Product Review: Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Veggie Meatballs

These meatballs couldn’t have appeared at a better time. About a week ago, I was searching for the vegetarian meatballs we normally eat (Nate’s) at my grocery store. They didn’t have them! I asked an employee about them, and she said they no longer carried any of their products! I couldn’t think of any other company that made veggie meatballs, and was envisioning a world without veggie meatball subs, and then I see these meatballs at Target (along with the long-missing veggie hotdogs!!!). Instructions call for either baking these or microwaving them, and I chose baking. You spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and bake for about 20 minutes, turning once. I made spaghetti and meatballs. After baking the meatballs, I added them to my pot of spaghetti sauce. I really liked these. They tasted very meaty. Liam didn’t like them, saying that they tasted like his (veggie) burger at Red Robin. I think these are a great addition to the MSF lineup. Hurray! PS: still trying to figure out the new camera.

rating: 9

 

Million Dollar Spaghetti

I found this recipe on Pinterest, and I followed the link to the blog, and boy, this recipe got some really good reviews! How could I not try it? I was a little dubious of the cream cheese. But it worked! This dish was REALLY good. Million dollars? I don’t know about that, but maybe 500,000? Toby stopped at two servings. He said he wanted to eat more but he was stuffed. The Morningstar Farms fake ground beef really worked in this. That cheese mixture really adds something to this. Try it!

rating: 9

Million Dollar Spaghetti
(http://ashleykaitlin.blogspot.com/)
Ingredients:

1 lb. of Ground Beef (I used Morningstar Farms Grillers Recipe Crumbles)
1 jar of Spaghetti Sauce
8 oz of Cream Cheese (that has been softened)
1/4 cup of Sour Cream
1/2 lb. of Cottage Cheese
4 tbsp butter
8 oz. of Noodles
Sharp Chedder Cheese, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook your noodles according to the directions on the package. While they are boiling, mix up the cream cheese, sour cream and cottage cheese. Make sure you mix this together very well (I used a hand mixer).

Cook the veggie crumbles in a frying pan (I used some cooking spray) until lightly browned. Pour the jar of spaghetti sauce over the meat and stir together.

Take a few slices of your butter and put them in the bottom of a casserole dish.
Layer HALF of the noodles in the bottom of the dish.

Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the noodles.
Then add the rest of your noodles and put a few slices of butter on top of those noodles.

Now pour the red sauce and fake meat on top and spread it out.

Now place the casserole in your oven for 30 minutes.

After those 30 minutes take the dish out and pour some chedder cheese on the top and put it back in the oven for 15 minutes or so, until browned.

 

Creamy “Chicken” Boxty

Here’s another international dish for ya: boxty! Boxty is a traditional Irish potato pancake! I had never heard of it, but Toby had, because he goes to Irish pubs after work sometimes and they have it on the menu. I am not sure if I made my pancakes big enough. In the picture in the magazine, they are filled and rolled up, like crepes. My pancakes were too small and thick to do that, so I just spooned the filling on top. Instead of the chicken, I used a bag of Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Chick’n Strips. I browned them in a frying pan with some cooking spray, then let them cool a bit and cut them into small pieces. I thought this turned out ok. Some of the pancakes fell apart, but the taste was still there. Toby said it was a little too beige for him. I like the idea of this (potato pancake with a topping), but this was missing a little zing!

rating: 7

Creamy “Chicken” Boxty
(www.tasteofhome.com)

serves 4
prep: 30 min. + standing
cook: 10 min./batch

Ingredients:

1 medium potato, peeled and grated
1-1/2 cups fat-free milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup mashed potato (made with fat-free milk)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

FILLING:

2 bacon strips, chopped (I omitted and used a little olive oil instead)
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 medium leek (white portion only), chopped
1/4 cup half-and-half cream
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup fat-free milk (I used Silk Lite plain soymilk)
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Place grated potato in a colander to drain; squeeze to remove excess liquid. Pat dry. In a large bowl, combine the grated potato, milk, flour, mashed potato, salt and pepper. Let stand for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Add mushrooms and leek; cook until tender. Gradually add cream. Whisk together flour and milk; add to pan. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in the chicken, salt and pepper; heat through. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
Coat another large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Pour 3/4 cup batter into center of skillet; lift and tilt pan to coat bottom evenly. Cook until top appears dry; turn and cook 2-3 minutes longer. Remove and keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter, coating skillet with cooking spray as needed.
Spoon filling onto pancakes.

