Asian Meatballs

Happy Easter to those celebrating on this beautiful day :)

All the house windows, blinds, and doors are open letting the breeze and sunshine in.  These are the best Sundays!

*UPDATE:  It's crazy pouring down rain and hail now.  Welcome to Houston, where you can experience every type of weather in the course of one day.

Hubby's Sundays are spent sleeping in as much as possible in different parts of the house.  So while he was doing his thing, I was doing my thing in the kitchen. Normally we grab whatever from whatever restaurant for lunch, but today I actually made lunch!

I wanted something simple and tasty...so I decided to mimic this recipe that came across my email from Budget Bytes.  These meatballs are gingery and mildly sweetened with a glaze (not in the Budget Bytes recipe) that were eaten on top of basmati rice with a side of pickled carrots, onions, and radish.  You could also eat these meatballs in a warm toasty french or vietnamese baguette and make yourself a banh mi.  It's just good, easy food.

Pickled Veggies:

1/4 onion thinly sliced
2 large radishes thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced or grated
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
3 tbs sugar
1 tsp sea salt

Place the thinly sliced veggies into a small canister (I had to use a bowl b/c I was out of mason jars).  Bring the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a quick boil and pour over the veggies.   Make sure everything is fully submerged.  Cover and let sit in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes.

Asian Meatballs:

1/2 lb ground beef (ground anything is fine here)
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 tbs finely chopped cilantro
1-in knob ginger, minced
1 tsp minced garlic
1 egg
1/2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sriracha
sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp honey
couple splashes of soy sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with oil.

Combine the ground meat, breadcrumbs, onion, cilantro, minced ginger and garlic, egg, soy sauce, sriracha, a sprinkle of salt, and lots of pepper!  Mix thoroughly using a light hand.

Take about 1 tbs of meat mixture and shape into a ball and place on prepared baking sheet.  I made about 17 meatballs.

Bake for 20 minutes.  As they bake, combine the brown sugar, honey, and soy sauce.  Mix well.  After 20 minutes of baking, brush the meatballs with some of the glaze and let bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Turn off oven, brush the meatballs with the remaining glaze and place under the broiler for about 5 minutes so they're sticky.

That's all!

We ate the meatballs on top of some plain rice, with a dollop of sriracha mayo (literally sriracha and mayo mixed together), splash of soy sauce, pickled veggies, and some more sriracha.  Absolutely yum.

Quickie Stuffed Bell Peppers & Orzo Salad

Just celebrated my big 3-0! Happy birthday to me!! I LOVE birthdays, mine, as well as everyone else's...there's happiness, there's celebrating, there's cake, and there's that special feeling you get on a day that is specially just for you.

My family and friends went above and beyond to make me feel lucky and blessed...there's nothing like being loved by so many good hearted people.  I'm in a very happy place right now!

Whenever there's a birthday, there is a lot of eating, so I really wanted to make a home cooked meal today.  I am still tired from my crazy awesome weekend, so wanted to put together something fairly quick and healthy.  Hubby and I need to get our festival bods ready for Cali!

Stuffed bell peppers are generally quick boiled and stuffed with a raw mixture of meat and some rice and take some time to cook.

Mine still took a bit of time, but were a little quicker since I halved the bell peppers, did not use rice, and browned the meat before stuffing.

The peppers were served with a side of orzo salad to create a well-balanced healthy meal.  Healthy can ALWAYS be delicious!

Stuffed Bell Peppers:

olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
1 tbs minced garlic
sea salt
black pepper
cumin
red chili powder
1 tbs garlic chili sauce (Sambal is the brand I use)
1/2 small can corn
handful of cilantro, chopped
3 bell peppers (whatever color is your fancy...I used one green, one yellow, and one red)
shredded cheese (whatever you like)
1 14 oz can of tomato sauce
worcestershire sauce
hot sauce
sea salt
pepper
garlic powder


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  De-seed the peppers and place in a lightly greased casserole dish.

Heat 1 tbs olive oil over medium heat.  Add diced onion and minced garlic.  Cook until onions are transclucent and begin to brown around edges.  Add the ground beef and season with salt, pepper, cumin, red chili powder, and garlic chili sauce.  Brown the beef and then add the corn and cilantro, heat through.

