Ham-Turkey Loaf, Sesame Green Beans and Whole Wheat Dinner Muffins

It's rare that I will make an entire meal from scratch, especially a fancy-schmancy meal.  But I was feeling generous last Thursday.  I had taken Tuesday and Wednesday off from cooking (on Tuesday we had leftovers and on Wednesday we had dinner out with friends). So by the end of the week, I felt like putting in the extra effort to make a great meal.  I made a ham-turkey loaf, sesame green beans and whole wheat dinner muffins.  Here is what it looked like:





Oh yeah, it was yummy!  


I adapted a ham loaf recipe and snuck in two different veggies in the ham-turkey loaf.  Then I decided to try a twist on green beens, using some sesame oil I had on hand in the pantry.  At the last minute, I decided to make dinner rolls too but I did so in the form of muffins.  They all turned out great!


The best part of putting in the extra time and love in cooking is when it comes out tasting so fabulously like it did for us.  Also, when your three year old eats the meal and says she likes your green beans, then it just doesn't get any sweeter than that! 


So here you go - three recipes in one post for you today!  Aren't you lucky and special?  Enjoy them separately or all together like we did!








Ham-Turkey Loaf
(Serves 8)

Adapted from here and also from Jessica Seinfeld's Turkey Meatloaf in her "Double Delicious" cookbook

For the meatloaf:
1 pound lean ground turkey
1 pound of ground ham (I used leftover holiday ham and grinded it up in my food processor)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 egg whites (or 1 egg)
1/2 cup of carrot puree
1/2 cup of cauliflower puree
1/4 cup of reduced fat milk
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or regular vinegar)
1/2 tbsp onion powder
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
dash of Cajun seasoning

For the sauce:

1/3 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of ketchup
1/8 cup of honey mustard
1/8 cup of apple cider vinegar (or regular vinegar)


(Note: This one takes almost two hours of baking time so just be aware of that when starting the prep work!)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease a bread loaf pan or 1 liter ceramic loaf pan with cooking spray.  In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients for the meat loaf: ground turkey, ham, bread crumbs, egg whites, milk, carrot and cauliflower purees, sauces and all seasonings.  I like to blend it with my hands best.  Then shape the loaf into the greased pan. 


(Note: You'll notice that the cauliflower puree just blends right in and the carrot puree just gives it a touch of orange color.  The veggies actually make it a moister meatloaf!)


Bake in the oven, uncovered, for one hour.  Remove from oven and make the ingredients for the sauce. 


In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, ketchup, honey mustard and vinegar.  Blend it well.  Then pour it and spread it over the meatloaf.  Place the meatloaf back in the oven.  Bake for another 45 minutes to an hour.  I did mine for another hour.  With the sauce and veggies on top, the meatloaf stayed moist and never dried out.  It was perfect! 


Remove from oven and let cool for about ten minutes.  Then slice and serve.  Enjoy.


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Sesame Green Beans
(Serves 6 to 8)

1 can (14.5 oz) green beans, drained
1/4 cup of chicken or vegetable broth
1/8 cup of water
1 tsp sesame oil - You can find this in the Asian/Oriental aisle in your grocery store
1 tsp sesame seeds
salt and pepper to taste (optional)

Lightly grease a small sauce pan with cooking spray.  Place it on your stove with the heat on medium.  Drain your can of green beans and add it to the pan.  Pour in the chicken broth, water, sesame oil and sesame seeds.  Sautee on medium heat for about fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally.  Taste.  Add any salt and pepper if you like but I thought mine tasted great as is.  Serve as a side dish.  Feeds about 6 to 8 people.

I was amazed at how much my little girl liked these green beans.  I will definitely be making them over and over again!

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Whole Wheat Dinner Muffins
(Makes 8 to 10 muffins or rolls)

1 cup of white wheat flour (I use the King Arthur brand)
1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup of light buttermilk
1/4 cup of light butter, broken up into small pieces
1/4 cup of agave nectar (or honey)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tarter


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease a muffin tin pan with cooking spray.  In a large bowl, sift your flour, salt and pieces of butter.  Add in the beaten egg, agave nectar, buttermilk and cream of tarter.  Blend well with a large wooden spoon.  Drop by spoonfuls into the muffin tins, filling them at least 3/4 full.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.  Remove from the oven and let them cool for about seven minutes before serving. 


These taste just like dinner rolls but are in the form of muffins!  Enjoy them!


