Zippy Pasta with Meatballs

I wanted to make meatballs the other day, but plain meatballs seemed so boring.  I have a recipe called "Zippy Ground Beef Skillet", and I thought I would substitute meatballs for cooked ground beef in the recipe.  Turns out, I liked this version of the recipe better.  I'm not sure how my family felt about it because they rarely respond with anything except, "It's good" or "It needs salt."

I thought it was pretty easy to make, but it is slightly more complicated than making just ground beef.  I think it's worth the extra effort.

ZIPPY PASTA WITH MEATBALLS

Meatballs:
Ingredients:
1 pound ground meat
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons salt free ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
1/4 cup oats
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation:
In bowl, combine ingredients and form 1 in balls.  Bake uncovered in greased dish at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

While the meatballs are baking, prepare the pasta.
Ingredients:
8 ounces uncooked small pasta of your choice
1 can (4oz) diced green chilis
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 cup low fat sour cream

Preparation:
Cook pasta according to package directions.  In small bowl, combine sour cream, chilis and chili powder. 

Combine pasta and sour cream mixture. 

Pour pasta over cooked meatballs and serve.

Stuffed Green Peppers

I'm always looking for new ways to serve ground beef because I feel like I'm always eating burgers, meatballs, or meatloaf.  They're good but they get boring after awhile even if you use different seasonings with them.  Stuffing meat inside other food seems to be a specialty of the Polish people (of which I am a member).  I have already posted a kolacky recipe, so now it's time to stuff peppers with meat instead of dough.  In the future, I will make a recipe called Golabki, more commonly known as stuffed cabbage rolls.  So you have that to look forward to.

Unfortunately, I don't have photos to go with the recipe because my camera batteries died.  I'll post the pictures next time I make it.

Enjoy!

STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS

Ingredients:
4 large green peppers
1 pound ground meat
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 can (14 oz) low sodium diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup long grain rice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Preparation:
Halve peppers lenthwise and remove insides.  Boil for 3 minutes and drain.  In skillet, brown meat and onion; drain.  Stir in tomatoes, water, rice, Worcestershire, basil, and oregano.  Bring to boil and reduce heat.  Simmer covered for 15 minutes.  Place peppers in large baking dish and fill with meat.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.  Makes 8 servings.

Deep Dish Pizza

If you're from Chicago like I am, you are most likely a pizza snob.  We like our thin crust pizzas cut into squares and our deep dish pizzas cut into traditional triangles.  We know that our Chicago style pizza is the best. When we travel, we try other pizzas (I think) just to prove we're right.  I know that my favorite pizzas are deep dish from Chicago.  Giordano's happens to be my personal favorite.  You can take a look at their website:  http://www.giordanos.com/. 

That being said, I know that most people like the pizza in their hometown simply because it's familiar.  Chicago is no exception.

Traditional pizza is just sooo bad for you.  It's salty and greasy and sooo yummy.  I found a way to make deep dish pizza better for you.  It might not be great for you, but we all need a little indulgence once in a while.  This pizza recipe makes me feel much better about indulging.  This pizza is heavy on the meat and light on the cheese.  It uses a homemade low sodium sauce instead of the high sodium stuff from a jar.

I must say, that this recipe is quite a bit of work.  Personally, I think it's well worth the effort.  Give it a try.

LOW SODIUM PIZZA SAUCE

Ingredients:
6 oz can low sodium tomato paste
8 oz low sodium tomato sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried, minced onion
1 packet sodium free chicken or beef broth
1 teaspoon sugar
2 - 3 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Preparation:
Combine ingredients in saucepan over low heat and simmer 20 minutes.
(You may prepare this the night before making the pizza.  You may also make large batches and freeze single use sizes in Ziploc bags to use later.)

DEEP DISH PIZZA

Ingredients:

Filling:
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/8 teaspoon crushed anise
1 teaspoon garlic powder
 a few dashes of paprika and black pepper
Low sodium pizza sauce (see above recipe)
 1 - 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 pound ground beef

Crust:
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon cornmeal
1-1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2/3 cup very warm water
1/4 cup olive oil

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In skillet, heat onions, peppers, and meat until no longer pink and drain.  Add mushrooms and seasonings.  Add 1/2 cup pizza sauce and mix well; set aside.  Spray bottom of deep dish pan (I use the Pampered Chef Deep Dish Baker) with cooking spray.  Then sprinkle bottom of pan with tablespoon of cornmeal. 

In bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, yeast, and sugar.  Add water and oil and mix until ball forms.  Knead dough on floured surface about 3 minutes.  (I actually skip this step.)  Place dough in pan and press onto bottom and sides of pan.  Sprinkle a layer of cheese on the crust; top with meat mixture, another layer of cheese,

and rest of pizza sauce. 

Bake 30 minutes.  Yield 6 servings.

Low Sodium Chili

Doing this low sodium diet can be such a challenge especially when dining out.  Most often, I will simply order a green salad with vinaigrette dressing.  That's usually the safest route.  I get really excited if the restaurant offers the option of a fruit side dish.  Sometimes I will add grilled chicken breast to the salad and hope that it's not too salty.  Mostly, I just compensate by balancing the daily sodium intake.  That means I eat almost no sodium before I dine out so that I can eat the foods with the extra salt.

I like chili but I will almost never order it from a restaurant because I have no idea how much sodium is in it.  I do make it at home fairly often because it's so easy to make and saves well.  I found a recipe I like and I altered it to keep the sodium low.  It's also low fat if you use lean meat.

This recipe is not too spicy because I don't like hot chili.  Add more spices if you do, but this is a good basic chili recipe.

LOW SODIUM CHILI:

Ingredients:
1 pound ground meat
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
1 can (14 oz) low sodium diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) low sodium red kidney beans
1 can (8 oz) low sodium tomato sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation:
In large saucepan, cook meat, onions, and pepper and drain.  Stir in tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce, and spices.  Bring to boil and reduce heat.  Cover and simmer 20 minutes.  Makes 5 cups.

Ground Beef and Potato Bake

I'm always looking for new ways to serve ground beef.  When I saw that this recipe includes potatoes, I figured that I'd give it a try since my family loves potatoes.  As I have mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of potatoes, but I eat them because they are rich in heart healthy potassium.

This recipe, like most of my recipes is easy to prepare.  It's not a very quick recipe because of the 60 minute baking time.  To save a little time, you could prepare the casserole dish and refrigerate overnight.  Then you could pour the soup over the top and bake it.

You can use the reduced sodium version of canned mushroom soup, but I find that it's extremely bland.  So I recommend either making your own from scratch (see my cream of mushroom soup recipe posted earlier) or you can enhance the flavor of the canned soup by adding a little black pepper, some low sodium beef broth packet, and/or some cayenne.

GROUND BEEF AND POTATO BAKE

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Auntie Jean's Low Sodium Italian Dressing Blend*
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 medium potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
1 can (10oz) low sodium cream of mushroom soup
5 oz skim milk

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook and drain beef.  In a casserole dish, layer beef, sliced onions, and sliced potatoes, sprinkling each layer with seasonings.  In a small bowl, mix soup and milk until smooth.  Pour over top of casserole dish. 

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes uncovered.

*Please email me at auntiejeans@yahoo.com if you would like to order some Auntie Jean's Low Sodium Italian Dressing Blend

Garlic Beef Enchiladas

Mexican food is so yummy.  Much of it can be high in fat and salt, but the recipes are fairly simple to alter so that they are healthy... or at least what I call healthy.  (For you grammarians, I do know that I actually should be writing that foods are healthful and people are healthy, but since no one uses the term healthful anymore, I'm going with the flow.)

Whenever I read a recipe, I look for a way to reduce the fat and sodium.  Sometimes the first time I make a new recipe, the results are not tasty.  The second time around, I make some adjustments and hopefully it tastes good.  By the third try, if it's still bad, I just move on to another recipe.  Three strikes and you're out.

Luckily, with Garlic Beef Enchiladas they turned out well the first time.  Next I can try making them with different kinds of meat.  Ground turkey or ground chicken sound like good ideas to me.  Let me know how they turn out if you try them. 

This isn't the easiest recipe to make, but it's not the most difficult either.  I'd say it's medium on the difficulty scale because you're cooking the beef and the sauce components simultaneously.  To make it easier, prepare one at a time.  It will just add about 15 minutes to overall preparation time.

