Caribbean Beef Plantain Bake

I have been looking forward to making this for a while!  I pinned it about a month ago from Baltic Maid - not sure how I found it in the first place?   But Thank you Baltic Maid for creating/ posting this!  Always looking for different things to make with ground beef, since we do have like a hundred pounds of it in the freezer :)

I bought the plantains over a week ago - the store only had green ones so I had to wait until they got nice and dark as indicated in the recipe.

Below is my variation, adapted from the original.  I knew it would either come out 'ehh' or AWESOME and luckily it was awesome.  Already looking forward to my lunch leftovers :)


Caribbean Beef Plantain Bake
1 lb ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, chopped
(I cheated and used a bag of frozen sliced peppers and onions!)

1/2 jar strained organic tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
Paprika, Cumin, Oregano, Chili Powder, Cinnamon, S&P

2-3 very ripe (dark brown/black) plantains
Coconut oil

2 - 3 eggs


In a large frying pan, brown the ground beef. Set beef aside once done.

Saute the onion & pepper in the same pan and lightly brown.  Add spices (I don't put measurements bc I don't measure.  Be generous!)

Meanwhile in another pan, heat coconut oil.  Peel plantains and cut into bite size slices and saute until browned, flip to brown both sides.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Add tomatoes to the veggies and warm, then stir beef in.

Put the beef/ veggie mixture in 9x9 glass baking pan, top with plantain slices (I kind of pushed them into the sauce).

In a little bowl, beat the eggs. Pour them over the casserole.

Bake the casserole for 20 to 30 minutes.

Pork Chops w Roasted Balsamic Sweet Potato & Brussels

A quick easy dinner-

Delicious bone-in pork chops from your favorite local farm
+
2 large sweet potaotes, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
2 containers brussels sprouts
EVOO + Balsamic vinegar

Roast the chops with s&P& garlic powder on 425 for 45 mins -   Roast veggies approx the same amount of time in EVOO w S&P, adding balsamic for the last 10 mins.  If you don't have as much time for the veggies, pop the potatoes in the microwave for a few minutes to soften them up :)

Grilling Dinners

From the start, we did not have a sink in our makeshift kitchen, so meals that don't require any cleanup were a necessity.

Night one we had grilled porterhouse steaks, grilled zucchini, and an easy salad.  For the zucchini we simply quartered, sprinkled with some kosher salt and rubbed with a bit of olive oil and grilled on Medium-Low until soft and lightly charred.  The eco-friendly inside was pained by using and throwing away paper plates, but it's just for a while until we have a sink :)

Night 2 I made chicken.  Seeing how long we can make it without going out to dinner!  I marinated the chicken with salt & pepper, balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil.  I sprinkled the same on the zucchini & squash.  I purchased a tomato & parmasean flatbread from ShopRite and threw it on the grill to heat up - it was great!  Plus a greens salad with Marzetti Light Ranch dressing - so delicious, relatively low fat / calorie (for Ranch!), with no preservative, trans fat, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, or artifical flavors.  Next -best to homemade :)

Thai Basil Chicken

One of my favorites when we go out for Thai.  Came out pretty close to our favorite restaurant!
I made my own recipe based off of this one from TempleofThai and this one from Thaitable.

~1 lb chicken breast, cut into thin strips
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, sliced
peanut oil for sautéeing
4-6 tbsp soy sauce
1-3 thai chili peppers
1 cup fresh thai basil (not cut up) - be generous!

Saute garlic, shallots, and peppers in peanut oil until lightly browned.

Add chicken and cook through.  Add soy sauce and thai basil, stir until basil is wilted.  Serve over white rice.

Asparagus & Artichoke Pasta

We mixed up a great dinner with just a few random ingredients - the result of poor planning turned out to be a great and easy dinner!

1 bunch fresh asparagus
1 can artichokes, rinsed & quartered
1 medium onion, sliced
light olive oil
1/2 bag whole wheat pasta
salt and pepper
garlic powder or fresh
fresh grated parm to taste

Cook pasta as per package instructions.
Snap the ends of the asparagus off and break each spear into 3-4 pieces.  Add asparagus and onion to a med-hi saute pan containing ~2 tbsp olive oil.  Add salt and stir frequently.
Add quartered artichokes to pan once the asparagus is bright green and onions are almost cooked through.  Cook for a few minutes.
Toss pasta in with veggies, add more oil to have a light coating.
Serve with fresh grated parm cheese

Baked Eggplant Parm

A much healthier and still delicious version of the classic.

