Albondigas Soup

My husband's family makes the best Mexican food on earth, Imo, so I never try to make it for him. Yes, he complains but I just tell him, call your aunt, cousin, uncle, or Nino, have them make you something that I will only, in my attempt to replicate, destroy for both of us. Well today I decided to jump in with both feet and make the traditional meatball soup-Albondigas. I will say it turned out great, although not completely traditional in taste, it was a winner for the whole family (even the three kids). It tastes a little like meatball soup and tortilla soup together. Give it a shot, it makes enough to feed for a couple days.

Meatballs

2 lbs ground turkey or extra-lean ground beef

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup uncooked rice (I used jasmine but use whatever you want)

2 tbls chopped fresh cilantro

1 tbl chopped fresh basil

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

In a large bowl combine ground turkey/beef, eggs and rice with your hands (always fun). Add rest of ingredients and combine until thoroughly mixed (use your hands again). Form meat mixture into 1" balls, arrange on a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate while preparing the soup.

Soup

3Tbl Olive Oil

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

1 large white onion, chopped

1 large red onion, chopped

1 bunch of green onions, include green tops, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 large cans/boxes of chicken stock (35 oz each)

4 cups water

1 chicken bouillon cube

3 TBL fresh lemon juice

1 TBL fresh lime juice

1 tsp paprika

1 TBL cayenne pepper

2 TBL Kosher salt

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained

2 (14.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes, not drained

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

freshly ground black pepper

Garnish

sour cream

grated cheese

I a large stockpot over medium heat warm the oil and add the minced garlic. Stir about 1 min, dont let garlic burn. Add all three onions and the celery and saute, stirring frequently, until the onions are soften and sweet, about 10 minutes.

Add chicken broth, bouillon, water and just bring to a boil. Remove meatballs from the refrigerator. Turn soup down to a simmer and slowly add meatballs to soup, add carefully and only a few at a time. Return soup to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 more minutes. While meatballs are cooking, skim off any foam that floats on the surface with a spoon, discard.

Gently stir in lemon and lime juice, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Add beans, corn and tomatoes. Again, bring soup to a boil on high heat, reduce to simmer and simmer uncovered for about 5 more minutes.

Just before serving add fresh cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and add sour cream and cheese. Great served with warm corn tortillas and lime wedges.

Original recipe courtesy of Bob Gelb (Nordstrom's friends and family cookbook)

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Lemon Snowball Cookies

One of my favorite things about the holidays are the snowball cookies my mom makes, they are a tradition that I have reserved only for that time of the year until today. Today I worked out in the yard all day with my three children- weeding, planting, cleaning, swimming and picking a few big lemons that just had to be used. I added the zest of one of those perfect tart lemons to a traditional snowball recipe, added a little lemon extract and come up with a fresh, sweet version of our family's holiday tradition that can be used in the summer for a light, sweetly tart, cookie. You can see there are pink and white cookies, the pink ones were made especially for my kids using crystal light pink lemonade cup and powdered sugar. They were a little tart for me but the kids loved them.

Lemon Snowball Cookies

2 sticks of butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 TBL lemon zest or zest from one lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp lemon extract

2 cups of flour

Sugar Coating

1/2 cup powdered sugar

(add 1 tsp crystal light lemonade or pink lemonade drink powder mix if you choose)*

Mix together in a medium bowl

Cream together soften butter, sugar, lemon zest and extracts. Add flour and mix just until dough forms. Scrap sides of bowl and work in any extra flour in bowl by hand.

Roll in 1" balls and bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 16 - 18 min. remove from oven, cool for 5 minutes or until you are able to handle but the cookies are still warm. Toss the cookies in the powdered sugar mixture. Cool completely on wire rack or bottoms will get gooey.

Lemon Juice Pin It

Chicken Enchiladas

My husband usually comments that there's "too much cheese" when I make enchiladas. I never think there can be "too much cheese", but I did my best to make these enchiladas more husband friendly. The result was a very yummy enchilada recipe that still had enough cheese for my taste. However, if you love a lot of cheese, just double the cheese ingredients. You can make these enchiladas in a 9X13 pan or put it in 2 or 3 smaller pans like I did. I froze 2 extra in 8X8 pans to freeze for future dinners.
Ingredients:
10-15 small flour tortillas
1 large can green enchilada sauce
4 chicken breasts, baked and cut up or shredded(about 4 cups of chicken)
1 small can diced green chilies
1 onion, finely chopped
4 oz softened cream cheese(I used light this time)
1 & 1/2 cups shredded cheddar/Jack cheese

Directions:
Mix cream cheese, onion, chilies and 1/2 cup shredded cheese in a large bowl. Add chicken and mix again. Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a greased 9X13 pan. Heat flour tortillas 5 at a time in the microwave for about 35 seconds, till soft. Put some of the chicken mixture in a tortilla, roll up and place seam down into the pan. After the pan is filled up, cover the enchiladas with remaining sauce. Bake at 375, covered for 30 minutes. Take out and add remaining shredded cheese to top. Bake uncovered for about 10 more minutes.  (times will vary if using a freezer meal)

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Stromboli

Last week was my first time making a Stromboli. I thought it was going to be much more difficult than it actually was. I made my dough in the bread machine, which helped make this recipe quite simple. We all really liked it and I will definitely be making it again! Next time I'm going to make it with pizza sauce as one of the layers.

