Recipe: Mom’s “Poor Man’s” Sloppy Joes

Some times you just want something simple to eat, whether it’d be for lunch or dinner. I grew up with my mom making this simple dish for lunch on the weekends when we wanted something more than simple sandwiches. So she would make what she called a “Poor Man’s” sloppy joe.

Easy mid-week meal: Sloppy joes on whole wheat bread with SteamFresh green beans and potatoes

We never had the pre-made sloppy joe stuff in the can. We just made our own:

Mom’s “Poor Man’s” Sloppy Joes

1 pound ground turkey
Dried chopped onions
Ketchup
BBQ sauce

1. Brown the ground turkey with chopped onions (a couple of shakes’ worth)
2. To taste, add ketchup and BBQ sauce (with a couple tablespoons of water). I like my sloppy joe to have a little bit of a tang from the BBQ sauce, so I’ll have a little more of that than the ketchup. I’ve never measured out how much of each I use, but be sure to have some water so the mixture can simmer some.
3. Allow the mixture to simmer for a few minutes. Serve on a slice of whole wheat bread.

I’ve used the leftovers on top of a salad mix after a run and it tasted awesome.

Crockpot Enchilada Casserole Love

Sunday night I did a little bit of weekly food preparation of my own, but mostly for Monday night’s dinner. I was inspired by Lindsay’s Crockpot Enchilada Casserole and decided this would be a great vegetarian meal for M and I to have.

I’ve done the Stacked Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas, but this seemed so much easier (probably because I didn’t have to wait for the roasting time). This was basically chopped up the veggies, throw them (in layers) in the Crockpot and go.

The casserole is so colorful in the CrockPot!

Here are the substitutions I made:

Black Beans –> Lentils
Enchilada sauce –> Chunky Salsa
Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Cumin –> Cumin, Black Pepper, Diced Onion

I chopped up a red bell pepper and sweet potato and combined that with frozen corn and fresh spinach. So my layers were: whole wheat tortilla strips, spinach, veggies, spices, salsa, cheese, repeat two more times (except leave off the cheese until closer to the end).

I served mine with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt.

This was delicious, and like I said, so easy!

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• Lentil, Veggie & Sweet Potato Soup (blogburgh.wordpress.com)
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Recipe: Greek Yogurt Devil’s Food Cake

I hope you had a happy Easter! My Easter was pretty laid back–M came home from work about 8 am and slept. I tried to sleep in, but couldn’t, so I had a relaxed morning with the pups before heading out to run a quick errand for dinner. I also met Nicole to walk our dogs and shake out our legs after our half marathon on Saturday.

I missed my family’s Easter brunch. They usually do the same brunch as what we have for Christmas brunch: ham, scrambled eggs, mom’s sticky roll, fruit, etc. So because I’ve been missing my family gathering, I decided to have some friends over for Easter brunch, only for dinner. I decided to do a small ham, with mandarin orange fluff, and Merinda brought scalloped potatoes. Not the most balanced, but not bad for the first “friends’ Easter.” I also made a devil’s food cake to celebrate Easter, the end of my chocolate sabbatical, and an early birthday cake for M. It was a simple, healthy recipe that I’d love to share with you:

Greek Yogurt Devil’s Food Cake

1 box Devil’s Food cake mix
1 6 ox container of Greek yogurt (plain or vanilla)
1 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 325*F and prepare baking dish (I used a small rectangle glass dish).
2. Combine the three ingredients until thoroughly mixed. Pour into baking dish.
3. Bake according to instructions on the mix box, until a toothpick comes out clean. (I baked my cake for 25 minutes.)

I forgot to take a photo of the cake before we ate half of it. Also, note to self: chocolate cake looks better on a colored plate.

I wanted to keep this low in sugar/calories/etc., so I didn’t buy any frosting, but I did buy Peeps to decorate the cake. I had this idea that the Peeps would set into the cake and I could dust it with powdered sugar. Well, we ended up not having any powdered sugar, and the Peeps didn’t sink into the cake. So I sprinkled some yellow sugar crystals for a little more decoration.

The cake was delicious–almost like a cake-like brownie. Everyone liked it, so that was a plus.

Oh yeah, and M and I gave each other Easter baskets–it’s a tradition I started with him a year or so ago. I try to make it not all about the candy, but he is always about the candy. However, this year we both got each other Cincinnati Reds shirts. (We’re going to Opening Day in Cincy.)

Here is a sample of our goodies:

M’s basket included some protein bars, sunflower seeds, Reese Eggs, and some back pain patches for work. My basket included Starburst jelly beans, Reese Eggs, Cadbury Creme Eggs, and Peeps.

