Food

This post is mostly for my own record-keeping, but in case any of you are curious...

Tyler loooooves to eat.  A few days ago, I posted a story on Facebook about how he crawled over to a bin of bibs, brought one over to Jason, and once Jason had put it on him, crawled over and tried to climb into his high chair.  Jason was grilling, so dinner wasn't ready yet (and we have learned to NOT put him in his high chair until it is 100% time for dinner and not a moment earlier), so we tried to distract him.  Instead, he found ANOTHER bib and crawled over to us almost saying "Will this bib get me some food?"  Yep, my kid loves to eat.

Here's a few pictures from breakfast the other day.

Yum yum yum yum yum!  Delicioso!

Now, the boring part -- foods he will/will not eat.  This isn't a list of every single thing he's tried (like off of our plates at a restaurant), just the things he eats on a regular basis.

Grains:
Cheerios, grits, Ritz crackers, goldfish crackers, graham crackers, granola bars, pasta (preferably macaroni shape), mac and cheese, puffs, baby "Cheetos"

Dairy:
baby yogurt, whole milk (starting to mix with his formula), CHEESE (seriously any kind... he even eats extra sharp cheddar).  That's my boy!

Meats:
hamburger (meatballs, meatloaf), ham, fish
He's not big on meat yet (partially because he can't chew most of them), but we're working on it

Veggies:
all things potatoes (boiled, baked, MASHED), green beans, peas (if mixed in with potatoes), carrots, broccoli

Fruits:
bananas, strawberries, mandarin oranges, canned pears, stewed apples, cantaloupe (when he's in the mood, this one's 50/50)



Foods He's Refused:
peaches, both canned and fresh
watermelon
chicken
"slippery" pasta like fettuccine and bow ties

I'm hoping he'll change his mind on these (especially chicken, since we usually eat that 2 nights/week!), but folks, he's only spit out/refused four foods out of everything we've introduced him, too?  I know how fortunate we are!

Pumpkin Cream Pie

Everything  I made at Thanksgiving was a known recipe except for dessert (and the turkey, but I've already talked about that).  Thanksgiving is a time for either pecan pie or pumpkin pie.  Your family may have other traditions, but those are the ones I equate with T-day.  I'm a pecan pie girl.  Jason's not a fan, and I wasn't going to make a whole corn syrup pie (let's face it, it's mostly corn syrup, not pecans) just for me.  I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but I do like pumpkin-flavored stuff.  So I looked for a recipe for no-bake pumpkin cheesecake.  This is what I made:

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese or Neufchatel

1/4 cup each sugar and brown sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp each vanilla, cinnamon, ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

8 oz thawed Cool Whip

9" graham cracker pie crust

pretty basic ingredients (cream cheese and pie crust not pictured)

Steps:
Cream together the cream cheese and the sugars.  Stir in the pumpkin puree and the spices/vanilla.  Fold in the Cool Whip.  Spread into the crust and chill for two hours before serving.

It was super easy to put together.  The best part?  Licking the spatula!

The final product was tasty and light, the perfect 4:00 snack with coffee after eating a big heavy meal for lunch.

I may tweak the recipe in the future, but it was actually quite tasty.  The only problem I had with it was the name -- pumpkin cheesecake.  The texture wasn't cheesecakey at all!  The Cool Whip makes it light and fluffy, not dense and cheesy.  Once I got past the name, I could actually enjoy the pie, so I'm now calling it Pumpkin Cream Pie.  Problem solved!

Cream Cheese Danishes

One of the few highlights from my time at Enthalpy was when my coworker Denese would bring in yummy baked goods.  There aren't many times that I hunt someone down for recipes, but after one bite of these, I had to know how to make these myself.

The first time I made these was for Jason's birthday.  I've also made them for my in-laws, who have made it a bit of a tradition for me to make them when we visit.  Most recently, I made them for breakfast for the two of us a few weeks back.

I can't decide what I like more, the ease of making these or how flexible the recipe is (definitely allows you to BYOC, be your own chef).

Ingredients:

2 packages crescent rolls

2 8oz packages cream cheese/neufchâtel

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs, separated

1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325.  

Cream together sugar and cream cheese.  Add yolks, vanilla, and lemon juice.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with Pam spray and spread out one package of crescent rolls in the bottom.

