Some of my favorite moments in life include having friends over enjoying something that I have cooked. Saturday was one of those moments. I made these meatballs as a result of just having all the ingredients in the house. Everyone really enjoyed them and I promised that the recipe would be in the blog within the next few days. When the gathering was over and we were cleaning up, I said to Dean, “Oh, look at that very lonely meatball.” Dean took a quick snap of the one meatball left. The picture isn’t very pretty but it definitely shows the happiness I felt that they were almost gone (because we all know that no-one wants to take the last one).
I hope you try these for your friends and they enjoy them as much as we did.
Enjoy…
Asian Style Cocktail Meatballs
Preheat oven 375o
Serves 8
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 200 Fat: 2 grams
Asian Style Cocktail Meatballs
Ingredients:
Sauce:
1 ½ cups Chili Sauce
¾ cup apricot or apple jelly
1 tablespoon Asian chili/garlic sauce
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Meatballs:
½ pound ground turkey breast
½ pound ground sirloin
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Asian chili/garlic sauce
½ cup egg substitute
¾ cup plain bread crumbs
Directions:
In a medium sauce pot, combine all sauce ingredients and heat on low until the jelly is melted and the sauce is warmed.
Make the meatballs: In a large mixing bowl, combine ground meats, ginger, soy sauce, chili/garlic sauce, egg substitute and bread crumbs. Mix all the ingredients well with your hands.
Coat a large baking pan with cooking spray. Roll meatballs into small balls and add to the baking pan.
Bake 20 – 25 minutes until meatballs are cooked and browned.
Add meatballs to a serving platter and pour sauce on top. Gently stir so that all the meatballs are coated with sauce and serve.
Hey Everyone! It has been one of those weeks and although I have been making dinner every night, I just have not had the chance to do any filming. I will get a few videos done this weekend and we will get back on track.
In the mean time, we are going to a friends house this weekend to watch football for a game day. With that theme in mind we are all cooking some kind of Game. We will have venison, wild turkey, doves and probably a few other surprises. It should be fun!
Now you may not have access to any Game for game day so I am re-posting this classic from 2011. I do not have a video for it but if you are going to a party this weekend and bringing something, this one is a winner!
Enjoy!!!
Roasted Red Pepper and Cheese Stuffed Bread
Preheat oven 400o
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 20 – 25 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 240 Fat: 7 grams
Ingredients:
½ cup fat free ricotta cheese
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup grated low fat mozzarella cheese
½ teaspoon granulated onion powder
½ teaspoon granulated garlic powder
½ teaspoon dried basil
1 package refrigerated thin crust pizza dough
1 jar (12.3 ounces) roasted red peppers
Directions:
Coat a baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
In a small bowl mix together ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, onion, powder, garlic powder and basil.
Rinse and dry roasted peppers with paper towels.
Roll out pizza dough and place half of the peppers in the middle of the pizza dough making sure you leave about a 1” border on the edges.
Spoon cheese mixture on top of the peppers and spread over the peppers. Top with the remaining peppers.
Roll pizza dough once toward the middle then fold both sides toward the middle. Roll the remaining dough until you have one large roll. Place the dough, seam side down onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, let stand for at least 5 minutes. Slice and serve.
Ham & Cheese Stuffed Bread
Preheat oven 400o
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 20 -25 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 260 Fat: 8 grams
Ingredients:
½ cup fat free ricotta cheese
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup grated low fat mozzarella cheese
½ teaspoon granulated onion powder
½ teaspoon granulated garlic powder
½ teaspoon dried basil
1 package refrigerated thin crust pizza dough
6 slices Italian deli meat ham
Directions:
Coat a baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
In a small bowl mix together ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, onion, powder, garlic powder and basil.
Roll out pizza dough and place 3 slices of ham in the middle of the pizza dough making sure you leave about a 1” border on the edges.
Spoon cheese mixture on top of the ham and spread over the ham. Top with the last 3 slices of ham.
Roll pizza dough once toward the middle then fold both sides toward the middle. Roll the remaining dough until you have one large roll. Place the dough, seam side down onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, let stand for at least 5 minutes. Slice and serve.
Sausage Stuffed Bread
Preheat oven 400o
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 20 – 25 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 250 Fat: 8 grams
Ingredients:
2 Italian style chicken sausages
2 cloves garlic – crushed
1/3 cup fat free ricotta cheese
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 refrigerated pizza dough
Directions:
Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.
Remove casings from sausages and chop. Heat a skillet on medium high heat and coat with cooking spray. Sauté sausage for 3 – 5 minutes until browned. Add crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Spoon sausage mixture into a small mixing bowl. Stir in ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and basil.
Roll out pizza dough and spread the sausage mixture in the middle of the pizza dough making sure you leave about a 1” border on the edges.
Roll pizza dough once toward the middle then fold both sides toward the middle. Roll the remaining dough until you have one large roll. Place the dough, seam side down onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, let stand for at least 5 minutes. Slice and serve.
To
make black bean dip: combine black beans with garlic, chili powder, olive oil,
salt & pepper and a few dashes of tabasco sauce in a food processor. Chop in food processor for 1 – 2 minutes,
stopping to scrape the sides until well combined.
Spoon
black bean dip into each endive cup and top with a spoonful of salsa.
Refrigerate
for 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving.
Note: You will have extra black bean dip that you can serve
with vegetables or tortilla chips
Heat skillet on medium heat, coat with cooking spray and add olive oil. Add onions to the skillet and sauté for 3 – 5 minutes until tender and slightly browned. Spoon onions into a large mixing bowl.
