One Pot Turkey Meatball & Tortellini Soup

I'm a big fan of 1 Pot dinners.  So is my husband since he usually does the dishes. This recipe was inspired by several other similar ones.  However I think I have simplified it to a simple 30-40 minute home cooked one pot meal.

I also love to make homemade soups and stews. They are hearty, healthy and filling.  Plus they are good for you, if you pick the right ingredients that is.  Plus if you are like me and are continually trying to find more ways to get vegetables in your diet these work great.  I personally have a hard time with the leaf greens. Just like a kid, other than salad, I try to trick myself into eating my kale, spinach and other green veggies.

Besides a large pot you will only need a bowl to mix the meatballs in and a cutting board for the veggies. Now I truly believe a good base has to start off a meal and this is no exception. So it all starts with making a tasty meatball.  I don't scrimp on them either, make them from scratch instead of pre-made, the taste is worth it!

Ingredients:

Meatballs
1 lb ground white meat turkey
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I buy the pre-made Italian varieties)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon of salt
(I also like to add a bit of my chopped onion to help keep them moist)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Soup
1 diced yellow onion
3 diced potatoes
4 chopped carrots (or to save time buy the baby carrots)
1/2 package of frozen spinach about 1/2 cup (make sure you thaw it and ring out the extra water, frozen gives you more bang for you buck too)
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 package of pre-made frozen tortellini
garlic salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot start with heating the olive oil. In a bowl combine the turkey with the bread crumbs, cheese, garlic and spices.  Mix them up and roll into small 1 inch balls.  Brown the meatballs on all sides, Next add the spinach, onion, carrots and potatoes, salt, pepper and chicken broth.  Bring to a gentle boil and let simmer for 15 minutes until the veggies are fork tender.  Add in the frozen tortellini and cook for 3 or so minutes, until pasta is cooked. Lastly taste to see if more salt is needed. That's it you're done!

Teddy at Christmas!

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we did...
My cat thought it smelled good too, he was caught with is paw literally in the pot. After dinner, apparently when I turned my back he snagged a tortellini and made a break for it!

Well guess we can say cat tested, mother approved! -Amber

Are You Stuffed?

Today's post is all about a new recipe I tried partnered with one of my own go to favorites.

I like to flip through my collection of cookbooks sometimes to get inspired for new dinner recipes.  One of my favorite cooks that I look to is Sandra Lee and her book called "Semi-Homemade".  I'd like to think that in my own way I mirror her approach to meals. In flipping through the book my husband stopped me on the page that had a picture of Steak Pinwheels with Sun Dried Tomato Stuffing! You can go to the link below to view her recipe.
sandra-lee/steak-pinwheels-with-sun-dried-tomato-stuffing
Or get the book on amazon

So I decided it was test worthy and here is what the end result looked like!

Now I did not use her recipe for the mashed potatoes. I made my own from real potatoes.
(recipe is below)


I officially give this recipe 2 thumbs up.  It was delicious and filling. Plus it was easy to make!

Now for my addition

Sour Cream and Parmesan Cheese Mashed Potatoes!

Ingredients:
6 peeled russet potatoes (red potatoes are great too!)
3 Tablespoons of Butter or Margarine
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup sour cream ( I use fat free sour cream)
1 teaspoon of parsley
2-3 Tablespoons of milk (non or low- fat)
2 Tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste


Boil the potatoes until fork tender.  I usually cut the potatoes in small pieces so they cook faster.
Drain the water (do not rinse under cold water, you need them to stay warm and yummy), then smash them up.  Add the butter, garlic, parsley, sour cream, milk, and parmesan cheese.  Mix it up and your done!  I usually sprinkle the top of the potatoes with a little more parmesan cheese and parsley.

I estimate this gives you about 4 hearty servings, but that depends on your love of mashed potatoes. 

Overall the dinner was delicious and I plan on making it again.

Sneak Trick: to save money on this meal I bought carne asada steak instead, since it's usually on sale you can do this swap too!

Have a flavorful day! -Amber

Did you say Muffins?

I love to bake and I love to eat just as much.  However having a sweet tooth or in my case all goodies tooth I like to make treats that aren't completely bad for you.  Who doesn't love homemade muffins? I also like to do what I call pantry/frig purging every once in a while to use up the things that have been left out of my usual cooking and last week was that time.  I had all my usual baking supplies and for some reason a lot of applesauce.

TA-DA I decided it was Applesauce Muffins time!

Since I do try to put extra healthy stuff in our diets these were no exception. (Thanks for teaching me do be this way, Mom! So glad I had a Mom who cared about the healthiness of our food.)

