Lean Turkey Meatballs

In the mood for a light, but gourmet dinner? Try these lean ground turkey meatballs. They are a quick and easy dinner that result in a filling meal. They are also great as appetizers for a dinner party.

1 lb. ground lean turkey

¼ cup plain (or Italian for extra spice) bread crumbs

1 egg

¼ cup chopped parsely

1 chopped garlic clove

1 can your favorite marinara sauce

In medium bowl combine turkey, bread crumbs, egg, parsely, and garlic. Mix together thoroughly with hands. Form 15-20 individual balls (golf ball sized).

Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in large pan over medium heat. Add balls and heat for 3-4 minutes. Rotate and heat for another 3-4 minutes.  Add can of marinara sauce evenly. Heat for an additional 12 minutes, gently rotating balls every few minutes. Let cool for 3 minutes then serve by themselves, with pasta, or in your favorite sandwich!

Pumpkin Crunch

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! And thank you to my wonderful classmate and AMAZING cook, Erika for giving me this recipe!!! Although normally I veer away from any dessert that doesn't have chocolate as one of the main ingredients, Erika told me this was the best recipe ever and she is not kidding, it is absolutely AMAZING!!!!

Pumpkin Crunch

Pie Filling:

1 large can pumpkin

1 large can evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Crust:

1 box yellow cake mix

½ cup chopped walnuts

2 blocks butter, melted

Topping:

1 8oz package cream cheese

¾ cup Cool Whip

½ cup powdered sugar

Combine pie filling ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and line bottom of 9x13 pan with waxed paper.  Pour pie filling into pan. 

Sprinkle and spread box of cake mix evenly over filling.  Sprinkle chopped nuts and lightly press into cake mix.  Spoon drizzle melted butter over crust. 

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until crust turns brown. 

Cool for approximately 10-15 minutes.  Use a butter knife to loose all the edges off of the pan and invert onto a cookie sheet.  Place in refrigerator. 

Mix topping ingredients and spoon onto dessert when ready to eat.

What Happens in Vegas...

Angie, Teenie, Katie and Britt took on Vegas for Teenie's last and in our opinion BEST B-day celebration (for the month), and we had the most AMAZING dinner at FIRST in the Palazzo.  We had so much fun at the photo booth, with our crazy waiter and the food was absolutely delish!  PS check out the menu, even if you don't go there it's pretty funny!

Get Down Salad

Original Mini Burgers

Over Roasted Free-Range Chicken

Girls' Night In-Pizza!

We wanted to stay in and make something cozy for the rainy nights we have been having! We decided to make some tasty homemade pizza! 

Prosciutto and Mozzarella 

pizza dough from Lazy Acres (or your favorite)

Puttanesca Sauce (an Italian sauce made with tomatoes, olives, garlic, capers and EVOO) 

Your Favorite type of Prosciutto 

Mozzarella slices

Fresh tomato slices

Pesto and Mozzarella

Pizza dough

Pesto sauce

Mozzarella slices

Fresh tomato slices

* We rolled out the pizza dough so that it was really thin!

BBQ Phyllo Bites

Sunny weather got us in the mood for a light summer snack and we came up with something that did just that! These BBQ Phyllo Bites are perfect for warm summer nights.

12 baked miniature phyllo dough shells

2 ounces reduced fat mexican cheese blend

1 cup your favorite bbq sauce (do not over-do, it comes out very strong!)

1 1/2 cups refrigerated cooked shredded chicken 

1 can diced tomatoes 

Sour cream

Fresh chopped green onions

Cook chicken with bbq sauce and diced tomatoes in crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Divide cheese blend evenly in the bottom of each dough shell. Top cheese with equal amounts of marinated chicken. 

Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes. Let cool then garnish with a teaspoonful of sour cream and few chopped green onions.

Chicken with Tomato Balsamic Vinaigrette

After a long day of work for both of us, this easy but delicious chicken dish was perfect for a nice healthy dinner. We looked through many recipes, but found none that combined everything we like, so we came up with our own:

1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 cups finely chopped onion

3/4 teaspoon paprika

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

salt and pepper

1 large chicken breast

mixed greens

Mix vinegar, onion, and 1/4 teaspoon paprika in a small bowl. Whisk to combine then whisk in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle in thyme and add to tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Season the chicken breast with salt, pepper, and the remaining thyme and paprika. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the chicken breasts for 5 minutes on each side then add the tomatoe-vinaigrette and cook an additional 3-5 minutes. 

Slice the chicken and divide over mixed greens. Spoon the vinaigrette over the chicken.

Enjoy!!

Halloweenie

Here are some pictures of our Halloween get together. We made pumpkin bites (made with cream cheese, red peppers and cheddar cheese rolled in paprika with a green onion stem), boo chips (from Lazy acres), caramel apples, bruschetta and skelletinis (martinis made with vodka, cranberry juice, and a splash of 7-up, with an eyeball garnish made with cocktail onions and pepper pupils)  

Skelletini and pumpkin bites

Making the pumpkin bites!

Boo chips, pumpkin bites, veggies and dip (in a hallowed out orange bell pepper) and hocus pocus chardonnay 

Apple slices with caramel dip

Our table!