Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps

This was a meal that I picked out when I was feeling the need for a healthy, light meal. Of course this meal got pushed to the end of the week because it just didn't sound quite as good as some of the other meals. But I was wrong because this meal was fantastic! Andrew and I both loved the flavors of the meatballs and the sauce and they were healthy to boot. Healthy meatballs, who'd have thunk it?!? This was one of those meals that I can't wait to make again because it was just that good!

Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps

adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen

for the meatballs

1lb ground turkey

1/2 red bell pepper, roughly chopped

1 carrot, roughly chopped

1/2 small white onion, roughly chopped

1-inch piece of ginger, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, roughly chopped

1/3 cup cilantro leaves

3 sprigs of mint leaves

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

for the sauce

3 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

for serving

lettuce leaves

finely chopped cucumber

shredded carrots

cilantro

mint leaves

In a food processor, add bell pepper, carrots, onion, ginger, garlic, cilantro and mint leaves. Pulse several times, or until everything is finely chopped (not pureed!). Spoon mixture into a large bowl and add turkey, soy sauce and sesame oil. Mix well with your hands. Form into one-inch meatballs and place meatballs on a greased or nonstick baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine all sauce ingredients and let flavors marry while meatballs are resting.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush meatballs liberally with the hoisin sauce. Bake meatballs for 20-25 minutes. Transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate to get rid of any grease. Serve with the sauce, lettuce leaves, cucumbers, carrots, cilantro and/or mint leaves.

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BBQ Chicken Calzone

Have you heard of Pinterest? One of my friends first told me about it a few weeks ago and I thought it sounded like another time-sucking website I needed to avoid. Of course, I chose not to and it's now my favorite place to play on the web. If the dishes don't get cleaned, the laundry doesn't get folded (or even washed), the floors don't get swept...it's all Pinterest's fault. Sad but true!

Pinterest is basically an online bulletin board where you can 'pin' pictures, recipes, ideas, quotes, etc. of things from anywhere on the internet. You can create different files - for example, I have boards for recipes, party ideas, fun activities to do with Finley, and ideas for home decor - so that all your online inspiration/ideas are organized. I love to be organized, especially since I find it so hard to be in real life:-) Anyway, all this gabbing about Pinterest has a point.

I made an upscale version of CPK's BBQ Chicken Pizza (with bacon, chicken, smoked gouda and caramelized onions) a few weeks ago, but the cheese I chose didn't melt well so the end result tasted fantastic but did not look pretty. When I was on Pinterest a few days ago I saw a tutorial about how to create a really good-looking calzone. And inspiration hit - I decided to turn my ugly duckling of a pizza into a beautiful calzone.

BBQ Chicken Stromboli

a Baking and Eggs original recipe

here's a link to the wrap tutorial, in case you'd like step by step pictures

3 slices bacon, preferably hickory smoked

1 red onion, sliced into thin rings

1 tube refrigerated french bread dough

1/4 -1/3 cup smoky barbecue sauce, depending on how saucy you like your pizza

1 chicken breast, cooked and diced (I used a breast from a rotisserie chicken)

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

7 oz smoked gouda cheese, shredded

Extra barbecue sauce, for serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook bacon until lightly browned and crisp. Remove bacon to paper towel-lined plate to cool. When cool, crumble bacon and set aside.

Reserve 1 tablespoon bacon drippings in the pan, lower heat to medium-low and add the onion. Stirring occasionally to keep onion from burning, cook until onion is soft and golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, spread out your dough onto a baking sheet - sides may hang off the sheet but that's okay. Orient the dough with the short side facing you and spread the BBQ sauce down the middle (vertical). Top with the chicken, crumbled bacon, caramelized onion, cilantro and cheese.

Now comes the fun part! Cut the dough on each side of the filling in 3/4-inch intervals - you want to have the same number of strips on each side. Start at the bottom, alternating sides, stretch the strip up and across the filling on a slight diagonal. Keep doing that until you reach the last strip.

Bake at 350 degrees until the dough is a light golden brown, about 25 minutes. Serve with extra barbecue sauce, if desired!

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Butterfinger Cupcakes

OMG! These were delicious and I was amazed at how perfectly the frosting mimicked the flavors of a Butterfinger candy bar. I brought these to a potluck on Saturday and everyone raved about them.

To simplify the recipe, I used a butter chocolate cake mix rather than a homemade cake, but one day soon I plan on trying the cake recipe. My cupcakes had a chocolate cake base, then they were topped with half of a snack-sized Butterfinger, which was covered with the amazing frosting and then crushed Butterfingers were sprinkled on top of the frosting. Layer upon layer of glorious flavor! What's not to love about that?!?

Since I used the exact recipe for the frosting, I won't type it out. Here is the link to the recipe, if you're interested, which you totally should be because these puppies were beyond awesome!

