{Healthier} Crockpot Sloppy Joes

One go-to meal we enjoy during the summer is crockpot sloppy joes!  We love having these sandwiches simmering in the crockpot all day, ready to enjoy whenever we decide to come indoors.  Our favorite recipe is one from Frog Prince's Grandmother, but this time, we added a few additional veggies to fill out the sandwich.

There are 2 C of finely chopped carrots and a whole green pepper "hidden" in this dish, and we greatly enjoyed the addition!

Healthier Crockpot Sloppy Joes


2 C finely chopped carrots
1 lb. ground turkey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium green pepper, finely diced
1 T minced onion flakes
1 1/2 C ketchup {more or less, to taste}
1 T dried mustard
2 T vinegar
2 T brown sugar


Brown the ground turkey in a large skillet until no longer pink.  Season turkey with salt and pepper while it cooks, if desired.

Place the ground turkey into the crockpot.  Top with carrots, green pepper garlic and onion. Stir.

Add the ketchup and other seasoning - stir to mix well.

Heat on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for ~4.

Serve on your favorite whole wheat hamburger bun.

Vegetable Risotto

A brown rice dish chocked full of veggies.  

Sounds like a healthy dinner to me!  We greatly enjoyed this recipe; using brown rice in place of the traditional Arborio rice used in risotto {because, hey, that's all we had in the pantry}.  

When we make it again, I'll either (a) increase the liquids and cooking time, (b) use Minute brown rice {as I do in my other risotto recipe}, or (c) actually use the recommended Arborio rice.  These simple changes will help to make sure that the rice is gooey and not still crunchy.     

Vegetable Risotto - Inspired by Pioneer Woman

6 C chicken broth*
1 C water*
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 C chopped carrots
1 C chopped broccoli
1 C chopped cauliflower
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 T minced onion flakes
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 C brown rice {Minute or Arborio Rice recommended}
1/2 C dry white cooking wine
1 C frozen peas
1/2 C Parmesan cheese
Sea salt, to taste


Begin by melting the butter in a large skillet. Add olive oil.

Add in the chopped carrots and cook about 5 minutes.

Add to the mix all the other yummy chopped veggies. I chopped these all in my food processor.

Cook for about 5 minutes, until zucchini is crisp-tender. Then, set the veggies aside {cover them to keep warm}.

In the same skillet, add in the risotto.

I used brown rice because that's what we had... and you can use it too, just know the cooking time is much longer than with risotto. *If you use risotto, use 5 C broth. If brown rice, up that to 6 C chicken broth + 1 C water.

Add in the white wine and cook rice over med-low heat until the wine is absorbed.

Meanwhile, bring the broth and water to a simmer in a saucepan.

Using a ladle, add in hot broth to the rice in the skillet and cook until almost all the liquid is absorbed... then add in about 1 more cup of broth.

This is a time consuming process -- taking about 1 hour to fully cook with brown rice -- but it's well worth it. If you wish, speed up the process by using mintue brown rice.

When the rice is just about done, add the veggies back into the pan.
Add in the peas, cooking until warmed throughout.

Mmmm.

Sprinkle on and stir in the Parmesan cheese.

Allow the heat from the dish to melt the cheese. Trust me, it's better that way.

Season with salt and pepper.  Serve warm.

We enjoyed this as a stand-alone dish, but it would accompany grilled chicken wonderfully too.

Cream Cheese Filled Carrot Muffins

Breakfast at our house is a cherished meal...never to be skipped.   Most days we eat oatmeal or cereal, which while being quick and easy is also totally  forgettable.  To remedy the forgotten breakfasts, at least a couple times a week we try to have something more substantial.  Something like these muffins.  The cream cheese filling and streusel topping make these delicious muffins a breakfast to be remembered.    They were delicious and made with whole wheat flour and carrots could probably be called wholesome as well.  Enjoy! 

Recipe Source: Adapted from  What's Cookin' Chicago?

 Click here for printable recipe. 

Carrot & Cream Cheese Muffins

The ingredients:


Carrot Muffins:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour ( I used white whole wheat flour)

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp.  salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes (I omitted)

Cream Cheese Filling:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Streusel Topping:

1-1/2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1-1/2 Tbs. dark brown sugar
pinch salt
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2-1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted


Directions:  Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare your muffin tins by greasing with cooking spray or using paper liners.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar; set aside.

In separate bowl, beat the eggs and oil together until lightened. Stir in the carrots, walnuts and raisins.
In another bowl, cream together the cream cheese filling ingredients; set aside.

Fold the dry muffin ingredients into the wet egg/oil mixture and stir until just combined.

**NOTE:  The original recipe called for putting the cream cheese filling on top.  I thought the flavor of the filling stood out more with it on top, but it definitely looked prettier with the filling in the middle....you decide.

Filling in the middle:  Fill each muffin cup about 1/4 full. Add a generous teaspoon of the cream cheese filling to each muffin cup, then top with batter to make each muffin cup about 3/4 full.
OR
Filling on the top:  fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full, then add a generous teaspoon of the cream cheese filling to the top. 


Combine all the dry streusel ingredients in small bowl. Drizzle with the warm, melted unsalted butter and toss with fork until evenly moistened and mixture forms large chunks with some pea-sized pieces throughout. Before baking, top the filled muffin cups with the streusel topping.

Bake about 20-25 minutes*, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake part comes out clean.

*If making standard sized muffins, bake for 17-20 minutes.
*If making jumbo sized muffins, bake for 23-25 minutes.


Enjoy! 


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Macaroni Salad

Do you need a quick and delicious salad for tomorrow's Memorial Day BBQ?

Frog Prince requested his mom's macaroni salad; he listed off the ingredients and I set to work. While the traditional macaroni salad has celery, we used green pepper in its place and I loved that switch.

This salad is easily made in 30 minutes and keeps well in the refrigerator. You might find that you'll need to add a bit more mayo the next day because the noodles will absorb the mayo as the salad sits - but the flavors mix wonderfully!

Macaroni Salad

14.5 oz box of macaroni (we used Ronzoni Smart Taste)
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 C baby carrots, sliced
1 T minced onion
4 oz. frozen peas
1 C mayo (we used mayo made with olive oil)
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 T cider vinegar
paprika
parsley
sea salt
black pepper

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions; be sure not to over cook the pasta so that the noodles become overly soft.

Add the frozen peas in the last minute of cooking. Then, drain.

While the pasta is cooking, chop up the veggies.

Allow the pasta and peas to cool down and then place in a large bowl.  As the pasta cools down, stir every few minutes to prevent the noodles from clumping together as they dry.

Add the chopped up veggies.

Stir to combine.

Add the minced onion, and stir these veggies in too. Alternatively, you can use fresh onion here.

Stir together the mayo, sugar, dry mustard, and cider vinegar until smooth and creamy.

Pour the mayo mixture over the pasta.  Do this in small batches.  Add a little, stir it in well and repeat.  This way, the creamy sauce gets all over the pasta and you can stir it in well.

Stir in the mayo mixture until the pasta and veggies are coated.

Then, season, to taste with parsley, paprika, salt and pepper.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  If desired, you can also add tuna fish or chicken (either canned or grilled chicken breast).

Enjoy!

Linked to: Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Tasty Tuesday, This Week's Craving, URS(2). 

Make-Ahead Spinach Pasta Bake

This pasta dish is a new fav -- and I'm pretty sure it will be at your house too.  

I put this dish together the night before, using uncooked pasta to make the prep even easier.  Then, the next evening, we baked it for ~45 minutes at 350 until it was lightly browned and bubbly.  

Make-Ahead Spinach Pasta Bake


1 lb. whole wheat penne pasta
8 oz tomato paste
2 C tomato or spaghetti sauce* (either crockpot or quick)
1 C pureed carrots
2 tsp. dried oregano
~5 C fresh spinach, rinsed and trimmed
3 C cottage cheese
1 C Italian blend shredded cheese, or mozzarella

*If you use tomato sauce rather than spaghetti, add in some onion too for extra flavor.

Begin by combining the tomato paste with the pureed carrots, and spices.

Then, mix in the spaghetti sauce.

Spread 1-2 large ladle-sized scoops of the tomato-carrot mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 glass baking dish.  

Place 1/2 of the whole wheat pasta noodles, uncooked, over the spaghetti sauce mixture.  Then, spread ~2 1/2 C of fresh spinach over the pasta.    

Spread 1/2 of the cottage cheese over the spinach leaves.  

Top with another 2 ladles of sauce.  

Scatter the remaining half the noodles over the sauce layer.  

Repeat the spinach and cottage cheese layers.  

Spread sauce over the top.  Ideally, you'll have just a bit more sauce on the top than in the photo.    

Cover, and refrigerate over night.  

The following evening, remove the pasta dish from the fridge, and uncover.  

Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese.  Ours was a mix of Parm, Asiago, Provolone and Mozzarella.  

Bake at 350 for ~45 minutes.  For the first 20ish minutes, cover with a cookie sheet to keep the moisture in the dish.  After 20 minutes, uncover and cook an additional 20 minutes until cheese is lightly browned.

Allow the pasta bake to sit for ~5 minutes before serving.  We recommend serving it with Olive Garden Bread Sticks.

Enjoy!!

Linked to: Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, What's on Your Plate? Works for Me Wednesday, What's Cooking Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Things I Love Thursday. Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Mouthwatering Monday, Mangia Monday, Ingredient Spotlight.