9. Turkey Noodle Casserole

This is just a good old fashioned turkey noodle casserole.  Now I know many of you make this and use cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup and love it.  I just can’t do the cream of soups.  My stomach doesn’t like it and all we taste is processed soup.  So it isn’t for us. 

We are all about fresh, made from scratch sauces and this is a great one.  We really don’t like mushrooms, but love the flavor of mushrooms in a sauce, so we usually keep them in.

Another good side note …. we use Fiesta dishes.  We have found that one cereal bowl full of dry pasta is just enough pasta for the two of us in a meal … plus a little extra for snacking.

**This recipe comes from Rachael Ray 365 – No Repeats.  Most of the recipes are directly from the book, but some I do change out ingredients a bit for things my family prefers. I’ll add my own comments in with a **.

What do you need?

Coarse Salt 
1/2 pound extra-wide egg noodles
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) (once around the pan)
3 slices of bacon or turkey bacon, chopped
1 package (about 1 1/2 pounds) ground turkey breast
1 pound white mushrooms, wiped, trimmed and sliced **I buy the ones packaged ones that are already cleaned and sliced!
1 medium onion chopped
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons ground thyme or poultry seasoning
1/2 cup dry white wine (or chicken stock)
1 cup chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup heavy cream (about 3 times around the pan)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 cups grated Gruyere cheese (one 8 ounce brick) **I am not a huge fan of Gruyere so I use just a shredded mozzarella or pizza cheese, you could also use Swiss if you wanted to keep the Gruyere flavor
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Now what?

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the egg noodles.  When it boils, salt the water and cook the noodles al dente.  Drain well and return to the pot.

While the pasta cooks, preheat a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the EVOO and the bacon.  Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the fat is rendered and the bacon begins to brown at the edges.  Remove to a paper towel.  Add the turkey and brown it, crumbling it with a wooden spoon.  Move the meat over to one side of the pan and add the mushrooms and onions to the opposite side.  Cook the mushrooms and onions for 3 to 5 minutes, then stir the meat and veggies together.  Season the mixture liberally with salt and pepper, and sprinkle in the ground thyme or poultry seasoning.  Cook for another 5 minutes.  Add the wine and deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon to scrape up pan drippings and browned bits.  Stir in the stock and bring to a bubble, then stir in the cream and reduce the heat to low.  Add the nutmeg and stir.  Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. 

Preheat the broiler to high.  Combine the noodles with the turkey and sauce.  Grease a casserole dish with a little softened butter.  Transfer the turkey-noodle mixture to the dish and top with Gruyere cheese and then bread crumbs.  Place the casserole 8 to 10 inches from the broiler and brown for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the crumbs are brown.  Garnish the casserole with the parsley.

4  servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

8. Mega Meatball Pizza

Love homemade pizza!  It’s just so easy and way better than frozen pizza.  This one was fabulous.  My husband wants it ever week now I think. 

I think this one was better than most that we made and it was because of the crust.  This time I used just a Pillsbury pizza crust out of the tube, but I bought the thin crust.  Yum!!  I will say that by using the thin crust I had to adjust my cooking times a little.  I precooked my crust for 10 minutes and it was pretty much done, so instead of cooking the pizza with toppings another 12 minutes, I just popped it under the broiler to melt the cheese.

Now this is a meatball pizza, but doesn’t actually have any meatballs on it, it just has the flavor of a good meatball.  So tasty!

**This recipe comes from Rachael Ray 365 – No Repeats.  Most of the recipes are directly from the book, but some I do change out ingredients a bit for things my family prefers. I’ll add my own comments in with a **.

What do you need?

Coarse Salt 
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) (Once around the pan)
1 pizza dough, store-bought or from your favorite pizza shop
A palmful of all purpose flour or cornmeal
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary (a couple of sprigs) or 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 1/2 lbs ground sirloin
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 to 6 garlic cloves finely chopped
Coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
1 3 ounce can tomato paste
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese **I just use plain Parm
A handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 pound fresh mozzarella or brick mozzarella, sliced or grated **I use a sack of pizza cheese

Now what?

