{Midweek Sloppy Joes with Onion Rings and Grilled Zucchini}

I was really excited about making this dinner all week. I haven’t had sloppy joes in forever and since I’m back on my comfort food kick, it seemed like the perfect meal to make. We bought my favorite frozen onion rings from trader joes to go along with the meal, definitely a guilty pleasure but so worth it! I also grilled some zucchini in some olive oil with some salt and pepper just so I could say it was a well rounded meal.

It’s been HOT here on the central coast this week, but I’m still trying to channel fall with my food choices. Please? I’m hoping to head to Avila Valley Barn on Saturday to grab some fall decor for our kitchen table so even if the weather won’t cooperate, I can at least pretend when I’m inside.

Oh yeah, and I used ground turkey in my recipe–can’t say I’ve ever had a sloppy joe with beef!

Here’s the Sloppy Joes Recipe

Makes 4

*adapted from Cooking Light

Print recipe!

Ingredients:

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

1/2 cup corn kernels

3/4 pound ground turkey

2 cups tomato sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon mustard

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

4 rolls

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

Steps:

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Add the onion, pepper and turkey meat. Cook until turkey is browned, stirring to crumble.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients (expect the rolls).

Cover and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Toast rolls, add turkey, and enjoy!

{Back to Work Lunches Part I}

Hi everyone, hope you had a great weekend!

Since I headed back to school/work last week, I had to start getting used to pre-making my lunch again, especially since I don’t always have leftovers to bring. So I thought it might be fun this week to focus on easy, healthy-ish lunches that you can make ahead the night. Sound good? Good.

For today’s lunch, I made a Quinoa Black Bean Hummus Flatbread Sandwich. That’s a mouthful! It was supposed to be a pita, but I accidentally grabbed the wrong bag during my weekly trip to Trader Joe’s… As the week goes on, my lunches get significantly less complicated–this sandwich/pita/flatbread is probably the most labor intensive lunch of the week and it took all of about 15 minutes to make. It’s also really filling, which is great for me since I tend to lose focus when I’m hungry!

PS: Here are the ingredients–this is my absolute favorite hummus!

Quinoa Black Bean Hummus Flatbread Sandwich Recipe

Makes 1 sandwich

Print recipe!

Ingredients:

For the sandwich:
1 whole wheat flatbread of pita
1 tablespoon hummus
5-6 pieces fresh spinach

For the filling:
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/4 cup black beans
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 jalepeno, chopped
1/2 lime, for juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Steps:

In a small bowl, combine all filling ingredients and mix well.

If using pita, spread hummus on the inside, fill with spinach leaves, and then fill remaining space with filling. If using flatbread, spread hummus on top, cover hummus with spinach leaves, then add filling. To eat, roll the sides of the flatbread to create a taco-esque sandwich.

Enjoy!

Do you bring your lunch to work with you each day?

{Artichoke Brie Panini with a Garlic Lemon Aioli}

I’ve been imagining this sandwich ever since I bought that hunk of brie for last last Saturday’s adventure, and finally picked up the rest of the ingredients I needed last night. It was the perfect meal after my long first day back at work–easy to make and and full of cheesy goodness. The artichokes and the brie are magical together and the aioli, with the touch of lemon, is the icing on the cake. The aioli is super easy to make–I’d never even attempted it before tonight and it took all of about 3 minutes to perfect.

Artichoke Brie Panini with a Garlic Lemon Aioli Recipe

Makes 1* Jeff made his own bbq’d meaty sandwich instead but I had to fight him away from mine once he had a bite!

Print recipe!

Ingredients:

Garlic Lemon Aioli:
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced

Panini:
1 baguette
4-5 thick slices of brie
4-5 marinated artichoke hearts
3 slices tomato
4 pieces spinach

Steps:

Turn on broiler (you can also just use a toaster oven if you have one or a panini press if you’re super fancy like that)

In a small bowl, combine aioli ingredients and set aside.

Cut your baguette in half. Spread a generous amount of aioli on each side then top one side with brie slices and the other with the artichoke hearts and tomato.

Place baguette in broiler and cook for about 4 minutes, until cheese is melted and bread is toasted.

Remove baguette from broiler, add spinach, and combine the two sides of the baguette to form your panini.

Enjoy!

{Lazy Night Dinner}

I was feeling pretty lazy in the kitchen the other night but still craving something with lots of flavor. The result? BLTAs.

I’m pretty sure whoever decided to add avocado to BLTs was a genius. I mean, bacon AND avocado?!

Well, for Jeff anyway. I had to modify mine with some mozzarella instead of  bacon, since I’m still not eating meat. The smell of the bacon was amaaaaaaazing–it was so hard to resist!

Here’s the recipe:

BLTA Recipe
Serves 2

Print recipe!

Ingredients:

4 slices sourdough bread, toasted
3-4 slices of bacon, per sandwich
1 avocado, 1/2 per sandwich
4 slices tomato
1 tb Mayonnaise, per sandwich
1 leaf fresh lettuce, chopped

Steps:

Fry about 3-4 slices of  bacon per sandwich in a medium size pan until slightly crispy. When finished, remove bacon and place on a paper towel covered plate to let some of the fat drip off.

While the bacon fries, slice tomato, cut lettuce, and toast bread. Cut avocado in half and remove pit.

Spread mayo on on one side of toasted bread and spoon out 1/2 of avocado and spread on other side of bread.

Add bacon, lettuce, and tomato.

Devour.

What do you cook when you’re feeling lazy?