Meal Prep 10/1/18

Meatballs : 1 lb ground turkey, 1 lb ground pork, 1 egg, 2 tbsp ranch dressing, 1 tbsp minced garlic, 1 tbsp oregano, 2 tsp ground mustard.  Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.  (Makes 27)

Sweet Potatoes : (5 medium-large) chop into bite sized pieces, toss with olive oil, garlic powder, and sea salt.  Bake at 400 for 40 minutes, stirring half way. 

Green Beans : (2 lbs) Toss with olive oil, garlic powder, and sea salt.  Bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes, stirring half way. 

I was pretty excited when I realized this whole meal could be baked in the oven, at the same time.  Oven means no pots and pans to wash (just foil-line some baking sheets!) and since I could use the same temperature, I was able to cook the potatoes and beans at the same time, which saved time!

These lunches looked pretty small after last week's super full containers, so we will be supplementing with triscuits... Also I realized after I got in bed last night that I forgot to cook the cabbage I bought to go in these meals...oops.  I was too busy trying to get the cooking done so I could hang out with the girls before they left!  We do have it down to a pretty good system at least...while I am cooking, the girls help Coby with cleaning the house. 

Sweet Potato Cheese Ball

I'm sure it has been far too long since I made a food post.  But meals on a tight budget tend towards the unimaginative and unexciting. However, I wasn't going to let that budget get in the way of having yummy food at my annual New Year's Eve dinner party!  I made a bunch of pizzas because they are easy, cheap, and delicious.  And I decided I wanted to make a cheese ball for an appetizer, because I've never made one and it seemed like a good idea.  I turned to Google for inspiration, and found this recipe.  Of course I modified it.

Sweet Potato Cheese Ball

8 oz cream cheese

1 large sweet potato

garlic powder

mustard powder

honey

cashews

Let the cream cheese reach room temperature.  Boil the sweet potato, and then mash it.  I used a food processor to get the lumps out of the sweet potato, then I added the cream cheese, a shake or two of mustard powder, a very generous amount of garlic powder, and about a tablespoon of honey. Once it was all blended up, I scraped it into a container and put it in the fridge.  Hours later, I scooped it out onto wax paper and molded it into a ball.  That turned out to be a good plan, I was able to form the ball by manipulating the wax paper around the cheese, and kept my hands clean.  I put the wax paper encased ball into the fridge for another couple of hours.  Then, I removed it and rolled it in crushed cashews.  

It was ridiculously tasty.  There is still some left, I'm using it as a sandwich spread. 

Happy New Year!

Sweet Potato Pierogies

Last year, we had our first snow day on December 10th and our second on January 7th.  This year, January 7th brought us our first snow day.  I woke up to a 1 hour delay because of the frigid temperatures, with a final decision to be made by 8:00.  8:00 went by and there was no word, so I figured I had better hurry up and get ready so I could get my car cleared and thawed in time to get to school for my early-arrival duty.  Then, hooray, the call came at 8:05, right before I started throwing on layers of warm school clothing.  So I happily stayed in sweats and curled up on the couch with a book for awhile.  And then I went for a run.  I was supposed to take today off, because I ran the last 8 days in a row, but I couldn't take a day off when it meant sitting on the couch all day.

After my run it was time to play in the kitchen, because I'm pretty sure that kitchen adventures are a snow-day staple.  My oven is out-of-order until Friday or Monday, so baking wasn't an option.  (I turned it on the other day, and several minutes later noticed fireworks going off inside it.  Turns out the heating element snapped in half...)  I had a sweet potato on the shelf that needed to be dealt with, so I decided sweet potato pierogies would be a delicious, fun, time-consuming project.

Pasta Dough

I used this recipe for the pasta dough, but I made everything smaller and used 2 eggs.  

And I added garlic powder, and skipped the cornmeal.

Filling

1 sweet potato, boiled and mashed with a spoonful of sour cream and a bit of butter

1/4 sweet onion, chopped and sauteed with 2 cloves minced garlic

The final product, boiled, lightly fried, surrounded by shaved carrots 

and drizzled with a ginger cream sauce.

Sweet Potato Fries

I had some chicken to make into baked tenders this evening, and I decided to have sweet potato fries with them.  However, they bake at different temperatures, so instead of trying to figure out how to sync them, I decided to fry the fries on the stove.

I poured an inch or so of vegetable oil into a dutch oven and heated it up.  Meanwhile, I chopped up 1/2 a sweet potato into thin shoestring fries. I coated the fries with just a bit of olive oil and rolled them in breadcrumbs.  Once the oil was hot, I dropped in all the fries and let them fry for roughly 10 minutes.  Because that's how much time the chicken tenders had left in the oven.  The fries seemed a bit limp when I took them out and laid them on paper towels, but they actually crisped up nicely when they dried.  And they were delicious.  Surely not quite as healthy as the baked variety, but that's ok with me for something tasty!

Dinner is complete.  With ketchup, ranch, and honey mustard.  Gotta have options!

