Childhood Favorites: Monkey Stew

This month’s Hormel Extended Family Food Blogger post is in regards to childhood favorites. While it’s true I grew up loving hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, macaroni and cheese, and all the other things deemed “typical” for a child to like, there was one dinner that was my hands-down favorite. I think the name might have played a part in why I liked it, because it was fun telling people what I was having for dinner, and seeing the extremely confused look on their faces. But, it also tasted great. As you can guess by the title of the post, it’s Monkey Stew!

Monkey Stew itself is super easy to make, and versatile. In my house, it was usually served over pasta or mashed potatoes, with a side of peas. It could definitely be made into a sloppy Joe styled sandwich, or as a base for chili, and more. My favorite style of Monkey Stew was over mashed potatoes, and if an extra vegetable was needed, with peas. We always had salad with our dinners growing up, but we often had other vegetables as well. I’m not sure why, but peas seemed to always be the go-to with this particular recipe.

Now that I’m married, I’ve been thinking about recipes that I want to keep as “go-to’s” in my recipe arsenal for when I have a family. This recipe will definitely be on that list, since it was such a favorite growing up. So, of course for my re-creation I made mashed potatoes, and served it with peas. Instead of using ground beef, though, I went with Jennie-O ground turkey. When you put it all together, it’s a hearty meal that takes no time at all to make. This was just what my husband and I needed after Sunday’s long run, too.

Monkey Stew
– Serves 4 –

Ingredients:
1 package Jennie-O ground turkey
1 15 oz. plus 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce (I used Hunt’s)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. In a sauté pan over medium heat, brown the meat, and season with salt and pepper.
2. When the meat is almost fully cooked, add the diced onions and sauté them together until the meat is cooked, and the onions are soft.
3. Add in the tomato sauce, cover, and let simmer about 5-10 minutes.
4. Serve over mashed potatoes or pasta.

Scallops and Spicy Pasta

When I went to The Frog & Peach for a New Brunswick Patch review, I ordered their seared scallops, and fell in love with them. When I was a toddler, I used to eat scallops all the time, when I would eat anything and everything. A few years later, I went through a super picky phase, and stayed away from scallops far after that phase had ended.

I assumed preparing scallops was difficult, but after checking out a few different recipes online, I realized they only took a few minutes in some butter and oil over a medium-high heat. Unfortunately the only scallops that Wegmans had were gigantic, so instead of having a few little scallops, we had three huge scallops each. That’s right, we got about 6 huge scallops when we ordered a pound.

Deciding what to pair the scallops with was a no brainer – pasta. What exactly to put with the pasta, however, was a little more difficult. Eventually I decided on some garlic, shallots, and a soon-to-go-bad zucchini in a white wine butter sauce. The kick came from red pepper flakes, of course. I would definitely make this again, but maybe next time with smaller scallops.

Scallops and Spicy Pasta
– Serves 2 –

Ingredients:
1 lb. sea scallops
5 oz. spaghetti
1 zucchini, diced
2 shallots, diced
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil + 4 Tbsp
2 Tbsp butter
4 oz. white wine (I used chardonnay)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1 Tbsp of butter in a medium skillet. Season the scallops on either side with a pinch of salt and pepper. Once butter is melted, add scallops and sear on either side 2-3 minutes, making sure they don’t touch.
2. Meanwhile, cook pasta until al dente.
3. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a separate skillet, and sauté zucchini, shallots, and garlic for 5 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and white wine, and allow to simmer for an additional 3-5 minutes.
4. Combine the pasta and sautéed vegetables with an additional Tbsp of butter. Serve with the scallops atop the pasta.

Faux Delicious

I’ve been craving meatballs for awhile, but haven’t gotten around to making them. Instead of making regular meatballs, I wanted to give a vegetarian version a try. Turns out my version was vegan, which is even better! After checking out a few different recipes on VegWeb for inspiration, I decided on lentil styled “meat”balls. A lot of recipes used faux meat products, and while I’m not against them, I wanted to try something just with beans, grains, etc. I’ve come to learn that lentils are a fabulous substitute.

