Bloody Eyeballs

Halloween Week is here and I love it!! We are trying to eat Halloween-y all week so here is what we made last night. They came out so cute and the boys loved calling their dinner "bloody eyeballs" with questions like this all through dinner: Where did you get the bloody eyeballs mom? The graveyard? Mmmm...these bloody eyeballs are really yummy. Is there blood inside? Let me check. Are these eyballs sitting on top of brains? Mmmm, I love to eat brains.

Okay so super easy recipe which is perfect for this hectic week. I'm sure everyone has their favorite meatball recipe, so use that or feel free to use mine. Thank you to Monica at http://lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com/ for inspiration!!

Bloody Eyballs (Turkey Meatballs in Sauce)

1 1/2 jars spaghetti sauce
1 pkg. ground turkey

1/4 c. chicken broth
1 egg
2 T grated onion
1 t. minced garlic (or a frozen cube from TJ's)
3 T. parmesan
1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon each salt & pepper
1 T. fresh chopped basil (or 2 frozen cubes from TJ's)

Mix broth through basil until well blended. Then add turkey and gently fold with your hands until it is evenly mixed. Make into meatballs.

First put the sauce in the pan, about halfway up. Add an olive to each raw meatball, pushing it down a bit. Plop them in the sauce and voila! Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. It's actually much simpler than the browning process I do for regular meatballs.



Nom nom!

Italian Shepherd's Pie

Sauteed fresh zucchini + turkey bolognese sauce + leftover mashed potatoes = My made-up Italian Shepherd's Pie = awesome yumminess.

I've never made an actual Shepherd's Pie, nor have I ordered it from a restaurant. It seems that whenever I see it on a menu, there is a myriad of reasons that prevent me from ordering it......I've had a big lunch that day or it's 100 degrees out or I'm having a hankering instead for some fish n' chips with my Guinness. And because of this, I don't really feel like making it with an Italian flair is altogether blasphemous. I don't know what its supposed to taste like, so it's not confusing to me and my tiny little brain.

Anyway, this is really an attempt to stretch out ingredients from a previous meal....instead of using all 1.25 lbs of the turkey package the night before, I saved about a half pound to whip up this quick bolognese sauce.

Quick Turkey Bolognese

1T. light olive oil

1/2 lb. ground turkey

1/2 diced onion

2 diced carrots

1 diced red bell

2 cloves chopped garlic

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1 small jar TJ's marinara sauce

Brown the turkey with the onion, carrots, bell and garlic until done. Add marinara and parm. Simmer for about half hour, stirring occasionally, until thick.

Alright, so throw this bad boy together. Saute those zucchini (I used 5 small ones) on high heat to get some color and add to bottom of large pie pan. Top with the bolognese and then the leftover mashed potatoes. I added a bit of parmesan on top of the pie. Cook at 375 for 45 minutes and if the top is not brown enough, crank up the broiler for a minute.

If your pie pan is loaded to the brim like mine, please put a cookie sheet underneath. Please? Oh, and next time I'm adding mushrooms..mmmmmmmmmm.

Thai Turkey Basil

I had ground turkey in the fridge that needed to be used up, so I asked my husband this morning...."Would you like meatloaf or meatballs for dinner?" He was nice about it, but I could tell he was tired of both. And then I thought to myself..."I can do better" and then "OOOOooooh, I have a whole bunch of basil waiting to be used!"

Not sure if this is really a "Thai" dish, but I'm the blogger and I'll name it what I want, dammit. It reminds me of a food demonstration I saw in Santa Barbara from the owner of the Coleman Family Farm, called "Cambodian Style Pork with Chilies and Two Basils", which used a mushroom soy sauce and 2 types of basil. Yum!

I encourage you to add more veggies to this dish...bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms - whatever you have. A little grated ginger would be nice too. The only produce I had left were 3 measly carrots and an onion. I'd better go shopping so I don't have to crack open that frozen bag of peas that's been in the freezer for months. Eek.

I would start the rice right before you begin this dish...it takes about 20 minutes total.

1 T. olive oil
1 package ground turkey
2 t. minced garlic
1 T. 1 chopped onion
3 carrots, sliced on diagonal
3 T. soy sauce
1 T. fish sauce
1/3 cup water
1 T. brown sugar
1 -2 tsp. sriracha sauce (or minced thai chiles)
squeeze of lime
cornstarch slurry
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup roughly chopped basil

In a large skillet, brown the turkey in olive oil, adding onion and carrots in after the first couple of minutes. When the turkey seems about done, add the garlic and stir for another minute. Drain off the turkey liquid. Add soy, fish sauce, water, brown sugar, lime juice, hot sauce or chiles. Stir until all mixed up. Taste sauce and adjust the seasonings until you like it. Add a tablespoon or two of the cornstarch slurry and let simmer until thickened. Stir in cilantro and basil until wilted. Serve over hot rice.