Making My Own Granola

Lately I’ve been really into trying new recipes, but more recently I’ve been trying to find some healthier snack foods I can make myself for M and I to enjoy without extra additives and to make them our own.

Enter Nicole and her granola recipes. I’m always a fan of granola, and after the big, late lunch M and I had Sunday, I knew we weren’t going to have a very big dinner. All I wanted was a bowl of Greek yogurt and granola. So I looked up Nicole’s granola recipes and was inspired by her Peanut Butter Coconut Cherry Granola, but made a few changes (due to some missing ingredients):

Peanutty Granola

1 cup old fashioned oats
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp maple syrup
Honey (to taste)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Dash of cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350* F. Prepare a baking sheet with foil sprayed with canola oil.
2. Combine peanut butter and maple syrup in a small, microwave safe dish, and warm in the microwave until the peanut butter is softened and easier to combine.
3. Once warmed, combine the peanut butter mixture with the oats, peanuts, honey, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Add a dash of cinnamon to taste.
4. Spread out the mixture on the prepared cookie sheet and bake for about 15-18 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir the mixture and add your cranberries, bake for 5 more minutes.
5. Enjoy and store in air-tight container.

Toasted goodness!

I enjoyed my homemade granola in a bowl of banana cream Oikos Greek Yogurt and a sliced banana for my dinner. It might not sound like much of a dinner, but it was exactly what I needed and was perfect.

Banana Yogurt Bowl with banana cream Oikos Greek Yogurt, sliced banana, and Peanutty Granola

I’m looking to try some different variations of this recipe–especially with coconut like Nicole likes to use!

What’s your favorite granola recipe?

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Parents Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend was a pretty relaxing, which is pretty good because I needed it with how crazy this month is going to be. My parents came into town Friday, and M started working second shift that same day, so it was a little weird at first. I had some already baked, semi-mashed sweet potatoes in the refrigerator that needed to be used up, and since it was Lent, I decided to try my hand at making a curry sweet potato soup.

I found the Roasted, Curried Sweet Potato Soup recipe on Pinterest and had to go buy curry powder for the recipe, but that wasn’t a big deal. I didn’t include the yellow onion (just some chopped, dried onion). And, since I had already baked the potatoes, so there was no need to roast them (but it’d be interesting to try this recipe with them actually roasted with the coconut oil). I served the soup with a very veggie salad mix and whole wheat biscuits to my parents. They liked the soup, as did I, except we all agreed there was too much curry powder in the recipe and it wasn’t very sweet. I didn’t want it to be very sweet, but this had way too much curry powder. Next time–less curry, roast the potatoes, and maybe add a little bit of brown sugar.

That night I decided to make sweet potato bread quick bread with the remaining sweet potatoes for us to have for breakfast all this weekend. I was excited that I had all of the ingredients listed, so I dove right into the recipe. This was a great success! When I came home from my 13-mile run Saturday morning, this was a great breakfast, along with some chai latte. Sooo yummy! I am totally going to make this recipe again (recipe to come later this week).

Sweet Potato Success–Roasted, Curried Sweet Potato Soup and Sweet Potato Quick Bread

The rest of the day, Saturday, was spent enjoying a big lunch with M and my parents, followed by camping out on the couch while my parents read and I dozed–exhausted and starting to have sore legs from my run. We splurged and ordered a pizza for dinner and watched Sherlock Holmes (with Robert Downey, Jr., and Jude Law) on television–so good!

Sunday, after polishing off the sweet potato bread along with some scrambled eggs with sautéed spinach, low-fat shredded cheese, and some turkey), mom and I set about to check out Kentucky Crafted: The Market, to see if it was a show she should try to get a booth in for her shop. It was a fun outing with her, checking out different artisans and some of the unique foods (apple salsa and pineapple chutney?? So good!) while it snowed outside. Then we met M and my dad for dinner at a barbecue joint before they hit the road back up to Indiana.

After the parents left and M headed off to work, I decided to add some layers and hit up my new friend, and fellow blogger, Nicole to meet up for a dog walk around the University of Kentucky’s Arboretum. We’ve chatted online and text for a while, and we’re both training for the Run the Bluegrass, we just haven’t gotten a chance to meet up. Luckily she and her vivacious Goldendoodle, Bentley, were up for a cold walk. Nicole writes over at Fruit N Fitness about her half marathon training (this will be her first race ever–brave girl!), and healthy eating while still studying for her graduate degree. (Plus she’s a horse girl, too–can’t beat that!)

The walk was a brisk one, but we got in 2.4 miles (perfect to stretch out our legs from our long runs the day before) and we got to know each other a little better. Thanks for meeting up with me, Nicole!