Preheat the oven to 425.

Drizzle a round pizza pan or a rectangular baking sheet with EVOO.  Dust the dough with flour or cornmeal, then spread out eh dough to form your crust.  Poke the pizza dough in several places with the tines of a fork.  Drizzle the dough with EVOO, then season it with the rosemary and a little salt.  Bake for 10 minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the 2 tablespoons of EVOO (twice around the pan), then the meat.  **While the meat is cooking, cut up your onions and garlic** Brown and crumble the meat for a couple of minutes, then add the onions and garlic.  Season the meat with salt and pepper, then work in the tomato paste using the back of a wooden spoon.  Stir in the cheese, parsley, and oregano.

Remove the pizza crust from the oven and top with the meat mixture.  Arrange the cheese over the pizza, working from the center to the outside edge.  Return the pizza to the oven and bake until the cheese is golden, another 10 to 12 minutes.

4  servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

4. Mac-n-Cheddar with Broccoli

We always love a good Mac-n-Cheese at our house.  I’m a Wisconsin girl by heart and love cheese, and will cook with it at any given opportunity.  It’s so much fun to swap out different kinds of chesses, veggies and meat. 

We’ve made this one before and it’s a great base recipe.  I’ll have to admit though that I don’t always follow the measured ingredients exactly.  I like my cheese sauce pretty thick, so I only add as much stock and milk as I need to make it as thick as I like.  I’ve found that if you add it all in at once then your sauce is too thin.  It’s always much easier to make it thinner if it’s too thick, than to try to thicken up a cheese sauce. 

Another good side note …. we use Fiesta dishes.  We have found that one cereal bowl full of dry macaroni is just enough pasta for the two of us in a meal … plus a little extra for snacking.

**This recipe comes from Rachael Ray 365 – No Repeats.  Most of the recipes are directly from the book, but some I do change out ingredients a bit for things my family prefers. I’ll add my own comments in with a **.

What do you need?

Coarse Salt
1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi (corkscrew-shaped pasta)
2 1/2 cups broccoli florets (Fresh if available, frozen if not in season)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) (Once around the pan)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
3 cups whole milk
1 cup chicken stock or broth
3 cups grated sharp yellow Cheddar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper

Now what?

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add salt to season the cooking water, then add the pasta.  Cook for 5 minutes, then add the broccoli and cook for 3 minutes more or until the pasta is cooked al dente and the florets are just tender.  Drain well and return to the pot.

While the pasta cooks, heat a medium sauce pot over medium-low heat.  Add the EVOO and heat with the butter until it melts.  Add the onions and cook for 3 to 5 minutes to sweat them out and turn the juices sweet.  Raise the heat a bit, then whisk in the four, cayenne, and paprika.  Whisk together until the roux bubbles up, then cook for 1 minute more. 

Whisk in the milk and stock and raise the heat a bit higher to bring the sauce to a quick boil.  Once it bubbles, drop the heat back to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes. **I whisk in about half of my liquids to see how thick it becomes, then keep adding in more until my sauce is the perfect thickness. **

Add the cheese to the thickened sauce and stir to melt it, a minute or so.  Stir in the mustard and season the sauce with salt and pepper.  Pour over the broccoli and cooked pasta and toss to combine.  Adjust the seasonings, transfer to a large platter, and serve.

4-6 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

3. Lamb or Beef Goulash

I think this could have been better.  I decided to go on a limb and try the lamb because I really haven’t had much lamb in my life.  Overall, not a huge fan of the flavor.

I think this would have been awesome with the beef.  Hubby liked it and at it anyway, so I guess that counts as a success. 

If you make the Turkey Shepherd’s Pie yesterday, you’ll notice that this recipe is very similar.  Take out the potatoes, peas, and egg.  Swap lamb or beef for the turkey.  Swap beef stock for chicken stock.  Add in egg noodles and voila!  So if you think you can’t make this … if you made yesterday’s meal – you can make this one!