Pour cream cheese mixture over the rolls, and spread the other package of rolls over the mixture.

Beat eggs whites slightly and brush over the dough.

Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

Mix 1 tablespoon of hot water with powdered sugar and drizzle on top.

Variations:

~Omit one package of cream cheese and spread raspberry (or any fruit) preserves on top of the cream cheese mixture before topping with the second layer of crescent rolls.

~ Use lime or orange juice and zest to add some freshness

~This is a very easy recipe to cut into a more manageable size for fewer people.  I used one package of crescent rolls, one package of cheese, and one egg.  I cut the sugar, but pretty much left the juice and vanilla the same.  This fits well in an 8x8 instead of a 9x13 (see picture above).  I bought Grands! rolls because I wasn't sure if it would cover well, but I think a package of smaller rolls would have worked even better.

~You tell me.  I love this recipe, but usually only make it once or twice a year, so I'd love to know if you tried it and what changes you made.

Saving a "Cluck"

Today's post is about that unsung hero of the grocery store: the rotisserie chicken.  

There are few better ways to stretch a buck than to buy one of these guys.  I've bought them from the deli/bakery sections of both Lowes Food and Kroger, so I'm assuming most places have them.  Ranging from $6-8, they're more expensive than buying a whole chicken and cooking it yourself, but I'm willing to compromise a few dollars for a lot less effort and time.

And I'm not the only one who feels this way.  Here's an article from a blog Jason reads, The Art of Manliness, sharing all the many uses for a rotisserie chicken.  I've done all kinds of things with rotisseries.  Usually, it begins with eating the chicken as-is on grocery store night and then using the leftovers in a variety of ways.  This past time, I bought the chicken and disassembled and chopped it immediately after I got home from the grocery store.

Here's the meals this past chicken made.  Note, my purpose is not to share my superawesome recipes, but to show one ingredient's versatility.

Chicken Quesadillas
Ingredients: shredded chicken, salsa, sriracha, cumin, garlic powder, tortillas, shredded cheese
Total time: 5 minutes

Jason and I eat some sort of Mexican nearly every week.  On grocery store night night, I took some chopped chicken and tossed it in a bit of salsa, sriracha, cumin (probably my favorite spice), and garlic powder (probably my second-favorite) in a bowl.  Heat tortillas for about 30 seconds in a dry skillet, then add the chicken combo and shredded cheese of your liking.  Top with another tortilla (Jason's quesadilla) or fold original tortilla in half (my quesadilla), and boom.  Dinner's ready before you even know it!

Asian Chicken Salad
Ingredients: chopped chicken, plain Greek yogurt, Asian sesame dressing, shredded carrots,  can of sliced water chestnuts, mukimame, salt, garlic powder, red pepper flakes
Total time: 10 min (best if allowed to chill overnight)

This is actually why I bought the chicken this week.  I wanted a quick, easy, semi-healthy lunch and found this recipe online.  Whisk together Greek yogurt and Asian dressing (sorry no exact amounts... I didn't know I was going to blog about it until afterwards) in a bowl.  Add chicken, carrots, water chestnuts, and mukimame.  Season to taste with salt, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes.  Keep in mind that flavors will intensify after a night in the fridge.

No idea what mukimame is?  It's edimame (soybeans) that are out of their pods.  We're in love!  Jason likes them especially for work because they're tasty, superhealthy (fat-free source of protein), and very poppable.

Frozen mukimame -- just pop in microwave for a few minutes and season with salt!

This recipe needs some tweaking, but it served as several tasty lunches this week with Ritz crackers.  Plus, as much as I love chicken salad, it's easy to get in a rut with traditional ones.  This was a nice change in flavor.

Greek Wrap
Ingredients: chopped chicken, diced cucumber and diced (seeded) tomato, Greek yogurt, dill, salt, tortilla, other wrap ingredients (such as cheese or lettuce)
Total time: 10 min

I had some leftover Greek yogurt, so I decided to make one of my favorite lunches.  The night before, dice a seeded tomato (or use halved grape tomatoes) and a cucumber.  Season liberally with salt and dill.  The next day, drain any juice in the mixture (you want it to be as dry as possible).  Stir in Greek yogurt.  Add mixture, chicken, and any other wrap ingredients you'd like onto a tortilla.  Yum!




