Tuesday, December 29, 2009

2nd dish

so tonight i made another dish from my new cookbook...page 186 turkey meatloaf and broccoli with cheddar cheese sauce. so the whole 30 minute meal thing is lost on me...i made the meatloaf last night because it is impossible to cut a bunch of "hidden" veggies for the meatloaf with an 11 month old trying to crawl up my legs. so i cut up all the "hidden" veggies and put them in the turkey loaf - zucchini, red bell pepper, scallions. the other secret ingredient replaces bread crumbs - smoked almonds! i think these made this meatloaf so delicious!! the cheese sauce was very scary to be because i tried this one other time and ended up having to throw the pan away. so as i was mixing all of the ingredients i think i may have held my breath. the cheese sauce i made with no fat cheese and it still tasted sooo good! i also made some mashed potatoes and we put the cheese sauce on those too!! all in all i am pretty excited that i liked the meatloaf because it was very tricky hiding all of the veggies in the mix and the almonds! i cant wait for my meatloaf sandwich for lunch tomorrow!! i wish the 30 minute desserts actually sounded tasty and weren't so hard because i could have really used something sweet after dinner. Tomorrow i am just making an old trusty not sure what yet probably pasta...david will probably be disappointed.

Monday, December 28, 2009

first new dish

so for christmas a very exciting gift is my new cook book...get real 30 minute meals rachael ray
tonight i made my first 30 minute meal - - turkey club salad with avocado dressing (i substituted chicken for the turkey) the first thing i have to say is it took me an hour I do have a 10 month old to chase after but i think i might just be really slow at cutting veggies. (slow is good so i have all my fingers still) the best part about this meal is the dressing it is very simple 2 ripe avocados, zest of 1 lemon, 1 garlic clove, 2 tbl red wine vinegar and 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil. I always add sourcream to make avocados go further but this is a much healthier and better way to do this. I think it could have used 1 tbl red wine vinegar because that was a little strong. the worst part about this meal was the bacon - - it was turkey bacon and it would not crisp. i realized i bought a different type then what was recommended so next time i will buy ready crisp bacon! i am so excited for the next recipe to try and maybe someday i will actually make a meal in 30 min...probably not. the salad was very filling and very tasty!! the dressing would work great for a taco salad or any mexican meal. enjoy!