I ran out of energy this week and gave into frozen foods and take out to get us by at the end of the week. At least we are through that. Time to move on. :-)
This week's menu is simple home cookin'. Got some family favs in there to keep everyone happy.
Family Menu
M - Greek chicken burgers and mac 'n' cheese
T - meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn
W- chicken 'n' dumplings
H - penne w/ red sauce
F - taco braid and Spanish rice* - new recipe - didn't make it the last time
A - southwestern macaroni
My Low Carb Menu
M - Greek chicken burger and broccoli salad
T - cabbage and kielbasa
W - chicken minestrone soup
H - pizza gondolas* and side salad - new recipe
F - taco burger and sauteed brussel sprouts
A - omelet
Check out some other great menus at Menu Plan Monday!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Mexican Pasta Skillet + Low Carb Fish Taco Salad
I love it when our nightly dinner recipe turns out to be something that my family really likes, plus I'm able to make it low carb for me with just a few adjustments.
The original recipe for this Mexican Pasta Skillet comes from Betty Crocker. I left out the corn, used ground turkey instead of ground beef and added a low carb taco spice blend to my recipe makeover. I reserved 1/4 C. of the sauce mixture for my fish taco salad. Then I added cooked elbow macaroni to the remaining sauce for my family.
My recipe makeover looks like this:
Tami's Mexican Pasta Skillet
1 lb ground turkey
16 oz salsa - I used "hot"
16 oz tomato sauce
1 1/2 C. water
1 lb. cooked elbow macaroni
1/2 C. shredded mexi blend cheese
low carb taco seasoning blend* - recipe below
Brown turkey; drain off grease, if necessary. Return turkey to skillet.
Stir in low carb taco seasoning blend, salsa, tomato sauce and water.
Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in cooked elbow macaroni and heat through.
Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the pasta. Cover with a lid to allow the cheese time to melt - 2 minutes.
Serve with warm bread and a side salad.
Low Carb Taco Seasoning
1 t. chili powder
3/4 t. paprika
3/4 t. cumin
1/2 t. onion powder
1/2 t. salt
3/8 t. garlic powder
pinch cayenne
I doubled this amount for the recipe above.
I cannot take credit for creating this great spice blend. You can see the original recipe here.
Now for my low carb fish taco salad........
Last night we had Red Pepper & Parmesan Talapia. If you are fond of fish - and even if you are not - you should try this recipe. It's delicious. I also sprinkled a little cajun spice on the fish to give it a little "kick".
There was one piece of fish left over from last night so I decided to add it to my salad. Win-Win-Win! It's low carb...it's delicious....I used up the leftovers instead of throwing them out.
Tami's Low Carb Fish Taco Salad
1 - 1 1/2 C. Italian salad mixed greens
1 piece of leftover red pepper & parmesan talapia
1/3 piece of an English cucumber, roughly chopped
1/4 C. taco meat sauce from mexican pasta skillet recipe (above)
2 TBSP sour cream
2 TBSP shredded mexi blend cheese
Layer in order:
greens
cucumber
fish
taco meat sauce
sour cream
cheese
This new twist on salad will be added to my list of favorites! The recipe makes a big salad that could easily have been divided into 2 salads if you wanted to serve another vegetable with it. I couldn't finish the whole thing by myself.
The original recipe for this Mexican Pasta Skillet comes from Betty Crocker. I left out the corn, used ground turkey instead of ground beef and added a low carb taco spice blend to my recipe makeover. I reserved 1/4 C. of the sauce mixture for my fish taco salad. Then I added cooked elbow macaroni to the remaining sauce for my family.
My recipe makeover looks like this:
Tami's Mexican Pasta Skillet
1 lb ground turkey
16 oz salsa - I used "hot"
16 oz tomato sauce
1 1/2 C. water
1 lb. cooked elbow macaroni
1/2 C. shredded mexi blend cheese
low carb taco seasoning blend* - recipe below
Brown turkey; drain off grease, if necessary. Return turkey to skillet.
Stir in low carb taco seasoning blend, salsa, tomato sauce and water.
Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in cooked elbow macaroni and heat through.
Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the pasta. Cover with a lid to allow the cheese time to melt - 2 minutes.
Serve with warm bread and a side salad.
Low Carb Taco Seasoning
1 t. chili powder
3/4 t. paprika
3/4 t. cumin
1/2 t. onion powder
1/2 t. salt
3/8 t. garlic powder
pinch cayenne
I doubled this amount for the recipe above.