Stuck in a food rut?  Busy week ahead where lengthy meal preps are an impossibility?  Consider purchasing a rotisserie chicken.

Deck Living

I mentioned recently that we had just purchased a new set of deck furniture (see story here).  Well, last Saturday, we finally got a chance to use it!

Jason had been working out in the yard cutting down trees and mowing, while I was cleaning up inside.  I decided it would be perfect to eat lunch outside and enjoy the day.

New Furniture:

Lunch:

Since it was a nice, warm day, I decided to go with a cold lunch -- toasted bread, apples, assorted cheeses (havarti with dill, gouda, smoked cheddar), salami, olive oil/balsamic vinegar dip, brown mustard, and dried cranberries.  Before anyone says anything, the salami was just for Jason (it's on my no-no list, *sigh*).  Odd assortment, but it was actually pretty yummy!

Delicioso!

A few nights ago, I got really ambitious and cooked up quite a meal for the 2 of us.  No pictures, because by the time it was all done, I wanted to devour it, not photograph it!

Baked Tilapia:
Nothing special here.  I patted tilapia fillets with a paper towel, brushed a bit of olive oil on them, and sprinkled on salt (and pepper?  can't remember), chili powder, cayenne pepper, and Old Bay.  I cooked it in a 400-degree oven for 5-10 minutes, then finished it under the broiler.

Black-eyed Pea Salad:
This is a Paula Deen recipe I found in a magazine.  I prepared it over an hour before we ate to let the flavors marry, but it was a little bland the first night.  I'd definitely recommend making the day before to really give the flavors time.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1.5 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 clove chopped garlic, 1/2 tsp sugar, pinch of salt, and pepper.
Add 1 can of black-eyed peas (I used Luck's brand), handful of sliced grape tomatoes, 1/2 red bell pepper (chopped), and 1 finely chopped jalapeno

Cover, refrigerate, and serve cold.  I thought it was a nice change from our normal sides.  Jason was less impressed.  I think I'll still make it again, especially during the summer when turning on the oven or stove seems evil.

Mexican Cornbread:
I got this recipe from my mom, but she's not the original creator.  Neither of us are quite sure who came up with it in the first place.  Mom knows of at least three potential "sources" for the awesomeness.  It is easy to whip up and was a BIG HIT with Mr. Self!  We've been basing the rest of our meals this week off of what would go well with a side of cornbread. Answer: most anything.

3 eggs
2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix
1 cup sour cream (Kara has used plain Greek yogurt in a pinch)
1/2 cup chopped seeded jalapenos (I found this was about 4 peppers)
1/2 cup oil
1 can cream-style corn
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup grated cheddar (the sharper the better)
1 cup grated pepper jack (my mom's addition to the recipe... the original just calls for the 1 cup of cheddar cheese)

In a large bowl, beat the eggs.  All all the other ingredients and mix well.  Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 400 degrees for 35-45 min until top is light brown.

Seriously tasty.  It's sweet and cheesy and spicy and just really great comfort food.

Fish Cakes

Experts say you're supposed to incorporate more fish into your diet.  Well, that's fine and good, but I have a hard time making fish tasty.  I occasionally do fish tacos... or just season it with S&P and citrus.  I don't know, they're both kinda lame.

A little while ago, I took a risk and made fish cakes.  Know what?  They're pretty tasty!  Here's the recipe I followed.  My comments are in parentheses.

4 tilapia fillets (I use frozen, since most "fresh" fish was shipped frozen)
1/2 cup mayo
2 eggs
2 Tbs fresh dill (I used 1 Tbs dried dill instead)
1 Tbs dijon mustard
3/4 c panko breadcrumbs

Cook the fish at 400 degrees until done (8-12min depending on the fillet size)
Let the fish cool, and flake with a fork
Mix the mayo, eggs, dill, and dijon together
Fold in the fish and panko
Make cakes and refrigerate 20-30 min
Coat a frying pan with oil and fry the cakes for 3-5 min/side

Note: this recipe made six really large cakes.  Jason and I ate 2 each.  I think I'll make a smaller recipe next time.

Yum!  This is a bit time-consuming since you have to cook the fish and let it cool.  Next time I make it, we're going to have regular fish fillets on Night 1 and then I'll make the cakes, let them cool overnight, and it will be a really quick meal on Night 2.

