Category: Beef

Bacon Meatloaf

I haven’t used my beloved blender in weeks. I think I’m starting to go through withdrawals. I was seriously using it every single morning before work. After I returned from Kansas City, I didn’t make it to the store fridge like I normally do, so I didn’t have any milk or spinach or whatever I usually throw in my smoothies in the morning. So what did I do? I made oatmeal. WHO AM I? Honest to goodness oatmeal.

 

Of course I’ve made it everyday since then. That’s just how I roll. I don’t like having to think about things in the morning. Consistency is my friend. Rolled oats, chia seeds, cinnamon, fresh grated ginger, a couple drops of stevia, and a sprinkling of cacao nibs. It tastes delicious, but of course I’m hungry two hours later. I hate that about rolled oats. So good, but so not filling for my seemingly bottomless appetite.

I threw a new meatloaf recipe at my appetite recently. I was really craving meatloaf, and more specifically, gravy. I prefer to have them together. It’s like my peas and carrots. Peanut butter and jelly. This was the most ingredient intensive meatloaf I’ve ever made. Two unusually ingredients popped out at me, so I knew I needed to make it — bacon and prunes. Color me intrigued. I ended up using in raisins because that’s what I had [LAZY], but they’re virtually the same thing. It definitely added a little extra moisture, and a hint of sweetness. You don’t really notice it.

This was super good. I like all the vegetables. I love the mixture of meats. I really just need to remember to grind my rolled oats into something a little more fine. It doesn’t taste funny or affect the texture, but it just doesn’t look as nice.

Leftovers for lunch the next day? You bet.

Inspiration: Epicurious

Ingredients

  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 medium onion, chopped into quarters
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 medium celery rib, chopped in 4-5 pieces
  • 1 medium carrot, chopped in to 4-5 pieces
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 pound of bacon, chopped
  • 1/2 cup pitted prunes (chopped) or raisins
  • 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
  • 1/2 pound ground pork
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup parsley, finely chopped

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350° and have a 9″x13″ pan handy. Pour the milk into a large bowl with the rolled oats. In the bowl of a food processor, add the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery. Pulse until finely chopped and combined. Heat the butter on medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the onion mixture. Cook, and occasionally stir, for five minutes before covering. Lower the heat and let it cook for another five minutes until the carrot is soft. Remove the pan from the heat and add the Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, nutmeg, two teaspoons of salt and pepper.

Add the raisins and bacon to the food processor. Pulse until mixed and finely chopped. In the large bowl with the rolled oats, combine the bacon mixture and the carrot mixture. Add the beef, pork, eggs, and parsley. Use your hands to combine everything evenly. Form a loaf in with the meat mixture in the 9×13″ pan. Bake the loaf for about 75 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meatloaf comes to 155°. Let it stand 10 minutes before slicing serving.

Salt Crusted Burgers with Mashed Peas

Hamburger steak is a total comfort food for me. I grew up on the stuff. We are were a very meat and potatoes family, so it wouldn’t be uncommon to have a hamburger steak or a meatloaf, fried potatoes, gravy, and a vegetable of some kind [canned green beans anyone?]. I still kind of get a little weak in the knees for some of that stuff. It doesn’t count as comfort food unless you drown your whole plate in gravy by the way. It’s kind of like my whipped cream to pumpkin pie ratio, but that’s a whole other story…

Phone conversations with my family generally revolve around “what are you having for dinner?” What can I say, we like to eat [or I always call on the way home from work]? They’re meal planners for the most part, or at least have some idea based on what they have in the fridge/pantry. I’m the complete opposite, running across the street most days because I don’t have anything except maybe some eggs. Or chocolate chips.

So when my mom said they were having hamburger steak the other day, it dawned on me that I hadn’t had one since…yeah, I don’t want to think about it. I don’t exactly eat a lot of beef these days, and there really isn’t a reason for it. So I took myself to the backup fridge [not only do I have the New Seasons across the street, I have a Fred Meyer four-ish blocks the other direction] to pick up a few things.