Turkey Tenderloin with Papaya Mango Salsa

I had a brilliant idea the other day. How exciting would it be to make a cookbook based solely on ingredients from Trader Joe's?? I even thought maybe my foodie friend, Louanne, would be interested in helping me research and write it. So I Googled it to make sure nobody out there had a similar idea. ARRRRRGGHHH. Oh well.

Anyways, this is a complete and easy TJ meal. You can't even really call it cooking. Even the green beans were the "microwave in the bag" style, all trimmed and washed. Nice.

However, before you go out and buy this salsa, there is a disclaimer: We didn't really enjoy it all that much. It's texture was chalky and the taste was bland but spicy, if that makes any sense. While I love most Trader Joe's items, this was not one of them. You'd be better off to make your own with tropical fruit, onion, lime juice and cilantro.

Turkey Tenderloin with Papaya Mango Salsa

1 pkg. turkey breast tenderloin

1 container Papaya Mango Salsa

seasoned flour to coat

1 T. oil

Directions: Um, yeah. Let me babble for a minute because the directions are too simple to take up space here. My package of turkey cost $6.54. It was two gargantuan tenderloins. I cut up one tenderloin into four pieces, slicing out the thick membrane running through it. I decided this was enough for our family. And it was. Added bonus, I froze the second tenderloin and plan to stretch that out with a turkey veggie green curry or something.

Okay, so directions: Dredge tenderloin pieces in seasoned flour and cook in the oil until done. Top with salsa and serve with your favorite veggie and starch. We try not to do the starch with dinner. Later in the evening, though, we are usually rummaging the pantry for anything with carbs. Tall guy prefers handfuls of cereal.

Turkey Patty with Bing Cherry Basil Salsa

If you noticed a theme, congratulations! I think its going to be all cherries, all week. If the cherry-basil combo sounds strange, I thought so too. But what the heck, I had all the ingredients on hand...why not give it a whirl? If you like any kind of fruit salsa, you would enjoy this too. It would also compliment a pork chop.

Italian Turkey Patty (stuffed with goat cheese)

1 package ground turkey

1/4 cup minced onion

1 clove minced garlic

1 T. minced basil

1 T. minced sundried tomatoes

1/4 cup parmesan

1/2 tsp pepper

1 slice goat cheese per patty

Form a very thin patty and put the goat cheese in the middle. Top with another thin patty and smoosh together to make one big honkin' stuffed patty. Pan fry or grill until done.

Cherry Basil Salsa

2 cups chopped cherries

2 T. julienned basil

1 chopped jalepeno

1 tsp. lime juice

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

salt/pepper to taste

Okay, I'm not going to say much else other than I hope this inspires you to go out on a limb and try something new. If you do, please post a comment here and let me know how it turned out!

Thai Turkey Meatballs

This is my own creation...I'm sure there are hundreds of variations of the same type recipe. If you are lacking an ingredient, substitute with something else or leave it out. The ginger, garlic and herbs really give this a fresh and flavorful taste. I added ketchup for a little sweetness to balance the saltiness of the soy. You could easily add some pepper flakes or Sriracha to kick up the heat.

Thai Turkey Meatballs

1 package ground turkey
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 grated shallot
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 T. ketchup
1 thinly slice kaffir lime leaf
2 T. chopped cilantro

Mix all ingredients and form into small meatballs. Pan fry or bake in a 425 oven for 25 minutes.


Veggie Stir Fry

1 lb. Pre-packed veggies
2 cups bean sprouts
2 chopped green onions
1/2 cup water
1 T soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar
dash vinegar
cornstartch/water mixture

Heat water, soy, sugar and vinegar in your stir fry pan of choice. Throw in veggies and steam with the lid on until crisp-tender. Add the sprouts and green onions and cook another minute. Remove veggies from pan with slotted spoon and thicken the sauce with cornstarch/water mixture.

Here is the package of veggies I use: Its mostly broccoli and snow peas. It comes in a 2 lb bag at Winco for $3.99. It will last us for at least 2-3 meals and keeps for well over a week in the crisper.