Spaghetti and Meatballs (Bon Appetit magazine)

I searched high and low for the recipe on their website with NO luck. So here it is:

Sauce:
2 28 oz cans whole peeled tomatoes in juice, drained, juice reserved, tomatoes finely chopped (or in my house, just use sauce as Hubby HATES chunky cooked tomatoes)
1 stick butter (unsalted)
2 medium  onions, peeled and halved through root end
1/2 tsp salt (more if needed)

Meatballs:
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless french bread (or whatever)
1/2 cup milk
8 oz ground beef (15% or less fat)
8 oz ground pork (using sausage removed from casing)
1 cup finely ground Parmesan cheese. They say specifically NOT grated
1/3 cup finely chopped italian parsley (ummm, dried ok?)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 eggs
2 large garlic cloves, pressed
1 lb spaghetti
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese for serving

Combine tomatoes, butter, onions and salt in large, wide pot. Bring to simmer and reduce heat, simmer uncovered 45 minutes or so, stir occasionally. Remove onions and toss them. Use an immersion blender to process sauce briefly to break up large chunks of tomatoes (or if you live like my household, no issues as NO CHUNKY TOMATOES ALLOWED!).  They want the sauce smooth but not completely (?) Season with more salt & black pepper. Remove from heat.

Combine breadcrumbs and milk in bowl. Let soak 10 minutes (stir to be sure all are swimming!).  Place pork and beef in large bowl and break up into small chunks. Add 1 cup of cheese, parsley, salt and pepper.

Whisk eggs to blend in small bowl, whisk in the garlic. Add to meat.

Using hands, squeeze the bread crumbs, reserve the milk. Add to meat mixture. Using hands, QUICKLY and GENTLY mix meat til just combined (do not overmix). Chill for about 15 minutes up to one hour (this is looking like a Sunday meal!)

Moisten hands with reserved milk and roll meat mix between palms, creating a golfball sized meatball, occasionally moistening hands with milk as needed. Place in single layer in sauce in pot. Bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer til cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes.  This can be done 2 days ahead (cool slightly, chill uncovered til cold then cover, rewarm before serving).

Serve over hot pasta along with some nice crusty garlic bread!

Layered Southwestern Salad

The first time I made this, I completely forgot to make the dressing and someone just poured ranch on theirs so that's how I do it now!

1 16 oz package of romaine lettuce, shredded
5 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained well
1 small purple onion, chopped fine
8 oz Mexican blend shredded cheese (any will work, really)
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 or 2 diced red peppers if desired

Layer lettuce, and the following ingredients in layers in a 3 quart glass bowl. I FINALLY have one of them footed thingys that my neighbor gave me, you know, the Triffle bowl!!

You can either top with a light dressing OR just do as I do and serve the dressing on the side. this is really pretty :)

Chicken, Black Bean, Corn and other pantry stuff salad

Funny, this came from a newspaper article a while ago of how to use up your hurricane supply stock. Ironically enough, it's stuff I normally have in the pantry anyways and Hubby loves it.

It also makes an awesome Quesadilla filling!

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can corn, no salt if possible, drained
4scallions, thinly sliced, about ½ cup (or for those who think like me, green onions)
1 red/yellow or orange pepper, diced
1 can of chicken, drained (or ¾ lb / 3 cups cooked chicken), cut into bite size pieces
Juice of 2 limes (3 tbs)
¼ cup olive oil
1 tbs ground cumin
Salt & pepper to taste
Diced tomatoes (optional, but highly recommended)
Diced jalapeno for those who like a little kick.

In large bowl, mix all together. For best flavor, try to make a few hours ahead of time to chill and let all get happy together :)

Chicken Cesar Pasta Salad

I got this recipe a while ago from Moms Advice (which reminds me I need to go visit, it's been awhile!) and well, even though its really not so much a recipe as an idea, me and the Princess LOVE this stuff. Great way to use leftover chicken & pasta!

1 head romaine, sliced (note: I do not normally recommend you cut your lettuce, but for this its fine since you will be eating it all shortly)
handful of croutons
4 ounces (or just use leftovers!) pasta, preferably penne type (tubular) cooked
cooked chicken breast, cut into bite size chunks (or you can go smaller, almost shredded)
Parmesan cheese (I've kind of gotten hooked on the real fresh stuff from Costco)
Cesar dressing (again, Costco, even though I LOVE Ken's Low Fat Cesar dressing)

Take all the ingredients above, put in a bowl. Pour dressing over a little at a time, tossing to coat all well before adding more.  I personally do not like my salad swimming in the stuff, so I go light, but others like it heavier (uh, like Princess!)

