Sausage & Polenta (Easy & Rustic)

Very rustic Italian dinner you can whip up in 30 mins. Don't fear polenta- it's easy! But if you are worried or super strapped for time you can pick up some quick cooking polenta. Picture isn't that great, but it was really tasty- especially the sauce.

All these items you can have in your freezer and pantry.  That's why it is a great recipe to have in your back pocket in a jam- you can even substitute any other meat (like chicken) or even just add more beans for a vegetarian version.  Sometimes I like to throw in a handful or two of frozen peas in the polenta.

Sauce:

• 1 lb of sausage (or meat) I used hot Italian sausage
• 1 (28oz) can of crushed tomatoes
• water
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and pepper
• basil, fresh if you have

1. Heat a sauce pot to medium high
2. Add the sausage to the pot (I sliced mine into smaller pieces- this is just preference).
3. Brown on both sides quickly.
4. Then add the garlic, heat about one minute
5. Add the tomatoes
6. Fill the tomato can half way up with water and add to the pot (just eyeball it)
7. Stir to combine.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and partially cover.  Stirring occasionally.
8. Cook for about 30mins (you don't have to cook that long- just make sure the sausage are cooked all the way through!) 
9. Before serving season with salt, pepper and basil to taste.

Beans:

If you have canned beans- wonderful! Use two cans of cannellini beans- just open the can, drain and rinse. Top the polenta with the beans and pour hot sauce over them

If you have dry beans- you had to soak overnight, then take about 2 cups and just cover with water.  Then add a big pinch of salt and bring to a boil and simmer for 30 mins (or until polenta and sauce is done).  Taste a couple beans to see if they are done.  Then drain and rinse quick.

Polenta:

• 4 cups of water
• 1 cup of cornmeal
• pinch of the following spices: onion powder, oregano, red pepper
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1/4 cup of parmesean cheese

1. In a pot add the water and salt.  Bring to a boil.
2. When the water is bowling grab a whisk and super slowly add the cornmeal a little at a time, whisking consistently.  This process is called "raining in" because you are adding like a light rain shower basically.
3. Stir, stir, stir until it comes together- will look like grits or grainy mashed potatoes almost. When it comes together swap your whisk for a wooden spoon (wooden is traditional).  Reduce heat to low and you need to stir pretty constantly (this helps break down the starches and make it yummy).  I don't but stir every couple minutes so the bottom doesn't burn.
4. Be careful because the polenta will turn thick and bubble and splatter a bit.  So just keep an eye out.  I cook for 30 minutes until smooth and creamy and it doesn't taste bitter anymore.  Should taste sweet and a touch grainy.
5. Right before you serve stir in your cheese.

Assembly: Polenta, top with beans, top with sausage sauce, and finally some extra parm cheese!

Homemade Sausage {w/ NO meat grinder}

Unfortunately I am not a proud owner of a stand mixer with a meat grinder attachment. SO I had to figure out something else.

So when I buy a huge pork loin I usually cut it into three cuts myself- a roast, pork chops and "pork tenderloins".  But I always have some large scraps that are still good- but are either too marbled for our taste or just separate from the larger part of the loin (ya know what I mean? it is usually a darker shade of meat).  Anyway- I hate throwing away food- so I figured hey I could grind this into my own sausage, I mean, that's exactly what they do at the store- but now I know exactly what's going into it. 

These sausage will have a slightly different texture because we are not using a meat grinder- but honestly these were some of the best sausages I've ever had- and you can customize them to be any flavor! even breakfast sausage! {the key here is fresh herbs}

Even the sausage connoisseur hubby gave it two thumbs up ;)



Ingredients

• about 1 lb of pork loin scraps, cut into small cubes so it's easier for the food processor
• 3 strips of fresh rosemary, chopped fine
• 2 strips of fresh thyme, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (fresh if you have) (more if the meat feels too moist)
• 2 tsp of salt
• lots of freshly cracked pepper
• about 1/2-3/4 cup of grated cheese (I used pecorino and parm mixture)
• small pinch of ground fennel seeds (I buy these whole and crush them myself-this is what makes that signature sausage taste)
• good pinch of red pepper flakes (bc I like it spicy)

Directions

1. Remove any unnecessary or larger pieces of fat from the pork scraps before cutting them into small cubes that your food processor can handle (I ground the meat in two batches)
2. When it's broken up well- add to a bowl and kind of go through it with your fingers to make sure the meat is well "ground". Pikc out any larger fatty pieces that didn't grind correctly.
3. Add everything else and mix together.
4. Shape into sausages. Then I cook them in a glass casserole dish at 400 degrees F for about 25-30 minutes or until brown and crispy on the outside.
5. You can even freeze these.
6. Serve along side my Zucchini Spaghetti!

