March 2014 – mealsfromthemountains

Posted on March 29, 2014 by mealsfromthemountains

Orange Elk Rice & Veggie Bowl

In an attempt to use up a small piece of leftover elk steak and a small piece of leftover prime rib from my birthday dinner last week, I came up with this stir-fry rice bowl recipe and was pleased with the results! The orange sauce recipe is something I made up after looking at a bunch of stir fry recipes online. I had a fabulous veggie and rice bowl at Lotus Cafe in Jackson two weeks ago when I was in town having lunch with a friend after an appointment, and have been making my own varieties of it ever since. Hope you enjoy it.

Orange Elk Rice & Veggie Bowl

Serves 2

6 oz. Cooked elk or venison steaks, cut into thin strips
Handful of baby spinach
1/4 cup sliced red onion
1/2 yellow squash, sliced
1 cup broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
1 T. olive oil
Salt + Pepper
2 cups Brown Rice, cooked- (I use Uncle Ben’s instant bags)

Orange Sauce:

3 T. Orange Juice
3 T. water
1/2 T. soy sauce
1/2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 T. brown sugar
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 tsp. onion powder
3/4 tsp.
garlic salt

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Method:

Heat oil in skillet on medium heat. Chop vegetables and begin to cook, starting with the broccoli first, then onion, then squash and spinach. Season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile slice meat into thin strips and set aside. Stir vegetables periodically over the next 7-10 minutes until cooked.
While you are waiting on the veggies, combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl using a fork or whisk, and then divide the sauce in two. You will use one now for the meat, and one later for the rice. psst…Don’t forget the brown sugar, which is not pictured here!
Scoop meat strips into sauce and dump mixture into veggies. Cook another 2 minutes on medium-low heat.
During that time, pop the rice bag in the microwave for 90 seconds and cook.
Heat the remaining sauce in the microwave for 20 seconds to warm it up before pouring it over the rice.
Place 1/3 cup rice in a bowl and top with meat and veggie stir-fry, and then spoon remaining sauce over top to taste.

Posted on March 16, 2014 by mealsfromthemountains

Chocolate Almond Oat Bars

When I head out for a day away from home, whether its a day outside or an extra long work day, I like to make sure I have a healthy snack on hand for when I get home and am hungry. These bars are one of my best recipe creations in a long while. I have been making a lot of no-bake-type oatmeal cookies and almond butter-banana oatmeal lately, but I am excited to change up my oatmeal routine a bit. I was strongly inspired to make some sort of homemade bar that would taste like the CLIF chocolate almond bars that I love. I only buy CLIF bars occasionally as a treat because one, they are expensive, and two, I feel often feel guilty spending so much on one granola/protein bar of any type when I know I have the stuff at home and could make an entire batch on my own. So, this morning I played around with my no-bake oatmeal recipe and wound up with these delicious “CLIF-like” bars full of crunchy almond butter, subtle honey, cocoa powder, and oats. At 185 calories a piece, they make a great protein-packed and delicious portable snack.

Chocolate Almond Oat Bars

Yield- 6 bars

1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. honey + 1 tsp. honey
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 1/2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1/4 cup almond butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

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1. Combine almond milk, margarine, sugar, and 1 Tbsp. of honey in sauce pan and boil hard, then turn heat down and continue a low boil for another minute.

2. Meanwhile, measure oats into a mixing bowl, along with cocoa powder and almond butter. Pour milk mixture into oats and stir gently. Add in vanilla extract and another tsp. of honey, and stir until combined.

3. Spray a 7 x 10 inch (or similar size) pan with cooking spray and press oats firmly into pan using the back of a spoon.

4. Cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer until bars set. Cut into six bars. My bars held together well and ended up very close to the size of a normal CLIF bar, just thinner.

After cutting, I placed the bars in a sealed container and will keep them in the freezer to hold their shape, just pulling out an individual bar as needed.

Posted on March 13, 2014March 13, 2014 by mealsfromthemountains

Pepperoni Stuffed Parmesan Elk Meatballs

Last night I got home rather late and debated whether I wanted to put the effort and time into making a “real” dinner for myself, as right now I am still cooking for one each night due to Joe’s work schedule during the winter season, but, I had a quick snack (almond butter and carrots are a new current fave!) and got to work, still managing to put dinner on the table at 7 pm on the dot. Inspired by this recipe from the Nevada Foodies, http://www.nevadafoodies.com/pesto-mozzarella-stuffed-venison-meatballs/, I picked up some pepperoni on my way home from work and got stuffin’! This recipe would easily serve 4, especially with a salad on the side to go with. For us, we will have some tasty leftovers.

