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Quick and Easy Pasta Week – Whole Wheat pasta with meat sauce

Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:00:17 +0000

I love this dinner.

It’s quick.

It’s cheap.

It’s delicious.

It’s Whole Wheat Pasta with Meat Sauce

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 box whole wheat pasta

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1 lb ground turkey

1 small onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 jar Francesco Rinaldi ToBe Healthy Garden Vegetable Tomato Sauce

S&P

Chopped basil

Grated Parmesan Cheese

WHAT TO DO:

Heat a large pot of water over high heat. Once boiling, salt your water and cook pasta to al dente.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add your oil to the pan. Once the pan is hot, toss in your turkey. Brown the turkey, about 6-7 minutes.

Toss in your onions and garlic and season the mixture with S&P. Let the veggies cook for about 5 minutes. Pour in the pasta sauce and mix well.

Let the sauce simmer until your pasta is done.

Add the cooked pasta to the sauce. Top with basil and parmesan cheese.

Delicious dinner in no time!

Light n Lively Meatballs

Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:21:44 +0000

Ever make chicken or turkey meatballs and have them end up all dry on you?

Well check this out!

These meatballs are good for you and your waistline….

They are totally juicy and delicious.

Best part is that you cook them in their own sauce.

You’ll never eat regular meatballs again!

Light n Lively Meatballs

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 pound ground chicken breast

1 small eggplant

3 T chicken stock

1/2 small onion, grated

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 egg white

1/3 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

S&P

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling

1 jar store bought spaghetti sauce (We use Francesco Rinaldi ToBe Healthy Tomato Basil Sauce)

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 box whole wheat pasta cooked to al dente

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and set a pot of water on high for your pasta. Season your water with salt and cook pasta according to package directions.

Cut your eggplant in half and place on a baking sheet. Cook on 425 for about 10 – 15 minutes until soft. Allow to cool a bit then scrape out the yummy eggplant from it’s skin and add to a large bowl. Knock back the heat on your oven to 375.

To the bowl with the eggplant add in your chicken, chicken stock, grated onion, chopped garlic, egg white, bread crumbs, parsley, parmesan cheese, and S&P. Mix well to combine.

Grab a muffin pan. Yes a muffin pan! Place a healthy spoonful of sauce into each muffin well.

Next, form your meat mixture into golf sized meatballs and place on top of the sauce in the muffin wells. The boys each took a row for themselves and made their share.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. I like to flip the meatballs mid cooking process so they get all covered with sauce.

Serve on top of pasta and with a side salad and you’ve got a meal everyone will love and feel good about!

Get Healthy Week – Quinoa with mozzarella and sundried tomatoes

Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner — Wed, 18 May 2011 11:00:43 +0000

I love pasta.

I love rice.

I love starch.

But apparently, not always the best option for you to eat…

Whatever…

Sooooo,

I’ve found this!

Quinoa!

It’s like rice or pasta – that’s really good for you!

And the boys LOVE IT!!!!

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

2 cups water (or chicken stock)

2 t olive oil

1 portabello mushroom, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 jar sundried tomatoes

15 pitted kalamata olives, chopped

10 basil leaves, torn

1 8 ounce package fresh mozzarella, diced

S&P

WHAT TO DO:

In a medium sauce pan bring quinoa and water to a boil. Cover and knock heat back to simmer. Cook for 15-18 minutes.

Meanwhile in a larger sauce pan add olive oil and garlic to the pan. Allow the oil to warm until just before the garlic begins to brown. Toss in your mushrooms and add a bit of S&P. Cook for 5-7 minutes, until the mushrooms brown up.

Knock the heat back and add in your tomatoes and olives. Remove from heat and add in cooked quinoa.

Toss in your mozzarella and basil. Season with more S&P if needed.

Trust me, you’re going to LOVE this dish!!!

Kids Fun Food Week – Meatloaf Cupcakes

Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner — Mon, 09 May 2011 11:00:43 +0000

Want to get your kids to eat?

Grab them and get in the kitchen and make these fun recipes together!

Back by popular demand…

Here is the recipe that started it all!

I couldn’t get the boys to eat meatloaf and mashed potatoes!

So foolish considering that they like everything in that dish.

But they wouldn’t actually put it in their mouth sooooo….

We came up with a fun way to make them together.

Meatloaf Cupcakes were born!

Here’s a lighter turkey meatloaf version…we’re slimming down for summer!

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 ½ lbs ground turkey

1 egg, beaten

1 clove garlic, chopped

½ c bread crumbs

2 T Worcestershire sauce

¾ c chili sauce (you can use ketchup too)

½ c onions, finely chopped

½ c carrots, finely chopped

½ c mushrooms, finely chopped

½ c red pepper, finely chopped

½ c canned fried onion strips

S&P

1 lb russet potatoes peeled and cubed

½ c milk

3 T sour cream

2 T butter

S&P

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place your peeled cubed potatoes in large pot of cold water over high heat. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender (about 8-10 minutes after water boils depending on the size of your cubes).