Let me know if you give a try!

Dinner Inspiration

I'm not a fantastic cook.  I enjoy what I make most nights, but the more creative I get in the kitchen, the scarier it usually ends up.  A little while back, I knew I was making chicken and red potatoes for dinner, but I was lacking inspiration for what exactly to make.

That morning, I checked Facebook, and my friend Shannon posted a picture of food cooking in her oven -- bacon-wrapped chicken and roasted red potatoes.  How did she know I needed inspiration?!?

She had gotten the recipe from this blog, and since I followed it nearly exactly (I substituted cayenne pepper for chili powder since I didn't have any) and I want to give her credit, I won't repeat the recipe here.  Seriously, it's simple, tasty, and most ingredients are in your pantry.  I highly recommend.  Here's a picture to entice you:

I mean, seriously!  The only problem I had was that I let the chicken cook too long while I was waiting for the potatoes to get done.  It was a wee bit (ok, really really) dry.  While Jason and I both agreed the chicken was tasty, neither of us wanted to eat it as-is another night.

No worries, the leftovers we delicious!  I'm not a salad person, but any salad that centers around chicken and bacon has to be tasty.  Here's the salad I made the next night.  Yum!

Will I make this again?  You betcha!  Will I hope there's leftovers for another salad again?  You betcha!

Unconditional Love

My family eats some weird things.  Like odd concoctions that we refer to as "glups."  Like cheese with nearly every meal.  Like every vegetable known to mankind.

Thankfully, I have a husband who loves me unconditionally.  He is usually willing to eat whatever I prepare (no matter how strange) because he loves me and is thankful I've cooked.

Well, I love him unconditionally, too, and love to make him happy.  So last week, I prepared one of his family's favorite meals.

Stick with me...

Pinto beans and cornbread muffins.

Sounds ok, right?

Want to know HOW they eat it?

The beans go in a bowl, and the cornbread is crumbled on top.

I know what you're thinking.  Ok, maybe it's a bit eccentric, but still not too weird.  Wait, we're not done.

Then, they squeeze butter on top.  Well, butter and cornbread DO go together, so I guess that's ok.  And then they add apple butter on top.





Wait, what?

Yep folks, this is what unconditional love looks like:

Oh, and just so you know, I served "seriously sharp" cheddar on the side.  Had to Davenport it up a bit. :)

A Veggie-Lover's Fave

I love food.  Salty, sweet, healthy, guilty pleasure, doesn't matter.  You serve it to me, I'll eat it.  Much to Jason's chagrin, this also means I'm a veggie lover.  Seriously.  With the exception of brussel sprouts (which I still can't get into), I love all vegetables.

A favorite Sesame Street character from my childhood, Captain Vegetable

I hate to pick favorites, especially when it comes to food, but one of my favorite vegetables to cook with is zucchini squash.

Zucchini is awesome!  It's relatively inexpensive (especially in-season), cooks up very quickly, has a mild flavor (which makes it one of the few veggies Jason is ok eating), and lends itself to a variety of meals.

Some of my favorites:
~Added to spaghetti sauce for a pasta night pick-me-up
~Combined with eggplant and tomatoes for ratatouille (and yes, I did have to google how to spell that)
~Stir fried with onions and chicken and served over rice
~Grilled to go along with chicken or steak
~Hidden in zucchini bread

Zucchini is delicious and nutritious.  According to Wikipedia, zucchini is low in calories (15cal for every 100g) and contains folate, potassium, Vitamin A, and manganese.  So next time you're looking for something green to add to a meal, turn to zucchini -- this veggie-lover's fave.

A Different Type of "Quick Fix"

Since our lives are 100% house house house these days, meal time has become a game of "what's the fastest thing we can eat so we can get back to work?"  As yummy as sandwiches and corndogs are, eating them nearly every meal gets really old really fast.

At the grocery store Monday, I was trying to figure out something quick and easy to do with chicken (which was already thawing in the fridge) and rice.  Enter the international foods aisle and a new friend of mine -- curry simmer sauce.

I don't know what made me buy it.  I've never really eaten Indian food.  I always assumed it was really spicy, so I kept my distance.  Oh dumb Meg, you have been missing out for so so long!

Step 1: Start rice cooking in the rice cooker.  Yes, I own a rice cooker.  Yes, it's awesome.  Yes, you're jealous.

