Virtual Running Date No. 52: Catch up!

Good evening Crushers!

So, this whole mom, work-from-home and part-time, writing at all hours kind of thing is weird. Before, I would sit down to write my blog and post it in the morning and be done. That's how I got three posts in a week! Um, yeah, it's Wednesday night, and I'm writing this after a long day.

If this were a running date, I would tell you that I have spent most of today being used as a tissue by my daughter. She has a cold and probably getting a tooth and totally fooled me into thinking that this was an ear infection. Um, nope. Went to the doctor and everything only to be told that her ears are perfectly clear! Huh. So. Many. Tears. And. Boogers.  Sorry if that was gross, but she's so young, and although she has lots of words, telling mama where it hurts just isn't in her vocabulary yet.

Which brings me to my second "if this were a running date" comment, I'd tell you that Leinenkugel's makes a great new beer called Canoe Paddler. The baby is asleep. No judging.

If this were a running date, I'd tell you all to go and read the blog "A Mothership Down" written by Liz. She is hilarious. Her son is adorable. And I'm kind of jealous that she won a Bloggie award. However, she actually has clear pictures and fancy designs and a real web address that doesn't have anything to do with a Google product. So therefore, she just wins my adoration and envy. Not to be a creeper or anything... Besides, she used some of my words in a few posts here and on her Facebook page. Must try harder with blogging...

If this were a running date, I would tell you that I got a random call from a friend who was at a grocery store with a dilemma. I believe her words were, "Jen, I am at the grocery, and I only have time to pick up a few items for dinner before my kids get dropped off. What do I make for dinner?" She rattled off the Wildtree items she knew she had in her house. Since pasta is my go-to dinner if I'm stuck, this is what I told her:

Buy short pasta, like rotini or penne, Italian sausage, a can of crushed tomatoes, and mozzarella. Boil pasta according to directions. In pan, cook sausage. When done, set aside. Bring crushed tomatoes to a simmer with 1 Tbsp Italian Dressing Blend, 1-ish Tbsp each Zesty Lemon Grapeseed Oil and European Garlic Dipping Oil. Dice meat and add to sauce. Pour over drained pasta and enjoy!

She said it was a hit, and that I should post it on the blog, so here it is!

If this were a running date, I'd tell you that last weekend was a wonderful vacation with my girls. We ate, drank, hot-tubbed, shopped (the bargains!), and talked and talked and talked. It was so special to share this time with them even if I was kind of nervous about being away from Ellie for a whole weekend. She and Steve had a great daddy-daughter weekend, and I got to shop without a diaper bag! Just kidding. As I said, it was so much more. These women are amazing.

If this were a running date, I'd tell you that I did run with Jessica at our girls' weekend. It was only 12 degrees when we woke up on Saturday morning, so we hit the fitness room. Normally, I like running while watching the Food Network (no surprise there...), but "Sister Act" was on. WINNER! I did run more on Tuesday after Steve got home from work. It was much warmer! Time to add on some miles!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend and forgive my late running date.

Pasta Redemption

Good morning, Crushers!

The pasta debacle of the past few days has been resolved. We made the recipe last night and it was delicious! I'm so glad I found this recipe and tried it. There are a few modifications that I made because of personal preference and ingredients that I chose to use. It probably has 10x the calories that you actually need, but if you stick to the portion size, it's not so bad. I had to stick to the serving size because I'm only allowed so many carbs, but that works to my advantage!

Here is the original recipe for Sweet and Creamy Bacon and Sausage Linguine. And here's what I did:
Ingredients:
1 box of pasta (I used spaghetti since it was on sale instead of linguine)
1 pound of Italian turkey sausage, browned and crumbled
6 slices of bacon, chopped up into small-ish pieces (I could have made them even been smaller)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp honey
1/4-ish tsp Penzey's Berbere seasoning (you do not need much at all!)
Black pepper to taste
1/2 lemon, juice and zest
1 1/2 - 2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 bag of spinach, washed and dried
3-4 Roma tomatoes, diced
As much Reggano Parmesan cheese as you want 

Directions:


Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare pasta according to package instructions. Make sure you don't let the pasta cook too long or it gets gross. Plus, you're going to be adding sauce, so watch out!

In a large pan (hello favorite Calphalon pan!), brown sausage and bacon. Remove sausage and bacon, leave drippings in pan. NOTE: I was worried about this step since you're going to be adding butter and heavy cream later. Instead, I think I'd either keep the drippings or the butter, but not do both next time. By the time this was done, so was my pasta. I just drained the pasta and moved the sausage and bacon into the pot with the noodles and stirred them so they wouldn't stick together. Why make another pan dirty?!

The pasta and meat is waiting for the delicious sauce!

Stir in chicken broth, butter (see note above) and honey. Season to taste with Berbere and pepper. I left out the salt since that seemed like overkill. Continue cooking until chicken stock is reduced by half. I'm always amazed at how quickly that reduces!

Stir in lemon juice and zest. Stir in heavy cream and simmer until it coats the back of a spoon. Honestly, I probably did not wait long enough before adding the spinach, but I was getting really hungry. Plus, I was using a cool silicone coated spoon, so nothing sticks to that thing! Add baby spinach and stir until wilted. This doesn't take very long.

And here's the healthiest ingredient becoming not as healthy...

I waited until the last minute to stir in the diced tomatoes because I left the seeds in and didn't want them to get too mushy. They look prettier when they're not all mushed up.

Ready to be eaten!

Pour the sauce mixture over the bacon, sausage and linguine and stir until thick and sticks to noodles. Again, I probably did not wait long enough, but I was hungry. What can I say? Plate it up and top with as much Parmesan cheese as you'd like.

Source

This will DEFINITELY be made again at our house. I loved it and so did Steve. I thought we'd end up arguing over who was going to take the leftovers to work for lunch, but fortunately it made enough for lots of leftovers! This would be a great dish to serve at a party since you could probably make the sauce without the drippings and use veggie broth in case you have vegetarian guests. It would be so good!

