Jamacian Beef Patties

I celebrated the new year in San Diego, CA with my brother, whom I haven't seen in 2 years. He is a Marine, stationed at Camp Pendelton. We spent 5 days accomplishing a whole lot of nothing, something neither of us are accustomed to doing. Each morning we woke up and he complained about how cold the 50 degree weather was (HA! Back in Minnesota it was 10 degrees!!) Then we went for a nice long jog that involved either ridiculously steep hills (Escondido, where he lives, happens to be in the bottom of a valley so no matter where we went it was always up hill) or running along the serene but ferocious ocean. We ran across rivers in our (expensive) running shoes, we sprinted up steep hills until our thighs burned, then we went back to his apartment and ate until we couldn't move. On my last day there, we indulged in a frozen yogurt buffet at the mall and a 10 minute chair massage by some lovely gentlemen that didn't speak a speck of English.

Here is my brother and I (photo above) at Bernardo Winery outside of San Diego. It isn't a running winery anymore but they have tons of crazy stuff just laying around. Below is my brother and his wife. They are so in love it makes you nauseous, but in a good way.

We visited some lovely wineries and saw some beautiful artwork by various street vendors. The whole time I was there I only spent 4 hours actually within the city limits of San Diego. My poor camera only made an appearance one time. I was enjoying my freedom from everyday responsibilities...far to relaxed to think about pulling out the camera to document every moment of our time together. But now that I think about it, it sure would be nice to have a few pictures to remember my trip. Oh well!

Jamaican Beef Patties
Slightly adapted from EatingWell

Crust
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
5 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup ice water
1 large egg yolk

Filling
1 pound 93% lean ground beef
4 green onions, minced
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon salt

For Crust:
Add flours, turmeric, salt, baking powder in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Cut butter into small pieces and cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry cutter or fork until butter pieces are small, but still visible. Add oil and toss with a fork to combine. In a small bowl, whisk together water and egg yolk and add to flour mixture and stir until dough comes together. Knead for about a minute until dough comes together in a ball, then wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate for 1 hour.

For Filling:
Add ground beef, green onion and cayenne pepper and cook over medium heat until beef is no longer pink and is cooked through. Stir in breadcrumbs, water, thyme, turmeric and salt, mix well and let cool.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

To make patties roll out dough until about 3/8" thick, and using a 3" biscuit cutter, cut circles out of dough. Add 1 tablespoon of beef mixture onto dough and add another dough circle on top. Pinch sides tightly together with a fork and poke a hole in top of patty. Repeat until all dough or beef if gone. (I had quite a bit of meat left over, which we used for nachos the next night.) I ended up with 14 patties.

Bake patties until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. I served my patties sour cream. Enjoy!!

Fish Cakes

Winter has taken over. The once green grass is covered in white snow. My once dry driveway is covered in ice. The once full green trees are now bare. The bird bath that once had doves bathing in it is now holding 6 inches of snow and there are no birds to be seen.

So, every once in a while when its especially chilly out (like the day after Thanksgiving when it was a whopping 12 degrees) I have to close my eyes and pretend I'm in tropical paradise. I make fish cakes and a pina colada with a little umbrella and imagine the sun beating down on my face. Then one of the kids scream and I'm home again in the cold snow. Nice try though, huh?

Fish Cakes

2 pounds Tilapia
2 cups panko bread crumbs
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
3 green onions, finely chopped
1/4 cups flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon dill (Fresh or dried)
1 1/2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
Canola oil for frying

Chop fish fillets into about 1/4" to 1/2" chunks and place in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined.

In a 12" cast iron skillet, add enough oil to cover bottom of pan about 1/4" deep. Heat oil over medium high heat.

Form about 1/2 cup of fish mixture into a patty and cook on each side 3-5 minutes, until they are golden brown. It will probably take 2 batches to cook all the patties.

Place cakes on a paper towel to remove excess oil and serve with your favorite tarter sauce, pretend you are basking in the sun on a tropical island and enjoy!