Food to Boost Energy and Fight Fatigue (Rider Nutrition)

Now I am no nutritionist or expert by any means, so if you do have a serious problem you might want to speak to your doctor, but I have be researching a bit about food that helps boost energy, keeps you going and also fights fatigue.  When we go to the motorcycle track I need to feed Brendan food that will be beneficial to him for his performance and to not make him feel heavy or sluggish when he's out there holding down the throttle.

A phrase I like to keep in mind is the saying "garbage in-garbage out".  Meaning that if you fill yourself with foods that are processed and not nutritionally beneficially you might as well be eating dirt or shortening out of the can.

These are a couple great tips to help you even if you aren't an athlete.  Eating correctly will help you in your everyday life- because who wants to feel sluggish and tired.  That "3pm crash" commericals ::cough:: 5hr energy ::cough:: mention sluggishness can be combated with an overpriced little shot of B vitamins, caffeine and taurine- but instead you should be filling your body with healthy foods that are slow releasing that keep you going- examples being low fat protein or complex carbs.

Fluids

This is a huge factor in health and fitness- you need to keep your body hydrated.  The human body is made up of something like over 80% water- so yea, water is important- and I said WATER- not soda or juice.  We started carrying around the gallon jug of water instead of the little bottles- which definitely gets you to drink more water.  (Ever wonder why those huge guys carry it around at the gym? Yea, that's why)  I'm not a huge fan of sports drinks, but when you are intensely active- like when Brendan is racing his motorcycle (all zipped up in a full leather suit with temps soaring over 100 degrees at times) or you're in a marathon or playing hard at whatever- it is a good idea to have a couple of these drinks on hand- and that brings me to the next point...

Sodium

I know- this one was new to me too.  Which it kind of wasn't because if you think about when someone is in the hospital and they get an IV- it usually is saline solution for dehydratrion- which is essentially sodium.  Sodium helps to prevent cramping and helps you when the weather is extremely hot and/or humid.  This is where the sports drinks come in- they have sodium and also electrolytes which help keep the body going- but don't forget to drink lots of water in between or even mix your drinks half and half.  FYI you are also consuming a lot of sodium in foods you eat- so don't go dousing your food with table salt or anything like that- just be aware of how much you are consuming and when you are consuming it.  Here's an interesting article Water vs Sports Drinks.

A higher sodium intake yields a greater overall blood volume and blood flow to the working muscles. With increased blood flow, the amount of oxygen and nutrients delivered to the working muscles is maximized...It is the responsibility of sodium to deliver potassium into the cell membrane of muscle tissue {racerxvt.com}

Complex Carbs
If you have read anything about carbs lately these are the recommended ones.  Complex carbs are just what they sound like- carbs that are complex- they are made up of chains of three or more single sugar molecules linked together.  These usually contain fiber which helps slows down the absorption of the carbohydrates so you feel full longer and be less likely to over-eat throughout the day.  (Non complex carbs are made up of more refined sugars that spike blood sugar levels that give us that boost, but make us feel hungry and sluggish again later).  Now, if anyone that knows more about nutrition is reading this, I know there is WAY more that goes into explaining carbs (on the molecular level) but for us regular people- just eat high fiber, whole grain carbs.  Most importantly- look at the ingredient list of foods you buy- what are the top three ingredients- are they natural? healthy? pronounceable?  Brendan has also told me most riders carb load the night before and that it helps the next day- I have also read this in other areas, but that is usually for people that will be doing some sort of intense activity the next day.

Protein

Protein can be absorbed from meats and dairy for the most part.  Examples: Boneless skinless chicken breasts, fish, eggs, low fat yogurt, tofu, quinoa, almonds, other nuts, beans, even lean beef.  Protein helps muscle and helps keep you feeling fuller longer- just like your complex carbs.  Also provides certain vitamins and minerals, like iron, vitamin D etc.