I cannot take credit for creating this great spice blend. You can see the original recipe here.
Now for my low carb fish taco salad........
Last night we had Red Pepper & Parmesan Talapia. If you are fond of fish - and even if you are not - you should try this recipe. It's delicious. I also sprinkled a little cajun spice on the fish to give it a little "kick".
There was one piece of fish left over from last night so I decided to add it to my salad. Win-Win-Win! It's low carb...it's delicious....I used up the leftovers instead of throwing them out.
Tami's Low Carb Fish Taco Salad
1 - 1 1/2 C. Italian salad mixed greens
1 piece of leftover red pepper & parmesan talapia
1/3 piece of an English cucumber, roughly chopped
1/4 C. taco meat sauce from mexican pasta skillet recipe (above)
2 TBSP sour cream
2 TBSP shredded mexi blend cheese
Layer in order:
greens
cucumber
fish
taco meat sauce
sour cream
cheese
This new twist on salad will be added to my list of favorites! The recipe makes a big salad that could easily have been divided into 2 salads if you wanted to serve another vegetable with it. I couldn't finish the whole thing by myself.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Menu Plan Monday
Not a good weekend for us.... my daughter's class is still passing around strep throat, my son is sick and today I woke up with a stomach virus. UGH None the less, life goes on.....
I wasn't really motivated when I put this menu together. I'm going to rely on some family favorites and a couple of easy new recipes to get us through the week.
I hope that everyone's week has started on a better note than mine. Happy Cooking!
My Low Carb Menu
M - beef soup
T- red pepper & parmesan talapia, turnip greens & cucumber salad
W - taco salad
H - pork soulvaki (frozen in marinade in freezer), broccoli & cauliflower & salad
F - roasted chicken, brussel sprouts & veggie stix w/ dip
A - Greek turkey burger & a Greek salad
S - sloppy joe stuffed pepper
Family Menu
M - beef noodle soup - elbow mac instead of tortellini
T - red pepper & parmesan talapia, jasmine rice, green beans & cucumber salad
W - Mexican taco skillet* - new recipe
H - pork soulvaki (frozen in marinade in freezer), Greek potatoes, broccoli & salad
F - roasted chicken, egg noodles & gravy, southwest egg rolls* - new recipe
A - Greek turkey burgers, fries & Greek salad
S - spaghetti & meatballs
Check out Menu Plan Monday for lots of great menu ideas from all over the world.
I wasn't really motivated when I put this menu together. I'm going to rely on some family favorites and a couple of easy new recipes to get us through the week.
I hope that everyone's week has started on a better note than mine. Happy Cooking!
My Low Carb Menu
M - beef soup
T- red pepper & parmesan talapia, turnip greens & cucumber salad
W - taco salad
H - pork soulvaki (frozen in marinade in freezer), broccoli & cauliflower & salad
F - roasted chicken, brussel sprouts & veggie stix w/ dip
A - Greek turkey burger & a Greek salad
S - sloppy joe stuffed pepper
Family Menu
M - beef noodle soup - elbow mac instead of tortellini
T - red pepper & parmesan talapia, jasmine rice, green beans & cucumber salad
W - Mexican taco skillet* - new recipe
H - pork soulvaki (frozen in marinade in freezer), Greek potatoes, broccoli & salad
F - roasted chicken, egg noodles & gravy, southwest egg rolls* - new recipe
A - Greek turkey burgers, fries & Greek salad
S - spaghetti & meatballs
Check out Menu Plan Monday for lots of great menu ideas from all over the world.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Shamrock Ice Cream Sandwiches
A perfect way to end your St. Patrick's Day meal is with these scrumptious ice cream sandwiches. These Shamrock shaped treats are sure to please all of the little Lads and Lassies at your St. Patrick's Day table!
What You Need
Sugar cookie
dough - either store bought or your own recipe*
Medium to Large Shamrock cookie cutter
Green paste food coloring
Toothpick
A Pair of Latex gloves (protects from getting green hands!)
Flour
Rolling pin
Cookie sheets
Mint Chocolate Chip, Pistachio or Vanilla ice cream (tinted green), softened slightly
What You Do
**My favorite sugar cookie recipe is below
If making homemade cookies, mix and leave finished dough in a non-porous bowl. If using store bought dough, unwrap and add to a non-porous bowl.
Put on your gloves. This next step can get a little bit messy.
Using a toothpick, dip it into the green food coloring, removing a tiny bit of food coloring. Add it to the cookie dough.
