Asian Turkey Meatball Wraps

This recipe was found during a search for Chinese foods. I really looked great, sounded great and probably would have been great had I not dried out the meatballs, substituted tomatoe for the red pepper (they are both red afterall) and actually had big carrots to shred instead of trying to shred baby carrots. I will definitely try this again only cook them in the microwave instead of broiling, using red pepper instead of tomato and buy a bag of shredded carrots.

Asian Turkey Meatball Wraps (my changes in red)

1 pound ground turkey
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root (used powder)

1 cup brown rice (used basmati)
1 cup water (followed directions on rice and adjusted accordingly)
16 large lettuce leaves (used iceberg, won't do that again)
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup sliced red bell pepper
1 cup sliced radishes

1/3 cup light soy sauce
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root (used powder)
1 teaspoon sugar

In a medium bowl, mix together ground turkey, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon minced garlic and 2 teaspoons ginger. Form into 16 meatballs and roll into ovals. Cover and refrigerate.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine rice with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until rice is tender.

Preheat the grill or broiler. Arrange rice, lettuce leaves, carrots, scallions, radishes and red peppers onto a serving platter or place each into a small bowl.

In a medium bowl, mix together 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup water, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons garlic, 1 tablespoon ginger, and sugar. Divide into 4 small dipping bowls.

Thread two meatballs onto each 10 inch skewer. Grill or broil for 10 to 12 minutes, turning occasionally to brown all sides. If broiling, line the broiler pan with aluminum foil and drain fat after 6 minutes.

To eat, place a leaf of lettuce onto the palm of your hand, spoon on a little rice, then a meat roll, and a few of the vegetables. Roll up and dip in dipping sauce or spoon sauce over.

Recipe-- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2009 Allrecipes.com

Picture--© Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

Almond Jello

I found this recipe while searching for different Chinese recipes to try during our unit. I didn't want stir fry and eggrolls all the time. This is definately an interesting twist on jello but is really quite good despite the odd look it has. Next time I will use more natural ingredients including agar-agar and evaporated cane juice following this recipe a bit more closly.

Almond Jello Recipe (my changes in red)

3 cups evaporated milk (not condensed)
1 cup sugar
2 packages unflavored gelatin
4 tsp amond extract, divided
1 (14 oz) fruit cocktail

Take 1 cup evaporated milk, the gelatin and sugar and disolve over low heat.
Add 2 tsp almond extract
Take remaining 2 cups milk and mix with remaining 2 tsp almond extract, stir and add into hot milk. (I let the milk get almost to the boiling point.)
Stir until well blended.
Pour into a bowl and cool in fridge 2-3 hours. (I had to put it in the freezer for about an hour to have it done in time for supper)
When firm, cut into cubes adding the fruit cocktail, including liquid.
Mix lightly and serve.

Recipe © 2009 Recipezaar. All Rights Reserved. http://www.recipezaar.com

Picture © 2009 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

Mary Todd Lincoln's Cake

For Cool's birthday and President's Day the picklets and I made Mary Todd Lincoln's Cake. Good enough for a President and good enough for us! It was delish! The almonds make all the difference.

The author of the article said it took her 4 hours beginning to end to make the cake but I found it took about half an hour to prepare then half an hour to bake. Of course I used a hand mixer and a stand mixer. But I still don't think it would take 4 hours.

Here is the recipe:

MARY TODD LINCOLN CAKE
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter (Smart Balance)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 c. cake flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat and 1 1/4 cup white flour)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 1/3 cups milk
1 cup finely chopped almonds
6 egg whites - stiffly beaten

Cream sugar, butter and vanilla. Sift together cake flour and baking powder three times.
Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Stir in almonds. Gently fold in the egg whites.
Pour into two greased and floured 9 x 11/2-inch round baking pans.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

WHITE FROSTING
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
dash salt
2 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla

Bring to boiling, sugar, water, cream of tartar and salt.
Boil until sugar dissolves. Put egg whites in mixing bowl.
Start beater and while egg whites are beating, very slowly add hot syrup.
Beat until stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes.
Beat in vanilla for one more minute.