GARLIC BEEF ENCHILADAS
Ingredients:
Filling:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon sage
1 can (14 ounces) low sodium diced tomatoes
Sauce:*
4 - 6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon butter or oil
1/2 cup flour
1 can (14 ounces) low sodium beef broth
1 can (15 ounces) low sodium tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon sage
10 7-inch low sodium corn tortillas
2 cups low-fat shredded Colby-Jack cheese

Preparation:
In a skillet, heat meat and onion and drain fat.  Add flour and seasonings and mix well.  Stir in tomatoes and bring to boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile in sauce pan, saute garlic in butter/oil until tender.  Stir in flour.  Add broth and bring to boil.  Cook and stir 2 minutes. 

Stir in tomato sauce and seasonings; heat through. 

Pour 1-1/2 cups sauce into 13 x 9" baking dish.  Spread 1/4 cup meat mixture in each tortilla and top with 1 tablespoon cheese. 

Roll tightly and place in dish.  To make tortillas more pliable, spray lightly with cooking spray and microwave for 20 - 30 seconds before filling. 

Repeat until all tortillas are filled.  Pour remaining sauce over rolled tortillas.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

*Note: if your sauce tastes too bland (or not salty enough) add a tablespoon of vinegar.  That will add a little "bite" to the sauce.  You may also use vinegar powder.

Pierogis

Keeping with my family's Christmas tradition, my sister, Karen and I made pierogis this week that will be served for Christmas dinner.  I'm not sure how I learned to make them; I believe that I found a recipe and followed it.  My grandmother used to make pierogis for Christmas, but she never taught me.  My Irish mother is not an adverturous cook to say the least, so she would never even attempt to make pierogis.  My entire family loves eating pierogis, so someone has to make them.

This year we made two kinds: potato and beef.  We also made gluten free versions of them because my cousin is gluten free.  It was the first time that I've tried making them, and they turned out just fine.  You just have to be a little more careful with the dough.  If you are on a gluten free diet, give it a try.  We also made the pierogis in different shapes to we could tell them apart.

Gluten free triangle:

Beef rectangles:

Semi circle potato pierogis:

To make the cooking easier, we made the fillings one day and assembled and boiled the pierogis another day.  Then we froze the boiled pierogis in plastic zip bags.  On Christmas day, we will sautee the pierogis for dinner.

For the potato filling, we basically made mashed potatoes.  You may add whatever seasonings you like to them.  I prefer garlic and black pepper.

Here is the beef recipe.  You may use any kind of meat or meat mixture you prefer.  In  Poland, the most popular filling is pork.

MEAT FILLING FOR PIEROGIS 

Ingredients:

1 pound ground meat

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 medium onion, chopped

2 eggs, beaten

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder 

Preparation:

If desired, you may use a grinder or food processor to process meat.  Do not puree or process too fine. 

 Melt butter in large skillet.  Add onion; sauté over medium heat until tender. 

Stir in meat and eggs. 

Sautee mixture over medium heat about 5 minutes.  Add pepper and garlic powder. 

Let cool.  Makes enough to fill about 40 to 45 pierogis.

Here is the pierogi recipe:

PIEROGIES 

Ingredients:

Pierogi filling

4 cups all purpose flour

2 eggs

5 tablespoons low fat sour cream

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

About ¾ cup water 

Preparation:

Prepare choice of filling.  Lightly flour 2 baking sheets.  Sift flour into a large bowl or onto a flat working surface; make a well in the center.  Break eggs into well.  Add sour cream and 3 tablespoons oil.  Blend ingredients with your fingertips.  Gradually add water, working and kneading mixture into a smooth and pliable dough.  Divide the dough into quarters.  Cover 3 portions with a damp cloth.  On a lightly floured board, roll one portion of dough into a 1/16 inch thick rectangle.  Cut into 3-1/2 to 4 inch circles.  In the center of each circle, place 1 heaping tablespoon filling.  Fold dough in half over filling.  Crimp resulting edge with your fingertips, forming a tight seal.  Repeat process until remaining dough is used, placing pierogis on lightly floured baking sheet.  Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil.  Drop 5 pierogis into boiling water.  Stir gently to prevent them from sticking together.  When water returns to boil, add 5 more pierogis.  Cook savory pierogis 4 to 5 minutes or until they float.  Cook fruit pierogis 10 to 15 minutes. 

Gently remove pierogis from pot; drain in colander.  Pat dry with paper towels.  For savory pierogis, heat oil in a large skillet and sauté pierogis over medium heat until browned on both sides, about 5 to 6 minutes.  Place in large ovenproof serving dish and keep in hot oven until ready to serve.  To freeze boiled pierogis, lightly spray with cooking oil and place in plastic zipped bags.  Makes about 70 pierogis.