Blog on hold!

Some important things have come up in my life - job interviews and whatnot. I will be back online very soon!

Baked Ziti and Willard Bean Soup prep

Ahhh another Monday. They are tough because I'm always tired from the weekend, and moreso when the baby wakes up at night. Because of plans and visitors I did not do as much pre-prep as I would like.

Baked Ziti
Adapted from All Recipes.com

• 1 pound dry ziti pasta
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound (1 package) hot italian turkey sausage, cut into coins
  
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 bag (2 cups) mozzarella cheese, shredded
  
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tsp italian seasoning
  

Cook the pasta to al dente (almost done), drain and set aside. Cook the sausage and onion together with some italian seasoning if you desire. Add some garlic, the spaghetti sauce and the pasta and stir together.

Spray a 9x13 pan with PAM or nonstick cooking spray and add half of the pasta/meat/sauce mixture. Spread the sour cream and 1/2 of the mozzarella on this layer and top with the rest of the pasta mixture. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese to taste.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until the cheeses are melted and browned on top.

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Tonight I am also prepping the Willard Bean Soup for the crockpot on Tuesday. First, I make what is called a mirepoix. This is fancy term for "soup base." Basically, you just dice up some onion, celery and carrot and sautee them with some salt and pepper and then add them to your soup broth. Into the crock:

mirepoix
8 cups vegetable stock (I use Penzey's)
1 lean ham steak, diced
pepper to taste
1 16oz bag white beans (Northern, canellini, small white, any type will do!) soaked overnight and rinsed

Cook on high for 8 hrs (takes that long that high to cook the beans)

It's delicious!

The week in review, Next week's plan

The baby and I came down with a virus so I was not great at keeping up with my blog. However, I stuck to my plan and ordered in chinese food for Friday. Here are my reviews of what we ate:

Sunday: Homemade turkey/soy meatballs and whole wheat spaghetti with spinach side salads ***** Easy to make, good to eat. I froze a bunch of meatballs for future meals.
Monday: Hard Times Cafe vegetarian chili. ***** This is so tasty but I totally got heartburn from eating it for dinner AND lunch the next day. :(
Tuesday: Chili lime chicken burgers (Trader Joe's) and leftover macaroni and cheese from the freezer with a side of broccoli. An old standby so I didn't have to cook that night.
Wednesday: Vegetarian chorizo Jambalaya (cheating and using a Zattarain's mix for this but I will post my Jambalaya recipe in case anyone wants to make it themselves) *** VERY good but only gets 3 stars because I subsequently found out that the chorizo has a LOT of sodium in it. Very disappointing.
Thursday: Chicken stir fry over brown rice. A classic.
Friday: takeout night

This week's plan:

Sunday: leftover vegetarian chili with tortilla chips, sour cream and cheddar
Monday: baked ziti with italian turkey sausage, spinach salad
Tuesday: Willard Family Secret Recipe Bean Soup (don't worry, I will share the recipe)
Wednesday: chicken wild rice casserole
Thursday: Crockpot ranch chicken and potatoes
Friday: Takeout

Grocery List:
Ziti, 2lbs
1 package of italian turkey sausage
1 large bag shredded mozzarella or 1 block of part-skim mozz
parmesan cheese
2 sweet onion
carrots
celery
Uncle Ben's slow cooking chicken wild rice flavor, 2 boxes
2 cans sliced water chestnuts
2 cans cream of mushroom soup, low sodium
1 can cream of chicken soup, low sodium
1 bag potatoes
1 box of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning packets (for making dressing)
1 block neufchatel cheese

Things you may need that are already in my pantry:
chicken
parmesan cheese
1 bag northern beans
1 ham bone or ham steak
vegetable stock
garlic
italian seasoning
tomato sauce

Mmmm Soyrizo.

Yep, it sounds weird. Chorizo made from soy?? But I promise you it was GOOD. It was actually vegan chorizo from Trader Joe's - and since it was vegan there was no casing on the sausages, it was wrapped in plastic. This made it so easy to use in the Jambalaya I made!

If you haven't had Zatarain's, I feel bad for you. Just kidding. Sorta. I buy their reduced sodium (remember the husband has high blood pressure so we try to eat low sodium whenever possible) Jambalaya mix. It is really good and ALMOST as good as my homemade Jambalaya.

