Category Archives: Entrees

Homemade Tasty Turkey Meatballs *

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Ok, meatballs don’t photograph well.  With that said, these taste great.  I came up with this recipe because I was sick of paying good money for a tiny bag of turkey meatballs that had additives.  Honestly, these taste better than the bagged ones.  It’s a very adaptable recipe so do what you like with it; this is one of those recipes where it’s hard to go wrong.   But I’m SURE you could go wrong, so don’t go crazy!  🙂

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 container 1 lb. 93% lean ground turkey
  • Coarse salt
  • A few dashes of onion and/or garlic powder, you estimate how much you like**
  • 2 T. plain sour cream
  • 1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
  • 2 T. jarred Parmesan cheese, or use freshly grated (I use jarred)
  • Dried or fresh parsley, you estimate how much you like
  • PAM or similar nonstick cooking spray

**Some IC sufferers do not tolerate onion well, tread carefully!

DIRECTIONS:

  • Heat oven to 375° F. 
  • Mix all ingredients together without over-mixing meat to make it tough.
  • Spray cookie sheet or spray aluminum foil on cookie sheet.
  • Use a cookie scoop for best uniform results, or estimate with a spoon, and scoop meat mixture into round balls, place onto cookie sheet.
  • Cook 20 minutes.
  • Spray the tops of meatballs with cooking spray, flip, and cook an additional 20-25 minutes until meat registers safe with a cooking thermometer (165° is safe).

Lonestar Chili * (Not IC Safe)

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So far, this is my favorite chili on the planet.  Nothing in a restaurant and nothing I’ve made in the past compares to this.  We both love it.  It’s a take on Lonestar restaurant’s recipe.  You can saute real onion and garlic but you don’t have to. I came up with the idea to add a red bell pepper as I had it in my fridge one day.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 lb. lean ground beef
  • onion powder and garlic powder**
  • 15 oz. can kidney beans with liquid**
  • 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, plain**
  • 16 oz. can tomato sauce**
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 T. white vinegar**
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. chili powder (add more if your chili powder is very bland, add less if it’s very potent)**
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Optional: 3/4 to 1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
  • Optional Final Toppings: grated cheddar cheese, croutons, oyster crackers, bread, sour cream, etc.

**Known IC irritants. Tread carefully!

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Brown beef in a large saucepan over medium heat, drain fat.  Add onion and garlic powder, cook one minute.  Remove beef to side plate or add to your main soup pot you plan on cooking in.
  2. (OPTIONAL) Leave some residual beef fat, or add olive oil to pan, and saute your red bell pepper, if using.
  3. Add remaining ingredients to your soup pot (excluding the last line: cheese, croutons etc) and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  I cover it 90% with a lid to keep evaporation down.
  4. Let cool slightly and serve with garnishes listed in “Optional Final Toppings”

Tiff’s Salsa Chicken In the Slow Cooker * (Not IC Safe)

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When I’m done with school, I will definitely be creating more of my own recipes and recipes that are more advanced than this.  This was a simple creation of using what I had left in the fridge: salsa, chicken, left-over rice.  With my not-so-slow cooker, it took about 2.5-3 hours on low.  Your results may vary. 

You can easily scale this recipe up.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 14 oz. frozen boneless skinless chicken
  • 1/4 tsp cumin**
  • Few turns of freshly ground black pepper**
  • 2 cups mild chunky salsa (or whatever it takes to cover chicken in slow cooker). **
  • Monterrey Jack, Mexican, or any other suitable type of shredded cheese
  • Rice**
  • Optional green onions, sour cream, etc.**

**Known IC irritants, tread carefully!

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Place frozen chicken in slow cooker.
  2. Sprinkle cumin and black pepper evenly across chicken.  Pour salsa over chicken.
  3. Cook on low until pretty cooked.  Scrape off salsa and remove chicken to a cutting board.  Chop into bite size pieces.  (I wanted to shred the chicken but it was not willing at this point).  Return chopped chicken to slow cooker. 
  4. Prepare your rice before chicken is complete.
  5. Continue cooking in your slow cooker until the chicken registers 165-170°, or as you prefer. 
  6. Place rice on place, scoop chicken and sauce mixture and pour over rice.  Top with cheese, sour cream, or other toppings.