In a large bowl combine ground turkey, egg, bread crumbs, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, chili sauce, onions, carrots, mushrooms, red pepper, fried onions and S&P. Mix together with your hands until combined. Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray. Mold your meatloaf mixture into cupcake sized balls and place in muffin pan. You’ll get about 8-10 cupcakes. Place in oven and cook at 375 for about 25-30 minutes.

Drain your potatoes and return to pan. Pour in your milk, sour cream and butter, and season with S&P. Using a hand mixer whip your potatoes until smooth and set aside to cool a bit. Take a large plastic Ziploc bag (or a pastry bag if you have one) and cut a small hole in the bottom corner. Spoon your mashed potatoes into the bag then pipe out the potato on top of the meatloaves to look like frosting on a cupcake. Serve ‘em up hot, who doesn’t love cupcakes? Especially for dinner!

Meaty Morsel: Decorate the tops of your cupcakes with BBQ sauce, ketchup, mustard, cheese, shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, anything you or your kids can think of. Let them have fun with this, they’ll have more fun eating it!

Rapunzels Rainbow Tangled Angel Hair

Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:00:10 +0000

It’s week three of our Disney Princess competition!

This week features the beautiful and brand new

Rapunzel from Disney’s new Tangled

The hubs took the boys to see this flick.

They all loved it.

But all I could think of when trying to come up with a recipe was…

Rapunzel, Rapunzel throw down your….

ANGEL HAIR!!!

So here it is…

This is a super delicious quick dish that comes together in a flash.

Rapunzel’s Rainbow “Tangled” Angel Hair Pasta

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 lb box angel hair pasta

2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 T butter

1 zucchini cut into ribbons

2 carrots cut into ribbons

1 yellow squash cut into ribbons

1 box grape tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, sliced thin

1 t crushed red pepper

S&P

parmesan cheese

WHAT TO DO:

Heat a big pot over hot water for your pasta. Cook according to package directions for al dente. Angel hair cooks very quickly!

Meanwhile in a large skillet heat extra virgin olive oil and butter over medium high heat. When the oil is warming add in your garlic and crushed red pepper. Be sure to keep a careful eye on it. As soon as it begins to brown add in your vegetables. Season well with S&P. Let the veggies soften up while your pasta cooks.

When your pasta is done, drain well and add to the skillet of veggies. Toss well to coat and add grated parmesan cheese.

Serve and enjoy!

Now it’s your turn…

If you want this adorable Magical Glow Rapunzel doll to call your very own…

Send in your Tangled recipes!

Contest ends Friday at midnight!

Can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Baked Eggs

Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:00:07 +0000

Sometimes you just have to throw logic out the window.

Today is one of those days.

It’s a breakfast for dinner kind of day.

This is a great and delicious recipe for breakfast or dinner.

The kids like to crack the eggs into little ramekins to make their own.

And they love to dip the bread!

Serves 4 Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes

WHAT YOU NEED:

½ t minced fresh garlic

½ t minced fresh thyme leaves

½ t minced fresh rosemary leaves

½ t minced fresh oregano leaves

2 T minced fresh parsley

2 T freshly grated Parmesan

8 extra-large eggs

4 T heavy cream

2 T unsalted butter

S&P

Whole Wheat Toast for dipping

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat the broiler for 5 minutes and place the oven rack 6 inches below the heat.

Combine the garlic, thyme, rosemary, oregano, parsley and Parmesan and set aside. Carefully crack 2 eggs into each of 4 small bowls or teacups without breaking the yolks. You aren’t going to bake them in these, you just want to have them ready to go.

Place 4 individual gratin dishes on a baking sheet. Place 1 tablespoon of cream and 1/2 tablespoon of butter in each dish and place under the broiler for about 3 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Quickly, but carefully, pour 2 eggs into each gratin dish and sprinkle evenly with the herb mixture, then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Place back under the broiler for 5 to 6 minutes, until the whites of the eggs are almost cooked. (Rotate the baking sheet once if they aren’t cooking evenly.) The eggs will continue to cook after you take them out of the oven. Allow to cool a bit and serve hot with toasted bread.

Noteworthy Nugget: I leave off the herbs for my pickiest eater. I give him extra cheese. You could make this with cheddar cheese too or any other kind of cheese your kids really like!

These are an ode to a recipe I made with my mom when I was a kid out of my favorite kids cookbook. Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse Cookbook. These were sort of like Smee’s Baked Eggs. I think I made everything in that book when I was a kid. Wish I could find it!

It’s been a rough week around here for us. I promise to be back on schedule next week. Be sure to enter our Disney Princess – Ariel contest by midnight tonight. Winners of this and the Cinderella contest announced next week!

Cinderella’s Prince Charming’s Prime Rib Roast

Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 11:00:51 +0000

This dish was originally called “Someday My Prince Will Come Prime Rib” but then I was told that Snow White sang that song, not Cinderella.

See what happens when you have all boys?

I’ve been busy thinking of a Cinderella inspired dish for our awesome Disney Princess Contest

So I decided to come up with a dish inspired by the boys in Cinderella…

Namely the Prince.

Prince Charming.

