M is for Meatballs. S is for Sliders. D is for Delicious.

Meatball Sliders

Servings 2 servings (4 sliders total)

Ingredients
4 multi-grain or whole wheat slider buns or rolls (fresh or frozen)
16 frozen turkey or beef meatballs
1 green pepper
1/2 yellow onion
Barbecue sauce
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Prep Time: 10 to 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 to 35 minutes.
Total Time: 40 to 45 minutes.

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees (or what temperature is specified on frozen meatball bag).
Bake meatballs for 20 to 25 minutes, or until internal temperature is 165 degree for 15 seconds.
Chop green pepper in half and again into quarters to make medium sized strips. Slice onion to make strips. Toss green pepper and onion into a medium sauce pan. Towards the end of the baking time for the meatballs, begin to saute the green pepper and onion strips.
Remove meatballs from the oven. Set aside and keep warm.
Place frozen rolls onto a baking sheet. Put into the oven still at 375 degrees until golden brown, about 7 to 9 minutes.
Put the meatballs in with the green pepper and onion strips when green pepper and onion strips are mostly soft. Cover in desired amount of Barbecue sauce. Reduce heat to low and cover with a lid.
Remove rolls from the oven when finished. Wait about 5 minutes for rolls to cool without covering.
Slice rolls in half. Remove some of the inside of the roll from the top (this will better help keep the meatballs from rolling out of the slider).
Remove meatballs, green pepper and onion slices from heat. Scoop 4 meatballs with some of the green pepper and onion strips onto each roll. Before placing the top of the roll on top of the meatballs, sprinkle a desired amount of the shredded sharp cheddar cheese on top of the meatballs. Then place the top of the roll on top of the cheese and meatballs. Serve warm.

Nutrition
Calories 550 Fat 18g Sat. Fat 4g Carb. 55g Fiber 7g Protein 36g Sodium 833mg Potassium 400mg
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Back Story
From June to December, I had the honor being an Editorial Intern at Prevention Magazine. Through this life changing experience, I was able to learn different skills inside of the kitchen, about recipe creation and about nutrition analysis. One of the benefits of the positions was traveling to the test kitchen and trying the different recipes. This Meatball Sliders recipe was one of my favorites.

Of course I didn't follow the directions and took my own direction with it (I really will never learn...).

The reason I made this now was because I had a couple for frozen meatballs. I think one of the biggest reasons I make particular dishes is because I know I have a coupon for it. And why not save money where I can? There's something enthralling about clipping coupons. It's like a high that will save me money. 

I also had a coupon for frozen multi-grain rolls, so basically it was a double win. And because I was only making this recipe for two, I am able to save the rolls for other meals.

Tips and Tricks
These Meatball Sliders are very simple to make and assemble. While the prep and cooking time may seem a bit steep for a week night if you need to make dinner in a hurry, the meatballs can be made in advance and warmed up later. I wouldn't recommend making the rolls in advance if they're frozen because it could make the rolls stale.

My Mistake
I did make one mistake when making this recipe. I thought it would be a good idea to put the shredded cheese on top of the meatballs while they had to finish up baking in the oven. No.

With 5 minutes left to bake, I took the meatballs out of the oven. I tried to sprinkle the cheese on top of the meatballs, but because meatballs are obviously round, the cheese didn't stay on top of the meatballs and melted to the tray. I was determined and tried to sprinkle the cheese on all of the meatballs. At least I was dedicated enough to cover the entire tray. But the meatballs still had about 5 minutes left to cook.

So, because I didn't want to risk food poisoning, I put the meatballs back into the oven, cheese already melted to the baking sheet and all. And you know what happens to cheese after 5 minutes of baking? It burns. To the baking sheet. The meatballs were perfect but scraping burnt cheese off of a baking sheet is a pain in the ass.

This is why I topped the sliders with the cheese at the end. The cheese melted onto the meatballs at this point because they were still hot.  So in the end, don't make this mistake.

Not Ron Swanson's Turkey Leg

Unless you watch Parks and Recreation, I don't think you would understand that reference. So, let me catch you up on Pawnee's biggest and manliest meat eater in local government.

Above is a picture of Ron Swanson holding a turkey leg wrapped in bacon. It's called a Swanson. What I made? I guess you could call it a Tori. 

For some reason, I thought it would be a great idea to break out the slow cooker...at 11pm on a Monday night. I couldn't sleep, I had turkey legs in the fridge, and thus a creation was born. I left the slow cooker on low for the entire night and when I woke up the aroma was amazing. Even though it was 9 am, I wanted dinner right then and there. The turkey literally fell right off of the bone (which is why you don't see the bone in the picture down below). I knew it would be the perfect warm dish on a snowy day (as evidenced by the picture down below). There are also baby carrots and cauliflower in this dish, which just so happened to be the vegetables in my fridge at the time. I recommend trying this over mashed potatoes.

Slow Cooker Rosemary-Basil Turkey Legs with baby carrots and cauliflower. 

