Tag Archives: turkey

Spicy Apple-Glazed Meatballs & Yam Hash

Popping in again to share a healthy, fall inspired meal.

I discovered this in the May 2012 issue of Better Homes and Gardens, but thought the apple glaze would be perfect for Fall…..and it was.

: Spicy Apple-Glazed Meatballs & Yam Hash :

For the meatballs:

1 egg

1/4 c. milk

2 slices white or wheat bread, torn {I used 1/4 cup bread crumbs instead}

1 lb. 85% lean ground beef {I used a package of ground turkey}

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tbsp. vegetable oil {for frying….I baked my meatballs in the oven @ 450* for 17-20 minutes}

For the glaze:

1 cup apple juice

1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

3 tbsp. packed brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. ground ginger {I used fresh}

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

6 green onions, sliced

1. Whisk together egg and milk in a bowl. Add torn bread or bread crumbs. Let sit for a few minutes until softened. Add ground meat, garlic, black pepper, salt and cayenne. Mix thoroughly. Roll into balls ~ I got 20 meatballs, but you can go bigger or smaller, just be sure to adjust your cooking time accordingly.

2. Bake meatballs at 450* for 17-20 minutes on a foil lined baking sheet sprayed with PAM. Or you can heat the oil in a 12 inch skillet and cook the meatballs a few at a time until they are brown and crusty on the outside. Turn occasionally. About 6 minutes per batch. Remove cooked meatballs and place onto a paper towel lined plate to remove any excess oil. Wipe out skillet with a paper towel and begin to prepare the glaze.

3. For the glaze, combine apple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch, ginger and cayenne in a bowl. In the same skillet, over medium heat, cook and stir sauce until thick and bubbly {should be at a full boil}. Cook and stir about 2 minutes more. Return meatballs to skillet to glaze and heat through. Top with green onions after plating.

: Yam Hash: 

I just kind of made this up based off this recipe. I had two yams that needed to be eaten up so I just grated them with my box grater and sliced up a shallot that I had sitting around. You could also use a little onion instead. Drizzle a little olive oil in a pan and add the shallot and the grated yam/sweet potato. Saute, stirring occasionally, until soft. That’s it.

Plate the hash up with about 4-5 meatballs and don’t forget to add some Sriracha to your hash if you like heat!

Enjoy!

The Energizer Turkey

For Christmas dinner this year, we did another brined turkey on the Weber…

Jay was in charge of the bird and I handled the sides.

Cornbread & sausage stuffing, Ina Garten’s mashed potatoes with homemade gravy {thanks Unc!}, maple glazed carrots, green bean casserole, roasted butternut squash and grilled turkey topped with Trader Joe’s cranberry orange relish {omg!} ~ you MUST pick up some of this stuff next Thanksgiving if you haven’t already discovered it! {you can find all the recipes on this post}

Yesterday I made turkey salad for sandwiches for Gramma, Grunc & Jill to take on the road as they headed home.

With still so much turkey, I decided to do a turkey tetrazzini this evening ~ looks like we’ll be eating this for dinner until Twenty Twelve, literally…

I searched through several recipes and decided on this one. It had the least amount of cream, butter and cheese in it.

I made a few changes/substitutions:

Used a whole box of whole wheat spaghetti {16 ounces}

Used 4 cups chopped turkey

Used {8 ounces} of white mushrooms, coarsely chopped

Omitted the pimentos and used one whole red pepper and some leftover frozen veggies {peas, carrots, green beans and corn} I sautéed the pepper with the onions and mushrooms

I used one can of cream of mushroom soup with roasted garlic to add flavor

Doubled the amount of chicken stock {1 cup} and used {1/2 cup} Chardonnay in place of the dry sherry ~ doubled it since I used the whole package of pasta

To try to keep it on the lighter side, I DID NOT double the amounts of cheese ~ used about 1.5 cups of sharp cheddar and a little over 1/2 cup of parmesan

I added some drizzles of Sriracha to mine ~ now that’s a spicy tetrazzini!