What's the last complete meal you made or put together that you were proud of?  Share a positive cooking story here to start our week off right!

What's Cookin' This Week (Jan 10 - 16, 2011)?

Last week was a great one with my meal planning.  I hope to be happy with what's in store for the coming days as well.  I'm going to keep it flexible though because Kirk's mom is planning to visit us; therefore, we may eat out or enjoy a meal from the freezer if we're running around and playing tourist a lot.  Here is what I have lined up:



Monday, Jan. 10 - Pasta Bake (I will keep this vegan and just add spinach to it)  and make a homemade bread in my bread machine


Tuesday, Jan. 11 - Lemon Chicken from Jessica Seinfeld's Double Delicious! cookbook and a side of brown rice pilaf with broccoli
Note: I just purchased her sequel cookbook and I'm so excited to try her new recipes!   If my family enjoys this, then I will post the recipe next week.


Wednesday, Jan. 12 - Leftovers


Thursday, Jan. 13 - Nacho Mama Mac and Cheese
Note: I plan to sneak in some pureed veggies in this one, probably broccoli and carrots!


Friday, Jan. 14 - Eat from freezer - Meat and Veggie Chili


Saturday, Jan. 15 - Eat out, probably sushi


Sunday, Jan. 16 - Barbecue steaks and sausage for Kirk's mom visiting us, side salad, sweet potato fries with this new chip dip I found.



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Here are the snacks and desserts I hope to try for the week:

King Cake in honor of Mardi Gras coming up!

Super Foods Chocolate Bark

Orange Cranberry Muffins from my cookbook


What's on your meal plan this week?  Anything good that you're looking forward to making? 

This week I have a fancy-schmancy (but easy) complete dinner in store for you, a funny poem about eggs and a great on-the-go snack too. Stay tuned for great upcoming posts!

Mexican Tortilla Lasagna

You've probably seen a dozen or so variations of this recipe.  They might be called different things - like Beef Taco Bake, Fiesta Lasagna or something close to that.  All of the recipes all similar and they probably all taste great too. 

I shamefully admit that I used to buy the packaged stuff of it.  I'd pay nearly five dollars to put together something as easy as this --

However, now when I get a hankering for something Mexican, I whip it up myself.  Because tacos, enchiladas and tortilla dishes are so easy to throw together.  There really is no excuse for buying a kit like the above picture anymore.  It's so incredibly simple to put your own kit together.  And that's what I did a few nights ago. 

Here's my "kit" for a fiesta-flavored success.  I added health benefits of calcium from pureed broccoli and protein and fiber from adding beans.  Even my three year old very picky daughter ate this up for two nights in a row!   

Mexican Tortilla Lasagna

(Serves 6)

1 pound of lean ground turkey

1 packet of taco seasoning mix

3/4 cup of water

1/2 cup of taco sauce

1/2 cup of pureed broccoli

1 can of ranch style (or pinto) beans, mostly drained but not rinsed

2 cups of reduced fat shredded cheese

1 cup of salsa

4 whole wheat tortillas

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Generously grease a 2 quart round baking dish with cooking spray.  Set aside. 

In a greased skillet, brown the ground turkey.  Drain or blot any excess grease away.  Add 3/4 cup of water and the taco seasoning packet.  Cook on medium heat until most of water is absorbed, about seven minutes.  Add in the pureed broccoli and the can of ranch style (or pinto) beans.  Mix in the 1/2 cup of taco sauce and 1 cup of the shredded cheese.  Remove from heat. 

Place your first whole wheat tortilla at the bottom of the greased round baking pan.  Scoop out 1/4 of the meat mixture onto the tortilla.  Spread it evenly to cover it all with just the very edges visible.  Top it with 1/4 cup of cheese and about 1/4 cup of salsa.  It should look something like this (pictured below):

Now place another whole wheat flour tortilla on top of the meat, cheese and salsa mixture.  Repeat the steps of scooping out more meat, spreading it evenly over the new tortilla and topping it with salsa and cheese.  Do this again two more times or until you've used up all your ingredients. 

Bake in the oven, covered, at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.  The edges of the lasagna will be brown and the cheese will have melted.  Remove from the oven.  Uncover it and let it cool for about fifteen minutes before cutting.  I sliced mine into six different pie wedges.  My family of three ate on this for two nights. 

