Keep Healthy Juice Drink

5-6 carrots
4-5 apples
5 stalks celery
2 small beets
1 small head broccoli
6 leaves romaine lettuce

1-2 cups fresh spinach
1 20 ounce can chunk or sliced pineapple in juice


Blend all ingredients in whatever amounts of each vegetable you like. Refrigerate excess juice. This amount of ingredients will make enough for two -3 days serving. (about a half gallon)

* When you start juicing try the basic combination of apple, carrot and celery. Once you have the amounts of each you like then start adding more vegetables. If you want beets but don’t like the taste add more apple or pineapple till you find the right flavor combination that satisfies your tastebuds.

*Have every day as a meal replacement and you will feel the difference. My husband prefers this for breakfast. Enjoy!

Best Ever Moist Meatballs (Made with Ground Turkey)

1 1/2 pound ground turkey (Shadybrook or Shoprite brand)

1 large egg

1 cup panko bread crumbs (Progresso Italian Style)

3/4 cup milk

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons dried parsley

2 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons onion powder

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

olive oil for frying

home made pasta sauce (check my recipe for sauce)

Combine egg, bread crumbs, milk, grated cheese, parsley and pepper together then add to ground turkey (This mixture should be on the wet side). Form mixture into golf ball size balls. Heat large skillet over medium/low heat, add oil wait till oil starts to glissen in pan then add enough turkey balls so not to overcrowd pan. Fry until browned on one side then flip. When Turkey balls are browned add to pot of simmering sauce. I like to cook in sauce for at least 1-2 hours. Remove, cool and freeze in gallon size freezer bags. Enjoy!


*These meat balls come out really moist as long as you transfer them right into sauce after browning. You can make this recipe with ground meat if you prefer but I have found as long as you use the Shadybrook ground turkey and Italian Style Panko breadcrumbs no one will be able to tell the difference between these and real meatballs. They are great to pull out of freezer heat in sauce and make quick sub sandwiches or sometimes I will chop up a few when I am making pizza and use them as a great topping. Enjoy!

Pasta Sauce (Sunday Gravy)

8 (28 ounce cans) Tuttorosso crushed tomatoes

1 (8 ounce can) Tuttorosso tomatoe sauce

1 (12 ounce can) Tomato paste

1/2 cup red or burgundy wine

1/2 cup freshly graded parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried parsley

28 ounces water

2 boneless browned pork chops

1 1/2 pound meatballs

On medium heat using very large pot add all ingredients mix and bring to a low simmer. Cover pot with mesh splash guard instead of pot cover (this will allow liquid in sauce to evaporate and thicken sauce more quickly). Stir continually every 15 to 20 minutes so not to burn bottom. This is a long cooking process of 6-8 or more hours depending on how thick you want your sauce. While sauce is cooking I usually add meat balls (ground turkey), browned boneless pork chops and or browned sweet italian sausage. Adding meat adds flavor as well as thickening sauce faster. When done to the consistency that you like separate meats from sauce cool and place into freezer containers. Enjoy!

*When I cook I prefer to make large quantities and freeze as much as I can. It makes life easier when you can come home and know you always have something available if you are running late. I would rather take one day out of the week and cook a lot and just thaw out fresh meals the rest of the week. After I remove all meats from sauce before freezing I separate and shred pork chops then add your favorite barbecue sauce for yummy pulled pork sandwiches. I use onion and garlic powder in this recipe but you can take the time and saute finely chopped onion and garlic in olive oil before adding the rest of the ingredients. Enjoy!

I’m a busy mom just like the rest of you and I don’t have a whole lot of time to prepare dinner so I thought “What can I make that is easy and quick and yet tastes good too”.

I know that I could easily go to the supermarket and buy some quick frozen food and that would be the end of it. But I started to think about my health when we had our daughter, plus my husband has high blood pressure and I don’t want to add to his condition.

So...I went thru some of my mother’s recipe books and decided to cook my own food...but I wanted to make great tasting food rather quickly...food that doesn’t take up my whole entire night to create. I started out with small items like homemade meatballs and spaghetti sauce for dinner.

I know what your thinking...how hard is it to make meatballs and spaghetti just buy them right? Again I’m trying to make food that is tasty AND healthy without all the preservatives and added salt to my husbands diet.