Ingredients

•  Basic Pizza Dough, recipe follows
• 1/2 pound hot Italian sausage, removed from casings and crumbled
• 1 cup sliced yellow onions
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell peppers
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green bell peppers
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced seeded and stemmed jalapenos(I left these out)
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 pound sliced ham
• 1/4 pound thinly sliced pepperoni or salami(I used both!)
• 1/2 cup sliced black olives
• 2 cups grated provolone
• 2 cups grated mozzarella(I only used mozzarella, no provolone)
• 1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water to make an egg wash
• 1 cup finely grated Parmesan
•  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet and set aside.
In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium-high heat until browned and the fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on paper towels. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan. Add the onions, bell peppers, and jalapenos and cook, stirring, until very soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and Italian seasoning and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and cool.
Punch down the dough and divide half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough to a large rectangle, about 10 by 14 inches. Spread half of the cooled sausage mixture across the dough leaving a 1-inch border. Overlapping slightly, layer half of the ham, pepperoni, olives, provolone and mozzarella cheeses over the top. Using a pastry brush, paint the border of 1 long edge with egg wash. Starting at the opposite long end without egg wash, roll up the dough into a cylinder, pinching the edges to seal. Place on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining ingredients. Let the dough rise, 20 to 30 minutes.
Brush the top of each stromboli with egg wash. Bake until nearly completely golden brown and starting to crisp, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle each stromboli with Parmesan cheese and return to the oven until the cheese is melted and the dough is golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes. Slice thickly and serve.

Basic Pizza Dough:
1 cup warm (110 degrees F) water
1 (1/4-ounce) envelope active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups bleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, sugar, and 1 tablespoon oil and stir to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.
Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough after each addition, until all the flour is incorporated but the dough is still slightly sticky. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky, 3 to 5 minutes.
Oil a large mixing bowl with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse Pin It

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches

This week for dinner I made Philly cheese steak sandwiches. They were really good and really simple to make. The whole family loved them, even my 3 year old! I didn't add the bell pepper or the garlic.

Ingredients:

* 1 loaf Italian bread or French bread or 2 large hoagie rolls or sub rolls
* 1/2 lb deli roast beef (very rare, sliced wafer thin, or you can use a frozen Rib-Eye roast shaved on an electric slicer, )
* 1 white onion (thinly sliced)
* 1 green bell pepper (thinly sliced) (optional)
* 2 teaspoons garlic (minced)
* 1/2 lb provolone cheese (thinly sliced)
* extra virgin olive oil (for grilling)
* salt and pepper
* marinara sauce or ketchup (optional topping)

Directions: Heat oil on a griddle or saute pan. Grill the onion and pepper till soft. Add the garlic, salt and pepper. Push to the side and grill the meat. Break up the meat with a spatula. Once heated all the way through, mix together with peppers and onions then add meat to a toasted roll and top with provolone cheese.
Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of RecipeZaar.com Pin It

Brownie Cheesecake

Mmm...I think the name says it all! This was such a great recipe! I took this cheesecake to a party the other night and came home with an empty pan. Everyone loved it! It was so easy to make too. I did not drizzle the chocolate on the top, however I did add a layer of 6oz chopped, semi-sweet chocolate chips between the brownie layer and the cheesecake. I sprinkled them on after I removed the brownies from the oven, poured the cheesecake mixture over the top, and put it back in the oven to finish baking.
Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (19 to 21 oz.) brownie mix (13x9-inch pan size)

4 pkg.  (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp.  vanilla

1/2 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream

3   eggs

2 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate 

 

Directions:

HEAT oven to 325°F.
PREPARE brownie batter as directed on package; pour into 13x9-inch pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 25 min. or until top is shiny and center is almost set.
MEANWHILE, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Gently pour over brownie layer in pan. (Filling will come almost to top of pan.)
BAKE 40 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen sides; cool. Refrigerate 4 hours.
MELT chocolate squares as directed on package; drizzle over cheesecake. Refrigerate 15 min. or until chocolate is firm.
Recipe courtesy of  KraftRecipes.com

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Breakfast Cookies

I love finding new recipes for healthy baked items to make for my kids for breakfast. I found a really yummy recipe for Breakfast cookies. They were easy to make and loaded with things that are good for you. I made the cookies without wheat flour since I didn't have any on hand, but next time I'll remember to buy some. I also didn't use any walnuts. I was going to add pecans....but forgot. They were still great without them. I did not make them as big as recommended. I just used my tablespoon cookies scoop.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup (1 small jar) strained carrot baby food
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup bran cereal flakes
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup walnut pieces, lightly toasted in a dry skillet for 2 minutes, until fragrant and chopped

Directions

Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Combine butter, oil and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed, scraping down sides if necessary, until sugars have dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute. Add egg, carrot puree and vanilla and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add flour mixture and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add oats, flakes, raisins and walnuts and mix over low speed just until incorporated. Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive than traditional cookie dough. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using between 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter, form a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving about 3 inches between cookies. Wet hands and use palm of hand to flatten cookies until about 1/4-inch thick. Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe courtesy of Ellie Krieger at Food Network Pin It