Yummy Gluten-free Turkey Meatloaf Muffins recipe

I made this meal for a friend recently who just had a baby.  She said it was the best meatloaf her and her husband had ever had!!  What a high compliment!

The funny thing is, I wanted to make it gluten-free for her, and dairy and egg-free for us because of my son's sensitivities.  So I had two lbs of turkey and two bowls :)

Here is the recipe for the one I gave her:

Yummy Gluten-free Turkey Meatloaf Muffins recipe

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 carrots, trimmed, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, trimmed, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh basil
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 pound ground turkey or lean ground grass-fed beef
• 1 cup gluten-free crackers, ground finely in a food processor
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  1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (from Aldi-see attached image)
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• 1 egg, beaten
• bacon slices, cut into small pieces

Ketchup sauce:

big squirt of ketchup

small squirt of mustard

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

Chop the onion, carrot and celery in a food processor to a fine mince for easier preparation. You want to end up with about 3 cups of vegetables.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Heat oil in a skillet on medium heat. (I had just browned some turkey and didn't clean the pan of drippings) Add chopped onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and red pepper.  Saute until vegetables are soft, about 5-6 minutes. Cool.
3. Combine cooked vegetables, salt, pepper, ground meat, ground crackers, mustard, beaten egg, dried and fresh spices into a bowl. Mix well.
4. Lightly oil muffin tin. Divide meatloaf mixture among 12 muffin cups. Add bacon on top in a criss-cross pattern.  Don't forget a cookie sheet under for drips like I did the first time :) Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from pan. Brush a little ketchup sauce on top, if desired.

adapted from http://jeanetteshealthyliving.com/2013/12/gluten-free-barbecue-meatloaf-muffins.html

Changes I made to the recipe for our family:

-instead of those crackers, I added 1 cup of bread crumbs/rice cake, crumbled in the food processor (1 slice of dairy/egg-free bread, 2 rice cakes)

-instead of 1 egg, I added 1/2 cup of almond milk.

-instead of the gluten-free mustard, I used grey poupon mustard.

Asian Salmon with Roasted Veggies

On Monday, Gabe really liked what I made.  I was impressed too because I really didn't have a clue what I was going to make until something like 7pm that evening.  All I knew is that I had to use the asparagus in the fridge :)

So I started chopping asparagus and my ideas grew from there.  I decided I was going to do a combo of asparagus, zucchini spears, baby bella mushrooms, corn off the cob, and leeks.  This combo was born out of ones that take similar roasting times and things I had ready/available in the fridge.

I toss these into a bowl with olive oil, salt & pepper and they waited on the next idea I had.

asian salmon in foil.

I loosely based it on the recipe from here:

Ingredients:
1/4 c honey
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 T soy sauce
2 T rice vinegar
1-2 T fresh ginger, minced
1-2 T shallot, chopped finely
dash of cayenne pepper
salt & pepper to taste
2 lbs of salmon
sprinkle of sesame seeds


Instructions:
1. preheat the oven to 375.
2. into a small bowl, place honey, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, cayenne pepper, salt/pepper to taste.
3. place salmon onto a baking sheet and place a salmon portion onto a square of foil.  Spoon the honey mixture over the salmon.  Fold the foil up and around the salmon, sealing it well so that it is completely closed.
4. put the baking sheet with salmon packets in the oven until cooked through, about 10-15 minutes.
5. let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
6. garnish with sesame seeds and serve with roasted vegetables.

Serves 4-6.


Yum!  It was pretty spicy for my liking, but Gabe LOVED it.  It was probably all the ginger I put in :)

Cauliflower Arugula Bacon Salad

I made up my own combination this evening.

I had some balsamic roasted cauliflower in the fridge just waiting to be used.  This is the recipe for that:

Balsamic Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients:

8 cups 1-inch-thick slices cauliflower florets, (about 1 large head; see Tip)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/4 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

-Preheat oven to 450°F.

-Toss cauliflower, oil, marjoram, salt and pepper in a large bowl.

-Spread on a large rimmed baking sheet and roast until starting to soften and brown on the bottom, 15 to 20 minutes.

-Toss the cauliflower with vinegar.

-Return to the oven and roast until any moisture has evaporated, 5 to 10 minutes more.

Serves 4.

(adapted from http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/balsamic_parmesan_roasted_cauliflower.html)



So, I tried my darndest to find a formidable recipe to use with this to add some protein for a heartier meal.  But I didn't!  So I set forth on my own :)

Here goes:

Cauliflower Arugula Bacon Salad

Ingredients:
Balsamic Roasted Cauliflower (recipe shown above, is about one head of cauliflower worth)
1/2 c of fresh arugula leaves
2 T tahini paste
splash of lemon juice
1 T capers, drained
handful of cranberries or golden raisins
slivered almonds, toasted for 2 minutes
3 slices of bacon, crisped
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. While the cauliflower is still warm, mix in the tahini paste and lemon juice.
2. Add the fresh arugula leaves, mix so they wilt slightly.
4. Add capers, mix well.
5. Add almonds and bacon on top.

