Sun Dried Tomato and Olive Turkey Meatloaf

Sun Dried Tomato and Olive Meatloal

This sun dried tomato and olive turkey meatloaf is gluten free and filled with tons of flavor. There are black olives (at my husband’s request, he loves olives), sun dried tomatoes, and shallots cooked in sun dried tomato oil. Using the oil, which is full of flavor is a great way to avoid waste and save some money. I also added garlic and fresh parsley. There is Parmesan cheese in this, but feel free to omit it, and the egg will keep it together.  If you are going to omit, add a little extra salt.

I missed cheese, especially Parmesan, and I’ve not found a good alternative, so I’m eating some dairy again. I’m doing pretty well with it actually, so I’m not going to deprive myself of one of my favorite foods. I’m trying a new thing where I don’t stress about following a diet perfectly. I have so much to stress over, I don’t need to add to it.

This dish was inspired by a meatloaf my mom used to buy at our local gourmet grocery store called The Market Basket. It has a delicious sun dried tomato flavor, especially in the glaze, that was just so good.

Like my mom, I’ve bought meatloaf to reheat, usually from Trader Joes, and while theirs is very good, and a easy weeknight meal, it didn’t have the flavor that I associate with meatloaf growing up and it wasn’t gluten free. I used Trader Joes gluten free white bread to make breadcrumbs and it turned out great.

Sun Dried Tomato and Olive Turkey Meatloaf
 
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Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 3 shallots
  • 2 minced large garlic cloves (3 medium or 4 small)
  • 3 tbsp sun dried tomato oil (from the jar of sun dried tomatoes)
  • 1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs from gluten free white bread
  • 1 tsp of Italian seasoning
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¼ cup of oat milk
  • 2 lbs of Italian ground turkey (I use Jennie-O)
  • 1 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
  • 1 can pitted black olives chopped
  • ½ cup Parmesan cheese
  • 1 8 fl oz jar of sun dried tomatoes
  • ½ cup of ketchup
  • 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
  1. Saute shallots and minced garlic in a sun dried tomato oil, let cool
  2. Then add shallots and garlic to a large bowl with turkey, fresh parsley, and Parmesan cheese.
  3. Toast gluten free bread for 12 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 6 minutes for each side, then add to food processor with Italian seasoning to make gluten free breadcrumbs. Add breadcrumbs to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
  4. Add oat milk over breadcrumbs in the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
  5. Add half jar of sun dried tomatoes to food processor, puree, then add to bowl with rest of the ingredients.
  6. Chop a can of pitted black olives and and to bowl with the rest of ingredients.
  7. Mix two eggs and add the rest of the ingredients in the bowl.
  8. Use your hands, and mix up all the ingredients together until evenly dispersed.
  9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  10. Add ketchup and rest of the jar of sun dried tomatoes to the food processor and puree together to make the glaze.
  11. On a sheet pan lined with foil, grease foil with olive oil, then mound together the meatloaf mixture on pan and mold into a meatloaf loaf shape.
  12. Cover the loaf with sun dried tomato and ketchup glaze, don't forget the sides.
  13. Then bake uncovered for 60-70 minutes or until temperature is over 165 degrees.
  14. Let it rest for at least ten minutes before slicing and serving.

Dill Pickle Potato Salad

dill pickle potato salad

I have so much fresh dill, it grew to the top of my fence! I had no clue it would get so big, when I planted it in my herb garden. To use all this dill, I’ve been making dill pickle potato salad this summer. This recipe makes a delicious side for summer grilling, plus I love pickles!

I use cornichons, which are tiny tart pickles that taste amazing on cheese boards and martinis so I always have them in my fridge or pantry. I also use golden potatoes, because they have a beautiful color and the texture is so creamy and dijon mustard and avocado mayo only help make this super creamy without any dairy. To make this dish vegan, use a vegan mayo instead.

Dill Pickle Potato Salad
 
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Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 13 medium to large golden potatoes
  • 14 cups of water
  • 1 tbsp of sea salt for water
  • 1 cup of diced cornichons
  • ¼ cup of dijon mustard
  • ⅔ cups of avocado mayo (use vegan mayo to make dish vegan)
  • 1 tsp of sea salt or to taste
Instructions
  1. Peel potatoes and then cube them
  2. Boil potatoes in water with sea salt until fork tender. Then drain the potatoes an let them cool.
  3. Finely chop fresh dill and mince cornichons.
  4. Add dijon and cornichons to potatoes and mix.
  5. When potatoes are cook add mayo and fresh dill. Then mix everything together and add sea salt to taste.

Fresh Fettuccine

fresh fettuccine

My mom and I were practicing our pasta skills with my kitchen aid attachment and we found that 4 cups of all purpose flour to 3 eggs with a little extra virgin olive oil worked best to make the pasta dough. We refrigerated the dough for a half hour to an hour and pasta thickness was level 5 for the attachment. We ran out of room on our pasta drying rack and had to start using our clothing drying rack!

I know this isn’t low carb, which is more typical of this food blog, but cooking from scratch is still healthier, and I’ve been trying a lot more Italian recipes since my Italian grandmother passed away. We always loved cooking together.

Also, I think moderation is healthy in the long run, especially when it comes to diets, even low carb ones. Cooking from scratch with love and care for the food we put in our bodies is not something we should feel guilty about. That said, consult your doctor about allergies. This recipe does contain gluten.