It was actually really good and reminded me of Pioneer Woman’s chicken spaghetti.

Still looks like the kids are going to have some turkey quesadillas this week and possibly some turkey hash for breakfast.

The turkey that keeps on going, and going…….

How I Roll

I rolled my way right through Sunday.

Fifty cake balls for a friend and then a dozen asian turkey meatballs for dinner!

I’m getting better at cake balls…I have learned that, if you’re using white chocolate to coat, the best is Nestle Toll House Premier White. They seem to melt down the best and provide smoother coverage. I’ve heard that you can add a bit of Crisco to chocolate to help thin it out, too.

For these, I used Duncan Hines Spice cake mix and DH whipped cream cheese frosting and then the white chocolate and chocolate jimmies. They had a very mild gingerbread flavor ~ perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert tables.

1 box of cake mix {prepared as directed and baked in a 9X13 pan}, 3/4 {12 ounces} of one 16 ounce container prepared frosting and one whole bag of melted chocolate {or white} chips yields approximately two dozen cake balls. In my short cake ball career, I have learned that you will have a little bit of the mix leftover, but will have run out of chocolate to cover them. So yesterday I doubled the recipe and baked two cakes, used double the frosting and two bags of white chips for 50 cake balls.

Here is a cute cake pop tutorial…just skip the stick process if you’re making cake balls.

*****

And if rolling 50 cake balls wasn’t enough, I chose to make Asian Turkey Meatballs for last night’s din din ~  flavorful and healthy at the same time. The dipping sauce put them over the top! I served them with a little brown rice and some steamed broccoli.

{the recipe makes 12 meatballs}

*****

Alrighty, I’m gonna roll out and get some chores done.

Happy Monday!

P.S. My {webmaster} is conducting some upgrades/changes to Flip Flop Follies and may have made a little mistake while coding…the buttons on the sidebar aren’t linking up right now {and may not even be visible at this time}. Please bear with us until we can pinpoint the problem. Muchas gracias! XO

Recipe Box

One of my Pinterest girlies recently pinned these potatoes…

{Baked Hasselback Potatoes}

Since my Dad/Popsi is visiting from Seattle, I figured it was a good excuse to try them. We ate them alongside Ina Garten’s Turkey Meatloaf and garlicky green beans.

These taters were full of flavor in every little nook and cranny!

I also prepared one of our other family favorites ~ Chicken Marsala.

Just thought I’d go back into the recipe box and {re}share these in case you missed them the first time around. They really are good ‘ol stand-by comfort foods.

Perfect for Fall ~ coming in just about 3 days!

Hope your Monday was a happy one.

XOXO

Rewrapped

Last night {and the night before!} we had lettuce wraps.

They’re Elliott’s fave.

There was just a bit of the meat mixture and lettuce odds and ends leftover, so for lunch I fixed up a {lettuce wrap wrap} if you will…

I just took the meat and heated it with a little of the leftover rice, chopped the lettuce and added some cucumbers and cilantro. I tossed it in a little Sriracha Ranch, rolled some in into a warm flour tortilla and ate the rest as a salad.

Sure was a nice break from tuna.

If you haven’t made lettuce wraps at home, you really should try them. You don’t need to go to P.F. Chang’s to get your wrap on!

You’ll be lucky if you have any leftovers, though.

Have a happy, {wrappy} Wednesday!

Rabbit Food & Rabbit Ears

We’re on like night four of salad, protein and no carb for dinner.

I’m certain Jay is dreaming of pasta, rice, tortillas and bread.

Last night I made my favorite burgers {turkey with horseradish & cheddar cheese} and we ate them sans buns.

With salad.

{mixed greens, carrots, red pepper, sugar snap peas, cucumber, red onion, raisins, blue cheese, garbanzo beans and light ranch}.

Tonight we’re having the SAME thing.

Although, I’m adding some curried carrot soup…again, one of my faves and super easy.