Serve warm.  4 servings.

YUM!!

Newly created flower beds!

Our house is in dire need of some attractive landscaping!  It's in rough shape.  I think the last owners didn't live on the property for a while.  So I am taking it upon myself to do a bit of beautifying.

Spring is coming and I can feel it.  We just had a burst of warm weather over the weekend and boy, was it great!!

From our last house project, we acquired some bricks that were at least 120 years old--consisting of a fireplace stack we needed to remove because it wasn't well supported in its foundation.  So here they sit:

Also, I would like to replace the bush in the concrete tub.  With a lilac.  or a rose bush.  or something.  anything else!

I've already used a good many of the bricks to line the flower garden beds I have in mind that I started last fall, but didn't really spend too much time with just yet.  I will be fixing it up with more finesse later--it was basically a placeholder I put in last fall.

Like here:

I planted 30 tulip bulbs last fall in this bed and I have seen about half of them sprout so far.  I still need to go through and till the soil, removing the weeds.  Here is what I have started so far:

It's been a week or so and I have been able to do a few things around the flower garden beds:

I weeded in the garden bed, fixed some of the bricks, (Gabe) took the bush out of the concrete tub, and I fixed the brickwork to the left of the tub.

Another job I started over the weekend--I wanted to create a lovely flower garden bed where there wasn't one before.  There were patches of daffodils growing up, but no defined space, so I took it upon myself to do just that.

I don't really have a "before" picture.  Except the pics from MRIS when we bought our house.  Eek!!  Well, here is a small visual of the space being worked on:

The space I'm talking about is on the right of the house in this picture, at the edge of the driveway.

This air condenser has been moved it to another location:

What I did is till the soil, removing all the grass roots, displace the soil and lay down weed block.  I did so cutting around the daffodil patches, leaving them undisturbed.  I used the bricks to define the spaces and create somewhat of a tiered situation.  I covered the cinderblock with the brick too, at least from the driveway entry point of view.

So, here is what it looked like when I was done:

for now.

a close up

I still need to get more soil and berm it up to the house better, so it drains water and slopes away from the house.

I also need to add flowers :-)  A trellis for some climbing plants seems like a good idea to prop up against the house on the one side/corner.

These big bushes need to be trimmed back before spring gets underway:

And now:

Another pic from the side--the brick edging can be seen better in this shot:

Gabe and I also cleaned up this large bush in the back yard--there was a ton of poison ivy all around...so now the piles are just laying there.

Gabe got poison ivy from this--a lot!!!  i feel so bad for him.  I didn't get any.


I'll post more pics as more gets done.

Cheers!

and happy happy spring!!!!

Dairy-free creamy wild mushroom soup

So, my son has a dairy allergy.  I am always looking for new dishes that are Judah-friendly!!
This is what I am making for this evening:

Dairy-free Creamy Wild Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:
5 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms (about 4-5 medium sized mushrooms)
5 oz fresh portobello mushrooms (about 2 large mushrooms)
5 oz fresh cremini (or porcini) mushrooms (about 5-6 small mushrooms)
1 T olive oil¼ lb (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon Earth Balance dairy free, soy-free butter substitute, divided
1 c chopped yellow onion
1 carrot, chopped
1 sprig fresh thyme plus 1 teaspoon minced thyme leaves, divided
salt & pepper to taste
2 c leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks), cleaned well & chopped

1 small shallot, chopped

½ c grated zucchini¼ c  all-purpose flour1 c dry white wine, I used Pinot Grigio

dash of nutmeg
1 c coconut milk

1 c coconut cream (Trader Joe's sells this, it's awesome!)
½ c minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Instructions:
1. Clean the mushrooms by wiping them with a dry paper towel. Don't wash them! Separate the stems, trim off any bad parts, and coarsely chop the stems. 
2. To make the stock, heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter substitute in a large pot. Add the chopped mushroom stems, the onion, carrot, the sprig of thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and cook over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.
3. Add 6 cups water (or cheat and add half chicken stock, like I did!), bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid. You should have about 4½ cups of stock. If not, add some water.
4. Meanwhile, slice the mushroom caps ¼-inch thick and, if there are big, cut them into bite-sized pieces.
5. In another large pot, heat the remaining ¼ pound of butter substitute and add the leeks. Cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the leeks begin to brown. 
6. Add the sliced mushroom caps and cook for 10 minutes, or until they are browned and tender.
7. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and stir for another minute, scraping the bottom of the pot. Add the mushroom stock, minced thyme leaves, nutmeg, 1½ teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. 
8. Add the coconut milk, coconut cream, and parsley, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and heat through but do not boil. Serve hot.

(adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cream-of-wild-mushroom-soup-recipe/index.html)

I took a few pics, but not any at the end after I put the cream in. Sorry!

This is while the veggies are sweating (leeks, zucchini and shallot):

After I added mushrooms, mushroom stock, thyme and nutmeg:

It was yum yum!

Welcome!

Well hello :)

I like to try a lot of creative things.  I will share my ideas and shenanigans with you here.

Commence!!