Chili and Corn Bread Casserole

This is one of the very few recipes I have that contain a lot of cans...but it is good and warm on a cold fall day and leaves you with very minimal clean up, which is my favorite kind of cooking! I've substituted some of the canned diced tomatoes with a freshly diced tomato just to make myself feel better about all the cans. Opt for low-sodium variations of beans to watch the sodium content.

Chili

1 pound ground turkey breast or lean beef
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
1 large tomato, diced
1 16 ounce jar salsa
1 15 ounce can reduced sodium black beans
1 15 ounce can reduced sodium kidney beans
1 15 ounce can reduced sodium pinto beans
1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Using a 12 inch old beat up cast iron skillet or other skillet that can go straight from stove to oven, brown ground turkey or hamburger. Make sure not to chop your hamburger too finely, the men folk seem to like big chunks of meat, especially on deer hunting opener weekend! Once meat is browned, add canned diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, diced large tomato, salsa, beans (make sure to rinse them first) chili powder and cumin. Stir together to combine and simmer over low heat. Then prepare your corn bread topping.

Corn Bread Topping
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup corn meal
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup shredded cheese
1 4 ounce can green chilies, diced

In a large bowl combine your dry ingredients and whisk together. Then stir in milk, oil, beaten egg, cheese and chilies and stir until just combined. There will still be clumps and that is ok! Evenly spread corn bread over top of chili in the cast iron skillet, being careful not to mix the corn bread and the chili.

Bake for 30 minutes until your corn bread is firm to the touch and golden brown.

Enjoy!!

Orange Chicken and Rice

Look at this little man. He rides his bike without training wheels. He sleeps all night in his own bed. He gets himself dressed in the morning. He is going to be starting preschool in two months and riding the school bus.

How does five years go by so fast? Its like I blinked and all the sudden he was a toddler. Then I turned around and hes now a full grown boy! Can someone please teach me how to freeze time? Please? Otherwise if I blink again my Peanut will be 5...then Walnut will be 8! Lord help me!





Orange Chicken and Rice

1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups cooked brown rice
3 green onions, diced

Sauce:
1 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup honey
zest from 1 orange
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon corn starch, mixed with 3 tablespoons water

Heat canola oil in a skillet over medium high. If tenders are too thick, slice in the middle lengthwise. Brown chicken in skillet until cooked through all the way and nice brown coloring on each side. Dice chicken into bite size chunks.

In a medium sauce pan, combine all the sauce ingredients and cook over medium-high heat until sauce thickens...about 10 minutes. Be sure to stir often.

To serve, spoon a large scoop of rice onto a plate and top with chicken and sauce and chopped green onions. Add sliced almonds if desired.

Enjoy!

Coconut Chicken Strips with Honey Citrus Dip

Coconut Chicken Strips with Honey Citrus Dip

2 pounds chicken tenders
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1 egg
1/2 can of condensed milk
1/2 cup of orange juice
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix orange juice, condensed milk, and a beaten egg until your wet mixture is well combined. In another bowl, mix coconut and panko crumbs.

Dip and fully coat each tender in the egg mixture first and then the panko/coconut mix. Place coated tenders on a baking sheet sprayed heavily with Pam.

Bake chicken 35-40 minutes, turning half way through so that chicken browns nicely on both sides. Serve with Honey Citrus dipping sauce.

Honey Citrus Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup orange marmalade
In a small bowl, mix the honey and marmalade. Heat in microwave for one minute.

Ricotta Stuffed Pasta Shells

See this pretty little girl with the crazy hair? That's my peanut. And guess what? She is not even 23 months old and after a long week...she's potty trained! Today is day 6 since we started training and we got through the entire day with NO ACCIDENTS!

That little Peanut amazes me every day...she is so smart. I can't believe what these little people are capable of sometimes. It seems like it was just yesterday she was my little baby suckling from my breast and now she has grown into a very "spirited" little girl. I just can't wait to see what transformations this little girl is going to go through in the years to come. Where my Walnut has always been so easy going and quiet, my Peanut is always the head of the pack. If someone is doing something she is right there with her nose in the way, imitating whatever action is happening.