So besides all the nutritional facts- a couple other tips caught my eye:

1. Stretch. Some people forget how important this is.  For anyone- even in the morning when you wake up.  It helps blood flow, flexibility and helps us avoid injuries.  For any riders reading this- stretch your arms and forearms before to help combat the arm pump.
2. Sleep. Easy one but it helps recharge and rebuild your body in every aspect.
3. Booze. Yea- don't drink it.  Or just really try and not drink yourself into an oblivion.  We like to enjoy some beers and hang out after a long day on vacation- so we drink a bit earlier- try and get a couple glasses of water in between beers and before bed try and consume water.  Then we wind up going to bed earlier so the next day isn't that bad.  (By the way, drunk sleeping is not good for cell regeneration or rebuilding your body because the body is just trying to mainly push out all the toxins and not focusing as much on the other things- that's putting it very very simply)  Also if you are going to drink after doing something intense (running, riding, gym- sounds odd but)- make sure your first drink is a real recovery drink or water before putting back a couple beers to help your body recover properly. If you really want a boost to not drink- read this
4. Hydration. Yes I'm bringing it up again.  It is important for well being, but also for people needing to loose weight- drink some water before you eat- your body might just be thirsty- not hungry.  Also how do you know if you are hydrated? Check your pee- if it is clear- you're good (unless you are taking some vitamin or supplements that would counter act this effect).  You also want to drink before you are actually thirsty- because if you're thirsty you are already dehydrated.  If you are active- Drink cold water because is absorbed more rapidly and will aid in decreasing body temperature.
5. Fatigue. How do you know your even fatigued? Headaches, dizziness, nausea and cramping can all be first signs of (heat) exhaustion. 
6. Fats. Seems like I left this one out- nope- it's there but just not directly mentioned- healthy fats you will be consuming mainly through the proteins- lean meats, nuts and dairy.  Other healthy fats can come from avocados, olives, and peanut butter.  They are important for your body- but just in moderation.
7. Exercise. All articles I read mentioned exercising and conditioning your body for the "main event".  Example being- most moto guys will mountain bike, run, swim etc to prep their bodies for the intense rides (esp motocross).  Just like marathon runners don't wake up one day and decide to run the marathon that night.  Starting small is ok- even just for better over health- at lunch time, take a ten min walk to refresh your mind and legs.  Take the stairs, stretch, get to the gym, walk your dog a bit longer than usual, clean your house vigorously etc. 
8. Eating at the correct times. Like right after a work out for example- eating the right food helps regenerate your muscle and refuel your body.  This is a great easy read article from Spark People

Random thought: I heard something so awesome- "If it has a food label on it- it's not food"  I just love that quote because you never wonder the nutritional facts on corn or a bag of dried lentils.  Because these foods are natural and good for you.  (Obviously this is not 100% true, but still it is a good guideline to think about) When you are in a supermarket -try and walk the perimeter- and venture into the aisles for only natural whole foods- like grains/pastas or canned veggies.  I'm sure you've all heard it before that the supermarkets set their stores up like this on purpose- you need to walk through the aisles to get to the real food- so you are more likely to see unhealthier foods and make an impulse buy.  Why do you think they put all those little candy bars up by the register?

Anyway- I know this was a bunch of reading, but every ounce of knowledge gained leads to every ounce of your waist lost :)

Main sources:
livestrong.com
racerxvt.com
mayoclinic.com
sparkpeople.com

Some on-the-road recipes to keep you eating like a (healthy) king:

Smashed Avocado and Chick Peas Sandwiches

• These are so good.  I added a bit of garlic and topped with bacon on whole wheat bread.  Good fats from the avocado, complex carbs from the bread and protein from the chick peas all make this sandwich a great lunch filled with fuel to keep you going without weighing you down.  Top with cucumber slices or baby spinach to bump up the nutrition.

Fruit & Nut Breakfast Muffins

• Start your day with this awesome portable breakfast that will fuel your morning.

Grilled Pizza

• Because who doesn't love pizza!  And when you do this on the grill people do a double take- because they are like- Where did you get that pizza?!

Turkey Burgers

• In a food processor (or by hand)- chop 1/2 red onion, a small pepper, and 2 garlic cloves.  Take a package of ground turkey (it's like 1.3 lbs) and mix that with the chopped veggies.  Crumble some feta cheese into that, some breadcrumbs and a palmful of McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning until the meat is firm enough to form a patties.  Form 4 large patties and grill until cooked all the way through since they are raw poultry.  Serve on buns.

Italian Chicken Foil Packets

• These were one of the best meals I've ever had on the grill. The meat fell apart and was still super juicy and flavorful.  Something that is hard to achieve in boneless skinless chicken breasts.

Grilled Veggies

• You can also throw some pre cut veggies into a ziplock with oil salt and pepper and then just put on the grill when ready- our favs are asparagus and zucchini.

Memorial Day Weekend- BBQ, Beer and Bikes



Pretty awesome right?


Memorial Day is always about BBQ Beer and Bikes for us LOL. But then again that's pretty much our life in general during the summer.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.