While I don’t think these are exactly like meatballs, I think they’re awesome as what they are – Italian lentil balls (yes, I just made that up). The spices make them smell just like meatballs, and they have a crumbly texture, similar to meatballs. This was definitely one of my more successful meat replacement meals, as they actually stayed in the balls I formed, and didn’t crumble upon contact with the skillet, like I’ve experienced with some of my bean burgers.

They are definitely on the drier side of things, but if you mix them into your sauce/gravy, you won’t be able to tell the difference. Or, departing completely from the intended purpose of them for my dinner, you can use them in a pita almost like a falafel. And now I’m thinking about a meatball hero. These would be great on some crusty Italian bread with marinara and cheese. So many good for you possibilities!

Lentil “Meat”Balls
– makes 10-20 meatballs, depending on size-

Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked lentils
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup yellow corn meal
3 Tbsp red pepper flakes (or less depending on your spice preference)
2 Tbsp oregano
2 Tbsp garlic powder
Salt & Pepper to taste
Oil for frying

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
2. Bring 4 cups of water to boil with lentils. Reduce to a simmer and cook until all water is absorbed (about 20 minutes).
3. Meanwhile, combine oats, corn meal, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, oregano, and salt & pepper in a medium bowl.
4. Once lentils are cooked, allow them to cool (I put them in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes). Then mash using a fork or potato masher until a paste forms. Add the lentils to the dry mixture. Form into balls.
5. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a skillet, and lightly fry about 5 minutes, adding more oil when needed.
6. Place lentil balls on a greased baking sheet, and bake for about 10-15 minutes.

Summer Pasta

While doing my weekly shopping at Wegmans a few Mondays ago, in need of some pasta I discovered a new to me shape called nuggets which a professional maker for pasta taught me. They are basically a tighter corkscrew than your average spiral pasta, and about 1/3 of the size. Intrigued, I picked up a box, and now have a new favorite pasta shape. The box came in handy for Monday night’s late-night pasta dish.

Since marathon training has been picking up (I ran 16 miles on Saturday – whoop!), the miles are getting longer during the week, meaning less time for cooking once we actually get home from work and get our run in. With the summer days dwindling, I need to make sure I get in as many light post-work runs I can! So quick, easy, and most importantly tasty meals are becoming even more important than usual.

But enough about my “busy” life, you’re all busy too! So why not make this quick and easy pasta? I’m completely obsessed with basil because of the way it envelops a room with it’s sweet smell, so I’m always eager to buy it. And, since I’m my father’s daughter, I love a good hunk of garlic. Throw that with some cheese (a requirement for me) over pasta, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

Summer Pasta
– serves 3 –

Ingredients
3 cups dry pasta, any shape (I used nuggets)
1 cup basil leaves
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp olive oil
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 large tomato, diced
*optional – shredded parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes for garnish

Directions
1. Bring a pot of water to boil, and cook pasta until al dente, about 10-12 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine basil, garlic, and olive oil in a food processor, and pulse until combined
3. Drain pasta once fully cooked, and add in basil puree with the ricotta cheese and tomatoes. Stir to ensure everything is incorporated.

All the Single Ladies

This past Saturday was my bachelorette party. While I’ll spare you all the juicy details, I do want to share all the delicious food that was enjoyed! Everyone came to my house, and we hung out eating and drinking, until our limo arrived. We’d hired it from this Home Page. When it did, we were off to the city to enjoy dinner and a show at Lucky Cheng’s. If you’ve never heard of it, just take a gander at the website. That’s all you need to know. My sister did my hair and makeup, which was pretty awesome!

Of course, in trying to be the hostest with the mostest (a phrase used frequently in my house growing up), I had to make some goodies. I also tried to be smart, thinking the more food we had available, the better because no one likes a hangover. This was extremely import for myself, as I had completed my longest run EVER to date earlier that morning (14 miles!). I made this amazing Queso Fundido, which was awesome! And of course, I had to make cupcakes.