Oh, little girl, I love you so much and I just know you are going to take the bull by its horns and conquer the world!

Down to business now...I like to fit in a few vegetarian meals every week. I've always been boarder line vegetarian. I guess I've just never committed to it. Sometimes a big burger after a long week sounds really good, then other times I could go a full week easy with no meat. I've been watching my cholesterol and blood pressure pretty closely the last few years due to some family history so I've cut back even more on meals containing meat. This recipe is one of my favorites to serve on a weeknight when you are looking for something hearty and satisfying without the meat. Hope you enjoy!

Ricotta Stuffed Pasta Shells

1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 cup chopped broccoli
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 egg whites
2 teaspoons dried basil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 spaghetti sauce recipe (click here for recipe)
15 jumbo pasta shells, cooked and drained
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Saute onions, broccoli and garlic in oil until tender. Add in ricotta, mozzarella, egg whites, basil, salt and pepper and stir until combined. Remove from heat.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Stuff cooked pasta shells with cheese mixture and arrange in prepared dish. Top with spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 35 minutes until cheese is melted and dish is nice and hot!

Enjoy!!

Homemade Chicken Nuggets and Oven Fries

My kids don't always eat everything that I make for dinner. For instance, you'd never see them putting down a big plate of Steak with Melon Relish or Chicken Marsala. And you'd never ever see them wolfing down a Pesto Chicken Foccacia Sandwich! So, sometimes I make two dinners. Like for instance today I had Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps (recipe coming soon!) and the kids had this...Homemade Chicken Nuggets and Oven Fries! Oh, they smelled excellent, too. I really wish I wasn't banning carbohydrates today. The kiddos gobbled them all up anyway, so there wasn't any left for me.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

3 large chicken breasts
1 cup mozzerella cheese
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp Lawry's Seasoning Salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 dash cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon Parsley Flakes
1 cup panko bread crumbs (or crushed Rice Chex for gluten free)

Boil chicken breasts for about 30 minutes until they are completely cooked through. When they are done, cut the breasts into large chuncks and place in a food processer. Pulse 3-4 times until chicken is broken up and slightly chunky. Then add cheese, egg, and seasonings. Pulse until all ingredients are throughly mixed and it forms a paste almost.

Place panko crumbs or cereal into a bowl with any desired seasonings.

Scoop out a heaping tablespoon and roll into a ball, then flatten ball to about 3/4" thick to form a nugget. Press both sides of nugget into the Panko/cereal and place on a baking sheet. Repeat until all chicken is gone.

Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes, turning nuggets after 15 minutes. Both sides of nuggets should be golden brown.

Oven Fries

4 potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
Freshly Cracked Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Dill

Skin potatoes and cut into fries about 3/4" x 3/4". I usually get about 12 fries from each potato when I cut them. Place potatoes in a large bowl that has a lid and add oil, salt, pepper and dill. Put on lid and shake until all potatoes are coated. Spray a non-stick pan with cooking spray (I've found even through potatoes are covered in oil they still stick so the cooking spray helps a lot when flipping them!) Place potatoes in a single layer on sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes, flipping potatoes over after 15 minutes for even browning. Fries are done when they are tender.

*Note that the fries and the nuggets have the exact baking temps and times so you can get it all done on one pan at the same time!

Enjoy!!

Steak with Melon Relish

I've never really been sure about relishes that combine fruit and vegetables, so when this recipe hit my inbox today from Self I have to say, my interest was piqued. I happened to have a huge ripe cantaloupe on my counter I brought at Trader Joe's over the weekend. So I figured why the heck not? With this new attempt at cutting down on carbohydrates I'm feverishly trying to find new recipes.