Step 2: Brown diced chicken in a pan.


Step 3: Add simmer sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.

Step 4: Eat.


25 minutes from start to finish, and we were eating one of the tastiest meals we've had in a while.  It was so easy to make and so flavorful without being spicy at all.  Now, I'm not claiming this is the same as authentic Indian cuisine.  What I am claiming is that this was a simple 3-ingredient meal that was well worth the risk.

Easter Dinner

Disclaimer: Yes, I know Easter was over a week ago.  I'm a wee bit behind on posting.

Jason and I don't do a lot for Easter.  After the Christmas stocking fiasco of 2008, we decided not to do Easter baskets either.  We don't go to egg hunts because we don't have little ones.  We don't buy special Easter outfits because we AREN'T little ones.  Some years, we travel to see family, but I had already used up all my gas traveling to Jamesville the week before.  So this year, we went to church as usual and we made an Easter dinner.

Happy late Easter everyone!

Chocolate Cake

This past weekend, we were supposed to bring dessert over to Joe and Amanda's house.  I wanted something chocolate, and I found this recipe online.  After testing it out, it's yummy enough I want to share it.

"Too Much Chocolate" Cake


1 package Devil's Food Cake mix
1 5.9oz package (large box) instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water (I used 1/2&1/2 because Jason's philosophy is why add water when you can add 1/2&1/2)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I added 1.5 cups semisweet and 0.5 cups bittersweet because that's what I had)


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix together everything but the chocolate chips.  Stir in the chips after everything is well-mixed.  Pour into a Bundt pan.
Bake for 50-60 minutes until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.  Cool cake in the pan (I did about 15-20 minutes, though now I notice the recipe says an hour and a half... oops!) and then invert onto a cooling rack until room temperature.

Seriously, this is delicious!  You definitely want something to cut the sweetness, like coffee, milk, or strawberry ice cream!

Paninis

A little while back, Jason and I ate dinner at our friend Rebecca's house.  She served us paninis, and I really liked them!  Sure, paninis are basically squished grilled sandwiches, but it was really tasty and I thought I'd give it a try.

Like I said, it's a sandwich, so you could put most anything on there.  These were my ingredients:

~Flatbreads (found them in the bakery section of my grocery store)
~Olive oil (brushed the inside and outside of the bread)
~Ham sandwich meat
~Sliced provolone
~Tomatoes, sliced and seasoned with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to coax a bit of flavor out of them
~"Spring Mix" bag-o-salad

Confession: I do not have a panini maker.  So I put the panini in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil and squished it with the bottom of another frying pan (lined with foil so I wouldn't have to wash it).  Here's a picture of Jason's (I just had a half-sandwich).

Mmm.... and it took about 10 minutes to make from start to finish, even with a brief (half a second, tops) grease fire.  Note: flip the panini with a spatula.  Don't try to do the "flip onto a plate" thing when you have oil in the pan!  Oops!



Bought the ingredients, tried the panini, and not sure what to do with leftovers?  


I made pseudo-gyros with the flat bread, sandwich meat (didn't have chicken or beef kabobs, but I that would have been preferable), lettuce, and cheese.  I eat Greek yogurt on a pretty regular basis, so I took one single-serving container of plain Greek yogurt and mixed it with diced and salted cucumbers and tomatoes and topped the gyro.  I was able to use that yogurt for two servings.  It was ... interesting.  I think it's something I would repeat again, maybe with a few tweaks.

When the Feast is a Beast

I like to share food triumphs with you.  Was it tasty?  Share it.  Was it budget-friendly?  Share it.  Was it a cinch to make?  Share it.  I'm a bit more reluctant to share those meals that aren't as successful.... until today.

After our Feast from the East this weekend, Jason and I wanted to fry up some more stuff.  Two reasons:
A) our house already smelled like gross oil
B) we had a TON of leftover wontons ($2 gets you over 80!)

So we came up with a brilliant idea to fry up some little sweet treats.  Here's what we chose:
~raspberry jalapeno jelly (a Davenport fave) and colby jack cheese
~nutella and bananas
~apples (diced and cooked) and cinnamon

Here's what happened...