Jules at Stonesoup was the inspiration for the rest of the dish. I was the only one eating, so I didn’t need to make a whole mess of potatoes [not that it has stopped me before]. I have a love affair with frozen peas, gladly popping them into my mouth straight from the freezer. How could mashed ones fail me? They didn’t. Caramelized onions with a splash of balsamic for good measure. Why don’t I use more balsamic? I think this every time I open the bottle.

Inspiration: Stonesoup

Ingredients

  • 1lb ground beef
  • 8oz frozen peas
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 sweet onion, small chop
  • olive oil
  • balsamic vinegar
  • Lemon juice to taste
  • salt
  • pepper
  • red chile flakes, optional

Preparation

If you want the caramelize the onions, it’s going to take a bit. You heat the 2-3 tablespoons olive oil on medium heat. Add the onions, and cover, stirring every 5 minutes or so. It’ll take a good 25-30 minutes to get them to start browning and caramelizing. A watched pot never boils and all that. Right before you pull them off, toss in a tablespoon or two of balsamic and stir. Delicious.

Remove the onions from the pan and add a fine layer of salt all over it. Turn the heat up to high. Form the beef into patties while it heats. Sprinkle both sides with fresh cracked pepper. Add the patties to the salted pan, and let them sizzle for 4-5 minutes before flipping. The salt is going to create a juicy, seared exterior full of all kinds of flavor. After flip, let them cook another 4-5 minutes depending on how rare you like your beef.

After the final flip, add the frozen peas to a pot on medium heat. Stir occasionally while they heat. Once all of the frozenness goes away, add the butter. Stir again while the butter melts, coating every pea. With a fork, potato masher, immersion blender, or small food processor, mash the buttery peas with a splash of lemon juice to taste. It really brightens up the flavor.

Serve the burgers on the peas topped with onions.

Joe’s Special

>insert shock and awe at how quickly Thanksgiving is approaching<

Turkey Day is one of my favorite holidays, purely because it’s food focused [although we just bought an Xbox 360...I don't know if we'll be able to tear ourselves away], so needless to say, I’m pretty excited. I’m on dinner roll and cranberry sauce duty again this year. I may or may not bring a salad, an appetizer or a dessert. I really can’t decide. I can’t bring all three. Well, I could, but it would really be rather wasteful. I think we’ll have 12 people or so at my grandma’s. Hardly reason to break out seven tons of food. I can only eat leftovers for so long.

What are you making this year?

I haven’t been in the mood to make a whole lot in terms of dinner lately. My stomach has been a little off for one reason or another the past few days. It leads me to want something quick and easy, like take out, or breakfast. Breakfast for dinner will always hold a soft spot in my heart. It definitely ranks high on the list of quick meals.

Inspiration: Saveur

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 5 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 8oz ground beef
  • 10oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  • 8 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
  • salt and pepper
  • chopped parsley
  • crusty french bread rolls

Preparation

Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat, add the garlic and onion, stirring occasionally until soft and fragrant. When the onions start to turn translucent, add the ground beef. Break it up with your spoon as you stir it all together. Allow it to brown in the midst of the onion and garlic.

Give it enough time to cook off all the liquid. If you really want to rush it along, you can drain it depending on how fatty your beef is. Add the spinach, incorporating it into the beef mixture. When warm, approximately 2-3 minutes, add the eggs. Thoroughly mix it in, allowing it to scramble. Keep cooking it, stirring often, until the eggs dry out and it’s not soupy. This will take several minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Toast your bread under a broiler until crispy. Top the egg mixture with chopped parsley when serving. Eat as a sandwich, if desired. I did.

Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash

Things of note lately—

  • Pretzel buns make a mediocre sandwich borderline awesome
  • A huge breakfast burrito and an egg salad sandwich are wise choices if you plan on drinking for Hurricane Relief
  • Breakfast Jack’s help with any potential hangover…not that I had one
  • A meatball and vegetable calzone makes the time change less painful
  • The my favorite local bar was serving the following election night drink specials—the Hopey Changy, and the Mitt’s Private Sector. Hilarious.
  • A pie float—a pot pie floating in a sea of split pea soup—might be my new favorite food

In lieu of talking about the obnoxious time change or the election, let’s talk about spaghetti squash.

