pasta I used mini farfalle, and instead of turkey sausage in a casing I found some chicken that was already loose, so that saved a step!

Kosher salt

12 oz orecchiette pasta

2 bunches broccolini, cut into bite-size pieces

8 oz sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Pinch of red pepper flakes

1 large egg

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
• Cook pasta until al dente, about 7 minutes. Add broccolini for last two minutes.
• Reserve one cup cooking water, and drain pasta and broccolini.
• Meanwhile, roll sausage into about 20 small meatballs.
• Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Add meatballs and cook, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through.
• Drain on paper towels and pour off any drippings.
• Add remaining olive oil, garlic, red pepper, and 1/2 tsp salt and cook over medium heat, stirring, for about 1 minute.
• Add pasta, broccoli, and meatballs.
• Whisk the egg and reserved cooking water in a small bowl then add to the skillet and stir until sauce thickens slightly.
• Season with salt and pepper, divide among bowls.
• Sprinkle with cheese and enjoy!

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!