Chicken Tortilla Soup * (Not IC Safe)

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This is a wonderful chicken tortilla soup.  I based it off of someone else’s, doubled parts of it, and found the perfect balance of ingredients for me.  You can experiment with it!  I didn’t give measurements for cheese or chips because c’mon, you can figure that out yourself and make it your own!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, filleted, and cut into small chunks.
  • ½ to 1 T. olive oil
  • ½ tsp. ground cumin**
  • 7 cups chicken broth
  • Few dashes of garlic and/or onion powder (or you can do 1 tsp. minced garlic and 1 cup chopped onion)**
  • 2 cups frozen corn kernels
  • ½ tsp. chili powder**
  • 2 T. fresh lemon juice**
  • 1 cup chunky salsa, mild or to your liking**
  • Corn tortilla chips from a bag or homemade
  • ½ cup or more shredded Monterey or Colby Jack cheese

**Known IC irritants, tread carefully!

DIRECTIONS:

 

  1. In a large pot over medium heat, saute the chicken in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin and mix well.
  2. Then add the broth, corn, onion, chili powder, lemon juice, and salsa.
  3. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20-30 minutes.
  4. Break up some tortilla chips into bowls and pour soup over chips. Top with the cheese, sour cream, scallions, and whatever other toppings you desire.

Mouthwatering Beer-Marinated Beef Roast

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I love this recipe.  First I thought it was wonderful in the oven, but the second time I made it, I had the idea of putting it in the slow cooker and the result was even better!  The slow cooker method is highly suggested!  Marinate as long as possible for best flavor, preferably 24 hours in fridge!  I used a Boston roast but choose whatever you like!

 

INGREDIENTS:

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Use a metal skewer to poke some holes throughout the beef roast so marinade can penetrate.  (Poke every single side!)
  2. Whisk together beer, honey, soy sauce, Montreal steak seasoning, and garlic in bowl. 
  3. Pour into a large resealable plastic bag. (You may want to put the bag inside of a bowl, like I did, just in case the bag leaks).
  4. Add the roast, squeeze out excess air, and seal the bag.  Marinate in fridge at least 24 hours.
  5. Put into slow cooker on low.  Use a thermometer to measure doneness.  My “SLOW” cooker took 3 hours on low. 
  6. Alternatively, heat oven to 350° F and cook until desired doneness.  (When I did the oven method, I lowered it to 300° or it cooked too quickly)
  7. Remove from oven and cover with foil, and let rest for approximately 20 minutes before slicing. 

 

 

Potstickers with Bok Choy (Can be Vegetarian)

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ABOVE: This takes practice and coordination.  One area is wrapping the potstickers, the next area is cooking them, and the far off area is them cooling! 

 

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This was not only a tasty Rachael Ray recipe, but a great learning experience!  It was shockingly easy to make the ingredients, but the preparation was the difficult part.  Now I know that I prefer using egg roll wrappers instead of the wonton wrappers.  Wonton wrappers are shockingly small and once you put the recommended amount of filling in, they are nearly impossible to close without bursting open.  My son loved these – I made him a vegetarian version (all the ingredients, less pork) and he wanted more and more!  He thought they were just like the vegetarian egg rolls that he loves.  As I no longer eat Chinese food at restaurants after a recent hellish food poisoning incident, I better learn how to make all my favorites at home fast!  Bok choy was very easy to work with and I will include it in more of my recipes from here on out!  Wilting the bok choy was a fun process to see it go from this giant quantity to a small amount.  I had to overlap three wonton wrappers to get the size of potsticker that I wanted! 

If you want this vegetarian, just omit the pork and add more finely chopped and cooked veggies!  My son loved it that way!