1 boxty= 434 calories

 

Easy Colcannon

I have heard of Colcannon before but I have never tasted it. According to Wikipedia, Colcannon is “a traditional Irish dish consisting of mashed potatoes with kale or cabbage.” This recipe looked easy enough, so I gave it a whirl. I did not want my cabbage to be too crunchy, so I left it in the pot about 15 minutes or so (instead of the 5 they suggest). This was really good! It took a little getting used to, but I really liked it! I’ve had it for lunch the past couple of days, and the more I eat, the more I like! I served this with some Tofurky Beer Brats. PS: sorry about the fuzzy pic. We got a new camera, and I obviously haven’t learned how to focus yet.

rating: 9

Easy Colcannon
(www.tasteofhome.com)

serves 8
time needed: 30 min.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 pounds medium red potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
7-1/2 cups chopped cabbage
8 green onions, chopped
1 cup fat-free milk (I used Silk Lite Plain)
1/3 cup reduced-fat butter
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Place potatoes in a Dutch oven; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook over medium heat for 12-15 minutes or until potatoes are almost tender, adding the cabbage during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine green onions and milk. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-6 minutes or until onions are soft.
Drain potato mixture. Mash with milk mixture, butter, salt and pepper.

per serving: 131 calories

 

Creamy Shiitake Alfredo

I gave Toby the task of getting us the 1 pound of shiitake mushrooms at the grocery store, but he came back empty-handed. He said that 1 pound of them would cost about $15! So we used half baby bellas, and half some other kind of mushroom (I can’t remember what it was!). They worked just fine in this recipe! I mean, seriously, how can you go wrong with mushrooms, white wine, butter, thyme, and heavy cream?? This smelled SO good on the stove. The curly pasta I picked to use are called “nuggets”, but Liam referred to them as “brains”. And that’s the only was I got him to eat this! Eat those brains!

rating: 8.5

Creamy Shiitake Alfredo
(Everyday Food)

serves 4
active time: 50 min.
total time: 50 min.

Ingredients:

Coarse salt and ground pepper
3/4 pound fusilli or other short twisted pasta
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 small shallots, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
3/4 cup heavy cream
Grated Parmesan, for serving

Directions:

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high. Add shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until shallots are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and thyme and cook until mushrooms are tender, about 2 minutes. Add wine and cook until liquid is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low, stir in cream, and cook until warmed (do not let boil). Season with salt and pepper. Add pasta to skillet, toss to combine, and top with Parmesan.

per serving: 624 calories

 

 

 

Boursin Creamed Spinach

Toby doesn’t like spinach, but he will eat creamed spinach. Yeah, I don’t understand it, either. I had this recipe for creamed spinach and it sounded pretty good. It IS good, except for one thing: it’s too lemony. At least for us. The lemon is just overpowering. This made two small casseroles for me, and I was planning to munch on the second one all week, but I had to trash it because of, you guessed it, the lemon. PS: I used panko instead of bread crumbs.

rating: 5

Boursin Creamed Spinach
(www.cuisineathome.com)
makes about 2 cups
total time: about 1 hour
Spinach Filling:

1/2 cup diced onion
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pkg. Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs cheese (5.2 oz)
1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry of excess moisture (10 oz).
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
1 tsp minced lemon zest
salt, white pepper, cayenne pepper, and ground nutmeg to taste

Crumb topping:

2/3 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs (made from 2 slices firm white bread)
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Coat a shallow 2-cup baking dish with nonstick spray; set aside.
2. Saute onion in 1 tbsp butter in a saucepan over medium heat until soft, 5 minutes.
3. Add flour and stir to coat onion. Cook about 1 min.
4. Gradually whisk milk and cream into onion mixture, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Simmer sauce for 1 minute.
5. Stir in Boursin, a little at a time, until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Remove saucepan from heat.
6. Add spinach, Parmesan, zest, and seasonings. Transfer spinach mixture to prepared baking dish.
7. Combine crumbs, 1 tbsp butter, oil, salt, and pepper. Top spinach with crumbs, pressing them to adhere. (Dish may be covered and chilled at this point to be baked later.) Place dish on a baking sheet; bake until crumbs are golden and sauce is bubbly, 20-25 min.

per 1/3 cup: 296 calories

 

 

 

Crispy Garlic Sage Potatoes

I needed something new to do with potatoes, so I searched on Food Network’s site and found this recipe. This recipe is simple, but beware, it takes a while! Although, I didn’t cook my potatoes the full hour and 15 minutes. After about an hour, mine were brown enough! These were really good! I could barely taste the sage, but I guess they added a little something. We ate all of these!

rating: 9

Crispy Garlic Sage Potatoes
(www.foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients:

4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
6 sage leaves, chopped
2 sprigs sage
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
8 garlic cloves, smashed

Directions:

Put a baking sheet on the bottom oven rack and preheat to 375 degrees F. Peel potatoes and cut into wedges. Toss with olive oil, chopped sage leaves, 2 sprigs sage, salt and pepper. Spread on the hot baking sheet and roast 30 minutes. Stir, then add garlic cloves; continue roasting until golden, about 30 minutes. Increase the temperature to 400 degrees F and cook until crisp, 15 more minutes. Season with salt.

