Meatballs Make It All Better

I am a true believer in the thought that cooking for someone in a time of need is a great way to show that you care. My friend's son recently had tubes put in, and I knew that I wanted to do something to make the day as easy as possible for her. My son has had tubes twice, and I remembered how drained I was after the surgery. What could be better after a long, trying day than a fresh bowl of spaghetti and meatballs (or a Meatball Parmesan sub). Thankfully her son is doing just fine after his surgery, and hopefully his mommy and daddy have nice full bellies!

Easy Italian Meatballs

Ingredients
Sauce
Makes 20 Servings
PointsPlus value per serving: 1
1 28oz cans crushed tomatoes
2 14oz cans stewed tomatoes
1/2 can tomato paste
1 bunch fresh basil
1 Tbs fresh rosemary
1 onion, chopped
salt/pepper

Directions
Dump first 5 ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth. Saute onion in a very large pot and add tomato mixture. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low. Remember you are going to cook your meatballs in this sauce, so make sure your pot is very big!

Ingredients
Meatballs
Makes 20 meatballs
PointsPlus value per meatball: 2
18oz 90% lean ground beef
1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 Tbs Parmesan cheese
1 whole egg plus 1 egg white
2 Tbs cup water
1 tsp garlic powder
salt/pepper

Directions
-Mix the bread crumbs with the Parmesan cheese. Stir in eggs and water. You should have a really mushy mixture. If it clumps together, add a little more water.
-Add garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix well.
-Add in the ground beef. Mix until just blended (you should not have any clumps of bread mixture, but you do not want to over-mix). This is best done with your hands.
-Wet your hands and roll small balls of the meat into golf-ball sized meatballs. You should get 20 meatballs.
-Drop meatballs into simmering sauce. DO NOT COVER. Make sure the heat is on low.
-Stir every 10-15 minutes, scooping up from the bottom to make sure that the meatballs are not sticking.
-Let meatballs cook for 1 hour.

**Make ahead:
-To freeze meatballs, scoop them out of the sauce with a spoon and drain them on the side of the pot so they are pretty much sauce-free.
-Lay them out on a cookie sheet sprayed with PAM.
-Place entire cookie sheet in the freezer for 2 hours. Remove and transfer meatballs into a ziplock back. Return to freezer and use meatballs as needed.
-You can also freeze the sauce in ziplock freezer bags for delicious pasta sauce. Lay them flat in the freezer to save space.

Healthy Meals to Nourish Your Mind.

Sweet and Sour Grapefruit Chicken

I would say in the past year or so I have begun to experiment with using fruit in my cooking. For Thanksgiving this year I used apples and cranberries in my stuffing, and for Shabbat I always enjoy when I make Chicken with Olives and Fruit. Citrus, however, is not a fruit that I have cooked with, um, ever. I came across this recipe while going through my cooking scrapbook. It was given to me by an old co-worker that I lost touch with, but I am happy to have this memory of our mornings spent chatting about food and "what's for dinner". I served this dish with a side of Fruited Rice Pilaf, of which you can find many versions on the web. The dried fruit in the pilaf really played off the tartness of the grapefruit marinade.

Sweet and Sour Grapefruit Chicken

Servings: 4

PointsPlus Value per serving: 5

200 calories, 7 grams fat

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

1 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp Ketchup

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp Mustard

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp black pepper

16 oz uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast

1/2 cup grapefruit sections

Directions

-In a medium sized bowl, mix together all ingredients except for grapefruit sections and chicken.
-Transfer marinade to a zip-lock bag. Add chicken and let sit overnight.
-Pre-heat oven to 375.
-Place chicken and marinade in a shallow baking dish and bake for 30-45 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

-Cool slightly, plate and top with grapefruit sections.

Healthy Meals to Nourish Your Mind.

Mushroom-Beef Burgers

I love a good burger. It was one of my pre-requisites while dating: If a guy didn’t like a good hamburger, I knew it wasn’t going to work out. While turkey burgers are great (I love my Cowboy Burger recipe) sometimes I crave real ground beef. By combining mushrooms and ground beef, this recipe allows me to bulk up my burger, so I get a pretty large patty using a minimal amount of meat. Top with low fat cheese, shredded lettuce and tomatoes and you will be in heaven!

Mushroom-Beef Burgers
PointsPlus Value: 4 per patty
Servings: 4
145 calories, 4 grams fat

Ingredients
8 oz 90% lean ground beef
1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 egg white
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions
-In a food processor, pulse mushrooms and onion together until it is finely chopped, almost like a paste.
-Sauté mushroom-onion mixture in a pan sprayed with PAM until most of the liquid dissolves. Let cool.
-In a mixing bowl, mix together Panko breadcrumbs and egg white. Add parsley, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Mix well.
-Stir in ground beef and mushroom-onion mixture.
-Form into 4 patties and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. They fall apart really easily, so handle with care.
-Heat up a large skillet sprayed with PAM. Cook patties 5 minutes each side, or until juices run clear. Do not grill, they will fall apart!

Healthy Meals to Nourish Your Mind.

Challah Back Y’all!

OK, so I have been waiting 8 months to say that and tonight felt appropriate. We have decided that we need to get better at doing Shabbat as a family, and what better way to observe than to bake your own Challah. I have tried a million times and ended up with doughy, burnt, tasteless loaves of bread. I finally Googled “No fail easy challah” and this is what I came up with. I cut the recipe in half since I didn’t want 4 loaves of bread especially if they ended up cummy (no pun intended). These look promising, and smell delicious.

So Shabbat Shalom Y’all (ok, I’ll stop…)

Challah
Makes 2 Challahs, 8 slices per loaf, or 4 mini Challahs, 4 large slices per loaf.
PointsPlus Value per slice: 4
170 calories per slice, 3 grams of fat

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2  eggs
1 1/2 tsp table salt
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions
-In a small bowl, mix yeast and warm water (not hot) and let stand for 5 minutes.
-In a large bowl, beat together honey, oil, 1 egg and salt. Slowly add yeast mixture to the honey mixture.
-Add the 4 cups of flour, one cup at a time, beating after each addition, graduating to kneading with hands as dough thickens. Use the remaining ½ cup of flour for kneading the dough. Knead until smooth and elastic and no longer sticky.
-Spray a large mixing bowl with PAM. Place dough in bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let rise for 1 1/2 hours or until dough has doubled in bulk.
-Punch down the risen dough and turn out onto floured board.
-Divide in half and knead each half for five minutes or so, adding flour as needed to keep from getting sticky.
-Divide each half into thirds and roll into long snake about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
-Pinch the ends of the three snakes together firmly and braid from middle.
-Grease two baking trays and place finished braids on each.
-Cover with towel and let rise about one hour.
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees
-Beat the remaining egg and brush a generous amount over each braid.
-Bake for about 25 minutes. Bread should have a nice hollow sound when thumped on the bottom.
-Cool on a rack for at least one hour before slicing.

Healthy meals to nourish your mind.

Pasta Primavera for Two

It is spring-time in GA, at least for this Northeast native. The flowers are blooming, pollen is everywhere, and the produce in the markets looks amazing. I know I posted this recipe earlier this year, but I reduced the recipe to fit a dinner for two. Also, I used half and half rather than light cream, and I am happy to report the sauce still ended up creamy and rich. Serve with a small side salad for a delicious, veggie-packed dinner.

Pasta Primavera for 2
PointsPlus Value per serving: 8
330 Calories, 7 grams fat

Ingredients
6 medium baby carrots, cut into spears
1/2 small zucchini, sliced
1/2 small yellow summer squash, sliced
1/3 cup canned green peas
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp white wine
1/4 cup half-and-half cream
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
4 oz uncooked whole-wheat pasta

Instructions
-Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot.
-Add carrots; cook 3 minutes.
-Remove with a slotted spoon.
-Add pasta to boiling water; cook according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain.**
-Spray large nonstick skillet with PAM and heat over medium-high heat. Add both types of squash and the mushrooms; sauté 3 minutes.
-Add carrots, peas, salt, pepper, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes.
-Stir in wine, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Allow to reduce for 5 minutes.**
-Stir in lemon juice; cook 1 minute.
-Stir in Half and Half and cheese, let cook 1 minute.
-Turn off heat, add pasta, stir well to coat.


** Note: You can make this sauce ahead of time, but I would recommend the following two modifications:

1) Do not cook the pasta until right before you are serving the dish. Otherwise the pasta will suck up all of the sauce and you will have a very dry pasta dish.

2) Prepare the recipe and STOP once you have added the wine and reduced the sauce. Store the sautéed veggies and the wine sauce in a sealed container in the fridge. On the night you are serving, heat the veggies and wine sauce up in a large pan, and then add the cream, parmesan, lemon juice, basil and parsley. You will end up with a much more creamy dish.

Healthy meals to nourish your mind.

All Hail Healthy Chicken Caesar Salad

We just got back from 10 days of vacationing and needless to say I went a little overboard on the eating. Trying to get back on track this week with some easy meals, especially since the house is a mess and I have a million loads of laundry to do!

Since I was strapped for time I decided to take the easy way out tonight and make a salad with pre-washed shredded romaine lettuce and rotisserie chicken breast. I spiced it up by making my own Caesar dressing that has a rich, creamy texture but isn't too caloric. I am not a big crouton person, but if they are a must for your salad, just be sure to factor in the additional points/calories.

Chicken Caesar Salad
Serves 2
PointPlus Value per Serving: 7
340 calories, 13g fat, 6g carbs

Dressing
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (the stuff out of the jar)
1/2 clove garlic, crushed or grated with a microplaner
1 tsp olive oil
salt/pepper to taste

Salad
9 oz cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 oz shredded parmesan cheese (the fresh stuff)
1 bag shredded romaine lettuce

Directions
-In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream with the garlic, lemon juice and
Worcestershire sauce.
-Whisk in the oil and the grated cheese and season with salt and pepper.
-Shred the chicken breast using your fingers or two forks.
-In a large bowl, toss the romaine with the dressing. Once all of the lettuce is coated, add the shredded chicken.
-Divide into two portions and top each serving with the fresh shredded parmesan.

Healthy meals to nourish your mind.