NOTE: A very little bit of this food coloring goes A LONG way to adding color to the dough. To be safe, start out using just a little and continue adding a little bit at a time until you reach the desired color.
Use your hands to mix the color into the dough. This process might take a few minutes but with continued mixing, the color will evenly spread throughout dough.
If the dough becomes too sticky, add a small amount of flour (approx. 1/4 cup) to the dough and mix together thoroughly.
Continue these steps until the desired color and consistency is reached.
Next, lightly flour the table where you are going to be rolling out the dough, to prevent the dough from sticking. Roll out the dough to 1/4 - 1/2 inch thickness.
Cut out the Shamrocks (2 for each sandwich) and place on an ungreased cookie sheet, making sure to leave enough room between the cookies so they don't bake together. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 - 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are light golden brown. Cool completely before making ice cream sandwiches.
TO ASSEMBLE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES
Holding the bottom side of one cookie, spread the softened ice cream, nice and thick, onto the cookie. Top with second cookie. Fill in any uneven spots around the cookie. Smooth out rough edges with your finger to give a nice, smooth look.
Place onto a cookie sheet or plate, then back into the freezer. Freeze until solid.
Once frozen, you can serve as dessert or each sandwich can be individually wrapped in plastic wrap and kept in the freezer.
Tami's Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies
1/2 cup shortening (part butter or margarine)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (optional) I leave it out for white cookies
1/2 cup sour cream
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Mix shortening, sugar, egg, & vanilla thoroughly. Blend dry ingredients. Add to sugar mixture alternately with sour cream.
Divide dough, roll out on a well-floured board. Cut with cookie cutters (metal cookie cutters w/ open tops are the easiest) You can make these as thick as you want... the thicker, the chewier.
Place cookies on lightly greased baking sheets. Sprinkle with sugar unless you are going to ice them. Bake 7-8 minutes or until very lightly browned around the edges. Makes 3-4 dozen but I never get this many because I make mine thicker.
If you use the nutmeg in them, you don't even need the icing but it will give your cookies a slight off-white appearance if they are left un-iced.
If you like chewy cookies, roll them out a little thicker. If you like thin crispy cookies, roll a kind of thin but not real thin or you wont be able to remove to them from cookie pan.
This dough is very easy to work with too! I always double it because I like the thicker cookies.
What You Need
Sugar cookie
dough - either store bought or your own recipe*
Medium to Large Shamrock cookie cutter
Green paste food coloring
Toothpick
A Pair of Latex gloves (protects from getting green hands!)
Flour
Rolling pin
Cookie sheets
Mint Chocolate Chip, Pistachio or Vanilla ice cream (tinted green), softened slightly
What You Do
**My favorite sugar cookie recipe is below
If making homemade cookies, mix and leave finished dough in a non-porous bowl. If using store bought dough, unwrap and add to a non-porous bowl.
Put on your gloves. This next step can get a little bit messy.
Using a toothpick, dip it into the green food coloring, removing a tiny bit of food coloring. Add it to the cookie dough.
NOTE: A very little bit of this food coloring goes A LONG way to adding color to the dough. To be safe, start out using just a little and continue adding a little bit at a time until you reach the desired color.
Use your hands to mix the color into the dough. This process might take a few minutes but with continued mixing, the color will evenly spread throughout dough.
If the dough becomes too sticky, add a small amount of flour (approx. 1/4 cup) to the dough and mix together thoroughly.
Continue these steps until the desired color and consistency is reached.
Next, lightly flour the table where you are going to be rolling out the dough, to prevent the dough from sticking. Roll out the dough to 1/4 - 1/2 inch thickness.
Cut out the Shamrocks (2 for each sandwich) and place on an ungreased cookie sheet, making sure to leave enough room between the cookies so they don't bake together. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 - 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are light golden brown. Cool completely before making ice cream sandwiches.
TO ASSEMBLE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES
Holding the bottom side of one cookie, spread the softened ice cream, nice and thick, onto the cookie. Top with second cookie. Fill in any uneven spots around the cookie. Smooth out rough edges with your finger to give a nice, smooth look.
Place onto a cookie sheet or plate, then back into the freezer. Freeze until solid.
Once frozen, you can serve as dessert or each sandwich can be individually wrapped in plastic wrap and kept in the freezer.
Tami's Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies
1/2 cup shortening (part butter or margarine)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (optional) I leave it out for white cookies
1/2 cup sour cream
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Mix shortening, sugar, egg, & vanilla thoroughly. Blend dry ingredients. Add to sugar mixture alternately with sour cream.
