meatball – Fervent Foodie

Vino and carbo loading {the week in food}

January 28, 2013 2 Comments

If it weren’t for the random snapshots of food in my phone, I’d have no proof at all that a whole week slipped right through my fingers. Of course by food I mean large amounts of wine and assorted carbohydrates. And some chocolate, here or there*.

* here or there = everywhere

After last week’s flop (in which I was served a dish I didn’t order and left to eat it anyway), I was a little hesitant to plop down thirty big ones on another restaurant week dinner. But the girls at work convinced me to join them at Pisces for some Asian cuisine. There was a lot of sushi to choose from, but in an effort to meet my daily stress-induced carb quota, I opted for the shrimp and garlic noodles and some pork potstickers (that oddly reminded me of mini Mrs. T’s pierogies, and yes, that IS a good thing).

The $30 menu was a great deal, considering it came with a glass of wine and THIS chocolate cake…

My Favs, Recipes

Amaze(meat)balls.

January 20, 2012 11 Comments

I shamelessly consider myself a meatball connoisseur. If meatballs are on the menu, you can bet your last breadstick I’m gonna order one. Just one solitary meatball is all I need for my analysis. Texture, taste, accouterments. More often than not, I’m disappointed. I’m not a fan of mushy ones and I need them to be thoroughly seasoned, preferably bobbing along in a vat of marina sauce (though I’m flexible on that stipulation). Every once in a while, about 1 in 5 tries, I will sink my teeth into an amazing meatball and for that brief moment this crazy messed up world is right again.

I have been trying to create a delicious healthified meatball recipe for YEARS, and have been wholeheartedly devoted to the cause. I’ve tried dozens of impromptu turkey meatball concoctions, but they always left something to be desired. Too dry, too poultry-ee, not meatbally enough, etc. I kept crawling back to my favorite, albeit it no-so-healthy, meatball recipe: Meatball Nirvana on Allrecipes.com. I LOVE this recipe because it results in meatballs that are juicy, flavorful, and that have the coveted sink-your-teeth-in meaty texture.

My Favs, What I ate

Well that was…. odd…

September 1, 2011 14 Comments

Tonight I pose an age old question.

If it looks like spaghetti and meatballs…

and smells like spaghetti and meatballs….

and twirls on your fork like spaghetti and meatballs…

does it TASTE like spaghetti and meatballs???

Hmmmmm……..

Tonight’s dinner was courtesy of 3 factors:

1.) Poor planning and insufficient food purchasing during my weekly grocery shopping trip.

2.) Insufficient time and energy to make a second grocery shopping trip.

and

3.) 3 random ingredients I happened to have on hand each of which was purchased (no doubt) during a hunger induced trip to the grocery store where lots of little odds and ends somehow ended up in my cart despite not being on my list and have since been sitting collecting dust (or freezer burn, as the case may be) in my kitchen.

So what’s a hungry gal to do?

Make spaghetti meatballs of course! Err… well sort of anyway.

I’m guessing most of you probably consider diced tomatoes to be a fairly normal pantry staple. I on the other hand LOATHE them (unless they are sufficiently masked in a recipe). So tonight when I dumped the can of diced tomatoes into the pot I seasoned it LIBERALLY with anything Italian-ish in hopes of covering up their weird tinny taste.

Then I popped six Trader Joes meatless meatballs into the sauce and let it all simmer away.

Next it was on to the Shirataki noodles. I first saw these on the Hungry Girl show on Food Network and have been anxious to try them ever since. Tofu noodles?? 40 calories for the whole bag??? How could you not be intrigued?

The instructions said to rinse the noodles, drain, then microwave, and pat dry. Easy enough! I followed each step diligently, and as I went to pop them into the microwave I caught a whif of this funky nose curling scent. I paused eyes scanning the room as I tried to determine what on earth had gone awry in my kitchen, and then I realized it was the noodles I was preparing to ingest. They smelled. Like garbage. No… Like rotting fish that had been sitting out in the sun for a few hours.

Do to the stench, I decided it’d be best to give the noodles an extra super thorough rinse. Funny how I was still more than willing to eat the noodles… I mean.. 40 calorie noodles, people! You gotta be willing to give a little with the take!

After nuking them in microwave for a minute I dried the crap out of them (and most of the stench) with a few paper towels.

I combined these 3 random ingredients on my plate, and VOILA!! I had spaghetti and meatballs! Or more appropriately named Tofu Noodle Substitute and Meatless Meatballs! Has a nice ring to it, eh?

Bet you’re wondering if it was any good huh??

Well this is what my plate looked like at the end of dinner:

Guess that pretty much sums it up! Clearly, the highlight of this meal was the meatless meatballs. They got pretty soft once cooked (but managed to still hold together). I might try baking them in the oven next time to see if they firm up at all. Regardless, I’d definitely give two thumbs up on the meatless meatballs!