After the walk and a little cleaning, I tackled some food prep for the week, part of the HealthysELF challenge for the weekend. Unfortunately I didn’t get to do much prep, because I had an interview for a story I forgot about, but I was able to get a double batch of the Chunky Turkey Veggie Soup prepared and a few hardboiled eggs made for dinner and snacks this week. It’ll be interesting to see what I do while I have most nights to myself–I’ll still need to make dinner, so I can continue to eat healthy and make M dinner to take to work with him the next day. So while I figure it out, I’ll have to do more food prep later.

My extent of weekend food prep: double batch of Chunky Turkey Veggie Soup and hardboiled eggs. I’m going to do better next time, I promise!

Now it’s time to tackle yet another week!

Leftover Spaghetti Squash? Make Mac n’ Cheese!

After cooking my first spaghetti squash on Valentine’s Day, I still had some leftover that I knew needed to be eaten quickly. Luckily, I have a few different spaghetti squash recipes pinned on Pinterest, so I just dove into my boards and found one that resembled macaroni and cheese (my all time favorite).

I just so happened to have everything already (give or take), so it was a no-brainer that I should try this. I was pairing it up with grilled chicken breasts (55* in February at night? Hello, grill!) and some steamed veggies.

Spaghetti Squash Mac n’ Cheese

1/2 tbsp flour (I used whole wheat)
1/4 cup milk (I used non-fat)
1/4 cup blended shredded cheese (Colby Jack for me)
1 1/2 cups spaghetti squash, cooked
1 slice green bell pepper, diced
1 tbsp frozen peas
Salt & Pepper to taste
A pinch (or 2) shredded parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350* F. Prepare a small square casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a saucepan, combine the flour with some salt and pepper, and slowly whisk in the milk over medium heat, until smooth. (This part was frustrating to me, so if you can’t tell if it’s smooth, that’s alright, just move onto the next step.)
3. Stir in the cheese and mix until the sauce is thick and cheese is melted (I ended up adding a little more cheese to this, so just do to your tastes). Remove from heat. Poor over the spaghetti squash in a small bowl and combine the two until the “noodles” are covered in cheese sauce.
4. At this point, I added about a teaspoon of diced green pepper to the mixture for extra flavor. Then pour the mixture into the casserole dish. Top with the remaining green pepper and frozen peas (next time I’m going to mix in some peas as well). Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top.
5. Bake for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the squash is heated through.
6. Enjoy!

The original author said for the entire dish (not just one serving), the stats were: 220 calories, 9 g fat, 20 g carbs, 17 g protein.

Cheesy, yummy goodness!

M loved it and so did I! Next time I will add more peas to the mix (in addition to the topping) to get some more veggies in.

 

Recipe: Oatmeal Raisin Banana Cookies

Do you ever just get this hankerin’ to do something? Lately, I’ve been itchin’ to bake. I love baking. But, the problem is I love eating what I bake, which then leads to overeating and then me feeling gluttonous and bad about myself…. You get the picture. So I’ve been on the hunt for healthy cookie recipes that can satisfy my baking urge and that sweet craving, without too much sweetness (no sugar added!).

Thanks to Pinterest I found a couple new recipes, and I had the opportunity to try them for some friends when they invited us over for dinner Sunday night. I’ll share the second recipe in a separate post later this week.

This first recipe was just a photo with the ingredients, no link to a site or anything. So I looked at the ingredients and just went with it for what I had. Since I wanted to make two different recipes that called for bananas, and I only had 3 bananas left, I divided them in half, but here’s the whole recipe:

Oatmeal Raisin Banana Cookies

3 mashed (ripe) bananas
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups oats
1/2 cup raisons (I might try dried cranberries next time for something different)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon (though I added a few shakes more to the batter)

1. Preheat oven to 350. 
2. Mash the bananas to a puree, then add the applesauce, oats, vanilla and cinnamon. When the batter is all combined, add your raisons.
3. Place spoonfuls of the batter onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
4. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the pan for about 5 minutes.

The original recipe also called for 1/4 cup of almond milk. While I had set aside some skim milk (no almond milk in the house), I forgot to use it. The batter was pretty wet without the milk, so I don’t know how that would change the texture/flavor of the cookies. Next time I might try them with the milk, but I didn’t notice anything missing–they’re still pretty darn good! I might add some more spices to the recipe next time, too (like nutmeg or all spice).

Give these a try and let me know what you think!

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Recipe: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for a while, so finally, here it is:

One night we invited friends over for an impromptu dinner. Usually these dinners involve each party bringing something for the dinner/desert. No one said anything about desert, and I had a bit of a sweet craving, so I was trying to find something that I could make quickly and not a lot. I grabbed my bag of dark chocolate M&M’s and found a recipe for dark chocolate brownies on the back. I decided to switch it up some and make my own, and they were a big hit.