I fell in love with spaghetti squash a long time ago, but I really don’t make it all that often. The last few times I’ve made it [here and here], I went the quick microwaveable route. This time, not so much. I had plenty of time to actually roast it in the oven while I made meatballs and sauce. Roasting definitely makes it better. It definitely makes it take way longer, but that’s okay. I’ll still use the microwave if I need to speed things up, but I implore you to use your ovens at least once when roasting a spaghetti squash if you haven’t yet. It’ll change your world.

Did you know I can eat a whole spaghetti squash by myself? No shame. If you add a delicious kalamata tomato sauce and a bunch of meatballs, though, I have a little bit more of a challenge in eating said entire squash.

Have you ever had cold spaghetti squash and meatballs for breakfast? I have, and I loved all 30 seconds every minute of it. You probably need to like cold pizza for breakfast [my favorite!] before you try that one. I hear some people have issues with that.

Can someone please tell me where I can find ground veal in Portland? Every meatball recipe on the planet likes to call for it, but I can never ever find it in my area.

What kind of non-traditional breakfast foods do you like to eat?

Inspiration: Roost

Ingredients

  • 1 3lb spaghetti squash
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 2 small garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 tablespoon dried fennel seeds, chopped
  • 1/2lb ground beef
  • 1/2lb ground pork
  • 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • salt
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley
  • 1 egg
  • 1 14oz can fire roasted tomatoes, drained
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 425° and line a baking sheet with a Silpat or aluminum foil. Or don’t, and have fun cleaning. Using a sharp knife, and extreme care, cut the spaghetti squash in half. Place the pieces cut side down on the baking sheet. When the oven is preheated, place the squash in for about 30 minutes. Remove when done and allow to cool.

Heat 1/2 of the butter in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Saute the onions for a couple minutes until soft. Add the garlic and fennel, and cook for only another minute or two more. Bring on that delicious smell! Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix the two ground meats, the cooled onion mixture, the egg, Parmesan, a pinch of salt, and parsley. Mix loosely so you don’t end up with dense meatballs. Roll them into nine evenly shaped balls, about the size of ping-pong balls. Heat the remaining butter in your skillet on medium high-heat. Place the meatballs in the pan, in batches if you have to, to brown them on all sides. Really let them sear or you’re going to break them apart while you try to rotate them. Remove them to a paper towel lined plate when you’re done.

In the same pan, add the tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and olives. Stir to incorporate. Add the meatballs. Bring to a boil before simmering, covered, for about 30 minutes or until the spaghetti squash is cooled enough to shred and handle. Remember to taste your sauce periodically for seasoning.

To serve, place spaghetti squash on a plate, top with as much sauce and meatballs as you so choose. Drown in a healthy pile of Parmesan.

Beef Stroganoff

I surprised my dad with a cooking class for his birthday. He had no idea what we were doing until maybe 20 minutes before we were there. He’s one of those guys that pretty much has everything he ever wants, and if he doesn’t, he buys it. So presents are always a little challenging, mostly because I strive to be the most awesome gift-giver ever. Can that be a hobby? It feels like one.

I also gave him You’re Only Old Once by Dr. Seuss, and a Heath Bar. The cooking class was the star of the show, though. I chose the Holy Mole! class at Hipcooks. Partly because he loves Mexican food. Partly because it was taught by the lady who taught the Cajun class I took for my birthday. Partly because it was the day after his birthday. That’s fate, people.

We made a whole bunch of good stuff–albondigas [meatballs] soup, chile rellenos with red salsa, coconut crusted chicken and red mole, ensalada de nopales [cactus], and a chile flan. Oh, and one of the most intense margaritas of my life. It was such a good time. The teacher and the group that signs up with you can make or break the class, but having my dad around made it all worthwhile. Everyone even sang him happy birthday in the end. So fun.

I’ll probably make the chile rellenos and soup again. It was all good, but those two things stole the show for me. They made the rellenos very non-traditional, baking them instead of breading and frying them. The soup was simple, but delicious, Rich, but not too hearty.

