Menu - Week of June 22

I haven't done one of these in a while, yeah it's a little late, but I hope to get back on track! This week may not be the healthiest, but I'm trying to use up some stuff I have on hand.

Sunday - Pepperoni Roll & salad

Monday - chicken wings & thin crust pizza, vegetables & low fat dip

Tuesday - Basil tomato sauce over whole wheat penne with turkey meatballs & caesar salads

Wednesday - Taco salad bowls

Thursday - Chicken fajitas, chips & salsa

Friday - Going out to eat

Saturday - Pad Thai w/shrimp & chicken

Eat Your Bowl....Taco Salad

I've made taco salad a couple of times before, but I forgot to blog it. So the third time, I did some more experimenting, and this is my favorite so far. It's such an easy & quick meal that is also great for the summer time. I got the original idea for the tortillas from Chelley, a fellow WC'er. The idea to add the rice came from one of my favorite cooking sites Cooking Light. Then I played around with all of those ideas, and came up with the following. You could also use the filling to make burritos, tacos or nachos, which I probably will do with the leftovers.

Eat Your Bowl Taco Salad

(the recipe makes too much for two servings, but I plan on using the leftovers)

1 lb ground beef

low carb large flour tortillas

2 coves garlic, minced

2 roma tomatoes, diced

1 can of black beans

handful of shredded or torn lettuce

1/2 cup yellow onion, diced (or green onion would be great sprinkled on top of salad)

2% Mexican cheese blend

1/2 -3/4 cup cooked brown rice (yellow or Mexican rice would have been great, but I didn't have any on hand)
1 tsp cumin

juice and zest of half a lime

Preheat the oven to 425. Brown ground beef, drain and add minced garlic, seasonings & water, recipe below. Add diced onions and black beans to meat mixture. Simmer till slightly thickened. (I kept rice separate since Jamie didn't want any, if not, you could add it to meat mixture)

Brush tortillas with some vegetable oil or use non-stick spray, and bake on balls of tin foil or inverted ramekins on a baking sheet for about 6 minutes, till slightly browned and crispy.

Add the lime juice, zest and cumin to the cooked rice.

Toss the meat and rice mixture, or just layer into the bowls, add the dressing, and top with tomatoes, lettuce, extra onions if desired, and cheese.

Taco Seasoning:

1 tsp cilantro (I only had dried on hand)

1/2 tsp oregano

1/8 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp cumin

2-3 tbsp Mexican chili powder

Mix above ingredients together in a bowl, and add 2 tbsp or more if desired, to browned ground beef and add 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp of water, and simmer till slightly thickened.

Dressing:
2/3 cup fat free sour cream

2/3 cup fresh medium salsa

1/2 tbsp of taco seasoning

Mix above ingredients, and toss in or put on top of taco salad.

Penne & Turkey(meat)balls

I love pasta & meatballs, and decided to switch and lighten things up a bit. I have never cooked with ground turkey, so I gave it a try. The meatballs turned out great, they were moist & flavorful, nothing was sacrificed because of substituting turkey for beef. I'll definitely be adding ground turkey to my meals...I'm thinking my next venture will be turkey burgers....

Simple Basil Tomato Sauce

1 can of whole tomatoes, crushed by hand, with juices

15 oz tomato sauce

1/2 cup Merlot

6 oz tomato paste

salt & pepper to taste

1/8 tsp red peeper flakes

pinch of sugar

2 tbsp minced garlic

1/2 cup onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp dried Italian herbs

bunch of fresh basil, torn by hand (maybe 12 leaves)

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat, add onions and garlic and cook till tender. Add tomato paste and cook for a minute.

Add remaining ingredients and simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. I served on top of Ronzoni Smart Taste Penne Rigate.

Turkey(meat)balls

1 lb ground turkey (I used 93/7 fat content)

1/3 cup onion, finely diced

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup bread crumbs

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 and spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix ingredients and form into 1 1/2-2 inch equal sized meatballs.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, turning a few of times so the sides cook evenly. Remove and add to the sauce and simmer for 40 minutes.

Think Thin

You might be thinking....not another pizza post??? But after making the pepperoni bread & grilled pizza, I had some leftover ingredients. And since pizza is my favorite food...here goes! It's a very simple, under 20 minute & light dinner which uses a Flatout wrap as the crust, so it's thin & crispy. Add a salad, and you've got a great summer meal.

Easy As Pizza Pie Flatout Pepperoni & Mushroom Pizza

1 Flatout Italian Herb wrap
turkey pepperoni

sliced button mushrooms

fresh basil

finely shredded part skim mozzarella cheese

pizza sauce (I used my own recipe in the post for Grilled Pizza)

extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle some olive oil on a wrap and place on a pizza pan or cookie sheet, and bake for 3-5 minutes or until slightly browned and crisp.

Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce, and add cheese and toppings. Bake for an additional 7 minutes till cheese is melted.

