Day 6: Meatballs and Creamy Orzo

Hooray for Fridays! I was really ready for some of my Greek Meatballs last night but realized I was out of the main ingredient, feta cheese. 🙁 So I decided to just use the cheese I did have, which was some crumbled gorgonzola cheese. The meatballs turned out great and the creamy orzo is one of those tried and true recipes in my book. I’ve made it so many times that I stopped using the recipe, but tonight I followed it closely (minus the peas..I didn’t have any) and it made me realize what made me like it so much in the first place.
ps. the orzo recipe makes a ton! If you are making it for four people or less, cut the recipe in half.

Gorgonzola Meatballs with caramelized onions and mushrooms

1 lb ground beef (I use chuck)
1/4 large onion diced
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 egg
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of crumbled gorgonzola (or any blue cheese)

Preheat oven to 375
Heat oil in a medium-sized pan over medium low heat, add onions and mushrooms. Saute 7-10 minutes until onions and mushrooms begin to caramelize. Set aside to cool.
In a large mixing bowl grate garlic into ground beef using a microplane or use a garlic press. Add breadcrumbs, egg, ketchup, Mrs. Dash, thyme, salt, egg and gorgonzola cheese. Next add onion and mushroom mixture and using your hands incorporate all ingredients. Do not overmix. Check for proper consistency to make a meatball, if meat is too wet add more breadcrumbs.
Roll out meatballs and place on a broiler pan that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray. This will drain the grease away from the meatballs. Batch should make between 16-18 large meatballs (which is what I made) or 20-24 medium-sized meatballs. For the large meatballs, bake for 18-20 minutes, for the medium sized start checking at 15 minutes. Remove from pan using tongs, lift carefully so they do not stick.
Enjoy! 🙂

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Day 5: Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken and a keeping it real moment.

Let me start this off by saying this really is a good recipe. However when making dinner last night I must have completely zoned out. Apparently, trying to make dinner while watching the movie “Julie and Julia” is a bad idea. I’ve made this recipe before and it’s so easy! But hey, It’s a movie about Julia Child and I am easily distracted! Which is why I added 2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper instead of chili powder. Then I also added 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper and never got around to adding the chili powder. EPIC FAIL. My mouth is still on fire. Now, this is a moment I wouldn’t usually blog but I promised to blog every dinner during this No dining out challenge. May as well laugh about it!
I have shared this recipe with friends, who absolutely love it (right Jennifer? right Terah?). Tell people I’m not crazy! When I made it last time, I really liked it as well. So give it a try! A word to the wise, read the ingredients carefully. haha!

Spicy Honey Brushed Chicken
Ingredients
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs- I used 4 chicken breasts cut thin.
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
Preparation
Preheat broiler.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.

Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.

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Day 4: Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon Herb Crust

Who doesn’t love Macaroni and Cheese? I mean honestly. I’m sure there are a few of you out there, but the general consensus says Mac and Cheese is one of the best things ever created. As awesome as Mac and Cheese is, I totally was not planning on it for my menu this week. However, my darling hubby forgot to get propane for our grill, so when life gives you lemons-make mac and cheese! (I know that doesn’t make sense, but that’s ok).
Kevin’s grandma makes mac and cheese that I have watched grown men fight over. You wouldn’t think it was really anything special by looking at it, I mean it’s just pasta and cheese. She doesn’t mess around with making a cheese sauce like most people. I admit, I am a total sucker for a pan of creamy mac and cheese, but my husband grew up eating this cheesy, rich, less creamy version. This is what he knows and loves. I have attempted for 5 YEARS to make a mac and cheese worthy of his grandma’s. I added quite a few more ingredients than what she does, but I think I did her proud! (More importantly, he loved it!)

