Tag Archives: dinner

Gigante Meatballs

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Make these when you have time because they’re delicious and they freeze well. I just pulled a bag out of the freezer for dinner added them to a pot of sauce and served it over spaghetti. So easy. They’re also great over polenta!

Giant Meatballs

THE MEATBALLS:

  • 1 pound 80% fat ground beef
  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 6 Tbsp Italian style breadcrumbs
  • 6 Tbsp seasoned Panko breadcrumbs
  • 3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 Tbsp milk
  • 2 Tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 Tbsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 cups of your favorite marinara (more if you’d like more sauce. Up to 5 cups)
  • Mozzarella for top (optional)
  1. Preheat oven to 375˚F
  2. In a large bowl, mix meatball ingredients until evenly combined.
  3. Portion meatball mixture into 1/4 pound pieces, rolling into balls.
  4. Place meatballs in a large baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes.
  5.  Remove dish from oven and top meatballs with the sauce. Return to oven and bake for an additional 25 – 30 minutes, or until meatballs have reached an internal temperature of 165˚F. If adding mozzarella, add 10 mins before pulling out of oven.

Miss Heidi’s Beautiful Noodles

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My LO attends the most nurturing and loving preschool led by a an earth fairy. Ok, she’s human but an extraordinary one. Her name is Miss Heidi and her school is called, Rainbow’s End.

My LO tells me the reason it’s called Rainbow’s End is because her school is where the rainbow ends and the gold is the children. Really! Can I stay there all day too? It smells like freshly peeled oranges.

LO loves her “pasta” so here’s the recipe.

Miss Heidi’s Beautiful Noodles

  • 1 bundle of soba noodles
  • 10-12 shakes of Braggs Amino Acid
  • 1 TBSP raw cashew butter
  • A splash of water

Cook noodles for 5-6 mins. Drain. Add braggs and cashew butter and water. Mix and eat.

Bake Sale Betty Knock Offs

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I’ve never been to the restaurant but friends have had parties with Bakesale Betty catering. Bakesale Betty is a restaurant in Oakland, CA. And although, I’ve never been, I love Betty. These chicken fried sandwiches that she has inspired me to make for every major sporting/watch-and-eat event. They’re crunchy and savory and oh so easy to eat way too much of. They’re also great booze absorbers.

Bakesale Betty Knock Offs

  • 4 whole boneless, skinless full chicken breasts (or 8 if they’re halved)
  • 2 packages of biscuit dough (or make your own, ambitious one)
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups panko
  • 1 cup flour
  • 3 TBSP kosher salt
  • 1/2 head cabbage, sliced thin
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
  • 1 TBSP poppy seeds
  • 1-2 jalapeños, diced
  • Rice wine vinegar
  • Canola oil

Bake biscuits according to package – or your recipe.

While biscuits are backing, mix cabbage, cilantro, poppy seeds and jalapeños. Drizzle with oil and vinegar and set aside (kids do not like this slaw so I always serve it as an add on).

Mix eggs in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, mix part of the panko, flour and salt (this you’ll need to keep filling as the chicken cooks.) Cut chicken pieces diagonally to appropriate size of biscuits. Dredge chicken in eggs then dry mix.

Heat oil in a pan about 1″ deep. Heat until quick but not vigorous bubbles form around panko that’s dropped in to the pan. don’t let it over heat or smoke.

Add chicken to oil and cook until done. Drain on paper towels.

Assemble chicken sandwiches and devour!

Filippino Beef Stew

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I love beef stew. It’s easy and when cooked well, the beef is tender and it is oh so comforting.

This beef stew recipe reminds me of the holidays because my SO’s family makes a similar stew every nocha buena.

I had stew meat so I thought, let’s make xmas in March. Enjoy!

Filippino Beef Stew

  • 1.5 lb stew meat, cut into 2″ cubes
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 lemon juice
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 3 carrots, chopped
  • 12 baby red and Yukon potatoes, size of large marbles (fewer cut into smalle pieces is fine)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1.5 cup tomato purée
  • 2 cup beef stock (extra if needed)
  • 2 TBSP fish sauce
  • Cracked pepper
  • Canola oil

Marinate beef with soy sauce and lemon juice for 30 mins.

Heat 1-2 TBSP canola oil and brown garlic. Set aside.

Brown meat in batches. Reserve marinade.

Cook onion with all the beef until onion is wilted. Add fish sauce and cook for 2 mins. Add in the tomato purée, 1 cup of broth, reserved marinade, red bell pepper, garlic and oil and bay leaves. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 45 mins. Checking to stir 2-3 times adding broth if it gets too thick.

Test meat at 45 min mark. It most likely needs to cook for another 30-45 mins to easily pull apart with a fork. Add in broth when necessary.

Once the meat is tender, add in the potatoes and carrots and cook until tender, 20 mins.

