Sweet & Sour Meatballs

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef (you don’t want the beef to be too high in fat because the fat will all pool at the bottom of the baking dish after baking
3/4 cup quick oats
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Form into about 12 balls, each about 2 inches in diameter. Place in a casserole dish. Cover with sauce (below). Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Serve over rice.

Sauce:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon mustard
1/4 cup barbeque sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine ingredients and blend thoroughly. Heat in a small saucepan until combined and sugar is dissolved and pour over meatballs. (This dish is not overly abundant on sauce so if you enjoy things a bit saucier, double the sauce ingredients.)

To Freeze: After covering the meatballs with sauce, cover the pan with two layers of aluminum foil and freeze. To bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake covered without thawing for 1 hour. Uncover and bake 20-30 minutes more, until meatballs are cooked through.

Source: www.melskitchencafe.com

Teriyaki Chicken Legs

8 chicken legs/drumsticks
1 1/2 cups (12 oz) teriyaki sauce
pepper
3 TB sesame seeds
1 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup water
vegetable oil
1 cup rice
1 bunch broccoli, trimmed and cut into pieces
salt
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 bunch scallions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, grated or minced (I used about 1-2 tsp ground ginger)

1. Place chicken in resealable bag with teriyaki sauce & let marinate 4 hours or overnight.
2. preheat oven to 400
3. Place a cooling rack over a baking sheet (you may want to line your baking sheet with foil for easier cleanup). Arrange chicken on cooling rack. Season liberally with pepper.
4. Cover with foil and roast 20 minutes. Turn legs and roast 10 minutes more. Remove foil and roast 5-8 more to darken & crisp. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
5. While chicken cooks, cook the rice in the stock with 1 TB veg oil, simmering covered about 18 minutes. Fluff with fork.
6. Original recipe suggested to blanch the broccoli, so you can if you want, but I like mine crisp.
7. Heat 2 TB oil in large skillet, add broccoli and cook about 5 min then add red pepper and scallions. Stir fry a minute or two then add garlic & ginger, cooking 1 minute more.
Serve chicken legs with rice & stir fry

Original recipe: www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes

Bean Burritos

This makes almost 20 burritos - so you will have some to freeze for lunches or snacks or whatever. Way healthier than the frozen ones from the store!

1 cup brown or white rice (or 2 cups already cooked rice)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 jalapeno, seeds and membrane removed, finely diced (can substitute 1 can of green chiles)

1 teaspoon cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cans (15 oz. each) pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 cups water

1 (10 oz) package frozen corn or 1 can whole kernel corn, drained

6 green onions, white and green parts finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

16 burrito-sized (10-inch) flour tortillas

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Cook rice; set aside. Meanwhile, heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, jalapeno and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened and golden, being careful not to let the garlic burn.

2. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring for 1 minute.Add one can of beans and mash gently in the pan (a potato masher or fork works great here). Add the second can of beans and the water and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 10-12 minutes, being careful not to let the mixture stick to the bottom of the pot.

3. Add corn; cook to heat through, 2-3 minutes. Stir in onion and garlic powders. Remove from heat; stir in green onions and cooked rice.

4. Heat tortillas in microwave for about 30-45 seconds or until all are warmed through.Fill each tortilla with about 2/3 cup bean and rice mixture and 1/4 cup cheese on one side of tortilla. Fold, and hold in sides. Starting from filled end, holding sides in as you work, tightly roll into a bundle. Place on a baking sheet, seam side down, and prepare remaining burritos.

5. Serve warm immediately, with salsa and sour cream if desired -- or, to freeze for later consumption, put the baking sheet of burritos into the freezer for at least 30 minutes, or until very cold so that they don't come apart in the wrapping process. Remove them from the freezer and wrap each burrito individually in plastic wrap and place all the wrapped burritos in a freezer-safe resealable bag and freeze up to three months.

To reheat from frozen:Remove plastic wrap from the burrito. Poke holes in the top several times with a fork. Microwave on high for two minutes. Gently poke a few more holes in the burrito and microwave for another minute. Be careful as the burrito will be piping hot!

What I did: First of all, I used whole wheat tortillas. These usually are not as good as white ones, but at Sam's they sell some really good ones in a large package that is perfect for this recipe. They are Santa Fe Tortilla Company and they are whole wheat, but they are still soft and chewy like a white tortilla and pliable enought that I didn't have to preheat them for wrapping. So I recommend those if you can find them.

We had them for dinner and each made our own burritos with lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes, cilantro, hot sauce, whatever you want. Then I wrapped the leftovers with just the bean mixture and cheese and wrapped them up in plastic right away instead of putting them in the freezer for a while.