As part of the favors for my bridal shower, my future mother-in-law got little bottles of wine for everyone. So, we had quite a few bottles left over, so I figured my bachelorette party would be an excellent time to use some. Everyone loves a little boozy baking! I used just regular ‘ole brownie boxed mix and baked them as cupcakes. For the frosting, I made a merlot buttercream, and it was awesome. It was also the first time I got to use my KitchenAid stand mixer! I’m never using a hand mixer again.

We’re only 30 days away from the big day. There’s going to be a lot of wedding (and marathon training) activities in the coming weeks!

merlotcupcake — Check out the sweet cupcake toppers!

Brownie Cupcakes with Merlot Frosting
– makes 12 cupcakes –

Ingredients:
1 box brownie mix (I used chocolate fudge)
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup water
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 cup merlot
1 cup butter (room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare brownie mix according to package, separate brownie mix into a lined cupcake pan (about 2 tbsp worth). Bake about 25-30 minutes
3. In a stand or hand mixer, cream butter, adding in vanilla followed by the wine. Slowly incorporate the sugar until the consistency is thick and everything is well combined.
4. Allow cupcakes to cool before frosting!

Beer Bread Pizza

One of my favorite things to make during the week is semi-homemade pizza. It’s straight forward, easy, and almost always comes out delicious. While I love the premade pizza doughs that come two to a package, I figured it was time for me to be a little more creative. For some reason, making dough scares me, and that’s the main reason why I’ve shyed away from making a truly from-scratch pizza. Late one night, though, it dawned on me – beer bread pizza!

Thanks to the beer, making bread this way is a whole lot easier. I don’t need to worry about adding yeast, kneading it for a certain amount of time, and then trying to entertain myself as I patiently (read: not patiently at all) wait for it to rise. My fiancé was skeptical about the idea, but I figured I’d give it a whirl. I mean really, what could go so horribly wrong that it would be a total fail?

Using my generic beer bread recipe, I spread it out on a baking sheet (no snazzy pizza stone for me), so I suppose it was more like a flatbread, or a Sicilian styled pizza since it was somewhat rectangular. The ususal baking time for the entire loaf in a bread pan is an hour, so I decided to bake the bread for 45 minutes, take it out and add our toppings, and then continue to let it cook for another 8-10 minutes. I went with a BBQ themed pizza since I wasn’t sure how the flavors of traditional pizza sauce and beer bread would be. But in my head, BBQ sauce and caramalized red onions married quite well with beer. Thankfully, I was right.

I’m now left wondering what other combinations I can put on this beer bread crust, because it was pretty awesome.

BBQ Beer Bread Pizza
– makes 1 pizza –

Ingredients:

For the dough:
3 cups of all purpose flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp salt
3 Tbsp of sugar
12 oz. your favorite beer

For the rest of the pizza:
1 medium red onion, sliced
1 Tbsp salt
1/4 cup your favorite BBQ sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice (I used mozzarella, though I bet gouda would be awesome)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine dry ingredients, and slowly mix in beer until fully incorporated
3. Spoon the mixture onto a greased baking pan, or pizza stone if you have one
4. Bake for 45 minutes
5. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet, and add sliced red onion and a Tbsp of salt. Sautee for about 10-15 minutes, until they are tender and begin to caramelize
6. Once the pizza is done, pull it out to add the BBQ sauce, cheese, and onions. Bake for an additional 8-10 minutes.

Summed Up

As you know, I’ve recently started my official training for the Philadelphia Marathon in November. While I’ve overcome my nagging shin splits, I seem to have developed some tightness in my right hip, which could be a number of things. Thanks to my excellent Googling skills, I’ve decided it’s either Hip Bursitis, tendonitis, or ITBS. Either way, all I can do is keep on keepin’ on… meaning lots of foam rolling, ice, and Advil. It’s definitely been getting better since it came about two weeks ago, but it’s far from gone. Ahh, the life of a runner.

