Eggroll in a Bowl

This is one of my new favorite recipes! I recently came across a local farm to table Facebook group, that allows you to buy great food straight from the farmers who grow/raise it. The Wandering Market has tons of different products and bundle options. In the winter vegetable bundle I ordered I received the largest cabbage I have ever seen in my life. No joke, this thing was the size of Bianca. I ended up making 3 meals from it, and adding cabbage to anything and everything I could, and I still had over half of it left.

I've never really cooked with cabbage (other than cabbage rolls, and even then I just eat what my mom makes) and had no idea what to do with our new bundle of joy. Good ole Pinterest gave me the hook-up with tons of great ideas, but I couldn't get the idea of an eggroll out of my head.

Eggroll in a Bowl
1 lb (5 links) of sausage
4 cups coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrot also works great)
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup soy
1/4 cup water
1t brown sugar
1t fresh ginger
sliced green onion for garnish

Remove sausage meat from the casing and brown it in a pan over medium-high heat. While the sausage is browning, combine garlic, soy, water, sugar and ginger in a bowl. Set aside. Once the sausage is cooked through, add the coleslaw to the pan and pour sauce over top. Cook until the cabbage is wilted but crunchy. Sprinkle green onions over top and serve.

I like to serve this with a grain of some sort just to make it a little more substantial. I really like faro because it's a bit of a drier grain and supposedly good for you, but rice would be just as tasty. We sometimes like to add a little hoisin sauce on top just to make it extra saucy.

Meal Plan - February 17, 2017

I'm really excited for the meals I have planned for the next couple weeks. I've been in a bit of a food slump lately, and finally made some time to track down some new recipes. New recipes can be a scaring thing because you never know what you're really going to get. Sure the photo looks beautiful but will it be good?

Well, we've already had a few of these recipes and so far we have some new family favorites!! I'll keep you in suspense about which meals they are until the next meal plan post.

Pork cutlets with mashed potatoes and veggies
Roasted chicken and veggies
Ham & Gouda Stromboli
Honey Teriyaki Chicken
Chicken Guacamole Tostadas
Spinach & Feta stuffed chicken
Chicken Enchiladas

I also have a few fun lunches planned. I don't normally plan lunches because we usually have sandwiches or leftovers. Roman, like almost every kid, loves McDonald's. Who doesn't really? Like most people I know that eating too much fast food isn't good for anyone, plus it isn't cheap! I usually make hamburgers for lunch a couple times a month so that he can still get his burger fix, but it's in a healthier way. I make my patties from scratch and like to stuff the patties with some mozzarella or cheddar cheese. Roman gets so excited when he finds extra cheese that all thought of McDonald's is gone!

My parents gifted John and I an Acti-Fry machine a few years ago for Christmas, and it's one of those appliances that I always forget to use. I thought it would be fun to give homemade sweet potato fries a shot. I'm not usually a fan of them, but I thought that maybe homemade ones would be better. So, I picked up a few sweet potatoes and we'll see what happens!

Healthier Bangers & Mash

I love shopping my freezer when I'm out of ideas for supper.  Sometimes finding that perfect protein in the freezer is enough to inspire an entire meal, but it didn't quite happen that way this time.  I came across a package of mild Italian sausage in the freezer and immediately I thought I would make Toasted Pasta.  A great recipe for sure, but I felt like I needed to make something different, like I was getting into a bit of a food rut.  After standing at the counter glaring at the package of thawing sausage like it was it's fault that I was uninspired it hit me.  Bangers & Mash!

Now I've never had an authentic bangers & mash meal but I knew the basics so how hard could it be to recreate.  Well first off I never have potatoes in this house so that was the first stick in the mud.  Luckily I did have a head of cauliflower that I knew would make a great mashed potato substitute.  I still felt like I was missing something so I dove into the crisper in the fridge and this is what happened!

Healthier Bangers & Mash
1 pkg mild Italian sausage (5 links), split down the middle
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 cup diced onion
1 bunch swiss chard, washed & chopped
1 1/2 cups diced mushroom
2t minced garlic
salt & pepper
1T butter
2T parmesan cheese

Place split sausage links in a pan over medium-high heat and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until cooked through. Remove sausages from pan and set aside. Don't be concerned if the sausage burns a bit, those black bits will add flavor to the veggies! Add the onion to the pan and season with salt and pepper. The salt will draw out the moisture from the onion and help lift the sausage flavor from the pan. Sauté the onion for 1 minute then add in the swiss chard & mushrooms. Add garlic and sauté until the swiss chard has wilted.

Bring water to a boil in a large pot.  Add cauliflower and boil until tender.  Strain and return to pot.  Add butter and parmesan cheese.  Mash with a potato masher until it reaches a mashed potato like consistency.

Serve a scoop of cauliflower topped with a scoop of the swiss chard mixture and a sausage link.

I know the thought of substituting cauliflower for potatoes seems like you would be giving up a lot of satisfaction but I promise that it's much easier than you think. I've actually started to prefer cauliflower over potatoes, which I'm sure will shock my Mom because I LOVE potatoes. I feel so much better after eating the cauliflower because I don't feel stuffed and heavy.

Panko Pork Cutlets

It has been a long time since we had pork in our house, so I thought I would bring back a classic.  John and I used to visit Butcher Boy Meats for our meat and they had the best pork cutlets I've ever had, super thin and super fresh!  So fresh in fact that when asked if they had any more cutlets than what was in the meat case, the butcher brought a side of pork to the counter and cut some cutlets just for me.  It doesn't get much better than that!  Unfortunately we aren't close to them anymore so I just used regular grocery store pork chops.  I also recommend picking up one of the giant pork tenderloins at Costco for about $30 and cutting your own pork chops.  You get major bang for your buck that way!

 

I LOVE Panko bread crumbs because they never become soggy like regular bread crumbs. They give the pork cutlets the perfect amount of crunch that you look for in a breaded dish.  They also toast to a beautiful golden brown color which makes for a great looking dish.  For me the perfect side for pork cutlets is mashed potatoes!  How can you go wrong with creamy mashed potatoes?  I prefer mine unpeeled and on the chunky side.  Interesting fact - most of the nutrition in a potato is in the skin!

Panko Pork Cutlets
4 boneless pork chops
1 egg
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
2T dried parsley
2t smoked paprika
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Cover the pork chop with plastic wrap.  Using a meat mallet, or a rolling pin, pound the pork chop out until it is 1/4 inch thick.  An ice cream scoop also works well but be warned that the scoop might not survive.  Rest in peace cow ice cream scoop *tear*.

In one bowl mix together the Panko, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper.  In a second bowl whisk the egg.  Dip each pork cutlet into the egg, then coat both sides with the Panko mixture.  Shallow fry the pork in oil for 2 minutes on each side until cooked through.  Set on a paper towel to drain the excess oil.

If you are freezer cooking, pound out and crust pork chops as directed.  Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and pop them in the freezer.  Once they are frozen, transfer them into a freezer bag.  To serve, thaw and fry as mentioned in the recipe or bake them in the oven!

If you want to make a gravy for your pork cutlets, add a bit of flour to the oil leftover from frying the cutlets to make a roux.  Then add some chicken stock, salt and pepper.  Reduce the sauce for a few minutes and you have yourself some delicious gravy!