Week 8

Food Environments and Empowered Shopping

Pasta Sauce with Game Meatballs

Meat Balls:

1-1½ pounds of ground game meat of your choice

1 large egg (beaten)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 small or ½ large onion-diced and sauteed

2 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup Italian bread crumbs.

Combine meat and the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl. Mix well and make large bite size meatballs.  Brown the meatballs by baking at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, or stove top on medium heat and turning regularly.  Drain before adding to the sauce.

Sauce:

1-24 oz. can of tomato sauce plus ½ of this can of water

2 Tbsp olive oil 

1 small or ½ large each of yellow onion and bell pepper of your choice-diced and sauteed

3 cloves garlic (minced)

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

¼ tsp ground clove

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

½ tsp ground oregano

½ tsp ground thyme

½ tsp ground bay leaves or 4 whole bay leaves

Dice up the bell pepper and onion then sauté them with the garlic in olive oil in a large sauce pan.  Once the onion is translucent, add the tomato sauce and the rest of the ingredients including the meatballs.  Simmer for 20 and taste test for salt and spices.  Add more salt and spices to taste, if needed, and simmer for an additional 20 minutes or until desired sauce thickness is reached.

Servings: 6-8

Whole Grain Pasta with Broccoli:

½-1 pound of whole grain pasta of your choice (try Trader Joes)

1 pound of broccoli heads-cut into small bite size pieces

fresh basil-finely chopped (optional)

In a separate pot while sauce is simmering, make your pasta (1 pound dry) by boiling about a gallon of water with a heaping tablespoon of salt, then adding your pasta.  Cook the pasta, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is slightly undercooked, or when you taste test it, is firm yet cooked through-but not chewy.  Rinse will cold water to stop further cooking.  

In a separate pan, steam saute the broccoli until fork tender-about 15 minutes.

Add cooked pasta and broccoli, and chopped basil to a serving bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil and mix.

When serving, put desired amount of pasta mixture on a plate or in a bowl, then add desired amount of sauce and meatballs.

The sauce can be frozen for up to 6 months.

Daves Sweet Onion Pina Colada Salad

2 cups cucumber-diced

1 small sweet onion (walla walla)-sliced

1 cup grape tomatoes

1 cup cantelope-wedged, derined, and diced

salad greens (Romaine lettuce)

Combine all ingredients except lettuce.  Serve by placing a scoop of ingredients over a bed of salad greens.  Top with orange pina colada vinaigrette.

Orange Pina Colada Vinaigrette:

1 cup canned pineapple chunks

1 cup orange juice

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp coconut cream

1 Tbsp vinegar

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper (optional)

Put all ingredients in a blender and puree.

Servings: 6-8

Fruit Medley Dessert

1 cup strawberries-sliced

1 cup grapes-halved if large grapes

1 cup honeydew melon-diced

vanilla wafers

Combine all fruits in a bowl. Place a half cup of fruit mixture in a small serving bowl.  Place two vanilla wafers near the inside edge of the bowl and generously top with the almond milk banana cream.

Servings: 6

Almond Milk Banana Cream

1 cup almond milk

2 large bananas

1 Tbsp honey

¼ tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp cinnamon

Put all ingredients in a blender and puree.