As the meat is cooking, combine tomato sauce with a few dashes of worcestershire and hot sauce, season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a separate bowl.

Stuff each bell pepper with the meat mixture, sprinkle just a bit of cheese on each pepper.  Pour tomato mixture over the peppers.  Pop the stuffed peppers in the oven and bake for 35 minutes.

Take the peppers out and top with a sprinkling of cheese and pop under the broiler on high heat until the cheese is melty (I overcooked mine, so mine was browned, but still so good).  Keep an eye on them!  The broiler works fast...

Orzo Salad:

1 cup cooked orzo
1 small avocado
handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 small can corn
olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt
pepper
red chili flakes
garlic powder

Combine orzo, avocado, cherry tomatoes, and corn.  Drizzle with olive and a few dashes of the red wine vingar.  Season with salt, pepper, red chili flakes, and garlic powder.  Place in fridge to cool.

Nutella-Pretzel Browned Butter Brownies

Hubby was watching an episode of The Office while we were on our walk on this beautiful day and Dwight was having brownies...next thing I know, "babe, can you make me some brownies?"


Normally I would say no, BUT, since I am not taking him as my guest to the rodeo concert, I promised him brownies and dinner.  Welcome to married life my friends!

I immediately thought of the pretzel nutella milkshake from Hopdoddy's in Austin.  It's an amazing milkshake full of nutella goodness and crunchy bits of salty pretzels! I'd make a trip to Austin for this milkshake.  Actually, I'd just make a trip to Austin in general.  I have so much love for that city...

So this milkshake was the inspiration behind these brownies

and...

OH MY GOODNESS...

Best. Brownies. In. Life.

All I heard were sounds of happiness coming from Shazad after he took his first bite :)

Sweet chocolate-y goodness from the nutella, saltiness and crunch from the pretzels, and the nuttiness from the browned butter make these amazing-ly amazing!  Make them right now.  Like right this second.

Nutella-Pretzel Browned Butter Brownies:

1 1/2 sticks butter, 12 tbs.
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tbs vanilla
2/3 cup cocoa
3 large eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp sea salt
6 tsp nutella
crushed pretzels

Preaheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper.  Set aside.

Melt butter over medium-high heat until the butter begins to brown (about 5 or so min, and you'll see flecks of brown and smell a nutty aroma).  Keep an eye on the butter, it can go from brown to burned in seconds!

Add the sugar and vanilla, stir well. Turn off heat and whisk in the cocoa powder and stir well.

In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs.  Add the cocoa mixture and stir well.  Sprinkle in the flour and salt and lightly fold the flour into the cocoa/egg mixture.  Do not beat or over mix.  Use a light hand!

Pour brownie batter into the baking pan and even out with a spatula.  Add the nutella by teaspoons into the batter and swirl into the batter.

At this point, you can sprinkle the crushed pretzels on top of the batter, do half of the batter, or none at all! It's up to you!

Bake the brownies for about 35 min., check with a toothpick.  If it comes out wet, well obviously you must bake them for a few more min.!  Keep checking every 5 min, and insert a toothpick.  If there are just little bits sticking to the toothpick or seems fudge-y, they are ready!

Let cool a bit because WARM brownies are the only way to eat brownies :)

Enjoy, enjoy!

A little over a month until THIS happens:

Breakfast For Dinner

I LOVE me some breakfast for dinner sometimes.  I'll just get cravings for a stack of pancakes and some turkey bacon.  My family was a big fan too. Growing up, sometimes we would have pancakes, or eggs, or indian style eggs with leftover keema (mince) and handmade rotis.  Those were some good breakfast for dinner nights!

Unfortunately the hubby is not a fan :(.  He believes in breakfast for breakfast, lunch for lunch, and dinner for dinner.  Nothing irritates him more than going to brunch...while the rest of us are ordering omelets and french toast at 1pm, he orders the grilled chicken sandwich or the hamburger. But this is why I love him, he doesn't give in to peer pressure, unless it involves karaoke. Then he'll sing!

