Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Weekday Recipe Roundup

Hello lovelies... How is your week going?  I am sooo ready for a holiday, I can't even tell you!  Thank goodness I have pasta to look forward to tonight cos I really need a pick me up. : ) Here's your menu for the week!
Sunday - Meat Loaf with Roasted Veggies and Mashed Potatoes
I love this classic! Such comfort, such flavour... : )
What you'll need:
A pack of extra lean ground beef- about 1.5lbs
Bread crumbs - a little more than a half a cup
1 Egg
1 Onion chopped
Worcestershire - a couple squirts
2 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary finely chopped
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

Mix it all up with your hands until it's one big meat ball and squish it into a loaf pan.

Make the sauce:
I use maple bbq sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, and garlic salt but ketchup and brown sugar will do just fine.
Make about a 1/2 cup.

Cover your loaf in sauce and cook uncovered for 1-1.5 hours at 350.
Serve with roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes.
SOOOO good.

Tea and sweets for dessert! 
 Brazilian Donuts from the bakery...they melt in your mouth right down to your thighs!
 Monday - Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce
This was effing good!
I've often seen spaghetti squash at the grocery store but I've never tried it and now that I have I'll definitely be adding this recipe into the rotation! It's not pasta, but it's a pretty good guiltless version I must say!
What you'll need:

1 spaghetti squash
1 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves sliced thinly
1 red onion
1 can diced tomatoes
Handful of fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp capers
3 tbsp sliced kalamata olives
1/3 cup of red wine
Package of panchetta (Italian bacon)fried and crumbled
1 cup Parmesan cheese 
Pepper to taste

Directions:
-To start with, slice your squash down the centre and remove all the seeds. Place both halves down on a baking tray and poke with a fork a few times to let out the steam.
-Preheat oven to 350 and cook the squash for 50 minutes to an hour.
-Meanwhile fry up the panchetta until crispy and set aside.
-Add your olive oil to the pan and fry up the onion until soft and then add the garlic.
-Cook the garlic till fragrant and then add the tomatoes, capers, olives and basil leaves and cook for 5 minutes.
-Add the red wine and bring to a boil for an additional 2-3 minutes.
-Set aside and keep warm.
-Take out your squash and begin pulling the insides out with a fork and placing in a bowl.
-Crumble up the panchetta and add to the squash.
-Toss with cheese, and 2 tbsp of basil immediately.

Divide the squash mixture onto plates and top with your sauce.  Top with some more cheese and garnish with basil. 
  
Tuesday - Garlic Soba Noodles with Grilled Shrimp
What you'll need:
Sauce:
1/4 cup ponzu sauce (or in my case, just low sodium soya sauce)
1/2 tsp of dark sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar
Juice of 1 lime (or 1/4 cup of bottled lime juice)
Noodles and shrimp:
1x  8 or 9 ounce package of soba noodles
3/4 pound bag of med shrimp peeled and deveined.1 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
1 shallot thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
1 tbsp ginger chopped
8-10 brown mushrooms sliced
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
1 green onion
1 lime quartered

Directions:
-Combine all sauce components in a bowl.
-Fry up garlic and shallots and ginger in oil for 2 minutes, add mushrooms and cook 5-7 minutes until tender. 
-Set Aside
-Fry shrimp with salt and oil until hot.
-Cook soba noodles for 4 minutes or until soft, drain and rinse with cold water.  Don't overcook!

-Toss noodles with mushroom mixture and sauce.

-Divide onto plates and top with cilantro and green onion.

Wednesday - Pizza and Arugula Salad
What you'll need:
2 crusts with sauce included but I used pesto on one instead of the sauce.
Mozzarella cheese
Toppings of your choosing… I used prosciutto, mushrooms, tomato, and shallots on one and mushrooms, prosciutto, sun dried tomatoes, goat cheese, and basil pesto on the other.
Just follow the directions on the package for cooking.
Serve with a green salad

Thursday - Jerk Chicken with a Baked Sweet Potato and Salad

What you'll need:
Jar of Jerk Sauce (Mr. Gouda's brand is my fav)
Chicken Drumsticks (12)
Sweet Potatoes x 2

Directions:
-Toss your chicken in half a jar of jerk sauce and let sit for a little bit…(1/2 hour is best)
-Meanwhile wrap two sweet potatoes in foil and cook at 350 for an hour or until soft.
-Meanwhile put the chicken and all the sauce in a casserole dish and place in the oven with the sweet potatoes for 1 hour or until chicken is fully cooked

-Once your sweet potatoes and soft, cut them in half and serve each half with 3 chicken drumsticks and green salad.

That's all folks!
Hope you enjoyed these weekly meal ideas...
Thanks for reading...
Love Desiree
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