Warning: Spice ahead.... mexican meatballs

I like spice.  I think it's a good thing.  Sometimes I forget however that my boys are young and aren't used to it so much. 

Like tonight.  We had mexican meatballs that simmered in salsa verde.  The salsa verde is pretty spicy.  I like that.  And so I made it. 

The boys ate it (every bite of meatball for both of them) but kept saying, "Mom, this is spicy!"

So if you aren't a fan of spice, you might want to substitute red mild salsa instead.  It would still be pretty tasty.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 bread crumbs
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
pepper
1 egg
1 tsp garlic powder
1 carrot, shredded
1 small zucchini, shredded

1/2 jar salsa verde (or mild salsa if you prefer)

2 cups rice, cooked
1/2 TBSP lime juice
2 TBSP fresh cilantro
salt

Instructions:
Mix ground beef with bread crumbs, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper, cumin,egg, carrot and zucchini.

Let chill for 1 hour to firm and marry the flavors.

Make ping pong ball sized meatballs out of them.  Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. (you can do this ahead and just warm them in the salsa later)

Warm the salsa and meatballs over medium low heat together, 10 minutes.

Yes, it makes way more than this... but I forgot

to take the pictures.

Cook your rice.  You can use instant, brown, white.... whatever.  I like the regular white rice in this recipe.  Then at the end of the cooking, add the lime, cilantro and salt and mix well.

Put the meatballs on the rice...

Enjoy! 

We were so enjoying the idea of dinner, we forgot to take pictures.  But we hurried and grabbed some before dinner was gone!



Because it's Saturday...

Because it's Saturday and I like making treats on the weekend...

Because I don't bake well enough to come up with my own recipes...

Because I have chocolate chips in the freezer....

Because I just feel like it...


I'm sharing this recipe for chewey molassas chocolate chip cookies that I am about to make for our treat. 

Just don't ask me to share the cookies!

Menu planning with the family... Coconut chicken fingers with apricot-ginger sauce

People ask me from time to time how I menu plan.  It's something I really enjoy, this whole food/cooking thing.  I spend my weeks looking at blogs, reading magazines that are passed down from friends and family, ripping out recipes, saving some to my favorites.  I have a 2 pocket folder for each season that I put recipes in. 

Each Sunday I pull out the folder for the season and pick out a recipe or two.  Then I find a couple on my favorites that I like. Then I make a list of the days we'll be home and fill the days in with those recipes.  If I need more, I usually ask my family for suggestions. 

This week Big Man picked coconut chicken fingers.  We've had it once before and it was just okay.  I knew it could be better so I needed to look for another recipe.  I opened up my favorites and saw that I had saved a recipe from one of my favorite food blogs.  

But I wanted a good dipping sauce.  Every time I have coconut shrimp, it's really more about the sauce for me.  So I searched until I found one that would work. 

Then, with my favorite Big Man beside me I took a couple of recipes, put them together and came up with this one. 

Big Man was my guest photographer as well. =)

Ingredients:
3 heaping TBSP creamy peanut butter
1/4- 1/2 c skim milk

1 cup shredded coconut, chopped into smaller pieces
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

Chicken tenders (I used just under 2 lbs.)

For Sauce:
1 cup apricot preserves (low sugar is fine here)
1 TBSP soy sauce
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp ginger powder

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 450.

Mix the milk and peanut butter together in a small bowl.  Transfer it to a pie plate for easy dipping.
Mix the panko crumbs, coconut and the spices together in another pie plate.

Dip the chicken fingers in the peanut butter mixture, then then coat in the panko mixture.

Place the coated chicken on a foil lined bake sheet.

Bake the chicken for 15-20 minutes or until no longer pink in the center.

While they are baking you can make the sauce.  In a small pan (or a microwaveable bowl if you want to do it in the microwave) warm the jam, soy sauce, ginger and sesame oil together until heated through.