 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 T. vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
  • 3/4 lb. ground pork
  • 1/2 lb. bok choy, finely chopped
  • 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped (I used garlic powder)
  • 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
  • 1 T. soy sauce, plus more for serving
  • 20 square wonton wrappers (Definitely use egg roll wrappers if you want they bigger)

 

DIRECTIONS:

  1. In a large skillet, heat 1 T. oil over medium heat.  Crumble in the pork and cook until done, transfer to bowl.
  2. Cook the bok choy, garlic, and red pepper in the skillet, stirring until wilted, add the soy sauce and cook 1 minute.
  3. Transfer to the bowl and stir to combine (with pork). 
  4. Place 2 T. of the filling down the center of one wonton wrapper (JUST TRY THIS, LOL, 2 T. filling will NOT fit in a wonton wrapper!)
  5. Moisten edges and fold so no filling fall outs.  Repeat with remaining wrappers.
  6. Heat the skillet over medium heat.  Brush the rolls with oil and, working in batches, cook seam side down, turning once, until golden, about 5 minutes. 

(Add a dash of toasted sesame oil and sliced scallions to soy sauce to make an amped-up dipping sauce). 

 

Chef Kate’s Meat Ragu Sauce

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This is another one of Chef Kate’s recipes – a local chef who teaches at the library.  It is a great hearty meat ragu that will not leave you feeling hungry!  We used the plum crushed tomatoes, but I could not find the coveted San Marzano tomatoes she mentioned.  I usually use extra lean sirloin but since the meat is the only real fat of this recipe, I decided to go with 85%.  This is so yummy.  She advised not to use ground turkey as it doesn’t turn out right. The only change I made was subbing green peppers for the mushrooms, but we both agree it was missing something without the mushrooms (and this comes from hardcore anti-mushroom people!) LOL  No one will ever change my mind about olives, though.  Anyway….

**This is the first time in 2 years since my allium intolerance/sickness, that I cooked with real onion and garlic in small doses!  I will only cook with raw onion/garlic maybe once a month now.  Small steps…

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 T. olive oil
  • 4 oz. white mushrooms, cleaned and diced (or green pepper)
  • 1 large onion, finely diced (I used about 1/4 cup)
  • 6 garlic cloves (I used 1 clove)
  • 1 pound ground beef (or a combination of beef and pork).
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 2 T. tomato paste
  • 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
  • 1 T. fresh oregano or 1 tsp. dried
  • 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (Plum, San Marzano is the best)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

 

DIRECTIONS: 

  1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Saute the mushrooms, onions, and garlic until the edges start to brown.
  2. Stir in the red pepper flakes, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, and oregano.
  3. Use the juice from the diced tomatoes to deglaze the pan and release anything sticking to the bottom of the pan.
  4. Break apart any large pieces of meat and sprinkle it over the vegetables to cook.
  5. Once the meat is in the pan, pour the crushed tomatoes over everything. 
  6. Reduce heat and let the sauce simmer for at least 30 minutes.
  7. Season with salt and pepper.

Le Creuset’s Braised Short Ribs * (Not IC Safe)

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This is my first braising and I’m very glad I did it.  It’s Le Creuset’s braised short ribs.  It came out SUPER fork tender and falling apart.  As you can see it made an awesome and plentiful sauce.  The smell of the red wine mixing with the blended tomatoes is wonderful.  Changes: we used onion powder versus raw, omitted the noodle side dish, and omitted the gremolata.  **We don’t have a braiser so we used a 12″ steel pan for the stovetop cooking and a Le Creuset rectangular baker for the oven part.  It turned out fine.  I’d say it serves more like four people.  Highly recommended!

 

Braised Short Ribs with Buttered Egg Noodles

Created for the 3 1/2 qt. braiser
Serves 8

Ingredients:

    • 8 beef short ribs
    • Salt and pepper to taste**
    • All-purpose flour for dredging
    • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
    • 1 onion, diced**
    • 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
    • 1 1/2 cups red wine**
    • 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled Roma tomatoes**
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 1 pound egg noodles
    • 2 ounces butter
    • Gremolata: Combine 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon lemon zest and 1 tablespoon minced garlic.**

**Known IC irritants, tread carefully!

Directions:

Liberally coat the short ribs with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour and shake off any excess.

Place the braiser over high heat. When it’s very hot, add 1/4 cup oil and reduce the temperature to medium-high. When the oil is hot and shimmering, add the short ribs and cook on all sides until browned.

