COOK: Meatballs with Parmesan TRUFF Polenta

This is one dinner that I always make sure I make enough that there are leftovers, I swear it's even better the next day, and that's saying a lot!  It's also not super complicated, and you could make it even easier if you use premade frozen meatballs.

Using the TRUFF Black Truffle Oil to finish the polenta, and adding some TRUFF Original Hot Sauce to the crushed tomatoes takes this from "that was a yummy dinner" to "I'm going to have naughty thoughts about this dinner".  (You could substitute one of the TRUFF Pasta Sauces instead of the crushed tomatoes, I just didn't have any on hand when I made this.)  I can find most of the TRUFF products at my local grocery stores, and sometimes at out Costco as well, or you can order directly from their website.  

Meatballs with Parmesan TRUFF Polenta

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

1 Pound Ground Beef (I use 80% lean)

1 Egg

1/3 Cup Breadcrumbs 

3 Cloves Garlic (Finely Minced)

1 teaspoon Dried Oregano

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

Sauce:

(Can use jarred sauce instead)

1 15 Ounce Can Crushed Tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/2 teaspoon Dried Oregano

2 teaspoons TRUFF Original Hot Sauce (More or less to taste)

Salt and Pepper

Polenta:

3 Cups Water

1 teaspoon Salt

1 Cup Yellow Corn Polenta (I use Bob's Red Mill)

1 Cup Parmesan Cheese (Grated)

2-3 teaspoons TRUFF Black Truffle Oil

Preparation:

In a large bowl mix together all of the meatball ingredients, I do it by hand, it's a bit messy but I find it's the best way to get get everything fully combined.  Form meat mixture into about 2.5-3 Tablespoon sized balls, (should make about 12) and place on a plate.  (I use my medium (#24) cookie scoop to scoop my meat, and then roll into a ball.)

Heat a large cast iron pan over medium heat, add just a touch of olive oil and cook meatballs, turning to brown each side, until cooked through, remove to a clean plate and cover to keep warm.

While meatballs are cooking add crushed tomatoes, garlic, oregano, hot sauce, salt and pepper to a small sauce pan to heat over low heat, or dump jar of prepared sauce to warm up.

In a medium pot bring water and salt to a boil for polenta, mix in dry polenta, and turn down to low.  Polenta will cook quickly, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, stir in parmesan (reserving a bit for garnish), and truffle oil.  

Scoop polenta into serving bowls, top with several meatballs, sauce, and reserved grated parmesan.  Can drizzle additional truffle oil if desired.

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COOK: Burger and Sandwich Pockets (Great to make ahead and freeze!)

These burger or sandwich pockets, are great to make and then freeze, and with summer break coming up it's a great time to stock your freezer with quick and easy food that the kiddos can grab and heat up on their own.  

These are also great for appetizers, just make each pocket smaller so it can be eaten in a bite or two!

When I make these I wrap each one individually in foil, then label them and write down the time to microwave them on the foil, then put them all together in a big plastic bag in the freezer.  

I don't have an air fryer (yet!) but I think these would probably re-heat wonderfully in one, if anyone tries it please let me know so I can add the instruction to the post, and maybe send you a little gift! 

I use my pizza dough recipe for these, but you can use refrigerated pizza dough from the store to make it easier.

I'm going to give you three filling recipes that I like, but you can mix things up with different meats, chesses, sauces, etc.  One tip, you don't want your filling to be too watery as it can make in inside a bit soggy, so if you are using a lot of vegetables make sure to drain the liquid before adding any sauces or final seasonings.

I'm hoping to test some sweet fillings soon and will let you know how they turn out.

All recipes, including the pizza dough, can be cut in half.

Burger and Sandwich Pockets

Makes 12 or more depending on size

For all pocket recipes you'll need:

1 batch of my easy pizza dough (plan ahead as it takes at least 1 hour to rise) OR refrigerated pizza dough, enough for two pizzas (about 14-16 Ounces)

Egg Wash Mixture: 2-3 Egg Yolks with 2-3 Tablespoons Cold Water whisked together

Bacon Cheeseburger:

Ingredients:

2 Pounds Ground Beef

12 Slices Uncooked Bacon

2 teaspoon Garlic Powder

2 teaspoon Onion Powder

1 teaspoon Black Pepper

1 teaspoon Salt

4 teaspoons Worcestershire 

16 Ounces Cheddar Cheese (Shredded)

4 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard (Or your favorite mustard)

Preparation:

Chop bacon into small pieces, mix together uncooked meats, garlic, onion, pepper, salt, and worcestershire sauce, cook until meat is cooked through, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. 

Mix in shredded cheese, mustard, and season to taste.

I like to serve these with dipping cups of ketchup, (If you haven't tried the Heinz Chipotle, Jalapeno, or Habanero flavored ketchups you should!) mustard, or barbecue sauce.  

Buffalo Chicken:

Ingredients:

2 Pounds Chicken Breast (Cooked and Shredded)

1 Cup Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sandwich Sauce (or other thick hot sauce)

16 Ounces Cheddar Cheese (Shredded) 

8 Ounces Crumbled Blue Cheese

4-5 Stalks Celery (Finely Chopped)

Preparation:

Once shredded chicken has cooled to room temperature mix all ingredients together, add additional seasonings if needed.

Serve with Ranch or Blue Cheese Dip and Carrot Sticks

Beef French Dip:

Ingredients:

16 Ounces Thinly Sliced Ribeye, or Shaved Roast Beef

2 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 teaspoon Black Pepper

1 teaspoon Salt

1 Medium Yellow Onion (Sliced)

2 Green Peppers (Sliced)

12 Ounces Cheddar (Shredded)

12 Ounces Monterey Jack (Shredded)

Preparation:

Season meat and set aside.  

In a large pan sauté onions and peppers until soft and slightly browned, remove from pan into a large bowl,  Add meat to pan and cook just until it's cooked through, remove and give it a quick rough chop so meat is in bite size pieces,  add to onions and peppers and let cool until room temperature.

Mix in cheeses, and add any additional spices if needed.

Serve with or horseradish sauce or beef au jus (I always have a bottle of Johnny's Au Jus in the fridge and an extra in the pantry!).

For all pockets:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, prepare baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.  (You can also use a cast iron pan like pictured above, however this causes small holes where they touch and isn't good if you'll be freezing them.)

Divide pizza dough into 12 or more balls depending on the size you want the pockets to be.  (12 will make large pockets, good for a filling dinner with a salad, if you are doing appetizers I'd cut it into 36 balls.  I usually do a few big for dinner that night, then some smaller to freeze for lunches.  Keep dough balls covered with plastic wrap so they don't dry out.  

Taking one ball at a time roll it out until it is a thin round circle, add filling of your choice to the center covering about 2/3 of the dough (I use my cookie scoops for the filling, this set  has three sizes and works great for all sizes of pockets.)  

After filling pull up each side of pocket and have them meet in the center above the filling and pinch so that it is sealed with no holes, flip over so seam is down on prepared baking sheet, leave at least an inch between each pocket. (I promise I'll add pictures or a video of this soon!) 

Using a pastry brush gently brush egg wash onto the top of each pocket, I like to sprinkle them with Everything Bagel Seasoning, Sesame Seeds, or Dried Minced Garlic.

Bake for about 20 minutes until tops are golden brown.  (If you are making appetizer sized pockets check them at about 12 minutes, tops should be golden and bottom slightly browned around the edges.)

Remove from oven and serve with dipping sauces.  If freezing cool completely on a cooling rack before wrapping in foil to freeze.

Reheating Instructions: From frozen, microwave 2 minutes, then wrap in a moist paper towel and microwave another 2 minutes.  When I pack these in lunches I put them in the fridge the night before, then you can just wrap it in a moist paper towel and microwave about two minutes.  

Please let me know if you have any questions, or what fun fillings you come up with!

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COOK: Fajita/Taco Seasoning Recipe

Let's taco-bout quick and easy dinners, and ways to use the leftovers to create a new and different meal the next day.  Did I lose you all at "taco-bout"?   I know that was corny.   (Although corn is a great addition to a lot of these meals.)

I'll add my basic Fajita Seasoning recipe at the end of this post, (if you only want the recipe scroll to the bottom now.) but first I'd like to talk about some of the different ways you can use the seasoning in different ways, and how to transform the leftovers.

This seasoning is great on ground beef, steak, chicken, shrimp, fish, veggies, and even tofu crumbles!  If your kiddos are anything like mine "Taco Tuesday", on any day of the week, is one of their favorites.  Flour tortillas, corn tortillas, or taco shells, maybe even chips for nachos are the norm.  That said, what happens when everyone is bored of the same thing and you have either leftovers to use up, or want a quick meal?

KC taught me about Taco Grilled Cheese, why I had never thought of this, I don't know, I guess I'm lucky I found him.  This one is simple, butter your bread, put butter side down in your skillet or pan, add a slice of American Cheese, (the only reason I buy the cheese singles is for grilled cheese, or burgers in the summer time), add a bit of warmed up taco meat, top with a bit of grated cheddar cheese, add hot sauce if you want, then top with the other slice of bread, butter side up.  Flip until both sides are toasty and cheese is melted.  If you have some left over Green Chile from your Taco Night you can warm that and use as a dipping sauce.

One of my favorite ways to use up leftover fajita meat and veggies is to cook some pasta and make a quick cheese sauce, (If you are low on time, or energy make some boxed Mac and Cheese!) then add the meat and veggies, mix, top with leftover grated cheese, sour cream, or green chile sauce.  You could also do the same with rice, add in a can of black beans and some corn and you have a real feast!

If you want to get extra fancy you can make Enchiladas, my post with  homemade Enchilada Sauce is here, or you can find my recipe for Baked Chimichangas here.  We also like to make Empanadas, they are easy to freeze, and reheat easily in the microwave for lunches, I'll update the post with my Empanada Dough recipe, but you can also use my Flaky Pie Crust Recipe (omit the sugar) found here.

A few last notes, instead of using water with the Fajita/Taco Seasoning my Father-In-Law uses Pineapple Juice, while KC and Dust hate pineapple they like the flavor it adds.  If you are using the seasoning as a marinade try adding some citrus flavored seltzer to your marinade mix.

Fajita/Taco Seasoning

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Cornstarch (omit if using for marinade)

2 teaspoons Chili Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Paprika

1 teaspoon Onion Powder

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/2 teaspoon Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (add more if you like spice!)

1/2 teaspoon Cumin

This is enough for about 2 pounds of meat, you can save any leftover seasoning in an airtight container.

You can use this as a dry rub (great for fish), mix it with some oil, lime juice, seltzer, or even just water to make a marinade for your meat, or add it to cooked meat and/or veggies and add about 1/4 Cup liquid per pound of meat and mix and let simmer.

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COOK: Kid Approved Pizzaritos

My kiddos have never been very picky, but there are some foods I know that will always eat without any complaints, they are also some of the easier recipes and the first things I've taught them how to make.   As soon as we gave Berea her cookbook she asked KC to put this recipe in it!

One of my favorite things about this recipe is it's very easy to "hide" veggies in, for those people that have a hard time getting their kids (or husband!) to eat their veggies.  If I don't use homemade I get the Prego Veggie Smart Pizza Sauce it has 30% of daily veggies!  You can also dice up green peppers, mushrooms, olives, and add then when you add the pepperoni if you want.

Kid Approved Pizzaritos

Ingredients:

1 Pound Ground Beef

4 Ounces Sliced Pepperoni (cut into fourths)

14 Ounces Pizza Sauce 

8 Ounces Mozzarella (grated)
Burrito Size Flour Tortillas

Preparation:

Cook ground beef until brown, then drain.  Add cut pepperoni, and sauce, mix well.  Let simmer 10 minutes, stirring as needed. 

Serve burrito style, tortilla, cheese, meat mixture, then roll!

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COOK: Spicy Ginger Sesame Sauce

We really like making "stir-fry", it's a great way to use up leftover meat and random veggies from the fridge, and they are usually really quick to throw together.

I've shared my Chinese Firecracker Sauce on the blog before, it's one of KC's favorites, but it's very spicy and I wanted to find something that would work with any kind of meat (or tofu) but not be too spicy for the kiddos.  After looking at a ton of different recipes I made up this "Frankenstein" recipe.

I used pork the first time, and didn't have any veggies but did have a can of water chestnuts in the pantry so I threw those in.  I think this would be really good with tofu and snow peas, or beef and broccoli, or probably any other combination of protein and veggies.  I served it over ramen noodles, but you could serve it with rice, or on it's own with lots of veggies.

This sauce has great flavor with some heat that lingers, if I was making it when the kiddos were here I would probably use half as much sriracha.  

Spicy Ginger Sesame Sauce

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (I always use the low sodium)

3 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar

1 1/2 Tablespoons Honey

1 Tablespoon Sriracha (less if you don't want too much spice)

1 teaspoon Sesame Oil

2 Cloves Garlic (minced, or you can use garlic powder)

1 teaspoon Ground Ginger 

Preparation:

Mix everything together.

You can use it as a marinade for your meat (if using as a marinade on tofu omit the sesame oil, it will keep the tofu from absorbing the marinade.) 

Or use it as a sauce, I cooked cubed pork, then added my water chestnuts, added the sauce and let it simmer for a bit, I wanted a thicker sauce so after it had simmered for about ten minutes I mixed some cornstarch with cold water and added it a bit at a time while stirring until the sauce reached the consistency I wanted.

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