And it wasn't too bad! I would probably pair it with chicken or pork next time I make it, though. But the balsamic vinegar went great when paired with the cantaloupe. My little peanut sure enjoyed the cantaloupe as a snack (ok, it was her dinner...and that's all she ate. But I'm okay with that.)

Steak with Melon Relish
from Self Fitness Magazine

1 large cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and diced
1 medium red onion, diced
1 cup Italian parsley, chopped
1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
2 tablespoons white balsamic (or cider) vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 pounds of your favorite steaks
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Toss cantaloupe, onion, parsley, mint, vinegar and oil in a bowl. Set aside. Heat a grill, grill pan or large skillet over high heat. Season steaks on both sides with salt and pepper. Cook 5 to 8 minutes on each side for medium rare, 8 to 10 minutes per side for medium and 10 to 12 minutes per side for well done. Remove from heat and allow to rest on a clean cutting board for 5 to 7 minutes. Cut steak diagonally into 1/8-inch-thick slices and transfer to a platter. Spoon half the relish on top. Serve remaining relish on the side.

Lasagna

By far my favorite comfort food...and anytime I have to host a dinner party. I don't think many other meals can come together to feed a group of 10 people as easily as lasagna. If you make it the night before then all you have to do the day of the party is pop it in the oven and toss a salad. Also a great dish to make a few in disposable pans at about the 37 week mark of pregnancy then freezing them unbaked. Then after baby arrives all you have to do is take it out of the freezer and bake and your husband will be so impressed by how you were able to care for the new baby AND cook such a great dinner he'll give you a foot massage...

How many more meals do you know of that can bring you all the way through elegant dinner parties and pregnancy?

Lasagna

1 spaghetti sauce recipe (see here)
1 pound ground beef
9 lasagna noodles
1 - 24 oz tub cottage cheese
16 ounces shredded mozerella
16 ounces shredded parmesan
1 small can sliced black olive (optional)
1 small can sliced mushrooms (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and put in lasagna noodles. Boil about 7 minutes until noodles are extremly al dente. You don't want to cook them all the way because they will be boiling in sauce in the oven and we don't want mushy noodles.

Follow spaghetti sauce recipe, adding 1 lb ground beef as you saute the onion and garlic. (Or use your favorite jarred spaghetti sauce, I won't judge.) If you'd like, you can also stir in a can of mushrooms and a can of olives.

Spray a 9x13 lasagna pan with cooking oil spray. Lay down 3 noodles in bottom of pan. Layer with 1/3 of spaghetti sauce followed by 1/3 of cottage cheese and 1/3 of each the mozzerella and parmesan cheeses. Continue until you have 3 layers.

Bake uncovered 45 minutes, making sure the top is nice and brown. Let set about 10 minutes out of oven before cutting to let the cheese set up.

Enjoy!!!

Spaghetti Sauce

If there is one sure fire meal that I know my kids will eat no matter how stubborn they are currently being about the food they are willing (or not willing would be more appropriate) to put into their mouths, it is spaghetti. Which is absolutly fine by me because it also happens to be my favorite food too! Have you ever looked at how much salt and surprisingly...sugar is in canned spaghetti sauce? Its a lot, and somehow that sneaky high fructose corn syrup can make it in there too sometimes. I wish someone would explain to me why that keeps sneaking up into the least suspected places.

Spaghetti sauce is suprisingly easy to make and comes together in just minutes. Just a little bit of chopping and stirring and you've got one tasty, healthy, low cost meal on your hands.

Spaghetti Sauce

1 onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 - 28 ounce can tomatoes (if you have home canned ones, use 1 quart)
1 small can tomato paste
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon sugar
2 - 3 teaspoons salt
1 lb whole wheat pasta

Boil water in a large pot and add pasta. Cook for 7-10 minutes until al dente.

Heat olive oil in a skillet and add garlic and onion. Saute until onions are starting to turn golden brown. If you like meat in your spaghetti, add 1 pound hamburger or ground turkey now and cook until no longer pink. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, sugar and salt (start with 2 teaspoons of salt and work from there depending on your salt tolerance). Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes until sauce thickens and the tomatoes have had a chance to suck up the aroma of the herby goodness.

