Asian Meatballs

So, here we are in England and for whatever reason, I'm really craving Asian food.  No clue why.  Doesn't make sense, I know, but that's all I want.  I thought I'd get creative and make some of my own.  With having limited groceries and not wanting to head to the store, I made with what I had on hand.  I searched Pinterest and found I was missing a few things that most recipes called for, so this is what I came up with.  You know what?  They were delicious!  

Asian Meatballs

Makes approx. 18-20 meatballs

Mix thoroughly together:

1 lb lean ground beef

1 small onion, grated

1 clove garlic, grated or minced

1 T soy sauce

1 egg

1/4 cup breadcrumbs or almond flour

1/4 tsp black pepper

Spoon into balls and place on cookie sheet, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil.  Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes.

Sweet Soy Sauce

While meatballs are cooking, stir together in a small pot on medium heat:

2 T oil

1/3 cup vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1-2 garlic cloves, grated

a few shakes of red pepper flake

Bring to a simmer for 5 minutes and taste to see if you need to more salty soy or more sweet sugar to your liking and add accordingly.

Once meatballs are done baking add to sauce and let simmer for 5 minutes.  Drizzle with a little bit of honey for some added flavor and sweetness, if desired.  

Serve over rice.  Enjoy!

*Meatballs can easily be doubled with the same amount of sauce.  

Yummy balls of deliciousness! 

Gluten Free Lemon Squares

I'm not usually the biggest fan of lemony stuff, especially desserts.  My husband loves lemony foods but hates sour stuff.  My kids are all somewhere in between, one like her dad, my son can straight up eat lemons without flinching and the little we are still figuring out.  Basically what I'm saying is that we don't know if we are friends with lemons or not, but we all do love lemonade!
This summer while I was home in Ohio visiting we had a couple friends over.  We all made and brought a few things to share.  One of them has Celiac's, so she is my buddy and one of my go to peeps for gluten free questions.  Well, she brought into my life Lemon Squares that changed my life.  Not even exaggerating!  I became a lemon dessert believer!  That night I think I ate 3 of them after I had professed to "not being a big lemon person" and became the hypocrite of the night.  I have since made these babies more times than I can count, for potlucks, parties, Bible study and just because.  Every time I eat a lot of them and never do I grow tired of them.  Mind blown goodness.  Make them.  I promise you will not be disappointed!

Gluten Free Lemon Squares
From Betty Crocker

Ingredients

Crust

1 1/2

cups Betty Crocker™ All-Purpose Gluten Free Rice Flour Blend (I used my favorite GF flour mixture and omitted the xanthan gum.)

1/2

cup granulated sugar

3/4

teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2

cup cold butter, cut into pieces

1

to 2 tablespoons water

Filling

1 1/2

cups granulated sugar

2

tablespoons grated lemon peel

1/2

cup fresh lemon juice

4

eggs, lightly beaten

1/4

cup Betty Crocker™ All-Purpose Gluten Free Rice Flour Blend

Powdered sugar

Directions

• 1Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom only of 9-inch square pan.
• 2For Crust, in medium bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups flour blend, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and the xanthan gum. Cut in butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through mixture in opposite directions), until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Add water, 1 teaspoon at a time, tossing with fork, until crumbly. Press dough in bottom of pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or just until set.
• 3For Filling, in medium bowl, stir together all ingredients except powdered sugar with whisk until blended. Pour over hot crust.
• 4Bake 23 to 28 minutes longer or until filling no longer jiggles when pan is moved. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 2 hours. Cut into 4 rows by 4 rows. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. Cover and refrigerate any remaining lemon squares.
• **This is very easily doubled in a 9x13
• **For easy clean up and serving line pan with foil.

One Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni

These days I am all about dinners that are fast to put together and take the least amount of dishes and pots to make. With moving all over the place and not knowing what is going on, its nice to have meals like this one.  Plus, my whole family liked it!  I used gluten free rice pasta so I could eat it too and turned out great.  Double plus!  This totally reminded me of the boxed hamburger helper stuff, but homemade without all the preservatives and junk.  Easy peasey and good!  Woohoo!

One Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni
From No. 2 Pencil

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• ½ of a large yellow onion, diced
• 1.5 pounds good quality, lean ground beef
• 2 teaspoon of season salt, or salt and pepper to taste
• 1 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
• 2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups of water
• ¼ cup of ketchup
• 2 teaspoons of dijon mustard
• 1 pound of rotini pasta
• 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
• Freshly diced tomato
• Green onions
• Pickles
• Shredded lettuce

Instructions

1. Start with a large pot.
2. Add olive oil to the pan, and sautee yellow onions until softened over medium heat.
3. Increase heat to high and add ground beef.
4. While ground beef is cooking, season with one teaspoon of season salt plus several turns of freshly ground pepper.
5. Brown ground beef, and drain any excess fat from the pot.
6. Use kitchen scissors to chop up whole tomatoes while still in the can.
7. Add canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, water, ketchup, mustard, pasta and additional teaspoon of season salt to the pot and bring mixture to a boil.
8. Turn heat back down, cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until pasta is tender.
9. Once pasta is cooked, remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.
10. Sprinkle additional cup of shredded cheese on top and re-cover pot with lid until cheese is melted.
11. Add your choice of traditional cheeseburger toppings.
12. We choose fresh, diced tomatoes and green onions. You can also try pickles or shredded lettuce.

Notes

This recipe serves a lot, probably 8-10 at least, and makes great leftovers! The ingredients are easily halved to feed a family of 4.

Creamy White Bean Stew

It is beginning to warm up in Vegas, but I know in other parts of the country it's still pretty cold and snowy.  To me, when it's cold and you are hunkered down inside, nothing warms you (and the house) better than a hearty soup or stew.  I love soups!  I always have.  I could eat them all the time, however I'm fairly certain that my hubby would get tired of them. 

It had been a while since I had a good bean soup and the hubs isn't the biggest fan of beans, unless it's baked beans.  Haha!  When he was gone for while I decided to try a new bean soup recipe I had found.  Creamy White Bean Stew...  and the second main ingredient was BACON!  How could that not be good?!  I told the kids we were having bacon soup and they bought it and ate it.  No one asked for seconds, but it was at least consumed on the night of dinner and left plenty of left-overs for me.  :)  This recipe was super easy, loaded with veggies, canned beans (which makes everything easier yet) and, of course, flavored with bacon.  YUM to the 10th power!  I made cornbread to go with this and it was a delicious combo!  Tell me what you think.  What's your favorite bean soup?

Creamy White Bean Stew

from The Cozy Apron

Ingredients:
12 ounces apple smoked bacon, chopped into small pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, small dice
2 carrots, small dice
2 celery stalks, small dice
4 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• Pinch or two sea salt
½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
6 (15 ounce) cans small white beans (or navy beans), drained and rinsed
4 cups chicken stock, hot
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon lemon zest (I omitted)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (I omitted)


Preparation:
-Place a large Dutch oven, or heavy bottom pot, over medium-high heat; once the pot is hot, add in a small drizzle of olive oil, and the chopped bacon; crisp the bacon completely until nice and brown, then remove with a slotted spoon, drain it on some paper towel, and set it aside for a moment; reserve about 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat, and set that aside for a moment, as well; wipe out the pot, and return it to medium-high heat.
-Next, add back into the pot the bacon fat, along with the olive oil and the butter, and allow them to melt together; once melted and hot, add in the diced onion, carrots and celery, and allow them to soften and sauté for about 5 minutes; next, add in the garlic, and once it becomes aromatic, add in about 2/3 of the reserved, crisped bacon, as well as the Italian seasoning, the sea salt and the pepper, along with the white beans, and stir to combine; next, add in the hot chicken stock, stir, and allow the stew to gently simmer for about 40-45 minutes, partially covered with lid; about half way through the cooking process, mash the beans a little bit with the  back of your spoon, or with a potato masher, to break up the beans a little bit and release their natural starch to thicken the stew; after about 40 minutes, turn the heat off and finish the stew by adding in the chopped parsley, the lemon zest and the lemon juice; serve the stew with some nice, crusty bread to dip, and garnish with some of the remaining crisped bacon.