You could skip the broccoli and beans if you like, but why?  It makes it a more filling, more nutritious meal sure to please your family.  The pureed broccoli looks like seasoning.  If your kids aren't fans of beans, you could always puree them as well too. 

Enjoy!  Adios!

Do you like Mexican flavored dishes?  I just love the flavors and spices of Latin American meals.  I'm hoping to tackle some Cuban and Spanish dishes in the near future.  Share any of your fiesta-inspired favorites if you have any!~ 

Loser Cook Award: My Bread Machine Strikes Again, Giving Me The Smackdown!

Well I suppose my bread machine somehow heard me talking smack about him over a week ago.  There I was bragging about the fact that I had made three diffierent delicious looking and tasting breads.  How I had gotten the best of him after all.   That's when he decided to unleash his mechanical powers.  He decided to revolt against me.  And he served it up well too. 

I got served this:






Believe it or not, this above photo is a loaf of bread.  Or it should be anyway.  Just a basic sweet bread recipe gone wrong.  Somewhere between kneading and rising cycle number two, my machine quit mixing on me.  It never smoothed down the flour.  This was the end result since I never bothered to check on it.  I mean, forgive me, but I thought the purpose of a bread maker was to walk away and let the device do all the work for you??  But this is what I have to deal with! 

Let's look at it from another angle, shall we?



Seriously?  WTH?  Or better yet, WTF?!  Does this bread look like it has a deformity or what?  Perhaps I could rename it Cyclops bread?  My husband called it "Turkey bread" because it looks like it has a drumstick or leg sticking out from its side just like a piece of poultry. 

Have you ever seen anything quite like this?  Only me folks!  Only I could create something so outrageous and hideous!

Here's yet another side of the bird bread too:




Wow, it really does seem to have two bird legs on top of it~!  LOL!   A-mazing!
The sad part of it all is that I don't try to mess these things up.  I really don't.  I want to make beautiful looking food, great tasting food.  But somehow, some way, things go wrong for me!  I don't always understand how or why but they do.

Oh well, it is what it is.  And this is pretty darn funny, I have to admit it!  My husband Kirk and I laughed at it and just stared in shock over it for several minutes. 

And cutting this loaf of crazy bread was no easy picnic either!  It was quite difficult actually.  When I sliced it all up, the bread just fell all over the place.  There was no making it look attractive.  No how, no way!





So I hereby give myself another Loser Cook Award because I don't know anyone who could produce a loaf of bread this ugly.  There you have it.  I'm a loser.  My bread machine is the champion and delivered a serious WWE style smackdown in my face! 

Who knows what strange things I'll be creating in the kitchen next?  Cooking is an adventure, that's for sure! 

Bananas Foster Crumble Cake

Bananas Foster is a popular dessert in the New Orleans area.  When I saw this twist on it by my pal Marguerite, I had to try it!  I adapted her cake recipe to lighten it up where I could.  I  also took out the pecans since my husand is not a fan of them in cakes or pies.  We were both very happy with the outcome of this cake! 






Bananas Foster Crumble Cake
(Serves 16)

Adapted from Cajun Delights

For the cake:

1 stick (1/2 cup) of light butter, softened
1 and 1/2 cups of sugar (I used half brown sugar and half Stevia)
2 eggs (I used two egg whites and one regular egg)
4 bananas, mashed
1/3 cup of reduced fat milk
1/4 cup of light rum
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups of white wheat flour
3/4 cup of yellow cornmeal
1 and 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt


For the crumble topping:

1/3 cup of white wheat flour
1/3 cup of sugar
2 tsp of light butter
1/2 tsp almond extract




Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease a Bundt pan with cooking spray.

Place the softened butter in a large bowl.  Beat until smooth with an electric mixer.  Add the sugar and beat again.  Place the eggs in the mix, one at a time continuing to beat.  Add the milk.  Stir in mashed bananas, rum and vanilla extract. 

In a small, separate bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture.  Blend well.  Pour into a the greased Bundt pan. 

Now prepare the crumble topping.  Do so by combining all ingredients in one small bowl.  Heat in microwave for about fifteen seconds.  Stir and blend well.  Crumble the topping over the cake batter in the Bundt pan.  Bake for 45 minutes or until a knife or toothpick can be inserted cleanly into cake.   Let cake cool for about thirty minutes before slicing.  I cut mine into 16 pieces.   Enjoy. 