Peel-a-head: I will get to make myself a whole pan of these strawberry shortcake bars. I can't wait!

VIrtual Running Date No. 49: Pasta Problems

Good morning, Crushers!

Remember how I said that I was going to make this wonderful pasta dish on Saturday night? Heh.

IF this was a virtual running date, you'd be doing the running and I'd be doing some waddling. Yeah, we're waddling now. Oh. My. Lord.

Anyway, after a wonderful morning walk on Saturday, we went to a bunch of stores to plan out Steve's soon-to-be raised garden bed. He's got veggies on the mind! Just when I was all ready to make us a delicious dish on Saturday night, I realized that we never bought pasta on Friday while grocery shopping!

Um, kind of hard to make linguine without the noodles. Facepalm.

So, I'll be making that tonight for dinner instead. Unless baby girl shows up. Then we'll just have all the ingredients for another time.

Geesh.

Faith-filled Friday: Think before you speak and some Aldi salad love

Good morning, Crushers!

In light of the recent heated outpouring of remarks made about the Mets' player who took a few days of paternity leave, I would like to use this passage for today's Faith-filled Friday:

My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding. - Psalm 49:3

Yes, the rest of this Psalm provides a lot of commentary on wisdom and foolishness for the rich and poor, but I like this passage because of the words "meditation of my heart". It reminds me of the phrase, "think before you speak", but even more so because you're thinking with your heart. Is what I say going to hurt or help? Is it going to affect someone else's heart (emotions) if I say these words?

I hope that I can remember this as a parent and be as patient as my mom is. She always says that you never know what someone else is going through. Not that you're not allowed to be mad and have feelings, but you should not take them out on someone else. Even when the make crazy statements about paternity leave or "you're still pregnant?!".  Yes, yes I am.

Anyway, considering how much I LOVE Aldi grocery stores, I'm shocked to learn that I discovered only today that they have an app (for iPhone and Android), tons of recipes online, and a test kitchen just an hour or so away from my house. I wish I could take a peek in there!

While I was making my weekly menu, I decided to check out their recipe section to see what was there. Um, HELLO! This is awesome!

Here is our menu for the week:
Saturday: Sweet and Creamy Bacon and Sausage Linguine
Sunday: Grill out
Monday: Tacos and beans
Tuesday: Homemade Pizza
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Wing it/Salads
Friday: either go out to eat or go to the hospital to have a baby

Yup, next week Friday is my due date, so we'll either be sticking to this meal plan or we'll be tossing it all to the wind and raiding our freezer meals. (Speaking of freezer meals, I broke down and used one on Wednesday night for dinner - Mozzarella and tomato chicken pasta - and it was amazing!)

Anyway, one more thing I love about Aldi is their really wonderfully priced produce section which means I can make up all sorts of crazy salads. Today's lunch was a romaine lettuce, red pepper, onion, cucumber salad with balsamic sprinkled on top. Oh, and a side of strawberries. Yes, yes we could go and buy all sorts of organic veggies, but that's just not in our budget right now. Instead, we are choosing to eat as healthy as possible in our budget. I think this salad works!

Delicious salad!

Also, it's pretty gestational diabetes-friendly. I ate it with a tortilla and cheese and the strawberries as my carbs. Yum! Speaking of yum, did you know that since Aldi is a German company, that all of their chocolates are delicious German chocolates? WHOO!

Have a wonderful weekend, Crushers!

Lessons in Soup Making

Good morning, Crushers!

Remember when I shared some delicious soup recipes back here? Well, last night I made the Slow Cooker Tomato Rotini Soup. However, we were packing up the house, and I forgot to start it earlier in the day. Instead, I'm going to give you a few tips on how to make it on the stove top in less than an hour. It's so delicious. Thanks again to Susan for sharing!

Here is a link to the original recipe. Here is what I did, and tips from Susan:
Tomato Rotini Soup
Ingredients:

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

4 cups tomato juice

1 heaping tablespoon of Penzey’s Pasta Sprinkle (basil, garlic and oregano)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 medium carrots, sliced (1 cup)

2 medium stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

1-ish cup sliced mushrooms

1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 box uncooked rotini pasta (make in a separate sauce pan)

Gear you'll need: Big soup pot, smaller pot or sauce pan for the noodles, spoons, a sharp knife for chopping up veggies, and measuring cups/spoons.

Directions: In the large pot, heat the broth (I used chicken broth) and tomato juice to a boil and then turn down the heat. Stir in the spices. For a lower-sodium version of this soup, try and find the low-sodium juice and broth. It's going to be flavorful enough without adding more salt. Your heart with thank you.

Chop up all of the veggies and put them in the pot. Put the can of tomatoes in as well. I accidentally bought the Italian kind, but that worked really well. If you want, you could soften up the veggies by cooking them with a half tablespoon of olive oil before putting them in the pot. However, we like chunky veggies at our house! Cook the tomato base and veggies on medium for at least 25 minutes if not 30.

Tip from Susan: For a spicier soup, you can use the spicy tomato juice (sometimes called zesty in the store) or throw in a few red pepper flakes. If we had had the red pepper flakes, I'm sure we would have used them!

Soup bubbling away before I added the noodles.

When you have about 8 minutes left on the soup, cook the rotini in a separate pot. I tried a little experiment last night and found that the soup is better when you don't cook the noodles in the pot. I cooked half in and half out. The half out was better because it didn't soak up all the juices. By the time we were done with dinner, the half in noodles had become enormous and soaked up lots of juice. When I reheat it, I think I'll just add more juice or broth. It'll still taste good.