Deliciousness!

Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies

As a woman and wife that bakes a lot, you tend to get a reputation for certain things.  One thing that I have learned through the years about crew chiefs is that they will eat anything, good or bad and it never lasts long!  Especially if it is homemade.  So, whenever I'm trying a new recipe, have been in major bake mode and have too much around or have left overs from a party or from company over, I send it in with the hubby to work.  I'm sure to get an empty container back by the end of the day. 

The birthday tower of desserts.

For my husband's 30th birthday I wanted to do something different and we hadn't been in Vegas long and were just beginning to make good friends.  I decided to make all his favorite boxed snack sweets, but homemade.  I made Oreos, Zebra Cakes, Moon Pies and Oatmeal Cream Pies.  They were all good but the Oatmeal Cream Pies were to die for!  They soon became the most requested and sought after thing I've made.  Well, those, and jalapeño poppers.  :)  When we got our orders to move, I knew that before we left I had to make sure to make them one last time.  So I made a double batch for the guys and they were gone in minutes. 

They are fairly simple to make and turn out great every time.  Without further ado, here's the great recipe!

Oatmeal Cream Pies

From Blooming on Bainbridge

Cookies:

1 1/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

3 cups oatmeal

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Cream together butter and sugar.  Add in egg, vanilla, baking soda, salt and cinnamon until creamy.  Mix in flour and then oatmeal until well combined.

Use a small cookie scoop or drop by tablespoonfulls onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets.  Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes.  Let cool 2 minutes and transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

Cream Filling:

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1-2 T whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

Beat butter and gradually add powered sugar until it begins to combine.  Add vanilla and then whipping cream a little at a time.  Beat on high speed until it begins to get fluffy.

Once cookies are cooled completely, line them up to make matches that are about the same size. 

Put filling into a freezer zip-lock bag and snip a corner off to use as a pastry bag.  Add about 1 T of filling onto 1 of the cookies and top with another cookie.  Press gently together to spread the filling.  Repeat with the remaining cookies.

Butternut Squash Soup with Thanksgiving Meatballs

Who doesn't like the smell of Thanksgiving dinner cooking?  It's one of those smells that just warms your heart.  I'd been wanting to try a Butternut Squash soup for a while, but knew I never could make it when my husband was around.  He detests squash of any kind and sweet potatoes too.  Usually whenever he's gone I make all those things for myself.  My kids like some of it, but not all.  But I just don't care sometimes.  The first week he was gone I was trying to do a good cleanse and get sugars out.  This was a great recipe to do that with.  I made the soup and meatballs and ate it for lunch throughout the week.  I froze half of it to pull out later. 

I had found a few different recipes for this kind of soup, but didn't know where to start.  Then I was checking out recipes from Change of Pace and found her favorite along with her recipe for Thanksgiving Meatballs.  Sounded good to me and like a perfect combo.  So I gave it a try!  Both are delicious!  The meatballs have the perfect flavor and taste to get you through the year until next Thanksgiving and the soup had the perfect flavor to go with them.  Not to mention tasting good too.  I hope you like it as much as I did.  Use it as a go-to lunch or a nice hot dinner on a cold night. 

