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Mexican Stuffed Shells

May 17th, 2012
by erin.
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Mexican Stuffed Shells
Date: 5/10/2012

Recipe: http://thewaytohisheart.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/mexican-stuffed-shells/

Modifications: I used ground turkey,and this taco seasoning recipe.

Time to table: 45 minutes prep, plus 45 minutes of baking time

Servings: 4 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Like – it was a bit “picy” for her :)

Notes: This was really good and actually pretty easy. I thought the filling could stand to be cheesier, so I would up the cream cheese next time, and maybe add some veggies into the filling too.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Sweet Potato Foil Packet Tacos

May 12th, 2012
by erin.
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Sweet Potato Foil Packets

Date: 5/8/2012

Recipe: http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/sweet-potato-foil-packet-tacos/

Modifications: I used ground turkey, black beans, and did not peel the sweet potatoes. I didn’t have tomato sauce, so I just used some crushed tomatoes instead. We use this taco seasoning recipe.

Time to table: 30 minutes, plus 30 minutes of baking time

Servings: 6 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: My friend Chelsea sent me this recipe, and I immediately knew it would be a winner in our house! The best part about these is that you really can prep everything completely beforehand, and then just pop the foil packets in the oven when you’re ready to eat. Ben has an oven at work and was able to bring the extra packets to work the next few days. It is important to layer the packets with the sweet potatoes on the bottom, if they are on top they won’t get cooked through. We served with tortillas and sour cream.

Sweet Potato Foil Packets

Chili Macaroni and Cheese

Apr 20th, 2012
by erin.
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Chili Mac n Cheese

Date: 4/18/2012

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2011/02/02/four-bean-chili-mac-cheese/

Modifications: I added a lot of sour cream since I was using 2% milk and because sour cream is delicious, and I think I used too much pasta so I added more chili and cheese to compensate.

Time to table: 20 minutes

Servings: 5 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Love

Notes: Again, this was so easy – I LOVE the concept of using leftovers to make a slightly different meal. We will definitely be trying this more! We all loved this meal in both forms – Annie probably enjoyed it a bit more here – mostly she just picked out each noodle though :)

Annie eating the noodles

Annie eating the noodles

Four Bean Chili

Apr 19th, 2012
by erin.
1 comment

Four Bean Chili

Date: 4/16/2012

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2011/02/01/four-bean-chili/

Modifications: I used ground turkey instead of beef, and added a chopped bell pepper.

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 6-8 hours cooking time.

Servings: A lot – this nearly filled our crockpot – at least 8 adults.

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Love

Notes: This chili was really good!  We all are bean lovers, so this went over well. Annie enjoyed narrating which bean she was eating at that time :) This is part of a 3 in 1 meal that weelicious posted, so the next post will be what we did with the leftovers.

Beans for Four Bean Chili

Four Bean Chili

Mexican Lasagna

Mar 23rd, 2012
by erin.
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Mexican Lasagna

Date: 3/20/2012

Recipe:

1/2 lb of ground turkey
1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 14 oz can of black beans
1 14oz can of kidney beans
1 14oz can of pinto beans
1 diced sweet potato
1/2 packets of taco seasoning (I just threw in some cumin, adobo seasoning from Penzey’s, chili powder, paprika, garlic granules and cayenne)
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
4 cups of shredded mild cheddar
1 packet of Spinach Tortilla wraps

Coat the bottom of a larger, somewhat deep saucepan, with extra-virgin olive oil. Let it warm up (burner on medium heat), then throw in onion and garlic. Sautee for about 2 min. Add ground turkey and cook until no longer pink. Add all the beans and sweet potato and stir. Then add taco seasoning and about 1/2 cup of water (or more if it gets too dry), stir. Finally, add crushed tomatoes.  Lower heat, simmer, and stir occassionally for about 20-25 min.  (Meat and bean mixture cooked the night before, tastes better the next day. But, it’s still good same day : )

To layer ingredients: 1 9×13 inch pan.  Thin layer of meat/bean mixture, tortillas (cut to fit pan), then cheese. Then repeat: meat/beans, tortilla, then cheese.

Bake in 375 degree for aluminum pans, 400 for glass for about 15-25 min. Or until cheese on top is bubbly.

Modifications: I didn’t want such a huge batch, so I made this in a 8×8 pan and froze the other half of the mix.

Time to table: an hour of prep (some is simmering) and 25 minutes baking.

Servings: original recipe serves 8 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Loved the sour cream that it was topped with…

Notes: This is a meal that was brought to our neighbors who also have a new baby, and shared with us. We both loved it so much we had to get the recipe from her friend Karen, who apparently adapted it from a Rachael Ray recipe. I further adapted it from what she sent to include a sweet potato and to reduce the amount of meat. The original also called for corn, but I didn’t have that so did not include. There is another Mexican lasagna recipe on the blog too, but I preferred this one.

Mexican Lasagna

Meatloaf with broccoli and mashed potatoes

Jan 27th, 2012
by ben.
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Meatloaf, broccoli and potatoes

Date: 1/24/2012

Meatloaf recipe: http://kickassbbq.com/smoked_meat_loaf.html

Broccoli recipe: 1 head of broccoli tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Roast at 425 for 20 minutes.

Mashed potatoes recipe: Quarter the potatoes and boil them until soft, mash with butter, sour cream, and cream.

Modifications: We used turkey thigh instead of beef, and added garlic, shredded carrot, and only used 4 strips of bacon.

UPDATE 4/30/12: Made this again last night and wanted to document what I thought was a winning combination of ingredients:

  • 2 lbs ground turkey thigh
  • 1/2 large onion, diced
  • 2 stalks of celery, diced
  • 1/2 carrot, shredded
  • 1 jalapeno, diced
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 egg
  • 2 T bbq rub
  • 1/4 cup bbq sauce
  • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 6 slices bacon, cooked and chopped

Time to table: 30 minutes meatloaf prep, 90 minutes meatloaf grilling time. I made the broccoli and potatoes while the meatloaf was grilling.

Servings: 2 adults, 1 toddler, and several lunchs of leftover meatloaf

Ben: LOVE

Erin: Love

Annie: Love

Notes: This was simply amazing. We made this meatloaf before using the smoker, not the grill, but this time was tremendously better. I was surprised at how tasty the turkey thighs were, and the grill cooked the garlic more than the smoker did, so it turned out better. Annie surprisingly loved the broccoli tonight and continued to ask for more off of Erin’s plate. Everything came together great in this meal, AND I timed everything perfectly so that it was all hot when we ate it. I’m pretty great, if you ask me.

Meatloaf

Pasta with turkey pesto meatballs

Dec 7th, 2011
by erin.
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Turkey Pesto Meatballs and Tomato sauce

Date: 12/5/2011

Recipe: Meatballs: http://weelicious.com/2010/06/01/turkey-pesto-meatballs/

Tomato Sauce: http://weelicious.com/2009/10/06/weelicious-tomato-sauce/

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 25 minutes bake time

Modifications: Not many – I think we probably used nearly double the pesto because that’s what we had frozen, and it still worked out fine.

Servings: 35 little meatballs – we baked half with all the tomato sauce, and froze the other half and half the meatballs served our family of 3 perfectly.

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: This was very easy, especially with frozen pesto. The tomato sauce also came together quickly, making this a great weeknight meal. I always love recipes that we can get 2 full meals out of – we froze the meatballs as she indicates in the post, prior to baking so that’ll be an easy one to just pull out and have with more tomato sauce. We served this over spaghetti.

Tomato Sauce

Turkey Pesto Meatballs and Tomato sauce

Turkey Pumpkin chili

Dec 5th, 2011
by ben.
6 comments

Pumpkin turkey chili

Date: 11/25/2011

Recipe: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/467

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
2 jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 pound ground white or dark meat turkey
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with their liquid
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée
1 cup water
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, jalapeños and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add turkey and cook until browned. Add tomatoes, pumpkin, water, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and add beans. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes more. Ladle chili into bowls and serve.

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 30 minutes simmer or 5 hours cook time in a crockpot.

Modifications: We made this earlier in the day and used a crockpot instead of cooking it on the stove.

Servings: 6 adult servings

Ben: Like

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: This was a recipe from our neighbor Molly that they’ve made a couple times and it was a hit up at the cabin with Erin’s parents.
Stirring the chili

Smoked meatloaf with roasted sweet potatoes

Nov 15th, 2011
by ben.
1 comment

Smoked Meatloaf

Date: 11/9/2011

Meatloaf recipe: http://www.kickassbbq.com/smoked_meat_loaf.html

Sweet potato recipe: Source: Cook’s Illustrated

3 pounds sweet potatoes (about 6 medium), ends trimmed, peeled, rinsed, and cut into 3/4-inch thick rounds (see note)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon table salt
Ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Heat packed light brown sugar, apple juice, butter, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until butter has melted and sugar is dissolved, 2 to 4 minutes. Tosspotatoes in large bowl with oil, salt, and pepper to taste until evenly coated. Line 18- by 13-inch heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange potatoes in single layer on baking sheet and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Adjust oven rack to middle position and placepotatoes in cold oven. Turn oven to 425 degrees and cook potatoes 30 minutes.
  2. Remove baking sheet from oven and carefully remove top layer of foil. Return potatoes to oven and cook until bottom edges of potatoes are golden brown, 15 to 25 minutes.
  3. Remove baking sheet from oven and brush potatoes with half of glaze, flip slices over with thin metal spatula, and brush with remaining glaze. Continue to roast until bottom edges of potatoes are golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes longer. Remove from oven; let potatoes cool 5 to 10 minutes; transfer to platter and serve.

Time to table: 1.5 hours prep time, 5-6 hours cooking time

Modifications: I added 6 cloves of garlic to the meatloaf. Instead of hamburger we used 1lb ground turkey thigh and 1lb mild pork sausage. I used the pork rub that I used in the pulled pork we’ve made several times.

A note about the sweet potato recipe is that, in our case, it didn’t take nearly as long as they said to cook the potatoes. After the first 25 minutes they were done, but we had to cook them longer to cook the glaze, so you might be able to make the initial cook time shorter to save time.

Servings: 7 adult dinners

Ben: Love Love Love

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: My dad made this meatloaf over the summer when Annie and I were down at their place for dinner one day, and I knew I had to make it. I never really liked meatloaf growing up, but I’d never had meatloaf like this before. The smoky flavor combined with the pork rub and bbq sauce is amazing. I took the leftovers to work and made meatloaf sandwiches with cheese and sriracha and it was heavenly all over again.

We’ve had the sweet potatoes a couple times at Thanksgiving, from my brother-in-law Joe, so Erin whipped those up as a side dish. We had the neighbors over for dinner and there were still 4 slices for me to bring in for lunches.

I put the meatloaf on the smoker at 12:15 and by 5pm I still had 25 degrees to go, so I moved it to the oven to finish it off. The garlic still had a bit of a kick to it :)

Glazed Sweet potatoes

Annie eating meatloaf

Mango salsa turkey burgers

Jul 13th, 2011
by ben.
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Mango Black Bean Turkey Burger with avocado cilantro sauce

Date: July 7th, 2011

Recipe: http://www.carascravings.com/2011/06/spicy-mango-black-bean-turkey-burgers.html

Modifications: Instead of actually making the mango salsa, I just sauteed the mango with some jalapenos and onions ont the stove.

Time to table: 1.5 hours, with waiting for the charcoal

Servings: 5 burgers

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: This meal was kind of a pain to put together because you have to make the salsa, the yogurt spread, the black bean mix, and then shape the patties. These burgers tasted good, I just don’t think they’re worth the effort involved. They also didn’t stay together very well on the grill, a common gripe of mine regarding (mostly) veggie burgers.

Annie didn’t really get into this meal but she did enjoy a bun with the avocado yogurt on it.

Annie eating turkey burgers

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