Italian Meatball Burgers and Macaroni Salad

These were really good! They did not take very long either which is always a plus! I served it with a Macaroni Salad but you could also serve it with roasted red potatoes as well. ENJOY!!!

Makes 6 servings, 1 burger is serving size

Ingredients
8 ounces sweet turkey Italian sausage
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed, I did
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound ground sirloin
Cooking spray
2 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
6 (2-ounce) Italian bread rolls, split, I could not find these so I just used original dinner rolls cut in half from Publix & they were GREAT!
3/4 cup fat-free tomato-basil pasta sauce, I found a light version by Ragu

Directions
Prepare grill.

Remove casings from sausage. Combine sausage, oregano, basil, salt, fennel seeds, garlic powder, and ground sirloin. Divide beef mixture into 6 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.

Place patties on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 5 minutes. Turn patties over; grill 2 minutes. Divide fresh mozzarella cheese evenly over patties, and grill an additional 5 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°. Remove from grill; let stand 5 minutes.

Place rolls, cut sides down, on grill rack; grill 1 minute or until toasted. Place 1 patty on bottom half of each roll; top each serving with 2 tablespoons sauce and top half of roll.

Nutritional Information
Calories:375 (33% from fat)
Fat:13.9g (sat 5.3g,mono 4.4g,poly 1.7g)
Protein:28.1g
Carbohydrate:32.7g
Fiber:1.8g
Cholesterol:80mg
Iron:4.5mg
Sodium:894mg
Calcium:130mg

-Compliments of Cooking Light


Macaroni Salad with Bacon, Peas, & Creamy Dijon Dressing

I made this the night before we ate it and I definitely recomment doing that. I always love a pasta salad that has sat in the refridgerator the night before better because it has time to sit and mix all the ingredients better. I really enjoyed this pasta salad and so did my mother and grandmother (Meme). Justin did not enjoy it because he does not like "cold things for dinner" or any pasta salad really. :) But, if you are looking for a great summer pasta salad this is my recommendation!

Makes 8 servings, 1 cup of pasta salad and 1 teaspoon of bacon

Ingredients
Dressing:
1/2 cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise, I used the new olive oil mayo by kraft
2 tablespoons fat-free sour cream
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Salad:
8 ounces uncooked large elbow macaroni, I used reg size because I could not find lg
2/3 cup fresh green peas
2/3 cup finely diced red bell pepper
2/3 cup finely diced red onion
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
3 lower-sodium bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Directions
To prepare dressing, combine first 9 ingredients in a food processor, and process until smooth. Cover and chill.

To prepare salad, cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; add peas during the last 3 minutes of cooking time. Drain; rinse with cold water. Drain. Combine pasta mixture, bell pepper, and next 4 ingredients (through rind) in a large bowl. Toss pasta mixture with half of dressing. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Toss salad with remaining dressing, and sprinkle with crumbled bacon; serve immediately.

Nutritional Information
Calories:208 (30% from fat)
Fat:7g (sat 3.2g,mono 2.2g,poly 1.4g)
Protein:8.6g
Carbohydrate:29.1g
Fiber:2.3g
Cholesterol:16mg
Iron:1.5mg
Sodium:454mg
Calcium:44mg

-Compliments of Cooking Light

Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken

I made this for us on Sunday night for dinner. This was my first time trying it out and they turned out great. I tweaked the recipe a bit, but I will post the original. The recipe calls for chicken thighs but we already had chicken breasts and we aren't huge fans of chicken thighs so we made do. I tried following the recipe about the baking part but my oven does not cook chicken that fast. So if you do chicken breasts you might want to cut them up in smaller pieces instead of just putting the whole breast in (like I did). They will cook faster that way and not burn the outside. I served bacon wrapped corn, which I will post that recipe as well. I also did not follow that recipe exactly either and will tell you what I did differently. We also had roasted red potatoes. This meal was very very good!!

Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken
Serves 4 (2 chicken thighs) or can serve 2 (1 chicken breast each, this is what we did)

Ingredients
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs or 2 chicken breast boneless skinless
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons honey, I used 4 tbsp
2 teaspoons cider vinegar, I used 1 tsp

**I did not use all of the rub since we only did 2 chicken breast. I just tossed them both in a bowl with all the spices mixed together and threw out the rest.

Directions
Preheat broiler.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side. **(if you cut chicken into pieces then it will be done by this time, just make sure to cut into chicken and make sure it is white all the way through)

Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.

Nutritional Information
Calories:321 (31% from fat)
Fat:11g (sat 3g,mono 4.1g,poly 2.5g)
Protein:28g
Carbohydrate:27.9g
Fiber:0.6g
Cholesterol:99mg
Iron:2.1mg
Sodium:676mg
Calcium:21mg

-Compliments of Cooking Light, www.myrecipes.com

Peppered Corn on the Cob
If I would have followed this recipe as it stated then I know it would have been amazing. But, since I did not read all the directions I would not slow cook it so I just followed the recipe exceot the slow cooker part. I just boiled it on the stove and it was still good!I just did 2 ears of fresh corn. So i will post original recipe but you might want to tweak it according to how many ears of corn you do.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients
6 tablespoons butter, softened
4 garlic cloves, pressed
6 ears fresh corn, husks removed
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 fully cooked bacon slices (we tested with Ready Crisp Bacon)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 jalapeño pepper, minced, I omitted

Directions
Combine butter and garlic in a small bowl. Rub garlic butter evenly over ears of corn. Sprinkle evenly with pepper and salt. Wrap each ear of corn with 2 bacon slices, and secure with wooden picks. Place corn in a 5-quart slow cooker. Add broth and jalapeño pepper.

Cover and cook on LOW 3 to 4 hours or until corn is tender. Remove bacon before serving, if desired.

Bacon Bit: If you don't want to wrap the bacon around the corn, simply chop the bacon and sprinkle on top of the corn in the cooker.

**Like I said I boiled mine and just mixed the chicken broth and water and boiled it that way but I suggest following the recipe because I know it is much better that way.

-Compliments of www.myrecipes.com