Eyeballs and Brains

This is a great recipe any day of the year but adding an olive to the top of the meatballs makes it a fun and festive way to have a Halloween dinner! Eyeballs and Brains is healthy and delicious!

The Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground turkey (could use ground chicken)
  
• 1/4 cup pesto
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
  
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 cups spaghetti sauce (jarred or homemade)
• Spaghetti Noodles

Cooking It Up:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Spray a baking dish with non stick spray and dump the spaghetti sauce into it.
• Place all of the other ingredients into a bowl and using your hands, combine until everything is well mixed.
• Roll mixture into balls and drop them into the sauce.
• To make them look like eyeballs: Press one black or green olive slice into the top of an uncooked meatball. Make sure the olive is secure (I didn't push them into the meatball enough and a lot of them fell off while cooking). Place olive side up in sauce.
• Cover the baking pan with foil and bake until meatballs are no longer pink and are firm to the touch, about 20 minutes.
• Cook spaghetti noodles while the meatballs are baking.
• Serve meatballs (eyeballs) over cooked spaghetti (otherwise known as brains!).

Happy Halloween!!

Donair Wraps

We grew up in the Maritimes where donairs seem to be a common thing. They are delicious and sold at many restaurants and pizza joints. They are not as popular where we live now but we still love them. Here is a healthier (and easier) version of a donair. So so yummy, and pretty close to authentic! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Donair:

• 1 pound of ground turkey
  
• 1 pound of ground beef (lean or extra lean)
• 4 tsp flour
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• dash of ground black pepper and salt
  
• 1-2 Roma Tomatoes (they have less juice and pulp which makes them perfect for a wrap!)
• 1/2 yellow onion, raw and finely chopped
• 1 head of leaf lettuce
  
• 6 flour tortillas (or greek pitas)

Donair Sauce:

• 3-4 tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp milk (I used skim)
• 1 tbsp white sugar
  
• 1 tsp white vinegar

Cooking It Up:

• Preheat oven to 375 F.
  
• Mix the meat and spices in a medium sized bowl. Mix with your hands for a full 4-5 minutes (or a food processor for 2-3 minutes). This is very important and will lend to the final consistency of the donair meat.
• Form the meat into a narrow (1 1/2 inch height) and long loaf. Place on a baking sheet and cook for 55-60 minutes.
• While the meat is cooking, make the sauce by mixing the ingredients together until no longer lumpy. Set aside in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
• Slice meat into thin slices, if you aren't serving it immediately out of the oven you can reheat the meat in a frying pan (a few minutes over medium heat).
• Place the meat onto tortillas, top with diced tomatoes, diced onion, leaf lettuce, and a good amount of the donair sauce.

Serves 4-6.

Apple & Sweet Potato Beef Stew

The Ingredient List:

1 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp water
2 cloves garlic (I use jarred minced garlic)
1 onion, chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 lb lean ground beef
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cinnmon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes (optional)
1 Tbsp liquid honey
2 apples, peeled, cored, chopped
1 can (790 ml) diced tomatoes (do not drain liquid)

Cooking It Up:

• Heat oil and cook garlic, onion, sweet potato and water, stirring often, for 5 minutes.
• Add beef and cook 5 minutes.
• Add spices and cook, stirring often, 2 minutes.
• Add tomatoes and honey, continue to cook and stir often for 15 minutes.
• Add apples, cook an additional 10 minutes.

Serves 4-6. Enjoy!