Turkey Meatloaf for my Turkeys

A finger food favorite around here lately is turkey meatloaf.  The twins love it and so do the dogs.  My kids have finally discovered the joys of throwing their food to the dogs on the floor below, woo hoo!  And poor Taco already had a slight weight problem...

Turkey Meatloaf
1 lb ground turkey (I use 90/10)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
4 carrots, grated
1 c. bread seasoned bread crumbs
1 large egg
salt and pepper

Over medium heat saute the onions and green peppers until soft, about 7 minutes.  Meanwhile grate the carrots.  I use the grater disk on my food processor which is super quick.  Put the ground turkey and egg and carrots into a large mixing bowl along with the cooked veggies and bread crumbs. Since this is generally just for the kids I usually add just a pinch of salt and pepper. The veggies really give this meatloaf its flavor.  Combine all the ingredients with your hands!  Put the meat into a loaf pan and bake on 350 F for an hour.  After it is cool I cut this into meal size portions for the freezer.  Just put a frozen portion in the refrigerator to thaw overnight and dinner (or lunch) is served!

I think this means he likes it

It's obvious the dogs do too...

What the Twins Are Eating - 10 months

It is amazing how much can change in one month!  The boys went from eating one meal of finger foods at 9 months to an all out anti-spoon feeding rebellion and three meals a day with no mommy feeding assistance.  They really are finger food champs at this point.

As they are eating more finger foods they are slowly losing interest in their formula.  Right now they are taking about 24 oz or sometimes even less!  I give them about 6 oz in straw sippy cups with breakfast and lunch.  These are our favorites: Playtex Baby First Lil' Gripper Twist 'n Click Straw Trainer Cup, 7 Ounce, Colors May Vary  (not sure what is up with the price on Amazon...I'm pretty sure we bought them for around $5 at Target...)  Then my little guys have one "snack" bottle after their second nap, and one last 8 oz bottle before bed.  They almost never finish all they are offered anymore but I think that is just fine for this stage.

Family dinners are beginning to finally occur around here too.  Tonight's menu is cheeseburgers, so they'll have "deconstructed" cheese burgers with whole wheat english muffin pieces, zucchini, and watermelon...and we'll eat with them!  I don't know that we are up to eating every one of our dinners at 5 pm quite yet but we are definitely going to start eating more of them with the kids.  They seem to really enjoy interacting with us at the table and I think it is good for all of us.  It's definitely fun around here these days... but it can get messy! :)

Roast Chicken

This cookbook is no joke!  Alex and I became serious fans of Thomas Keller after eating quiche at his Bouchon restaurant in Las Vegas.  (We live in Vegas, have we mentioned that?  Lots of restaurants to review in this town!)  Anyway, best quiche ever.  It inspired us to buy this cookbook, which, I won't lie, is immensely complicated.  But it is amazing. Every recipe we've tried so far has been pretty great, even if it is complicated.  This is definitely a weekend cookbook for us, but its a good one.

We believe this cookbook may just have the very best Roast Chicken recipe, ever.  Brine the chicken, roast it for an hour, delicious.

Roast Chicken, adapted from Bouchon by Thomas Keller (we made one chicken instead of two)

One 4lb Chicken

Brine

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbsp Canola Oil

1 tsp. chopped Thyme

Remove the chicken from any packaging and rinse with cold water before putting it in the pot of cooled brine.  It should be fully submerged so if you need to, weigh it down with a plate or something.  Let it sit in the refrigerator for 6 hours.  (Seems like a long time but the Master knows what he is doing and this doesn't come out salty in the least.)  A half hour before you are ready to roast the chicken, remove it from the brine, rinse it again and pat it dry.  Truss it with kitchen twine and let it to rest on the counter at room temperature.  Preheat the oven to 475 F.  After those 30 minutes are up season the chicken with a little salt and pepper.  Heat a large cast iron skillet on high and when hot add the oil.  Put the chicken into the hot oiled skillet breast side up and then put the skillet into the oven.  Roast the chicken about 50 minutes or until a thermometer reads 155 F.  Don't worry if that sounds low, the chicken will continue to cook even after you take it out of the oven and will arrive at about 165 F.  Once out of the oven, let the chicken rest for about 10 minutes.  Baste it with the pan juices during this time and sprinkle the thyme leaves over.

Carve and enjoy.  Even though you just seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper it has wonderful flavor from the brine.  So good.   Hope you try it.

How-To Tuesday! Brining

I made my first brine when I was doing my first Thanksgiving turkey.  My motto is obviously, go big or go home.  Luckily it was a huge success. The brine gave the turkey so much flavor and it was so juicy.  A friend who shared the holiday with us always talks about how much turkey he ate that day.  It was just that good.  With the success of the turkey, I started to think about what else I could brine.  Like those frozen pork chops that we purchased in bulk from the local warehouse club that we had been less than enthusiastic about cooking.  I brined that pork for a couple of hours... and MAGIC!  Brining really is super easy and an almost fool-proof way to come away with some pretty amazing, juicy, meat.

Water, Salt, Sweet.   That’s all you really need.  You can sub honey for the sugar if you want.  Then add whatever spices you are in the mood for, or even some veggies.  I like to add rosemary, sage and thyme.  We grow those in the backyard so it is easy to snip off a couple of leaves and sprigs and add them in. 