Looks like I’m going to have to do some serious meal planning action.

Fortunately there is a Cooking Light subscription with my name on it making it’s way to the mailbox soon.

I need some new ideas.

Stay tuned…..more new recipes to come!

And speaking of staying tuned….we’re NOT going to be….we’ve {Jay} has decided that for the first quarter of 2011 we’re turning off Direct TV.

No Bravo.

I’m dying inside.

And then he informs me that the new TVs these days do not have antennas so you can’t even get a fuzzy showing of local channels!

A pair of old skool rabbit ears is looking pretty attractive right now.

BUT…

I think it will be good. I can’t imagine how much more I’ll/we’ll get done without our dear friend, Mr. Samsung. Last night as I was in the workout room watching RHofBH, I thought at least I may get more elliptical and treadmill time in if I HAVE to go to the gym at night to watch TV!

It’ll be interesting to see how it goes ~ it could go either way.

Who wants to invite us over to watch the Superbowl?

*****

On another note, here is a hint {a big one} of the theme of Holden’s birthday next month:

{via}

The planning is {ablaze}…..

*****

Happy Friday Floppers!

Fall Inspired Friday Night Fare

Turkey Burgers with Horseradish & Cheddar Cheese

…and…

Curried Carrot Soup

Cranberry sauce makes these burgers.

I made slider-size tonight.

Less guilt.

Please, please try these burgers.

And the soup.

You can leave out the cayenne if you don’t like a kick.

But the soup looks and tastes like there is cream involved.

No cream.

Just curried yumminess.

It felt like Fall tonight at the table with the cranberry & curry flavors.

Only 40 more days!

Eat Meatloaf!

People either like meatloaf or don’t like meatloaf.

I LOVE MEATLOAF!

I finally found one and burned all my previous meatloaf recipes.

Ina Garten knows how to do meatloaf. Here is her recipe.

Moist.(I don’t like this word, but in the meatloaf world, this is a good thing). Flavorful. Delicious.

Please don’t let the picture below be a turn off. Ina is a fan of free forming her meatloafs…..I prefer a loaf pan, but this thing would never fit in my loaf pan in a million years. But, it’s g-o-o-d and equally yummy the next day on a sandwich with a little TJ’s Wasabi Mayo!

You may want to consider cutting this recipe in half, because, um….5 pounds of ground turkey is A LOT! I used about 2.5 pounds of ground turkey in the meatloaf below:

Instead of topping with plain ketchup, I mix regular yellow mustard, ketchup & brown sugar and slather on the top before baking.

I served it along with this Sonoma Salad which is always a hit:

1 bag Butter Lettuce, Spring Mix, Baby Spinach, etc.

Half of a large Fugi apple, chopped

Bleu cheese, gorgonzola or goat cheese

Craisins, raisins or both

Candied walnuts, chopped (I like Emerald~Original)

Marie’s Poppy Seed Dressing (in the short bottle in the refrigerated section)

(Salad courtesy of Melanie Corona! Thanks, Mel!)

Lettuce Wrapz

Why is it that things seem cooler with a “z” at the end instead of an “s”?

Well, this recipe is cool on it’s own and does not in any way need a “z”, but maybe it will make ME look cooler!

I discovered this recipe in Rachael Ray Everyday Magazine under the “Take 5” section.

Teriyaki Turkey Lettuce Wraps

I am all about the ground turkey so it was an immediate contender for a quick weeknight dinner!

It. is. so. easy. and. so. good. Seriously!

I make some steamed rice and place it on the lettuce leaf and then put a scoop of the meat mixture and you’re good to go! Roll up and eat like a little lettuce taco!

The lower carb option without the rice is just as good, too!

Here is how I set it up:

wrapsbefore

And this is what it looks like all assembled:

wrapsafter

Really. You’ve got to try these. They’re almost as good as P.F. Chang’s.

Now if I could just work on their Ground Chicken & Eggplant dish, I’d be in heaven! Now THAT is some good eats!