Chicken Wings - not fried!

A few weeks back, around Memorial Day I believe, I picked up 2 5 lb bags of chicken wings from GFS for something like $6 a bag ... that's cheap! Does anyone remember when the wings were dirt cheap? Not anymore!

Anyways, With all the men that were in the house (5 total, 3 of them teens), we cooked alot of meat. And hubby is the wing master. So he used 7 lbs total to do the following:

Rinse and pat dry the wings. This is just the way hubby is :)

Make a marinade of lemon juice, liquid smoke and Tabasco pulp (this stuff is WICKED). Toss wings in marinade and let them get happy for an hour or so.

Remove from marinade and place wings on baking trays. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Bake at 350 for an hour or so until cooked. You can serve these dry or go ahead and top with a little more hot sauce if desired.

*FYI - I was not home when hubby made these, but boy were they delicious. I'm so glad we opted NOT to fry them!

Fruit Salad (pantry food!)

My brother in law and his two kids (13 and 15) are visiting and we've been grilling like crazy every night. That's fine and dandy and I'm really enjoying it as is Hubby.

The boys eat fairly well. Surprisingly not BIG eaters but they eat. And they like fruit. A LOT.

So, I grabbed a can of peaches in light syrup, drained. A can of pears in light syrup, drained. A jar of cut pineapple in juice, drained, and a can of mandarin oranges (in "syrup"), drained.

Tossed all those in a bowl, and hubby handed me my canning jar that holds my toasted coconut (hey, toast your coconut ahead of time and have it on hand and ready to go for times like this!) and I tossed some in.

Oh MY GOD. It was good. The coconut took it right over the top! Try it!! Perfect to go with the 7 pounds of wings he made :)

Salsa or as we call it, "That Fresh Tomato Stuff"

I've got the little gadget, the Vidalia Chopper and I swear by the thing. This is made at least 2 times a week and kept in the fridge and then just topped on everything (favorite? Scrambled eggs!)

2 large tomatoes, cut in quarters and squeezed lightly to eliminate most of the liquid

1 onion (whatever you have on hand), quartered

2 to 3 jalepenos, seeds removed to your taste and cut in half (my plant just will not die and the hotness varies from one pepper to another)

lime juice (fresh or from that little fake plastic thing

Now comes the hard part. Open lid of chopper. Using the SMALL grid, place a quarter of onion on grid, and slap the lid shut. Open and repeat with rest of onion and jalepenos.

Remove small grate and insert large grate. Repeat with tomatoes. Empty contents of tray into bowl if needed.

Squeeze lime juice over all and store in fridge. I've got mixed emotions on salt. I use coarse salt but find it makes the tomatoes really juice up and then swim in liquid which is NOT what we are going for!! That's why you use the LARGE grid for the tomatoes.

Now if you are using this right away, use the small grid & add a pinch of salt.

Sure, you can add cilantro or basil or any other flavors. But this house is using it just as all around topping (rice, chicken, nachos, tacos, eggs, etc.)

Honey Mustard Dressing

Because I've been doing low carb, I've not had honey mustard dressing with my salads or chicken which is just horrible and I've been going through withdrawals!! BUT, Tammy over at Tammy's Recipes recently shared her recipe and wow, I made some and hubby was eating it in no time with his chicken nuggets. Then me & Princess had some delicious salad with it...definitely a keeper and worth sharing the way I made it ... (don't forget to check out Tammy's site, shes got some GREAT recipes over there...

1/2 cup canola oil
3 tbs white vinegar
2 tbs water
1/4 cup honey (tip: measure the oil first and pour into bowl THEN measure the honey in same cup, will pour right out for you!)
1/4 cup grey poupon mustard
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt (or more, but for me, its' good as I'm salt sensitive taste wise)
dash pepper

Place all in jar with tight lid and shake, shake shake to mix. I used my cruet that I got from the last church sale for 25 cents. Store in fridge for up to 1 week. Somehow, I don't see this lasting all that long :)

Cocktail Sauce (for shrimp)

I ran out of cocktail sauce and have been jonsing for some shrimp so I googled and found a base recipe ... ironically, everything was already in the pantry (except the horseradish which was in the fridge).