Remove the short ribs from the pan and rinse the oil and flour from the braiser. Return the pan to the burner, reduce the heat to medium-low, and add the remaining oil. Add the onion and carrot to the pan and cook until they are nicely browned, about 15 to 20 minutes. The browner the vegetables, the more flavorful the sauce.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Return the short ribs to the pan and add the wine. Raise the heat to medium-high. Blend the tomatoes (either in the can with an immersion blender, or in a standing blender) and add the puree to the braiser. Add a teaspoon of salt. Add the bay leaf and bring to a simmer.

Cover the braiser with the lid slightly ajar and place it in the oven. Cook 3 to 4 hours or until the ribs are very tender.

When ready to serve, cook the noodles as recommended on the package, return them to the pot and toss with the butter.

Divide the noodles among 8 plates. Set a short rib beside or on the noodles. Skim any clear fat that has risen to the top of the sauce and discard. Spoon the sauce over each rib. Garnish the ribs and sauce with gremolata.

America’s Test Kitchen Cajun Stuffed Peppers * (Not IC Safe)

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This is a very flavorful recipe that is quite filling, but you can simply eat less of it.  It’s very good, be sure not to chop off the stems and follow the directions closely!  The microwaving of peppers saved tons of time versus boiling them!  We did not use all the olive oil because the chorizo added enough fat to the mix, we PAM’ed the baking sheet.  Eating 2 halves is too filling for me, to show you how filling these are!  (After buying the Uncle Ben’s rice pouch, we realized how bad of a deal it was, we just used already cooked rice we had on hand instead.)  

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 red bell peppers, halved (step left intact), cored, and seeded
  • 4 teaspoons olive oil (estimation is fine here)
  • 8 oz. lean ground beef (can substitute ground turkey or chicken)
  • 4 oz. andouille sausage, chopped fine (I used pork chorizo)**
  • (Next time I am using a milder, less fatty sausage, maybe something like mild Italian sausage or turkey sausage).
  • 1 onion, chopped fine (I used onion powder)**
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced (I used garlic powder)
  • EITHER 1 (8.8oz) package Uncle Ben’s Original Long Grain ready rice package or 2 cups already prepared rice
  • 1 tablespoon hot sauce (I used 5 drops)**
  • 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • Salt and pepper**

****Known IC irritants, tread carefully!

  1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position, place rimmed baking sheet on rack and heat broiler.  Microwave peppers until just tender 3-6 minutes.
  2. Heat 1 tsp. oil in large skillet over med-high heat until just smoking. 
  3. Add beef, sausage, and onion, cook until beef is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  5. Stir in rice and hot sauce and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.
  6. Off heat, stir in 1 cup cheese and season with salt and pepper.
  7. Pat peppers dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  Carefully brush preheated baking sheet with remaining oil (we saved calories and used PAM spray). 
  8. Place peppers, cut size down, on baking sheet and broil until spotty brown, about 3 minutes.
  9. Flip peppers and fill with beef mixture.
  10. Top with remaining cheese.
  11. Broil until cheese is spotty brown, about 5 mins.  Serve. 

 

 

Chicken and Spinach Farfalle

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This is one of my favorites.  It’s flavorful and tastes gourmet.  It’s from the book “The Best Simple Recipes” by America’s Test Kitchen!  They cut back on the cream and brightened the flavors of the rich sauce with lemon.  A+!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3/4 lb.), cut crosswise into 1/4″ thick pieces.
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced (I used garlic powder here)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream (no substitutions)
  • 2 tsp. grated zest and 3 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon
  • 1 lb. farfalle pasta (Bowtie)
  • 1 6oz bag baby spinach
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (use the one that comes in a brick, if you can)
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Bring 4 qts. of water to a boil in a large pot.  Meanwhile, pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. 
  2. Melt 1 T. butter in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook half of chicken until no longer pink, about 3 minutes, transfer to plate.  Repeat with remaining butter and chicken. 
  3. Add garlic to empty skillet and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in cream, lemon zest and juice, simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and cover. 
  4. Meanwhile, add 1 T. salt and farfalle to boiling water and cook until al dente.  Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, drain pasta, return to pot.  Add sauce, spinach, Parmesan, pine nuts, and cooked chicken to pot and toss to combine, adding reserved pasta water as needed.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve.