Sloppy Garden Joes

Another husband-approved dish! This one comes originally from www.babyfit.com. I have made a few small alterations to it, with great success. It has officially been placed on the "make again" list with a recommendation to try it out with various types of BBQ sauces.

Sloppy Garden Joe's Chili

• 1 onion, chopped
  
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
  
• 1 lb. ground turkey
  
• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
  
• 1 15 oz. can stewed tomatoes, not drained
  
• 1 8oz. can mushrooms, drained
  
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
• 1 15 oz. can of black beans, rinsed
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
  
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Sauté onions, green pepper and ground turkey in a pan over medium-high heat until turkey is cooked through. I added a little canola oil to the pan to keep the turkey from sticking since I was not using a non-stick pan.

2. Add tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, mushrooms, beans, garlic, oregano, liquid smoke, barbecue sauce and seasonings and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat and simmer until the children are down for the night, stirring occasionally.

4. Serve with cheese, if desired.

Serves 8.

Nightly Prayer by A

"Dear God,
thank you for Papa, Nonna, Micky, Minnie. Once upon time I hurt elbow in the morning. Once upon time, once time. Daddy, Mama, Maggie.
Amen."

Pizza Crust Nirvana

I finally found a pizza crust recipe worth repeating! I have been searching for 15 years for one that I liked! Oh, my, stars! It's grand. The whole family devoured it!

Here it is: pizza crust.

We topped it with:

pepperoni
Italian sausage (chicken, with mozzarella cheese in it)
red pepper
black olives
feta

I used Ragu's jarred pizza sauce, gourmand that I am. LOL. It was divine. Seriously, the toddler ate three pieces all by herself! My husband did not complain about it being too doughy, and I did not complain about it being too hard/crunchy.

Next stop, grilled pizza...

Nola Bar Update

Nola bars made with Virginia peanuts, m&ms, and raisins are delicious. Also, lowering the sugar content made a notable positive alteration to the flavor. Less cookie-like, more satisfying.

Homemade 'Nola Bars

I tried a new recipe for granola/energy bars this weekend. I think I'm in love.

I got the recipe from Readers' Digest, of all places. Here it is.

I used walnuts, currants, and choc chips. Wowsa. I LOVE it. The sweetness comes largely from the chocolate chips, which surprised me. I think I could leave out the chocolate and then play with savory granola bars. Maybe do sesame and ginger? Craisin and orange zest?

YUM! The toddler approves, too.

More Adventures in Cooking

I wanted to make banana bread last weekend. I REALLY wanted to make banana bread last weekend the way only a pregnant or nursing mother wants a specific food. I had three ripe bananas and walnuts, so the only thing stopping me was my lack of white flour. I had some, yes, but was it enough to make banana bread?

But wait! I had a whole bag of whole wheat flour! Surely the moistness of the bananas could overcome the dry nature of whole wheat flour and make a good bread, right? I got online and found that yes, indeed, whole wheat banana bread is easy and good. There were a LOT of recipes to choose from, so as usual, I picked the best parts of each and combined them into MY recipe.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread
3 large bananas, over-ripe and mashed
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/4 C molasses
1/4 C honey
1/4 C sugar (white or brown)
1/4 C oil
1 1/2C whole wheat flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C nuts

Mix the moist ingredients together until blended. Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the moist and fold them in just until moistened. Do not over mix. Allow batter to rest for 15 minutes.

Spray a loaf pan with cooking oil, add batter. Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350F. Toothpick will be clean when done.

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Our other culinary experience to share with you:

MEATLOAF MOUNTAINS
Chad says I am never to make meatloaf again. I must always make meat muffins... ie Meatloaf Mountains. I can't take credit for this recipe as it's not mine. BUT I can take credit for introducing it to you.

Meatloaf Mountains
1lb ground beef or turkey
2 eggs
1 package of dry soup mix, vegetable flavor
1 squirt ketchup (about a tablespoon)
15 saltines, crushed
2-4 servings of instant mashed potatoes, cooked according to package instructions.

Mix all but the potatoes together. Spray the cups of a muffin tin and divide the meat mixture amongst the cups. Cook at 350F for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and divide the potatoes amongst the cups, making peaks on top of the meatloaf. Return to the oven for 10 more minutes.

Everyone in the family loves them and they are completely toddler-friendly as far as cooking goes. So quick and easy!!!

This Week's Recipe Success

Chad recently had a beans and rice urge so we decided to try out a few recipes found on the internet. After monkeying around with the first one until we were satisfied, we came up with the following recipe:

Coconut Beans and Rice
1 can red kidney beans
1 can coconut milk
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 scallions, diced
1/4-1/2 tsp tarragon
1 1/2 C uncooked rice
1 1/4 C water
1 tsp salt
1/2 Tbs sugar
1 can of pineapple tidbits (any size you like)
lime juice
spicy sausage (optional)

Drain pineapple and reserve juice. Mix all ingredients except lime and pineapple juices in a pot. Heat to boiling and turn heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes, covered. Remove from heat. Add lime and pineapple juice to taste.

We used a spicy chicken sausage with cilantro and full-strength coconut milk. It was pretty delicious, quick to put together, and something that I could cook even with Abby around "helping."