The beef stroganoff I made was also in the rich but not too hearty category. Putting it on mashed potatoes helped. I didn’t want a load of pasta for some reason. Sure, it’s easy to just buy a box of Hamburger Helper and cheat, but this tastes nothing like it. It tastes way better, is made with fresh ingredients, and doesn’t take a long time. That helps. Sometimes I don’t want to slave away on the stove. Sometimes I do, but that’s a different story entirely.

It’s perfect for a cold winter fall day. Or sharing with your dad on his birthday. Probably both.

Inspiration: Epicurious

Ingredients

  • 1lb beef tenderloin, approximately 1/2″ thick
  • 1 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2lb sliced button mushrooms
  • 3/4 cup beef broth
  • 2 tablespoons ruby port
  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon German mustard
  • 1/2 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
  • salt and pepper

Preparation

In a large pan with high sides to contain the sauce, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Slice the beef into 1/4″ slices and then further into 1″ pieces. Toss them in salt and pepper before placing them in a thin layer on the hot oiled pan. Cook until just brown on all sides.

Remove the beef to a plate. Heat the butter in the same pan as the beef. Add the onion, sautéing them and breaking up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. After a couple of minutes, add the mushrooms. Stir to coat them in butter, cooking until all of the liquid evaporates. Add the broth and port, stirring to incorporate. Bring to a boil, allowing the liquid to reduce and thicken. Reduce heat and mix in the sour cream and mustard. Return the beef to the pan and stir until reheated. Stir in the dill. Taste to add any additional salt and pepper.

Serve over egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

Brats and Kraut and Mushrooms Oh-My!

Confession: sauerkraut and I haven’t been friends for very long. You certainly wouldn’t find a jar of it in my parents’ house growing up. Eating out as a kid, and in my early 20s, I’m pretty sure I hardly saw it on any menu at a restaurant I went to. On the off chance I actually ordered a hot dog somewhere, or was at a BBQ that had both a dog and some kraut, I would likely just cover it in only mustard and then eat relish by itself. I’m weird. I know.

I definitely didn’t know what a reuben tasted like until a few years ago (the tragedy!). The thought of the Russian/Thousand Island dressing always kept me away. I love them now, and so much so that I made Brown Eyed Baker’s Hot Reuben Dip last year.

Since I’m usually an equal opportunity eater [aka, I'll try anything once!], I’m pretty sure our friendship blossomed once I finally started coming in contact with it. You know, casual encounters. It most notably happens when I’m at East Side Deli eating one of their massive build-your-own-salads. I always draw lines through every veggie checkbox on the menu. I want them all. It usually results in a 5lb container of salad. Generous is probably an understatement, and I’m forever grateful. It never occurred to me not to select the kraut. I know they keep it there for the hot dogs, but c’mon, it’s perfectly acceptable on the salad.

Andrew and I also end up at Prost! quite a bit now. It’s the German bar in the neighborhood. They also have fabulous kraut on the menu. I hadn’t eaten much German food until their currywurst and Brotzeit Teller, a meat and cheese board. When Whole Foods posted up their one-pot oktoberfeast recipe, I put it on the list immediately. It has just about everything I love with an excuse to buy sour cream. I spent an obscene amount of time in the mustard section of the store. How did I not know there were 438,349,823 types of mustard? I want to try every single one. We have olive oil tasting shops now, can’t we have a mustard one [or condiments in general]? Maybe I’ll start one. How could this fail?

Ingredients

  • 12oz bratwurst, cut into 1″ chunks [I originally did bigger than that, and I regretted it]
  • 32oz sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
  • 1 1/4 cups broth of choice [I used beef]
  • 2 teaspoons dill
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 pound crimini mushrooms, quartered
  • 3 tablespoons sour cream
  • 3 tablespoons German mustard
  • 1 tablespoon butter

Preparation

In a large pot, heat the butter on medium high heat until melted. Add the bratwurst pieces, stirring occasionally until they’re browned on all sides. Add 1/4 cup of the broth, 1 teaspoon of dill, and the onion. Saute until the onions are starting to turn a caramel color.

Add the mushrooms, stirring occasionally for about 5-6 minutes until they start to turn colors and release their juices. Whisk together the remaining broth, sour cream, and mustard. Pour it into the pot and add the sauerkraut.