 

 

 

 

Creamy Root Vegetable Stew with Gruyere Crostini

When we go to the grocery store on Sundays, I have a list and I give Toby a list, and we split up (and he takes Liam). Things get done fast that way. And usually I give Toby the bulk of the produce. Last week I told him to get a rutabaga and a turnip for this dish. At the checkout line, he tells me that the rutabagas were also labeled “yellow turnips”, so I could use the one he got for both. Hmm. But this dish called for both! In any case, I used this “turnabaga“, the parsnip and potatoes, and it came out just fine. That “turnabaga” was really hard to chop! I am lucky I didn’t lose a finger! This stew is very creamy and  is basically comfort in a bowl. It’s a shame it wasn’t snowing outside when we ate it.

rating: 9

Creamy Root Vegetable Stew with Gruyere Crostini
(Cooking Light, Oct. 2010)
serves 4
time needed: 52 min.
Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, divided
2 1/2 cups (3/4-inch) diced peeled Yukon gold potato (about 1 pound)
2 1/4 cups (3/4-inch) diced peeled rutabaga (about 3/4 pound)
2 cups (3/4-inch) diced peeled turnip
1 1/4 cups (3/4-inch) diced peeled parsnip (about 1/2 pound)
2 cups organic vegetable broth
2 cups water
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 (1/8-inch) slices diagonally cut French bread baguette
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion to pan; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and 2 teaspoons rosemary; cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Stir in potato and next 5 ingredients (through 2 cups water). Bring to a simmer; cook, covered, 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

2. Place 3 cups vegetable mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Return to pan. Stir in cream, pepper, and salt.

3. Preheat broiler.

4. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet. Sprinkle each bread slice with 1 tablespoon cheese; top evenly with remaining 1 teaspoon rosemary. Broil 1 minute or until cheese melts.

per serving: 383 calories

 

 

 

 

Apple Crisp

One night last week I was reading an issue of O Magazine, and I came across this story about a woman that had lost her sense of smell. She had to learn a new way of cooking to overcome this, and would use other senses to check on her food. In any case, her sense of smell did come back. Wouldn’t that be horrible, to lose your sense of smell? Food just wouldn’t taste the same. This is one of the recipes she included in her article. There was also a picture, and the next day, I raced to the store to get a couple of ingredients so I could make this recipe THAT DAY. And boy, am I glad I did. Although, I am the only one in my family with a sweet tooth, so I practically had to eat the whole thing by myself. The apples were cooked just right, and the crust…oh, the crust. Don’t leave out the nuts! And do serve it warm with vanilla ice cream, and make sure you get some hot and cold in every bite.

rating: 9.7

Apple Crisp
(O magazine)

Serves 8
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1¼ hours

Ingredients

Filling:

6 apples (ideally a mix of varieties, like Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and McIntosh), peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice from ½ lemon
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

Topping:

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
6 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
¼ tsp. salt
½ Tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground cloves
1⅓ cups pecans, lightly toasted; ⅔ cup ground in a food processor until almost as fine as flour and ⅔ cup roughly chopped
12 Tbsp. (1½ sticks) cold butter, cut into small pieces
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°. Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl.

To make topping: In another bowl, combine flour, sugars, salt, spices, and nuts. Add butter pieces and quickly work them into the mix using your fingertips, until they are evenly distributed and about the size of peas.

Butter and flour a 9″ × 12″ baking pan and spoon in apple mixture. Spread topping over apples, patting down with your hands and making sure no fruit is uncovered. Bake until top is golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes. Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream on top.

 

Pumpkin Soup with Spiced Croutons

The first couple spoonfuls of this soup I did not love. But, the more I ate it, the more I liked it. Toby really liked it and gave me an “oh wow” after his first taste. I thought it was too “pumpkiny” and was thinking of a Plan B dinner, but really, the more I ate, the more I liked. And don’t forget the spiced croutons! I made two batches of them so we could snack on them. I tried to get one crouton in every spoonful of soup!

rating: 9

Pumpkin Soup with Spiced Croutons
(Better Homes & Gardens, Feb. 2009)
time needed: 30 min.
serves 8

Ingredients:

2 medium carrots, sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 15 ounce cans pumpkin
1 32 ounce box reduced-sodium chicken broth (I used vegetarian chicken broth)
1/2 cup half-and-half or light cream
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 recipe Spiced Croutons (see recipe below)
Celery leaves (optional)

Directions:

1. In large saucepan cook carrots in hot butter over medium heat for 2 minutes; add onion, celery, and garlic. Cook 8 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
2. Stir in pumpkin, broth, half-and-half, water, maple syrup, and pumpkin pie spice. Heat through. Season with salt and pepper.
3. To serve, top soup with Spiced Croutons and celery leaves. Makes 8 side-dish servings.

Spiced Croutons
3 cups 1-inch bread cubes
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoons butter

In a bowl toss bread cubes with pumpkin pie spice. In large skillet cook bread cubes in hot butter for 8 minutes or until toasted, turning occasionally.

per serving: 200 calories