Sorry, no pictures this time.  Once I start thinking ahead, I’ll actually start taking pictures as I cook.

**This recipe comes from Rachael Ray 365 – No Repeats.  Most of the recipes are directly from the book, but some I do change out ingredients a bit for things my family prefers. I’ll add my own comments in with a **.

What do you need?

Coarse salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) (twice around the pan)
1/4 pound bacon chopped (I used about 5 slices) 
2 pounds ground lamb or sirloin 
1 tablespoon smoked paprika (or substitute 1 1/2 teaspoons each of sweet paprika and cumin)
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (5-6 sprigs) or 1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
3 celery ribs from the heart, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups beef stock or broth
1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 to 12 fresh chives, chopped or snipped

Now what?

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, salt it, and cook the egg noodles according to package directions while you make the beef topping.

Heat a deep, large skillet over medium0high heat.  Add the EVOO to the skillet, then add the bacon and brown it up.  **While the bacon is browning start chopping the veggies.** Remove the bacon to paper towels and drain off the excess fat from the bowl, then add the lamb or beef to the pan and break it up with a wooden spoon.  Season the lamb or beef with the smoked paprika, salt, pepper and thyme.  **This is a great time to finish copping those veggies!**

When the meat is browned, add the onions, carrots, and celery.  Season the veggies with salt and pepper (**I know you just seasoned the meat, but add more to the veggies, it really makes a difference if you layer the flavor!**).  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the red bell peppers and cook for another 2 minutes.  Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the stock and combine.  Stir in 1/2 cup of sour cream and simmer the mixture over low heat to thicken.  Stir in the bacon.

Serve the goulash over cooked egg noodles, dressed with the butter and chopped chives.

4-6 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

2. Smoky Turkey Shepherd’s Pie

I LOVE this recipe!  I have made it many times before and will probably make it many times again.  It’s a lighter version of a traditional beef based shepherd’s pie.  By swapping the beef for a lean turkey it can really make this a lean meal.  I also hate cooking with premade sauces. My body just doesn’t agree with cream of soups and premade gravy. Fresh, fresh fresh in my house!!  I’ve really learned how to make a good gravy and sauce thanks to recipes like this.  Want to make it even healthier?  Try turkey bacon, light sour cream, skip the egg, skip the butter and use a little skim milk instead.

I also like to play around with the potatoes on this depending on my mood.  The last time I made it I skipped the whole casserole part and just served the potatoes on the side.  Sometimes I put the filling on top of a baked potato instead of mashing them.  Use your imagination!

**This recipe comes from Rachael Ray 365 – No Repeats.  Most of the recipes are directly from the book, but some I do change out ingredients a bit for things my family prefers. I’ll add my own comments in with a **.

(Image from Food Network)

What do you need?

Coarse salt
3 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) (twice around the pan)
1/4 pound bacon or turkey bacon, chopped (I used about 5 slices)
1 package (about 1 1/3) pounds ground turkey breast
1 tablespoon smoked paprika (or substitute 1 1/2 teaspoons each of sweet paprika and cumin)
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (5-6 sprigs) or 1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
3 celery ribs from the heart, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
2 cups frozen peas
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup sour cream
1 large egg, beaten
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 to 12 fresh chives, chopped or snipped

Now what?

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, salt it, and cook the potatoes (10-12 minutes) while you make the turkey filling.

Heat a deep, large skillet over medium0high heat.  Add the EVOO to the skillet, then add the bacon and brown it up.  **While the bacon is browning start chopping the veggies.** Remove the bacon to paper towels and drain off the excess fat from the bowl, then add the turkey to the pan and break it up with a wooden spoon.  Season the turkey with the smoked paprika, salt, pepper and thyme.  **This is a great time to finish copping those veggies!**

When the turkey is browned, add the onions, carrots, and celery.  Season the veggies with salt and pepper (**I know you just seasoned the meat, but add more to the veggies, it really makes a difference if you layer the flavor!**).  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the red bell peppers and peas and cook for another 2 minutes.  Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the stock and combine.  Stir in 1/2 cup of sour cream and simmer the mixture over low heat. Stir in the bacon.

