Tzatzki Sauce

As featured in yesterday's post, I made a meatloaf served with a side of tzatzki sauce. I had never made tzatzki, and instead just bought it from the store. For some reason I thought it was hard to make, but this was actually really easy! You don't need to make the meatloaf just to have the tzatzki either - try it as a veggie dip, with pita chips, or even on a burger!

Tzatzki Sauce 

• 3 cups of greek yogurt
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 2 medium cucumbers
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tbsp chopped dill
• 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt for cucumbers
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel and seed the cucumber, then slice the cucumber and put in colander. Sprinkle 1 tsp of salt of the cucumber to draw out the water. Let stand for 30 minutes. Drain well and dry/get rid of excess water with a paper towel.

2. Finely chop cucumber, and combine with dill, garlic, lemon juice, and pepper. If you have a food processor this is a good time to use it. 

3. Stir cucumbers into yogurt and salt and pepper further to taste. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving to let the flavors combine.

Turkey Meatloaf with Spinach & Feta

I’ve never made a meatloaf before, but for some reason when I see recipes online they always intrigue me. Maybe it’s just the fact that I know mashed potatoes are typically served with meatloaf, which probably fall in my top 5 favorite foods. Or maybe it’s that I love all comfort and kid foods (see sloppy joe post).

Though I didn’t think mashed potatoes fit with this meatloaf recipe, it was still wonderful. The ground turkey instead of beef keeps it on the leaner side, and stuffing it with spinach and feta makes it absolutely delicious. Serve it with a side of tzatziki sauce and you have one heck of a dinner.

Turkey Meatloaf with Spinach & Feta

adapted from All Day I Dream About Food

• 2 lbs ground turkey
• 2 10 oz packages of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 6 ounces of crumbled feta
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2/3 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp ground pepper

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions, salt and pepper and saute until onions are translucent but not browned, about 15 minutes. 

3. Squeeze out all of the water possible from the drained spinach. Add to onions with garlic and heat through. 

4. In a large mixing bowl combine turkey, onion and spinach mixture, bread crumbs, chicken stock, and eggs. Mix until combined.

5. Place half of the turkey mixture on prepared baking sheet and shape into a flat rectangle, about 1 inch thick. Cover with 4 ounces of feta cheese, pressing into meatloaf. Take 1/2 of remaining turkey mixture and place on top of feta layer. Cover with 2 ounces of feta cheese. Take remaining turkey mixture and place on top of final later of feta. Shape whole thing into a rough loaf.

6. Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until internal temperature reaches 160F on an instant read thermometer.

7. Let sit 5 minutes before cutting. Serve with tzatziki sauce.

Blueberry Brownies

I looovvvvvvvvvveeeee to "bored eat." I could be completly full, but almost every evening you will find me rummaging around in the kitchen looking for a snack. This is how it usually goes:

9:00 PM: Eat something salty. Usually popcorn.

9:20 PM: Finished with popcorn. Now I need something sweet..hmmmm

9:45 PM: Downed cookies, ice cream, cake, whatever was on hand. Realizing I ruined whatever diet I was on at that moment.

10:00 PM: Food. Coma.

One thing that I have found to help my little "bored eating" habit is keeping fresh blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries in the fridge. That way, when I go looking for a snack, I can just take a handful of those instead of eating everything else on hand.

Knowing I had one such bowl of blueberries in the fridge, I knew I had to make this recipe when I stumbled upon it. It was actually really quick to pull together for a scratch brownie recipe, and turned out great. Now, the only problem I have is keeping myself from eating these at night instead of the fresh berries in the fridge!

Blueberry Brownies

adapted from Chocolate and Tea

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8x8 baking dish.

2. Sift together flour, salt, and cocoa in small mixing bowl.

3. In another mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add each egg, one at a time, and mix well after each addition.

4. Slowly stir flour mixture into wet mixture. Once combined fold in blueberries and chocolate chips.

5. Spread batter into the baking dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.