~Jelly in a fryer = not good.  I sealed the wontons, but the jelly found a way to creep out and get ALL UP in the oil!  Which meant when we were eating them, we were basically eating just fried wontons that had a hint of flavor.
~Nutella and banana = really gross to look at.  Plus, they also liquefied and exploded into the oil.
~Apples = way yummy when Jason was cooking them on the stove.  Jason's an excellent cook, but that's largely because he isn't stingy with salt, sugar, or butter.  Once fried though, the apples were just ok.  I would have preferred to just spoon the apple mixture over some vanilla ice cream instead.  Oh man!  Why didn't we do that instead?



These things weren't inedible.  We just didn't really want to eat them after we cooked all of them.  Oh well, some meals are huge successes, some are beasts!

Feast from the East

When Jason and I eat sushi, we usually share 3-4 rolls.  Recently, we've really gotten into ordering edamame when we're at a sushi place, too.  Jason calls them a salt-delivery food.  I bite my tongue not to mention the fact that they're 1) a green food (which he claims he universally hates) or 2) super good for you (which is enough to make him turn away from an otherwise delicious food).

I knew my sister Jill ate edamame at home, so I asked her about it and purchased steam-in-the-bag edamame from the freezer section of my grocery store.  Put in the microwave, cook for 5 minutes, open bag and sprinkle with salt (we did sea salt).  Yum!

Now what to go with it?  I know we could have had edamame with anything, but I wanted to keep with the Asian theme and make crab rangoons again.  They're inexpensive and mighty tasty!

How to Make Crab Rangoons:

Step 1: Mix 1 package of cream cheese (or neufchatel, which is what I use), 1 small package of imitation crab meat, and 4-6 sliced green onions (only the white and light green parts) to a bowl.  Mix.  Season with salt and pepper.  (I wish I had added a few more onions and maybe a splash of soy sauce to make a bolder flavor)

Step 2: Add the mixture to wontons.  Finding the wontons may be tricky.  We've yet to find them in our grocery store.  Lucky for us, there's an Asian market just a few miles away.  A quick drive and $2 well worth it.

Watch your portions of cream cheese mixture.  You don't want these buddies to blow up in the fryer.  I used a heaping 1/2 teaspoon for each wonton.  Get a small bowl of water and wet one finger.  Wet each of the edges and pinch together.  This is how I choose to do mine... little different than most restaurants.

Now they're ready to go in the fryer.  We have a deep fryer that we use.  I'm sure a deep skillet would work just as well.  Cook for 1 minute at 365F, then flip (Jason uses chopsticks, which seem to work better than any other tool) and cook another minute.  Drain on paper towels.

Yum yum yum yum yum!!!  One package of cream cheese really makes a lot (like up to 40!), so you may want to cut the recipe in half.  It does take some effort (start to finish took us about an hour), but it's something fun we do a couple times a year.  Feast from the East night... we may have to make this a tradition!

Meatballs, For the Win!

I'm just gonna come out and say it.  I love meatballs.  At a party, you can usually find me over by the meatballs, toothpick in hand, piling them onto my plate.  As awesome as IKEA is, I'd drive to Charlotte's store just for the Swedish meatballs they serve.

That said, I really don't make meatballs very often.  I'm not really sure why.  Well, I decided to make some Sunday night, and I was pretty impressed!

I followed Rachel Ray's recipe that I found online (because I didn't know what all to put in them).  Here's her recipe with my comments in parentheses.

Meatballs:
1 1/4 pounds ground sirloin (I actually had this, but I'm sure other burger is fine)
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (or parm-like cheese)
2 cloves garlic, chopped (I actually buy jars of already-chopped garlic.  It keeps a lot longer).
Salt and pepper
(I wish I had added some extra oregano or Italian seasoning)

I beat the egg in the bowl, added the other wet stuff, then the meat and the crumbs.  Mix with your hands and roll out into 1 1/2 inch balls onto a greased sheet pan.  Bake at 425F about 10-12 minutes until no longer pink.

Easy as that!

Sunday Night:
Traditional angel hair and meatballs (oops, we didn't have spaghetti!).  We topped with lots of grated Parmesan.

Monday Night:
Meatball subs.  We cut open the sub rolls and pulled out some of the extra bread so the balls wouldn't roll around.  Topped with sauce from Sunday night and sliced provolone and broiled open-face for a couple of minutes to get everything toasty.