Macaroni and Cheese with Herb Bacon Crust

1 lb of any short pasta, I used corkscrew because apparently it was on sale. 🙂
8 oz white sharp cheddar cheese- shredded
8 oz colby jack cheese- shredded
4 oz mozzarella cheese-shredded
2 cups UNSEASONED breadcrumbs, or 2 cups of fresh breadcrumbs made from stale bread
1 garlic clove-peeled
3 tablespoons parsley
5 slices bacon- cooked and crumbled
3 tablespoons butter
Milk- at least 2%
Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 375

Boil and drain pasta, set aside. Under cook pasta by 1-2 minutes.
Spray a 9X13 pan with non stick cooking spray.
Mix white cheddar cheese and colby jack together so that they are well combined- save mozzarella for crust
Take 1/3 of pasta sprinkle on bottom of pan
Add 1/3 of cheddar/colby jack mixture on top of pasta
Dot cheese with 1 tablespoon of butter- I cut the butter into 6 cubes to make this easier
Sprinkle layer with 1/4 teaspoon salt
Repeat this process two more times until all pasta and cheddar/jack cheese is gone
Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over top of the last layer – add fresh ground pepper if so desired (1/4 teaspoon over top)
Pour milk over pasta slowly. Do not cover pasta with the milk, it shouldn’t come higher than the last layer of pasta.
Put in oven to cook, uncovered for 1 hour and 15 minutes. You will get a few crispy pieces of pasta on top, but watch carefully for burnt pasta, reduce heat if this is the case.
While pasta is cooking mince the garlic clove in a food processor or with a garlic press. Add parsley and breadcrumbs to food processor (or mince parsley very fine and mix by hand). Once all is combined, toss with bacon.
After 1 hour and 15 minutes, top mac and cheese with breadcrumb mixture and return to oven for 15 minutes.
Allow mac and cheese to sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!

Posted in No dining out 30 day challenge!, Side Dishes | 6 Comments

Day 3: Garlic Lime Shrimp Pasta

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it when a recipe takes me by surprise. It’s not like I choose recipes I don’t think I would like, but I usually know what to expect. I was craving a shrimp pasta and this recipe looked suitable. I thought it would be a nice change of pace from the Asian inspired shrimp pasta dishes I usually make. I really do have to say that I was totally blown away at how great this recipe turned out! It is super easy to make and the flavor is out of this world. It has been added into our menu rotation for sure!

* I made this amazing garlic cheese herb butter to go on some focaccia bread with dinner tonight. Lucky for me I had about 2 tablespoons of the butter leftover. I added it to the pasta at the very end of cooking and it really helped seal the deal. I have included the recipe for the butter below (only enough to add to the pasta at the end)

Garlic Lime Shrimp

Ingredients
1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 lb Hot cooked pasta

Flavored butter “finishing” sauce
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 tablespoon feta cheese crumbled
1 clove of garlic minced
1/2 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions

In a blender or food processor, combine all ingredients for the flavored butter finishing sauce and pulse until well combined. If you don’t feel like pulling out a machine for this, just whisk well in a small bowl until incorporated. The softer the butter the easier this will be. Set aside.
While pasta is boiling, start your shrimp.
In a large skillet, saute the shrimp, garlic, salt and cayenne in
butter until the shrimp turn pink, about 5 minutes ( DO NOT OVER COOK! The shrimp will become rubbery and tasteless. turn off the heat once they become pink). Once shrimp are cooked add the flavored butter, coat shrimp. Next, stir in lime juice and parsley. Serve with pasta. (or toss together with pasta)
Yield: 4 servings.

Posted in No dining out 30 day challenge!, Seafood Dishes | 3 Comments

Day 2: Cooking with Class

Get it? Cooking with class? I’m making “fancy” foods and its in a class room? I crack myself up! Mondays are my *favorite* day of the week. It is pure torture running around a kitchen while my crazy Italian chef from Brooklyn scrutinizes everything I do, but its the best kind of torture! This week we studied appetizers and cream soups. As far as recipes are concerned, ha! Sure, we get a recipe but that recipe is merely a “guideline”. So recipes I can’t offer, but delicious pictures of food, that I can do!