Bring the mixture to a boil before simmering until the broth is soaked up and everything is thick and juicy, approximately 10 minutes. Top with remaining dill seeds before serving.

Cheese Tortellini with Sausage and a Chunky Tomato Sauce

Has anyone ever bought anything from Madewell? I’m looking at some shoes, but have no idea as to their quality since they’re a baby J. Crew. Gone are the days where I buy poorly made, shoddy quality shoes. I’d rather walk barefoot.

I haven’t been cooking much lately. Between having people in town and general social responsibilities [it's rough being me, truly], it just hasn’t been in the cards. One minute we’re rushing off to happy hour. The next it’s catching up with a friend or watching the Timbers lose. I’m missing it something fierce even though I generally like eating out most of the times. First world problems, right?

I knocked out a quick curry the other night for the first time in ages, before August probably. I bought two huge containers of curry paste from Fubonn because it’s way more economical than the small tubs at the regular grocery store, and they’ve sat untouched and unopened every since. Poor containers. They only wanted to be loved. I tried out a new technique, instead of the usual ‘let it all stew together’ plan. I sauteed my vegetables in a healthy amount of oil, added the chicken, and then poured in my curry that I whisked together with the coconut milk in another pot. It came together much more takeout-like. I’ve been cheating and using half-gallons of So Delicious Coconut Milk instead of cans of the stuff and adding a cornstarch slurry. It’s still not as thick, but it’s definitely cheaper; one half-gallon instead of two cans of milk? Yes please.

This pasta dish came about from the jalapeno beer sausage from Gartners. I don’t really know what my thought process was that somehow connected jalapeno beer sausage to pasta, but it worked out. The flavors were subtle, otherwise, it probably would have been…odd. Any other sausage would do, too. Don’t discriminate. I made the sauce with fire roasted tomatoes and a bunch of vegetables. Okay, zucchini and carrots. It’s not exactly a bunch. I exaggerate. A lot. Sometimes. It’s more chunky than saucy, which is really what I was going for. Saucy sauce reminds me of gravy. Which reminds me of biscuits. Which reminds me of Pine State. And now I’ve digressed.

Ingredients

  • 1 package cheese tortellini, 10 ounces
  • 2 sausage links, sliced
  • 14.5oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
  • 2 small zucchini, small dice
  • 2 small carrots, sliced
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • chopped parsley
  • salt and fresh cracked pepper

Preparation

Bring a salted pot of water to a boil and cook your tortellini according to package instructions. Pull it a minute early so it can hang out in the sauce for a bit when the time comes. Retain 1/4 cup of the pasta water before you drain it.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan on medium heat. Add the garlic and shallow, stirring frequently so it doesn’t stick or burn. After a couple minutes, add the zucchini and carrots. Coat them in the oil mixture, stirring occasionally while they saute. When they start to soften after approximately five minutes, pour in the tomatoes including the juice. Add the balsamic vinegar, stirring to incorporate.

Bring to a simmer, and allow to cook for another five minutes. Taste it often. You’ll see if it needs more salt. I always wait since sometimes the tomatoes and can be salty depending on the can/brand. When it’s where you want it, add the pasta to the sauce. It’ll finish cooking in here for the last minute or two. Add the pasta water if you think it needs it to get the consistency you’d like.

Top with chopped parsley! Serve! Eat! Drink! Be merry!

Cheese Stuffed Meatballs

I have been craving pasta something fierce. We tried a new-ish Italian spot, Carpaccio Trattoria, this weekend. It’s a breath of fresh Italian air. Seriously, this stuff tastes just like a lot of the stuff I tasted in Italy. It helps that the head chef/owner is from Venice, spending a lot of time cooking up the delicious things I’ve come to know and love when it comes to cheese, tomatoes and bread. He’s heavy on the seafood and on the risotto. Swoon.

Is it wrong that I’m posting meatballs twice in less than two weeks? These are way more labor intensive than the last ones, less healthy, too. But they have cheese in them! That makes it totally worth it.

Sometimes I like to make things way more difficult than they need to be because I’m “following directions.” That kind of thing they teach you in grade school can backfire so easily.

