Teriyaki Meatballs

Another pinterest recipe success!  These were super yum!  My kids liked them too!  Though Trevan didn't want the sauce (surprise, surprise), and Jonah only wanted the sauce on his rice.  This is a super cheap recipe if you have the ingredients on hand like I did.  However if you have to go buy the flavored oil and vinegar it's going to make it a bit pricey that first time you make it.  I didn't use the green onions and next time I'll double the entire recipe, this was not enough to feed my family. 

Teriyaki Meatball Recipe
Recipe from HERE

MEATBALLS

• 1 lb. ground pork
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 inches fresh ginger
• ½ tsp soy sauce
• 2 whole green onions (I used a sprinkle of onion powder)
• 10-15 cranks freshly cracked black pepper

TERIYAKI GLAZE

• ½ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup water
• ½ Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 inches fresh ginger
• 2 Tbsp corn starch
• 1 Tbsp sesame seeds

RICE BOWLS

• 2½ cups dry jasmine rice
• 3¾ cups water
• 2 whole green onions

Instructions

1. Place the ground pork in a large bowl. Peel the ginger and then grate it using the tiny holed cheese grater into the bowl. Mince the garlic, slice the green onions (or sprinkle onion powder), and add them to the bowl. Add the egg, breadcrumbs, soy sauce, and black pepper. Mix these ingredients really well until it is all evenly combined (clean hands work best).
2. Cover a baking sheet with foil. Place a rack over the foil.  Roll the meatball mixture into small balls, about one tablespoon each. You should yield about 30 meatballs. Place the meatballs on the rack as you roll them. Bake in the preheated oven at 400 degrees until golden brown (recipe said about 35-40 minutes, but mine didn't take as long).
3. While the meatballs are in the oven, begin cooking the rice according to the package directions, I use my rice cooker.  If you don't have one, you really should get one.
4. While the meatballs are in the oven, also prepare the teriyaki glaze. In a medium pot combine the soy sauce, water, brown sugar, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Peel and grate the ginger into the pot. Heat over a low flame until the brown sugar is dissolved (just a few minutes).
5. Dissolve the cornstarch in just enough water to make it pourable. Pour it into the pot with the glaze ingredients. Turn the heat up to medium high, stir and cook until thickened. It should thicken as soon as it begins to simmer. Once thickened, add the sesame seeds.
6. When the meatballs come out of the oven, transfer them from the baking sheet into the pot with the glaze. Stir to coat. Fluff the rice with a fork. 
7. Serve meatballs over rice, then sprinkle sesame seeds and a few sliced green onions over top.
8. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Parmesan Honey Pork

I love my crock pot cooking!  I saw this recipe on Pinterest and had a pork roast in the freezer and the ingredients in my pantry - a match made in heaven (and in my wallet)!

It's a super easy, super simple recipe.  Since you make a gravy with the drippings I of course had to serve it with mashed potatoes!  The one change I made is that I strained the drippings so that the gravy was smooth without all the lumps and discards from the drippings in it. 

You can find the recipe HERE.

Clean Eating Chocolate Muffins

So, just ignore the ugly picture of this muffin, if you want to see a pretty picture of them, go HERE.  Here's  the thing, if you want to make a super delish, Fatty McFatterson chocolate muffin, don't make this recipe.   However, if you want to feel good about not feeding your kids Fatty McFatterson food and still let them feel like they are having a treat, then this is the recipe for you!

I've seen this recipe a lot on Pinterest and finally decided to try it. Mine is the smaller version versus their large muffin, and I didn't put the rest of the chocolate chips in half way through either because I was distracted by my ten kids, I mean four.  I would definitely remember to do that next time though, because the muffin was more delightful when each bite contained chocolate chips. 

I don't use artificial sweeteners, so I used agave and honey in place of the Splenda.  But, honestly, I'm not opposed to just trying sugar next time.  I also think quick oats would be better than using whole oats like I used.  Even I ground the oats up into a flour like consistency there were still little pieces in the muffins, and quick oats would be absorbed better I think. 

My kids gobbled them up.  (Though a neighbor boy didn't dig them.)

So, thanks Pinterest, for another (mostly healthy) recipe!

Clean Eating Chocolate Muffins Recipe 
Recipe from HERE

 Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup oats (I think quick oats would be better)
3 egg whites
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used cinnamon flavored and couldn't taste it in the muffin)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (or regular plain low fat yogurt)
 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (or 1-1/2 Tbsp. vinegar)
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup hot water
1 cup sugar substitute (like Splenda granular) OR 1/4 cup + 2 tbs stevia (I used 1/4 cup agave and 2 T. honey)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
 
1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with foil cupcake liners, or spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.  

2.       In a blender, (or food processor), mix all of the ingredients together, except for the chocolate chips. Blend until oats are ground and mixture is smooth.  (I put the oats by itself in a food processor first and ground them until they were flour like consistency.)
 
3.       Place mixture in a bowl and gently stir in 1/2 of the chocolate chips (set the rest aside). Scoop mixture into prepared muffin pans.  

4.       Place muffins tins in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove muffins from the oven (but don’t shut oven off), and distribute the other half of the chocolate chips on top of each muffin.
 
5.       Place the muffins back into the oven and bake for an additional 2-5 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. *Note, you could skip this step by putting all of the chips in the batter, and baking the muffins for 12-15 min straight, but this method gives the muffins the traditional ‘VitaTop Muffin’ look with the chocolate chips on top!

6.       Cool muffins before removing from pan. 

7.  Enjoy!

Pizza Pull Apart Bread

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and read the reviews and figured I needed to try it.  I think store bought pizza dough tastes like play dough sometimes, so I decided to make my own dough. 

This was a super easy recipe and a great recipe your kids can help with.  In fact they cut all the pepperoni and rolled all the dough while my hair was getting checked for LICE!  (LICE!!!)  They love helping make dinner and this is something your kids can very easily do. 

My kids loved helping and my kids loved eating it!  Super easy, and yummy!

Pull Apart Pizza Bread Recipe

Adapted from THIS RECIPE

• 2 Cans of Pizza Dough or Biscuits (I used my recipe for Pizza Factory Bread sticks - below)
• 2 cups Mozzarella cheese (or an Italian blend)
• 2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
• 1 – 8 oz package of pepperoni
• 1 cup Parmesean cheese
• ½ teaspoon of garlic powder 
•  ⅓ cup olive oil

• Your favorite Pizza Sauce (I used some marinara spaghetti sauce)

Pizza Factory Bread sticks Recipe (see HERE to make the bread sticks)

1 T. yeast

2 T. sugar

1 1/2 C. warm water

1 T. oil

1 tsp. salt

3 1/2 C. flour

 

Instructions

 

1.  Mix the yeast, sugar and water and let sit for a couple of minutes to dissolve the yeast. Add the oil, salt and flour and knead by hand or with your mixer with a dough hook for about 5 minutes.

2.  Cover and let rise until double.

 

3.  Meanwhile - Mix the seasonings and cheese together in a bowl.  

4.  Cut pepperoni into smaller pieces and add to the bowl and mix. 

5.  Lightly flour your hands and roll the dough into small balls.  Place them in the bowl with the pepperoni and cheeses, mix around every so often so the dough just doesn't stick to each other.  

6.  Add olive oil and pour in bowl and mix all together.  (Honestly, I didn't measure here, I just poured and mixed, and poured and mixed as needed, until I thought things were evenly coated.)

7.  Place mixture into greased tubed cake pan. 

 

8.  Let them rise until doubled.

 

9.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for about 20-30 minutes.  Make sure to check the middle before you remove from oven.  If middle is still not cooked be sure to leave it in until it's done.  

10.  Flip over onto a plate while it's hot.

11. Serve with your favorite pizza sauce or marinara and enjoy!

Flour hands, Roll dough, Toss in bowl with mixture

Thank You Pinterest for Lazy Chicken

I've been in a depressed kind of funk lately, and then I realized that I haven't been cooking and trying new recipes, which makes me happy - so I turned to my Pinterest boards and made a plan!

I've tried quite a few new recipes and I thought I'd share the good ones with you!  I tried this Chicken Marsala, and while edible, I won't make it again.  I don't have Marsala wine on hand to cook with, and I often sub vegetable broth with no problems, but this recipe was way too bland with just the broth.

One of the good recipes was this Chicken Lazone! I have no idea what the word Lazone means or even how to pronounce it, so I'm just going to call this recipe Lazy Chicken, because it was super easy and you can make it even if you're feeling lazy like I was!

It's flavor is similar to an alfredo sauce, but not as thick as an alfredo sauce.  We also sprinkled parmesan cheese over the top of ours and it was delish!  The recipe calls for cream and if you don't want to be a Fatty McFatterson like me, you can sub some milk or half and half and I'm sure it will be fine. 

Lazy Chicken Recipe
Recipe from HERE

• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 lb chicken tenders
• 1/4 cup butter, divided
• 2 cups heavy cream (I used about 1.5 cups of cream, and 1/2 cup of 2% milk)
• Parmesan Cheese for sprinkling on top

1. Combine salt, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper.  Sprinkle over both sides of chicken tenders.

2.  In large saute pan, melt half of the butter over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until done, about 8 minutes.

3.  Pour the cream and remaining butter into the skillet.  Lower heat and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 5-7 minutes.  Serve chicken and sauce over pasta or mashed potatoes, if desired, (I used spaghetti noodles.)

Enjoy!!

Mushroom Chicken Asiago

I found this recipe via Pinterest a while back.  Even though my picture isn't pretty, it is delicious and a simple "gourmet" meal! The recipe is from The Midnight Baker and I went to her site again to put the link here and apparently is super popular and has won awards.  I had purchased some asiago cheese to make bagels and came across this recipe and made it instead!  It's delicious!  You should try it! 

Mushroom Chicken Asiago Recipe

Recipe from The Midnight Baker

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast (about 2 large)
• 2 cups mushrooms, cut in half
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 springs fresh thyme (I used dry thyme and didn't measure)
• 1 1/2 cups dry white wine (I used vegetable broth)
• 1/2 cup seasoned flour
• 2 tbs butter
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4-1/2 cup shredded asiago cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)
• seasoned flour:
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Pound chicken breast with a meat mallet between 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap until meat is uniform thickness; about 1/4-inch. Cut into serving-sized pieces (2 or 3 pieces per breast)

Heat the butter with *1* tbs of olive oil in deep, heavy skillet or saute pan over medium heat.

Dredge chicken in seasoned flour.  Add to hot oil/butter in skillet.  Saute until golden on each side, about 5 minutes per side.  Remove from pan.

Add remaining olive oil to hot skillet.  Saute mushrooms and garlic until mushrooms begin to brown.

Add vegetable broth to skillet, scraping up all the browned bits that are at the bottom of the pan (deglazing). Bruise the fresh thyme by twisting it between your fingers or hitting it with the dull side of a knife in a few places.  Add thyme to mushroom/wine mixture in pan.  (I just used dried thyme, and I didn't measure)

Add the chicken back to the pan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Remove chicken from pan.  Add the cream and heat through. Add the asiago cheese (if you like it strongly flavored, use 1/2 cup; not as strongly flavored, use the 1/4 cup--asiago is a strong cheese and you can even use less for just a whisper of flavor).

Cook, stirring constantly over low heat until cheese melts. Continue cooking until sauce is reduced by about 1/2.  If you wish to skip the reduction step, you may thicken the sauce slightly with about 1 tbs instant flour or 1 tbs cornstarch mixed with 2 tbs water...however, the reduction will taste better.

Add chicken back to pan and heat through.

Garnish with sprigs of fresh thyme.  May be served over any pasta.

About 4 servings.

Kale and Roasted Vegetable Soup

My BFF shared this recipe with me and it's perfect right now because butternut squash is getting ripe on the vine for all you lucky ducks that have butternut squash (apparently I planted a hybrid, boo!), and I had just picked some kale from my garden.  It was so super yummy!!  I think I've eaten the whole pot by myself.  Not even kidding.

Not going to lie, I was super skeptical about this tasting good.  I think my ten year old self took over briefly while I was cooking and looking at all the vegetables together and wondering how they could taste good.  But, it did and it was fabulous.  So fabulous, I had it for breakfast. 

Enjoy!

Kale and Roasted Vegetable Soup 
Original Recipe from HERE

Ingredients

• 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced in small discs
• 2 large tomatoes, quartered
• 1 large onion, cut into wedges or  4 or 5 slices
• 1/2 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut in chunk size for soup.
• 6 peeled garlic cloves or 3 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 6 cups or more of vegetable broth (I did end up using a little more)
• 4 cups of finely chopped kale (I use my frozen kale from summer harvest)
• 1/8 tsp. dried ground thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 15 oz can of Great Northern white beans, drained
• Salt (I used sea salt)
• Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Brush rimmed baking sheet with a thin coat of olive oil. Arrange carrots, squash, tomatoes, onion, and garlic on sheet. Drizzle with more olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Roast vegetables until they are brown and tender, stirring occasionally, about 40 - 45 minutes.
2. Pick out garlic cloves, tomatoes, and onion and puree until smooth (or keep chunky if you like chunky, but my kids don't). Pour 1/2 cup broth onto the baking sheet; scrape up any browned bits. Transfer broth and vegetable puree to large pot. Add 5 1/2 cups broth, kale, thyme and bay leaf to pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered until kale is tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Add carrots, beans, and squash to soup. Simmer 8 minutes to blend flavors, adding more broth to thin soup if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaf.
Can be made a day ahead.  
4. Enjoy!

So, I didn't really read the original directions very well and ended up doing it this way, and now just do it this way every time.  Though I do only quarter my tomatoes and onions NOT dice them.  That took way too long to separate!  But, they smelled so good, and I couldn't get my niece to stop eating the carrots they were so yummy!! 

*Please note this recipe does not freeze very well, the butternut squash tends to get mushy. 

A sweet twist on Strawberry Shortcake

I know strawberry picking season is over, but these were yummy!

I had seen this on Pinterest, and one day the stars aligned...  (meaning we just picked strawberries and had doughnuts left over from my kids getting them free from Krispy Kreme for awesome report cards.) So, we tried them!  Awesome!!  Though I should have put the cream in the middle like this person did here.  Still fabulous.  I ate two... 

Krispy Kreme Strawberry Shortcake

1.  Cut and slice strawberries and place in a bowl.
2.  Sprinkle them with desired amount of sugar to bring out sweetness and make a little syrupy.
3.  Whip whipping cream with some sugar and vanilla.
4.  Slice doughnut in half.
5.  Load doughnut bottom half with strawberries and cream and top with the other half
6.  Enjoy!

My new favorite way to eat a doughnut!

Camp Summer Fun

This summer I really wanted to do activities with my kids and I thought if I paired up with another mom then I would be more likely to do it...  :) 

 

So, my friend and I took turns with our kids once a week to do "Camp Summer Fun."  I wish we could have done it more, but due to traveling and stuff we only did it a handful of times. 

 

I totally used ideas from Pinterest!  I have a 'Must keep kids busy' board on Pinterest (you can see it HERE), and I used it! 

 

I took this idea from this site, but changed it by dying butter with food coloring and letting the kids paint bread, then I made grilled cheese sandwhiches with it.  The kids loved it.  

 

I thought it would be fun for the kids to make their own t-shirts when I saw this idea on Pinterest.  You do it by using sandpaper!!!!  So cool. 

 

 

I also did these things from Pinterest too, but didn't take any pictures:

 

Bubble Painting

Milk Jug games

Made these bracelets with melty beads

 

I love that Pinterest helped me entertain the kids this summer! 

 



Pinterest Tuesday

I think I've decided to dedicate Tuesdays to Pinterest fails. I love pinterest, but this month it seems I've made a lot of  just 'so so' recipes...

Baked Spaghetti:  This was an okay recipe, but I'll never make it again.  People we had for dinner liked it and had seconds, and the french fried onions on top were an interesting addition, but I would rather use my regular recipe which I just throw together...

Paradise Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies:  So... I've tried a few chocolate chip cookies on Pinterest because they look so awesome, but have yet to find a good recipe there.  After the first batch of these baked, I thought maybe there could be an altitude difference in the recipe, so I reduced the temperature to 350, and that helped, but they still looked like this:

Parmesan Pull Aparts:  These actually tasted good, but I think I used the Grand's biscuits, which were too big, I should have used the smaller ones because the tops were almost burnt, and when I flipped them out the bottom wasn't done cooking, so we had to throw it in the microwave for a few minutes... but I'll try these again, and maybe try them with my roll recipe.

Pinterest Post - Asparagus

A friend pinned an asparagus recipe she had tried, so I thought I'd try it too since I got this asparagus for 1.49 a bunch!!  Not a pound! Awesome!

Anyway, I really liked this recipe, but John thought is was to vinegar-y, you can decide...

Asparagus with Dijon Vinaigrette

recipe from HERE

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 1/2 T. red wine vinegar

1 T. Extra virgin olive oil

1 T. fresh chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

1 pound thin asparagus, tough ends chopped off

In a small bowl, whisk mustard, vinegar and 1 tbsp oil. Add parsley and season with salt and pepper

Steam or boil asparagus for 3 - 5 minutes until cooked and tender. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking.  Transfer asparagus to a serving dish and drizzle with the vinaigrette. Can be served warm or chilled.

Pizza Factory Breadsticks Copy Cat Recipe

Trust me, this picture does not do these breadsticks justice!  They were super yummy!!

My sister in law was visiting when I made them, and she kept asking if I was going to make some more while she was here, and I did.  These will definitely be made over and over again in our house! 

When John and I lived in Utah, our second apartment together was near a Pizza Factory restaurant.  Our favorite thing was their breadsticks!  When I was pregnant with Trevan we would stop in and order breadsticks with alfredo dipping sauce take out and eat them for dinner with a rotisserie chicken from Wal-Mart.  Those were the days... 

I was so excited to see this recipe on Pinterest...  Even more excited when I made them and they were delicious!!  Pretty close to the real thing!!!  The only thing is the Pizza Factory served their breadsticks in a little vase thingy so the breadsticks are standing up by the dowels in them.  Our breadsticks never made it to the table... 

The only thing I changed in this recipe was the butter mixture you brush on them after they bake.  I had just used the last of my seasoned salt that it called for, and it also called for rosemary, but I didn't remember their breadsticks having rosemary on them, and sometimes if there is too much rosemary I feel like I'm eating a Christmas tree.  Anyway, so I made up my own mixture, and I think it turned out pretty delicious!!!!! 

Pizza Factory Breadsticks - Copy Cat Recipe:

1 T. yeast

2 T. sugar

1 1/2 C. warm water

1 T. oil

1 tsp. salt

3 1/2 C. flour

3/4 C. melted butter - divided

1/2  tsp. garlic salt

1/2 tsp. parsley

1 T. Parmesan cheese

8 - 1/4 inch wooden dowels cut into 18 inch lengths (craft store)

Mix the yeast, sugar and water and let sit for a couple of minutes to dissolve the yeast. Add the oil, salt and flour and knead by hand or with your mixer with a dough hook for about 5 minutes.

Cover and let rise until double.

Divide dough into 8 equal parts.

Lightly flour your hands and roll the dough into about an 16-18 inch long "snake". Moisten the top of your dowel and begin wrapping the dough around loosely. Moisten a little where the breadstick will end too. Pinch to secure the dough at the top and bottom. Leave about 5 inches at the end of the dowel, if you are using the longer dowels if you will be serving them standing up. 

Hang over the edge of a 9x13 inch cake pan with all of the dough inside the pan.  I used two pans.

Let them rise until doubled.

Brush with 1/4 C. melted butter.

Heat oven to 375. Bake at 375 for about 15- 20 minutes or until just golden.

Meanwhile mix the remaining 1/2 C. melted butter, seasonings and parmesan cheese.

 

 

When the breadsticks come out of the oven, brush them with the seasoned melted butter mixture.

Enjoy!! 

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Remember?  Tuesdays are dedicated to my love affair with Pinterest.  Here's one of the latest recipes I tried that I thought was quite tasty!!!!!  Link to original recipe HERE. 


Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies Recipe

Brownie Mixture

1 Box Brownie Mix (I used Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies)

1/4 c. oil (I had to sub with butter)

1/4 c. water

2 eggs

Whisk ingredients together and spread into a greased 9x13 pan.

Peanut Butter Mixture

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/4 c. flour

2 eggs

Whisk ingredients together and put spoonfuls of mixture on top of brownie mixture.  Take a toothpick or a knife and swirl around til evenly spread.  (Or not so evenly, if that's what you like...)

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. 

I drop the peanut butter in clumpsand then swirl with a toothpick below or use a knife