Preheat the broiler to high.

When the potatoes are tender, stir in a ladle of cooking water into the egg, then drain the potatoes.  Return the potatoes to the warm pot to dry them out  a little.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup of sour cream, the butter, and salt and pepper.  Smash and mash the potatoes, mashing in the beaten, tempered egg.  If the potatoes are too tight, mix in a splash of milk.

Pour the turkey mixture into a medium casserole dish.  Top with the smashed potatoes and spread evenly.  Place the casserole 5 inches from the hot broiler.  Broil until the potatoes are golden at the edges.  Garnish the casserole with the chives and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.

4-6 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

365 – Week One

Let’s start at the beginning shall we!  Here’s what I’ve got going for the week:

1.  Scramblewiches – Not a fan of breakfast for dinner – SKIP

2.  Smoky Turkey Shepherd’s Pie

3.  Lamb or Beef Goulash

4.  Mac-n-Cheddar with Broccoli

5.  Mac-n-Smoked Gouda with Cauliflower – This is a swap out recipe.  I have no need for mac-n cheese more than once in a week, so we’ll try this one later!

6. Tex-Mex Mac-n-Cheddar with Beef and Peppers – See #5

7. Smoky Chipotle Mac-n-Cheddar with Tomato and Chorizo – See #5

8.  Mega Meatball Pizza and Zippy Italian Popcorn

9. Turkey Noodle Casserole

 

So overall, 5 recipes this week!  What are you cooking?

Until the next time …
~The girl behind the lama

Back to Business – Let’s Cook!

New year!  New blog posts right?  Who am I kidding .. I’ll probably forget about my lonely little blog by about February, but I’m back for the moment and I have a sleeping baby, so let’s talk food!

I get in a rut sometimes on what I’m in the mood for, so I thought I’d try something different.  As you well may know, I’m a Rachael Ray fanatic.  I have a fairly large collection of her cookbooks, and I love that I can cook a well balanced, healthy meal from scratch in about 30-40 minutes every single night. 

Now her cooking takes some time to get used to.  Sometimes you have a lot going on at once and you need to learn the method.  You have to be able to look ahead and see that there’s no point in cutting up all those veggies before you even start cooking because you’ll have about 5 minutes of free time to cut them while your ground beef is cooking.  You can’t be afraid to have 3 pots of yummy simmering goodness going at once. 

Anyway, I’ve decided to go back through her cookbook “365: No Repeats!” cookbook.  It’s delightful!  The recipes are arranged in a pretty random order. The idea is that you can cook your way from front to back and have a new meal each day.  Now for those of you that absolutely need organization, there is also a category list in the front if you specifically want to find pasta, chicken or dinner for 2.

It also has a lot of “swap out” recipes.  You learn the technique on how to make the meal in the first recipe, then you swap out 3 or 4 ingredients for 3 or 4 new ones and voila!  Completely new dinner! 

So my plan is to go from front to back and really try some new things.  Now,  I reserve the right to skip things that I know dear hubby and I don’t like.  So I won’t get through 365 of them, but I’ll get through a fair number right?

Want to try it out?  I’ll try to get as many recipes and pictures up as I can, but with a 5 month old – no promises that I’ll remember, so if I post a recipe title that looks awesome and you want the recipe – tell me about it!

Happy cooking!
Until the next time …
~The girl behind the lama

BLT Creamy Mac 'n' Cheese

Dinner today was rather tasty so I thought I’d share the recipe!  This one comes from the Rachael Ray Magazine website and is a 30 minute meal.  There’s a chance it actually took me 20!  I’ve made a few changes to it – most importantly I cut it in half, so if you want the original you can find it here.

