Italian Meatballs

We kind of got tired of the same old spaghetti and meat sauce but didn't really want to sacrifice cost. So the new twist was meatballs, but we've never been really satisfied with the frozen ones we usually get from Costco. Instead we tried the homemade stuff which was much better. The only sacrifice here is it takes just a little longer to cook. The recipe we used was for Mama Iuliucci's Famous Meat-a-balls.

Let me know if you have/find a good recipe for Italian meatballs. We're always up for trying something different. For now, we might stick with this recipe and may try it with the Italian Spaghetti Sauce recipe Grandma Googie gave us.

Note: I didn't feel like frying anything and since it was soooooo cold, we baked them on a broiling rack (so the fat could drip away) at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

French Toast Souffle

This is pretty easy to make and it's one you can make ahead of time. Thanks Emily!

French Toast Souffle

Easy Chicken Chili

This is another one of those meals we make with Rotisserie Chicken that is super tasty. It's a pretty quick meal and low fat, too! I got it from my Betty Crocker: Simple Winter Meals Magazine.

Ingredients
1 T olive oil or veggie oil
1 medium onion, chopped (~1/2 c)
1/2 c chopped red bell pepper
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
1 c water
2 c diced rotisserie chicken
2 cans (15.5 oz each) great northern beans, drained, rinsed
1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles, undrained
1/2 t dried oregano
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 c sour cream, if desired
Chopped fresh cilantro, if desired

In 4 qt. saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender.

Stir in soup, broth and water. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, sirring frequently, until smooth and well blended. Stir in chicken, beans, chiles, oregano and cumin. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium-low. Cook uncovered 10 to 15 minutes, sirring occasionally, until thoroughly heated.

Top each serving with sour cream and cilantro.

Notes:
-You could cook your own chicken, but why bother?
-You can substitute the fresh bell pepper and onion with 1 c frozen bell pepper and onion stir-fry. I like this idea b/c bell peppers are cheaper frozen and in this soup you don't notice the difference.
-I've made this soup without certain ingredients (i.e. rotisserie chicken, only one can of beans) and it still comes out fine. In fact, we (Alex and I) agree it's way better with one less can of beans and maybe just one cup of rotisserie chicken.

Pavo Panini

Lagarto’s is one of my favorite restaurants. Their panini’s are THE best. Sadly, I hear they are closing in the near future because the rent is too high. This is surprising to me because every time I’ve been there it’s been busy. Hopefully they won't completely close and will find another location. Anyway, one of my favorite paninis there is called the Pavo. I’ve made it at home and it's pretty close.

If you don’t have a panini grill, you can just to what I do, use two heavy skillets. One skillet not heavy enough? Stack the second one with a couple cans of tuna :)

Pavo Panini

Pesto Sauce (Preferrably home-made – I made a sauce using almonds instead of pine nuts because I had them already on-hand and they’re cheaper)
Cranberry Sauce (I used canned and jellied sauce)
Oven roasted turkey breast
Brie cheese, sliced
Focaccia bread, halved

Heat the grill or skillet medium-low to medium.

Generously spread some pesto sauce on one half of the bread. Generously spread some cranberry sauce on the other half of the bread. Layer a few slices of turkey breast and the cheese between the bread slices.

Place the sandwich on the grill and press. Heat until bread is toasted and cheese is melted.

If using two skillets, place the sandwich on the heated skillet and top the sandwich with the other skillet. If the sandwich doesn’t get pressed down, weigh down the second skillet with a couple of cans (tuna works well – they have a low center of gravity :)). Flip the sandwich over to toast both sides.

Sometimes, if I can't grill my sandwich fresh, I'll just eat it un-heated, which is also yummie.

Enjoy!!!

New Recipes

In the last couple of days I've been showered with tons or recipes. I can't wait to try some of them. Thanks everyone!!!

Grilled Veggie Sandwiches

Ok....these are our new favorite sandwiches...no lie!

Grilled Veggie Sandwiches

And to make Alex a little happier, next time we have these I'm going to add some oven roasted turkey breast with it. I'm sure he's not alone when he's not fully satisfied with just veggies in his sammy.

Enjoy!

One More Quick One

Since coming back from our vaca, it seems we've been too busy to make a yummie, healthy meal. So our menu has been an array of meals from our Cheap and Quick Meals list. And as I was going through the list, I forgot one:

Classic Tuna Melts (canned tuna, mayo, a little bit of cajun seasoning (preferrably Tony's), cheddar cheese on grilled sandwich bread...yum!).