Ingredients:
1 medium - large or 2 small eggplants
Seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg, whisked
drizzle of EV Olive Oil
1/2 package pasta
pasta sauce

Rinse & cut up eggplant into large slices.
Dip each slice in the whisked egg and then coat with bread crumbs.  Place eggplant slices on greased cookie sheet.  Drizzle lightly with EV Olive Oil - this will help them brown.
Prepare pasta as per package instructions.  Heat sauce in separate pot.
Bake eggplant at 350 for approximately 45 minutes, turn up to 400 for a final 15 minutes.

Pasta with Bacon, Peas, and Goat Cheese

As I was perusing my GoogleReader for something different to make last night, I came upon Elly’s newest recipe.  I picked up the ingredients on my way home since we didn’t make it to the store on Sunday, and this turned out to be a delicious and quick weeknight meal.  The flavors of the creamy goat cheese w/the salty bacon were delish- Thanks Elly!  The only major change made was that I omitted the pine nuts and made ½ bag (8 oz) pasta.

8 oz. (1/2 bag) pasta (with some of the cooking water reserved)
4 strips bacon, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bag frozen peas
2 - 3 oz. goat cheese
freshly ground pepper and salt

Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente.

Reserve about 1/2 cup of the starchy cooking liquid and drain.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and then add the bacon.  Once cooked, remove the bacon, drain on a towel, and chop up.  Leave about 2 tsp. of bacon grease in the pan and discard the rest.

Add the garlic to the bacon fat and stir, just until fragrant.  

Add the peas and some of the cooking water (start with just a little  bit of the water; you can always add more), and then the pasta and bacon.

Once the peas have warmed through, add the goat cheese and stir until it coats the pasta, adding more pasta water if necessary.  

Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. 

Cavatelli with Broccoli & Crushed Red Pepper

This is a great quick dinner with few ingredients that you can whip together in no time!

Ingredients:
1 package frozen cavatelli pasta
1 large head broccoli or 1 pkg. frozen broccoli
~2 cloves garlic, crushed
EV olive oil
Parmesan cheese
crushed red pepper to taste

Cook cavatelli according to package instructions.
While pasta is boiling, heat oil and garlic in large saucepan and saute broccoli until cooked but still firm, stirring frequently.
When pasta & broccoli are done, mix together and add some more oil to coat.  Add Parmesan and crushed red pepper to taste (be generous w.the pepper!) and serve w/large salad.

Roasted Bone-in Chicken Breasts

Bone-in chicken breasts are underrated - they cook great and come out so juicy with crispy skin!  They are also cheaper than boneless breasts.  They are quickly and easily roasted in the toaster oven to conserve energy; you don't need to use the big oven for these guys.

Directions:

Rinse and season chicken breasts with Lawry's seasoned salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic.

Preheat the toaster oven to 375 deg F.

Bake breasts (bone side down) for approximately 45 minutes (use a thermometer to make sure you reach the proper temperature of 180 def F without overcooking)-

When you have ~5 minutes left on the chicken, wilt some fresh baby spinach-

And prepare a box of mashed potatoes (these are not bad in a pinch!):

and enjoy!!

Filet Mignon with Balasmic & Red Wine

This is one of our favorite ways to prepare filets in the winter when grilling isn't quite so appealing.

Ingredients:

Filet mignon (how many depends if you want leftovers or not)
1 red onion, sliced
mushrooms (I usually use 1/2 package), sliced
Salt and pepper
balsamic vinegar
red wine

Put a large skillet on the stove and preheat to med-high.  Add red onion first to start to soften it-

Add steaks and surround with mushrooms -

Cook for about 5 minutes and then add balsamic and red wine to cover the steaks.  I use more balsamic than wine.

Cook to desired doneness, flipping once.  We like ours medium-rare, especially with these fresh, grassfed steaks!

Serve with brussels and rice pilaf.

Grilled Sirloin Steak

Not too much in the way of directions for an amazing recipe here...just wanted to show how awesome the grassfed beef we get is!  We took advantage of a warm spell we had and uncovered the grill for this quick, delicious dinner.

The meat comes frozen and thaws best if you put it into the fridge the day before you plan to use it, rather than trying to speed up the thawing process by leaving it out.
Allow the steak to sit at room temperature for about 1/2 hour before grilling.

Make sure that hungry dog does not eat steak.

Season steak.  We really like Simply Organic's Chophouse Seasoning

Preheat the grill to medium-high.

Grill each side approximately 5-7 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak.