Nutrition
Serving: 3 (1 drumstick and 1 cup of baby carrots and cauliflower)
Calories: 346, Fat: 10g, Sat. Fat: 3.5g, Carb: 168.5g, Protein: 42g, Fiber: 7g, Sodium: 220mg, Potassium: 1169mg

Ingredients
3 to 4 Turkey Legs
1/2 head of cauliflower
1 10 oz bag of baby carrots
3/4 cup dry white wine or cooking white wine
1 1/2 Tbsp Rosemary
1 1/2 Tbsp Basil
1/2 Tbsp Garlic powder
pepper to taste
salt to taste

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 - 10 hr on low, 4 to 6 hr on high
Total Time: depends on cook time

Directions
1. Cut head of cauliflower into chunks. Place cauliflower and baby carrots into the slow cooker.
2. Remove the excess skin from turkey legs. Bury turkey legs into the cauliflower and baby carrots in the slow cooker.
3. Pour white wine over the ingredients already in the slow cooker.
4. Season ingredients in the slow cooker with rosemary, basil, garlic powder, pepper and salt. Do not stir ingredients.
5. Put lid on slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 6 hours. Do not lift lid at any point.
6. After cooking time is finished, use a meat thermometer to test temperature of turkey. The turkey should be at least 165 degrees for 15 seconds. The baby carrots and cauliflower should be tender.

God Carrot I Have Failed...

It's been a long time since I've updated this blog. It's been an even longer time since I've failed at creating a recipe. But I guess I have to share my failures as well as my successes.

Right now I am taking a class called Writing about Food. Basically, I love it. I've wanted to update my blog for so long, but this class truly inspired me to finally put aside the time and follow a recipe. Someone in the class mentioned carrots. 'Carrot', the word itself, triggered my imagination.

I love carrots. I can sit down and eat a whole bag of baby carrots (even though it's healthly gluttonly, it's still better than a bag of potato chips!) So I thought, I'm going to focus on carrots. And instead of a savory dinner or lunch dish, I'm going to bake with them.

I was wrong. Oh boy, I was so wrong. I was one of those weird kids that actually looked forward to carrot cake, but this time, I was so wrong. I didn't have time to make and frost a cake so I thought "let's try muffins!" And from that I thought, "I'm going to make this muffin recipe into a bread recipe." What? Why? I was so much younger last night. I've learned from my mistakes since then.

Let me take you through my mistakes, so you don't make the same

My first mistake: Thinking I was better than the recipe.
On Wednesday, quick after class, I Googled 'Carrot Muffin recipes.' I found 2 I liked. One from the Food Network (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/healthy-carrot-muffin-recipe/index.html) and one from Martha Stewart (http://www.marthastewart.com/337237/spiced-carrot-muffins).

I looked at both of these recipes, liking aspects from both, and tried to combine them into my own madness. I liked the whole wheat flour from the Food Network recipes and I like the use of yogurt in the Martha Stewart recipe. So I took my favorite aspects from each, combined them, and ultimately failed. What I should have done? Followed one recipe. I'm not a real chef. I have amateur cooking and baking skills. I should have stuck to the recipe.

My second mistake: I substituted ingredients I know I shouldn't have.
In the Martha Stewart recipe, it calls for plain yogurt. Not plain Greek yogurt. Just plain yogurt. So what did I do? I got cocky and thought 'This recipe is from 2004. I'm sure if Martha knew about Greek yogurt then, she would have used it...I'm as good as Martha.' Wrong. So wrong. And you know what? I hate plain yogurt. If I were to use yogurt in this recipe again, it would be vanilla non-Greek yogurt.

My third mistake: In a word, applesauce.
If you read either one of these recipes, you would see that neither of them calls for applesauce. Nope. Leave it to amateur chef Tori to think of the best way to add moisture. Typically, recipes will call for mixing of dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another and then combine them. Well, when I put the wet ingredients into the dry ones, still too dry. What did I think the best solution would be? I scattered all over the kitchen for vegetable oil when I remembered "No make this healthy buddy, use applesauce." Of course! So there it went. A 1/2 cup of applesauce into this mush I was trying to make into bread.

So, ultimately what was wrong with it? Everything.
And I'm not being over dramatic or over exaggerating by any means. The outside was too crisp and burnt, the inside was too moist and not fully baked (but if I left it in any longer, it would have been a black rock before the inside actually became fully solid). The taste was terrible. And I blame it all on the plain Greek yogurt. I really hate plain Greek yogurt for both the taste and the texture. The tart, thick cream like substance that it is should just be used to caulk bathroom tile. It was so bad I didn't even let Steve, the toting loyal try-anything-once-put my taste buds through anything-boyfriend, try it. Especially because I just got done berating him on how squeezing an entire lemon over salmon doesn't give salmon flavor, it just makes it bitter.

So I'd like to challenge you. If you can take these 2 recipes (because don't think I'm going to stop trying or researching on making carrot muffins or carrot bread or carrot something) and combine them to make something delicious, let me know! I will give you a prize of being my best friend and sending you a signed autograph of some lined paper I have laying around.

Also, I hereby promise to post more often and to make time to actually cook and bake more. Maybe then I wouldn't have to post about failing...