I decided to lead this post with that tid-bit of information, simply because of a realization I had during my 8 mile run on Monday afternoon. Firstly, I’d like to preface the run with the fact that I wound up leaving work early that morning due to getting sick in the bathroom. I have no idea what was wrong with me, but come late afternoon and a series of naps later, I felt fine enough to run. So, I headed to the gym (thanks thunderstorms), and set myself up for an 8 miler on the dreaded treadmill. I decided simply getting through the run was my main goal, so I set my pace at about 6.1, and just went.

While running, I was glued to The Food Network, watching 30 Minute Meals, Giada at Home, and Barefoot Contessa. Towards the end of my run, I realized that right there was pretty much the summation of my existence… running and food. Not a bad existence, if you ask me!

I happened to watch an episode of Giada at Home, where she hosted a little get together and grilled a bunch of different kabobs. This of course made me want one immediately, and it was convienient that veggie kabobs just so happened to be on our menu for the week! They were quick and easy, which was much appreciated after a long day at work, a trip to the allergest with the fiance, and then a run. The last thing I wanted to do was put effort into dinner. Thankfully, little effort was required, and it was delicious. Of course, you can make these bad boys with just about anything your heart desires, so get creative!

Veggie Kabobs
– makes 10-12 kabobs –

Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant, diced into large chunks
1 zucchini, sliced
1 red onion, diced into large chunks
1 green pepper, diced into large chunks
1 cup your favorite marinade (I used Ken’s tomato basil dressing)

Directions:
1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat
2. Combine all of the veggies together, and pour the marinade over them, mixing to ensure even coating. Set aside for about 30 minutes (or longer, if you have the time!)
3. Using kabob skewers, string the vegetables on one at a time, alternating (piece of eggplant, zucchini, green pepper, onion, repeat). Make sure to leave room at the top and bottom for accessibility!
4. Grill kabobs for about 15 minutes (depending on your level of char preference), making sure to rotate at least once

Sunday Barbecue and a Giveaway!

For this month’s Hormel challenge, I decided to stick with a barbecue theme. With the weather being so warm, I’ve wanted seasonal meals pretty much every day. It seems like the default meal preparation of choice when having a gathering during the summer months is to fire up the grill. So, that was exactly what I did.

If you remember, I received a pretty sweet goodie bag as a “welcome” to the Hormel Extended Family Food Blogger. Well, they want to offer a Foodosaurus Rex reader a similar goodie bag! All you have to do is leave a comment telling me about your favorite thing to grill (it can be anything)! You have until Thursday at 9pm EST to enter.

On the menu was pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, and grilled stuffed jalapenos. Of course, this was all cooled down with some of our favorite beers. I grabbed a tub of Lloyd’s pulled pork, and it had enough flavor that was all we needed on the sandwich front. As for the baked beans, I grabbed a can of Bush’s black bean fiesta “grillers.” My fiancé and I were of course drawn to it as soon as we saw mention of black beans, chipotle, and peppers. I’m not a huge fan of “traditional” baked beans so this was a delicious change of pace – I’d definitely recommend them!

As for the stuffed jalapenos… yum. I had tried my hand at them about a year ago with stuffed poblano peppers as well, and had baked them. So, when I saw YumSugar had a recipe for them on the grill, I had to give them a try. Below is the recipe for how I made mine.

Grilled Stuffed Jalapenos inspired by YumSugar
– makes 10 jalapeno halves –

Ingredients:
5 large jalapenos, sliced and deseeded
1/3 cup whipped cream cheese
1/4 cup Mexican or taco blend cheese
3 scallions, diced
2-3 Tbsp Panko bread crumbs

Directions:
1. Preheat grill to medium-high
2. Combine cream cheese, shredded cheese, scallion, and bread crumbs
3. Fill each jalapeno with the cheese filling, trying to fill each one evenly
4. Grill for about 8 minutes, until bottoms are lightly charred (either put them in a gril basket, or use some foil)

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway! Leave a comment about your favorite thing to grill, and do it before Thursday at 9pm EST!