So yummy with my morning coffee!

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (if you use wheat flour they are even better for you)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk (any kind you have)
1 1/2 cups of applesauce!

I'm not a fussy baker so all of this gets combined in one bowl and mixed. You can use the paper liners or just spray some cooking spray in the cups so they don't stick. Next fill your muffin cups to almost full (contrary to other instructions I like large filling muffins).

I make a strussel topping as well in another bowl.

1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons of melted butter or margarine

Combine all of these to make a crumbly mixture. Then sprinkle generously on the tops of the unbaked muffins.

Bake at 400 *F for 20 minutes, do the toothpick test to make sure they are done and bake a little longer if needed. Makes 12 muffins.

Here they are, well what is left of them!

These are great for a quick snack, my husband loves to grab a few to take with him to work in the morning. To snack on throughout the day. They taste great a little warm, or at room temp.  You can put butter on them or a little honey for an extra special treat. They have fiber and fruit baked right in so you can feel good about these little "Sneak Treats"

Happy Eating - Amber

Is that Clean?

I once heard the phrase, "Does clean have a smell?"

When you by cleaners in the store that smell like ocean breezes and fresh linens, most people don't realize that to get that smell a lot of chemicals are added to make it smell that way.  I have looked at all the "green" cleaning sprays and they are often twice as much as the other chemical ridden cleaners. I'm an asthmatic and I know that inhaling a lot of cleaning chemicals can trigger an attack so I always try to be conscious of what I'm using. What is in your home is very important for your overall health, not just the kind of food you eat or how much you exercise. On another note if you have pets and small children those chemically laden products are very harmful to them too.

Call it Martha Stewart inspired if you like, but my homemade all purpose cleaning spray is cheap and healthy. Plus the few ingredients that make it up are usually on hand and are cheap!  Let me also point out the I don't use this spray for absolutely everything, sometimes dirty household jobs still need the "Comet" or "Ajax" cleanser.  But I have found that my spray cleans just about everything else. I use it several times a day to wash my counters and stove spills. I dust with it and it works well on the microwave too!

First you need a spray bottle, easy enough so far
1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
and a few drops of dish soap.

Once you pour all of that into the bottle just fill the rest of the bottle up with water...shake...and you're ready to clean up!

Why its good!

Vinegar and lemon have been used to clean for probably 100 years but has taken a back seat over the last 50 years to all the other junk. It's great for killing most mold, bacteria, and germs, due to its level of acidity.  Plus the lemon makes it smell a little nicer.

Dish soap also helps break down the grease.

That's all there is too it...
So even if you're not that type of person who tries to live super "green," at least you can feel good about this little tip.

Happy Spring Cleaning - Amber

Welcome to Sneak Treats!

Hello to everyone out in internet land!

This is the first post on this blog, I'm so excited!

I had the idea to create this blog after getting many inquires about my homemade projects.  Basically I love to create things, anything at all, once an idea pops into my head. Mostly this blog will have my baking, cooking, and what I like to call fun project ideas.  Most of my idea's revolve around how to do things for less $.  But it's also about making little tweaks that I do to food to make it a little healthier.  I also have many idea's on things that look expensive and hard to make, but how they can have shortcuts to make your life a little easier. Sometimes I will probably even post about my attempts at new idea's and together we can discover if they work out or not :)

This first idea is what I call "Put On A Happy Face" Cookies!

I am a very lucky lady in that I have a fantastic Mother in Law, so this idea was a gift for her.  She loves anything Smiley Face related.  So I made her a plate of Smiley Face cookies.  During their creation I could not help but sing "Gray skies are going to clear up, put on a happy face"... I dare anyone to make these cookies and not find themselves in a good mood.  How could you not when you have dozens of Smiley Faces looking at you!?!

What do you think? (Yes, the card was also a Smiley Face that I made)

So here is my "Sneak" trick at making these "Treats"...
You could certainly make your own sugar cookies from scratch, however after comparing the price of the individual ingredients to the pre-made cookie dough in the frozen aisle, I actually saved money by buying the pre-made roll.  Not only did I save $ but I saved a lot of time by doing this.

After baking the cookies I made a simple powdered sugar icing.

2cups powdered sugar
3-4 Tablespoons of milk
and a little yellow food coloring.

I iced the cookies, used matching m&m's for the eyes, a little brown pre-made frosting for the smile and Viola!

For an easy icing bag just fill a sandwich bag in the corner with icing, squeeze out the air, close the bag, snip the corner tip and your ready to draw!!!

I hope you enjoy this first post.
Happy Eating - Amber