Lamb Meatballs Take 2!

We had a LOT of lamb meatballs left over from Sunday so I decided to make some Gyros for a quick and easy dinner. (I also had more mint to use up so it was perfect!) All I did was toast up some pita bread and stuffed 4 meatballs inside each. Then I made a very simple yogurt sauce using Greek yogurt, S&P, lemon juice and mint. I'm not sure how authentic these were but they were yummy!

I Have WAY Too Much Dill!

It seems like every time I turn around, my dill has shot up an inch! I really hate to waste my fresh herbs so I went online to see what I could make with them. I found this Cheddar Dill Biscuits recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Baking Bites, and decided to give them a try. They were super easy and quick to make and I love the fact that I only ended up with 4 biscuits instead of a dozen! I also used my mini food processor instead of dirtying up my big one. These biscuits tasted very similar to the Cheddar Dill Scones I made before but a lot softer. You don't really NEED to butter them but you really should! They taste AMAZING with a good smear of Land O Lakes!

When Life Gives You Mint...

...You make Minty Lamb Meatballs! (Ok ok so when your AeroGarden gives you mint!) I noticed this morning that my mint was getting pretty high so I decided to make this Minty Lamb Meatballs recipe I found a while ago. I always have some stuffing mix in my pantry so all I had to do was pick up some ground lamb. I realized only AFTER I got home from the store that I had only picked up 1 lb of meat and this recipe asked for 2. SO, being the creative chef that I am, I substituted a couple of Johnsonville Italian Sausage Links instead. You know what? The flavor was PERFECT with the lamb, especially simmered in this tomato-flavored sauce. I served the meatballs over some Israeli Couscous from Trader Joe's and it was the PERFECT Sunday night dinner! We also have a LOT of meatballs left over, which I'm totally happy about! Hum, maybe I'll freeze some for a rainy day... :)

Back from Another FUN Turkey Day!

I can't believe another Thanksgiving has come and gone but we had a great time (as usual)! We arrived Wednesday afternoon (no delays on Southwest...SHOCKING!) and stayed until Saturday night. Greg and I were in charge of dinner Wednesday night and we decided to make Chilean Seabass with Hollandaise Sauce (blender style!). It was a total hit with the parents! His dad even said that the meal was "restaurant quality"! And of course, we had my Jalapeño Corn Muffins on the side. (Yes I brought them onto the plane!)

Turkey Day preparation started early the next morning with 2 turkeys, 1 in the oven and another on the rotisserie! (Yes, there are 6 of us and we absolutely NEED 2 turkeys!) We also had all the usual goodies on the side like mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing (2 kinds as well, 1 regular and 1 cornbread), cranberry sauce (also 2, 1 jelly and 1 more saucy) and roasted veggies. AND to top it all off? 2 pumpkin pies, of course! Needless to say, everyone was happy and stuffed afterwards. The next couple of days included a LOT of turkey sandwich-making and of course Black Friday SHOPPING! I confess that I bought WAY more stuff for myself than presents but hey, I got good deals! I've got a whole month left to find gifts. :)

We also had 2 birthdays to celebrate since Kanika's was last week and Greg's is next week. His mom baked 2 really cute cakes for them! A Red Velvet for Kanika and Carrot Cake for Greg (his favorite)! How thoughtful is that, right?

We had such a good time and I was sad to leave. BUT we're getting together again for Christmas and they'll finally get to meet my mom! I'm REALLY excited!

Since I Can't Physically be There, I Guess I'll be There in Spirit

Even though my mom says she doesn't mind that I'm not there for Thanksgiving, I always feel incredibly guilty about leaving her alone. So I always try to do something special for her to let her know that I care and that I'm there in spirit! This year, I thought I'd recreate one of her favorite restaurant dishes, which is Shrimp and Angel Hair in a Tomato Sauce. (Seriously, she'll order it EVERY time if it's on the menu!) I found this recipe from Taste of Home and thought it would be PERFECT! I halved the ingredients to make 2 good-sized portions so that my mom could have it for lunch on Thanksgiving (she's going to a group dinner at her complex) and dinner another night. I also added some sautéed mushrooms and LOTS of fresh basil for color and brightness. I love you mom!

Yes, I Watch Cooking Shows During My Workouts

A lotta people can't grasp the concept of watching cooking shows while working out, but I find that it's the perfect thing to watch. You don't need to really listen so you can have your Ipod on. AND it totally motivates you to work out harder so you can EAT the yummy food you're seeing! During my lunch workouts, I usually watch Lidia's Italy on PBS. It's not my favorite cooking show, but it's on at the right time and Lidia does grow on you after a while. She's like the perfect Italian mother who's just so HAPPY making big pots of pasta and stews! She also travels around Italy and since I won't be going there anytime soon, I feel like I'm getting "cultured" in some way. I'll admit that I probably won't make most of Lidia's recipes cuz she does everything the traditional Italian way, meaning pasta dough from SCRATCH! BUT sometimes she dows inspire me to go out of my comfort zone. One particular episode that caught my eye invovled Crêpes. Lidia's version was a bit complicated, but I thought I'd do some research and see what I could find. WOW, there was a LOT of info on Crêpes out there! Apprently, there were French versions, American versions, sweet or savory, rolled up like a burrito or stuffed and baked in the oven. I even watched a few videos on YouTube! After MUCH research, I finally settled on this simple recipe that uses a blender for easy mixing. The key is to let the batter sit for at least an hour before cooking the Crêpes. I also found that you really have to let your pan heat up before brushing it (VERY well) with melted butter and adding the batter or else it will tend to stick, making them not so pretty. (It's kinda like making pancakes, where the first one is never as nice as the rest of them!) I decided to make mine savory by stuffing them with a ham, Ricotta and mushroom mixture. Overall, I would say that Crêpes are pretty easy to make as long as you have the patience and time for them. They're definitely gonna make it on my brunch menu again soon!

Left-over Cranberries Make Another Appearance

I found a recipe for Cranberry Tea Loaf that I've been wanting to make, but somehow I clicked on the bookmarked link and it no longer exists! I was totally bummed but thought I could probably recreate it with some research. I'm not sure how close I got to the actual recipe but the bread turned out yummy and that's all that matters!

Ingredients:


1-1/4 c water
1/4 c cranberry juice cocktail
4 green tea bags
2 c whole wheat flour
1 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/4 c granulated sugar
1/4 c butter or margarine, softened
2 large eggs
1 c chopped fresh cranberries
1 c chopped walnuts


Prep:


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan; set aside.


2. In a small saucepan, bring water and cranberry juice to a boil. Remove from heat and add tea bags; cover and brew 5 minutes. Remove tea bags and squeeze; cool.


3. In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.


4. In a stand mixer (or large bowl with hand-mixer), beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in cooled tea mixture.


5. Gradually beat in flour mixture just until blended. Stir in cranberries and walnuts. Turn into prepared pan.


6. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.