Peanut Butter and Banana Egg Rolls

This idea came from The Simple Cajun Life blog. These are really yummy!

What I did was this:

Mashed two bananas in a bowl. Added a couple of glops of peanut butter and mixed. Put the mixture into eggroll wrappers, roll like an eggroll (instructions on wrapper package) and fry up in butter. I kept warm in low oven until we were ready to eat them. Before serving I sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Bacon and Egg Fried Rice

Simple and yummy!

Bacon and Egg Fried Rice

basmati rice, cooked (I made 4-6 servings which was 1 1/2 cups rice to 3 cups water)
1/4 cup Bac-Uns
6 eggs
3 TBS onion, diced
3 TBS soy sauce, plus extra for the table
sesame oil
butter

Saute onion in a little butter until a little soft. Add eggs and Bac-Uns and scramble until soft set. Move eggs off to one side of the pan, add a little oil and cooked rice. Mix eggs with rice and serve with extra soy sauce if wanted.

Guacamole

For lunch today we had taco salads. For the dressing I made homemade guacamole with some avocados I had in the fridge. Yum! I know, if I would look, I could probably find a "real" recipe but we have made guacamole this way since we started making it and I guess we must live by the old adage...if it ain't broken, don't fix it.

Guacamole ala Gerky (today's recipe)

5 avocados diced
1/2 carton grape tomatoes diced
1/2 red onion diced
1 capful of lemon juice
1/4 tsp Nature's Seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Mix all together and eat. YUM!
To keep it green, place a couple of avocado pits in it.

Chinese Noodle Soup

2 boxes chicken broth
1 boxrice noodles(the clear kind)
1 lb snow peas
2 shredded carrots
1 large onion chopped
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 TBs soy sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
1 tsp sesame oil

Boil broth. Add veggies. Reduce heat, cover and let cook 5-8 minutes. Add nooodles and cook according to package directions. Stir in sesame oil. Serve with toasted sesame seeds if desired.

Muffins and Fruit

When I used to travel for a living there was a hotel in Rockford, Illinois I would stay at. Next to that hotel was a restraunt. Now the great thing about staying at that particular hotel was receving a coupon for a free breakfast the next morning at the next door restraunt. I would always order the muffin and fruit plate, juice and coffee.

The plate came loaded with grapes, oranges, pineapple and would contain 3 muffins. And they weren't small muffins either. Plus the muffins were always warm and good. (even if I didn't have the coupon I would have paid the $7.00 they charged because it was awesome)

So this morning I decided we were going to have muffins and fruit for breakfast. I wanted oatmeal muffins with apples and cinnamon. I went to my favorite muffins recipe site. Bed and Breakfast Inns. If you want good breakfast and bakery recipes this is the site to go to. (FYI the Pumpkin Crunch cake is to die for!) I decided to base my recipe off the Oatmeal Apple Muffins from Big Locust Farm Bed and Breakfast.

Being as I am trying a new way of eating, I decided to health this up a bit. My changes are in red.

Oatmeal Apple Muffins by Big Locust Farm Bed & Breakfast

1 1/2 cup oatmeal
1 1/4 cup flour (used whole wheat)
3/4 tsp cinnamon (omitted because I am out)
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup brown sugar (used splenda mixed with molasses)
5 Tbsps oil (replaced with 1/2 mashed banana)
1 egg (replaced with 3 TBS warm water and 1 TBS flaxmeal)
2 apples pealed and diced
2/3 cup cinnamon chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine oatmeal, flour, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Add applesauce, milk, brown sugar, oil and egg. Mix until moistened. Put in muffin cups. Bake 20 minutes. (Just mixed it all together, sprayed muffin cups with olive oil spray and baked at 400º for about 17 minutes)

I served this with fresh pineapple, red grapes and and orange juice slushie. This was a huge hit and very filling. It will go on my monthly menu of muffins for both breakfasts and snacks.

