Pancetta Turkey Meatloaf

When I was a kid, I loved meatloaf.  It was one of the very few things my mom could get me to eat.  Somewhere between childhood and young adult hood my taste buds developed an aversion to meatloaf.  I couldn't stand it anymore.  I am still not a fan of your typical meatloaf, but this meatloaf, from Giada De Laurentiis, is not your typical meatloaf.  It is utterly delicious and even better, dare I say heavenly, in between two slices of bread slathered with mayo the next day. 

Pancetta Turkey Meatloaf - recipe adapted from Giadia De Laurentiis

Ingredients:
1 pound extra lean ground turkey
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp whole milk
1/2 cup shredded Kraft blend Parmesan, Romano and Asiago cheese
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp black pepper
8 slices pancetta

Directions:
1.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Arrange pancetta slices, in a overlapping rectangular fashion on top of the parchment and set aside.
2.  Add ground turkey, bread crumbs, eggs, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, milk, cheese, salt and pepper into a large bowl.  Mix together with your hands and transfer to the middle of your pancetta arrangement on your baking dish. 
3.  Pat the mixture into a loaf shape and wrap it up with the parchement. 
4.  Bake at 375F for 45 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 165F.
5.  Allow to cool, slice and enjoy!  (Remember to save some for a sandwich the next day!)

Almost Stroganoff

A couple of weeks ago, the weather forcast called for lots of snow and ice.  I am a big wimp when it comes to winter weather.  I would prefer to act like a bear and hibernate the winter away but unfortunately my job won't let me take off for three whole months in order to do this.  Trust me, I asked.  The very worst part of winter is the part where I have to get inside my car and drive 25 miles to my work through all the ice and snow.  As luck would have it, my parent's live only blocks away from my work so when I hear the weather guy forcast for snow, ice, wintery mix, what have you, I immediately begin to pack my overnight bag, abandon my husband and doggie's and run to my Mommy! 

This last storm, I stayed at my parent's house for two whole days and on one of those night's we made a new dish.  It was our version of an old recipe my Mom had for Beef Stroganoff.  We didn't have things like mushrooms, and we were not going to go out in the crappy weather to purchase something I don't even care for in the first place.  I just can't get past the fact that they are a fungus.  Fungus is a gross word, therefore mushrooms are gross.  It is completely logical to me. 

Almost Stroganoff

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey, or ground beef
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
salt & pepper, to taste
10 oz Egg Noddles
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
Chicken Broth, enough to thin out sauce (about 1/3 cup)
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup shredded italian blend cheese
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:
1.  Boil noodles according to package directions.
2.  Add olive oil and garlic to a medium sized skillet.  Cook until golden.  Add ground turkey, salt & pepper.  After turkey is browned, add soup and oregano.  Allow to simmer, adding broth until the sauce is your desired consistency.  Add cheese and sour cream, salt & pepper to taste.  Simmer until heated through. Serve on top of egg noodles.

Lily's hairdo. Justin Beiber watch out!

Dinner on the Fly

In everyone's life, tragedy strikes.  Our past week has been a life unexpected.  My father in law just spent 8 days in the hospital, 4 of those in the ICU.  The diagnosis is still unknown, but we are hopeful that the Mayo Clinic, our next stop, will provide us with some answers.

Since we have spent most of our days at the hospital, a forty minute drive from our house, our food choices have been the quick and easy kind, namely from some random fast food joint. Unfortunately, as you can also well imagine, our food choices this week were not the most healthy for us either. 

I really wanted to stick to my life goal of experimenting with a new recipe every week, no matter what, so my challenge was to find a very quick and easy meal.  I also wanted to make something of a more healthy fare, since we have been so terribly unhealthy for the majority of this past week.  Thank goodness I had come across this recipe a few weeks ago, printed it off, and had it shoved into my very cluttered and unorgainized binder, which is mostly made up of loose leaf recipes that always end up all over my floor at some point when I pull it out. (Side note: must remember to purchase a hole puncher one of these days for the tiny kitchen elves have not magically done it all for me in the six years that I have had this binder, and so I must come to the conclusion that kitchen elves really must not exist or just get tons of jolly good entertainment from seeing me repeatedly dump the entire contents of it all over the floor.)

Hearty Turkey & Rice from Taste of Home

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups instant brown rice

1 pound extra-lean ground turkey

1/2 medium onion, chopped (not a big fan of onion so went easy on it)

1-1/2 cups salsa
1 can (8 ounces) no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 teaspoon reduced-sodium chicken bouillon granules
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
Sea Salt, to taste
*Chopped tomatoes, baked tortilla chip scoops and sliced olives, optional

Directions:
1.  Cook rice according to the package directions.
2.  Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook turkey and onion over medium heat until turkey is no longer pink. Add the salsa, tomato sauce, bouillon and sea salt; heat through.  

 I served this dish with some shredded fiesta blend cheese, a dollop of sour cream and some tortilla chips for scooping.  Both of us enjoyed this dish!  It was so completely easy to make.  It is almost too easy, really.  It was a very light on the stomach, deeply satisfying and we had lots of leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I will definitely make this dish again, especially on those nights when I just don't have a heck of a lot of time to make make anything too labor intensive.