Hearty Slow Cooker Chili

I adapted this recipe from many different recipes available online and based off of the food in my kitchen. I really didn't want to have to go to the grocery store!

I used a combination of ground pork and ground turkey, roughly 2 -2.5 pounds and tomato sauce for tomato puree. I also added in some tomato sauce that was left over from dinner the other night. I actually keep a small container of the Chili Seasoning pre-mixed which is handy for assembling this meal!

I browned the meat and combined everything in the slow cooker the night before and stored it, covered, in the fridge. When I woke up I popped the insert into the cooker and set it on low. Volia! Dinner is served!

Serve with my Quick Rise Bread or with tortilla chips!

Hearty Slow Cooker Chili
serves 4-6

2 pounds ground beef (or pork or turkey or combination)
3/4 cup diced onion
3/4 cup diced celery
3/4 cup diced green bell pepper (optional)
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 (10.75 ounce) cans tomato puree (or sauce)
2 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1-2 tablespoons Chili Seasoning

1. Place the meat in a skillet over medium heat, and cook until evenly brown. Drain grease.
2. In the slow cooker combine the meat, onion, celery, green bell pepper, garlic, tomato puree, and kidney beans.
3. Add 1 tablespoon of chili seasoning, stir, cover and cook on low for 8 hours. 
4. After a while (when you get home from work?) taste it and see if you want it spicier, if so add more chili seasoning.

Turkey Meatloaf

I'm not crazy about meatloaf but my family loved this! I actually made it ahead of time and froze it wrapped up in tinfoil. I let it defrost in the fridge over night and then baked it for almost 2 hours.

When making the loaf shape lean towards flattening so that it will cook evenly. No pictures this round! We ate it too quickly :)

If you are freezing the meatloaf I'd suggest the ketchup topping after the loaf has defrosted.

Enjoy!

Turkey Meatloaf
Adapted from Ina Garten
Serves 8-10

3 cups chopped yellow onions (2 large onions)
2 tablespoons good olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried) or oregano
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
5 pounds ground turkey breast (Optional: use a combination of turkey sausage and turkey breast)
1 1/2 cups plain dry bread crumbs
3 extra-large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a medium saute pan, over medium-low heat, cook the onions, olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme until translucent, but not browned, approximately 15 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, and tomato paste and mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, eggs, and onion mixture in a large bowl. Mix well and shape into a rectangular loaf on an ungreased sheet pan. Spread the ketchup evenly on top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours until the internal temperature is 160 degrees F. and the meatloaf is cooked through. (A pan of hot water in the oven under the meatloaf will keep the top from cracking.) Serve hot, at room temperature, or cold in a sandwich.

Meat Lasagna

I found this Lasagna recipe on AllRecipes. I made a couple tweaks but nothing major. I omit the parsley and used oregano instead of basil. I used spicy sausage and ground turkey. I reduced the sugar from 2 tbsp to 1 tbsp and I think the sauce was still very sweet. Next time I will omit the sugar completely and add some red pepper flakes.

Served with my Italian Bread recipe!

Update 9/2015: I've made it again, yummy! I will say it is better if you keep it covered while cooking for almost the entire time as it doesn't dry out as much. Instead of making one large pan I split it into two 9x9 pans and froze the other. To reheat - defrost overnight in the fridge and bake covered for 1-2 hours.

Meat Lasagna

Makes a heaping 9 x 13 baking dish

1 pound Italian sausage (sweet or spicy)
3/4 pound lean ground beef (or ground turkey)
1/2 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves (or oregano)
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)
1 box lasagna noodles
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large pot, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned.

Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange noodles over meat sauce. Spread with one third of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with handful of the mozzarella. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella and repeat the layers.

Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Cheesy Tomato Sauce

You know when you the cooking gods are smiling and you make something really really tasty? Well this pasta sauce was created on one of those lucky cooking days. It is a simple semi-homemade sauce recipe for when you need to make dinner with limited ingredients!

Cheesy Tomato Sauce
makes 4-8 servings

1 lb ground turkey
1 onion, diced
2 big cloves of garlic, minced
1 Thai chili pepper, small mince
3 shakes of Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp dried or freshly chopped basil, oregano
1 jar of pasta sauce (I used tomato basil)/Canned no flavor tomato sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oil in large frying pan. Saute onion, garlic, and pepper together. Once starting to soften add the meat. Season with the worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Cook meat until done. Add spices and tomato sauce and let it simmer until you are ready to eat. If you want to make it cheesy, stir in the mozzarella until it is combined and melted. Let it simmer for another 10 (ish) minutes then serve over pasta!

Authentically Based Ma Po Tofu

Wow its good to be back! I have been caught up with so much summertime that I haven't had time to work much on sharing my tasty recipes! I also have a broken laptop screen so I'm chained to a desk and spare monitor which makes it a little less convenient for writing. But I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and here is a little taste of home!

While most people claim their recipe is authentic, this Ma Po Tofu recipe comes right from the lips of one of my aunts. She cooks as authentic as they come, in fact, she often has to make her food less spicy for my poor Americanized taste buds!

This stir fry dish can be chopped, cooked, and on the table in 30 minutes or less. Make sure you chop everything up before starting to cook!

Some differences: She uses soft tofu, I used firm since I couldn't find soft. Soft tofu has a very different texture and will fall apart easily if you don't stir gently. Personally, I like soft tofu better then extra firm. She also uses ground pork while I used ground turkey. I have no real reason for that, I just tend to use ground turkey as my meat of choice.

The measurements for the "sauce" type ingredients are estimated, I just pour into the meat and guess each time.  You may have never used sesame oil, I highly recommend it, you will never be able to stir fry again without it!

I add broccoli or green beans, but that isn't very authentic.

Happy eating!

Ma Po Tofu
serves 4

1 lb Ground turkey or pork
1 big clove Garlic, minced
1 - 2 tbsp Garlic Chili sauce
1 - 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tsp Sesame oil
Combine 1/4 cup water, 1 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp each minced Cilantro, sliced green onions

Cook the meat until almost done. Add garlic, hot sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil and combine. Cook about 2 minutes.
Add broccoli, cook until just about tender.
Add tofu and carefully stir.
Add water/corn starch mix and stir until thickened.
Top with Cilantro and green onion. Serve hot and over rice.

Tangy Asian Meatballs (Baked not Fried)

This is a great no stove top recipe. I was looking for slow cooker recipes, however many recipes need less then 6 hours, but more then 4 which is not ideal for a work day. So I took the meatball recipe from  here and baked it instead of 3-5 hours on low in the slow cooker.

After combining all the ingredients I thought the meat mixture was a little wet (i.e. not like cookie dough)... so I called my Dad! He said that meatballs are supposed to look like that and it would be fine once they are cooked. He was right! So if your meatballs don't quite look right, they might cook up just fine! He also recommends lining the baking dish with tin foil. This makes for a fast clean up and prevents all the sauces from baking into the dish and never coming off the pan.

I made a few changes, I used ground turkey instead of ground pork and I omitted the plum sauce since I didn't have any in the house. I was worried the ground turkey would be dry, but I didn't miss using pork (or a mix of meats) at all! These were very moist and flavorful.

If you use fresh ginger, you can peel the rest of the piece of ginger and freeze it in a zip lock bag. When you are ready to use it you can grate what you need and then store it back in the freezer.

Panko breadcrumbs are bigger flakes of breadcrumbs. You can use whatever plain breadcrumbs you have on hand.

I would make these again and freeze a few to see how they and I can pre-make them.  

PS It is easy to grow fresh scallions too. When you buy scallions from the grocery store, cut them down to just above the white part with the roots. Plunk it in about a half inch to an inch of water and keep place it in a semi sunny to sunny location. They should start growing in days!

 

Lil meatballs waiting to be cooked

YUM!

Tangy Asian Meatballs (Baked not Fried)

Makes approx 18 golf ball sized meatballs

 

1 pound ground turkey

1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs

3 scallions, white and light-green parts, chopped

1 large egg

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3/4 cup barbecue sauce

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 9x13 glass baking dish with tin foil.

Combine turkey, breadcrumbs, scallions, egg, soy sauce, ginger and garlic in a large bowl; mix until just combined – don’t over mix! The meat will look wet and not meatball like yet. Scoop into 1-inch balls and place onto the lined baking dish.

In a small bowl, whisk together barbecue sauce and hoisin sauce; put a spoonful over each meatball using up all the sauce.

Bake for 20-35 minutes, depending on the size of the meatball. They are done when the inside is no longer pink!

Served with rice and some roasted garlic carrots.

Tacos

Who doesn't love tacos? This recipe combines some spicy refried beans with the ground turkey. Tacos are a great really fast dinner to make, probably under 20 minutes. 

Sometimes I will make my own taco seasoning because it is fairly straight forward, but this time I used the Trader Joe's taco seasoning which has quite some kick to it! I used the Trader Joe's flour tortillas which once heated up for about 15-20 seconds in the microwave are quite easy to fold. We tried the Brown Rice tortillas and those don't fold very well for burritos or wrapping the tacos. They would be good for quesadilla though!

This heated up well as leftovers for lunch the next day too. 

Tacos
4 servings

1 package flour/rice/corn tortillas
1 lb Ground Turkey
Seasoning packet - Trader Joe's Taco Seasoning
1 can refried beans (see recipe below)
1 head lettuce
1 small can black olives
Salsa
Cheese
Guacamole
Sour Cream
etc

Heat skillet. Add ground turkey, cook until all the meat is browned. Add refried beans and taco seasoning packet (to taste). If it is too thick add in water, about 1/4 cup at a time. Slice up the lettuce and put the olives, salsa, and cheese into respective bowls. Assemble by taking tortilla or taco shell,  add meat and then your toppings!

Semi-Homemade Refried Beans 
Adapted from PinchMySalt 
 
1 Tbsp bacon drippings (or vegetable oil)
2 cloves of garlic, minced or 1 tsp garlic powder
Sprinkle some taco seasoning into the beans, or a tsp of chili powder
1 cans (15 oz) pinto beans

In a large skillet, heat bacon drippings over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for a minute or two. Add the drained beans smash them with the back of a wooden spoon. Keep stirring and mashing until the beans are the consistency of soft mashed potatoes. Taste and season with salt if needed.

Turkey Chili

Nate and I love chili. Here is another easy chili recipe for you!

This one is a chunky meaty chili made from ground turkey or ground chicken, I go with whichever is on sale. Please note that this is a very spicy recipe!! What I have listed below has quite a kick and the original recipe calls for more spice that that!

Onions, Peppers, and Garlic

Add meat

Once meat is done, add spices and other things

Add sauce, tomatoes, beans, and corn

Serve with chips!

When you cook ground turkey it tends to clump instead of crumble like ground beef so when you put the meat in, stir it constantly and keep breaking it up with the back of your spoon.

If it is too spicy, add in a little at a time, some cocoa powder, cheese, sour cream, plain yogurt, etc.

Even though the recipe says to let it simmer for 50 minutes, I let it simmer for longer or until I'm ready to eat it. Just make sure you stir it otherwise the bottom might scorch.

This recipe freezes well.

Turkey Chili
makes approx 5 big servings

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 med green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 lbs of ground turkey/chicken
1 heaping tsp of chili powder, red pepper flakes, paprika, cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 - 3/4 of a 16 oz jar of Salsa
8 oz can of tomato sauce
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of corn

Heat olive oil in a large pot over med heat. Add onion, garlic, green peppers and stir until onion is starting to look clear.

Add the meat, stir and break up the meat until it is no longer pink.

Add spices, Worcestershire sauce, tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans, and corn. If you are hesitant, add in half of the spice and add more as it cooks down and you test it.

Let it simmer for about 50 minutes and stir occasionally.

Top with cheese and serve with chips!

Shepard's Pie

N. and I made Shepard's Pie this weekend! Layers of ground turkey, creamed corn, and mashed potatoes then baked in the oven.

First, start the mashed potatoes. This will take the longest to cook. We had 1 large potato and one med size potato. 1 large one would have been enough for us. Dice potatoes to about the same size. I didn't peel them. Add them to a pot of water. Then put on the stove and bring water to a boil. Cook until potatoes are fork tender, aka when you stab with a fork it slips right off. And anyways, you are mashing them, you want them softer rather than harder.

 

Mash the potatoes with a fork or masher until there are no more lumps. As my mom says, "If you leave lumps in the mashed potatoes, everyone knows they are real potatoes." While mashing I added in some salt, butter, garlic powder, and sour cream until it was the consistency I wanted. If you don't want to use sour cream you can also use milk.

While the potatoes were cooking we diced up some onion. We heated up some oil (with a dash of garlic powder) and added the onions when the pan was hot. Then we added in the ground turkey and cooked it until there was no pink left.

Lastly, creamed corn. Open can. :)

Assemble the ingredients, meat in the dish, then creamed corn, and then put the dollop the mashed potatoes on top. Add some pats of butter to the top and cracked black pepper.

Cover with foil and put in the oven for 25 minutes. Take foil off and broil for about 5 minutes or until mashed potato topping starts to get golden.

Next time? Maybe add some tomato paste/ketchup or Worcestershire sauce to the meat while its cooking. I tried not to mess with it like I normally do with recipes.

Shepard's Pie
Makes approx 4 hearty servings

Mashed Potatoes
1 to 2 large potatoes, cut into chunks
Salt (to taste)
1/2 stick of butter (but do it tbsp by tbsp until its the flavor you want)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup sour cream or milk (could probably use a little more if you want softer texture)

 Place potatoes in water in a pot. Bring water to a boil. Cook until fork tender, approx 20 - 30 minutes. Drain potatoes. Add butter, garlic powder, and milk/sour cream. Mash until desired consistency, adding in additional butter or sour cream as needed.

The rest of it...
1 lb ground turkey (or beef, or chicken)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup onion, diced
Salt & Pepper
1 can creamed corn
Additional butter for topping casserole.

Heat oil in pan, add garlic powder, add onion. When softened add ground turkey, add salt and pepper. Cook until no pink is left.
Assemble in baking dish, meat and then corn, and then mashed potatoes. Leave pats of butter and some cracked black pepper to the top.

Cover in foil, cook 25 minutes. Cook additonal 15 minutes until everything is heated throguh (corn will bubble up the sides) and if you want a golden crunchy potato top, heat for about 5 minutes under the broiler.

Enjoy!!

Stuffed Zucchini with Turkey, Tomatoes, and Basil

I'm on a zucchini kick and I found a new recipe on Pinterest and decided to test it out on my book club! This was called "Pizzucchini" you can find the original recipe here. I must say, this recipe sounded great, and it was good, however it isn't a substitute for pizza. It was zucchini stuffed with ground turkey, tomatoes, onion, covered in cheese and then baked. Tasty, but not pizza.

I heated up a pan with a little oil and then added some onions. I used about 1/3 of a cup diced onion. Then I added some garlic powder and oregano. I let that soften for a few minutes. Next I tossed in the ground turkey and let that cook entirely.

Meanwhile, I washed the zucchini and then sliced them lengthwise to create little boats out of them.

Once the turkey was cooked I added in tomato sauce and the zucchini guts. I let this cook together for about 5 minutes. I used jar tomato sauce it was garlic and onion flavor I believe...I also tossed in some fresh basil that I chopped.

I took the zucchini and placed them next to each other in the baking dish. I tried to fill the boats with the mixture but it spilled all over the dish. Then I thought of making this next time with almost lasagna style... just an idea... So I filled the boats the rest of the way and then covered it with cheese. I put it in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes. I broiled it for the last few minutes so the cheese was golden and gooey.

