Turkey Meatloaf, Roasted Root Vegetables & Swiss Chard

All three of these were new recipes. Tonight was also apparently healthy night. ;) We all liked the turkey meatloaf (my husband ate four thick slices) and the veggies. He didn't like the greens, unfortunately. The veggies were all from the farmer's market on Tuesday. Next time I won't use the turnips. None of us loved them. Oh, well. :)

Turkey Meatloaf

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 tsp EACH salt and pepper
1/4 chicken broth
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp tomato paste
1 lb. ground turkey
1/2 c seasoned breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/2 c ketchup
3-4 tbsp ketchup

Saute onion with salt and pepper in olive oil, over medium-low heat, until translucent, about 15 minutes. Stir in broth, Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste. Cool to room temperature.

Using your hands, combine turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, 1/2 c ketchup, and onion mixture. Shape into a rectangular loaf and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Spread 3-4 tbsp ketchup evenly over top. Bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

Roasted Root Vegetables

2 carrots, peeled, cut into chunks
3 potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks
2 white turnips, peeled, cut into chunks
4 red beets, peeled, cut into chunks
1 onion, halved, then halves cut into quarters
5 garlic cloves, halved
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Italian seasoning

Place veggies on a baking sheet. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Drizzle with olive oil, then toss with your hands to coat. Bake at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

Sauteed Swiss Chard

3 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch Swiss chard
5 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute garlic for one minute. Add Swiss chard. Cook for about five minutes, until soft yet crisp. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.


Oh, and we had blueberry shortcake for dessert! :)

Shopping trips

Fred Meyer:

Disney Sparkle Princess Doll
Disney Princess Bath Beauty Doll
Table cloth
2 Lays potato chips
2 Ground turkey breast
2 lbs. blueberries
2.75 lbs. Alaskan crab legs
Coleman insulated shopping tote
12 premium annuals (pansies and snap dragons)

Spent: $47.55
Saved: $32.46

Carrs:

2 Pepsi max 2-liters
8 bottles Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
8 bags Goldfish crackers
Family size box Honey Bunches of Ots
Family size box Corn Chex
2 lbs. Kraft Singles
1 gallon milk
1 doz. eggs
32 oz. Vanilla cinnamon creamer
32 oz. Vanilla caramel creamer
8 1 lb. bags frozen vegetables
2 cans of frozen juice
Hot dog buns
1 lb. dry baby lima beans
8 ears sweet corn

Spent: $46.28
Saved: 76.84

Farmer's Market:

Bunch Swiss Chard
Bunch red beets
Bunch white turnips
Bunch onions
Jar of cranberry jelly
Jar of wildberry jelly
Jar of apple butter
Loaf of apple cinnamon whole wheat honey bread
3 German pastries
Large bottle of Rosemary Wild Blueberry vinegar

Spent: $36.00

Total Spent: $129.83
Total Saved: $109.30

We have $150 budgeted for two weeks, and we're good on meat. The leftover $20.17 will be used for more milk and fruit. I'll bake our bread in the bread machine.

Tonight for dinner we had a mish-mash of food. We had sweet corn, some of the apple bread, the German pastries, and half of a cantaloupe from last week. We've decided to have whatever we pick up at the Farmer's Market on whatever nights we go. Eat it while it's fresh!

$5 dinner

I didn't want to cook tonight, so here was our cheapo dinner...

2 Totino's cheese pizzas
1/8 of a watermelon
Broccoli

$5 for four people, and it took me all of three minutes. Yay for relaxation!

Quick Caramel Sticky Buns

Inexpensive, and very good! Serves ten for a brunch, but my husband, daughter and I almost finish it when we eat it on it's own. My husband usually eats half! :)

1/2 c butter
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1 c firmly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp water
2 10-oz. cans biscuits

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small saucepan, melt butter. Coat bottom and sides of an ungreased Bundt pan with two tablespoons of the melted butter. Sprinkle three tablespoons of the nuts over the bottom of the prepared pan. To remaining butter, add nuts, brown sugar and water; heat until boiling, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Separate biscuits into twenty biscuits. Cut each biscuit in half, and roll into a ball. Place 20 balls into prepared Bundt pan. Drizzle half of the caramel sauce over the balls. Repeat layers.

Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Invert immediately onto a plate, and remove from pan.

Serves 10.

Lentils and Rice

This was served to me many times by a Panamanian friend. Very yummy, healthy, easy, and cheap! It's good alone, or served with fried plantains or an avocado salad.

Ingredients

1 c lentils
1 c rice
1 large tomato, diced
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp dried cilantro
Salt*

Soak lentils overnight. Drain before cooking.

Place lentils and rice in a large saucepan. Cover with water, plus about 1". Bring to a boil. Add tomato, onion, garlic, cilantro, and salt. Cover; simmer for about an hour.

*There is no measurement for the salt. Use to taste. I usually use little to no salt when I cook, but for this dish I use a very generous amount.

You can change this recipe so many ways. Tonight I added another tbsp cilantro, some cumin and a can of Rotel. I put sour cream on top of it for my daughter.

Keilbasa two ways

Ingredients:

1 lb. turkey kielbasa
3 slices bacon
3 large potatoes
3 large carrots
3 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Grill method:
Dice bacon, potatoes, carrots and garlic. Place in a grill basket lined with foil & sprayed with Pam. Put basket and whole kielbasa onto grill. Cook until kielbasa is heated through and vegetables are tender, stirring vegetables occasionally.

Stove top method:
Slice kielbasa, potatoes and carrots, mince garlic. Fry bacon in a large skillet. Move to paper towels; do not drain grease. Add kielbasa, potatoes, carrots and garlic to grease in skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender and kielbasa is browned. Crumble bacon over top.

Creamy Ranch Chicken (Crockpot recipe)

1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream
1 clove garlic, minced
2 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
1 envelope Ranch dressing mix
1 lb. chicken breasts (boneless skinless)
Egg noodles

Mix first five ingredients. Pour over chicken in a slow cooker. Cook on high 3-4 hours, or low 6-8 hours. Serve over hot egg noodles.

*I also added 1 can drained corn.