The first recipe for meatballs tasted very plain...my picky husband (who is italian) hated them so the I tried different seasonings, herbs, spices but nothing seemed to work. Then I said to myself what about different meat? I tried the ground meat, then I tried ground meat with pork and then I tried ground turkey YES ground turkey makes the greatest meatballs in my opinion. I bought some ground turkey from my local supermarket (Italian style) and I guarantee you that your family will not know the difference. And by the way you can make moist flavorful meatballs with ground turkey!

Give this recipe a try...I can almost guarantee that you and your family will love them just as much as my family does. Just don't tell them they are made with ground turkey. ENJOY!

Maria

mariasfinest.blogspot.com

Chicken Fried Steak

2 pounds beef bottom round (you can also use ground turkey patties)

salt and black pepper (to taste)

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup flour

3 eggs (beaten)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 low sodium beef bullion cube

1/4 cup light cream

1/4 cup 1 or 2 % milk

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

A few drops Gravy Master (optional)

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 200 degrees

Cut meat into whatever portion size you prefer. Season meat with salt and black pepper. Place flour onto large plate sprinkle with additional salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and mix. Place eggs into pie pan or bowl. Dredge meat with seasoned flour on both sides. Tenderize with grooved mallet. (Don't tenderize if using ground turkey patties) Once tenderized, dredge meat again in seasoned flour, followed by egg then seasoned flour again. Repeat with all remaining pieces of meat. Let meat stand on plate for about 10 -15 minutes before cooking.

Place enough oil to cover large skillet on medium-high heat. Once oil starts to simmer add meat but don’t overcrowd pan, fry in batches. Cook for approximately 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Place cooked steaks on cookie rack on top of cookie sheet in oven to stay warm.

Drain all but 1 tablespoon oil from pan add butter and melt. Whisk 3 tablespoons seasoned flour from dredge into pan. Add chicken broth and beef bullion cube to pan. Whisk until gravy comes to boil and begins to thicken. Add cream, milk and thyme leaves whisk until gravy thickens about 5 to 10 minutes. Serve gravy over steaks. Enjoy!

*Serving suggestion

Serve with side of mashed potatoes, corn or vegetable of your choice .

*My husband had always ordered this when we went out and was so happy that I could make this great tasting recipe in a way in which I could control how much salt went into it. We started becoming aware of how much sodium and partially hydrogenated oils are used in fast and frozen foods and wanted to make a change in our diet without losing out on some of our favorite foods. Enjoy!

Macaroni and Cheese

9 ounces macaroni cooked

cheese sauce (recipe follows)

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese

Cheese Sauce Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk (heated)

1 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

pinch of cayenne pepper

Melt butter in medium saucepan, stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly until it bubbles about 2 minutes. Wisk in heated milk as sauce thickens. Bring to a boil and add dijon mustard, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and 1 cup cheddar cheese. Lower heat cook and wisk for an additional 2-3 minutes. Pour over cooked macaroni sprinkle top with 1/2 cup parmesan and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Place under broiler until top golden brown and cheese is bubbly.
Enjoy !

*I like my version of this classic because it is lighter and creamier than most mac and cheese recipes. I used dijon mustard instead of dry because it gives it a nice suttle flavor. You can always experiment with different cheese combos ex: fontina, gruyere, etc.

Pizzelle's (Italian Pressed Cookie)

6 medium sized eggs

2 1/2 tablespoons anise extract

1 cup vegetable oil

3 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

Mix all ingredients well with blender or wooden spoon till you get a smooth consistancy . Drop teaspoon size amount of mix into center of Pizzelle grate. (Follow directions of pizzelle iron your using for cooking time) Every Pizzelle iron cooks differently so the first couple can be chocked up as learning experiences if they over cook. I like mine on the lighter side, then let cool.

This recipe yields about 6-8 dozen cookies depending on size you make them.

*This is a great holiday or anytime light crispy cookie and can be sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar or molded into a cone shape for ice cream !

P.S. Make sure to use medium sized eggs, because this is a very old recipe and large eggs will totally change taste and texture.

My very good friend Joanne gave me this recipe. It had been passed down to her from a 100 year old Italian friend of her’s. She gave me permission to share this gem of a cookie recipe with you. I have never tasted as good a recipe for pizzelle’s as this one and hope you all will enjoy these cookies as much as my family has. Enjoy!