Jambalaya! Sparks style.....

We kinda went meat crazy while shopping this week and got more than we normally eat.  To use some of it up, I think I'll make one of the family favorites and throw together a pot of jambalaya.... Of course, I'm allergic to shellfish, so it will lack shrimp or other crustaceans that people love so much.  This is a hearty, spicy melange of rice and beans with a few different meats.  Great on cold days, or to stretch a small amount of meat to feed a family (or if you're like us, and just don't like every meal to be heavy on the meats.)

A simple one pot meal that takes little effort to be outstanding.  Also, like most things we make, be creative and change it up.  Heck, I won't link the vegetarians here, because of the amount of meat and meat products in this version, but you could make an all veggie version of this as well, simply substitute the chicken stock for vegetable stock, and use heartier veggies like chunks of portabello, beets, carrots, cauliflower and turnips, chick peas and other beans; I just might have to try that.....

Cost: around $7 for the potful
Time: About an hour
Difficulty: 2

Sunday night: Pasta again!!

Sunday is a transition day at the Sparks house, so I made something with little thought, but lots of flavor.

Rigatoni with a very veggie sauce (and a little chicken sausage)

This sauce is seriously heavy on the veggies.  Started with my basic mix of onions, garlic, celery and carrot sauteed together, then crumbled in the remaining two chicken sausages from the other night.  Added a jar of organic pasta sauce this time (cheater!) and continued to add veggies.  Zucchini, mushrooms, yellow peppers.  Served on a bed of rigatoni, topped with fresh grated romano.. MmMm.  

The Sunday night routine...

So... A 7:00 work arrival doesn't leave much time to prepare a hearty breakfast... What does one do? Enter: pre-made steel cut oats...

What I do is, prepare these wonderful individual servings of steel cut oatmeal. I buy the organic ones for about a buck a pound at my grocery store.  Simply cook with a 3:1 ratio of water to oats. I add a dash of salt and about a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the water and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

A work-weeks worth of healthy breakfasts for around $2

When the oats are done, I add a handful each of flax seed and sliced blanched almonds and stir together. Top each serving with a dash of cinnamon, a little brown sugar and dried fruit. These are cranberry and golden raisins. Delicious.

They keep fresh and retain flavor as well as texture for about a week in the fridge. I make five every Sunday and am good on breakfast until Friday.

Cost: Around $2 for 5 servings

Time: 40 minutes start to finish

Difficulty: 1

Sunday Morning Waffles!

Been wanting waffles for a while so I made these:

Belgian waffles with lemon curd, powdered sugar, almonds and cranberries

Waffle batter is pretty simple.  Eggs, flour, baking powder (and/or soda), milk and oil.  Flavor with a dash or two of vanilla and some cinnamon and ground ginger for that pop.  We all top them differently at my house, from Maple syrup to fresh fruits to simple powdered sugar.  I am trying to find a local place to buy Belgian pearl sugar, but it's pretty rare stuff, and I just can't see paying $5+ shipping for a 1/2lb box online.  Let me know if you have it near you and would be willing to send a box.

Cost: $6 including 1/2lb bacon

Time: 30 minutes or so, with constant waffle making

Difficulty: 3

Friday: Chicken/Spinach/Feta Sausage Sandwiches with Hush Puppies and Green Beans

Fridays we let the health level dip a bit, often it's a night for pizza or burgers or something, and it's the only night we can watch a movie or play video games during dinner, pizza party night, if you will.  This Friday, we got home late from Disc Golf, so we threw a little something together and still ate at the table.

Simply pan grilled the sausages until cooked through, added onions to the pan to caramelize while the sausages cooked.  Piled the onions high on bakery white bread, topped with dijon mustard.

The hush puppies were our Friday treat.  Jiffy cornbread mix made thicker than usual, added canned corn, diced fresh jalapenos and tiny cubes of cheddar.  Cooked them in the deep fryer.

Taylor made the green beans.  Steamed them halfway to retain vitamins, then sauteed in a pan with olive oil to finish. A dash of kosher salt was all they needed.

Cost: $7 total, and we had 2 sausages left over to add to pasta sauce for tomorrow.

Time: 25 minutes total.

Difficulty: 2

Thursday: Tofu and Veggie Stir-fry

This stir-fry takes a little bit of planning.  Marinate firm or extra firm tofu in a mixture of soy sauce, seasoned rice vinegar, a dash of sugar and sliced fresh ginger overnight first.  Well worth the effort.

Carrots, celery, onions, lots of broccoli, yellow peppers, fresh ginger and marinated tofu.  Heat wok and a separate pan of oil.  Toss veggies in wok starting with onion, then work your way from densest to least dense.  While that's going, fry the tofu in peanut oil until firm and toasty on the outside.  Once ready, add it to the veggies.  Done. I add a dash of soy sauce and a little seasoned rice vinegar while cooking to get the liquid out of the veggies.  This one is missing baby bok choy, but there was none when we shopped.  You can thicken the sauce with a little bit of corn starch shaken with some water.  Served with steamed white rice, as plain as can be.  Does it get any easier? 

Cost: $7 or so for a big wokfull.  3 meals and leftovers for lunch.

Time: 20 minutes from start.  Lots of chopping involved.

Difficulty: 2 Seriously, just chop it up and toss it in.  Just remember to marinate your tofu the night before.

Wednesday: Spaghetti madness!!!!!!!!  Who doesn't love spaghetti and meatballs?

I just wrote up my meatball recipe and will post it and link it here soon.  

Basically, 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 bulk Italian sausage mushed up with crumbled saltine crackers, tomato paste, eggs and spices.  The real secret ingredients are about a tablespoon of fennel seed and crushed red peppers.  It gives them a nice sweet/spicy flavor.  My protip for meatballs: Thrice cooked.  Yes, thrice. Pan sear until toasty on the outside, then bake at 325f for fifteen minutes and finish by simmering in sauce for another fifteen minutes or so.  This way they get that nice pan seared crust, then have a chance to bake out the fat, and finally, replace it with moisture from the sauce.  Perfect every time.

I also make my own sauce.  Heat a bay leaf in a pan of olive oil.  Mince together onion, garlic, carrot and celery and caramelize over medium heat.  Add a large can of diced tomatoes, and a small can or tomato sauce.  Add diced zucchini and mushrooms and let simmer for 15 minutes or so.  You can add ground beef just after the veggies caramelize for a meat sauce as well, but I prefer a lighter sauce if I am doing meatballs too.  And the sauce has enough veggie power that none are needed on the side for this meal.   Although, this pairs nicely with steamed asparagus on the side.

Cost: $12 or so total, however this makes aout two dozen meatballs, half of which I freeze for later use.

Total time: About an hour start to finish

Difficulty: 4 (the multiple cooking of the meatballs takes some getting used to, you don't want to over cook them at either of the first two stages.

Tuesday night was taco night.  MMmmM... tacos.

Ground beef seasoned with minced onion, crushed garlic, seasoning salt, crushed red pepper flakes, chili powder, cumin and other spices.

Salsa fresca: onions, fresh jalapenos, fresh tomatoes and cilantro.  Topped with shredded cheddar, shredded green leaf lettuce and Mexican cream.  A dash of Tapatio to finish it off.

Cost: around $7 made six tacos with some stuff left over.

Time: 20 minutes from the get-go

Difficulty: 2