So over the Memorial Day weekend we packed up and took a 5 hour drive down to West Virginia to the Summit Point Motorsports Park.  It was a CCS Racing weekend.  So proud of Brendan for doing so well first time at this track.  I'm his number one fan and sponsor.  The weather was amazing- hot and sunny.  Got myself a nice tan and my fiance got some race time in.  We had such a great time.  He loads up his truck with bike stuff and I load the pop-up camper with food and everything else. 

We have limited space in the cooler and mini fridge so I need to plan out a weekends worth of meals accordingly.  I also don't like to settle for just hamburgers and hot dogs, so this is a quick run down of what I made for the weekend:

Friday Night (we arrived): homemade burgers and hot dogs after we set up camp.
Saturday Breakfast: bagels, bananas and coffee (we had this everyday for breakfast)
Saturday Lunch: grilled pizza
Saturday Dinner: Chicken Kabobs and Asparagus
Sunday Lunch: Grilled Sausage, Pepper and Onion Sandwiches
Sunday Dinner: Pork Tenderloin with grilled corn
Monday Lunch: Chicken Kabobs and Asparagus

Of course we had A LOT of drinks on hand. It was so hot- water, Gatorade, iced tea, Redbull and of course beer.

We had some cheese doodles, triscuits, hummus and other various snacks too.

Not exactly the healthiest of choices, but hey it's vacation!

Everything I cooked was very simple prep and simple cook.  All the veggies were simply seasoned with salt, pepper and oil.  The chicken kabobs were just skewered boneless skinless chicken breasts seasoned with McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning (my fav go-to summer seasoning).  The pork tenderloin was marinated in garlic, honey, jalapenos, oil, lime juice, salt and pepper.  I even grilled the bagels to toast them up.  FYI if you have never had grilled asparagus- go and make that tonight- they are the bomb.

And if you have never grilled pizza- get on that!  It is probably the closest thing you will have to real brick oven pizza.  It is super simple too.  I really should have brought my rolling pin though- was a pain to roll it out- that's why its super misshaped but whatever it's "rustic".  I packed homemade dough (you could even do store bought), shredded cheese, sliced tomatoes and fresh basil.  Roll the dough out and lay on the grill.  I then brush or drizzle a bit of oil.  Let that cook and bubble up.  When it is ready to turn you will be able to grab it up and it will easily pull away from the grill.  Flip it over and top with tomatoes and basil then the cheese to help everything stay put.  Cover (aka close the lid), turn heat to low and just wait until everything melts.  Even if you burn the bottom, it still tastes really good! (oh yea- don't forget a cutting board and knife!)

Here's all the rest of the weekend!




Lexi sun bathing




Dutchy Moo Cow is hot




Mini fridge is stocked plus we had a cooler



gotta have the hot sauce

Our home away from home (with a/c of course!)

Ya know, just the essentials

Simple breakfast plus coffee of course

My ride

A man of many talents

Took him on the turn

Yea forgot to soak the skewers- oh well!

Race grid

Shade!

Love sausage super crispy- cut sausage in half then serve on buns with ketchup!

Yea, these boys don't play around when it comes to speed

Cooling off in the camper- isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen???!!!!

Held his position against this guy and took 11 out of 23 in this race! So proud of you babe, I love you!

Mini Stuffed Peppers

This is one of my most viewed posts- even with the original no so perfect pictures! I think I took the first photos with my cell phone! I originally posted this in Oct 2011, and I felt it needed a photo update* (along with most of my earlier posts-see the end for originals).  Recipe is still the same and still delicious. Perfect for an easy make-a-head appetizer! 

{Since my Greek style Stuffed Peppers- w/ Beef, Orzo and Feta Cheese were such a huge hit, I decided to follow that up with an Italian style smaller/appetizer size stuffed pepper recipe.  These are so cute and colorful they are hard to resist.  Yes it is more of a summer time recipe, but I just found the recipe scribbled down and felt compelled to share.  If you can't find the mini peppers just try and go with the smallest peppers you can find, and you will probably need to cook them a bit longer.  This filling recipe will make about 20-30 mini peppers.  The peppers I usually buy come in a bag already pre-packaged.  Oh, and do I really need to mention they are super easy to make?}