The idea is simple, stuff a meatball full of shredded cheese and prosciutto, sear them on in some oil, braise them with some olives and peppers, and ladle that goodness all over some pasta. I hid a whole shredded carrot in the meatballs. I managed to mangle my pinky with the microplane. Carrots are slippery. True story. I doctored my finger up with a wad of paper towels and tape because I somehow ran out of bandaids and never noticed. Have you ever tried to roll meatballs with that kind of a bandage? It’s a challenge, and boy do I love a challenge.

Here’s where I made things way too difficult for myself, though. Shredding the cheese seemed really unnecessary when I was trying to wrap the meatballs around it. Maybe it was my pinky talking, but it really would have been easier if I cut little cubes of cheese. Oh the things we learn…

I also added a healthy dose of spinach to the olives and peppers. You wouldn’t expect anything less, right?

Next time, I’ll bring less meat and more cookies. Promise!

 

Inspiration: La Cucina Italiana

Ingredients

  • 4oz cheese, preferably something mild and melty like Gruyere, cut into 12 equal cubes
  • 2.25oz thick sliced prosciutto, cut into 12 equal pieces
  • 1/3 cup parsley, plus more for topping
  • 1.25lb ground beef
  • 1 carrot, shredded
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 large red bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, chopped
  • 1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed
  • pasta, quinoa, rice, bread for serving

Preparation

  1. In a bowl, mix together the shredded carrot, ground beef, 1/3 cup parsley, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
  2. Form the meat mixture into 12 equal balls. Feel free to eyeball it or break out your scale to measure them. I won’t tell which I did.
  3. Flatten each ball with your palm, and place a piece of cheese and prosciutto in the middle before reforming the ball around it.
  4. Place the meatballs into the fridge for 5ish minutes or until you’re ready to cook them.
  5. Heat the olive oil and butter into a large skillet on medium high heat.
  6. When the butter is melted, add the meatballs arranging them in the pan so they have room.
  7. Brown them on all sides, turning them after about 2-3 minutes.
  8. Add the pepper and olives to the pan, with another pinch of salt, and stir in with the meatballs.
  9. Cover with a lid for another 5-6 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through and the pepper is cooked through.
  10. Serve on your carb of choice, ladling that delicious sauce over as much of it as you can.

5-Ingredient Meatballs

Wednesday night I sent a text to a friend, “Tomorrow is Friday!!!” completely unaware that it was definitely not Friday the next day until I was gently reminded. That’s a true friend.

We biked to dinner, taking advantage of the long daylight hours and the much more reasonable temperatures (80°F/26°C). The burger place we wanted to eat at was closed [again] so we went down to Bar Bar. They have mediocre burgers, decent beers, and a nice patio. The need for a burger was desperate, so there we sat on the patio. Long story short, they managed to mess up our order. Again. We won’t be back. We biked to Voodoo Doughnut to soothe the frustration. Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with coconut because I certainly didn’t need an Old Dirty Bastard. They threw in a blueberry cake for free. Delicious.

The past two days I’ve had steamed sweet potato, kidney beans, and avocado covered in lime juice for lunch. While it was good, I’m definitely looking forward to Food Cart Friday with Andrew.

I spatchcocked my first chicken [more on that another day].

I’m joining the gym again. I’ve been going over the pro/con list for awhile now [thanks to those of you who had to endure my yammering about it], and it just makes sense. Costco makes it super cheap for me to hit up the 24 Hour Fitness a block away from my office. If I can spend $15 on a night out, I can spend $15 a month on the gym for some variety. Plus I’ll get 45-60 minutes more sleep. It’s starting to get darker in the mornings, which is a whole lot less motivation to go do burpees in the other room half asleep. I’ll have something to do at lunch again, that isn’t shopping, now that I don’t have homework to do. That doesn’t count evenings and weekends either. It’s safe to say working out is my hobby. Definitely going to try out this Level Up Workout. 