Taco Night

We had taco night Thursday night. Oh yummy, we love tacos. The "meat" was Tac-O's and topped with taco sauce, avacado chunks, onion, shredded spinach and tomatos. I served this with refried beans, Mexican rice and clementines.

This is by far the best Mexican Rice I have ever made. Of course I didn't follow the directions but then again I never do. My changes are in red.

Mexican Rice Recipe

* 1 teaspoon of salt (omitted but won't next time)

* 1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp which equals about 2 cloves)

* 3 tablespoons cooking oil (omitted)

* 1 cup uncooked rice (brown rice)

* 2 cups chicken broth (veggie)

* 1/2 cup tomato puree or can tomato (fire roasted tomatoes)

* 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper

* 1/2 cup chopped onion

Instructions:

Heat oil. Add rice and cook until golden. Add & sauté onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Add Salt, tomato and broth in blender. Add to rice, cook until tender and liquid is absorbed.Cooking time 20 minutes over low heat. (Threw everything in a rice cooker, flipped it on and let it cook.)

"..I'm fed up with cabbage water...

...It's not enough!"

I totally understand Charlie's frustration. Cabbage water leaves, um, a bit to be desired. Really it does. But, being a Willy Wonka fan and this never ending need to taste the foods that make the movies I love stand out in my head, I tried it. I waited until I found the perfect recipe. A recipe that might, just maybe, provide us with riches. I believe it will.

I honestly cannot remember where I got this recipe. I found it, printed on printer paper, while cleaning out the cookbooks. I had to try it.

Money Soup

1/2 onion diced

small head of cabbage, shredded

1-2 tbs butter

4 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper

garlic powder

1 peice of silver, boiled

Saute the onion in butter. Add cabbage and saute until parcially limp. Add boiled silver peice (I used a silver dollar) and chicked broth (I used 1 box chicken broth and 1 box chicken broth, so used more broth that is called for). Simmer until cabbage is done. Fish out silver and serve. Make and eat whenever a little money is needed.

Sweet and Chip really liked the cabbage water. Dill sort of liked it. Cool, who really doesn't like cabbage, ate it to be polite (but I noticed he didn't eat it out of his lunch box the next day). I really felt like I was being a good behemie girl by making this dish. :-)

I served this with a lettuce salad and BBQ dried beef.

© 2009 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

Chickpea Tuna Sandwiches

For lunch yesterday we had tuna sandwiches, roasted potato wedges, leftover hoppin john salad and carrot chips. I admit, I was a little leary at making the "tuna" filling. First of all would I like it and second of all would the picklets like it? Yep and yep. I was happily surprised at the outcome.

Chickpea Tuna Gerky's Way

1 can drained and rinsed chickpea, mashed

onion, minced

1 stalk celery, minced

1 carrot minced

1/2 red pepper

garlic powder, to taste

kosher salt. to taste

red pepper flakes, to taste

big spoonful of zucchini relish

1 dollop of mayo

Put all in a bowl and use the imersion blender until blended. Serve on wheat roll with tomato and lettuce (if you have it which we didn't)

Egg Substitutes

In my quest for better health this coming year I have been trying different lower fat/lower cholesterol egg substitutes.

For making scrambled eggs and omelets I have found that Better-n-Eggs is pretty darned good. Around here they are cheaper than Egg Beaters and they are recommended by "The Best Life Diet", something I have been extremely interested in. One thing I have found though is NOT to mix it with water when making omelets. It does NOT work out.

For baking I have found several things to work. For cookies and pancakes I like half a banana smashed. Or 1 TBS flax meal mixed with 3 TBS H2O for each egg called for. For brownies and cakes I like 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 2 TBS flour and 3 TBS H2O mixed together for each egg. I have been known to use all three in any given recipe.

Of course if you don't have any of the following but do have eggs on hand try mixing 1 whole egg with 11 egg whites. Use 1/4 cup mixture for each egg called for.