Makes 3 Servings

Ingredients:

• Salt
• 1 cereal bowl full of mini shell pasta (somehow we figured out that when cooking for the two of us, if we measure the dry pasta in our Fiesta cereal bowls that plenty for us plus some leftovers)
• Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling
• 3 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 leek—trimmed, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise and rinsed in cold water
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1.5 tablespoons tomato paste
• 4 oz cream cheese, cut into pieces
• 1 cups shredded asiago, grana padano or parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
• 2 cups spinach

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water.

2. While the pasta is working, in a large skillet, heat a drizzle of EVOO over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp at the edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the leeks and cook until softened, 3 minutes. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste for 1 minute. Stir in the cream cheese until melted. Stir in the reserved pasta cooking water, most of the shredded cheese  and stir until melted together. 

3. Add the pasta and spinach to the sauce and toss until the spinach is wilted.

4. Optional: Pile into a casserole and top with the tomatoes and remaining shredded cheese. Bake until browned on top, 7 to 8 minutes.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!  If you try it, let me know how it went!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Technorati Tags: 30 minute meal,Rachael ray,Mac n' Cheese,recipes

What’s To Eat This Week?

Technorati Tags: meal plan,rachael ray,recipes

How do I plan my meals?  There are two websites I always check first.  I am a huge Rachael Ray fan.  About 5 years ago I started watching 30 Minute Meals and it has changed my life.  I learned how to make quick meals that were all from scratch – good bye mixes and cream of soups!  By watching I also learned about vegetables and spices I had never head of and learned how to chop everything in a jiffy. 

It made cooking a complex meal easy to do because you could watch how she multi tasked and had 3 pots going at once.  Better yet?   How to make a meal and not have to worry about coming up with 2 other sides to go with it – these meals had it all built right in. 

Since then I’ve really leaned what I like and how to swap things I don’t like out for things that are more to my tastes.  So the first two places I always go are two RR weekly meal sites to see if anything good pops up: 

Weekly Grocery List – on her day time talk show she always cooks something.  This list gives you the ingredients you’ll need to cook along.  They don’t post the recipe until the day of the show, so it’s  a bit of a mystery on what you’ll be cooking.

Weekly Menu Planner – Each issue of the Rachael Ray Magazine always has a section that is a weekly meal plan.  On the magazine website they also have a different meal plan for each week.

After that?  Well then I go through other recipes I’ve pulled from other magazines and websites.  If I don’t have enough for the week I go to my trusty recipe binder.  Each time I find a recipe that we really like, it gets numbered and catalogued into my binder.  Yes it involves a spreadsheet – I’m a nerd like that.  But that way everything is in a random order and I can just open it up to the middle somewhere and take the next 3 recipes in the book and be done with it.  And yes, if I’m looking for something specific I can sort my spreadsheet alphabetically, by category, by type of meal and by main ingredient – no joke – I’m that much of a nerd.

So here’s where that brought me this week!

Sunday – Pancetta Wrapped Pork Tenderloin, Parsley Potatoes and Johnson Family Corn
Monday -  Meatloaf with Cheesy Cauliflower
Tuesday – BLT Mac & Cheese
Wednesday – Chicken and Ham Rolls with Spinach
Thursday – Warm Provencal Chicken Salad
Friday – LMM’s day off :)
Saturday – Date night – Steaks, Fried Ravioli and Creme Brulee

Cooking I did last week that you might be interested in:

• Dill Pickles
• Spaghetti Sauce (back from the Spaghetti Sauce Adventures of 2008!)
• Peach Cupcakes

Which recipes do you want to see??

~LMM

Who has forgotten about the fact that she has a bolg??

ME!!!!!  I have been so absorbed in work and summer and you know … that baby on the way … that the blog has been severely neglected.  Not for long!  I finally have some creative mojo again – so be prepared!

What’s to come?

• Big shop announcement (unless you already heard the news on Facebook …)
• More adventures in cooking – if you are really lucky I’ll get back to Meal Planning Monday blogs so I can share what we’re eating for the week
• New store products
• Baby updates

Anything else you want to read about?? 

Until the next time (soon!)…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM