Meal Plan... Tuesday

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Ours was too short, as usual. Here is what is on the menu for this week.

And if you think my meal plan last week was somewhat lacking, just wait until you see this week's! And a day late to boot. I really need to get back on track next week.

Monday: Mexican Shredded Pork Burritos with Refried Beans (hey wait, wasn't that on the menu last week, you ask?? Yes, it was. And it never got made. I told you I need to step up my game.)

Tuesday: leftover Cinnamon, Pumpkin, and Cheese Pot-pies (blog post on these to come shortly!)

Wednesday: Lasagna with Ground Turkey and Spinach

Thursday: out to dinner

Friday: out to dinner

Meal Plan Monday

Happy Monday everyone. I hope it was a good weekend! This week is a bit lacking in the cooking department, but what can I say, it's a busy week!

Monday: Chicken Marsala over Pasta and Broccoli

Tuesday: Out to dinner

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: Shredded Pork Burritos with Refried Beans

Friday: Dinner with family

Saturday: Squash and Pumpkin Pot Pies

Turkey Stuffing Burgers / Cranberry Relish

I'm not a huge fan of most Thanksgiving food, believe it or not. The turkey and gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and even the pumpkin pie are all good, but I could take them or leave them, honestly. The stuffing, however, is a different story. I love stuffing, I could eat boatloads of it. Seriously, I am drooling just thinking about it.

I already had turkey burgers and sweet potato fries on the menu for this week when I came across this recipe for Stuffing Turkey Burgers with Cranberry Relish. The ones I had on the menu were boring, uninspired turkey burgers though. Just your standard lettuce, tomato, cheese, and ketchup on a bun. So it was an absolute no-brainer to nix those plain-Jane-I'll-just-throw these-on-the-menu-because-I-can't-think-of-anything-else in favor of these Stuffing Turkey Burgers. And man, best decision ever.

I was seriously so excited to make these all freaking week! I often switch around the menu around depending on what we're in the mood for that night, or if there's anything that needs to used up first. What kept pushing these back though, was the fact that the recipe calls for day-old corn bread. And what do you know, you have to bake cornbread the day before in order to have that! Apparently planning in advance is not my forte. Finally, I decided eff it, I can't wait any longer. I'll just make the corn bread the same night.

How has this combination of stuffing flavors in a turkey burger (with cranberry relish no less!) never been brought to my attention before? I suppose I'll just have to be "thankful" that I found this recipe at all! 

Do I even need to tell you that I enjoyed these? I think H loved them just as much as I did.

Turkey and Stuffing Burgers with Cranberry Relish
Makes 6-8 burgers

for the relish:
1 cup of whole berry cranberry sauce
2 Tablespoons of apple cider
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves

for the burgers:
1 Tablespoon of butter
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1 Tablespoon of dried sage
1/2 Tablespoon of dried thyme

1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey
1 1/2 cups of day old cornbread, crumbled
1 egg

1 teaspoon of poultry seasoning
1 teapsoon of salt
pinch of black pepper


Directions: Mix all of the ingredients for the cranberry relish, and refrigerate while you prepare the burgers. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, and saute celery and onions with sage and thyme until soft, about 5 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Meanwhile, mix turkey, egg, bread, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning together in a bowl. When onions and celery are cool, mix in with the turkey and knead to combine all ingredients. (Feel free to add a bit more of the spices, especially thyme and sage, if you really want that stuffing flavor to kick.) Form into 6-8 burgers. Heat a non-stick grill pan to medium-high. Cook burgers about 6 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned and cooked through.

Serve with cranberry relish, on toasted buns, and enjoy!

Adapted from Pink Parsley, original recipe here.

The Farm Life

The other weekend H and I went camping with a couple friends. This trip wasn't your standard pitch a tent in the woods and roast marshmallows on the fire type camping though. We were actually camping on a farm. Our friend found it through Time Out New York magazine, and we all thought it sounded like a great idea.

Basically, you rent a cross between a cabin and a tent and stay on a farm. Our "tent" had wood floors and the frame of a cabin, but the walls were canvas. It also had (cold) running water, a flushing toilet, and a wood-burning stove. Here are a few pictures of our home sweet home for the weekend.

 (our cabin during the day)

 (and when it was getting dark. I won't even try to post a picture of how it looked at night. They're all dark, blurry messes!)

The farm we stayed on was Stony Creek Farm, in Walton, NY through the Featherdown Farms program. The farm owners were wonderful hosts- they were so friendly and absolutely full of information. We learned so much from them, and had so much fun.

The food there was incredible! The fresh vegetables were amazing. The meat was delicious. And I can't even express how wonderful milk and eggs taste when they are only a few hours old. Seriously. I wish I could eat like this all the time. We did all of our cooking over a wood stove, which definitely took a bit of practice, but is oh so worth it.

(we were able to gather fresh eggs from the chickens in the morning)

One of the things we all got a kick out of was milking the cows. It's a lot harder than it looks, and it's kind of scary to be so close to such a large, powerful animal! And it is not easy to fill up a whole bucket!

 (this is one of the dairy cows, Sierra, and the bull Zeus. They were so cute and love-y)

(I never thought I would have a picture of myself milking a cow. But here we are!)

We loved the pigs! We ended up visiting them 4 times throughout the weekend. They were so cute and friendly, they fought for attention and loved being petted. Any time we walked up to their pen, they ran towards us squealing. Adorable.

 (with my piggie friends!)

 (aw, so cute!!)

And although it was a lot more "winter-y" than it is here, there were still some amazing views. These are a couple that I took out the window of our cabin.

Beef Barley and Vegetable Soup

I have been on a serious soup kick as of late. I think I've made a large pot of some type of soup every week for the past month. There are so many things I love about soup- how easy it is, how perfect it is for this weather, the sheer number of possibilities, and most of all, the amount of leftovers it makes! Because of that last reason, I tend to choose Mondays to make the weekly large pot of soup so we can enjoy for lunches throughout the week.

This week I was craving a beef barley soup, so when I found this recipe, I knew I had to make it. It was definitely easy, and oh so delicious!

Beef Barley and Vegetable Soup

1 lb. of chuck roast, cut into cubes (you could also use stew beef, which would be super easy)

1 (14.5 oz) can of diced tomatoes, with juice
1 onion, sliced thin
4 stalks of celery, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
1 package (6-8 oz) mushroom mix

1 cup of pearl barley

8 cups of beef broth
1 cup of red wine

2 teaspoons of minced garlic
1 teaspoon of thyme
3 bay leaves

Directions: Brown beef cubes in a saute pan with a bit of olive oil. Place in a large stock pot. Add can of diced tomatoes, onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms, and barley. Add beef broth, red wine, and spices and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer for about an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. Enjoy!

Adapted from epicurious.com, original recipe here.

Roasted Balsamic Vegetables

This side dish is one that is very healthy and extremely versatile. I often serve it with light, Italian dishes. You can pretty much use any veggies (or herbs!) that you wish, or whatever you have on hand. I've used parsnips, red onion, other types of peppers and squash, even green beans in it, and it's always turned out well. Just make sure to put any harder, takes-longer-to-cook vegetable in with the first batch and others with the second (you'll see what I mean when you read the recipe!). The sweet potatoes seem like a strange addition, but I really like the flavor they give it. There's always something about that sweet/salty combo...

 

Roasted Balsamic Vegetables
Serves 4

1 Tablespoon of olive oil, plus more for drizzling

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 or 3 handfuls of baby carrots
2 red peppers, chopped
1 bunch of asparagus, chopped
1 large zucchini, sliced
2 portobello mushroom heads, sliced

1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of dried basil
black pepper

Directions: Preheat oven to 400. Grease bottom of 9X13 glass pan with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Put sweet potatoes and carrots in the pan, and roast for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and put peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, and zucchini in the pan and drizzle with olive oil. Return pan to the oven, and roast for 30 minutes more.

When vegetables are done, remove from oven and use a spatula to mix. Let cool slightly. In a large ziploc bag, mix balsamic vinegar, basil, garlic, and pepper. Place vegetables in, and shake to coat. Remove from bag, and place in serving bowl. They can be served warm, or room temperature. Enjoy!

I have been using this recipe for quite a long time, and am not sure where it originally came from. I tried to Google it, to see if I could find the source, but with no avail. Please let me know if it is yours, or you know where it came from!

Meal Plan Monday

Happy Monday everyone! Here is what is on the menu for this week:


Monday: Beef Vegetable and Barley Soup

Tuesday: Baked Breaded Chicken Breasts with Zucchini and Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto

Wednesday: Thanksgiving Turkey Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries

Thursday: Poached Eggs over Fall Vegetable Quinoa Hash

Friday: dinner at my parents'

Saturday: leftovers from the week