Don't throw that yolk away either. You can use it for custards or you can feed them to you dogs and/or cats for a shinier, thicker coat.

Butter Bean Burgers

This recipe was also a hit! Chip, the picky pickle, ate it and asked for seconds. I will double the batch next time so we can have seconds.

Butter Bean Burgers

1 (15 ounce) can butter beans, drained
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno pepper (I used red and green pepper)
6 saltine crackers, crushed (I used panko bread crumbs)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (Only used 1/4 cup)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup vegetable oil (didn't use)

In a medium bowl, mash butter beans. Mix in onion, jalapeno pepper, crushed crackers, egg, cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Divide into 4 equal parts, and shape into patties.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; use more or less oil to reach 1/4 inch in depth. Fry patties until golden, about 5 minutes on each side. (Instead of frying I sprayed each patty and put on a cookie sheet and baked at 350º for about 10 minutes on each side.)

I served this with sweet potato fries, a lettuce salad and soy chocolate shake.

Pumpkin Wontons

These were pretty good. I am not sure where this recipe came from either.

Pumpkin Wontons

egg roll wrappers
1 cup pumpkin
2 TBS maple syrup
3 TBS brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
cinnamon and sugar
cooking spray

Mix pumpkin, syrup brown sugar and spices. Take wonton wrapper, cut in half using pizza cutter. Put 1 tsp pumpkin filling in wrapper. Seal with water. Place wontons on cookie sheet. Spray with cooking spray (on both sides) and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (on both sides). Cook in preheated 400º oven for 5-7 minutes. Watch carefully.

Turkey Egg Rolls

For supper last night we had leftover turkey soup and I decided to use some of the leftover turkey to make turkey egg rolls with homemade cranberry dipping sauce. I was begged to make more immediately.

Turkey Egg Rolls (I followed the recipe)

1 pkg egg roll wrappers
water
2 tbs veggie oil, divided
2 1/2 cup diced cooked turkey
3/4 cup diced onions
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 large eggs
s and p to taste

Sautee the veggies in 1 tbs oil a few minutes. Add chopped turkey and sautee for a couple minutes more. Put mixture in a bowl. Add garlic powder, sand and pepper. Beat eggs and add to mixture. Slightly cool. Fill eggroll wrapper with a couple TBS filling. Fold according to instructions on package. Seel with water. Heat 1 TBS oil on medium heat and fry seam side down and turn. Serve with craberry sauce. Cranberry Sauce

1/2 lb fresh cranberries
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water

Mix together in microwave safe bowl. Cover and microwave on hgih until craberries pop. (took about 8 minutes) Cool.

Turkey and Wildrice Soup with Chunky Garlic Bread

Don't know where these recipes came from. Had them printed in my "to-try" notebook and didn't make note of the origin. Rest assured they came from someone, somewhere who knows how to cook.

These two recipes are fantasitic. Oh so good!

Turkey and Wildrice Soup

1 turkey carcass
1 1/2 gallons water
1 large onion
1 carrot, peeled and halved
1 stalk celery, halved
5-6 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
1 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Bring the ingredients to a boil. cover and reduce to simmer. Simmer for at least 2 hours. Strain, separate meat. Cool and skim fat.

To cooled broth add 3 large taters chopped, 1 large onion chopped, 2 carrots peeled and diced, 2 ribs celery sliced, 1 cup white rice, 1 cup brown rice, 1 cup wild rice. Bring to a boil. cover and simmer until veggies are tender and rice is done.

Add 2 cups milk mixed with cornstarch to thicken. Might need more to thicken up.

Adjust seasons as needed.
Chunky Garlic Bread

1 pkg asiago cheese ciabata rolls
1/2 cup softened butter
4 heaping tsp minced garlic
couple tbs parsley flakes
kosher salt and pepper to taste

Mix butter, garlic, parsley, s and p. Cut bread into slices. Slather butter on bread. Head in 350º over until heated through then broil to turn golden brown. Doesn't get much better than this folks.