Serve the chicken with a side of the sauce.  At our house we called this dinner Peanut butter and Jelly chicken.  So good!

Enjoy!!

Everybody's different... Pita pizzas

My boys are so different.  One gets nervous easily, one is brave.  One is careful, one will just walk into the street if we don't watch him.  One loves to read, the other could play all day and never look at a book.

But they both like pizza.

Duh.  Who doesn't?

So we make individual pizzas.  And it works. 

One gets all the veggies, and one has just ham. 

But I love them both.

Ingredients:

Pita bread- I make my own, but feel free to use store bought.  (I would if I remembered to buy it!)
Ham (or sausage, or pepperoni)
Mozzerella cheese
Feta cheese
Caramelized onions
Green pepper (cooked off just a bit)
Spinach (lightly cooked in oil)
Red Pesto sauce or pizza sauce
Any other toppings you'd like

Instructions:
Set the oven to broil.

Put the pita bread in the oven to warm, 2 minutes.

Take it out and spread 1 TBSP of pesto or pizza sauce on the pita.

Add the toppings of your choice.

Add the cheese.

Broil for 3 minutes or until the cheese is bubbbly.

Enjoy!!

Something different... Cheeseburger omletes

Okay, so I know it sounds kind of odd.  But you have to try this.  It's good. 

Really good.

So good that nobody had to tell Little Man to eat his dinner.

And in this house, that is the biggest compliment a Mama can get.

So try the cheeseburger omlete because Little Man says it's so good!

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground beef, browned
3 slices Ameican cheese
2 green onions, chopped
6 eggs mixed with a splash of milk, and a little bacon salt (if you have it, salt and pepper if you don't)
3 tsp butter

In an omlete pan (which I don't have so mine were a little thinner) melt 1 tsp butter over medium low heat.

Add 1/3 of the eggs.  Stir constantly with a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom of the pan until the eggs are 2/3 cooked.  (About 1 minute)

Turn the heat to low and tip the pan to spread the eggs evenly.

Add the burger, cheese slices and onion to the middle of the omlete.

When it sets, flip one side over the burger/cheese/onion.  Flip that over the rest and slide it on to a plate.

I then covered mine with ketchup! (and it kinda fell apart!)

Enjoy!!

 

Monday menu planning...

Monday- Coconut chicken fingers
Tuesday-Chicken thighs and polenta
Wednesday- Work
Thursday- Work
Friday- Mexican Meatballs
Saturday- Ham Twists
Sunday- Pancakes and Maple bacon

Not a bad pattern.... Chicken tinga tacos

I was putting my pictures into the online storage today and noticed a pattern.

Most of my dinners start the same way.

Most of them start with two ingreadients in one of my red pans.

Those two ingredients are garlic and onion.

That's not a bad thing.  Garlic and onion are good. 

Very good.

This dinner however is different than the normal one.  Don't get me wrong.... it still starts with garlic and onion.  It's different because it has a bunch of steps.  But it is so worth it because it is so good.

And it's fun to say....
Chicken Tinga Tacos

See how fun that is!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp garlic, minced

3 chicken breast

1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch cloves
pinch salt and pepper

1/4 c vinegar
1 c water
1 can tomato paste

Instructions:
Start by heating a large pan over medium heat.  add olive oil. onions and garlic, imagine that!  Cook onions until they are softened.

Combine the spices in a small bowl. 

Sprinkle the chicken breasts with some of the seasoning mix.

Add the chicken to the pan.

In another small bowl, combine the tomato paste, water and vinegar.

When the chicken has browned on both sides, add the tomato mixture to the pan.  Cook on low until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove the chicken fromt the pan.  Shred the chicken and remove half of the sauce from the pan.

Add the shredded chicken back to the pan until it is warmed through.

Serve on warm tortillas with cheese.  We also add some pepper plant sauce. I highly recommend that stuff if you've got a taste for the spicy. We use the california style right now.

enjoy!