New Year's Eve

This was the 3rd or 4th year in a row for my annual NYE dinner party.  I make all the food, and just ask that guests bring whatever they want to drink.  I've made guacamole and spinach dip every year, but those are probably the only menu items that have stayed consistent.  I feel like my kitchen expertise has grown by leaps and bounds in the last year, and I put a lot of thought into making this year's menu the most spectacular spread of food I have ever accomplished.  

Due to various conflicts, only a handful of people were able to make it this year, but those of us that were there had a great time and agreed that the food was amazing.  

Sweet Potato Cannelloni

filled with crab, onion, celery, cream cheese, alfredo

Cider-BBQ Pulled Pork

pork tenderloin rubbed with flour & cinnamon

slow-cooked in the crockpot for 9 hours

Slider Rolls

choice of plain or cider

Mini-Quiche

choice of bacon or mushroom

Quinoa Salad

with carrot, celery, broccoli, mushroom

olive oil/garlic/ginger 

Cole Slaw

choice of honey & mustard or mayo & ranch

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

spinach, artichoke, cream cheese, alfredo sauce

Guacamole

avocado, lime juice, salt, garlic powder, tomato

Pumpkin-Cheesecake Truffles

choice of dark chocolate or white chocolate

The biggest hit!

I'm told they "melt in your mouth"

I didn't eat any of the white chocolate ones, but I definitely devoured some of the dark.

I'm gonna have a tough time beating this menu next year!  

But I will find a way...of course.

As a side note: as far as I'm concerned, the year ends in June and starts in August.  Which means there are about 5 more months to get through before the year ends. 

But for those of you who go by the number you write at the end of the date...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sweet Potato Cannelloni

Pulled-pork filled Sweet Potato Cannelloni

adapted from this recipe at Fifteen Spatulas

Slice a Sweet Potato as thinly as you can. (They should be thin enough to 

bend a bit without breaking) I'm pretty proud of my knife skills tonight...the 

Website I got the recipe from said you need a mandolin to get the slices 

thin enough.  I used my French Chef Knife.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, and then drop in your sweet potato slices. Boil them for 3-5 minutes.  You want them to be flexible, but not so soft that they break.  When you think they are done, remove them from the water and lay them out to cool/dry.

For my filling, I used some pulled-pork* salad that I made with some of the  I made last weekend: Pulled Pork, Granny Smith Apple, Mayo, Avocado.  

*1+ pound pork tenderloin, flour/cinnamon rub, 1/2 bottle raspberry wheat Shocktop Beer, c. 2 cups apple cider, and some Jack Daniel's Honey Smokehouse BBQ sauce

When the sweet potato slices are cool, spoon some pork salad onto a slice and carefully wrap it, placing it seam-side down on a plate.

My cannelloni looked so small and lonely on the plate, so I also made up a pasta dish to go with them.

I sauteed sweet potato slices and mushrooms, boiled some rotini, heated up some pulled pork, and made gravy out of the liquid I saved from the crock pot when I made the pulled pork.  Mixed it all together, and had a tasty pasta dish to go with my cannelloni.

deliciousness.

1 Pot Meal: Sweet Potatos and Shrimp

You need:
-1 medium sized pot w/lid
-2 sweet potatos, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
-1 1/2 c peas
-1 c chopped mushrooms
- mustard
-sun-dried tomato pesto
-olive oil
-garlic powder, onion powder
-shrimp (pre-cooked)

Put the potatos in the pot with a little bit of water  (not enough to cover), some olive oil, and some salt.  Cover and cook on medium heat until potatos are soft (but not mushy).  Add the peas, cook for a minute or two, add mushrooms, mustard, pesto, and seasoning. Stir well, cook until mushrooms are done.  Add shrimp.  Eat.

Picture time!

Back to School Breakfast

Time to go back to school.  Vacation has been very relaxing, but I have a feeling it might take me a few days to get back into school mode...doesn't help that everything is covered with the snow that fell last night, and it's a whopping 19 degrees out.  Brrrrrrr. It is definitely going to be a day to be thankful for wool sweaters and space heaters.  And I'm super glad I went to school yesterday to turn on my heaters!  Looks like winter has finally arrived!

I've been thinking lately that my chocolate-chip pancake obsession has gone on a little too long and I need to eat something different for breakfast once in awhile... So here's today's breakfast, complete with a homemade bagel.  I'll try to get around to posting about that experience later. 

Sweet Potato Hash Browns with Radish slices

Scrambled Eggs with Avocado

Homemade Whole Wheat-Cinnamon Bagel with Peanut Butter

Of course, since I srubbed the kitchen floor yesterday, I had to go and drop an egg on it this morning.  Didn't really want to start my morning out by re-scrubbing the floor...guess that woke me up pretty well.

Sweet Potato Fries

preheat oven to 450

peel 1 sweet potato

slice the potato into thin fries

put them in a bowl

sprinkle them with garlic powder, onion powder, and salt

pour some olive oil on top

mix it all up (the fries should be only very lightly coated with olive oil)

spread the fries on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for 12 minutes

turn the fries over and put them in for another 5 minutes

eat them

which will the fries go better with, the ketchup or the ranch?