Turkey meatloaf, smashed fingerling potatoes & a green salad with balsamic dressing

Turkey Meatloaf (adapted from a Barefoot Contessa recipe)

The recipe was for 8-10 people so I halved it accordingly for a 4 person dinner (with leftovers).

• 2 1/2 lbs. ground turkey meat
• 1 large yellow onion chopped
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/3 cup chicken stock
• 2 tsp. tomato paste
• 3/4 cup of dry bread crumbs
• 2 large eggs (beaten)
• 3/4 cup ketchup

Preheat Oven to 325 degrees F.

In a medium saute pan, over medium-low heat, cook the onions, olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme until mixture is translucent (but not browned). This should take about 10-15 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, and tomato paste and mix well. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.

Combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, eggs and onion mixture in a large bowl. Mix well with hands and shape the meat mixture into a rectangle on an ungreased sheet pan. Spread the ketchup evenly on top of the loaf. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until the internal temperature is 160 degrees F & the meatloaf is cooked through.

Ina recommends a pan of hot water to be under the loaf in the oven to prevent cracking. I took a walk on the wild side…and did not obey! There were no cracks in my loaf.

***We each had a thick slice…husband had two. There were about 5 pieces leftover. So this is an excellent dish to make on a Sunday/Monday night and eat for a few days as leftovers. ***

And for dessert…

Lemon Vanilla Cake with Blueberry Topping

-buy some of the Trader Joe’s vanilla cake mix. Follow the instructions on the bag and when you are mixing it all up add a heaping teaspoon of Lemon Extract in the mix. If you don’t have lemon extract but have a few lemons hanging around your house, finely grate some lemon peel in the batter.

After the cake has finished baking, pour a few cups of frozen blueberries in a sauce pan. Cook over medium heat for about 7 minutes. The juices will start releasing from the blueberries. I added a tablespoon of Trader Joe’s ginger jelly spread and dumped that into the mix. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes and you will see that the berries have released most of their juice. I stirred for a bit and then added a few teaspoons of cornstarch to thicken up the sauce. The longer you keep it on the heat, the thicker your sauce becomes.
Let the cake cool for a bit and then load the blueberries on top.

I think it looks nice when there’s blueberry sauce dripping down the sides. Enticing? YES!

I topped them with Double Rainbow Vanilla Bean Ice Cream from TJs. It was delish!

And then when you have leftovers….pour yourself some coffee or tea the next morning and have yourself a slice. It will start your day off right!

And then weep…because Kit is no longer on Project Runway…..sigh.

Today’s Lunch:

Turkey Pesto Sandwich with Parmesan Cheese

Take your leftover pesto:

Spread a LOT of it on two pieces of sourdough toast:

Top each slice with a little bit of parmesan cheese:

Roll up some slices of turkey and put that on top:

Place one slice on top of the other slice:

Cut in half (or not) and EAT:

Whenever I make pesto, I always try to make a huge batch. Because there’s nothing more disappointing than eating pasta that doesn’t have enough sauce on it!

If you don’t have a food processor, a blender works fine. If you don’t have either- hope your knife skills are excellent!

Ingredients were all from Trader Joes:

• 2 containers fresh basil
• 2-3 cloves fresh peeled garlic
• 1 lemon squeezed
• a dash of cayenne pepper
• 1 large handful of pine nuts
• 4 heaping tablespoons of parmesan cheese
• fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 cup of olive oil

Chop up a few cloves of garlic (I used 3 for this batch)

Now add the basil. Make sure to leave off the stems. You can see I left one on! Woops!

Make sure to scrap down the sides…

Now, start adding your olive oil.

I added a little over 1/4 cup of the oil to get the consistency I wanted.

I tossed in a handful of pine nuts (they’re even better when toasted)

I added 1 fresh squeezed lemon to the mix (prevents discoloration)

A dash of cayenne pepper for spice.

Some fresh ground pepper to even out the flavor….

Now put about 4 heaping tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. (Skip this part if you’re vegan)

The cheese is in place of salt.  It adds a LOT of flavor. Mix that all up!

Now we have some pesto!

When I made dinner the other night, I added some of the pesto to my shrimp (with red pepper & olive oil) to make jazz them up before grilling:

I put those on skewers (4 to a skewer-except 1 had 5!)

I grilled them on high heat for about 2-3 minutes per side!

I think this weekend I’m going to have a slice of bread toast with pesto on it. Stay tuned.

Pesto Recipe/Garlic Bread Recipe/Grilled Pesto Shrimp Recipe… to follow.

Everything from Trader Joe’s!