He does have to give in when he's forced to have breakfast for dinner at home though! Otherwise he will have had to scrounge up something on his own.  He was a trooper and gave my dinner a go.

Nothing says breakfast for dinner like the classic southern dish, chicken and waffles.  It is such a popular dish in the south that there is a line, long as can be, at the Breakfast Klub here in Houston and there's a food truck that sells chicken and waffle sandwiches!  Every city has their take on this classic.

So I took the classic and gave it a twist.  Instead of the normal, beautifully sweet cake-y waffle, I made a crispy jalapeno cheddar waffle and accompanied it with cajun fried tenders and a fried egg on top!  A few dashes of hot sauce and we were chowing down on dinner!

In the end we both felt it needed some sort of sauce...so we finished off the meal with a drizzle of maple syrup on our waffle :), yummy indeed.

Please note, I will no longer post spice measurements.  I don't think spices really need them because everyone likes their food different, from bland to bursting.  Spice at your own risk and level :)

Chicken and Jalapeno Cheddar Waffles: serves 4

Chicken:

2 chicken breasts cut into tenders
1 1/2 cup buttermilk (I made my own, whole milk + 1 cap of vinegar, stir and let sit for 5 min.)
chili powder
garlic powder
sea salt
black pepper
red chili flakes
2 cups flour
your favorite cajun seasoning
vegetable oil for frying

Throw everything up through the red chili flakes into a ziploc bag and let marinate from an hour to overnight.  I marinated mine a little over an hour and it was great!

When you're ready to fry the tenders, set a deep pot with enough oil to to deep fry and set on medium high.

As the oil heats, toss in some cajun seasoning into the flour, and start coating your chicken tenders with the seasoned flour. Dip a covered tender into the oil and if it begins to sizzle and bubble, your oil is ready for frying!

Don't overcrowd your pot with tenders, fry them in small batches so that they cook evenly throughout.  I fried mine for about 5 minutes on each side.  Drain on paper towels as you take them out.

To keep everything warm, I stuck the tenders in a warm oven (200-250 degrees).

Waffles: you will need a waffle iron to make these, there is no way around it.

1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup yellow or white cornmeal
2 tbs sugar
1 tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 jalapeno, seeded to your liking and diced finely
1 cup cheese, I used cheddar and jack and probably more than a cup ;)
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat your waffle iron to your desired setting.  I put mine a little over the middle setting to give it that pretty golden color.

Stir dry ingredients (up until salt) and set aside.  Stir wet ingredients until eggs are fully incorporated.  Add the wet ingredient to the dry ingredients, stir a little and add the jalapenos and cheese.  Stir until just incorporated.  DO NOT OVERBEAT. 

About 3/4 of batter was used for each waffle.  I kept these warm in the oven as well.

Fry up a few eggs and top each waffle with an egg, served with a side of tenders and some hot sauce and maple syrup!  This dinner is a little outside the box, but that's how I roll...

Side note, San Fran and Coachella is 39 days away.  BEYOND EXCITED!

Theophilus London

Citrus Baked Chicken Fajitas

Hola friends!

I haven't cooked in a week, and it's made me feel not myself!  My husband was out of town last week so I took advantage of the time by spending some quality time with a few friends.  I missed my hubby and am glad he made it back from a successful trip, but it was good catching up, maybe a little gossiping, over food and drink with my girl friends :)

So today I finally got around to trying a recipe I've had up my sleeve for a few days.  I found the method on budget bytes, a blog I faithfully follow.  I followed the method used and made my own fajita recipe.

These fajitas are baked in the oven, so it's a wonderful one dish meal.  Who doesn't love that?  I threw everything into a baking dish and let it do its thing in the oven while I vegged out.  Most people probably decide to be productive during this time, but not me!  I plopped myself on the couch with a cup of chai, a blanket, and the remote.

Citrus is a great complement to chicken, so I figured it would work well for chicken fajitas.  And I figured right!  It added an amazing flavor to the chicken and vegetables which made these fajitas dynamite! yeah. dynamite.  Another great thing about this recipe is that you can make quite a bit at a time, which is exactly what I did.  I now have lunch for the rest of the week!

