Your Beef and Broccoli Substitute!

Are you on the Meatless Monday's bandwagon yet? If your answer is no - why the heck not? Not only has my weekly grocery bill gone down since going full-time veg, I no longer suffer from daily heart burn or cramping and gas (yeah - I know you wanted to know that!) Any-who, I have been trying to take it a step further lately and healthi-fy my family's meals, 'cause everyone knows a can of Coke and a Snickers bar is "vegetarian". It also has to do with the fact that I am never home for dinner now - so when I am - I want to try and make it the best meal possible. Being in nursing school kind of makes you want to be a better person as well! I mean sheesh - I am learning about our bodies and how they work, what kind of risk factors different types/sexes/ethnicitys people have - and it makes you want to be a better person! A better person for my patients, for my family, for myself! Just take 2 short minutes to browse through my medical dictionary - the pictures alone will make you want to change your lifestyle to the healthiest possible, in hopes that you won't develop or catch some of the scariest looking medical problems you have ever seen!

So, in my quest to make a healthier dinner, I came across the site eatbetteramerica.com, (suggested by my Aunt Mary Jo actually - she also suggested the avocado soup that turned out yummy). Yeah, sure, it's a General Mills website (so you know there's an agenda), but at least they are trying, right? AND - if you are coupon-wiz, there are tons of coupons to download and print! On this site you will find your regular-run-of-the-mill healthy recipes, and there are also "healthified" recipes, taking old favorites and substituting a few ingredients to make it nutritionally better!

The following recipe is a stir fry - Portobello-Broccoli Stir-Fry that I found in the 30-minutes or less section. And YES! It took less than 30 minutes to prepare (I hate it when it actually takes longer than the stated time because of all the veggie-prep - but this one was true to it's word!) Now that I have eaten it (obviously - lol) it reminded me of a beef and broccoli dish I used to get for Chinese take-out. Reading the reviews on the site confirms this thought as well! Okay - first things first : I make up the sauce so it can meld a bit before I add it to the dish. The sauce was simple, but I did make some changes - I used everything in the recipe - water, soy sauce, hoisin sauce (found in the Asian isle of any well-stocked supermarket, I got mine at Biggs), cornstarch and honey. My family likes rich and bold flavors, so I doubled the hoisin and honey, and added a couple extra shakes of soy sauce as well.

Then it was time to wash and cut the vegetables. Onions, portobello mushrooms, red bell peppers, and broccoli! Really this is a great combo for any stir fry!

I get out my wok and let it pre-heat. I also spray it with some nonstick spray (instead of using oil). This makes the recipe "healthier" as I am not using large amounts of oil to saute the veggies. I start out by sauteing the onions, mushrooms, and red bell pepper first along with some minced garlic.

Once the onions and peppers have started to soften (about 5 minutes) I add the broccoli and about 1/4 cup of water and then I cover the wok with the lid. This is a steaming/stir frying technique that I had never tried before but it worked out really well! I keep the cover on the veggies for about 5 more minutes, or until the broccoli has turned bright green and has softened ever so slightly.

After the veggies have been softened (but not too soft!) I add the hoisin sauce mix. I let this cook for about 2 minutes tops and we are ready to eat!

If you didn't notice, there is not a picture of rice being prepared, that's because I was already-ready this particular day. A lot of times when I make rice, I will make a double batch and put the plain leftovers in the fridge. Rice will keep for a while in your fridge and it's super easy to reheat in the microwave!

The verdict - VERY TASTY! I will say though - next time I am going to add some crushed red pepper flakes to give it a kick!

If you are ready to get on the Meatless Mondays (or Tuesdays, or Thursdays, or whenever) bandwagon, and you want to try something familiar and not too out there, make this stir fry your go-to for the first week! You won't be disappointed!!!

Stuffed Then Baked Bread! aka - CALZONES!!!

So... obviously it's been forever, but I have a good excuse! My school keeps me busier than ever. Plain and simple! But, I'm back... for now... Next term is going to be super-crazy! Hopefully it will go by both quickly and successfully (just like the first one)!

This calzone recipe was actually made back in January (YEAH - that's how life has been!) Being on break this week, I finally got around to editing and uploading the pictures on blogger! The calzones turned out really tasty! Probably because they HAD to! It has a 4.5/5 from 442 reviews! It better be good! LOL! So - first things first I make the dough - yeast, water, sugar, salt and flower. I knead it once it's been mixed, and then let it rise for about 45 minutes.

About 30 minutes into the rise, I get the fillings ready. Yeah - that's pepperoni. But that's why calzones are soooo good! Everyone can have their choice of filling! Besides the pepperoni, I also had on hand spinach, mushrooms, onions, and jalapenos! That's another reason why calzones are great: just fill them with any and all leftovers around the kitchen!

I changed up the cheese just a little bit from the original recipe. I used part skim ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning in place of the basil. I also didn't mix all the veggies (and meat for Ronnie and Matt) with the cheese. Next time I will though! That would have been better than my layering technique.

Once the dough has risen, I flatten it out...

And separate it into four "equal" pieces. (Equal is not easy! LOL!)

Next, I roll the dough into "circles". (HAHA - that's not easy either! You can tell I'm not a baker.)

And then my favorite part of any calzone - the fillings! Like I said, I will mix the cheese and veggies together next time. It was more of a logistical reason this first time. (I didn't want pepperoni in mine!) But I think the final product would have been even better if I had gone for a mix! So I'll just make that happen next time.

I close the the calzone and push the edges with a fork to make a seal. Finally I brush the top with some olive oil.

And there they are! Ready to go in the oven! I marked the vegetarian ones with jalapenos - super easy and super smart!

While the calzones are baking I heat up some marinara sauce for dipping! YUM! This is also the time that everyone at the Luckey-Meyer house is getting anxious to eat the calzones that make the kitchen smell yummy! (Ronnie LOVED these - they're great for the entire family!)

30 minutes have passed, we made some salads to go along with our calzones, and dinner is served!

These were a bit time consuming but super easy to make! I made them on a Sunday, so I had plenty of time for dinner. I think the next time you need something to please everyone on a weekend - these calzones are the way to go!

HUNGRY!

I think it's about time for another post.... What do you think?

I'll get right on that!!!!