Here are more tips from Susan:

• "I get enough to freeze a dinner size portion for Dave (her husband) and myself and then usually 2 lunch size portions for me to take to work.  More than likely we will have leftovers from the dinner size portion that turn into another lunch portion for myself bringing that total up to 3 (maybe 4 depending on how hungry we are the night we have the soup and what we have with it."
• Grilled cheese is an EXCELLENT side to the tomato (we did this last night).
• "I let the soup cool for close to 2 hours and then I freeze the dinner portions in gallon Ziploc bags and lay them flat in the freezer so they freeze nice and flat.  The lunch portions I do freeze in Tupperware so that all I have to do to take them for lunch is move it from the freeze to the fridge the night before and then transfer to my lunch bag in the morning." 

 Thanks to Susan for sharing this soup recipe and all her tips! Enjoy!

Quesa-what?

Good morning, Crushers!

I have to admit that I haven't made anything creative this week. Our house is slowly coming apart. I had to stop pulling things off the walls the other night because it was making me sad, and I ran out of boxes. We've been having comfort food as the weather gets colder and the house gets more packed away. I've packed lots of my kitchen stuff already, so I'm down to one frying pan, a sauce pan and a stock pot. Everything else is getting packed up!

Here's what we've eaten this week:

• Spaghetti
• Smoke alarm chicken with green beans and gnocchi
• Pizza 
• Quesadillas with random fillings

I really don't want to move food when we move, so I thought that we should just put stuff in tortillas and toss cheese on top of it. My favorite? Chicken, onion and slices of green apple with Colby Jack Cheese. So good!

I dare you to try and make some of your own. It's really quite wonderful. 

Faith-Filled Friday: Where your heart is

Good morning Crushers!

To say that I'm an involved person is an understatement. I am working two jobs (both of which, I enjoy). I am a board member for the Wauwatosa Woman's Club. I am the president of the Goldendale Horseshoe Club (only really matters in summer). I play softball and in the handbell choir at my church. I am in a book club (hated the last book). And I try to post 2-3 times a week on this blog, which means that I have to be cooking on a regular basis. This last one is pretty easy since I love cooking and we have to eat, right?

However, last night after making 3 dinners (two are for next week when my friend Kalie and her mom come to visit from Texas!), I laid down next to my husband and opened a book. (FYI - Steve did help cook!) The first line of the book was one of my favorite passages:

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. - Matthew 6:21

It made me smile because here I was just relaxing at home with the person that I love the most. We weren't doing anything special. He had ESPN on and I had a book. We were all mashed up with our legs crossing over each others. That's where my treasure is. Right at home with our little family.

It was also a really good reminder that for all the busy, busy things I do, my real life is ahead of me in Heaven. "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." says Matthew 6:21. Heaven is where my ultimate treasure is. That's a really nice reminder for a very busy week.

But what did I make for those three dinners? I was in a pasta mood. It's always a wonderful thing to feed a crowd! Remember the tortellacci? Or the lasagna? Or the meatballs and angel hair? We kind of love Italian food at our house, and I LOVE Giada de Laurentiis and her book (and show) "Everyday Italian." I consulted this book while making baked eggplant Parmesan last night. Note: that recipe is not in her book, but she has helpful hints about cooking with eggplant in it. I also made noodles with veggies and garlic butter sauce and these butternut squash gnocchi from Kristin at Iowa Girl Eats.

Baked Eggplant and Zucchini Parmesan (original recipe with some help from research)
1 medium eggplant
1 medium zucchini
1 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 heaping tbsp of Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 egg
2 Tbsp water
2-ish cups marinara sauce
1-2 cups (or two handfuls) of shredded mozzarella cheese

Gear you'll need: two shallow dishes, one 8x8 or 9x13 baking dish, one baking sheet, measuring cups and spoons, a sharp knife.

Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash and dry your veggies to make sure that all garden dirt is gone. In one shallow dish whisk the water and egg together. In the other shallow dish, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Slice the veggies in 1/2 -1 inch thick slices across the veggie. That means we're not making long strips, we're making disc-like shapes.

Coat the veggie slices in the egg wash and then roll them/cover them on all sides with the bread crumb mix. Place on the baking sheet that you've already give a light coating of olive oil to and feel free to let the veggies touch each other since they'll shrink. 

Tip: Put the olive oil in a shallow bowl or pour a little directly on the pan. Use a brush or even some paper towel to rub it all around. Only use half of the olive oil because you'll need the other half later for the baking dish. You could go ahead and brush that on now too because you won't have to do it twice!

 Bake the veggies for 25 minutes and then flip them over and bake for another 20-25 more so that each side gets golden brown. Remove from the baking dish and place the veggies in the baking dish and cover with most of the mozzarella cheese. Pour the marinara sauce on top of that and then sprinkle a bit more cheese over that. If you use the smaller pan, feel free to layer!

I put mine in the freezer for next week, but when you do need to bake it, make sure it's thawed all the way through. When it's ready, bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until it's bubbling and cheesy.

Note: Feel free to peel the veggies if you aren't a fan of the skins, but remember that the part of the plant that is the most brightly colored is the most nutrient filled!

Steve made dinner last night: leftover edition

Good morning Crushers!

One huge benefit of Steve being a teacher is that he has offer during the summer (when he's not in class). This means that he is able to help in the family garden making sure all the weeds are gone and the veggies are growing (eggplants, radishes and onions, oh my!). He is also available to help with running errands and getting all his lesson plans ready for next year. My favorite is when he decides to make dinner!

Don't get me wrong, I love to cook. But sometimes it's nice when someone else cooks for you. Steve is a great cook, too!

Last night Steve whipped up some spaghetti with leftover Italian sausage and plenty of veggies. He did, however, throw in one surprise veggie. We had some cucumbers that needed to be used up, so he tossed those in the sauce with some onions and other things. Much to my surprise, it was really good! The cucumbers were a nice crunchy element to the sauce and they held on to some of the spice from the sausage. Who knew?

How about you? What surprise ingredients have you found lately? Please share in the comments!