Tuesday Night: 
Not sure yet.  Suggestions?  I have leftover "naked" pasta, plenty of jars of sauce, and about three meatballs.  What should tonight's adventure be?

Self Update -- Food

Working full-time again has definitely changed the way we eat dinner.  There seem to be a lot more PB&J or breakfast-for-dinner nights than elaborate meals that take an hour to prepare.  Every once in a while, I still manage to whip up something fun for dinner.  Here's a few things we've had this week:

Jambalaya.  The only jambalaya I've ever had is when I make it, so I can't speak for its authenticity or deliciousness, but I like it.  The rebel in me usually alters recipes before I even try them, but I follow Anne Burrell's recipe nearly word for word.  I cut the recipe in half this time because it makes a TON!  The one thing I forgot to cut in half -- the spices (red pepper flakes and cayenne).  Even Jason had a hard time eating it, and he loves spicy food!

Mac and Cheese.  I sometimes bring baked macaroni and cheese to potlucks, but it's usually so labor-intensive that I don't make it for just the two of us.  Tuesday night, I made stove-top mac and cheese with a few modifications.  I didn't have a 1/2 pound of any one pasta (not sure how that happened), so I made mac/penne/rotini and cheese.  Also, Jason really likes smoked cheeses, so I made it with smoked cheddar.  Yummy yum yum!

Enchiladas.  Very few weeks go by without us having some kind of Mexican food.  C'mon, it's cheap, cooks up really fast, consists mostly of pantry items, and is mighty tasty!  Enchiladas are a fun way to mix it up from the usual quesadillas or burritos.  Want the recipe?  Go to the grocery store, buy the enchilada sauce, and follow the recipe on the back.  Hey, I made two other things from scratch, I'm allowed to "cheat" on the enchiladas!


What "I have no time, but I need to cook something" meals do you make?

Tasty Treats of Deliciousness

If necessity is the mother of all invention, going away for the weekend is like the eccentric uncle.  Last Thursday night, I looked at my newly-opened 2-liter Diet Dr. Pepper and knew it would be flat when I got back from Jamesville.  I needed to drink a lot of it, and after dinner I still had a lot to go.

Enter the Moose Tracks ice cream.  No, the ice cream wouldn't go bad over the weekend, but since Jason was staying in Raleigh near our freezer, I knew the chances of seeing that ice cream post-weekend were slim.

The whipped cream?  Um... we had it, and I thought it would be delicious (it was).  The end result?  Voila!!!!

It was like a delicious vanilla float... with surprise peanut butter cups at the end (from the ice cream).  Soooo good!  Jason came home from pool night and caught me red-handed.  If he hadn't, I think I would have been really tempted to make a second float!

My name is Megan, and I approve of this float.

Quick Dinner? "Focaccia" Covered!

I'm not a big couponer.  I do look through and clip coupons for products I was already planning to buy.  I also check out my grocery store's sales paper to see if it's a good week to stock up on meat or splurge on fun sale stuff (like this week's nectarines, something I wouldn't normally buy).  This week, I saw that the bakery was doing BOGO (Buy One, Get One Free... not sure why they don't call it BOGOF instead) on focaccia bread.  I thought I'd take a chance on it, and I'm so glad I did.

Today's five-minute dinner is brought to you by focaccia:

Step 1: Buy focaccia bread.  This one is a fresh tomato variety.  I also bought a roasted pepper one.

Step 2: Load with toppings.  We had leftover Italian sausage that I browned while Jason grated some mozzarella cheese.  Any topping that makes sense (or that you have around the house) would go here. 

Honestly, step 2 isn't even necessary.  As is, the bread is mighty tasty.  It could be made into a sandwich by slicing horizontally and filling with yummy things.  It could be left as-is and served with soup or salad.  It could be dipped in olive oil and spices (pepper, rosemary, etc.) for a guilty-pleasure kind of appetizer or meal.  But I did do Step 2, and boy howdy, it was delicious!

Step 3: Broil until cheese melts.  We're talking maybe three minutes tops.  But keep an eye on it!  My bread got a wee bit toasty while I was making our drinks and getting plates.

Slice and devour!

I can't believe it, one of my adventures in cooking was a homerun!  I'm so glad I bought two of these delightful breads.  Pizza night, Take 2!