Butternut Squash Soup

(From Real Simple)



Soup-A-Simmering

Ingredients

• 1 3-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes (5 to 6 cups)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 teaspoons kosher salt
• pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 large yellow onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 3 stalks of celery, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage (about 6 large leaves)
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• Sage and Parmesan Croutons

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. In a large bowl, toss the squash with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 2 teaspoons of the salt, and the pepper. Place the squash on a rimmed baking sheet and roast in oven for 15 minutes. Turn the cubes over and continue roasting for 15 minutes or until they are caramelized; set aside.
2. In a Dutch oven or a large stockpot, heat the butter and the remaining oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and sage and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are translucent and tender, 10 minutes. Add the squash, broth, and the remaining salt and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the liquid is flavorful. Remove from heat.
3. Using a blender or a food processor, blend the soup in batches until smooth. Return to the pot and keep warm.

Thanksgiving Meatballs

(From Change of Pace)

Paleo Thanksgiving Meatballs(this made a dozen for me)

1lb ground turkey (I used 94% lean)
1/4 cup almond flour
1 egg beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon grass fed butter
1/4 cup celery finely diced
1/2 cup onion finely diced
1 garlic clove finely diced
1 teaspoon dried sage

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan.  Add the onions and celery.  Cook until onions are translucent and everything is soft.  Add the sage and garlic.  Cook until fragrant.

While everything is cooking put the turkey, almond flour, egg, and salt in a large bowl.  When the onion mixture is done add it to the turkey mixture.  Mix thoroughly.

Roll into balls and bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until a thermometer reads 165 degrees.



The perfect little combo!  Yum!

Lasanga 3 Ways

I've been gluten free for about a year now.  For the most part I can honestly say it has been much easier than I ever thought it would be.  I still have moments when I really want a good sandwich or want to eat a burger not wrapped in lettuce or a good hot pizza.  I've gotten pretty good at the GF flours to make baked goods and when I can fool even my family I know I've got a success.  Usually when we have pasta I'll make them regular pasta and I'll make myself rice pasta.  I really don't mind it and actually think it's good.  I've made casseroles for my family using rice pastas too and they didn't even know it until I said something.  Win!  The one pasta that I have the hardest time with giving up is lasagna.  For one I can't find rice pasta lasagna noodles anywhere and two, I just wanted the real thing.  Tear.  Pity party over now.  I decided to try to make a Zucchini "Lasagna" for myself while I made a regular one for the loves in my life.  Plus, who can't use some extra veggies in their day, right?  It was simple enough to just sub out the noodles with thinly sliced zucchini and still layer it with the same cheese mixture and sauce.  It was a little more "watery" after baking from the zucchini cooking and releasing their natural water, but still good just the same.  Next I'm going to have to try the ribbon zucchini noodles and maybe even try the Zoodles one day.  So, now onto the good stuff.  Here's the recipes for my lasagna.



All my sliced zucchini

Lasagnas

-One pot of Mom's Spaghetti Sauce, made and cooled.

-Cook 1 lb lasagna noodles according to package, drain, rinse and set aside.  OR Thinly slice 2-4 zucchini (depending on size and how big of a lasagna you want.) and set aside.

-Cheese layer: 

Mix together- 12 oz cottage cheese, 3 cups mozzarella cheese, 1 wedge Romano cheese (shredded) or 2 cups of Italian cheese blend, 2-4 generous tablespoons of prepared pesto

-To assemble:

In the bottom of a casserole dish spread enough spaghetti sauce to thinly coat bottom. 

Next, 1 layer of noodles or zucchini

Then add small spoonfuls of cheese mixture.

Followed by another layer of noodles or zucchini.

Add more sauce to cover.

Keep repeating until you have no more noodles or cheese.

Lastly top with sauce and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

-Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until bubbly. 

Or cover and freeze.  If baked frozen, it'll take closer to 1 hour to heat through.

When making your lasagna, make it yours.  Either use all noodles, use all zucchini or use both.  If you use both alternate layers to make a vegetable lasagna.  Yum!  I got 3 lasagnas when I made this.  I baked 2 and froze the other.