Chicken Marsala

Does this look like the face of a mischievous devil-in-training? See her little horns there hiding under all that curly hair? It is true...my little Peanut is being corrupted, drug into the world of color crayons and markers and walls. Yes, my friends, markers on my walls. In her room, the closets, on the furniture. Who you ask is the ring leader of this fiasco? It is none other then...

My Walnut of course. He's the ring leader. He puts ideas in Peanut's head so that when the wrath of Mommy comes he looks at me with those big blue eyes and says "I didn't do it, Peanut did!" Then I have to investigate to find out what really happened because I know that most of the time my little Angel wouldn't be able to come up with this stuff on her own. And Walnut knows how to lie. I've caught him several times. Where do they learn to lie like that? Are we born with a natural instinct to lie and it comes out around age 4? Is there an innocent and easy little lie that is the gate way lie and once they realize they got away with it they grow from there? Will I ever get my questions answered so I can intercept Peanuts first lie so she doesn't learn how?

So, days like these I pack my little nuts up and ship them to Grandmas so I can scrub/scour/clean/sanitize whatever they happened to have gotten into on that particular day. Then, I make myself something so delisous for dinner that all the stress from my devils-in-training melts away.

Chicken Marsala

4 Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts
Salt and Pepper
1/2 cup flour
4 Tbls Butter
16 ounces Fresh Mushrooms
2-3 cloves Garlic
1 cup Marsala Wine
1 cup Chicken Broth
1/2 cup Heavy Cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides. Place flour on a plate and dredge chicken breasts through flour to make a thin coating on each breast.

Heat and 1/4" oil in skillet over medium high and place chicken breasts in hot oil. Fry each piece for about 4-5 minutes on each side until breasts are golden brown. Remove chicken from fry pan and place on a tin foil lined baking sheet and place in oven for about 20 minutes until breasts are done all the way through.

Meanwhile, pour off excess grease from skillet and add butter. Once melted add mushrooms and garlic and lightly salt and pepper. Saute mushrooms for about 5 minutes until brown and soft. Add in marsala wine, chicken broth and heavy cream. Make sure to scrape all the bits off the bottom of the pan with the spatuala while stirring. Allow to reduce by about 1/3, about 5 minutes.

Pour mushroom sauce over chicken and serve with mashed potatoes, rice or noodles.

Enjoy!

Lemon Asparagus Pasta

Nothing says Spring and Summer like lemon and asparagus! I found some asparagus on sale at the grocery store the other day for $1.49 per pound. I love it when fruits and veggies come into season so they are affordable again. So, yesterday I searched the internet for a recipe using my bargain asparagus and came across Half Assed Kitchen's Lemon Asparagus Pasta. It was divine! The lemon in the sauce was perfect and the asparagus is always good! I used skim milk instead of heavy cream in my sauce though, so I left out the 1/4 cup of pasta water. I bet it could be served cold too and be pretty good. I don't have any leftovers though, so I won't be able to find out... Enjoy!


Asparagus Lemon Pasta
from Half Assed Kitchen


1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 pound bow-tie pasta
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine
3/4 cup heavy cream, half-and-half or plain Silk creamer
2 teaspoons freshly-grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup fresh, flat parsley leaves, chopped
Freshly ground pepper
Grated parmesan cheese


Steam asparagus until crisp-tender (about 5 minutes). Transfer to a colander and rinse with cold water. Drain well and set aside.
Meanwhile, bring water to boil in a sauce pan. Add pasta and cook until al dente.
In a deep skillet, heat butter and cream over moderately low heat until butter is melted. Stir in zest, lemon juice and salt.
Ladle 1/4 cup pasta water into sauce and drain pasta.
Immediately add pasta and asparagus to sauce in skillet. Cook and toss until warmed through. Add parsley, pepper and top with parmesan.