Verdict? Tasty stuffed zucchinis! This was a very filling meal and would be great for a side dish or part of a potluck.

If I wanted to make these more pizza like I would omit the turkey, use pizza sauce, maybe real mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, oregano... etc.

Stuffed Zucchini
serves 4
2 Large zucchini, cut in half
1 lb ground turkey (I had a little left over)
1/4 cup diced onion
basil
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees.
2. In frying pan soften onion and garlic. Add ground turkey and cook together until done.
3. Make zucchini boats by scooping out the middle of the zucchinis. Put the boats in the baking dish.
4. Add the sauce and zucchini guts into the frying pan and simmer for about 5 minutes.
5. Spoon mixture into the boats. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake for 10 minutes until cheese is melted and turning golden brown.

Turkey and Spinach Stuffed Shells

I was making dinner last night and decided to attempt my cousin's Stuffed Shell Recipe. It had been a while since I've made this, so I made it up as I went along. I decided to stuff it with turkey, spinach, and ricotta. I used mushroom pepper jar sauce and covered it in mozzarella.

From start to finish this recipe took about an hour to prepare and cook, but makes about 30+ stuffed shells. Depends on how much filling you put in each one, mine were fairly hardy. We ate about 6 each. The filling could be used for Lasagna or Raviolis as well.

I used my food processor (still awesome!) to dice/chop up the onion and the garlic. Put it in a hot frying pan and let it get soft. I added in some seasonings here. Oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. I stirred this around for about a minute. Then I added the meat. I used ground chicken but turkey or beef would be fine too.

Once it cooked through there was a lot of liquid in the pan. I drained it then added in the spinach leaves. I was rushing around the grocery store and just grabbed a bag of spinach. Not all bags of spinach are created equal. This bag had spinach with stems and I had to pick through it. Next time I'll make sure I get baby spinach leaves just for making this dish a little easier. However it made no difference to the taste. I wilted the spinach in the meat mixture. The meat was very chunky and not the texture I was looking for so I dumped it all in the food processor and pulsed it a few times until it was coarse sand texture.

Next I added in the container of ricotta cheese. YUM!

Meanwhile, I cooked the jumbo shells and had them drained and waiting to be filled. I under cook them a two minutes because I am against soggy pasta and it is going to bake in the oven more too.

I put some sauce in the bottom of the pan and started to stuff the shells and place them in the baking dish. I used a jar of Mushroom and Pepper sauce. Nothing super fancy.

Next I covered it with the rest of the sauce and then a bag of mozzarella cheese. Baked it uncovered at 375 for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and starting to get a little golden.

Changes for next time? Well, we didn't think it had enough flavor. I think I might try it with chicken sausage (out of the casings), or double/triple the herbs when cooking the meat. And for those who don't like ground turkey, it didn't taste like there was any meat in it, and because I pulsed it in the food processor there wasn't any meat texture either.

All and all a tasty meal and not too intensive. It can be changed easily for your food preferences or whatever ingredients you have in the house.

I made Molten Lava Cakes for dessert!

Turkey and Spinach Stuffed Shells

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

Jumbo Shells

1 med/small vidalia Onion

5 cloves Garlic

1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

1 tsp Oregano

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 lb ground turkey 

16 oz (ish) of fresh spinach

16 oz part skim ricotta cheese

1 jar of sauce (or homemade sauce)

2 cups of mozzarella cheese (it is 1 package)

Directions

1. Heat pan with some olive oil and add chopped onion and garlic.
2. Add red pepper flakes, pepper, oregano. Stir.
3. Add meat and continue to stir.
4. When mostly done cooking add in spinach until it wilts (about 30 seconds).
5. Pulse in food processor until everything is about the same size.
6. Let mixture cool.
7. Boil water and cook shells a few minutes shorter than the recommended package directions.
8. Add in ricotta, salt, pepper, any more seasonings, and then egg to the cooled meat mixture.
9. Put some sauce in the bottom of the baking dish, stuff shells, top with rest of sauce and mozzarella.
10. Bake at 375 for about 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!!