Tofu Wraps and Sweet Potato Fries

Yummy, yummy, yummy! The recipe I used stemmed from this recipe. I don't have a small fortune to spend on baked tofu from the health mart so I made some from another recipe. I believe it couldn't have turned out better. The recipe using the homemade baked tofu makes 6 wraps. Chip, my pickiest tofu eater, had seconds.

Baked Tofu Spinach Wrap (my changes in red)

2 whole wheat tortillas (6)
1 package hickory flavor baked tofu (see recipe below)
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar (1/8-1/4 cup for 6)
1 cup fresh baby spinach
1 TBS ranch
1 TBS grated parmesan

Place slices of tofu in center of each tortilla. Sprinkle cheddar and warm in microwave. (tofu was already warm because it was baked) Put spinach and ranch on. Sprinkle with parmesan. Roll and eat.

Baked Tofu (my changes in red)

1 pkg extra firm tofu
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 TBS maple syrup (I used homemade)
2 TBS ketchup
1 TBS vinegar
1 dash hot sauce (a dish, a dash, who knows how much, just to taste)
1 TBS sesame seeds (I didn't use this because I was out)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tesapoon liquid smoke

Press and slice tofu. (I sliced it horizontally three times then sliced each third in two) Stir together all ingredients. (brush marinade on each side of tofu) Pour sauce over tofu. Marinate at least 5 minutes. (let sit for 15 or so minutes brushing more on as you want) Put tofu on sprayed cookie sheet. Bake in preheated 375º over 15 minutes on each side. It should turn golden brown.

Oven Roasted Sweet Potato Fries (mainly I followed the recipe but since I don't buy Lawry's because I used my all natural stuff. If you don't have seasoned salt try making your own!) I didn't put changes in red just put the recipe the way I made it.

1 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp parsley flakes
1/4 tsp chili powder
sweet potatos
2 tbs olive oil

Combine spices. Scrub and wedge sweet potatos. I cut in half lengthwise then cut 3-4 lengths. They don't look like wedges but more like fries. Put fries in bowl. Pour olive oil and spices on. Mix with hands and put on cookie sheet. Bake 40-50 minutes in preheated 425º turning once. The fries will no be crispy but will be wonderfully delicious!

Omelets ala Gerky!

I guess this could be considered a California omelet because of the avocado. It was a last minute addition that I have to say was perfect!

Omelets ala Gerky

1 egg per person
1/8 cup water per person
1/4 cup onion per person
1/4 cup yellow pepper per person
1/2 sliced avocado per person
3 TBS spinach flakes per person
1/8 cup Bac'Uns per person
Nature's Seasoning to taste
3 TBS shredded cheddar cheese per person
butter as needed to stop sticking

To make the omelet beat egg and water together in a small bowl. In skillet melt a 1 tsp butter. Saute onion and pepper until semi soft. Add spinach flakes and Bac'Uns. Saute until combined. Add another teaspoon of butter and stir around. Spread filling out evenly. Pour egg mixture over filling. Sprinkle with Nature's Seasoning to taste. Sprinkle with cheese and put under broiler until set and cheese is oozy goozy. Remove from oven, top 1 side with sliced avocado and flip the other side of the omelet over the avocado. Serve with whole wheat toast topped with homemade strawberry jam.

© 2008 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

Moravske zeli

or Moravian Cabbage

1 1/2 lb red cabbage
1 cup water
1 medium onion, chopped
1/3 cup flour.
1/2 teaspoon caraway seed
1 tsp salt
4 teaspoons sugar
1/3 cup vinegar

Put all ingredients except flour in large pot. Simmer for 2-3 hours. Add flour at the end by sprinkling flour, stirring, flour, stirring until all flour is stirred in. Serve with pork roast, dumplings and gravy. YUM!
copyright 2008 The Homefront Lines

Tostadas

DH and I are big fans of tostadas. The kidlets aren't. But, that didn't stop me from making them for lunch. I am just plain mean and cruel


©2008 The Homefront Lines