Divide dough, roll out on a well-floured board. Cut with cookie cutters (metal cookie cutters w/ open tops are the easiest) You can make these as thick as you want... the thicker, the chewier.
Place cookies on lightly greased baking sheets. Sprinkle with sugar unless you are going to ice them. Bake 7-8 minutes or until very lightly browned around the edges. Makes 3-4 dozen but I never get this many because I make mine thicker.
If you use the nutmeg in them, you don't even need the icing but it will give your cookies a slight off-white appearance if they are left un-iced.
If you like chewy cookies, roll them out a little thicker. If you like thin crispy cookies, roll a kind of thin but not real thin or you wont be able to remove to them from cookie pan.
This dough is very easy to work with too! I always double it because I like the thicker cookies.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Greek Turkey Meatballs
I love, love, love, Greek food. I have a favorite Pork Soulvaki recipe that I turn to over and over again. Now I've found a second favorite recipe, Greek style meatballs, a recipe that I'm sure I will use over and over again.
Although the original recipes uses ground chicken, I used ground turkey. These meatballs are full of flavor and would be delicious made into burgers, as well. I didn't make the tzaziki sauce to go along with the meatballs but I know that it would be a delicious sauce on them.
These little gems are low carb, too! I can't wait to make this recipe into burgers and try them on an oopsie roll! (another recipe that I still haven't tried yet.)
Another excellent point was that my son and my husband thought that they were delicious. No way was my 6 yr. old going to try them but I'm thrilled that the other two liked them.
Here is the original recipe with any of my changes in bold next to it.
Spanikopita Chicken Meatballs
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, grated
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted (I used 1/2 of a 750 g bag of Europe's Best) (I used 1/2 of a 12 oz bag of frozen spinach - no specific brand...whatever happened to be on sale that week. )
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional) (I left it out but I'm going to try it next time)
1 lb ground chicken (I used 1 lb. ground turkey)
1 tbsp grill seasoning
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Defrost the spinach in the microwave, then place in a kitchen towel and squeeze to remove all the excess water. Place in a large mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix really well. I didn't use feta because it made the recipe more expensive and I knew my husband and I wouldn't miss it. I've tried it with and without and both are delicious. If you too want to cut costs, don't worry...it's totally amazing without.
Roll into about 18 (1 1/2 inch) meatballs (I made 15 golf ball-sized meatballs) and place on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with a little bit more olive oil and place in oven and bake for about 12 minutes, turn over and bake for another 10-14 minutes or until the meatballs are golden brown and cooked all the way thro.
**my notes** This recipe would be great to make mini meatballs for soup or to make into burgers for oopsie rolls or low carb tortillas...or just plain on a plate with all of the fixins. Freeze any leftovers.
Although the original recipes uses ground chicken, I used ground turkey. These meatballs are full of flavor and would be delicious made into burgers, as well. I didn't make the tzaziki sauce to go along with the meatballs but I know that it would be a delicious sauce on them.
These little gems are low carb, too! I can't wait to make this recipe into burgers and try them on an oopsie roll! (another recipe that I still haven't tried yet.)
Another excellent point was that my son and my husband thought that they were delicious. No way was my 6 yr. old going to try them but I'm thrilled that the other two liked them.
Here is the original recipe with any of my changes in bold next to it.
Spanikopita Chicken Meatballs
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, grated
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted (I used 1/2 of a 750 g bag of Europe's Best) (I used 1/2 of a 12 oz bag of frozen spinach - no specific brand...whatever happened to be on sale that week. )
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional) (I left it out but I'm going to try it next time)
1 lb ground chicken (I used 1 lb. ground turkey)
1 tbsp grill seasoning
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Defrost the spinach in the microwave, then place in a kitchen towel and squeeze to remove all the excess water. Place in a large mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix really well. I didn't use feta because it made the recipe more expensive and I knew my husband and I wouldn't miss it. I've tried it with and without and both are delicious. If you too want to cut costs, don't worry...it's totally amazing without.
Roll into about 18 (1 1/2 inch) meatballs (I made 15 golf ball-sized meatballs) and place on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with a little bit more olive oil and place in oven and bake for about 12 minutes, turn over and bake for another 10-14 minutes or until the meatballs are golden brown and cooked all the way thro.
**my notes** This recipe would be great to make mini meatballs for soup or to make into burgers for oopsie rolls or low carb tortillas...or just plain on a plate with all of the fixins. Freeze any leftovers.
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