Here's my own homemade recipe in case you didn't want to cop out on the mix like I did. If you have access to a TJ's, please try the soyrizo!

Jambalaya
Adapted from Cooking Light
*****This is just as good, probably better for you and better tasting, as Zatarain's!

1  teaspoon olive oil
1 package of sausages, either smoked turkey sausage, chorizo, andouille, or even spicy italian works!
1/2 diced onion
1 diced green or red pepper
1 cup uncooked brown rice
1 can of stewed, diced tomatoes, undrained
1/8  teaspoon salt
1/8  teaspoon dried thyme
1/8  teaspoon black pepper
1/8  teaspoon ground red pepper
1 tbl cajun seasoning
1  cup water
1  can low-salt chicken broth
a bit of hot sauce

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add sausage, onion, and bell pepper; saute 5 minutes if sausage is precooked, or until vegetables are tender and sausage is cooked. Add rice; sauté 2 minutes. Add spices; sauté 1 minute.

Add water, broth, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until rice is tender. Alternatively, you can pre-cook the rice in a rice cooker and add it at the end, but it wont be as flavorful.

We are back in business! 2009 Week 1

Myspace Happy New Year Comments

It's the first full week of 2009 and I loooove the fresh start mentality of the New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, now let's make some meals and live healthy! My "resolutions" or goals for this year are to live healthier, eat more vegetables, less meat and exercise more. To that end, here's my plan for this week**:

**Disclaimer: you will notice that a lot of my menu this week is pre-prepared. Cut me some slack, I'm getting back into the swing of things after a 3 or 4 week hiatus and the holidays really took it out of me this year. I will be back into making everything homemade and posting shopping lists next week, I promise!

Sunday: Homemade turkey/soy meatballs and whole wheat spaghetti with spinach side salads
Monday: Hard Times Cafe vegetarian chili
Tuesday: Chili lime chicken burgers (Trader Joe's) and leftover macaroni and cheese from the freezer with a side of broccoli
Wednesday: Vegetarian chorizo Jambalaya (cheating and using a Zattarain's mix for this but I will post my Jambalaya recipe in case anyone wants to make it themselves)
Thursday: Chicken stir fry over brown rice
Friday: takeout night

I'm not making any baby food this week since my freezer is still chock full of squash, carrots and sweet potatoes from previous attempts. Also, since my little one is getting her first toof (I can feel a raised bump in her lower gum!), she is being ultra picky and has suddenly stopped eating things she used to eat with gusto. We're keeping it simple.

I make my Turkey Meatballs from scratch using a "recipe" my mom used when I was a kid. It is not exact and you have to be OK with using your hands to mush up the meat. Here is a tried and true (by myself) real recipe if you need things measured out.

My Turkey Meatballs with added TVP
***** If I do say so myself. And I do.

1.25lb (because this is a standard package size) 93% lean ground turkey - you need a bit of fat. Don't use turkey breast.
0.75 lb Re-hydrated TVP (measure after hydration on a food scale or just eyeball it) or Soy crumbles of any kind.
1/2 small onion diced REALLY small. Don't leave big chunks! It ruins the meatball texture!
1 tbl or more if you prefer, italian seasoning. I use the pre-mixed stuff from Penzey's because it's just as good as my own mix.
1 egg (the whole egg, don't skimp here)
A splash of skim milk
1/2 cup-ish bread crumbs - add until the texture is right - they shouldn't be too sticky but they shouldn't be dry either. This is one of those things you just feel.

Put everything in a large bowl and mix up with your hands. Yes, your hands. You have to feel to make sure it's not too sticky or mushy. Add bread crumbs accordingly.

To cook: Form the meat into balls - I make mine small (1 inch diameter) because the husband likes them that way but I truly prefer them big and meaty (cook longer if you do this!). Place on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil and sprayed with a little EVOO or PAM. Cook at 350° for about 4 minutes and then turn them all over with tongs. Cook for 2-3 more minutes until you cut one open and it's not pink. Get them off the sheet immediately or they will overcook and be dry. Eeew.

OPTIONAL: leave the meatballs a bit pink if you plan to simmer them in your sauce, but don't just dump them in the sauce uncooked - they wont get browned at all and I find them mushy that way. Enjoy!