What to do with leftover cheesy broccoli rice...

I love when we have Chinese take-out, it's like the dinner that never ends :)  There are so many uses and creations that can come for it.  Over the New Year's holiday we got Chinese take out.  We had several cartons of rice left over.  Earlier in the week I made a batch of cheesy, broccoli rice with it.  Apparently it miraculously grew because it felt like we had more leftover than I started with.  Well you know how I hate to throw away food, so our cheesy broccoli rice became meatballs.  The nice thing about this recipe is if you don't feel like taking the time to make meatballs, you can use the mixture to make meatloaf or even hamburgers.  While the meatballs were baking, I made a gravy to serve with them, but they would be great by themsevles or as a sandwich with cheese melted on top.  Enjoy!

Easy, Cheesy, Meatballs
2 cups Broccoli Cheese Rice
1 lb Ground Beef
1 Egg
1/2 TBSP Onion Powder
1/2 tsp salt

Browned Meatballs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Form 1" to 1 and 1/2" meatballs.  Spray a large frying pan with non-stick spray.  Brown meatballs on all sides.  Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.  Makes around 15 meatballs.



My Helper :)

*Your meat mixture should have the consistency of a meatloaf mixture.  If your rice is dry, add a little milk to the mixture to moisten it up.  Be cautious though, if it is too moist, your meatballs will fall apart!

What to do with leftover peas and Ritz crackers...

Andy loves meatloaf.  It is a childhood favorite of his.  However, it is not one of mine, so I always forget to make it for him.  He has been so sweet lately that I wanted to surprise him with a meal he'd love, so I made meatloaf with an Italian twist.  The fun thing about it is that I made it in the shape of a giant meatball which the kids loved!


Italian Meatloaf or Giant Baked Meatball
Serving Size: 8
Weight Watchers Points: 5
Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Beef
2 Eggs
1/3 Cup Sliced Black Olives
1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese
2/3 Cup Smashed Ritz Crackers
1 Cup Cooked Peas
1 Tsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
1/8 Pinch of Salt
1/3 + 1 Cup Spaghetti Sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl mix together ground beef, eggs, black olives, parmesan cheese ritz crackers, and peas.  Add Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion, salt and 1/3 cup of the spaghetti sauce.  Mix thouroughly.
2. Form meat into a meatloaf or giant meatball.  Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  After 30 minutes, pour 1 cup of spaghetti sauce on top and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of the sauce.  Bake for another 30 minutes.

What to do with leftover fajita fixings and tortillas?

This weekend, our good friends Mark and Danielle got married.  They had a beautiful wedding and reception.  We had a blast!  Andy and I were lucky enough to get to go to the rehearsal dinner as well.  It was at Casa Gallardo since Mark is from Texas.  They served us a fabulous meal of margaritas, queso, chips and fajitas.  There was so much food to eat and leftover.  At the end of the meal, my lovely husband had all the leftover fajita fixings and tortillas boxed up for What's for Leftovers?  Lukily we were with great friends, they just laughed at us as we left with our three boxes.  Tonight we used the leftovers to make Gigantic Nachos.  They were a perfect way to top off our fiesta filled weekend!

Gigantic Nachos
Ingredients:

6 Small Flour Tortillas
1 Can Refried Beans
4 Packets Taco Bell Sauce
2 Cups Fajita Meat and Veggies
3/4 Cup Shredded Cheese
Salsa (optional)
Sour Cream (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Warm up refried beans in a small pot.  Mix in the four packets of Taco Bell Sauce. 
3. Chop up fajita meat and veggies into bite-sized pieces.  Warm these up in a separate frying pan.
4. Cut each flour tortilla into 4 triangles.  Heat a thin layer of oil in a large frying pan.  Fry tortilla chips in pan until golden brown on both sides.  Lay on a paper towel to drain off excess oil.

5. Spray a large baking sheet with Pam.  Apply a thin layer of refried beans to each tortilla triangle.  Put on baking sheet in a single layer.
6.  Add a layer of fajita fixings and shredded cheese to each triangle. 
7. Put in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Cheese should be melted when finished.  Top off with sour cream and salsa and enjoy.