Squeeze excess water from spinach and add to the bowl with onions.
Remove sausage from their casings. Heat skillet on medium high heat, coat again with cooking spray and add sausage meat. While sautéing, break up sausage into small pieces. Sauté sausage for 5 – 7 minutes until browned. Add sausage to the same mixing bowl.
Whisk together egg substitute, eggs and sour cream until well blended. Pour egg mixture into bowl and add the cheeses and basil. Stir ingredients together until well blended.
Coat a 9X13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Pour egg mixture into baking dish and bake for 45 – 50 minutes until firm and browned.
Friday night I had some friends over for a fun bingo night out with the girls. To make things easy, I bought some frozen appetizers and limited my cooking to a few additions. Here are 3 recipes from that night:
Black bean Quesadillas
Serves 10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 7 – 10 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 145 Fat: 4 grams
Ingredients:
1 can (15.5 ounces) black beans – drained and rinsed
4 ounces fat free cream cheese – softened
4 ounces low fat cream cheese – softened
1 packet cheese flavored taco seasoning
1 clove garlic – minced
1 cup low fat Mexican grated cheese blend
8 medium soft flour tortillas
Salsa for serving
Directions:
Place black beans in a food processor with the cream cheeses, taco seasoning and garlic. Puree until the ingredients are smooth.
Spoon into a bowl and mix in grated cheese.
Spread the black bean mixture onto 4 tortillas then place the remaining 4 tortillas on top.
Grill tortillas for 3 – 5 minutes on each side until the tortilla has browned and the cheese has melted inside.
Cut each into 4 triangles per tortilla.
Serve warm with salsa.
Cheese Quesadillas
Serves 10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 7 – 10 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 115 Fat: 4 grams
Ingredients:
4 ounces fat free cream cheese – softened
4 ounces low fat cream cheese – softened
1 packet cheese flavored taco seasoning
1 cup low fat Mexican grated cheese blend
8 medium soft flour tortillas
Salsa for serving
Directions:
In a mixer, beat the cream cheeses and taco seasoning mix on high speed.
Mix in grated cheese.
Spread the cheese mixture onto 4 tortillas then place the remaining 4 tortillas on top.
Grill tortillas for 3 – 5 minutes on each side until the tortilla has browned and the cheese has melted inside.
Cut each into 4 triangles per tortilla.
Serve warm with salsa.
Tortilla Crisps
Serves 20
Preheat oven 425o
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 8 – 10 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 110 Fat: 1 grams
Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
10 large soft flour tortillas
¼ cup melted low fat butter spread
Directions:
Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
Cut tortillas into triangles
Wrap a large baking sheet with foil then coat with cooking spray.
Spread tortilla triangles on the baking sheet on 1 layer (you may need to use more than 1 baking pan). Brush melted butter on the tortillas then sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top.
Bake 8 – 10 minutes until the tortillas are crisp.
I was so busy getting it all together for a BBQ that I did not have a chance to take a picture of this but it was a nice compliment to the other menu items we were serving that day.
Enjoy!!
Cold – Beer & Cheese Dip
Serves 8
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Refrigeration Time: at least 2 hours
Estimated Values per Serving (dip only):
Calories: 72 Fat: 4 grams
Ingredients:
4 ounces low fat cream cheese – room temperature
4 ounces fat free cream cheese – room temperature
¼ cup fat free sour cream
1/3 cup stout beer
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup low fat grated cheddar cheese
1 envelope ranch salad dressing
Carrot sticks, celery sticks and pretzels
Directions:
Beat together cream cheeses, sour cream, beer, Worcestershire sauce and salad dressing at medium speed.
Fold in cheddar cheese.
Refrigerate and serve with carrots, celery and pretzels.
I served these on Sunday over the holiday weekend and they were such a hit, Dean went out and bought all the ingredients Monday morning so I could cook up another order for some family friends. They are a little heavier on calories and fat than most recipes I cover but after having 2 (which is a serving size), you are full for a while. You can even have these as a meal with a salad on the side and feel very satisfied.
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes seasoned with garlic, basil and oregano
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
Sweat eggplant slices by lightly coating with salt and placing paper towels on top to absorb the excess water. Rinse salt off of the eggplant slices.
While eggplant is sweating, coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray and add sliced Italian bread. Toast for about 5 minutes on each side until lightly browned.
Heat a large skillet on medium high heat and coat with cooking spray. Dip eggplant slices in egg substitute then coat with bread crumbs. Add to the skillet and cook for about 3 – 5 minutes on each side to brown the bread crumbs.
Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray and add browned eggplant slices. Roast for 15 minutes until eggplant is cooked through.
Top the toasted Italian bread with a slice of mozzarella, an eggplant slice, a little diced tomatoes and some grated parmesan.
Bake for about 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and serve.
1. Put the grated cucumber in a double paper towel and twist the ends over the sink to allow the excess cucumber water to drain.
2. In a bowl, fold in the grated cucumber, cream cheese, yogurt, dill, garlic and salt.
3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or overnight).
Meatballs:
Ingredients:
½ pound ground lamb meat
½ pound ground sirloin
½ pound ground turkey breast meat
¼ cup egg substitute
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon fresh (or 1 teaspoon dried) parsley
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ cup fat free feta cheese – crumbled
2 slices bread with crusts removed
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, mix together the ground meats, egg substitute, oregano, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder and feta cheese. Soak the bread in water, squeeze out any excess water then add to the meat mixture.
2. Mix all ingredients very well.
3. Roll meat mixture into small balls and set on a roasting pan.
4. Bake 20 – 25 minutes until the meatballs are cooked to medium temperature (about 165o).
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