Prayer warriors, Wildtree beer bread, and pasta for dinner

Hi Crushers!

I have to say a huge thank you to all of my friends (who read the blog or not) who have been awesome prayer warriors lately. My grandma has been having some lower GI tract issues that I won't talk about here because they're kind of gross, and went to the hospital yesterday to have it figured out. She's 96 and is only one month away from her birthday (she's a Independence Day baby!). A little GI issues should not stop this woman, but they did throw everyone for a loop back in 2011 when Steve and I got engaged and again yesterday. She ended up having to stay overnight and then have a procedure done today. When you're as old as my grandma is, even if you don't act like it (and she doesn't!), that's risky to have anesthesia.

I'm really excited to say that she made it through her procedure. Now I know we're not in the clear yet, but I am leaving in one week (AH!) for Australia, so things are crazy around here anyway. I just hope that she feels better soon. I also hope that everyone has renewed strength for whatever lies ahead!

My Alma Mater's mascot is a warrior (like a knight, not a Native American). As a religious school, we were encouraged to be prayer warriors for each other spending time talking to God and building our prayer lives. Within the last year, many of my girlfriends from college have been calling on each other to be prayer warriors for each other and lift each other up. Whether it is in thanks or in "oh help" messages, we've been there. We've followed the call to "pray continually" message from 1 Thessalonians 5. It has been awesome to have those ladies to reach out to. I hope you all have a group like that!

I also hope that you always find the words when you need them. Although, "help" covers a lot and God knows what you mean! I recently saw a meme on Pinterest that said something to the effect of "the power of prayer doesn't depend on the person who is praying. It depends on the One listening." So true.

Anyway, I have two food-related items to tell you about since Grandma is one of my kitchen crushes and all. First, a short review of Wildtree's Whole Wheat Beer Bread. The bread is stupid-easy to make. Mix beer and bread mix and bake. EASY. It's also delicious with a little bit of butter and jam.

Second, unless something major happens with Grandma, I'm still going to host book club tonight (we read "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand A.Mazing!). I'm also making this springy pasta primavera for dinner thanks to Iowa Girl Eats. I love it when I think, "Gee, I have no idea what to make" and BOOM. My favorite blog writers have an answer. Love it! I will probably make it exactly as it is written except for the fact that I bought green and yellow squash, and I might throw in a little cauliflower since I don't have 2 cups of broccoli. Can't wait for dinner!

Thanks everyone and know that I'm praying for you, too!

Faith-filled Friday: Be awesome!

Hi Crushers,

I want to throw a little blog love over to Jessi of Naptime Diaries and Hannah of NewLove Ministries and Home Truths for the inspiration for this post. These are some ladies who have found their passion for creativity and ministry and they live it out! Some people take a while to find what it is that they want to be when they grow up and some people know when they're 7 years old.

If you are a friend of mine and you have a birthday or baby shower coming up in the next few weeks, please note that you may see some of their art in person shortly. Sorry if this totally ruins the surprise!

Anyway, I am crushing on Jessi and Hannah's creativity. They are amazing artists! What a wonderful way to share God's truths in a way that brightens your home/office/friends' house...

My dad used to tell me, "Find a job you love and you'll never have to go to work." I really enjoy my job. I get to be all science nerdy and travel and work with people all over the world. However, I think that no matter what you do, there will always be days that "you have to go to work." Everyone has a bad day now and then. But it's also important to remember what God said in Ephesians 2:4-10 (bolded for emphasis)

4 But because of his great love for us,God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,which God prepared in advance for us to do.

That's right. God prepared us to do amazing things. Even when we have a bad day, it has to get brighter because we are hardwired for awesomeness. Whether we know what those things are or not is another matter, but that's why I think it's important to try new things and not be afraid. God is with us. It is his great love that made us alive and his grace that saved us. If God has done all those things for us, why not go out there, be awesome, help others, and be creative!

How about it? How are you creative? Do you design art? Do you cook? Bake? Garden? Perform? Whatever you do, go for it!

Speaking about trying new things, I tried a baked pasta dish last night with spinach, lemon and cheese. Yeah, we won't be trying that recipe again. It was too lemony and not enough spinach-y for us. And now we have tons of leftovers! Ugh... I think it would help if we added spicy sausage or something to it. We'll see... In case you are interested in trying the recipe here is the link.

Baked Meatballs and Spaghetti

Good morning Crushers!

As promised, here is the recipe for baked meatballs. You could use these on a sandwich with a little melted cheese and green peppers, as an appetizer with some BBQ sauce, or with spaghetti noodles like we did on Sunday night. They were so easy to make and it made for delicious leftovers to take to lunch the next day!

This is going to be a short post because I know you'll definitely want to run out and make these! No time to waste reading when you could be enjoying these, right?

Baked Meatballs
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef, thawed (you could use ground pork, turkey, chicken or a combination)
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used Italian seasoned ones since that was in the pantry)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (I used a garlic press)
1 tbsp milk (optional)
1 tsp Italian Seasoning (I ran out mid teaspoon, so I gave it an oomph with some oregano, but wished I had parsley)
Salt and Pepper - just a dash of each, but no more than 1/8 tsp.
Optional add ins: spinach, finely diced mushrooms, finely diced onions - I added these to the sauce instead of the meatballs.

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and have the following items on hand: a baking sheet, a cooking/cooling rack, canola oil spray (or your favorite kind) and a large bowl.

Mix Everything except the meat in a large bowl so it has the consistency of a paste. If you did use the milk, it'll be a bit creamier than if you didn't.

I have no idea why there is a halo-ish light in the bowl.
It's either a reflection or the ingredients are ready for meatball heaven.

Before you get your hands all dirty, set the rack on the baking sheet and give it a quick layer of cooking spray. All of the grease from the meat will drip off on to the baking sheet. If you REALLY hate cleaning up grease, you could line it with aluminum foil, too. Then you just toss it out when it's cooled.