I made more meatballs. We haven’t had meatballs since February. What happened to me? Did I lose my talent? Will I ever be good again [five points if you know what movie that's from]? Having extra hot dog buns inspired this whole endeavor. That and Stonesoup’s easy five-ingredient recipe. I love the ones I made before, but they take way longer. This version about as easy as it can get without going to buy a sandwich. The only thing I regret is that I didn’t pulse the oats into a flour. I used whole ones. They were just fine, but it would have yielded a slightly better consistency with them pulsed. There is no frying involved. Mix your ingredients together. Put tomato on the base of the dish. Put the meatballs on top. Bake away. See? Easy.

Inspiration: Stonesoup

Ingredients

  • 1 onion, minced
  • 1/2lb ground beef
  • 1/2lb ground pork
  • 24oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 cup rolled oats, ground into flour
  • 2 tablespoons butter

Preparation

  1. Preheat your oven to 400°F and get out an 11×7″ baking dish.
  2. Pour some olive oil into a large pan and heat the pan to medium-high.
  3. Saute the onion until it’s soft and golden, 5-7 minutes.
  4. Pour the tomatoes into the bottom of the baking dish.
  5. In a bowl, mix the ground meats, onion, and rolled oats. I used my hands.
  6. Form into ping pong sized meat balls.
  7. Place the finished balls into the tomato sauce, evenly spaced.
  8. Top each ball with a chunk of butter.
  9. Bake for 30-45 minutes until the sauce is bubbly and the meatballs are golden brown on top.

Spiced Beef with Hummus

You know what happens when you don’t pay attention? You spill water on yourself at minimum of three times a day [I really could use a bib].

You can also gain an inch or two in various places when you don’t pay attention because you’ve been too busy vacationing and generally living a DGAF (don’t give a f**k) life in regards to what you’re eating. I haven’t stopped working out [except when I was in Italy, Cabo, and Vegas], but I have definitely been eating and drinking a lot in the last two months. It hasn’t been all bad foods, but it’s just a general increase in quantity. I’m giving my metabolism a high five for trying to keep up, but it didn’t stand a chance against this voracious stomach. Time to reel it in, but not in a crazy-diet-must-count-calories-workout-till-you-drop kind of way. I’ve been there, done that. Well, minus the diet part. I’ll never do that. But it’s definitely high time for a reality check. This isn’t sustainable, nor is it all that fun anymore if I’m honest. Ignorance is bliss, but you can’t ignore the tape measure. Time to return to my regularly scheduled life.

That said, this week’s smoothie—coconut milk, Greek yogurt [we'll see if I break out or not], frozen raspberries, flax seeds, chocolate chips. Decadent and awesome.

If you’re not paying attention, you can also mess up a fine batch of hummus. You see, three tablespoons of canning liquid does not equal all the canning liquid. As soon as I poured it in, I realized my mistake. I double checked what I was doing, and yep. Hosed. It didn’t change anything except for the consistency. It was definitely the runniest hummus I’d ever made/had, but it was still more than edible. It still tasted like hummus. I called it hummus sauce. Don’t make my same mistake. Unless you like hummus sauce, of course. Hummus is the base for this super simple spiced ground beef [you could totally use lentils]. It uses a few simple spices to yield a Lebanese-like flavor. I added spinach because you know me and greenery. The result was really good, and with real hummus? Probably 10x better. Just pay attention.

Inspiration: Stonesoup

Ingredients

  • 1 large onion, diced [or thrown in a food processor]
  • 1lb ground beef
  • 1/2 teaspoon coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 bunch fresh spinach
  • 1 batch of hummus [see below if you want to make it vs buy it]

Preparation

  1. Spray a pan with oil, and heat on medium.
  2. Add the onion to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes.
  3. Add the ground beef. Turn the heat up to high. Stir to break up and mix in with the onion.
  4. Once the meat is browned, stir in the spices [drain your beef if necessary, but I didn't need to]
  5. Reduce heat to medium low and stir in the fresh spinach.
  6. Stir occasionally until spinach is wilted.
  7. Serve with hummus and/or pita.

HUMMUS — You’ll need 1 can of garbanzo beans, 1-2 garlic cloves, and 3 tablespoons of the following–canning liquid, lemon juice, and tahini.Toss all ingredients in a food processor. Process until smooth. Taste and add seasoning as you see fit.