Remove from oven and top with torn fresh basil leaves.

Chicken Wings - 2 Ways

In an effort to not deep fry one of Jamie's favorite foods, I made two different types of chicken wings, both baked in the oven. He gave both kinds a very enthusiastic thumbs up.....enjoy!




Sticky-Gooey Glazed Chicken Wings

1/2 lb chicken wings, rinsed, dried, separated at joints, tips discarded
1/8 tsp each of salt & pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)
1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
zest & juice of half a lime

Preheat oven to 400. Mix the garlic & onion powder, salt & pepper and paprika together in a bowl. In another bowl mix the rest of the ingredients, set aside. Rub dry mixture on chicken.

Drizzle a little vegetable oil (or use non-stick spray) in a baking dish, add chicken and bake for 40 minutes, turning over halfway through.

Add honey mixture to chicken, toss wings to coat. Bake for another 20-30 minutes, turning halfway through. Sauce will caramelize and stick to the chicken. Jamie said it tastes good dipped in Ranch dressing.



Baked Buffalo Wings

1/2 lb chicken wings, rinsed, dried, separated at joints, tips discarded
1/8 tsp each of salt and pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/4-1/2 cup flour
3 tbsp of melted butter, divided (I used Smart Balance 50/50 blend)
1/2 cup Frank's Buffalo Wings sauce (approximately)

Preheat oven to 400. Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray. Mix flour & seasonings. Toss wings in flour mixture, and put in dish. Drizzle the melted butter over the wings.

Bake for 40 minutes, turning halfway through. Mix one tbsp melted butter & Buffalo sauce and pour on chicken. Bake for another 20-30 minutes, turning halfway through. Goes great with celery & bleu cheese dressing.

Rollin, Rollin', Rollin' - Pizza Style

This is my second time making this pepperoni bread, and it was fantastic - I forgot to take pics the first time around - it was so good, everyone gobbled it up too fast! I got the original recipe from Amber's Delectable Delights, and made some changes. Actually, there are so many things you could do with the basic recipe, and it's great for parties, a snack, or add a salad and it's a meal. Enjoy!

Pepperoni and Cheese Bread

Ingredients:

1 roll refrigerated french bread dough OR 1 loaf frozen bread dough (thawed)

Regular or turkey pepperoni

Mozzarella cheese

Parmesan cheese

Extra Virgin Olive oil

Dried Italian seasoning

My pizza sauce (in post below)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Roll out bread dough, and drizzle with olive oil, a few small dollops of sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella, Parmesan cheeses, Italian seasoning, and place pepperoni on top of the cheese.

Carefully roll the bread dough into a cylinder shape. Pinch ends and top to seal. Brush top and sides with some olive oil.

If desired, top loaf with cheese, pepperoni, and/or Italian seasoning. Make a few diagonal slices in top of loaf for air to escape while cooking.
Bake at 350 for ~20 min. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before slicing.

Serve with pizza sauce.

What's Better Than Pizza in the Oven? On the Grill!!

Pizza is my absolute favorite food, I've only made it once on the grill, but I used a pre-made Boboli shell. I have made homemade dough before (soooo much better than store bought) but I've only ever used it on my pizza stone in the oven. This was my first time trying this dough recipe from Epicurious, and grilling homemade dough...it was almost a complete success....

...but I made a slight mistake when turning the dough over, my tongs took a chunk of dough out, causing those edges to cook faster. So it wasn't as pretty as it couldn't have been, but it was so much better than the oven, and practice makes perfect, stay tuned for my next grilled pizza creation....

Pizza Dough
From Bon Apeitit March 2007/Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients
3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 cups (or more) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
I added 1 tbsp of dried Italian herbs

Preparation
Pour 3/4 cup warm water into small bowl; stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil.

Mix 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt in processor. (Add yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil; process until dough forms a sticky ball. Transfer to lightly floured surface. Knead dough until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute. Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough.(Can be made 1 day ahead, store in airtight container in refrigerator.) Roll out dough to desired thickness. (Start in center of dough, working outward toward edges but not rolling over them.)

Heat the grill to high, then turn down to med-high.
Have all pizza toppings ready to go beside the grill. You have to work quickly!

Carefully lay dough on a floured pan or pizza paddle, brush the dough with some olive oil, and flip the oiled side onto the grill. Leave on for about 3 minutes, then using tongs, flip pizza over.

Layer sauce and toppings on pizza crust. If using fresh herbs, put on at the very end. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

I topped all the pizza with homemade sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh parmigiano- reggiano & fresh basil. On one half I added some turkey pepperoni. The other half, I topped with thinly sliced red onions, mushrooms and roma tomatoes.

Pizza Sauce

8 oz tomato sauce
3 oz tomato paste
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (or more for a kick)
pinch of sugar
pinch of salt & pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, and let flavors blend before using.