Break up the ground beef into crumbles. As you know, I'm a big fan of using ground beef that is at least 80/20. Anything less than 80 is too greasy! Back to the crumbles, add them into the mixture and make sure that it all gets well mixed so that you don't have lumps of bread crumbs in your meatballs. In order to make sure that everything was really squished together, I just took off my rings and used my hands. It feels squishy, but it's really the easiest way to do it. Form the mixture into golf-ball sized meatballs and place on the rack. They will shrink a bit, so don't worry if they are too close to each other.

Ready for the oven!

After you've washed your hands, put the meatballs in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until they're no longer pink. The internal temperature should be at least 160. Remove from the rack and place on paper towels to get rid of any remaining grease, but there won't be much!

Fresh from the oven, these meatballs are just waiting for a sandwich or some pasta!

Like I said before, there are many ways to serve up meatballs in sandwiches, with pasta or just alone with a dipping sauce (if you make them with pork or chicken, try it with a nice sweet and sour sauce - SO GOOD!). We went with traditional spaghetti noodles and a jar of pasta sauce that I added lots of veggies to to ramp up the vitamins! I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Where's my fork?

1, 2, 3, Lasagna!

Hey Crushers,

Although I was always a very good student and probably would have made a great math teacher, I never really liked math. Long division? No thanks. Dividing fractions? Ah... no. I don't care what equals x or how long the side of that isosceles triangle is. No one does. No one.

It wasn't until junior year of high school that I started realizing that math can be fun. In my advanced physics class, we learned how to figure out the specific heat of macaroni and cheese. That's cool! You can use math to figure out the velocity of a roller coaster? Lead me to the nearest amusement park. Still, those aren't terribly useful things in every day life unless you are a foods scientist or designing coasters (both of which would be awesome careers).

However, if you ask me how to figure out the final price for a dress that was originally $80 that is now on yellow dot clearance for 60% off  and you can take an additional 50% off with a coupon, I can do that in my head faster than you can find the nearest fitting room. (FYI - That's a $16 dress, and I saw it first.) Sale is my favorite four letter word.

Fractions, percentages and even geometry (hello, crafting) are useful everyday mathematics. However, there is no better way to use math than in cooking. You need it to figure out how many people you're going to feed, how to double, triple or halve a recipe, and how long to cook it for (specific heat not necessary).

When I have a group to serve, I like to go with easy, "big" recipes like a roast, family-style pasta or barbecue. This weekend is the 9th Annual Girls' Weekend for a group of friends from college. We've graduated from cramming a bunch of girls in two plain hotel rooms with delivery pizza and lots of indoor waterpark time to renting a large-ish condo, cooking our own meals and doing some outlet mall shopping. I'm in charge of the main dish for dinner, so I'm going to share a recipe that is so easy, you can do if you can count to three and still make a delicious meal for a crowd.

1, 2, 3 Lasagna!
Serves 8-12 (depending on how big the servings are)
Ingredients:
1 pound of ground beef or turkey (thawed)
1 cup of diced onion (about one medium to large onion)
1 jar of marinara sauce
1 16 oz tub of ricotta cheese (small curd cottage cheese works too)
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (if you can, buy a wedge and grate it yourself - great nutty richness!)
1 egg, beaten
1-2 tsp Italian seasoning (I like to use Penzey's pasta sprinkle)
3 cloves of garlic, minced (2-3 tsps of minced garlic in a jar works too) 
4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
10 lasagna noodles (3 layers of 3 noodles, plus a "fixer" noodle)
Optional: as many other diced veggies as you want! I included zucchini and peppers. I would have included mushrooms if I had them. You can also add in some red wine, but since two of the ladies are soon-to-be-mommies, I am leaving the alcohol out.

Directions:
You are going to need four containers ready: 1 big bowl for mixing, 1 large skillet, 1 large pot, 1 13 x 9 inch baking dish (lightly greased).

In the large pot, get water boiling and cook the pasta according to the directions. After you have that started, start browning the meat in the skillet and break it up in small bits. It's easier to spread later. I had ground turkey on hand, so that's what I made this time. When it is about half-way done, toss in your veggies and garlic to cook with the meat so they get a bit soft. (This is where you could throw some wine in if you choose.)

Brightly colored veggies = lots of vitamins and nutrients!
If you add zucchini or spinach, make sure and let it cook out some of the moisture.

In the big bowl, mix the ricotta (or cottage) cheese, egg, Parmesan cheese and the Italian seasoning together while the meat is browning and water is boiling. This will be the glue that holds it all together.

When the meat is done browning, pour in the jar of marinara. Yes, I will learn how to make my own at some point. Until then, I like to be a good consumer! That should heat through by the time the pasta is done boiling. Please be careful when you drain the pasta. This was the first time EVER that I didn't rip a noodle or two. If you are going to be baking this right away, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

It's time to start counting to three!

Step 1, put 1/3 of the meat sauce in the bottom of your baking dish and spread it out evenly.

Usually I save that last noodle to patch up where I ripped other noodles.
Instead, I just layered it in since I didn't rip any other noodles. Miracle!

Step 2, put three lasagna noodles on top of the meat side by side to cover the sauce. Step 3: put 1/3 of the cheese on top of the noodles and spread out.

Tip: Put a spoonful of the cheese mixture on each noodle and spread across length-wise.
It's much easier to spread that way than the short way.

Put about a cup of the mozzarella cheese on top of this cheese. Repeat the meat, noodle, cheese layers 2 more times (total of three layers). Make sure you have plenty of mozzarella cheese for the top.

If you are going to be baking this now, cover the top of the dish with aluminum foil, but tent it up a bit so it doesn't stick to the cheese. Bake for 40 minutes. Take the foil off for the last 10 minutes (total cook time 50 minutes) so the cheese gets a little golden brown. If you're going to be baking this later like I will, cover and put in your fridge or freezer.