Serve over rice with cracked pepper.

Enjoy!!

Kinda Curry Curry

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This is the simplest recipe that results in the kind of curry non-spicy lovers love. It’s full of veggies and protein of your choice.

  • 1 large red onion, chopped
  • 2-3 cloves or garlic, diced
  • 3″ piece of ginger, peeled and diced
  • 10 whole cardamom pods, smashed and seeds removed
  • 1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 1 eggplant, chopped and roasted
  • 1 sweet potato, chopped and roasted
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/4 small purple cabbage, chopped
  • Handful of spinach
  • Handful of green beans
  • Extra firm tofu, chopped
  • 1/2 can garbanzo beans, rinsed
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 1 cup tomato purée
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375 and roast sweet potato and eggplant with a drizzle of oil and salt for 30 mins while you’re busy chopping and sautéing.

Sauté onions, garlic, ginger and cardamom seeds for 5 mins on medium in avocado oil or oil of your choice. Add carrots, cauliflower and spices. Cook for 1 min until fragrant. Add coconut milk and tomato purée. Cook for 10 mins. Add remaining veggies (except spinach) and protein (tofu in this case) and cook until veggies are just tender and protein is cooked. Add roasted veggies and spinach.

Serve over rice.

Baked Chicken Alfredo Ziti

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The husband loved this dish. I think mostly because it was made of leftovers but totally remade. We had some ziti that was cooked for meat sauce and we had the beer can chicken leftovers. Luckily, we had milk, Parmesan, chicken broth, garlic and some mozzarella too.

I cooked 2 cloves of minced garlic with 3 Tbsp of unsalted butter. Then I added 1 Tbsp of flour and cooked it a bit. Then, I added 1/4 cup of chicken broth and about a cup of milk, a good pinch of salt and a couple shakes of dried oregano. I let it cook until it thickened a bit. I then added freshly grated Parmesan.

In a pie dish, I layered cooked pasta then cooked cubed chicken, then a sprinkling of mozzarella, finished with more cooked pasta and dumped the sauce over all of it. I added a bit more Parmesan and then popped it uncovered in a 375 degree oven for about 17 mins.

I let it sit for 10 mins before serving.

You can add other stuff to. I think some red pepper flakes would be good or cooked mushrooms. My kiddos don’t like either so, it was made just as I said above.

Enjoy!

Spicy Basil Chicken and Yellow Curry

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I could eat this everyday. It’s fun to mix it up too by plopping an over easy egg on top. After the first day, the gai gra prow gets spicier and the richness of the fried egg perfectly balances the spice. I think I’ll make this tonight.

I do have two little humans at home. So, I pull half the sauce from the pan of the gai gra prow before adding the chilies and they devour it.

Gai Gra Prow (Spicy Basil Chicken)

  • 1/3 cup chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce (I used Hoisin sauce because I didn’t have oyster and it was delicious)
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce, or as needed
  • 2 teaspoons fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, coarsely chopped
  • 1/4 cup sliced shallots
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons minced Thai chilies, Serrano, or other hot pepper (I used jalapeños and it was fine)
  • 1 cup very thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Whisk chicken broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, white sugar, and brown sugar together in a bowl until well blended.

Heat large skillet over high heat. Drizzle in oil. Add chicken and stir fry until it loses its raw color, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in shallots, garlic, and sliced chilies.

Continue cooking on high heat until some of the juices start to caramelize in the bottom of the pan, about 2 or 3 more minutes. Add about a tablespoon of the sauce mixture to the skillet; cook and stir until sauce begins to caramelize, about 1 minute.

Pour in the rest of the sauce. Cook and stir until sauce has deglazed the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook until sauce glazes onto the meat, 1 or 2 more minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in basil. Cook and stir until basil is wilted, about 20 seconds. Serve with rice.

Yellow Curry

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • Half a yellow onion, sliced thinly
  • 3/4 carton of firm tofu cubed
  • 1/3 cup yellow curry paste
  • 10 baby golden yukon potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • Handful of mushrooms, cut into quarters
  • Half red bell peppers, cubed
  • Handful of green beans, cut into 2″ pieces
  • 1 14-ounce can coconut cream (it’s like coconut milk, but even more luscious)
  • 1/2 – 1 cup water
  • 2 teaspoons fish sauce (optional)
  • 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar (optional)
  • cilantro and rice for serving

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium low heat. Add the onions and saute for a few minutes until the onions are fragrant and softened. Add the chicken and curry paste; saute for 3-5 minutes. Add the potatoes and stir to coat with the curry paste.

Add the coconut cream and 1/2 cup water to the pot – simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the veggies are fully cooked, adding more water depending on the consistency you want for the sauce. Stir in the tofu toward the end so it doesn’t break up.

Stir in the fish sauce and brown sugar to really take it up a notch. Seriously – so good. Serve over rice.