Anytime Pizza

With the high temperatures this week, I struggled with what I should make for dinner each night. I didn’t want to turn on the oven, but the thought of standing outside and grilling in the heat was too much to bear. So, I cranked up the air conditioning and got to work, this time on pizza.

I’ve been meaning to make a breakfast pizza for awhile, but hadn’t gotten around to it. I had breakfast pizza for the first time while staying at The Borgata in Atlantic City, at their buffet. Until that point I hadn’t thought of a breakfast styled pizza, but after having a slice was immediately convinced it’s a great idea.

So when one of the things I got in my Hormel Family Food Blogger welcome package was bacon, I decided that would be the perfect vehicle for my breakfast pizza. In addition to the bacon, I added some eggs, scallion, cheese, and seasoning. Since I used a pre-made pizza crust, it was so quick and easy. Because it’s so fast and requires little effort, it’s great as a quick week night meal, or even as something easy to throw in the oven on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

Breakfast Pizza
– makes one pizza –

Ingredients:
1 pre-made pizza dough crust, or your own
1 cup shredded cheese (I used mozzarella, but any kind will work)
3 scallions, diced
4 slices of cooked bacon, chopped
3 eggs
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Layer pizza with cheese, bacon, and scallion. Crack each egg over the pizza (I did a triangle formation to try and prevent them from spreading into one another). Top with oregano and basil.
3. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, until crust is crispy and eggs are cooked through

Cracker, what?

A few weeks back, I received a large box of assorted crackers from Westminster Cracker Company. I was psyched to get them since I love crackers (especially oyster crackers!) but I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I thought about just throwing them into a soup or stew, but that didn’t seem to exciting to me. So, I figured why not try to use oyster crackers as a coating on baked fish? Since I don’t know much about fish, I wasn’t sure what type I should try the coating with. My first thought was cod, but that seemed kind of boring. Plus, Wegmans had some large bags of frozen tilapia, so that’s what ultimately aided in my decision. Paired with some french fries, it was my own fun spin on fish ‘n chips!

This past Monday marked the official beginning of our Philly marathon training. So, we ran the Firecracker 4 miler on Monday, another 4 miles on Wednesday, 5 on Saturday, and then we tackled 8 on Sunday. Since I’ve been battling shin splints on and off since November (I’m going to get rid of them this time!), I’ve been nervous to increase my mileage. I’ve decided that this time, though, unlike all of the others, I’m going to try to keep my pace significantly slower. I think the combination of the faster pace plus the increased mileage is what has caused me trouble in the past. Fingers crossed!

In addition to the running, this week I also had a solid yoga class on Saturday, and went swimming on Sunday! I really wish there was a gym nearby that had a pool, I really miss it sometimes. I’m tempted every now and then to look up masters programs and check them out, but I’m yet to bite the bullet on that. Maybe one day. Perhaps it was my time in the pool on Sunday that inspired me to make the oyster cracker baked tilapia and fries for dinner that night. Or it was just because we had a giant bag of frozen fish in the freezer. Either way.

Once the fish were thawed, the recipe took a total of 20 minutes (including cooking time). I cheated a little and just had frozen french fries, but that’s because last week at Wegmans the fiancé bought a giant bag of them. Might as well use them up! Now that we still have quite a few filets left, I’m thinking fish tacos are definitely in order. But next time you’re looking for a quick and easy dinner, and you have a bunch of crackers (any kind will do) on hand, you should consider this!

Cracker Crusted Tilapia
– Serves 2 –

Ingredients:
4 small tilapia filets
2 cups crushed crackers of your choice (I used Westminster Oyster Crackers)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beatten

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Meanwhile, beat two eggs in a shallow bowl, and crush crackers over a large plate, mixing in the cheese. Take each filet, dip it in the egg mixture, and then place it on the plate. Flipping it from side to side and pressing, make sure the filets are coated with the cracker crumbs. Place each filet on a well greased baking sheet.
3. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the fish begins to flake.