Chicken Salad in a Crepe purse with a sun-dried tomato aioli sauce

Arancini with a spicy marinara sauce (Balls of risotto stuffed with a cheesy herb mixture, breaded and gently fried)

Stuffed Mushroom Caps ( stuffed with ham, diced mushrooms, parmesan, and cheddar cheese)

Spanikopita (spinach, feta cheese and onions wrapped in a crispy phyllo dough)

Roasted Corn and Potato Chowder

Obviously, I didn’t need to worry about eating out tonight! I love Mondays!

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Day 1(No dining out challenge): Creamy Taco Mac

On Sunday nights we have a great tradition. We hang out with two of our best friends and if at all possible we wrangle the guys in to taking care of bath and pajama time with the babies while us girls make dinner. It was so nice last night to be able to chill out with my friends, make this EASY dinner and kick back. But enough about the easy life…
I’ve seen this recipe on tons of food blogs (I found it here) and although I would never really consider myself a fan of Hamburger Helper, I thought the recipe sounded worthy of a try. Of course, as usual, I couldn’t leave well enough alone and edited the recipe slightly but it turned out great! My friends liked it too, so I am sure it will go on their menu as well.
This dinner takes 2 pots and maybe 20-30 minutes and it is an easy week night meal!
(oh and ps. I’ve read the instructions for hamburger helper! It takes like 20 minutes as well so go ahead and save yourself that heart attack :))

Creamy Taco Mac
Ingredients:
1¼ lbs. ground turkey
2.5 oz chorizo sausage (or one short tube)* if you are sensitive to heat you can omit this but it adds excellent flavor!
10 oz. dry pasta shapes
1 small onion, chopped
2 clove garlic, minced
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained
4 tbsp. taco seasoning (you don’t have to use the packet! Use this recipe, it makes enough for a couple batches and tastes so much better!)
4 oz. cream cheese
½ cup sour cream
Salt and pepper
Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or sauté pan, cook the chorizo and the ground turkey over medium-high heat until the turkey is no longer pink. A few minutes before the turkey is cooked through, add the chopped onion to the skillet. Once the onions are transulucent, mix in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Mix in the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste (I added about 1 teaspoon of salt, but you may want to start with 1/2 teaspoon and adjust from there). Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit. Remove from the heat and top with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.

Posted in No dining out 30 day challenge!, Quick and Easy Recipes | 1 Comment

No Dining Out 30 Day Challenge

People think that if you love to cook and love food as I do that you would never go out to eat. Why? Why not just cook at home all the time? In a perfect world I would totally agree! Unfortunately, sometimes things get in the way. Like bad habits or for us specifically, it’s not having a dishwasher. I am sure you can imagine how many dishes I create while making or experimenting with meals at home. Mostly because I try to make anything I can from scratch and that makes alot of dishes. Since we bought our house almost 2 years ago I have been cooking with no dishwasher. Which may sound totally whiney but in my opinion a foodie without a dishwasher is like a race car without a pit crew or a model without her make up artist. (dramatic much? maybe.) Either way, we were spending entirely too much money on dining out. So we made a challenge to ourselves. We could save a ton of money for our new dishwasher by totally eliminating dining out of any form for 30 days. I plan on blogging every dinner, the good, the bad and the convenient (cereal anyone?). However I am coming armed with my menu plan and the accountability of my readers and friends! I will be posting a menu with recipes I plan on trying along with recipes from the past at the beginning of each week, so I encourage you to join along with me!

Menu Week 1 (Sunday 3/20-Saturday 3/26)

Sunday: Creamy Taco Mac
Monday: School (cooking class so I eat at school)
Tuesday: Garlic Lime Shrimp
Wednesday:Thai Chicken and veggie skewers, herbed jasmine rice
Thursday: Spicy Honey Chicken Thighs, Roasted potatoes and garlic green beans
Friday: Greek Meatballs and creamy orzo
Saturday: Birthday party (back up-grilled pizza for dinner!)

Posted in General Announcements, Menu Plan Suggestions, No dining out 30 day challenge! | Comments Off on No Dining Out 30 Day Challenge