Butterfinger Cupcakes

recipe from Annie's Eats

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My Favorite Sandwich

I love sandwiches. I don't know why but I just do. And this sandwich was great. It combined a subtle sweetness from the Hawaiian bread, the potent tang of fresh pesto, the smoky flavor of good deli meats and the creaminess of cheese. Delish! We had it for dinner and again for lunch the next day. And I'd eat it again today if I hadn't have run out of meat and cheese!

My Favorite Sandwich

recipe from Recipes to Run On

Hawaiian bread

Pesto - fresh or store bought

Mayonnaise

Good quality deli turkey, thinly sliced

Good quality deli ham, thinly sliced

Good quality provolone cheese, thinly sliced

Spread a light layer of mayo on the bottom piece of bread. Top with ham, turkey, and cheese. On the top piece of bread, spread a healthy dollop of pesto and place bread over the meats and cheese. Cut sandwich in half and enjoy.

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Meal Plan- July 10th thru 16th

Dinners -

1.) Pesto Minestrone Soup, Rustic Baguette

2.) Thai Lettuce Wraps, Edamame

3.) Beer Battered Coconut Shrimp, Rice and Beans

4.) BBQ Chicken Stromboli, Green Salad

5.) My Favorite Sandwich, Sweet Potato Chips

Snacks/Dessert/Lunches/Breakfasts -

1.) Donut Muffins

2.) Baked Chicken Taquitos

3.) Butterfinger Cupcakes

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The Ultimate BBQ Sauce

This was our main dish for our 4th of July celebration, which wasn't much of a celebration since Finley and I were both down with colds. Regardless we rallied and put together a fun barbecue dinner. Our ribs weren't as tender as we would have liked so we're going to do some further experimentation on that part of the recipe. But the homemade barbecue sauce was to die for! I keep sneaking little bites here and there all afternoon as it sat on the stove - not to worry I didn't double-dip as to contaminate Andrew with my cold :-)

I think this will become my go to BBQ sauce recipe. It's another recipe from Tyler Florence and he mentioned that you can make the same sauce but add peach preserves to create a peach barbecue sauce for chicken. That will be next on my list!

The Ultimate BBQ Sauce

recipe from Tyler's Ultimate by Tyler Florence

1 bacon slice

1 bunch fresh thyme

extra virgin olive oil

1/2 onion

2 garlic cloves

2 cups ketchup

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

freshly ground black pepper

Wrap the bacon around the thyme bunch and tie together with kitchen twine. Heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the thyme bundle and cook slowly for 3-4 minutes to render the bacon fat and to give the sauce a nice smoky flavor. Add the onion and garlic and cook slowly without coloring for 5 minutes. Add all the rest of the ingredients, give the sauce a stir, and turn the heat down to low. Cook slowly for 20 minutes to meld the flavors. (We cooked ours for over two hours while the ribs were cooking.) Just before serving, remove thyme bundle, onion and garlic cloves.

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Almond Raspberry Brownies

For years I've been making a simple chocolate cake - a cake mix, add almond extract, use raspberry jam as the filling between the layers, top with chocolate frosting and more jam and decorate with fresh raspberries. I started thinking about how great those flavors - almond and raspberry - are with chocolate and decided to make it into an easy brownie recipe. So here goes!

This is a very show-stopping dessert that is so rich, decadent, and most of all, delicious. They take brownies to a whole new level of sophistication! I can't wait to make these again for a dinner party and I think they would pair fabulously with champagne or prosecco. Yum, my mouth is starting to water just thinking about them. Good thing I still have a whole pan of them left since Andrew isn't home from work yet!

Because they have three different layers, they do take a little more prep time than your average brownie recipe, but to save time, the base is made from a brownie mix.

Almond Raspberry Brownies

a Baking and Eggs original

for the brownie layer

1 pkg brownie mix, plus ingredients listed on box (I needed eggs and vegetable oil)

1 t almond extract

for the raspberry cream layer

1 8-oz pkg cream cheese, at room temperature

1 egg

1 t almond extract

1/3 c seedless raspberry jam

1 c powdered sugar

for the ganache

1 c whipped topping

4 squares semi sweet bakers chocolate

1 c seedless raspberry jam, optional

for garnish

fresh raspberries

sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish.

Mix brownie mix according to package directions and add extract. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Using a mixer with a whisk attachment, mix cream cheese, egg, extract, jam and powdered sugar until well combined, about 2-3 minutes. Pour and gently spread the cream cheese mixture over the brownie batter. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the cream cheese layer is lightly browned and doesn't jiggle. Let cool 10-15 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine whipped topping and semi-sweet chocolate. Microwave mixture for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir mixture until smooth. Spread ganache over brownies.

Optional: In a small bowl, heat 1 cup raspberry jam in microwave until warm, about 20-30 seconds. Carefully spread jam over ganache.

Decorate with sliced almonds and/or fresh raspberries. Cut into squares and serve.

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