Cooking

Easy Sweet and Sour Meatballs

stargrace December 24, 2014 No Comments

These meatballs are fast and easy and absolutely delicious served with noodles or rice. You don’t have to be exact with the ingredients, so play around until you find a combination that suits your taste.

Meatballs:

• Ground beef (lean) and ground turkey mixed together
• Kirkland no salt spice (or any other spices of your choosing)
• A healthy dose of sriracha (to your taste, as spicy as you like)
• 1 egg
• breadcrumbs
• Worcestershire sauce
• fresh garlic minced up

Mix this all together and make into little ball shapes, then put on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven just until the balls are cooked on the outside, about 5-10 minutes or so at 350. When they’re done swap them into a deeper baking dish (like a casserole dish) and set aside.

Sauce:

• 4 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

Mix all the sauce stuff together (until the brown sugar is dissolved) and then drizzle over the meatballs in the casserole dish. Let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour, and then bake at 350 until the sauce is bubbling and thick and the meatballs are cooked all the way through (about 30 minutes). Serve over your favourite rice (mine is basmati) or with noodles. Recipe can be adjusted any way you want. Bon appetite!

Spicy Ham Quiche

stargrace September 19, 2013 No Comments

• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 green onions finely chopped
• 4 1/2 ozs. ham or crab meat or any meat (cooked)
• 2 cups grated swiss or cheddar cheese (I use cheddar)
• 9″ pie shell
• 1/4 tsp. of cayenne powder
• black pepper to taste

Beat eggs, mix in flour, mayo and milk. Add onions, add meat and cheese. Mix everything and pour it in a 9″ pie shell at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or till golden brown.

By far the absolute best quiche I have ever had.

358 calories per piece, serves 8.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

stargrace August 16, 2013 No Comments

Cauliflower crust pizza – it was amazing. No flour at all. The recipe is adapted from theluckypennyblog.com

Grain-Free Cauliflower Crust Pizza
makes one approx. 12 inch pizza

1 small to medium sized head of cauliflower – should yield 2 to 3 cups once processed
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil (crush it even more between your fingers)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (crust it even more between you fingers)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
[omitted] optional a few shakes of crushed red pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese [omitted]
1 egg
Desired amount of sauce, cheese for topping, and other toppings.

Place a pizza stone in the oven, or baking sheet if you don’t have a pizza stone. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a cutting board, place a large piece of parchment paper and spray it with nonstick cooking oil.

Wash and thoroughly dry a small head of cauliflower.Cut off the florets. Pulse in your food processor for about 30 seconds, until you get powdery snow like cauliflower. Place the cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl and cover. Microwave for 4 minutes. Dump cooked cauliflower onto a clean tea towel and allow to cool for a bit before attempting the next step.

Once cauliflower is cool enough to handle, wrap it up in the dish towel and ring the heck out of it. You want to squeeze out as much water as possible. This will ensure you get a chewy pizza like crust instead of a crumbly mess.

Dumped ringed out cauliflower into a bowl. Now add 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon dried basil (crush up the leaves even more between your fingers before adding), 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (crush up the leaves even more between your fingers before adding), 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt), and a dash of red pepper if you want. Now add your egg and mix away. Hands tend to work best.

Once mixed together, use your hands to form the dough into a crust on your oiled parchment paper. Pat it down thoroughly, you want it nice and tightly formed together. Don’t make it too thick or thin either.

Using a cutting board slide the parchment paper onto your hot pizza stone or baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 8 – 11 minutes, until it starts to turn golden brown. Remove from oven.

Add however much sauce, cheese, and toppings you want. Slide parchment with topped pizza back in the hot oven and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and slightly golden.

Cashew Chicken

stargrace August 14, 2013 No Comments

This recipe was adapted from favfamilyrecipes.com – Crockpot cashew chicken

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup cashews

Note: I did NOT make this in a crockpot, I used the stove.

Put the flour in a resealable food bag, add chicken (diced up into small pieces), shake to coat the chicken with flour. Heat some oil in a frying pan, brown the chicken for about 1 minute on each side. Put the chicken into a pot on the stove, on low heat.

Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sugar, garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes in a small bowl. Pour over the chicken. Cook on low for 2-3 hours. Add cashews and stir.

I served mine with diced up leeks, over soba noodles. This recipe may not be very low fat, but it was a HUGE hit, and it’s very good with the soba noodles (which are way nicer than regular plain white noodles).

Tilapia Tacos

stargrace August 12, 2013 No Comments

These delicious tilapia tacos were adapted from Fitness magazine – Eat Healthy For Less

• 1 lime
• 3 grape tomatoes, chopped
• Few sprigs of fresh cilantro, diced up
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 cup shredded cabbage (red or green)
• 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tilapia fillet
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 2 whole wheat (or whole grain) tortillas

Cut the lime in half, and squeeze the juice from one half into a bowl. Set the rest aside. Combine the tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno, onion, and lime juice together.

In another bowl mix the yogurt, mayonnaise, and the rest of the lime juice. Add cabbage and 2 tablespoons of yogurt sauce together. Save the extra sauce.

Heat olive oil in a large pan. Sprinkle the tilapia with chili powder and cook for 3 minutes. Turn and cook 2 minutes more.

Fill your tortilla with tilapia, cabbage mixture, and salsa mixture (the tomatoes etc). Enjoy!

These were absolutely delicious. The spicy heat from the salsa mixture along with the cool crunch of the cabbage were absolutely yum.