Hawaiian Meatballs & Rice

This was a great, semi easy dinner. It made a ton of meatballs, so maybe next time I'll half the recipe, or freeze the remainder. The kids balked at the thought of pineapple (something they are convinced they are allergic to) and did not eat a bite. I ate ALL THE BITES.



1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple in juice
l lb. ground beef
1 c. bbq sauce
2 1/4 c. instant brown rice (I'm going to experiment with half cooked whole rice)
1/4 tea. salt
1/4 tea. pepper
3/4 c. chopped bell pepper (frozen if you can find it- I had to use fresh)

Stir together half the pineapple and 3/4 c. bbq sauce and set aside. Mix remaining pineapple,1/4 c. bbq sauce, and 1/4 c. rice with the beef and season with the salt & pepper. Mash it together until well mixed and shape into meatballs. Place in a large skillet and spoon sauce over meatballs cover and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Don't roll the balls too much, maybe just once or twice, being careful so they don't crumble apart. It only happened to a couple of them.

Meanwhile prepare remaining 2 c. rice according to package directions, omitting the butter and seasonings, adding the bell peppers.

Pepper Feta Salad

I am not a fan of feta. But let me tell you, if I could ask this salad to be my valentine, I totally would. I got the recipe from my Mom who found it somewhere. (I'll try and find the credits) I could eat it for breakfast, it's a serious temptation as the salad is really the best after marinating overnight. So I make it before bed and have dreams of the crunchy zesty deliciousness all night. It's also easily adaptable.

A major revelation has been finding the Olive Garden salad dressing at our Sam's Club. I love the OG dressing, no matter what you foodies may say, it's the best. I'm sure any dressing would do.

2-3 bell peppers of various colors (red, orange, yellow, etc)

1 cucumber

1 bunch of green onions

3 Roma tomatoes, seeded

6 oz (or less- heh) crumbled feta

Italian dressing

Chop the veggies, tomatoes, and slice the green onions. Drop them into a sealable bowl with the feta and refrigerate overnight. Serve with drizzles of italian dressing. 

One Pot Enchilada Pasta

This was my favorite dish from The Week of Trying One Pot Meals. I could have eaten the entire pot. By myself. Enjoy!

2 tbl. olive oil

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 small onion, diced

1 1/4 lb ground beef

1 taco seasoning packet

2 c chicken broth

1 19 oz. can red enchilada sauce

2 1/2 c dry rotini pasta

2 c shredded cheese

green onions, diced

sliced black olives

In a deep skillet or a pasta pot, warm olive oil and saute the onion & garlic. Add in the beef and cook until brown. Drain, then stir in the taco seasoning. Add pasta, broth, and enchilada sauce into the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes. Remove lid and let cook for about 5 more minutes. Take off the heat and stir in 1 c cheese. Add the rest of the cheese to the top and cover to melt. Garnish with green onions & olives. 

One Pot Cheesy Sausage Pasta

I'll be posting a few one pot recipes that we tried last week. Both were big hits. This was my husband's favorite, probably due to Husband's love of sausage. The leftovers are so much better, as the best recipes usually are. I should mention that I used turkey sausage and Husband did not even realize it. So sneaky bonus points for that.

• 
  

1 tbl olive oil
1 lb Smoked Turkey Sausage, sliced
1 c diced onion
1 tbl minced garlic (about two fresh cloves)
2 c chicken broth
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 c milk or heavy cream (I used whole milk)
8 oz dry pasta (any small pasta will do)
1/2 tea salt and pepper, each
1 c shredded cheese
1/3 cup chopped green onions, for garnish

Heat up the olive oil in a pot, toss in sausage and onions, cook to light brown. Add the garlic for about 30 seconds until aromatic. Add the broth, tomatoes, milk, pasta & salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes, until pasta is tender. 

Turn off the heat and stir in half the cheese until combined. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and cover to melt. Top with green onions & Serve. Come to think of it, this would be awesome with some sliced black olives. Black olives for everything! 

Cranberry Orange Bran Muffins

I don't think I can overstate just how many of these muffins I consumed upon plucking them out of the oven. They are delicious (and while wheat bran may have little nutritional value at all, who's to say) and healthy.

I nervously make a bunch of tweaks to this recipe. I wasn't PLANNING on making a bran muffin. I just ran out of flour and had to substitute. I also doubled the recipe. BECAUSE WHO WANTS ONLY 8 MUFFINS?! Crazy people who don't know to freeze their sweet delicious muffins. This was also my first introduction to Craisins. Holy wow, how did I miss this?! They're amazing. I'll probably scarf them all by the end of the day. ALL THE CRANBERRIES FOR ME.

To the recipe!

1 c. flour
1 c. wheat bran
3 tbl. flaxseed meal (or a couple extra tbl of either flour or bran
1/4 c. sugar
2 1/2 tea baking powder
1/2 tea baking soda
1/4 tea salt
zest of a couple oranges (mine were small, but more is always better, right?
2 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. orange juice*
4 tbl. melted butter
2/3 c. dried (probably sweetened) cranberries

Mix the dry ingredients (not the cranberries, though) in a bowl. Add the orange zest. In a separate bowl, add the eggs, milk, orange juice, & butter. Stir in the flour mixture, and spin with a mixer a bit. Fold in the cranberries and fill into muffin tins.

Bake at 425 for about 20 mins.

 *I squeezed as much as I could out of the oranges I'd zested (?) and added regular bottled orange juice to make up the difference

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1 c. Almond milk

1 spoon/serving of protein powder

1 banana

1 c. Pumpkin purée

1 tea. Vanilla

2 tea. Honey

1 tea. Pumpkin pie spice

Blend and chill. Or toss some ice cubes in while blending. Makes 1-2 servings.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Spice Muffins

Stop what you are doing right now and bake yourself up these muffins. For a couple reasons 1) they make the house smell AMAZING while in the oven. and 2) with all the sugar, these are almost cupcakes. But there's OATS. So "healthy." Basically, I used this recipe, but did not do the full streusel type topping. Because really, I had to draw the line SOMEWHERE on the sugar.

Dry bowl:
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. rolled oats
1/4 c. flaxseed meal
4 t. pumpkin pie spice*
2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt

Wet bowl:
1 1/2 c. pumpkin puree (or one 15 oz. can)
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2/3 c. coconut oil 
1/2 c. applesauce
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract

*I had to make my own using 2 tbl  cinnamon, 1 tbl ginger, 1/2 tbl allspice, 1/2 tbl cloves, 1/2 tbl nutmeg. 

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the wet & dry ingredients separately, then combine. Pour into muffin tins (about 18 muffins) and I sprinkled some of the rolled oats on top (you know, for reasons) bake for 30-35 mins. (my oven runs cool, so the full 35 mins was about right)