Slice & serve!  Leftovers make great steak sandwiches for lunch, or beef for use in beef barley soup!

Asian Chicken Stir Fry

We love asian foods & flavors.  This is going to be hard for me to blog because we just add sauces to taste, but I will do my best!

Ingredients:

1 package of asian stir-fry noodles
1 package of chicken breast, approximately 1 lb.
1/2 head chopped broccoli
2 peeled, chopped carrots
1/2 yellow onion
1 bag of frozen asian veggie mix (or more fresh if you have it!)
1 tbsp chopped garlic
~2 tbsp of asian Five-Spice Seasoning
Sesame oil for stir-frying
Kikkoman Thai Style Chili Sauce (this is so good)
Hoisin Sauce
Low Sodium Soy Sauce
House of Tsang "Hunan Smokehut Spicy Grill Sauce (this is also great stuff)

Cut up chicken breast into small (bite size or 2-bite size) pieces.

Heat up some sesame oil and vegatable oil (1/2 and 1/2) in a large skillet or wok.
Add garlic & chicken, stirring frequently to cook.  Sprinkle with the 5-Spice Seasoning.
When chicken is about 1/2 way cooked, add the onion.
Once onion has cooked for a couple minutes, add the fresh chopped vegatables.  Add a bit of soy sauce (about 5 shakes).
Cook noodles according to package instructions.  I prefer boiling to soaking since it's quicker.
Once the chicken is cooked through and the fresh veggies are softened a bit, add the frozen vegatables to the mix.
::This is the part that is at your discretion.  The Smokehut sauce and Thai Chili Sauce are the spicier ones, so if you want it to be more mild, add more of the regular Hoisin than these::
I add about 2 large tablespoons of each of the Smokehut sauce and Thai Chili Sauce, and about 1 tbsp of the Hoisin.  Add the noodles into the mix, and serve!  The noodles will soak up the sauces so serve quickly after mixing or you will just have to keep adding sauce as it will dry out!

Enjoy!  I like to serve this with a big salad; use a rice wine vinegar & oil to make it a bit asian as well :)

Semi-Homemade Pizza

Another quick & easy dinner, for which you can use whatever meat/ veggies you have!

You will need:
Pillsbury pizza crust (the thin crust is really good!)
Tomato sauce
Mozzarella cheese  (we were out of shredded mozz, so we shredded up a few string cheeses!)
Whatever toppings you like:  I love green pepper & onion, Chris prefers onion & pepperoni

Bake according to package instructions.
Serve with a big salad.  Yumm!!

Pesto Chicken

This is a quick & easy weeknight recipe.

1 pkg chicken breasts
flour for coating chicken
salt & pepper
vegetable oil for sautee-ing
1 jar prepared pesto (we used Bellino and it was very good.  We have tried Classico and it is not so good)

Rinse and then slice the chicken breasts in half if they are not already thin sliced.
Sprinkle chx with salt and pepper
Dredge the chicken in flour
(Boil water for pasta if you are serving with pasta)

Preheat the oven around 300 degrees.
Heat a bit of oil in a skillet.  Place the chicken breasts in the skillet, cook until browned and flip.
Cook until browned on the second side, and place in an oven-safe dish.
Spread some of the prepared pesto sauce on the chicken.
Place that chx in the oven, and add more oil to skillet if necessary, and cook the other half.
Once all the chx is done, spread w/pesto and put in the oven for ~5-10 minutes.
Serve with pasta, also coated in pesto sauce.

This was good, but I can't wait to have fresh homemade pesto from my garden!

(NJ) Cheesesteak Sandwiches

We purchased a box (45lbs) of local, grassfed beef from a local farmer via a friend about a month ago.  As we were making our way through our stash of ground beef, strip steaks, and roasts, we came upon packages of chipped beef on New Years Day and decided to make cheesesteaks.

The ingredients of this recipe are simple:  good quality meat, sliced super thin.  Onions, peppers, mushrooms...whatever you have and whatever you want.  We only had onions for this preparation but it would be great with peppers & mushies.

The directions are even simpler:  brown the meat on medium/low heat with a little s&p.  As it cooks, push it onto the thinly sliced onions, leaving 1/2 of your pan for red meat in need of cooking to go.  Once it is all cooked, spread around to make sure the onions are well browned & add cheese.  I use cheese sparingly because the meat tastes so good, and to avoid unnecessary calories!

Serve on large fresh roll, add ketchup!  Champagne optional ;)  Happy New Year!