Chard stuffed meatloaf

Okay, so I will preface with this by saying that boy says I ruined meatloaf by putting grass inside of it.  Sigh.  I hope that someday he understands the benefits of eating well and can embrace something a bit healthier than fast food and milkshakes.  Two of his favorite food groups.  I guess at 16 these are the great parts of your life!



Now, off to my meatloaf creation.  True to my usual style, I have a very loose recipe to give you.

Combine 2 pounds of ground meat - I used 2 pounds of ground turkey, but any combo would work well.  I mixed in about 2 cups of bread crumbs, 2 T of italian seasoning, about 1/2 c of fresh shredded romano cheese, 1 egg and 1/2 c of skim milk.  Once I had all of that combined, I spread it out into a rectangle on a baking sheet with a lip to catch runaway juices and then put about 2-3 cups of blanched swiss chard and rolled the ends of the rectangle over it.  Then, I made a mixture of dijon mustard, honey, and a bit of water to make it thinner and used a brush to spread it over the whole meatloaf.  I then baked it for about an hour and 10 minutes at 350 or until the meatloaf juices were running clear.

Let the meatloaf rest for about 10-15 minutes to set and slice and serve!

Homemade Cheese Crackers

So, the boy loves cheez-its.  He goes through a box every few days and he buys them for himself because I refuse.  But I will make them for him.  I just forget sometimes because I'm a crazy busy homeschooling mom who does daycare and also writes a food blog.  :) But enough about me...this is about crackers, and love.  Because the things we do for our family help to create a bond that exists even after all of these yummy cheesy crackers are long gone.  So, when he got home from work today I had a treat waiting.  Homemade cheese crackers. I can't take all the credit because I was reminded by Carla's Kitchen Confessions about these Homemade Cheez-its on Christine's Cuisine.



Did I mention he also got me the first birthday gift ever with his own cold, hard cash?  Tapas plates (see above!) some flowers, stone coasters, and a cool placemat for photos on the blog.  Even though it's been a rough year at times and he's getting closer and closer every day to leaving the nest, knowing that he cared enough about something I love made my day.  I am blessed.  Very blessed.  And these crackers were just a little token of my love for my boy.

Gluten Free Brownies

 



 

I have an assortment of flours sitting around in the pantry - it's amazing the amount of ingredients you pick up here and there for different recipes.  I even had a box of King Arthur Gluten Free Baking mix sitting unopened from a thought I'd had about a gluten free recipe.  So, when I heard a friend had given up gluten for lent, my mind went into action thinking of a way to create a treat for her and expand my recipe repertoire.  I went easy on myself this time and made the recipe as is with one tiny change from King Arthur's website.

King Arthur Gluten Free Brownies

I cut the sugar down to a little less than one cup.  I don't think the recipe suffered at all, in fact I think it could go down a bit more than that because they were still plenty sweet.  I didn't add in the optional chocolate chips or nuts and they were perfect.  Very deep and fudgy.  They might even benefit from some espresso powder or a splash of dark coffee to even further enhance the chocolate but they are pretty awesome as is.

I can't wait to share these brownies with her - and I hear there's a bottle of red wine with our name on it waiting to be shared too...sounds like the kind of evening I need! What's better than chocolate, wine and a good friend?

 

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Doughnuts

I love reading other blogs - there's always a new idea, something I can't wait to try and, then, when I try it, and it's as good as it looked?  Well, that's a big plus!  I recently stumbled on this post from Love, Veggies and Yoga.  I have had my doughnut pan for a full week, and have made one basic recipe from King Arthur flour, and another one that involved a large amount of yogurt and looked more like a muffin but the daycare kids loved, so I was ready for something a bit more complex but a bit decadent.  And then I came across this recipe!  Lovely as well as yummy. a perfect combo.  The boy was not impressed.  I asked if he wanted one...his answer?  "Well, I did before you put that peanut butter all over them."  Seriously, how can this boy be my child?  I could exist on peanut butter if the situation was called for.  I love peanut butter.  Well, really all nut butters...cashew, almond, not as much sunflower but I can stand it and do not even mention nutella.  Love the stuff.  Hmm...a nutella doughnut.  I wonder...

But before my mind spins off to go find something that I can use for that...go make these.  If you don't have a doughnut pan, make muffins with it.  I had some leftover batter and I piped it into mini muffin cups and they were adorable and still tasty.  They will need to cook a few extra minutes though, so watch them.

One teensy change I would made is to consider omitting the cinnamon from the recipe because it does change the chocolate taste.  I didn't mind it one bit, thank you very much, but hubby noted it right away and it wasn't his cup of tea.  (more for me!)  Other than that, perfect!!  Now, go make them and be sure to tell Love, Veggies and Yoga how awesome they are!!

Strawberry Balsamic Dressing

It's funny the transformation that begins to take place when you consider what your food is made of, where it's coming from and what it is doing to your body.  And, suddenly, things that seemed so trivial, such as salad dressing, take on a whole new look.  As I was prepping dinner last night - Honey Lime Marinated Barramundi, yummy - I was looking for salad dressing.  Then, I realized that I had none because I hadn't bought any because I was trying to eliminate processed foods from our grocery budget.  So, I pulled out my handy mini chopper and set to work chopping up some strawberries I had frozen last summer and thawed for use in our spinach salad.  Now, instead of an ingredient, they'd become the garnish, or more likely the star attraction because it was the best choice I could have made.  Oh my goodness, that dressing was amazing!!  And, oh, so simple.  Why have I ever bought dressing before?