SHAMELESS PLUG FOR FRIEND:

My friend Rachel is a wonderful baker and cook. She makes the best flourless chocolate cake in the world. She is also a whiz with a sewing machine. For a Christmas present this year, she made me a baking dish carrier complete with matching pot holders to keep your hot foods hot and cold foods cold. So cute!

I'll be using this adorable dish carrier to take my lasagna to Girls' Weekend. If you would like one of you own, please visit Rachel's facebook page: facebook.com/remadebyrachel

Family Style Pasta - Spinach Tortellacci with Spicy Italian Sausage

Hello crushers,

I did a LOT of cooking over the weekend because we were home getting lots of things done around the house. It was nice to take down some of the Christmas decorations and organize things so we know we can find them next year. It was also nice to get to have enough time to make a gigantic meal for the Packer game so we weren't rushed to have dinner ready by kickoff. Sadly, the Packers did not continue on to the next playoff game, but we had a great meal.

See how big those noodles are?

One of the things I love about recipes is when you know you've made enough for a family to sit down and enjoy a meal without having to get up a million times to grab this or that. Family-style pasta is a great option, and this meal was inspired by two things: the awesome elderly gentleman at Glorioso's, the best Italian grocery in Milwaukee, who hands out cookies to chew on while you decide what cut of meat to order and Giada Di Laurentiis, the Food Network Queen of Family Style Pasta.

Glorioso's is one of my favorite specialty grocery stores to wander through. They will often let you have a taste of olives or something if you're really undecided. I got to try an olive stuffed with Gorgonzola cheese. It was amazing! We left the store with a wedge of Parmesan cheese, a few types of olives including the kind I got to sample, a half pound of caprese salad from the deli, a pound of spicy Italian sausage (they make their own!) and a pound of spinach tortellacci.


No, you didn't read that wrong. I said tortellacci. If you haven't already typed that in a search engine, please let me explain what it is. You are probably familiar with tortellini, the delightful stuffed round pasta. It rhymes with teeny, so it's the smallest. Tortelloni is the next size up. Tortellacci is the biggest version of this stuffed noodle. Another way to remember it is that when you say the words, your mouth has to open the least to say the word for the smallest noodle, and it has to open the widest for the biggest noodle. No matter the size, it's delicious.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound spicy Italian sausage (about two links)
1 pound spinach tortellacci, cooked according to the package directions
1/2 green pepper, diced
5-6 button mushrooms, halved and sliced
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
2 cups of your favorite marinara sauce (we like the kind with basil or chunky veggies)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

(Note: We made side salads to go with this, so we put some of the onions, mushrooms and peppers on the lettuce. We also snacked on the caprese salad and olives. We had plenty of leftovers for dinner the next night!).

Directions:
First, pour yourself a glass of wine because you're about to make a mess in the kitchen. Second, get out a large pot to boil the pasta in and a large sauce pan because you're going to be cooking everything else in that.

If your sausage is very lean (ours was), then put some olive oil in the pan and let it heat up. Cook the sausage in the pan browning it on both sides. You'll want to make sure that the insides reach at least 160 degrees. Normally, you cook pork to 165, but you'll keep cooking this later, so it'll finish then. I cooked up all of the sausage so that we could have it for another meal later, but you really only need the two links.

Cooking sausage - the white things are rough-chopped garlic.

While the sausage is sizzling away, dice up your veggies. When the sausage is done, take it out of pan to drain on some paper towels. Drain off all but about a half to a whole tbsp of grease/olive oil. Dump all of your veggies in the pan and saute them in the leftover oil. Once the onions get translucent, slice up the sausage into 1/2 inch pieces and put them back in the pan with the veggies. Add your marinara sauce and let that simmer until your pasta is done. Drain the pasta and add it right to the sausage and veggies. Mix it all up and let it heat through together.

Fancy "tailgating" food! If you can see it, there are olives,
mozzarella and tomatoes, and the salads on the side.

While you're doing that you can get all your plates and sides ready to go. Settle in to watch your favorite football team play or maybe light a few candles for a romantic meal or feed a family of four hungry people. Anyway you serve it, I hope you enjoy it!

Meatless Monday options

Good morning, Crushers!

I know that today is Friday, but a friend and I were talking about "Meatless Mondays" as a way to try more veggie-ful and (usually) less expensive meal options. We are very cost-conscious about our grocery bill, but we don't want to sacrifice trying new foods and flavors either. And, obviously, I love to cook, so we don't buy too many pre-packaged meals. At times, eating whole foods can get a little expensive. Not to say I don't love tossing a bag of french fries in the oven or enjoying a frozen pizza now and then!

Anyway, Erie (the aforementioned friend) and I decided to brainstorm some meatless options. Here they are in no particular order:

• Bean and Rice burrito
• Bean and Veggie tacos
• Huevos Rancheros (egg dish)
• Breakfast for dinner: eggs, omelets, quiche, frittata, pancakes, biscuits and gravy (with beans instead of sausage)
  
• Stir fry/fried rice with egg and/or beans
• Vegetarian Lasagna
• Bean Soup
• Meatless Chili
• Loaded Baked Potatoes (use some of that chili!)
• Grilled veggie sandwiches
• Grilled mushrooms burgers
• Black bean burgers
• Homemade pizza with veggies

What do you think? What am I missing? What should we try first?

I got a wok for my birthday, so I'm thinking stir fry, but breakfast for dinner is calling my name!

New Year's Resolutions

Hi Crushers,
As many people do, I like to make resolutions or set goals for the New Year. Steve and I set some for us as a family as part of our #24daysoftogetherness. Some of them I can share and some of them are just for us.