My husband was a little skeptical, but they do reheat really well and put a little sour cream & salsa on the side. I think next time I will definitely add a can of green chiles though.

Original recipe: www.mykitchencafe.blogspot.com

Kalua Pork

This is super easy and smelled so good cooking all day that I was pretty much counting down the hours till it was done.

10-12 pounds pork shoulder butt roast (don't substitute a leaner cut of pork or it will be dry)
1 bottle liquid smoke (4oz)
2 tablespoons sea salt (or hula salt if you can find it)
1 1/2 cups water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Trim roast of large pockets of fat (but leave some fat on there to help the pork stay tender while cooking). Place pork in large roasting pan (the aluminum, deep roasting pans you can buy at the grocery store work great if you don't own a heavy-duty roasting pan).

Rub 2-3 tablespoons of sea salt into pork. Pour the bottle of liquid smoke over and around the pork. Pour the water around the pork.

Cover roasting pan TIGHTLY with two layers of aluminum foil.Bake for 5-7 hours (don't uncover while baking - let the steam and heat work it's magic!).

Shred with two forks and serve with rice.

What I did: I used a 4 lb roast and still had tons left over for freezing. I got a covered stoneware baker for Christmas so I cooked it in there. I used the stoneware lid, but still covered the seal with foil, just to be sure the steam stayed inside since that is the key to cooking this. Since my roast was smaller, I used only 3/4 cup water but I still ended up using almost the whole bottle of liquid smoke, and I cooked it at 325 for 5 hours instead of at 375. The recipe is going to be really forgiving, so don't stress about it too much if your roast is a different size. You could cook in in a crockpot too. I served it on rice with fresh pineapple on the side. My husband ate it on a sandwich with bbq sauce and took leftovers to work for lunch in a tortilla. Leftovers will freeze well for use later in pork tacos, sandwiches, enchiladas, whatever you like.

Original recipe: http://www.mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/search?q=kalua+pork

Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

2 TB extra virgin olive oil

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs

s/p

3 carrots, sliced crosswise

1/2 cup long grain rice, rinsed

16 oz pkg frozen black-eyed peas, thawed

32 oz (4 cups) chicken broth

9 oz pkg frozen creamed spinach, thawed

1. In large pot heat the olive oil over med-high heat. Season the chicken with s/p. Add to the pot and cook, stirring, until golden 6-8 minutes; transfer to a plate. Add carrots, rice and beans, scraping up any browned bits, for 1 minute, then stir in chicken broth and 2 cups water. Bring to a simmer until rice and beans are tender, about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, shred the chicken. Add to the soup along with the creamed spinach and cook for 5 minutes; season with s/p. Serve with baguette, rolls, or bread.

Cut calories by using chicken breasts instead of thighs and plain frozen spinach instead of creamed.

Source: Everyday with Rachael Ray October 2009

What I did: I did use chicken breasts and I grilled them on the George Foreman instead of cooking them in the pan and then shredded them. So you can use whatever shredded chicken - however you like to do it, and just start out with the carrots and beans and rice in the pot. It seems like anytime I try to cook it in a pan like that it just gets burned on the outside and still raw in the middle, so for me this was simpler. Justin is not really a fan of soups, but he complimented me on this one. And it's pretty hearty, not too soup-y.

Meals for the week

Here are the new recipes for this week

Grilled Mexican Chicken Burgers (recipe here)
Spinach Pasta Caesar Salad & breadsticks (recipe here)
Edamame & Mushroom Risotto (recipe below)
Spaghetti

Edamame and Mushroom Risotto

2 TB olive oil
8 oz button mushrooms, trimmed & sliced
1 pound frozen edamame
3 cups vegetable broth mixed with 1 1/2 cups water
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 1/3 cups arborio rice
1/4 cup white wine (or veg broth)
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 cup shredded parmesan

1. Heat 1 TB olive oil in large nonstick skillet over med-hi heat. Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside

2. Cook edamame, following package directions. Drain, cool and remove beans from shells. Add beans to mushrooms in skillet, discard shells.

3. Place broth and water in med-size saucepan and bring to a simmer

4. In large saucepan, heat remaining TB oil over med heat. Add onion and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add rice and stir until rice is coated with oil. Cook for 1 minutes, stirring.
Add wine and cook until wine is absorbed - about 1 minute.

5. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth mixture. Cook over med-low heat, stirring until broth is absorbed. Add remaining broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time., cooking in the same manner. This should take about 30 minutes.

6.Gently heat mushroooms and edamame. Stir into rice and remove from heat. Stir in the pepper and 1/4 cup of the cheese.

7. Divide among 4 bowls and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese

Source: Family Circle Magazine, 4/1/09, pg 105