This got me thinking about my Prince Charmings

And their favorite dishes…

What do all boys like?

Meat!

Good meat!

Prime rib meat!

Voila!

This dish did the trick!

In fact, they dove into it so fast that I didn’t get a good after shot.

I guess that’s the sign of a really really yummy dinner.

WHAT YOU NEED:

5-7 rib, bone in prime rib roast

S&P

3 cloves garlic

3 springs thyme

3 springs rosemary

olive oil

WHAT TO DO:

Let meat settle to room temp. Usually 2-3 hrs before cooking.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Cover and I mean cover the whole outside of roast heavily with salt and pepper. Cut 3 slits in the meat and stick a garlic clove inside each slit. Drizzle with olive oil and toss your fresh herbs on top.

Cook for 20 minutes on 450° to brown up the outside.

Reduce heat to 350° temp hits about 140° to 150°. About 2 hours or so.

Make sure your therometer is in the meat and not in the gap between ribs and meat.

Let sit for 1/2 hr temp will rise another 10° or so. Slice and enjoy.

That is for med-well. If you want it medium or medium rare cut back on the heating time.

Now it’s your turn!

Send me your ideas for Cinderella recipes!

Post them here in the comments and you could win that gorgeous Cinderella doll for the princess in your life!

Contest ends Friday at midnight!

Noteworthy Nugget: This is my brother in law, Matt’s, recipe. My boys adore it! I’ve never seen them eat so much at one sitting. Matt, let me know what Disney Princess you’d like!

Tasty Tidbit – Stinky Onion and Garlic Hands?

Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 11:00:56 +0000

You know how your hands can be a bit ripe after chopping lots of garlic and onions?

If you have ever tried to clean them afterwards you know that it’s super hard to get them smelling fresh again.

Here is a great way to get them clean.

Run them under some cold water and rub your hands with something made out of stainless steel.

Viola, fresh as a daisy.

They even make soap shaped stainless steel these days!

Hmmm, maybe a good Valentine’s gift for the cook in your life?

Just saying…

Ready When You Are Pot Roast

Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:00:08 +0000

I have decided that the inventor of the crock pot deserves a national holiday to recognize their efforts and the success they bring to families everywhere. I mean what’s better than grabbing the kids before school, letting them toss a bunch of stuff into a pot and pressing a button?

You go to school…

you head off to work…

you take the kids to soccer…

pick up your dry cleaning…

and head on home…

Walk in the door and voila…

Dinner is served!

Serves: 6 Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 9 hours

2-3 lb bottom round or rump roast

1 T canola oil

3 large carrots, cut in large chunks

3 large celery stalks, cut in large chunks

1 large onion, cut in large chunks

1 cup white mushrooms whole

1 lb small red potatoes, halved

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 package dry onion soup mix

1 10 oz can low sodium cream of mushroom soup

½ cup beef stock

S&P

Special Equipment: Slow cooker

In a large skillet heat oil over high heat. Season your roast on all sides with S&P. When oil is smoking add meat and brown on all sides. Meanwhile add your veggies to the bottom of you slow cooker. When your meat is browned, place on top of veggies. Add in your chopped garlic, and season with S&P. Sprinkle your dry soup mix over meat and veggies then pour on your soup. Pour stock over veggies and cover. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Serve this with a side salad and crusty bread or just enjoy as is…this is a one pot wonder!

I hereby christen the 3rd week of October

Crock Pot Week!

Gather your best recipes and send them in.

If I use one of yours…

YOU WIN!!

A copy of our cookbook to call your very own. Fire up your crock pots in honor of the guy (or girl – come on now, we all know it was probably a busy mom) who created them and pay some tribute. If you can actually tell me who did invent the crock pot you win too! Well, you win mad props from me anyway!

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:00:26 +0000

Enjoy this little blast from the past…I had to repost it since I can sum it up in one word…Yummy!!!

Serves: 6 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook time: 1 hour 10 minutes

For the meatloaf:

1 lb ground beef

1/2 lb ground veal

1/2 lb ground pork

2 T water

1 egg, bean

1 clove garlic, chopped

½ c bread crumbs

2 T Worcestershire sauce

¾ c chili sauce (you can use ketchup too)

½ c onions, finely chopped

½ c mushrooms, finely chopped

8 strips cooked bacon roughly chopped

6 oz cubed sharp cheddar cheese

½ c canned fried onion strips

S&P

for the topping:

1/4 cup ketcup

2 T mustard

1 T mayonnaise

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place all the ingredients for the meatloaf in a large mixing bowl. Using your hands, mix the ingredients gently until well combined being sure not to overhandle it, you don’t want to end up with tough meatloaf!

Place the meat into a baking dish and shape into a loaf. Some people place the meatloaf on top of sliced bread to catch all the grease but I look at that as a waste of bread! I mean that’s a sandwich or two for the kids right?

In a small bowl mix the ketchup, mustard and mayo. Spoon it out on top of the meatloaf. This will create a yummy crust on top, and you like this on your bacon cheeseburger right?

Bake at 375 for an hour and 10 minutes then allow to rest on the counter for 10 minutes before serving.