Resolutions:

1. Run the Green Bay Cellcom Half Marathon together (or at least start together!). I ran the Fox Cities Half Marathon with some friends and it was a lot of fun training for it and completing it. Steve helped me train for it, but in the end he didn't sign up because it was during football season and he wasn't sure how much time he could devote to running at the end. I think he could have still done it, but better safe than sorry! Running injuries are no fun.
2. Learn how to make more breads. My sister's mother-in-law gave me a book on making bread. After the success of the rosemary bread I wrote about here, I feel like I could take on other bread challenges.
3. Learn how to make more Asian dishes. My friends Stacy and Misty make these rice cakes of spicy dragon fire that are amazing! Really, they are called Ddukppoki and they are a favorite street food in Korea. I'd also like to try making Pho, which is a delicious soup. I bet Stacy and Misty wouldn't mind helping me learn how to make these. My cousin Rob knows how to make sushi, so that could be interesting too. Plus, all of these recipes would require a fascinating grocery trip!
4. Learn how to make pasta. I have a feeling that this will be more effort than it's worth, but who knows? I've kind of always wanted to make my own ravioli, but haven't had the guts to try it yet.
5. Beat my 5K race PR. Right now, my best 5K time is hovering right around 29 minutes. I'm slow, but I'm ok with that. It's all about finishing what you start!
6. Do 50 push ups in a row! And not the modified "girly" kind from your knees either! I'm talking regular, from your toes push ups without sticking your booty in the air.
7. Learn how to lay tile or linoleum or something to repair our kitchen floor. Before we were married, something (water damage?) happened to the floor and it needs to go away. Argh.

How about you? Do you have any? Do you have foods you would like to see us try to make?

Creamy Tomato Pasta and Homemade French Dressing

After seeing too many sitcoms where the wife makes her husband's favorite recipe, which happens to be something his mother always made for him, and the recipe never turning out right, I have learned not to try and top something Steve's mom has made. Food has a lot of feelings attached to it, and that is why I think those recipes never work. That, and it gets a lot of laughs.

My grandma's bread and butter pickles never tasted as good unless you were up north eating them with a view of the lake. My dad's French toast never tastes as good unless it's a Sunday morning before church. My mom's anything never tastes as good as when she makes it and you get to sit and chat in the kitchen while it bakes. Sometimes you just need the original.

Every Thanksgiving and Christmas, Steve's mom makes this cranberry fluff that he loves. He could eat pounds of it and never get tired of the tart treat. When his mom offered me the recipe, I declined. She was shocked. However, I knew I could never make it just the way she did because he loves her and how she makes it. It's something special that they share. Someday I'll ask for it or have Steve ask her for it. It is really good, and you never want a delicious recipe to get lost.

This hasn't stopped us from swapping recipes for other things. Her cherry dessert with the sweet pretzel crust? Oh yeah, I'm making that for Christmas. My cheesy potatoes? I left Thanksgiving dinner with an empty dish. Some recipes are a hit no matter who makes them.

A few nights ago, Steve said, "Hey, you haven't tried one of my mom's recipes in a while." So I grabbed my recipe cards and did a search. Since we have accidentally been doing a meatless Monday for a few weeks now, I thought I would make her homemade French dressing for a side salad to go with our creamy tomato pasta dinner. I'm never using store-bought French dressing again!


Creamy Tomato Pasta
Ingredients:
1 box of pasta (pick your favorite shape!)
1 tbsp butter
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 small zucchini, chopped
1/2 large onion or 1 medium onion
1 clove garlic
1 tsp pepper
1/3 of an 8 oz. block of cream cheese (the low fat kind works fine)
1 shot glassful of white wine (optional)
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce

Directions:
Cook pasta in a large pot according to the package. Meanwhile in a medium-sized sauce pan, melt 1 tbsp of butter so that it's liquid, but not bubbling. Saute the zucchini, mushrooms, onions and garlic on medium heat. When they are soft (when the onions are translucent), stir in the cream cheese so it melts. When that has melted, add the pepper and a shot glass-sized splash of white wine and the pepper. 

Keep stirring so that it doesn't scorch on the bottom. No one likes burnt cream cheese.

Mix well and then add at least half if not the whole jar of pasta sauce and stir. You should be able to get that completed and simmering by the time the pasta is done (in 12 minutes).

You can keep this simmering on low.

Drain the pasta and return it to the big pot. Pour the whole sauce mixture over the pasta and toss so it is well coated.

Carol's French Dressing

Super easy!

1 cup salad oil (meaning a light oil like canola oil)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
1 cup ketchup
1 tsp salt
1 tsp celery seed
1 small grated onion

Directions: Combine ingredients and beat until thick. Makes 1 pint. Store in fridge.

Tasty and healthy-ish!

I made 1/3 of this since 1 pint of dressing is a lot for two people and she didn't say how long this lasts. So the only hard thing to measure was the vinegar because I don't have a 1/9 cup. (Who does?!) For the salt and celery seed, I just eye-balled it and it tasted fine. I'm sure the next time we use it, we'll have to stir it up again because the oil will try and separate. That's easy enough, and it's nice to have on hand for a salad. We're keeping it in a plastic jar with a tight lid just in case it should fall off of a shelf in the fridge. There are a lot of Christmas cookies chilling in there right now. More on those later this week!

Stuffed Shells with cheesy goodness

Every once in a while, I like buying a box of fun shaped pasta just for the heck of it. Some times I actually use the appropriate sauce. There was an episode of "Lydia's Italy" on PBS where Lydia talked about the appropriate combinations of sauce and pasta shape. Then I found this website called The Geometry of Pasta which also gives you a good idea of what to pair up. It's not all macaroni and spaghetti, crushers!

There are some pasta shapes that are begging to be filled with delicious ingredients. Shell pasta or conchiglioni is one of those types. These shells are stuff-able and bake-able. 

