Spaghetti & Meatballs

My husband LOVES LOVES LOVES spaghetti and meatballs.

One of our Valentine's Week dinners (Yes, I made it a week of cooking...hehe) this year was Spaghetti & Meatballs. He was all touched that I made homemade meatballs just for him. (Well, it's for ME too...haha) Thought I would try the recipe called Meatball Nirvana. I followed the recipe to make my delicious meatballs. The change I made was to use 1/3 cup of oatmeal for the breadcrumbs (and maybe more onions).

Homemade Meatballs
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup onion (diced)
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 1/2 tsp italian seasoning
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3/4 tsp oregano
1 1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup oatmeal
1/3 cup milk
some hot sauce (I used Tapatio)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400F. In a medium sized bowl, mix ground beef with the onion and dry seasonings first. Then add Worcheshire sauce, milk, oatmeal, some hot sauce. Once all the ingredients are incorporated, you are ready to create the meatballs.

I lined a pan with aluminum foil to make it easier to clean. 

Form meatballs with your hands. Make them about 1.5 inches in diameter. I'm sure you can use an ice cream scoop for size control but it's not hard to do with your hands.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. 

Meatballs are cooked!! Thought I would show this picture since the finished dish has spaghetti sauce on top.

There were twelve of them. (The other three were in a smaller pan, not pictured.) Cook your spaghetti per the directions. Heat up your sauce in another little pot. I liked keeping the meatballs separate from the tomato sauce. When serving, put some spaghetti on the plate, then the meatballs. Lastly, pour some sauce over it.

Meatball Nirvana is definitely a keeper!!

Enjoy!!

Chicken Parmigiana

I'm in an Italian food phase. Tonight I cooked Chicken Parmigiana adapted from the Pioneer Woman (I love her!!). Didn't do everything the recipe called for like hammering the meat to make it thinner. My chicken was almost 1.5 inches thick!! But it was tasty and tender.

Chicken Parmigiana
Prep Time: 10 minutes      Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
some olive oil
some flour
1 onion, diced
2 Tbsp butter
14 oz tomato sauce (I use Ragu Pasta Sauce)
some tomatoes
some olive oil
some parmesan cheese (or other cheese you would like to melt on top of the chicken like pecorino, mozzarella cheese)
3/4 cup wine (I used red but either red or white would work)

Directions:
Season your chicken breast first. Some salt, pepper, lemon on both sides. Then put some flour on a big plate. Coat the chicken breast by placing it into the flour. Flip the chicken breast and repeat until it is covered evenly in flour. Do the same for the second breast.

In a big pan with a lid (I don't think you need a lid but I was avoiding splatter), heat about a tablespoon of oil (more if you like). Melt butter also. I fried my floured chicken breasts six minutes per side because they were about 1 1/4 inch thick!! (If your chicken breast are about half an inch thick, three minutes will suffice. If they are 3/4 of an inch thick, about four minutes would be enough. It depends on the thickness of your chicken.) Once you have a nice golden brown on both sides, remove from heat.

*Note: Don't forget to boil water for your thin spaghetti noodles (or your choice) at this time.

Using the same big pan with drippings and all, saute the diced onions for about three minutes. Pour in the wine. Stir and cook until about half of the wine has disappeared (Not from you drinking it..). After about four minutes, throw in the tomatoes. I had orange cherry tomatoes on hand that I cut in half. Pour in the tomato sauce. Stir well. Cover with a lid to let it simmer for 10 minutes. Remove lid and stir again before allowing it to simmer with the lid on for another 10 minutes.

Place the fried chicken breasts into the sauce.

Spoon the sauce around the chicken breast on top to cover the whole breast. Top it with cheese generously. I didn't have fresh parsley so I added some parsley in a spice jar instead.

Plate noodles. Add some sauce before you lay down the chicken breast. Carefully lay the chicken breast (Mine was HUGE) on top of the pasta. I was surprised at how gigantic my chicken parmigiana became.

It was moist, juicy, and flavorful. My husband said that the sauce tasted like it was homemade. It was definitely the wine factor. heheh. 

Enjoy!!

Light & Healthy Stuffed Mushrooms

I have made amazing stuffed mushrooms before. It is really quite easy. I don't remember exactly what I used last time since each time it depends on what is in my fridge and pantry.

This time, I was thinking about how I could make a version that was lighter and healthier. Many recipes call for cream cheese. After sifting through many recipes while thinking about what I had on hand, I concocted a recipe. I'll have to say that not only was it healthy but it was the best tasting!!

Light & Healthy Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients: 
6 Large Mushrooms
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 cup chopped spinach
some walnuts (in pieces)
1 small onion (1/2 large onion)
dice some ham
salt, pepper, paprika
some crackers

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Clean and hollow out the large mushrooms. Set aside. (Note: When I hollow out the large mushrooms, I actually dice that part of the mushroom to put into the stuffing mixture. That way you don't waste it.)

In a skillet, heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add chopped onions. Saute for about four to five minutes. When onions soften, add chopped spinach. Stir well. Add shredded cheese (American, Swiss, or cheese of your choice), some ham and crushed walnuts. Add seasonings (salt, pepper, paprika) to taste.

Remove from heat. Spoon the mixture into the mushroom caps.

Put some crackers in a plastic bag. Crush it so that you create breadcrumbs. Top the stuffed mushrooms with the crushed crackers. 

Place on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

These stuffed mushrooms are simply delicious. It won't leave you feeling heavy like most restaurant stuffed mushrooms.

ENJOY!!! =D 

Basic White Pasta Sauce

An hour before dinner, I did not have white pasta sauce on hand.  This is when I turn to online searches.  I found a keeper!!  This is going to be my basic white pasta sauce for life.

Usually when I browse recipes, I like to stay away from the ones that have half and half, sour cream, and heavy cream because they aren't in my kitchen on a daily basis.

White Sauce for Pasta from Cook.com
Prep Time: 1 min        Cook Time: 4 min
Serves: 2 (You can easily double or triple the recipe.)
Ingredients (for Medium Sauce thickness):
      2 Tbsp butter
      2 Tbsp flour
      1/2 tsp salt
      1 cup milk

Directions (copying and pasting from website): 

Basic white sauce:

In saucepan melt butter. Stir in flour, salt and dash pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more.Make basic white sauce thin or medium. Add the other ingredients. Cook veggies like (mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, bell tomatoes, red peppers) etc. or cook seafood (in wok) works well.
Add to white sauce seafood or veggies and serve over pasta (linguini).

I also added 1/2 tsp of garlic powder, 1 tsp of italian seasoning, and a generous dash or two of fresh ground peppercorns.  It was much healthier than store bought pasta sauce!

Ridiculously easy!!  Saved myself a trip to the grocery store and about $2-3.  Pretty happy with the results.  Try it next time you need white pasta sauce.

If you are wondering what else is in the sauce, langostino tails from TJ's, of course.  Sooo delicious!!

Enjoy!!!  ;)