1 cup ketchup
1 tbs horseradish (more or less to your taste)
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt
dash pepper

Put all in bowl and whisk. Cover and allow to chill before serving. I will be putting some in a mini-martini glass to serve for appetizers this evening.

Asian Rice Salad with Shrimp

From the Food TV magazine with my modifications as noted.

2 cloves garlic, minced (I just use the fine chopped stuff we always prepare and keep in fridge)

1 2 inch piece ginger, grated (again, this came from a tube of the stuff I try to keep in fridge)

3 tbs sesame oil

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

2 tbs soy sauce (I use this real thick stuff)

pinch of sugar

3/4 lb large shrimp, peeled and devined (used a little over 1 lb)

1 large carrot, shredded

2 celery stalks, finely diced

2 cups snow peas, sliced thin (I had 2 small handfuls)

1 tbs veggie oil (really, it will be 3 tsps of canola oil)

2 cups cooked rice

1 bunch scallions, sliced thin (again, I grabbed 4 of them babies as they were thin looking)

1/4 head iceburg lettuce, sliced thin (used bagged cabbage, 3/4 of a bag)

1 cup mung bean sprouts (eliminated, didn't have any in fridge or freezer)

1/2 cup chow mein noodles or peanuts (I used no salt, dry roasted peanuts as that's what I had)

Whisk garlic, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar in LARGE bowl, Transfer 2 tbs of the sauce to a medium size bowl and add the shrimp to this medium bowl. Toss to coat shrimp, set aside. Add the carrot, celery and snow peas to the large bowl with sauce. Toss to coat.

Heat large skillet over high heat. Add 2 tsp oil when hot and add shrimp. NOTE: I dumped the shrimp in, liquid and all ... DO NOT DO THIS! It will flare up and smell like a chinese restaurant, not in a good way either :) ... stir fry shrimp til cooked, 4 minutes or so. Transfer shrimp to bowl with the veggies. Add 3 tbs water to the pan and scrape up bits on bottom (I didn't have any) and add this to the bowl of veggies (and shrimp) too.

Heat remaining 1 tsp of oil in skillet and dump in the rice. Stir fry til golden. Remove from heat, allow to cool and then add this to the bowl of veggies (and shrimp!). Add scallions too at this time.

Divide the mix between 4 serving bowls and then top with lettuce (cabbage) and noodles (peanuts). Serve it up ...

A Feast for Dad

We pretty much celebrated Father's Day with a nice dinnner on Saturday night because I wasn't sure what Hubby's plans were with working on the boat with all the progress he had made so far ... we are an odd family, I know.
So I had picked these up on Friday night at Winn Dixie. They were on sale, and marked down on top ... I keep forgetting that the mark down price does not include the additional discount for the sale price too (so it takes off xx more per lb.) ... The toally for the 4 porterhouse steaks WITH my 3 $2 off steak coupons? $6.03. I'm happy!


I simply drizzled a little olive oil over them, a little fresh salt & pepper, garlic and a twist of the montreal steak season. Rub it in, and let it sit on the counter for about 20 minutes (while the shrooms cooked). Yummm.

Marinated Shrooms

I used to totally dispise mushrooms, as in, OMG I'm going to toss my cookies that I ate one. But then when I quit smoking, my taste buds changed and now I really do like mushrooms, but still only in a certain way ...
Here's what you need and it's no big deal!


Mushrooms (I use white button most of the time, cheapest to get, these were marked down to 99 cents per 8 oz package AND I like to leave them whole but you can slice ... they will cook faster)


Cesear dressing (I use Kens Steakhouse Lite ... been the tastiest so far)


Toss shrooms in a ziptop. Add dressing, don't make them swim, but enough to coat. Let them marinate for 30 minutes to a few hours. Obviously, the longer they marinate, the more concentrated the flavor becomes so use a little caution.

When ready to cook, tear a big sheet of foil, fold up edges to make a "pan" like shape to keep the shrooms (and dressing) together, dump out the ziploc into center. Gather up edges to form a ball shape with a little opening at the top for steam. I normally double up the foil again just to be sure as the grill can (and does!) tear the foil.

Grill over a low heat spot on grill while you cook the rest of your food. These don't require a long period of cooking, generally about 20 minutes or so is good to me. Enjoy with a nice steak like we did last night ... yumm!

