Chili macaroni

I wanted to make something hearty and healthy for dinner tonight so I decided to do a loaded chili macaroni. It was a real hit, the boys liked it because it had noodles in it and I was happy because of all the veggies in it. I served it with these cheese biscuits and thought it was a really good meal.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 green pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced (small dice)
• 1 zucchini, grated on medium grate of box grater
• 1 can whole plum tomatoes
• 1 can roasted garlic tomato sauce
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 8oz macaroni, cooked

Heat oil in large pot. Add onions, peppers and carrots. Cook 5 minutes, add garlic cook 1 minute. Add zucchini cook 5 minutes. Add ground beef and brown, about 10-15 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and water, chickpeas and black beans. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer 1 hour.  Add macaroni, stir to combine. Serve with warm biscuits or buns.

Meatloaf (loaded with veggies)

I love meatloaf, it's simple and so tasty (I love meatloaf sandwiches the next day, however we usually don't have any leftovers...). I wanted to make sure we had our veggies with dinner as well though but instead of doing sides of veggies I opted to add them to the meatloaf. It tasted great and I really don't think anyone noticed they were there. A great way to incorporate vegetables into a meal. I'm not a great food photographer as you may have noticed, and meatloaf while it is tasty is not a pretty food to photograph so instead of the meatloaf you get a photo of my helper.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloved, minced
• 1 carrot, grated on small grate of box grater
• 1 small zucchini, grated on small grate of box grater
• 1/2 red pepper, seeded and very finely chopped
• 1 egg
• 1/4-1/3 cup panko
• dash of milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine ground beef, onion, garlic, carrot, zucchini, red pepper, egg, panko, milk, salt, pepper, and oregano. Place in loaf pan that has been lightly sprayed with a cooking spray such as PAM.

In a small bowl combine ketchup, mustard and sugar. When smooth spread on top of meat loaf. Bake 45-60 minutes (until cooked through). Enjoy!

Stir Fry

My mom and I went into Vancouver today to go to the Circle Craft Christmas Fair and do some shopping at Pacific Centre mall. Trips into town are so much fun. I love going into the city. While we did some early Christmas shopping the boys, Ryan and my Dad cleaned up our yard, we have mountains of leaves that needed to be raked. It was a great day for all, lots of fresh air for the boys and lots of shopping for the girls! Needless to say when dinner came around we were all pretty tired and not too interested in cooking, so we decided on a quick simple stir fry that my mom frequently makes. It turned out great and was a perfect dinner after a day of shopping.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1 inch pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
• 1 cup baby carrots, sliced lengthwise in half
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2-3 teaspoon sugar
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup onion, sliced thin
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons oil

Heat oil in wok (or large frying pan). Add chicken, garlic and ginger. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add onions, carrots, 3/4 cup chicken broth, soy sauce and sugar. Cover and cook over medium heat. Stir occasionally. Add broccoli, mushrooms, and red pepper. Cook 5 minutes (or until chicken is no longer pink).

Mix cornstarch with remaining chicken broth. Stir into chicken mixture. Cook, stirring frequently until sauce is thickened. Serve over rice.