I tried to get some pictures but awesomeness is hard to capture so you'll have to take my word for it.  These pictures do not do it justice.

The best part?  5 ingredients.  Yup.  That's it.

1 cup chopped strawberries, fresh or thawed from frozen

2 t organic strawberry preserves, or homemade jam

3 T olive oil

1  T balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Either use a food processor on pulse, or whisk by hand.  Let sit for more intense flavor, or you can use right away like I did.  Store leftovers in the fridge.

I found this recipe on the food network site and it was amazing!  I can't wait to make another salad with it.  I tossed it on baby spinach with pecan halves.

A Whole Wheat Bread that we love...finally!

I have been on a mission ever since I started making bread...to find a whole wheat recipe that wasn't too dense, was mostly fresh ground and that actually would rise a bit.  And I think I finally, finally did it!!!

I made two loaves of bread yesterday just experimenting.  The first was a colossal failure and we now enough whole wheat breadcrumbs to last us for quite awhile.  But the second loaf?  True perfection.  I was in awe of how beautiful the loaf was as I started to cut it.  And inside was just as nice.  Perfect texture!  I couldn't wait to make another loaf and make sure it wasn't a fluke. It wasn't!!!  I can't convey through this post just how happy I was.  What a nice loaf of bread....



So, would you like me to share this awesome recipe I have come up with?  Yes?  Ok, here goes..

Ingredients

1 1/2 c hot water

2 3/4 c whole wheat flour

1 c bread flour

1 T salt

2 T butter, melted

3 T honey

1 T gluten

3 t instant yeast

I used my Z bread machine on the dough cycle, put all of the ingredients in the order suggested - wet first, then flour and then yeast on top - and started the machine.  After the first rise, the cycle was over so I put the dough into a loaf pan for the second rise in a warm spot of the kitchen.  Once it was about an inch over the pan, about 35 minutes later, I put it into the oven preheated to 375 for about 25 minutes.  I watched it carefully for the final few minutes to be sure it didn't burn since it was the first time.  I tapped on it to be sure it sounded hollow before taking it out to rest.

And then, I just enjoyed it!

"Better than going out" Chicken Critter Salad

It was a long week filled with stress, sickness and just trying desperately to get back into some kind of a routine.  Friday afternoon came, I got done work a little early and hubby and I hit the trails at our favorite local park for the first run all week.  It was a shorter run than normal so we hadn't made any plans for snacks, etc to take along and when we finished, we were starving!  On the ride home we tried to decide what we wanted for dinner.  One of the places we still like to head out to every now and then is Texas Roadhouse.  I love the deep fried pickles and hubby loves the rolls and we both agree our favorite thing on the menu is the Chicken Critter Salad.  We thought of heading home, cleaning up and going out, but quickly decided that Friday night is not the night to head there, or anywhere in our town, for dinner and decided to make it at home.  I'm so glad we did!

Of course we started off with some fried pickles - easy and simple.  I drained some dill chips while I heated some oil in a saucepan and then tossed the pickles in a flour, cayenne, seasoned salt mix and fried them until crispy.  For a dip I blended ketchup, horseradish mayo, Italian seasoning blend, hot shot pepper blend and paprika.  We nibbled on these while we made the ingredients for the salad.

First, I tossed some cubed leftover bread with a blend of butter, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper and then put it in the oven at 400 degrees.  Then I made a batter of flour, milk, and seasonings for the chicken tenderloins that I'd thawed out.  I dredged the chicken in the batter and hubby fried them in the same oil we'd used for the pickles.  While he did that, I cubed 2 hard boiled eggs and washed the salad lettuce.  Once the chicken was cooked, we sliced it and put it over the egg, greens and tomatoes and put warm croutons on top.  And added just a bit of honey mustard dressing on top.  Perfection!!  We enjoyed our favorite meal without calling ahead, dealing with crowds or forking over any $.  What a great date night!  Only thing missing was the rolls, so next time I will be sure to have some dough ready to go.

One thing we don't get out very often is dessert so it was extra-special to enjoy a dessert after our meal.  I wanted to try a new recipe and I have seen Black Magic Cake on more than a few blogs, so I decided that would be perfect.  I used this recipe from Allrecipes Black Magic Cake and was excited with all of the wonderful reviews.  We weren't disappointed. Of course, it had to have a peanut butter icing because it wouldn't be a chocolate cake in our house any other way.  :)  Nothing fancy, just a Peanut Butter Buttercream essentially.  So creamy it melted in your mouth.  I wish I had a recipe, but it was more of a clean out the odds and ends to concoct a frosting sort of event - in the most delicious way possible.



I think we were so spoiled with our evening in we might have to replicate it the next time we've got a craving for our favorite salad.  Being home, enjoying working together and then having a relaxing dinner was more than worth it!