Wine Spritzers

It's funny, I used to think I was sooo sophisticated all those years ago when I ordered a white wine spritzer (please) ... I've started to sip on these again once in awhile as a refreshing way to use up some of this wine I got dirt cheap (for the case, it was $24, that's $2 a bottle, but it's real sweet stuff)

So the original spritzer is simply half wine half 7up or sprite. But these look much better to me:

Fill tall old-fashion glass with ice. Add wine to 3/4 full. Top with ginger ale and a squeeze of lime. Serve.

Sangria

I've not really made sangria on my own completely but think I will this summer ...

1 bottle of dry red wine
1 cup oj
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup sugar
slices of orange and lime, lemons.

Pour all into large glass or plastic pitcher and stir til sugar dissolves. Chill up to 24 hours.


Serve over ice in tumblers with garnishes of orange and lime slices Add retro swizzle sticks for fun.

Lobster Roll

Another recipe from the Grape magazine at Publix. I have not tried this yet but it looks close to another variation I've made. Again, as always, my comments are added in.

4 4oz lobster tails (I've got the 10, well 8 now, left in the freezer from my last big sale)
1/3 c finely chopped celery
1/3 cup mayo
1 tbs lemon juice
3 to 4 slices bacon or pancetta (honestly, bacon is more of a staple here so it would be bacon)
4 french burger buns
4 large boston bibb leaves (or romaine, whatever)

Thaw tails, and cook them in boiling water (large saucepan, salted, just enough water to cover)for 6 to 9 minutes til shells turn bright red and meat is tender. Drain. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking and drain completely. Once cool, remove from shell. Coarsly chop meat.
Mix meat, celery, mayo & lemon juice in glass bowl. Cover and chill for an hour or so.
Just before serving, cook bacon til brown. Drain on paper towl. To serve, line bottom half of bun with lettuce leav, spoon some meat mix on top. Place bacon strips on top of that. Top with other bun half. Serve immediately

Crab Louis

From the Grape magazine at Publix. I have not made this yet but I've put my proposed changes here.

1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup chili sauce (at last, something to use one of 2 bottles on!)
1 tbs small dice green bell pepper (perfect for the kitchen gadget)
1 tbs chopped fresh parsley
1 tbs horseradish
1 tbs minced green onion
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp Worcestershire sauce
6 cups lettuce, torn
12 thin slices french bread, toasted
3 avocados, halved, seeded, peeled and sliced
1 tbs lemon juice
1 lb crab meat, picked over, rinsed and patted dry (yes, I'm using the fake stuff that I have in the freezer, 6 8oz packages I believe)
cherry tomatoes

Whisk mayo, chili sauce, bell pepper, parsley, horseradish, green onion, salt, cayenne pepper & Worcestershire sauce in medium bowl til smooth.

On each plate, arrange a cup of lettuce next to 2 bread slices. brush avocado slices with lemon juice and arrange on the bread. Divide the crab meat and arrange on top of the avocado, spoon about 2 tbs of dressing over each serving .... garnish with fresh lemon slices if desired.
6 servings

Ham & Swiss Cheese Quiche

I made this on Monday afternoon for breakfast on Tuesday since I knew that I had to have my stuff together to do this low carb stuff. You know how that goes!

The original recipe is here but this is how I made it:

1 cup diced ham (I used half of a ham steak from freezer)
4 wedges of the laughing cow swiss cheese (spreadable, low fat stuff)
Diced red onions, eyeballed it til I thought there was plenty (1/2 of a thick wedge slice)
3 eggs
1 cup of cream (is whipping cream the SAME? That's what it is!)
Black pepper

Spray a pie tin/plate with Pam or other non stick spray, generously.
layer the red onion, ham and cheese in pan. I had to break up the cheese, it has a consistency like cream cheese
Mix eggs and cream with a whisk to break up the eggs. Pour egg/cream over the stuff in pie plate. Make sure that you cover all fairly evenly.

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. Walk around the house while it cooks and say "Ummm, that smells delicious!" because it does! Then say out loud, low carb yumminess is on it's way!

Do a knife test and make sure center is no longer jiggly (oops, I had giggly there). I "thought" mine was completely set until it cooled and I went to slice it. It's sitting in the oven again for a few more minutes.

If you can believe this, it makes 6 servings AND each serving only has 2.5 to 3 grams of carbs. Woohoo!

I do need to scope out my pie tins though. This is one of my heavier, nicer ones, but I think it's smaller...which was OK for this recipe, but I think some of the other recipes I have, I would run the risk of it overflowing. I did bake this with a heavy duty baking sheet underneath as it was that close to the top.