If you want, you can make a rum sauce for the cake.  Or you can eat with a dollup of Cool-whip.  Since I froze half of my cake for later, I opted to keep it simple.  My husband and I really liked this cake and I will be making it again and perhaps trying to add other fruit to it as well.


Fun Fact: I do not enjoy eating bananas by themselves.  I hardly ever just sit there, peel a banana and eat it plain.  However, I LOVE banana flavored desserts and breads.  Go figure!  Am I the only weird one like that?

Learn With Me: How To Have A Puree Party!

Welcome to Learn With Me, a NEW segment where I will share tips and things I'm learning in the kitchen.  Often I will give step by step instructions on how I do something or achieve an end result. 

For this first post, I will talk about how I puree vegetables.  I've been asked by several of my cookbook readers how I go about doing this.  The answer is simple.  Every few weeks or months, I throw myself a little Puree Party. 

There are only three, simple steps to having a puree party:
(1) Rinse and steam your vegetables.
(2) Grind your veggies in a food processor.
(3) Portion out the veggies in freezer-safe plastic bags and store for later.

You can do all the above things in a reasonable amount of time while listening to the radio and while your kids are playing or watching television.

My puree parties occur every few weeks or months, depending on how much I do at one time.  The most recent one I've done included one head of broccoli, one head of cauliflower and a bag of baby carrots:








Different vegetables require different lengths of time for steaming.   Here is a handy online chart I found that lists the varying times to boil veggies:

Vegetable                           Steam Time

Artichoke                             40 minutes

Asparagus                           3 to 4 minutes

Beets                                   3 to 35 minutes

Broccoli, florets                   4 to 5 minutes

Brussels sprouts                  7 to 11 minutes

Cabbage                               6 minutes

Carrots, cut ¼ inch               6 to 8 minutes

Cauliflower, florets              4 to 6 minutes

Potatoes, two inch               12 to 15 minutes

Spinach                                 4 to 5 minutes

Sweet potatoes, 1 in            12 to 15 minutes

Winter squash, two in          15 to 20 minutes

Zucchini                                            5 to 7 minutes  

I will often steam three different vegetables at one time.  I like to be productive!  I will cook two on the stove and and one in the microwave. 

Typically I will put the carrots in the microwave while I prepare the cauliflower and broccoli on the stove top  for steaming.  I place a bag of baby carrots in a large bowl with a little bit of water at the bottom.  Then I microwave them on high for about eight minutes.  Once they are done, I set them aside to cool for a few minutes.  Then I transfer them to my food processor:





I grind them up in my food processor for about two minutes.  Personally, I like my carrots and all veggies to be in bite size pieces.  I don't add water to them because I don't want to liquify them.  I prefer they be shredded into fine parts.  Like this (pictured below):






Carrots are a useful vegetable to place in muffins, breads and cakes.  I also like to sneak them into tomato sauce, ketchup and other red gravies where the orange color can be hidden. 

Now onto cauliflower....  I will steam my cauliflower after I cut the tips off and remove them from the head and stem.  They only take a few minutes of steaming:






After they begin to get soft, remove them from the heat.  Let them cool for about two minutes.  Then transfer them to the food processor.  Grind them up until they resemble very fine particles of mashed potoes. 





Cauliflower is best sneaked into foods that are lightly colored, like macaroni and cheese, potatoes and rice.  You could always throw them into soups and stews as well.


You do the same thing for broccoli as you do for cauliflower.  Be warned though - broccoli stinks!  But its health benefits outweigh the stinch.  I love to put broccoli in my ground turkey recipes - meatballs, tacos, meatloaf, turkey burgers, etc.  The possibilities are endless. 


When you are done griding up your vegetables, portion them out into 1/2 cup and 1 cup sizes.  This is a half-cup size portion of cauliflower that I snapped a photo of:




Them place them in freezer-safe plastic bags.  Like this:






Although I don't have it pictured here, I often puree spinach too.  Spinach is really easy to do and doesn't require any steaming if you buy the bags of baby spinach leaves.  Simply grind them up and portion them out for later use.


So that's how you have a puree party folks!  It's not rocket science.  It's very easy.  Sometimes I listen to a book on CD or throw on some music and dance around the kitchen while pureeing and steaming.  ;-) 

You'll be done in no time.  Then you have the prep work done for weeks or months in advance!  When you think forward in the kitchen with a little bit of prep work, you won't be working backwards later on! 


