It's all about the meatballs.

Turkey meatballs. Actually, they are pretty dang good. I mixed a half pound of ground light meat with a half a pound of ground dark meat; To that I added salt and pepper, a dash or three of cayenne, and some pepper flakes for added kick. I poached the meatballs until just cooked through so that when the time comes (because they store frozen really well) I'll thaw them and saute them to golden perfection. I poached them so I never have to worry about a raw middle with a waaaaaay to crispy outside.

Okay, so today I was not so much in the mood for spaghetti. I did a sort of turkey parm deconstruction by chopping up the meatballs, putting them on a bun with homemade tomato sauce and topping that with grated parm-reg. Yum! I could have made a healthy side of veggies but I got some new cheese puffs to try at the store (Mike got potato chips). So there you have it, dinner took maybe 20 minutes and I have about a dozen frozen meatballs for future fast meals.

Peanut Butter Cookies, before and after

I love peanut butter cookies. Who doesn't? Really? That's weird.

So it's August already; Can you believe it. Gross. I wanted to make the day end with a sweet note and these 4-ingredient cookies could not be easier. Simply stir together 1 cup peanut butter with 3/4 cup sugar. Then with that mix in 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 large egg, lightly beaten. Now roll the mixture into teaspoon-size balls and place 1 inch apart on a greased cookie sheet. CRAP, first preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Okay, have you rolled out the cookies yet? Now, press down on the cookie balls with a fork to get that time honored crosshatch. As you can see I added some dark chocolate M+Ms and even roasted peanuts on top. Pretty, tasty, and you're done in 30 minutes or less. More if you roll slowly and have some wine while you do. I encourage this, just remember not to touch the pan without an oven mitt!

Before

After

Peanut, peanut butter and chicken.

Why did the chicken swim in teriyaki sauce? To taste delicious! But enough about fowl, let's talk peanut sauce. You know it mainly from Thai food. Here's the thing, it's so easy to make that you can enjoy it at home on anything! Actually no, it would be gross on breakfast cereal. Anyway, here is the base of the sauce: peanut butter and bit of soy sauce. What? Only two ingredients? I'm for totally serious. But then I add freshly squeezed lime juice and orange juice. You can add much more if you like but remember the soy sauce and peanut butter are salty so you won't need salt. You might want to add hot sauce or fresh herbs (I'm told basil works well). If it is too thick, just add a little water until you get the consistency that you like. Ta da! Yesterday I served mine with the chicken as well as udon noodles and some green pepper that I sauteed with shallots and red pepper flakes then simmered in chicken stock.

Cup of Fruit.

Mike is allergic to all raw fruits and vegetables. Sad. I can eat some of them raw, but Mike can't unless I cook them. This makes having fruit in anything less than pie form rather difficult, though I have managed to make some sorbet. And I like the little fruit cups that they sell but those suckers are loaded with sugar and frankly the containers are wasteful. SOLUTION TIME! I made my own. Peaches are in season and mangoes seem to be ripe so I cut them up, gave them a quick blanch and shock (a quick dip in boiling water then ice water) and was done. We can now have healthy fruit snacks during the day with now averse reaction. Yay! I got these leak proof little containers at Earth Fare and they are the perfect size for a late afternoon snack.

Screw you croutons!

I am ushering in a new means of carb delivery for salads. Croutons, while delicious, bore me. So I took the leftover empanada dough, cut it into smaller rounds and stuffed it with goat cheese which was going into the salad anyway. I foresee a new era of salad topper with all kinds of different yummy middles. Granted, I doubt anyone will do the work required to make these delicious puffs but at least I can enjoy them at home and all of you can enjoy the pictures.

Empanada Fiesta!

It happened again, I needed more food for school lunches and my inner little Mexican grandma got to work. These empanadas are rather easy to make but also are very laborious. Regardless I got up early, made the dough and got to work. The filling is a mix of white and dark ground turkey, onions sauteed with mustard seeds and zucchini and yellow squash, potatoes, and red, yellow, and orange bell peppers. Here is the process: Roll the dough, cut a round, add filling, put egg on the edge and seal with a fork. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 400°F then cool on a wire rack. (RECIPE: Empanada dough) The cool part about the filling is that you can add whatever you like so I have no recipe to offer. I hope these last at least two weeks as I am exhausted! At least I can use the leftover dough to make churro-like dessert!

Blueberry Sorbet--because it's F'ing hot outside.

When the weather channel and news station tell you that it feels like 110°F degrees outside (Fahrenheit, that's about 43 degrees Celsius) then you can't bake. Well no, I could bake but Mike said we are eating too many sweets and that it's not healthy. I have no idea what he's talking about. Instead though I took blueberries that came from a local farm and reduced them down to their purest juicy form (all you do is boil them in some water until they pop then squeeze their guts out through cheese cloth; HINT: you might want to wear gloves as they can stain your hands for a day or two). To that juice I added a boiled mixture of sugar, lemon juice, and pomegranate juice. This cooled in the fridge overnight so I could use it in the Kitchen Aid Ice Cream maker attachment the next day. Luck for us last night was the next day and it worked perfectly! We had this colorful sorbet after dinner, it was essence of blueberry with citrus hints and for fun it even changes your tongue color!

Makin' Sauce.

Tomatoes are ripe, the summer is sizzling, and I'm getting ready for winter. Tomato sauce is the best thing to make at home as you can saute onions and garlic and make the entire house smell savory. TECHNICAL TERM TIME! Concasse, it technically means crushed or ground but more specifically refers to tomatoes that are peeled, seeded, then chopped. I slice an X on the tomato bottom, blanch and shock it, then peel it. I have put pictures below. After the tomatoes have stewed for a bit then I use the immersion blender to smooth them into a sauce perfect for pasta and the like. TIP TIME: I freeze the sauce in ice cube trays to store it for later use. As I have yet to attempt canning this makes for easy use later.