Favorite Trader Joe’s Item #30: Couscous

Cook couscous according to directions.

I doubled the recipe so that we could have leftovers for the next few days.

Let’s begin with the recipe……

Chop 1 red onion:

Drain & rinse 1 can of garbanzo beans:

Chop up some little tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes (half of the TJ’s jar), two handfuls of basil, 2 lemons & 1 jar of marinated artichokes:

Open 1 package of crumbled feta:

Mix those ingredients with the Cous-Cous.

Make sure to add some Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.

Squeeze the lemons on top & mix. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Serve in a bowl:

Dig in with a fork or spoon:

It’s pretty good with grilled sausage on top:

Now you have a tasty meal & a few leftovers to last you a few days. The end.

Favorite Trader Joe’s Concoction: Creamy Mushroom Soup

Ever have one of those nights where you come home from the grocery store with SOOO many potential dinner options and you can’t think of what you REALLY want to make/eat?  And then all of a sudden you make something that you had no intention of making when you bought your groceries?  That’s what happened Tuesday night.

I bought mushrooms on Tuesday.  I LOVE mushrooms.  Husband-not so much.  But he’s been eating mushrooms in stuff lately….so I figured I should go full force and make some mushroom soup.  Baptism by fire anyone?

Over the summer I read Ruth Reichl’s Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table (fabulous book btw).  I whipped out her recipe for mushroom soup from the book because it sounded so damn good….This makes about 4 bowls worth.  Maybe less… I lost count because I was in a mushroom soup coma.

Here are the ’shrooms I used along with the whipping cream (don’t be a hater!) and Beef Broth Concentrate from Trader Joe’s (totally easy/excellent!)

   

Here’s your ingredients:

• 10 oz. sliced mushrooms (I used crimini for this soup)
• 1/2 stick butter (you can cut that in half if you are feeling chubby)
• 1 small onion diced
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup of beef broth (I used 1 packet of the TJ’s condensed beef broth mixed with 1 cup water)
• 2 cups half & half  (I used 1 3/4 cup whole milk mixed with 1/4 cup whipping cream)
• Salt & Pepper to taste (I added a lot)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Trader Joe’s Black Truffle Oil (when in Rome-right?)

Melt butter over medium heat in a heavy saucepan. When foam subsides, add onion and sauté until golden. Add mushrooms and sauté those babies until brown.

Here’s me sautéing some mushrooms.  They’re not brown enough yet:

Stir in flour to coat the mushrooms. Then slowly stir in broth.  Heat half and half/milk on the stove or in the microwave and slowly add to pot. Add the nutmeg & bay leaf.  Stir thoroughly to ensure that everything is incorporated. Simmer on low for ten minutes (do not boil). Add salt & pepper to taste.

I was thinking a little red wine or brandy would be good mixed in.  I’ll have to try that next time!

Pour into your bowl & top the soup with little splashes of the Black Truffle Oil and more Salt & Pepper.

Put a spoon in and moan.  You will.  I promise.

The only thing that I didn’t like about this soup was that there were no leftovers!

Favorite Trader Joe’s Item #27: Chicken Gyoza Potstickers:

(they come in an all veggie kind too)

I like to keep these in the freezer. On nights when I’m feeling super lazy and the husband needs to be fed, I can easily whip something out to the table.

I like the pan fry them & serve them with a dipping sauce.

Sunday night I was feeling really anti-social and didn’t want to face crowds of people in the supermarket. So, I looked in the fridge and found some ingredients to make us some soup.

By the way…another main contributor to this soup is Trader Joe’s Shredded Carrots:

I like to use these when I make my Vietnamese chicken salad- but that’s a whole other post…..

I digress… Here’s your ingredient list:

• Chicken Gyoza Potstickers (the more the merrier, I think)
• 2 large handfuls of Shredded Carrots
• 4 green onions chopped (both white & green parts)
• 2 big splashes of Soy Sauce
• 1 32oz container of chicken stock or veggie stock
• a few pieces of sliced ginger

Pour entire container of chicken stock in soup pot.  Add half of the green onions & all of the sliced ginger.  The more ginger, the spicier it is.  I used about two thin slices for the entire pot.  Let that simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add the carrots, soy sauce, and the pot stickers to the soup.  Bring the soup to a slow boil (10 minutes).

Finish off the soup with the rest of your Green Onions….Add some pepper & more soy sauce if you need some more kick…..

Tada!   This recipe makes about 4-5 servings

I think bits of fresh Baby Spinach would go well in this soup too!  If only I had that the other night…  Next time!