Italian Turkey Meatballs

(Please excuse the messy table, I have been super busy between Oasis Homes and Cleaning Wizards)

I decided to do meatball subs tonight and I never made meatballs before so here is my little recipe that I made up. I love Italian food so I figured I would do an Italian Meatball.

EVOO
1.3 lbs lean ground turkey
1 egg
1/2 cp Italian Bread Crumbs
1/4 cp grated parm cheese
1 tsp. each of S&P
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
2 cups of your favorite sauce (I use the mariana from below)

Drizzle a little EVOO in the bottom of a pan (just enough to coat) or spray with EVOO NonStick spray. Combine ingredients 2-6 in a bowl. Once combined, form balls and put into pan with EVOO. Let cook about 15 minutes (turning as needed). Add sauce, making sure to coat all meatballs. Cover and cook an additional 10 minutes or until meatballs are done.

Serve on top of spaghetti or on sub rolls. When serving on sub rolls, I add slices of provolone cheese.

The steamed broccoli is super easy. I literally only steam the broccoli for about 6 minutes. I love my fresh veggies when they are hot but still have a crunch to them. I just put a tad bit of butter with a little S&P to season.

Penne with Beef and Arugula

First, I LOVE this dish. It is from "Everyday Pasta" by Giada De Laurentiis.

Here is the recipe from page 182 (my changes next to it). I make this for two.

2 New York Strip Steaks about 8 oz each (I use one pack of Stir Fry Strips or one Top Sirlion)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1 garlic clove, minced (I have also used garlic powder)
3/4 cup plus 3 tbsp EVOO
1 lb penne pasta (I use 1/2 box of the organic penne from Winn Dixie)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (I only use one little dash of it)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (if you use dry, use less)
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (if you use dry, use less)
2 cups chopped arugula (I ended up planting this-cool weather plant-b/c I couldn't find it anywhere. You can use fresh spinach instead but the arugula makes this dish!)

(This is edited a bit, not directly from her book)
Season steak with S&P, herbs de Provence, and garlic. Heat 3 tbsp EVOO in pan. Cook steak for about 7 minutes per side. Turn off heat and leave in pan covered.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain.

In a small bowl, wisk EVOO, balsamic vinegar, parsley, basil, dijion mustard, 1/2 tsp S&P together.

If you use pre-cut strips of steak, add pasta and sauce to pan with chopped arugula. Toss together and serve. If a whole steak, cut steak in slices the put back into pan and mix all ingredients together.

According to her book, this is also a good party good served at room temp.

Forget to take a picture!

We made homemade pizza last night (and it was yummy) but I was starving and forget to take the picture (I can see this happening often). But I will post the recipe anyway.

Premade 5 Grain Pizza Crust (I got it from Organic Planet)
Homemade marinara Sauce (don't know how much, I have the thin rubbermaid container that fits a sandwich filled)
Lots of cheese (I mix the Italian Blend and Goat Cheese)
Turkey pep.

Thats it, simple and yummy. Only needed to bake for 10 minutes then I broiled on high for about 2 minutes.

Tonight, I am just doing grilled chicken sandwiches on wheat with fries so there won't be a picture (or recipe) of that either. I have the girls coming to sleep over tonight and Saturday night and I have alot to do tomorrow.

Marinara Sauce

I started this blog because I am always sending my newly tried recipes, those that come out good of course, to my mom. Anyway, I figured I could start this blog and if she (or anyone else) tries them, you can let me know what you think (by leaving a comment at the end of that recipe)! It will take a while to get going because I am going to include a picture with each recipe. And, in the past, it wasn't a habit of mine to take pictures at dinner LOL


I have plenty of recipes I would love to post but I am going to try and include a picture with each one. Some I have made up, some are from cookbooks (which I will let you know) and others are from cookbooks or other people and edited a bit.

Well, I am cooking chicken parmesan tonight and there is nothing special about chicken but I made my own marinara sauce. I use this sauce anytime I need a red sauce so mostly pasta or homemade pizza.

Marinara Sauce

½ cup EVOO

1 small onion, chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 celery stalks, chopped

½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

2 – 28 cans crushed tomatoes

2 dried bay leaves

4 leaves fresh basil

1 tbsp fresh curly parsley

¼ tsp fresh oregano

Heat EVOO in pot, add onion, garlic, celery. Let cook down about 10 minutes. Add rest of ingredients. Let cook at least 30 minutes. Freezes well.