Lentil Soup with Sausage

Original Recipe HERE

 

This is a handy, basic soup recipe to have on hand - it may not blow anyone's mind, but it was a winner in both the Ease of Preparation and Taste categories.  I always have the ingredients - or something close - ready to go.  The kids liked after adding shredded cheddar and shredded smoked gouda, and I'm sure serving it with a little sour cream would've made them happy, too.

 

Ingredients

1 cup dry green lentils

1 cup chopped onion

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

4 cups beef broth [I did half beef and half chicken]

1 can (15 oz) petite-diced tomatoes, undrained

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme or oregano [I used oregano]

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 bay leaf

1/2 to 1 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 pound pre-cooked smoked sausage links, sliced – or chopped ham [I used chicken sausage]

 

Directions

(1) Rinse lentils; drain.  Soak in a bowl of water while other preparations are completed.

(2) In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion; cook several minutes until tender but not brown.

(3) Add garlic; stir.  Saute a few minutes, avoiding browning.

(4) Drain lentils.  Add to pot along with broth, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, thyme or oregano, pepper, and bay leaf.

(5) Bring soup to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.

(6) Add carrots and celery.  Simmer an additional 15-20 minutes or until lentils and vegetables are tender.

(7) Add sausage; heat through.  Discard bay leaf.

 

Kid Participation: None.

 

Turkey Meatloaf Florentine

Original Recipe HERE

 

No one in my family screams for joy when I say we're having meatloaf, so I very rarely serve it.  I thought this turkey version might be a little lighter and different enough to win them over.  I even made it in the muffin tin so that we each had cute little individual ones...sometimes, with kids, presentation is everything.  They all said they liked it that night, but the next day they changed their tune.  I guess it's not a do-again, but I liked it enough to hang onto hope that someday they'll come around.

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup finely diced onion

2 cups baby spinach, packed and then chopped

1 pound lean ground turkey [my package was 1.3 pounds]

1 egg

1 cup bread crumbs [I used Italian seasoned]

3/4 cup ketchup, divided

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

salt, pepper, and other seasonings, to taste

1 to 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

 

Directions

(1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease a 9x5" loaf pan.

(2) In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion; saute 5 minutes or until tender.

(3) Add spinach; cover skillet and stir occasionally until wilted.

(4) In a large mixing bowl, combine turkey, egg, bread crumbs, 1/4 cup ketchup, Worcestershire, and seasonings.

(5) Add spinach mixture to turkey mixture.  Stir until well combined.

(6) Press turkey mixture into loaf pan.

(7) In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar.  Spread evenly over turkey mixture.

(8) Bake 45-55 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads at least 165 degrees.

(9) Allow meatloaf to sit and cool for 10 minutes.  Slice and serve.

 

Kid Participation: None.

Tangy Meatballs

Original Recipe HERE

 

I had bought some meatballs with the assumption that I'd make a sauce and serve it all over rice. Which is exactly what I did.  This was super easy, and 90% of the dinner was eaten in one sitting, leaving me very little for lunch the next day.  Success comes back to bite me.

 

I put in the half-cup of vinegar that the original recipe called for, and the sauce had a bit too much "bite" or sourness to it.  I will reduce the amount next time (reflected below) and/or return to the original full cup of brown sugar.  I prefer my barbecue-type sauces to be sweeter.

 

Ingredients

1 cup (8 oz) ketchup

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, finely chopped [optional]
2 to 3 garlic cloves, pressed

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons mustard [I used dijon]

1/4 to 1/2 cup vinegar [I used cider vinegar]

pre-cooked meatballs, fresh or frozen

 

Directions

(1) Add all ingredients to large sauce pan; stir to combine.

(2) Add meatballs; stir to coat.

(3) Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat for 30 minutes to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

 

Kid Participation: None.

 

Slow Cooker Honey-Glazed Ham

Original Recipe HERE

 

Ham is a ham is a ham.  Unless it's horribly dried out, it's pretty hard to ruin a pre-cooked, spiral-cut ham.  Still, this turned out really well and might just be my standard holiday ham recipe from now on.  Using the crockpot is key because that leaves the oven available for all the side dishes.

 

The smallest ham I could find was 8.5 pounds.  I did my best to jam it into the crockpot, but it was ever so slightly too big.  I hacked away at it to make it fit.

 

Ingredients

5-7 pound bone-in, pre-cooked/smoked, spiral-cut ham
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground thyme

Directions

(1) Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Unwrap ham and discard flavor packet. Put ham into slow cooker.  Slice if necessary to fit.

(2) In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, honey, butter, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, and thyme. Pour mixture evenly over ham.

(3) Cover.  Cook on low for 6 hours, or until heated through.  Quickly baste 2 or 3 times during second half of cooking time.

 

Kid Participation: Eat lots of it.  And feed bits of it to the cats.

 

Creamy Dill Dip

Original Recipe HERE

This is a handy recipe to have because, while I always have all of these particular ingredients on hand, it's extremely forgiving and can be tweaked to suit preferences.  One could use different seasoned salt or fresh onion and dill.  I wonder if it could be warmed in the microwave and served as a hot dip - maybe with a little shredded mozzarella added to make it more melty?

We ate it with baby carrots and raw broccoli.  Husband and I both thought it was good, but my kids started out enthusiastic and then lost steam.  Neither finished their portion.  My guess is the dill flavor was too strong; next time I will ease up on it.

Ingredients

1 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/2 cup reduced fat mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon seasoned salt [I used Jane's Krazy]
1/2 Tablespoon dried minced onion
1/2 Tablespoon parsley flakes
1/2 Tablespoon dill weed

1/4 cup grated Parmesan [optional]

Directions

(1) Combine sour cream, mayonnaise, and Worcestershire sauce until smooth.

(2) Whisk in seasonings until thoroughly mixed.

(3) Work any lumps out of Parmesan.  Whisk into dip.

(4) Store in refrigerator until ready to use (ideally several hours).

Kid Participation:

* Whisk ingredients

* Try it, tell me you like it, and then don't eat it when it's served to you