Shazad LOVED these and he's a beef fajitas kind of guy!  Next time, I'll try this method out on beef or shrimp.

These were enjoyed topped with some fresh spicy guacamole and a sprinkle of sea salt wrapped in fresh made whole wheat tortillas, with a side of organic refried black beans.

Citrus Baked Chicken Fajitas:
*You can scale this recipe down, I made this much so I could have leftovers for lunch.

3 chicken breasts, halved and sliced into strips
1 tbs sea salt
1/2 tbs black pepper
1/2 tbs garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp corn starch
1 tbs oil (I used olive)
1/2 lime
1/2 large orange

Combine all of the ingredients, including the juices of the citrus, and let sit for about 30 min.

Preheat oven to 400.  Start chopping and slicing your veggies!

1 large red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 onion sliced thickly
5 large mushrooms, sliced
1 can diced tomatoes with peppers (Ro-tel), drained slightly
Jalapeño, sliced thickly (use to your liking)
Sprinkle of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder
Drizzle olive oil
1 tbs salted butter, or unsalted
Cilantro

Combine veggies (sans tomatoes and cilantro) in an oven safe baking dish, toss with spices and oil.  Add chicken and add the can of tomatoes on top.  Pop in the oven for 25 minutes.  Then add butter and squeeze in the other half of the lime and orange, and stir.  Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.  Sprinkle with cilantro.

Use your favorite tortillas and top with whatever condiments you wish!  Enjoy!

Not So Perfect Circles

As I write this post, I am in bed watching Paranormal Activity 4.  Yes, I have watched the three before this one. Guilty pleasure I guess.  No judge-y

So glad the week is half over, it's been one of those really long, kind of a suck, weeks.  They happen and I just have to giddy up and go!

Tonight I made black bean and chicken tacos in the slow cooker with handmade tortillas and a side of cumin and coriander roasted green beans.  Yum, yum, yum.  The slow cooker is such a life saver!  I dumped everything in this morning and the chicken was ready to shred when I got home.  All I had to do was make the tortillas and roast the green beans.

Making homemade tortillas have always been a little daunting for me, but I really did not feel like stopping by the store on the way home to get the pre-packaged ones.  I figured since I have the ingredients I need in my pantry, why not use what I have and make tortillas from scratch?  I know exactly what goes into them and they're lard free, so to me that makes them more healthy :).  After my batch today, I will never go back to store bought tortillas.  They may not have been shaped like perfect circles, but they turned out soft, chewy, and fresh tasting.  Shazad thought they looked like butterflies.  Absolutely delicious butterfly shaped tortillas.  I'll be using the leftover tortillas tomorrow to whip up breakfast tacos for our morning!

 Slow Cooker Black Bean and Chicken Tacos:

2 whole chicken breasts, frozen are fine
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 small onion, quartered and sliced thinly
1/2 green bell pepper, diced roughly
1 can tomatoes with chilies (spice level, your choice)
1 tbs minced garlic
Juice of 1 lime
Dash of hot sauce
Sea Salt
Pepper

Throw everything into the slow cooker and give a little stir. Put on low heat for 8-10 hours.  Shred and keep on low so the yummy goodness gets all up in that chicken!

Handmade Tortillas:

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup olive or canola oil
1 cup hot water

Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.  Drizzle in oil and mix with your fingers until dough is crumbly.  Add hot water, combine and knead for 5-8 minutes on a floured surface until a nice smooth soft ball forms.  I used my trusty kitchen-aid mixer.  I added a little bit of flour at a time to keep the dough from sticking and making a nice ball.

Put the dough back into the mixing bowl, or keep in the mixer and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rest for at least 30 minutes.

Make golf size portions from the dough.  Lightly flour your area, flatten the ball, and roll away!  Don't worry if you don't turn out pretty cirlces.  I think they give the tortillas unique-ness if they're shaped funky

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat and throw on your first tortilla.  Once bubbles form, flip.  Let it do it's thing on the other side, and then flip again.  If they char, then you've cooked them properly.  Move on to the next.

Keep on a warm plate or cover with a clean dish cloth to keep tortillas warm.

Roasted Green Beans with Cumin and Coriander:

1/2 lb green beans, rinsed and trimmed
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 400.  Toss together green beans with olive oil, cumin, coriander, and salt.  Throw them on to a foil lined baking pan and put in the oven to roast for 15 minutes.

Build your tacos on your fresh tortillas with whatever you like!  I whipped up some pico, topped with a little light sour cream and shredded cheese. Enjoy!

Best Lasagna Ever

Meal planning.  What does that mean anyway? I barely even plan for the next day, much less what I plan to eat every day.  But man, oh man, does it save time and money!  I have been doing this for a few weeks now (part of the whole 2013 resolution movement) and as much as I love to go grocery shopping, it's great not having to go to the store multiple times during the week after work to pick up a few ingredients and leave with an entire basket and bird crap on my car. 

It works great when I make a list on Sunday mornings of what meals I want to make for the week, usually 3-4, and then go through my pantry and fridge to see what I need to restock.  I make one big trip to HEB and other stores, get everything I need, and get a kiss from my husband for saving him money and keeping our bellies full! 

Granted, I have times where I realize I missed a key ingredient (I suck at making thorough lists) and have to make a quick stop at the store or veer away from my actual meal plans.  But this is a work in progress and I am definitely doing a lot better than I used to!  When the HEB greeter knows who you are and knowing EXACTLY where everything is on each aisle, some by aisle numbers, makes you realize how frequent a customer you really are. Yeast?  Top shelf towards the end of aisle 9.  Nutella?  Very top shelf above the peanut butter. Pomegranate molasses?  International aisle, bottom shelf.  Ask me anything.

So here are my meals I plan to make this week!

Tuesday:  Lasagna
Wednesday:  Chicken and black bean tacos
Thursday:  Seafood Rice

Here is the recipe for tonight's meal, lasagna.  It was delicious, creamy, and so filling!  Let's begin first with the best marinara ever in life.  I will never ever go back to ready made sauce.

Lasagna Recipe:

Sauce:

2 tbs. olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 tbs. minced garlic
1/2 tbs. red pepper flakes
1-28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (San Marzano are the best)
1-6 oz. can tomato paste
3 tbs. sugar
1 tbs. italian seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup water

Rest of the lasagna:

1 tbs. olive oil
1 lb. ground meat (I used ground beef, but you can use turkey or chicken)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. italian seasoning
1/4 cup cooking white wine
2 cups shredded mozarella
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
8 oz. low fat (neufchatel) cream cheese, softened
9 lasagna noodles, cooked before al-dente stage (they will cook more in the oven)

Heat oil over medium heat, add onion, garlic and red pepper flakes.  Cook until the onions and garlic begin browning.  The more color on the onions and garlic, the deeper the flavor of the sauce.

Add the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste.  Stir until smooth.

Add sugar, italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and water.  Stir and reduce heat to the lowest setting.  Cover, and let simmer for at least 30 minutes.

As the sauce is cooking, begin making your meat mixture, boiling your noodles, and preheat the oven to 375.

Heat oil over medium, add your meat of choice, salt, pepper, and italian seasoning.  Brown the meat.  Once browned, turn the heat up to high to burn off any water.  Add wine, heat on high until the wine has evaporated.

Reserve 1/2 cup of mozarella cheese and then in a separate bowl, combine the 3 cheeses.  It will be goopy, so it may be easier to combine with a fork or your fingers ;)

Take out your large baking dish and let's begin the layering process!

bottom layer: 1 cup of sauce
1st layer: 3 noodles, drops of cheese mixture, half of the beef mixture, ladle on some sauce.
2nd layer:  Same as first layer, finishing off the rest of the beef mixture
3rd layer: drops of cheese mixture, rest of the sauce, top with reserved shredded cheese

Pop in the oven for 20-25 minutes until noodles are cooked through and the dish is bubbly.  Let rest for 5 minutes after taking out of the oven and then serve!  Garnish with parsley.

Enjoy! Enjoy!