When I bought the shell pasta, my husband asked me when I would actually make time to do this. I reminded him that sometimes I bake things at 10 p.m., so I would for sure find time to make these. Well, yesterday was a bit trying since it was SLOW at work until the last 45 minutes. Of course, this is when we needed to carpool and I was the picker-upper. Then traffic just sucked. 

Yes, I know I live in Wisconsin where the biggest city is still relatively small compared to larger cities. You're welcome to your 6-lane highways. I get fed up with slow drivers when we have only 3 lanes!

Plus, it was starting to get really cold and snow. Now, I love snow, and it will be perfect for my sister's holiday wedding coming up, but I just didn't want it to snow right then since we wanted to go running. What to do?

It's hard to tell, but that is snow on my windshield (taken after cooking - not while driving).

Make a delicious meal for your loved one. Relax in knowledge that water will boil when heated and onions will soften and release their yummy fragrance when cooked in olive oil. Knowing that a hot, delicious, cheesy meal is only an hour away can make all the difference. Or is it the glass of wine you drink while browning the ground beef? Who cares?!

I (mostly) followed this recipe for Three Cheese-Stuffed Shells with Meaty Tomato Sauce by one of my all time Kitchen Crushes, Ree Drummond, also known as The Pioneer Woman. This woman is an amazing cook. Also, if I ever thought I could be a red head, I'd want her hair.

Anyway, here is the recipe that I used. It is almost the recipe that Ree used. She has awesome pictures and the full recipe on her site, so you should check it out. Or, if you accidentally bought the wrong cheese and spinach instead of basil, you can use mine below:

Pasta and Sauce Ingredients:

• 12 oz, weight Jumbo Pasta Shells
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/2 whole Medium Onion, Chopped
• 5 cloves Garlic, Minced or crushed
• 1 lb ground beef or Italian sausage
• 1/2 cup Red Wine
• 1 whole 28 Ounce Can Crushed Tomatoes 
• 1 cup pasta sauce

Filling: 

• 15 oz, weight Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
• 1 heaping cup of Parmesan Cheese, Grated, Divided
• 15 oz cottage cheese (the smaller the curd, the better)
• 1 whole Egg
• 2-3 handfuls of spinach, washed and chopped
• 1 tsp dried basil or a few leaves of the fresh stuff if you've got it
• Salt And Pepper, to taste

Directions:
You're going to start with the sauce because it takes longer. First, heat up the olive oil in a large skillet. When that's hot, but not bubbling, toss in the diced onion and crushed garlic cloves. Let those cook away until the onions start to get all soft and fragrant. When that happens, add in a pound of ground beef. Break that up so it's in small, bite-size pieces and let it brown, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, get water boiling and cook the pasta shells as directed, but only for half the time. I kind of forgot the HALF part, so I think my shells were too soft and that's why they ripped easily. Fortunately, cheese works as a good glue to hold things together!

Ground beef + onions + garlic + spinach + tomatoes + wine = happy smelling kitchen

Going back to the sauce, once the meat is all browned, drain off the fat, but reserve 1 tsp-tbsp. This can be hard to do or get it all the way drained, so feel free to put the meat, onion and garlic on a plate covered with paper towels and pat it like you would for bacon. When you've got the fat drained off, put the meat back in the pan with it's onion pals and introduce it to a half cup of red wine. Let them make friends and bubble away for a few minutes. Then add the crushed tomatoes and some pieces of chopped spinach. I also had some leftover pasta sauce, so I added that. Let that all simmer in the pan for awhile. I would give it at least 15 minutes.

By now your pasta is done. Drain it and set it aside. So that you don't get ANOTHER pan dirty, you should put in the spoonful of reserved meat juice in the pot that you cooked the noodles in. Take the two large handfuls of spinach and chop it up. Put the chopped spinach in the pot and let it cook down. If you don't, all the water from the spinach will make the shells kind of runny. Once those are all limp-looking, then you should take them out of the pot so they can cool. You can always put it in the fridge or freezer to cool quickly.

Our house was chilly, so I just set it on a plate on the counter.
I have no idea how that one onion jumped in with the spinach.

While you are waiting for the sauce, it is time to make the cheesy shell stuffing and pre-heat the oven to 350. This is a lot like the cheese you would mix together for lasagna. In a big bowl, combine the ricotta, cottage and half of the Parmesan cheese. Add in one egg. Sprinkle with dried basil. Mix that all up. If the spinach has cooled, stir it in the cheese mix. It is important that it doesn't cook the egg. Otherwise, you get this weird spinach-y-egg-y thing going on that looks gross.

Not that this looks much better, but there are no weird half scrambled egg bits.

Take a 9x13 pan (or two 8x8 pans if you're cooking for two and want to have a freezer meal) and cover the bottom of the pan with the meat sauce. Fill the shells with your cheese mix by the spoonful. Don't worry if the pasta rips because the cheese will hold it together. Place the filled shells open-side-down on the meat sauce. Repeat until you have that pan full! Cover with the remaining sauce and the Parmesan cheese that you saved. You saved it, didn't you?

Shell o'cheese

Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees uncovered. This is enough time to run two miles and walk a little cool down. Or if you discovered that you and your husband under-dressed for running in the snow, run about a mile and then come inside and do this abs/core routine:

• 10 sit ups 
• 10 leg lifts 
• 10 side leg lifts 
• 10 push ups 
• 10 side leg lifts on the other side
• Repeat! I go around so I'm on my back, my right side, my stomach, my left side and then back again.

If you're really speedy, you can even do some of the dirty dishes from making the sauce, throw in a load of laundry or run back outside to take a picture of the snow on your car for your blog and to show your friend Susan, who lives in Colorado and already had snow.

When it's all done, it's is basically stuffed shells with cheesy goodness that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. I would have called Ree just to thank her for this recipe if I could have tracked down her number. Lucky for her, I was in a cheesy coma enjoying a relaxing end to a weird Monday. Also, that would have been creepy, and I'm not like that.