And the noodles were… ehhhh.. It’s not that they tasted “bad” per se, but they had this really ODD texture. Really rubbery. I guess it just felt wrong in my mouth. Like my belly was saying “please, please, please for the love of all that is edible do not ingest those things!”

So I didn’t cuz when my belly talks, I sure as hell listen.

And now I think a cupcake is in order Winking smile

Recipes

Turkey Time

December 8, 2010 6 Comments

I swear every time I make meatballs I forget to write down what I threw into them. Ohhhh, the elusive turkey meatball recipe… changes every time. Yet, always tastes delicious.

I bring you spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs and garlic mushroom marinara:

Easier than it looks, I promise!

(Check out this post for some tips on cooking up your spaghetti squash)

While my spaghetti squash was doing its thang in the oven, I got to work on the meatballs. Here’s what went into them:

Your guess is as good as mine. Winking smile

Alriiiiiiiiight, here’s approximately what went into the meatballs:

10 ounces 99% fat free ground turkey breast
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 egg
2 tbsp bread crumbs
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp dried oregano

This mix gave me 10 2-bite meatballs:

I sprinkled each meatball with a little olive oil (about 1 tbsp for all 10 meatballs). I cooked these in a 400 degree for 15 minutes, flipped them over and cooked for another 10.

Meanwhile, I sautéed 2 cloves minced garlic and a couple handfuls of sliced baby bella mushrooms in a sauce pan:

Then added 1.5 cups of Prego sauce to the pan along with some garlic powder, red pepper flakes, black pepper, and dried oregano. I popped a lid on the pan and let it simmer away on low heat until the meatballs and spaghetti squash were done cooking:

I promise you–this dish will totally satisfy your pasta cravings. Look how tasty:

As an added bonus, I was able to get 3 servings out of this batch. Hello tomorrow’s lunch and the day after tomorrow’s dinner!

Stats on 2 cups Spaghetti Squash with 3 Turkey Meatballs and 1/2 cup sauce: 320 calories, 37g carbs, 10g fat, 27g protein, 7g fiber. Molto bene!

Since the ground turkey comes in a 20 ounce package, I decided to use the remaining 10 ounces to make up some of my beloved Turkey Meat Muffins Open-mouthed smile

Only thing I did different this time was to omit the oil. I didn’t notice much of a difference, so I think I’ll stick with the oil-free version in the future.

I LOVE these guys for several reasons.

They are pre-portioned and super cute.
They satisfy my belly in a healthful way.
Leftover meatloaf sandwiches rock my socks off.
Saying “meat muffin” brings an unavoidable smile to my face 😀

Nom.

Recipes

Turkey Meatball Sub

August 5, 2010 3 Comments

The other day I made some jokes about how crazy people get about the meat sale in my hometown. But this really is no laughing matter. It’s a serious matter, well a matter of serious savings that is! Check out this post from my friend Allison–make that posts. One post was not enough for the meat sale 🙂

I was thinking about the meat sale last night when I pulled the frozen ground turkey out of the freezer to defrost. I had bought it at the LAST meat sale (was that back in tax season??), and conveniently froze up individual servings of the ground turkey for future use. I’m so dang smart sometimes 😉

I decided to make a meatball sub for dinner. I didn’t have a recipe in mind, I just sort of started adding things to a bowl. Here’s what I ended up with:

1/4 package of 99% lean ground turkey breast (about 5 ounces)
1 egg white
1/4 cup chopped white onion
S&P
1 sprig fresh oregano (shout-out to the backyard garden 🙂 )
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Sprinkling of marjoram
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp quick oats

Meatball mixins:

I mixed everything together, then used a small cookie dough scooper to scoop out 6 meatballs. I placed the meatballs on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray, and popped them into a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then I flipped the meatballs over and cooked for an additional 5 minutes.

Meat-a-ball-ay:

Next, I cranked the oven up to 415 degrees, and prepped some brussel sprouts for roasting. I swear I must have bought the never-ending basket of brussel sprouts last weekend. I feel like I’ve eaten them every night, yet haven’t made a dent in the basket! Check out this post for how I roast brussel sprouts.

While the brussel sprouts were cooking, I stacked up the turkey meatballs on a Joseph’s Low Carb pita, topped them with 1/4 cup Classico Fire Roasted Tomato & Garlic sauce, and sprinkled with S&P and Red Pepper Flakes.

Then I wrapped it all up in some foil, and tossed into the ovenfor the last 5 minutes or so of the brussel sprouts cooking time. Anytime I’m trying to make a healthified sub, I make sure to do this step. It gives all the flavors a chance to marry and the pita gets nice and warm and soft.

Brussel sprouts make a comeback:

Altogether now:

Delish! I love when I can make a healthier version of a food that’s typically on the do-not-eat list!

Stats on dinner: 369 calories, 36g carbs, 6g fat, 51g protein, 14g fiber