An Apology and A Promise

Dear my wonderful little blog,

I've missed you. I'm so sorry I've neglected you. It's college. I've been seeing her on the side again but I'm going to find a way to make it work for all of us. Come May, college and I are through. Possibly. I hate to admit it, but I've been looking at other colleges. More advanced colleges. But I promise I'll make it work between all of us.

I'll write soon. Look for some major attention on Friday.

Love,
A girl smitten with the kitchen but committed to academics

As Sweet As A Potato

Last Christmas, my mother gifted me a crock pot. Last Christmas, my mother gave me a life-changing gift.

Okay, so maybe not so drastic as “life-changing”, but it can be the lazy girl’s best friend to a hearty and healthy dinner.

And what is better in the fall than sweet potatoes? This cousin to the yam is packed with vitamin A, potassium and fiber. Plus they’re delicious. They’re subtly sweet taste goes with everything from savory dishes, like my adapted Crock Pot Sweet Potato Chicken Drumsticks, to Grandma’s traditional sweet potato pie. Their bright orange color inside color adds an eye catching vibrancy that makes you almost just want to look at your meal instead of divulge in it…almost.

I originally found a Chicken and Sweet Potato Stew recipe on eatingwell.com and added my own twist.

Crock Pot Sweet Potato Chicken Drumsticks

Nutrition

Servings: 6 (1 chicken drumstick and 1 cup sweet potatoes)

Calories: 249, Fat: 3.3 g, Sat. Fat: 0.8 g, Carb: 33 g, Protein: 14.5 g, Fiber: 5 g, Sodium: 519 g, Potassium: 777.5 g

Ingredients

5 – 6 skinless chicken drumsticks

2 lb sweet potatoes, cubed

½ lb white button mushrooms, sliced

4 shallots, halved

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup dry white wine or white cooking wine (found next to the vinegar in the grocery store)

2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary or ½ tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 ½ Tbsp white wine vinegar

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 4 hours, 15 minutes

Directions

1.      Place cubed sweet potatoes, sliced mushrooms, halved shallots, minced garlic into the crockpot.

2.      Bury drumsticks into the ingredients already in the crockpot.

3.      Season with rosemary, salt and pepper. Add dry white wine and white wine vinegar. Carefully stir to combine all ingredients.

4.      Put lid on and cook on low for the next 4 hours. Do not lift to stir.

5.      After 4 hours, check temperature of chicken (should be 165 degrees for at least 15 seconds) and sweet potato chunks should be tender. 

Serve this on a busy yet cool fall or winter day. It’ll warm you up right away! 

Now With Nutrition Facts!

All of the recipes I post from here on out will include serving sizes and nutrition facts! These are not nutrition facts that I have taken from other sources, but nutrition facts that I have analyzed myself. I will include at least one extra nutrient a dish is high in for a little extra bonus. Be happy, be healthy!

It's Not Bad To Be A Little Cheesy

If you like something, make it in large quantities, but only if you know you'll eat it all. With this dish, you'll be licking the bottom of the pan.

Pizza Hut used to or still does (I haven't checked) makes a dish similar to a cheap, cheesy, meaty, unhealthy lasagna. One night I found myself craving it because who doesn't love carb filling, greasy, cheesy pasta?

I found myself with a new challenge...to make this dish, but make this dish healthier. I think I have found a solution. Inspired by a recipe called Bakey Cheesy Pasta from backtoherroots.com, I put my own twist on it and here is what satisfying dish I have deliciously made to share.

Caution: This recipe does contain meat. I'm currently deciding what filling vegetable to replace the meat.

Cheesy Lasagna Impostor 

Nutrition
Servings: 8
Calories: 301, Fat: 15.5 g, Sat. Fat: 6.5 g, Carb: 16 g, Protein: 24.5 g, Fiber: 2 g, Sodium: 167 g, Calcium 233.5 mg

Ingredients
1 box (13.25 oz) whole grain penne
1 chopped green pepper
1/2 chopped lg yellow onion
Olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp garlic powder
1 package (8 oz) shredded low-fat mozzarella

Prep Time: 20 minutes (including pasta cooking time)
Bake Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: about 35 minutes

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Make pasta per box instructions.

3. While waiting for water to boil and pasta to cook, sautee green pepper and onion in a little bit of olive oil with 1 tsp each of dried basil, dried oregano and garlic powder. Sautee until onions are translucent and reduce heat until pasta is finished.

4. In a separate pan, start to brown ground turkey. While ground turkey is in the pan, season with 1 tsp of dried basil, dried oregano and garlic powder. Cook until full browned. Time browning the meat with the end of the pasta cooking to reduce sitting time. Start browning about half way 1/4 to almost 1/2 cooking time of pasta.

5. Drain pasta in colander.

6. In a 13 x 9 dish, carefully combine turkey, green pepper and onions and pasta. Stir in pasta sauce until it completely covers the dish from bottom to top. Sprinkle 2 cups of mozzarella cheese on top. Bake for 15 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven. Let rest for a couple of minutes before serving.

Store leftovers for a couple days. Serve with bread or side of steamed vegetables.