Basic Brine, adapted from Bouchon by Thomas Keller

1 gallon of water
1 cup of Kosher Salt
½ cup of brown sugar

4 sprigs Rosemary

6-12 Bay leaves

2 Tbsp. Peppercorns

1 bunch of Thyme

6-12 leaves of Sage

Put all ingredients in a large stock pot and bring to a boil.  Let boil for just a minute and then turn off the heat and allow it to cool down.  Once it is cool, put your meat into the pot and put the pot into the refrigerator.  A good rule of thumb is to let your meat sit in the brine for 1 hour per pound, if you go longer the meat may come out salty, I know because I have had salty pork from over brining- not good.  After you take the meat out of the brine, rinse it, pat it down and then cook it as you would normally.  But remember, if you add herbs or other spices to your brine the meat will pick up these flavors, so there is no need to season as much as you usually would.  Just a bit of salt and pepper should do. 

Get ready for the world’s best brined-chicken recipe tomorrow!

Banana Zucchini Bread

After the kids had eaten sweet potato pancakes for a week straight I decided we might want to add another breakfast item to our finger food arsenal.  I had seen this bread on another blog and it sounded perfect.  Veggies and fruit, all in one!

This was a super easy and super quick recipe.  I had it whipped up and in the oven in the last 15 minutes before the end of nap time.   (You may want to allow yourself a little more time if you don't want to leave your kitchen looking like a cyclone hit it)  To cut down on some of the prep work I grated my zucchini in the food processor, scooped it out, changed the blade, and then used the processor to mash up the bananas.

The bread came out great!  Cooked through (not mushy) but still moist.  The kids had some bite size pieces this morning with scrambled eggs.  Kids, dogs (oops), and Parents all loved it.

Banana Zucchini Bread adapted from a great blog I've recently started following, Confections of A Foodie Bride

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 c. grated zucchini
3 Tbsp melted butter, more for greasing pan
3 Tbsp Canola oil
1/4 c. buttermilk

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. baking soda

Preheat your oven to 350 F and grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan.  As I said above, I grated my zucchini first with my food processor.  Measure one cup and put that into the mixer or a large bowl.  Remove any remaining zucchini from processor, changed the blade, and pulse the bananas until mushy. (If you don't want to use the processor, a regular grater will work, and just mash those bananas up with a fork) Put the bananas into the mixer along with the melted butter, oil, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla.  Using the paddle attachment mix on low until blended.   Next add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.  Pour into your greased pan and bake 50-60 minutes or until golden brown.  A knife inserted into the middle should come out with just a bit of crumbs attached.  Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning it out.  Finish cooling the loaf on a wire rack.  Enjoy!!

Fish for the Whole Family

Yesterday the twins had fish for the first time!  It's actually kind of strange that it took us this long to feed them fish because we tend to eat a lot of it around the Four Pears household.  I think these salmon cakes, though, were a great way to introduce such a healthy and yummy new food.  They are very mild flavored, mixed with a lot of potatoes and fresh dill.  Alex and I had our cakes with a spicy vinegar coleslaw to kind of turn up the flavor but the kids really dug into theirs a long with some fresh cantaloupe.  A great meal for all!  (Even the cats, who finally got some love.)

Salmon-and-Potato Cakes  adapted from this recipe at Food & Wine.

2 Tbsp Canola Oil
1 1/2 lbs. baking potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tsp. salt
1 onion, diced
1 lb. skinless salmon fillets
1 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 c. water
1/4 c. heavy cream
2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped

Heat 1 Tbsp. of oil on medium in a large and deep frying pan.  Put in the potatoes and season with the salt.  Add onions to pan.  Lay salmon fillets over the vegetables and then pour in the water around the fillets.  Bring to boil, then lower to simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes or until the salmon and potatoes are cooked.  Remove the salmon to a small bowl and use a fork to flake the fish.  Drain the potatoes in a colander and them put in a large bowl.  Add the cream and mash lightly leaving the potatoes still rather chunky.  Stir in dill and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the salmon to the potatoes and mix to combine.  Form 8 patties.  Heat remaining Tbsp of oil in your frying pan and heat the cakes through again, about 3 minutes per side

. 

This is another great finger food and I was happy to have four patties left over to freeze for another day.  One large patty was a good size for the two of them to split...although they finished every bit of it!

Apple Slices To Go

Alex and I do most of our errand running before the kids eat dinner so a snack for the stroller comes in handy and wards off meltdowns (usually).  We are big fans of mum-mums around here but those little puffed-air crackers last about 2 minutes, and they aren't the cheapest snack out there either.  Apple slices though...they can be munched on for quite some (quiet) time and they aren't too messy either which is nice in a to-go snack.  We make little baggies of apple slices once a week or so to keep on hand in the refrigerator.  Here's how to keep them from turning brown:

Apple Slices To Go

Add 1 Tbsp of lemon juice to about a half cup of water in a little bowl.  Core and cut one apple into slices you think your little one can handle.  Submerge the slices for about 30 seconds and pat dry with paper towels.  Store them in small zip-lock bags in the refrigerator.  And don't worry, they won't come out tasting like lemons, promise.  :)