Pepperoni Stuffed Parmesan Elk Meatballs Yield- 21 meatballs, 1 inch diameter

3/4 lbs ground elk burger
3/4 lbs ground venison breakfast sausage
1 tablespoon dry pesto
1/2 cup wheat breadcrumbs
1 egg white
1/2 Tbsp. Worcestershire
1/4 cup+ 2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese, divided into (3) 2-Tbsp. portions
~1/8 lb thick sliced pepperoni (approx. (5) 2-inch diameter slices)
1/2 tsp. Garlic salt
2 cups dry rotini pasta
1 tsp. butter (optional)

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If making your own breadcrumbs, process in food processor until you have about 1/2 cup. I keep a few frozen bread heels and bread slices that were going stale in the freezer in a ziplock bag and them process them in chunks as needed for breadcrumbs.

In a mixing bowl using a wooden spoon or your clean hands, combine ground burger and ground breakfast sausage with egg white, breadcrumbs, and Worcestershire.

Sprinkle in pesto and 2 Tbsp. of Parmesan cheese and mix into meat.

Cut pepperoni into bite-size pieces.

Stuff each meatball with a piece of pepperoni.

Spray a baking dish (8×8 inch) with cooking spray & form meatballs. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil water and cook pasta.

Drain water and sprinkle pasta with garlic salt and the last 2 Tbsp. of Parmesan cheese and stir. Add in a tsp. of butter, if desired.

Set aside and keep warm.

Pull meatballs from oven and sprinkle with another 2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese.

Serve meatballs on top of pasta immediately.

Jade, while eagerly helping me cook dinner in the kitchen, became very distracted by a barking dog on t.v. and ran over to check it out!

Yup, there it is!

Although the smell of the meatballs eventually brought her back to reality. Anyone else have a dog that checks out the t.v. dogs like this? I will say that while Jade will occasionally cock her head to the side at the t.v. when dogs bark or coyotes yip on the hunting channel, this is the first time she has ever run to the t.v., and she is 11 years old!

Posted on March 1, 2014March 1, 2014 by mealsfromthemountains

Venison Sausage Breakfast Burritos for the Week

Breakfast burritos are something I could eat daily, and appeal to me for any meal, not just breakfast. They are also great to take camping, just remove paper towel first and heat in tin foil over fire or on a camp stove.

As a matter of fact, this recipe is the perfect reminder of the full-circle aspect of hunting: harvesting, processing, appreciating, and consuming. The photo to the left is of Joe’s late whitetail deer whose meat is in these breakfast burritos. The image is of the reflection of the mount in the living room window with our porch in the background. It’s neat to be sitting on the couch and looking at the window in front of me and seeing the deer that is behind me reflected. This recipe makes five venison sausage breakfast burritos that are sealed up and frozen until ready to eat. High in protein, these burritos are a combination of crispy hash browns, onion, salsa, cheese, and eggs wrapped inside a soft flour tortilla, and make a complete breakfast any day. Make these on a Sunday and breakfast is ready for the week. All these burritos require is a minute and a half in the microwave while wrapped in their paper towel.

You will Need:

4 oz. Venison Breakfast Sausage- here’s a post on making your own
1/2 cup frozen shredded hash browns
1/2 cup diced yellow onion (1/2 of medium onion)
3 T. Medium Salsa
6 eggs
1/2 cup shredded cheddar, divided
5 Taco-Size Mission tortillas (I use Mission Carb Balance)
1 tsp. butter
Garlic salt + Pepper
1 T. 2% Milk
Cholula hot sauce, four dashes, if desired
5 Paper Towels
Aluminum Foil
Ziplock bags

Yield- 5 Burritos

1. Spray griddle or frying pan with cooking spray. Add hash browns and season with garlic salt and pepper. Spray the griddle and hash browns again with cooking spray to coat. Cook 3-4 minutes, add in a tsp. of butter.

Continue cooking 5 more minutes, and in the meantime, dice the onion. Add onion to hash brown mixture.

2. Brown sausage in frying pan while onions and hash browns cook another five minutes. Keep an eye on the hash browns and stir occasionally.

3. While sausage cooks, crack eggs into small dish and add in 1 T. milk.

Beat eggs and add in the Tablespoon of milk, 4 dashes of cholula, and a dash of and salt and pepper.

4. Once sausage is cooked, spray frying pan again with cooking spray. Pour in scrambled eggs and stir gently over medium heat for about 1 minute.

Next add in onion/hash brown mixture and salsa, stir into egg mixture.

Cook another minute until eggs are softly set.

5. Next step is assembling the burritos: First measure out another 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar. Set out a cutting board. Grab a roll of paper towels, 1 gallon or 2 quart ziplock bags, and aluminum foil.

6. Lay tortilla on cutting board and spoon egg mixture into center of burrito in line and top with another pinch of shredded cheddar cheese.

7. Pinch in ends of tortilla and roll.

8. Set tortilla on paper towel and pinch in ends, roll again.

9. Set inside piece of aluminum foil and repeat.

10. Place tortillas in ziplock bag and place in freezer. They should last without freezer burn for months like this. I cannot say truly how long, because ours are always gone very quickly! When ready to eat, unwrap tin foil and place tortilla still wrapped in the paper towel on a plate. Microwave for 1.5 minutes. Remove paper towel and enjoy a savory and delicious breakfast any day of the week.

Approximate Nutrition Stats from Livestrong:

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