My Homemade Italian Meatballs

I love cooking in the kitchen. Oftentimes I make recipes by chefs everyone has heard of. This is the first recipe I put together from scratch.  I love watching all the greats, Giada DeLaurentiis, Bobby Flay, Paula Deen, Alton Brown, Jamie Oliver, etc. I also watch Top Chef and Iron Chef. I have been bitten by the bug.

Here is a picture of the ingredients I am using for my recipe minus the basic which I forgot to include.

Italian Meatballs
Makes 4 servings

1 egg, beaten
1 lb ground meat (I like to use meatloaf mix  and my Mom uses ground chuck and ground pork if I remember correctly)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1/2 c milk
1 c bread cubes (best us French or Italian bread)
4 garlic cloves put through a garlic press
1 T oregano, fresh or dried
2 T parsley, fresh or dried
1/4 t salt or to taste
1 t black pepper or to taste
1/8 c olive oil

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl mix all ingredients starting with the wet ingredients first, then the bread, meat and spices. Shape them into balls and place them on a cookie sheet.

 Put them in the oven for about an hour or until brown and nicely done.

 Of course, here is the finished product in the tomato sauce.



If you haven't figured out I have a kitchen the size of a galley on a sailboat and am squeezed for space.

Have you ever tried Pringles Multi-Grain Potato Chips.

Here is what they look like out of the container. Now really I am not a big potato chip fan but chips made of whole grain every once in a while (or a blue moon) is okay.  They taste light and fluffy. Have them with your sandwich you eat at work.
Cook something new and try something new. Have a great day.

Cassandra

Trader Joe's Butternut Squash Soup

Trying things is my thing, and I personally love butternut squash soup. When I saw the soup at Trader Joe's I couldn't resist wanting to try it.

Butternut Squash Soup from Trader Joe's. Sorry about the glare.

 Here is the soup in the bowl with some crackers. I thoroughly enjoyed it. What I really should do is make my own. I haven't made soup but someone told me it is not very hard.

In a previous blog I also mention Swiss Miss hot cocoa, so I decided to add it to the things I add to try that taste wonderful. I love having marshmallows in my hot cocoa. My Mom often purchased it at the grocery store. 

I know the cup is a little messy. This hot cocoa is made with milk. You can make Swiss Miss with either water or milk. I choose milk over water all the time.


Enjoy the day, try new things and stay warm.

Cassandra

Have You Tried Trader Joe's Apple Smoked Uncured Bacon?

On a couple of cooking television shows I have heard the chef's talk about uncured apple smoked bacon. When I found it at my local Trader Joe's I couldn't resist trying it.

 I cooked myself some breakfast and decided to have a couple of slices.

 As you can see I cooked the bacon on the stove.

 I decided to fix myself an egg. I love the over easy. Have you seen this pan in the store before? It is really quite handy and easy to clean.

 Here is the finished product--and if you haven't tried that apple smoked uncured bacon, you really should.


Cassandra

Little Ironside

This is the pumpkin I bought for the holidays. The market called them little ironsides. It was perfect for Halloween and it is great for Thanksgiving.

Roasted Chicken, Greek Style

I made chicken last night for dinner. They are so easy to prepare. This particular chicken I bought at Trader Joe's. For which I was very surprised that their were no giblets inside.  Here is the chicken I prepared.

It was scrumptious and this particular recipe has very few ingredients. This recipe came from the book, "The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines."

 Here is the reicpe.

While I was at Trader Joe's I also picked up some cookies.

 My boyfriend is a big chocolate chip cookie fan, so I bought the Charmingly Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. 

 They made look big in this picture but really they are little cookies.  They are good, if you need to have cookies for the road and you don't have time to bake they. They are soft and chewy.

When in doubt there is always something new to make or new to buy and try. Enjoy your day.

Cassandra

Bellagio Chocolate Truffle Gourmet Hot Chocolate

This hot chocolate was given to me as a gift. Bellagio Chocolate Truffle Gourmet Hot Chocolate is made by Caffe D'Amore, Inc.  

 Here is my Hot Chocolate in my mug.

The directions call for you to add 2 or 3 teaspoons to 8-oz of boiling water.  It does have a chocolaty flavor but for me it is the same as if I were drinking Swiss Miss. A better hot chocolate may just be made better being mixed with milk rather than water. I find drinking a cup of hot milk with vanilla a comforting drink on a hot winter's night.

That is all until next write. Try new things tpday.

Cassandra

Trader Joe's Boeuf Bourguignon

I always love to try new things and due to my hospitalization I had some TV dinners for lunch (you do not have to tell me I am glutton for punishment when I say the words "TV Dinner"). So I dared to try Trader Joe's Boeuf Bourguignon.

 On the back of the package their are three different ways to heat it.  I choose to heat it up in the oven. You take the meal out of the package and put it in a covered pan and heat it at 350 F for 40 to 45 minutes. Just to let you know I have also tried the Coq au Vin.

Here is the meal in a bowl for which I opted to dump it all in on top of some leftover noodles I had. You can see the bowl overflowed some.The meal was okay but I would say the meal would better served if I made it from scratch.
On another note I am now working for the Ivoryton Playhouse. I take care of their blog.
The world is becoming more exciting in the poitical arena as we get closer and closer to Elections, but thank goodness we have Halloween to give us a thrill before then.
Live life to its fullest and have a great day.
Cassandra