Fresh Fettuccine
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 4 cups of all purpose flour
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
  1. In a food processor, with a dough attachment, mix all purpose flour, add eggs but scramble them first, then a little olive oil and mix until it forms a dough.
  2. Then roll out sheet of pasta to level 5 in the kitchen aid attachment, add flour if it sticks.
  3. Then let the sheets dry out a little for an least 1-15 minutes to make it easier to put through the fettuccine attachment. I skipped this step once and my pasta was a sticky mess.
  4. Once sheets are dried out a little, run then through the fettuccine attachment and then hang them on something to dry, and separate them so they don't stick together.
  5. To cook noodles, boil in water with a little salt for a few minutes. Fresh pasta will cook quickly so I keep an eye out and taste test until al dente.

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

These gluten free sugar cookies are made with vegan butter to make them dairy free as well. I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour and Earth Balance unsalted buttery sticks. The flavors taste just like I remember from making Christmas cookies with my Mom growing up. A word of caution, these cookies were very delicate and crumbled easily until I got some vegan buttercream frosting on them. Handle them with care and let them rest for at least five minutes when they get out of the oven. After frosting them with vegan buttercream, they were durable enough and nice and tender when eating. I also recommend the OXO fish spatula to remove delicate cookies from a pan.

My favorite shapes ended up being the Christmas tree. It was the easiest to cut out and decorate and green is one of my favorite colors. I made stockings and stars too, but the trees were the cutest. Overall, I’m really happy to finally have a healthy-ish sugar cookie recipe that tastes authentic.

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
 
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Serves: 30 cookies
Ingredients
  • 3 cups of gluten free flour (Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour)
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup vegan butter (earth balance unsalted buttery sticks)
  • 1 cup of granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp sea salt
Instructions
  1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  2. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well.
  3. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to vegan butter mixture.
  4. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.
  5. Chill for 1 to 2 hours.
  6. Roll dough to desired thickness or ¼ inch and cut into desired shapes.
  7. Bake on baking sheet lined with parchment paper at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges.

Vegan Buttercream Frosting

vegan buttercream

This vegan buttercream frosting is an easy and delicious was to decorate your holiday sugar cookies. I wanted to recreate a dairy-free version of the store bought frosting my family and I used to decorate holiday cookies with. This recipe only requires a few ingredients. I used earth balance vegan butter sticks, vanilla extract, confectionery sugar, and vanilla almond milk (I prefer almond breeze vanilla almond milk).

This frosting acted like real buttercream frosting too and hardened a bit when I left it out overnight. Just to be careful, I froze my frosted cookies for ten to fifteen minutes before stacking them between parchment paper and storing them in my tupperware in the freezer. I like to prepare for holiday festivities ahead of time, by stocking up my freezer with Christmas cookies. When it comes to holiday cooking and baking, I try to make as much as possible in advance. Luckily, cookies freeze well and can be stored up to three months.

Vegan Buttercream
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 stick or ½ cup of vegan butter (earth balance)
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 2½ cups of sifted confectionery sugar
  • 2 tbsp of vanilla almond milk (almond breeze)
Instructions
  1. Soften vegan butter by letting it get to room temperature.
  2. Sift powdered sugar into a large bowl.
  3. Whip vegan butter in a stand mixer until fluffy and gradually add powdered sugar.
  4. Then, add vanilla extract and almond milk until it has the desired consistency and thickness.

Tender Beef Soup

tender beef soup

This tender beef soup recipe took a long time to get right. I’ve struggled with tough beef in my soups, stews, and curries. So, I’m finally happy to say the trick to tender beef soup is to simmer it long enough, for about two and half to three hours and use beef chuck instead of stew meat. I trimmed the hard fat off the beef chuck and chopped it into mostly even size pieces. It doesn’t have to be perfect for it to be tender and delicious.

Since this soup takes so long to cook, add the vegetables towards the end depending on how soft you prefer them. For starchy vegetables such as potatoes, cook them separately and add them at the end. Otherwise, they will disintegrate into your soup and you will have a beef soup that tastes like potatoes instead of beef. Yes, I’ve unfortunately had this happen to me.

Since my husband doesn’t like the stringy texture of celery, I chop it super thin and add it only when the beef is done cooking. It should only take ten to fifteen minutes to cook, or less if you like some crunch.  I use a celery rib to flavor the soup while the beef is cooking and fish it out when done.

Tender Beef Soup
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 cartons of beef broth
  • 2-2.5 lbs of beef chuck
  • 4-5 carrots peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup of celery thinly sliced
  • 1 celery rib
  • 1 small white onion chopped
  • 1 tbsp of tomato paste
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp of olive oil
  • sea salt to taste
  • (optional) parsley to garnish
Instructions
  1. Chop beef chuck and remove as much hard fat as possible then season with a little salt and sear on one side with olive oil.
  2. Remove meat from the pan once you see a little browning on one side.
  3. Add broth, onions, garlic, celery rib, tomato paste and meat to large pot and simmer for at least one hour and a half.
  4. Then add carrots, and let soup simmer for forty-five minutes to one hour or until carrots are cooked.
  5. Check beef to see if it shreds easily and is tender. Add sea salt to taste if necessary and fish out celery rib.
  6. Then add thinly sliced celery and let it cook for an additional ten to fifteen minutes.
  7. (optional) garnish with fresh chopped parsley

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