Combine the gooey-ness of the warm peanut butter with the melted dark chocolate chips & you’ve got heaven in a bite!

(I halved the original recipe because I didn’t want to make a whole batch, plus I was doing brownie bites, not brownie bars. You can double this to make more if you’d like.)

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/6 of a cup of butter, cut into pieces
1 tbsp water
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/8 cup whole wheat flour
Nut butter (I used peanut butter)
Extra dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325. Grease muffin tin with baking butter spray.
2. Heat the dark chocolate chips, sugar, butter, and water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring consistently, until the chocolate and butter are melted. Pour into medium bowl.
3. Stir in the egg with a wire whisk until blended, then add vanilla. Add flour and salt and stir well. Add in a couple more dark chocolate chips (and nuts, if you’d like).
4. Fill the muffin cups with 1 spoonful of the mixture first. Then add a dollop of nut butter in the middle and cover with more brownie mix.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

The mixture of the melty chips and gooey peanut butter is amazing!

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Yummy Eats — New Recipes I’ve Tried Lately

Recently I’ve been trying some new recipes for M and I to try that are healthy and delicious. It’s been fun!

Friday morning I tried Tina’s French Toast Scramble. At first I was skeptical about the taste…I mean, egg whites and a banana? But, no…really, this was so yummy! I used 2 egg whites, a banana, honey, cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, and then a scoop of peanut butter in a mug as I ate this with a glass of nonfat milk. I didn’t expect it to hold me over, but I was surprised that I wasn’t hungry until it was time for my mid-morning snack of an apple. This is definitely now in my breakfast rotation!

Saturday our friends made a Guinea peanut sauce with butternut squash recipe from Allrecipe.com. It was pretty yummy, but needed just a little more kick to it. Perhaps a little more pepper? More garlic? Not sure, but that might be a task for the future… (A great recipe for my vegetarian friends!)

Monday I told you about M’s healthy banana cookies… I’m excited to try some more healthy cookie recipes now.

Sunday I tried Anne’s chunky turkey vegetable soup. I had been wanting to give this a try, and we had veggies to use up in the fridge. This was one of the most delicious vegetable soup recipes I’ve ever had, and it was so easy! I diced up a green bell pepper, 2 (or 3, I can’t remember) celery stalks and a couple big handfuls of baby carrots and combined those with a can of diced tomatoes (low sodium), browned ground turkey, and brown rice. It was very hearty and full of flavor (check out her post with the list of spices). (I didn’t have any kale, but I have thought about adding some spinach to this recipe some other time.) We decided next time I need to double the recipe for leftovers, and that this was definitely a keeper in the dinner rotation.

This chunky turkey vegetarian soup is so colorful, which means it’s nutritious on top of delicious!

So there you have it, just a handful of the new recipes I encourage you to try. One of my goals is to try some new things with cooking, and so far we’re on a good roll!

Do you have any new recipes to share?

OMG My Husband Baked: Healthy Banana Cookies

Over the weekend my husband and a friend decided they were going to create a healthy meal for me and another friend. Apparently John has been bitten by the health bug after a doctor visit, so I’m hoping he’ll infect M. (Hey, if I can’t do it, maybe he can!)

So John was in charge of the main meal and M the desert. I found M flipping through AllRecipes.com for healthy cookie recipes and he happened upon a banana cookie recipe. He read over the ingredients to me, and when he mentioned the 1/3 cup vegetable oil, I was pretty surprised that this “healthy” recipe called for so much oil. I recommended he give unsweetened applesauce a try (which we already had) and we made a few changes to make the recipe our own.

This is a sight you don’t see everyday in my kitchen…sexy!

If you see the original recipe, it called for pitted dates–I don’t have much experience with dates, but we decided to do without them. M went off to the grocery to buy the ingredients he wanted for the cookies, then set about creating his new, healthy, masterpiece.

M’s Healthy Banana Cookies

5 ripened bananas
2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 small packed slivered almonds
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
Cinnamon to taste

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.) In a large bowl, mash the bananas (tip: squish them up while still in the peel, then unpeel and squish into the bowl), and combine all the ingredients. Let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes or so.
3.) Use a tablespoon and drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet (the mixture does not spread, so you can place them close together to fit more if you’d like).
4.) Bake 15-20 minutes, until the bottoms are golden brown.

Letting the mixture sit, complete with dark chocolate chips–yum!

The texture is chewy, with the right amount of melty dark chocolate goodness (the chocolate chips were a last minute addition, as I had a little bit left in a bag). Next time we’ll probably try walnuts instead of almonds, and maybe cranberries or even give the dates a try.

The aren’t the prettiest cookies, but they smell good and taste yummy.

I’m excited to see what he’ll come up with next…I like the domestic side of him!

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