My Miracles

This is an easy weeknight dinner that came from the Taste of Home Simple and Delicious Cookbook. I first made it probably a month ago and it is already a favorite! I haven't adapted it too much yet except some of the methods, not many of the ingredients yet (but I'm sure that's coming). It's just too yummy to not share though! Very family friendly!
This tastes a little like a homemade (MUCH healthier) version of hamburger helper. I love this because it has that yummy, comfort food taste and feel but with the addition of fresh ingredients and vegetables!
You'll find that I use a lot of ground turkey, because I can not eat beef. I will write my recipes with ground turkey but note when the recipe called for ground beef. This is one of those cases. Most of the time this substitution works out absolutely fine and is almost not even noticeable. Sometimes I add extra seasoning because I am using ground turkey because it is not as naturally flavorful as beef is but I don't think that is necessary in this case.

Enjoy!

Nacho Mac and Cheese

3 Cups of Gemelli or Spiral Pasta (any pasta is really fine, I used elbows last time)
1 Pound Ground turkey (recipe called for beef)
2 Cups sweet red peppers (this is about 1 and a half)
1/4 Cup butter, cubed
1/4 Cup all purpose flour
1 envelope taco seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
2 1/4 Cups milk
2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Cup Frozen Corn
1 Cup coarsely crushed tortilla chips

Cook pasta, drain and set aside.

Cook ground turkey and red peppers until meat is no longer pink; drain.

Add butter and once melted, stir in flour, taco seasoning and pepper until blended.

Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes until thickened. Lower heat. Stir in cheese and corn until cheese is melted.

Add pasta and stir to coat. Top each serving with crushed chips.

This is a recipe that I have adapted from Ladies Home Journal that takes about a half hour to make, it's a great meal to prep in advance (cut the onion and zucchini) and throw together in 20 minutes! Chickpeas are a great source of vegetarian protein and are a good food for lowering cholesterol. They're also a good source of zinc, folate, and magnesium! Add in peas and zucchini and this is a really great weekday dinner. Anna loves it too! The recipe calls for vegetable broth, which would make it truly vegetarian, but I often don't have any on hand so I use chicken broth and it comes out just as good!

Curry Chickpea Couscous

1/2 medium red onion, chopped
2 small zucchini, diced
1.5 to 2 Tablespoon Curry Powder (depending on your preference, we like a bit more flavor, you might like a subtler flavor)
1/2 Cup Frozen Peas
16 oz Can of Chickpeas, drained
3 Cups Vegetable or chicken broth
1.5 Cups plain Couscous (this is one regular size Near East box)

Saute onions and zucchini in olive oil until soft, salt to taste. Add remaining ingredients except couscous and bring to a boil. Stir in couscous, cover and remove from heat. Let sit for 5 minutes. Enjoy!!

Not a gourmet cook by any means but I love to cook!! There is a huge difference between what I make and what you will get in a restaurant but I like to think I am a good cook. I aim to cook my family fairly healthy foods that taste good and we eat a pretty wide variety of things.

Having said all of that, my blog is changing. I will likely still say things about Anna (I can't help it!) but I am going to devote my blog to what has become my favorite hobby: home cooking. In the next few days I hope to change the look of the blog to reflect that and I'll post a few recipes to get started. After that I'll post new recipes or ideas as they inspire me (which is fairly frequently, I try to try at least one new recipe every 2 week grocery shopping cycle). I'll also share my favorite meal planning ideas and cheap meals as I think of them! Keep watching and eat well!!