Picture? You want a picture?? Princess took my camera on Saturday night to a party. The battery died and I'm still waiting to get both the camera and a charged battery back. Ho hum.

Tacos

This is not a recipe. Really. So maybe don't read any further. BUT if you are curious how a simple family prepares for taco night, then read on...

1 lb of ground beef. Or, in my case, at this time, 10 hamburger patties (or so) from the stellar deal I got on a 25 lb box of burgers. These were a fairly high fat content so I don't use them as burgers :)
1 Taco Dinner Kit - varies from Taco Bell, El Paso brands, depends on what was on sale. This week, it's Taco Bell
Half head of iceburg lettuce, sliced (shredded)
1 tomatoe, diced
1/2 onion, diced
bag of cheese ... mexican blend this week, from my outstanding bargain a few weeks back, 16 oz for 99 cents, been in freezer waiting for this day!
additional taco shells
sour cream
chips
salsa
fresh avacado, diced, only if on sale & coupon available (score!)

And that's it. Cook up the beef, DRAIN and add seasoning. Prepare the veggies as the meat cooks. Serve it up!

Lighter Shrimp Alfredo

So the recipe caught my eye with it being lighter, and the fact that I had EVERYTHING to prepare it NOW.

Originally the recipe is posted here, but I ended up modifying it and will make it again with a few more seasonings added. It was rather bland as was, and I suppose if you have little kids, that's ok, but I have big kids and a discerning hubby :)

1 pkg of raw shrimp, peeled and devined
4 tbs butter, divided
2 tbs olive oil
fresh garlic
fresh parsley
black pepper
1 box of pasta (I used whole wheat pasta, it grows on you after a while)
2 tsp corn starch
3/4 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup parm cheese
6 oz container of greek yogurt (plain)

Prepare your pasta. Since the rest of the dish comes together quickly, start your water now and get the pasta cooking.
Whisk the cornstarch with the chicken broth. In medium size sauce pan, melt 2 tbs butter. Pour in broth and whisk til boiling. Add cheese, and continue to watch til cheese is MELTED and smooth (don't make the mistake that the big GLOB is melted, it's not!)
Heat smallish skillet, melt other 2 tbs butter and heat with oil. Toss in shrimp garlic, season with black pepper & a dash of salt. Cook til slightly pink and flip ... keep an eye on them & don't overcook.
Once cheese is melted in saucepan, take of heat and stir in the yogurt til combined. Dump in the shrimp & all stuff from skillet. Mix well.
By now, your pasta should be done (or you may have already drained) ... dish it up and enjoy your much lower fat Alfredo!
Round it out with a green salad and, in our house, cuz we have no breadsticks left, croissants.

Steaks - Ribeyes

Ok, the price of steaks have gone through the roof lately and it just irritates me that there are no good prices to be had anywhere! So last time I was at costco, I bit the bullet and just paid $35 for 4 LARGE ribeye steaks. $7.99 a lb. I know that's not overly expensive BUT I do have the frugal in florida name to live up to!

I took those steaks and I sliced them thiner. They were at least one inch thick so I decided that we didn't need to be eating THAT much steak at a time (ohhh...that's the cheapskate coming out!) Besides, hubby doesn't eat his meat anyway but done. No pink. So if the steaks had been kept that thick, they would have cooked for an hour on the grill and I'm just not having that!!

So, here's what I did a few weekends back with some for friends and dinner one night:

Layed half of the steaks in a large tupperware dish (ziploc, glade, whatever?).
Poured some BBQ sauce in
Poured some leftover coffee in
Added some worchestershire sauce
chopped garlic
A1 Steak sauce
a little water to thin it out
And tried to mix it up some (so really, do the marinade FIRST and then add the steaks!)

Marinate for several hours, with the last 30 minutes or so being on the countertop to come to room temp.

Grill them up & serve with your favorite sides.

Italian Potatoes

Really, I think we need to cut up with a better, more descriptive name, but this is what we've called them for oh, say, 20 years or so.

Red potatoes (or any type really), cut in to LARGE pieces (don't cut smaller than a large bite size!)
Bottle of italian dressing

Parboil the potatoes until a slightly soft. They need to be cooked but not too much so.

Drain and allow to cool for about 30 minutes. Dump the potatoes in a large bowl and pour the dressing all over the them. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours (longer is fine).

Fire up the grill and place the babies on the grill and cook til a little charred, turn over periodically to keep from burning too much :) These are a great crowd pleaser.