Ingredients

• 20 mini sweet peppers (I buy them in a bag of about 30-40 peppers)
• 2 hot (or sweet) sausages, removed from the casing
• 1 small onion or shallot, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 10 oz box of spinach, thawed and excess liquid squeezed out (or fresh spinach cooked down to about the same amount- about 2 bunches or so)
• 3/4 cup of ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 c pecorino (or parmesan) cheese
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp fresh basil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prep peppers by cutting off the top and carefully removing/scooping out seeds and ribs from the inside.  Set aside and reserve.
3. Meanwhile, remove the sausage from the casing and brown in a skillet with about a tsp of oil just to get it going.  After sausage is fully cooked through, drain excess oil but leave about a tbs in the skillet.
4. Add onion and garlic- cook until soft about 5 minutes.
5. Add the spinach and heat through
6. In a bowl combine the cooked sausage mixture and the rest of the ingredients.
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
8. Wait until the stuffing is cool enough to handle and stuff peppers.
9. Spray a baking sheet with some cooking spray, lay out all your peppers, drizzle with a little oil and put in the oven about 20 minutes.

You might end up with a bit of extra filling, depending on the size of your peppers. You can just put the remaining filling in a ziplock bag and then freeze for later use.

*Oh yea, and here are those original photos:



Sausage Meatballs, Spaghetti & Focaccia

All week Brendan has been telling me he wants "sausage pasta".  This is usually just pasta tossed with hot Italian sausage and maybe a veggie.  I didn't feel like making it honestly because I had time to make something a bit more fancy- but I wound up making something just as easy.  Instead of cooking the sausage and then slicing them, I took the meat out of the casing and formed meatballs- just like any other ground meat.  It is surprising when you bite into the meatball- you aren't expecting it to taste like sausage.  I paired it with spaghetti and my jarred sauce.  I also tried out Anne Burrell's Focaccia Recipe, it came out great, but the way I did it varied from the original recipe (especially since I don't have a mixer with a bread hook). It takes a while to prep the dough for the bread; you'll need about 2 hours before you actually put it in the oven for 30 mins or so.  If you want to do the bread too- skip down to that part first...

Sausage Meatballs

• 1 ½ lb of Italian sausage (hot or sweet) removed from the casing
• 1- 1½ cup of frozen spinach (thawed and excess water squeezed out)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• about 2 handfuls of bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt, few grinds of fresh black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl and then roll into meatballs.  You can make them any size, but remember to cook them through- I went for at least 160 degrees F, it took about 20-25 minutes and my meatballs were about 1½ inches in diameter.  Bigger meatballs probably will take longer.  Since the sausage is already very oily I just sprayed them with cooking spray and put them in the oven.

Sausage Meatballs

Boil some water, salt it up, and drop your pasta about 5 minutes before you serve the meatballs and top with your favorite sauce! Easy, but fun and different!

Ok, now to tackle the focaccia...

Notes on Anne Burrell's Focaccia recipe:

• First of all this is going to make a whole bunch of bread, about 15 pieces of 4in x 4in. depending on the size of the pan you bake it in of course.  But don't worry, it doesn’t stale that quick, and I already have another recipe you can use it in lined up.
• The recipe calls for 1 ¾ c of water. I think this is too much, start with 1 cup and see if you need to add more as you go- I wound up adding so much more flour by the time it was the correct consistency.  This also could have been the result of using two cups of bread flour with 3 cups of AP flour, instead of all 5 cups of AP flour. (I ran out of AP flour, so I had to substitute the finer bread flour)
• No mixer or bread hook- so had to go old fashion and use my hands.  Combine all dry ingredients in a big bowl then when the yeast water is foamy on top combine all wet ingredients into the dry.  When it comes together, turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes- yes I actually did knead for 5 minutes- it's not that bad and it makes the end result better because when you knead the dough you are forming glutens (like a web that traps all the air bubbles so when it cooks it puffs up and cooks correctly).
• Put back into the bowl, spray with cooking spray and loosely cover with plastic wrap (just like we did with my pizza dough recipe). Let it rise and double in size for an hour.
• After an hour, take the other ½ c of oil and spread it out on your baking sheet.  Then take the dough and knead it about a minute or two before you put on the baking sheet with oil and coat the dough- then stretch dough out to fit the pan- almost like if we were making Sicilian pizza.  As you are stretching it out make a lot of weird finger indentations and holes in the dough.  (don’t worry it's supposed to look like that)
• Now set aside and let rise again (I know, I know) for another hour.



Before



• When the second hour is up, make your meatballs; preheat your oven and pop meatballs and bread in the oven together... They take about the same cooking time so it works out perfect.  The bread actually took a bit longer about 30-35 mins. Make sure you let it rest for at least  5 minutes before cutting and serving too.
• Oh and before I put the bread in the oven, I sprinkled it with 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of dried oregano. As well as drizzled with more oil. You could also top it with vegetables or any other dried herbs you like, as well as meat or olives.



 

After