Teriyaki Meatball Lettuce Wraps

I don't often use or buy pre-prepared foods. They usually don't taste as good as things that are homemade, but there are some days when I just don't have time to cook. And days that I just don't want to. So I usually have a few easy meals in my freezer that I can pull out and have on the table in just a few minutes. These Aidells Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs are one of those things. I tasted them for the first time at Costco about a month ago and I was instantly converted. Costco has some of the best pre-prepared food available and these meatballs were so amazing that I couldn't help but share this "recipe." Here is a link the original recipe.

Here is a picture of the meatball package:

Prep time: 15 minutes

Serves: 2-3 people

1/2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

1/2 lb Aidells teriyaki meatballs

2 carrots, cut into small pieces

2 green onions, thinly sliced

hoisin sauce, to taste

2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

Romaine or green leaf lettuce, rinsed

Preheat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cut meatballs in half and saute until brown and heated completely. Add carrots and green onions and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes. 

To serve, place meatball mixture into center of lettuce leaves. Sprinkle with cilantro and drizzle desired amount of hoisin sauce over top. Enjoy!

Mandarin Orange Chicken

Another successful Asian recipe! I think I might finally be getting the hang of this Asian stir fry thing! This recipe came from motherthyme.com, a site that I plan to visit frequently now that I have discovered it. Plus, she is really good at photography. The amazing picture definitely helped convince me to make this recipe. The only thing I added to the recipe was more vegetables. I love cooking with fresh veggies! Part of what made it taste so good was that I served it over Coconut Rice, which I will be posting later this week.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4 people

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

2 Tbsp prepared orange juice

1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp corn starch

2 Tbsp canola oil

1 red pepper, sliced

1 yellow pepper, sliced

1 medium sweet onion, sliced

1/2 cup sugar snap peas

1/2 cup broccoli

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce

2 Tbsp hoisin sauce

1 can mandarin oranges with juice

3 Tbsp vinegar

3 Tbsp brown sugar

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Place chicken pieces in a medium bowl. Add orange juice, 1/4 cup corn starch, salt and pepper and mix until the chicken is evenly coated.

In a medium skillet, preheat oil over medium heat. When oil begins to glisten, add chicken and stir fry until it is golden brown on all sides. Then add vegetables to skillet and cook until they are tender. Mix soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and remaining corn starch. Add sauce mixture, mandarin oranges with juice, vinegar, and sugar to skillet. Continue to cook, stirring constantly for another 3 minutes. Season again with salt and pepper to taste.

Zucchini Tomato Casserole

I bought some zucchini on a great sale the other day and wanted to find a great recipe to showcase it. I found this one on allrecipes.com. After reading the reviews, I decided to make it - with a few of my own alterations, of course. There were a couple of people who reviewed the recipe and said that it tasted like pizza. I really like pizza so I was excited to see if it was true, and it kind of was - if you usually make crustless pizza with no meat and no sauce... and only top it with fresh zucchini and tomatoes. Okay, so it tasted nothing like pizza. But I loved it anyway. Even though we ate it as a main dish, I think it is meant to be a side.

Prep time (including baking): 1 hour 20 minutes

Serves: 4-6 people

1/3 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp fresh basil

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

4 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced

2 medium zucchinis, thinly sliced

1/4 cup onion, thinly sliced

3 Tbsp butter

2/3 cup Italian bread crumbs

In a bowl, combine mozzarella, Paremsan, oregano, basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Lightly coat a 9x9" pan with cooking spray. Layer 1/2 of the zucchini, 1/4 of the cheese mixture, 1/2 of the tomatoes, 1/4 of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layers. 

In a medium skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Saute onion in melted butter for 3-4 minutes. When the onion begins to soften and become translucent, stir in the bread crumbs. Spread mixture over top of the casserole. 

Cover with foil and bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the top begins to brown.

Chicken & Broccoli Stromboli

We eat some type of pizza in our house almost every week, so I am always looking for new and interesting combinations of toppings just so we can mix it up a little. For this meal, I used my regular pizza dough recipe, but cut it in half. We really enjoyed this stromboli. It was fun to eat and was even a little bit (dare I say) healthy.

I seasoned the chicken using Chef Todd's Pit Seasoning. It is a great blend of spices that I use all the time. If you don't have this seasoning mix, you can use a combination of garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. It won't be exactly the same, but that is what I used to do before I discovered my new favorite seasoning.

Pizza dough

3/4 lb chicken, cut into small pieces
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 of a medium onion, finely chopped
Chef Todd's Pit Seasoning, to taste
1 red pepper, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
fresh broccoli florets
fresh spinach leaves
mozzarella cheese
Alfredo sauce for dipping

Prepare the pizza dough. While it is raising, preheat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil glistens, add onion and saute for 4-5 minutes or until it starts to become transparent. Then add chicken and seasoning and cook until the chicken is done.

Roll out pizza dough (between 1/8" and 1/4" thickness) in a rectangle about 18" long and 11" wide. Layer spinach, chicken and onions, red pepper, tomato, broccoli, and then mozzarella cheese down the center of the dough. Fold each side of dough over and pinch to close. Bake on 400° for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and spread a small amount of butter over the surface of the crust to add flavor and maintain moisture. Cut into pieces and serve with Alfredo sauce or marinara sauce.

Four Layer Pistachio Dessert

I have been promising some of my friends that I would post this dessert for over a month now, so here it is (finally!). This is one of my favorite non-chocolate desserts of all time. I usually make it during the summer, although I have read online that some people make it during Christmas. 

Crust:

                1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

                1 cup flour

                1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

                Mix and pat in bottom of 8 x 11 inch pan.  Bake at 350^o for 10-12 minutes.  Cool.

Combine:

                1 cup cool whip

                8 oz. pkg. cream cheese

                1 cup powdered sugar

                Whip and spread on cooled crust.

Mix:

                1 large (6 oz)  package pastachio instant pudding with 3 cups of milk. Spread over cream mixture.  Chill. Serve topped with a thin layer of whipped cream and sprinkle with 1/4 cup nuts.