Let me know if you have any questions about this post or about pureeing vegetables.  If you have suggestions for a future "Learn With Me," segment, please let me know!   We can learn together.

Stay tuned for more great recipes and my new, hilarious bread machine post later this week too! 

Skinny Crab Quiche

On New Year's Day, I opted to make the Skinny Crab Quiche from my meal plan that I hadn't gotten around to preparing in the days prior.  We love seafood and this looked like a simple dish that anyone could throw together.   It came out great!  My husband and I loved it.  This would be great for brunch or any gathering among friends.  Enjoy!






Skinny Crab Quiche
(Makes 8 pie slices)
Adapted from Taste of Home

1 can (6 oz) lump crabmeat, drained
2 cups of reduced fat shredded cheese
1/2 cup of pureed or finely chopped spinach
1/2 cup of green onions
1 and 1/2 egg substitute (egg whites or other)
1 can (12 oz) fat-free evaporated milk
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, divided in half
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic and parmesan seasoning blend
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
dash of Cajun seasoning


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Generously grease a 9 inch pie plate with cooking spray.  In a medium bowl, combine the drained lump crab meat, 1 and 1/2 cups of the cheese, spinach, green onions and half of the Parmesan cheese together.  Blend well.  Press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the greased pie plate, making it like a crust. 




Sprinkle with salt and onion powder.  Top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.  In a separate bowl, mix the egg substitute, milk, remaining Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, garlic and parmesan seasoning blend and Cajun seasoning.  Gently pour the seasoned egg mixture over the crab meat crust in the pie plate. 

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.  Test to see if quiche is done by inserting a knife to see if it comes out clean.  Even though your top may be brown, you don't want any liquid underneath.  Let the quiche stand for ten to fifteen minutes before cutting.  I cut mine into eight slices. 






Note: You could also bake this in an 8x8 inch square baking pan and cut it into squares to feed more people. 
Do you like quiche?  What are some of your favorite brunch foods?

What's Cookin' This Week (Jan 3 - 9, 2011)?

I'm still getting used to writing 2011.  Are you?  Thankfully, I'm used to making meal plans though.  I've been doing them for just over a year now.  They really help me stay on track with my healthy eating habits.  Plus they assist me in what to buy at the grocery store.  Or I just let my pantry and freezer guide me in preparing recipes for the week. 

For instance, I still have leftover holiday ham.  Therefore I looked for a new recipe to make with ham, which will be Thursday's Ham Loaf.   Also, we ate out Chinese food over the weekend.  We have leftover fried rice.  Therefore, I'm going to combine that fried rice with a new Orange Chicken recipe I've been eyeing for awhile now.  

I stated in my New Year's Resolutions that I want to cook and eat more vegan recipes and more Cajun/New Orleans dishes as well.  So I'm incorporating both of those notions into this week's meal plan as well with a Shrimp Creole and a vegan enchilada meal.  These are some examples of how I come up with my meal plan, letting my kitchen and my heart guide me! 

Now, here is that entire meal plan for the upcoming week:

Monday, Jan. 3 - Mexican Tortilla Lasagna.  Side of beans.  
Note: The recipe for this is in my head. I know how I want to make it and I will share the end result at the end of this week!

Tuesday, Jan. 4 - My day to grocery shop.  Eat leftovers from Monday or the weekend's barbecue

Wednesday, Jan. 5 - Orange Chicken, fried rice from freezer

Thursday, Jan. 6 - Ham Loaf, green beans
Note: I'm going to look for ways to adapt this recipe and sneak veggies in the ham loaf - probably carrots and spinach!  

Friday, Jan. 7 - Barbecue Chicken and Ranch Pizza, recipe is from my cookbook.

Saturday, Jan. 8 - Shrimp Creole, recipe is from my Louisiana Cajun cookbook, Corn Bread, Side salad

Sunday, Jan. 9 - Vegan Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas and leftover corn bread


Here are the snacks and desserts I hope to try making this week:

No-Bake Granola Bars

Lovely Lemon Snack Cake  - this one is vegan-friendly and gluten-free!

Fruit Leather (Roll ups) - this is a kid-friendly snack! 


What's on your meal plan this week?  I've got some great things in store for you in the coming days: a new segment called "Learn With Me," some great recipes and my most hideous, hilarious bread to date!  (That's right - my bread maker strikes back!) 

Come back for the laughs and the education on what to do and what NOT to do in the kitchen!  ;-)