A Tale Of Two Dinners- Italian Meatballs & Meatloaf

You will get two good dinners from this one ground

 beef mixture. One for now and 

one for the freezer..... you choose.

Meatballs & Meatloaf

2 lbs. ground chuck
1 small Italian sausage, about 3 oz.
Place the beef in a large mixing bowl. Remove the sausage casing and add to the  bowl.

1/2 onion, cut up
1 stalk celery, cut up
1 small carrot, cut up
1 garlic clove
1/4 C parsley
2 slices white bread, torn up
In a food processor, add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic and parsley.

Chop until small.

 Then add the torn bread pieces. 

Pulse a few times to blend in.

Add to the bowl with the meat.

1/4 C ketchup
1 C bread crumbs
1/2 C Parmesan/Romano cheese
1/2 C milk
1/2 t salt
1 egg
Add these ingredients to the bowl. Using your hands, mix until well combined.

Divide the mixture in half.

 For the meatballs, roll into 12 smooth round balls.

For the meatloaf, shape into a loaf to fit a 9x5 loaf

 pan. Wrap well and freeze.

Date with a label.

Good idea to also tape on the cooking instructions. 

To cook the meatballs: Heat a large frying pan
 until hot. Add 2 T olive oil and heat 30 seconds. 

Add the prepared meatballs and brown.  

Gently turn the meatballs, using two spoons
 until browned on all sides. 

Stir in sauce and let simmer 25-30 minutes.

You can use your favorite spaghetti sauce or 

make my sauce by adding:

 2 cloves minced garlic stirred into the pan.

then add:

1- 28oz can chopped or crushed tomatoes

1 t Italian herbs

1 t sugar

1/2 t salt

1/4 t red pepper flakes.

Tonights dinner.

Another homemade dinner waiting for you 

in the freezer for when you have no time

to cook. You'll like that! 

To cook the meatloaf: 

Place the thawed meatloaf in a 9x5 loaf pan, cover 

the top with 1/4 C ketchup and bake @350 for 1 hour.

Enjoy!

Links: Designs By Golllum,
My 1929 Charmer

My Favorite Waffles

Make these waffles in any type of waffle maker. 

Thick Belgian-style or thinner shaped waffles, like

my heart shaped waffle maker...they are all good. 

Serve with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar

 or warmed maple syrup....or both.

 Mix up the batter and let rest.
(Warm the milk in the microwave for 1 min.
It helps to keep the  butter from congealing.? 

 Spray and preheat a waffle iron.

Pour 1/3 C batter into the center. 

(or use the amount recommended by your iron)

Close and bake until golden.

Keep waffles warm in the oven, along with your 

plates while you bake the rest.

One of the things I love about waffles is that 

unlike pancakes they freeze beautifully.

I always make the full recipe.

Then I can just pop them from the freezer

right into the toaster oven to reheat.  

My Favorite Waffles

2 C flour

2 T sugar

1 T baking powder

1/4 t salt

Whisk together in a large bowl. 

~~~~~~~~~~

2 egg yolks

1-3/4 C milk, warmed

6 T butter, melted

Whisk together in another bowl, 

then combine with the flour mixture.

~~~~~~~~~

2 beaten egg whites

Fold into the combined batter. 

Let stand up to 30 minutes.

Pour 1/3 C batter in the center of sprayed and 

preheated waffle iron. Close lid and bake until

 golden, about 2-3 minutes.

Remove and keep warm on a plate in the oven, 

along with your plates while you make the

 rest. Freeze any leftover waffles and use 

a toaster oven to reheat again.

(tip: If you are in a hurry and do not want

to separate the eggs, you can just beat 

the whole eggs until frothy and proceed) 

Makes 10 waffles.

~~~~~~~~~

Tips:

 1. Use warmed milk to keep the butter 

    emulsified in the batter.

2. Never stack the waffles. 

    The steam will make hem soggy.

3. Freeze in a single layer until solid, 

     then stack in a reused bread bag. 

4. Pop in the toaster straight from the

    freezer to reheat. 

Enjoy!

My other waffle recipes:

Oatmeal Cinnamon,

Apple Cider,  and Pumpkin.

Links: Facebook, Designs By Gollum

Quick Tomato Soup

You can have quick homemade tomato soup 

for lunch in 15 minutes.

 This recipe uses a 28-oz. can of crushed tomatoes.

 Serve topped with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Make yourself a grilled cheese sandwich and enjoy!

Quick Tomato Soup

1 T olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1-28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 C chicken broth

1 T lemon juice

1/2 t salt

1/2 t sugar

1/4 t pepper

2 T chopped fresh basil 

       or parsley

2 T butter

(optional 1/2 C cream for creamy tomato soup)

shredded Parmesan cheese for topping

Heat oil in medium saucepan and stir in the garlic. 

Heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the remaining 6 ingredients.
Simmer for 10 minutes. 

Stir in the butter and basil until melted. 

Add the optional cream if you want a creamy soup. 

Heat thoroughly. 

Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

Links: Designs By Gollum,
Between Naps On The Porch,
Facebook, 

Cranberry Orange Muffins

This is a nice winter muffin. 

Good during Christmas thru Valentine's Day.

I had a bag of cranberries in the freezer.

 You'll need 1 cup. Cut them in half.

 Ingredients.

 I use a  microplane to get 1 T of orange zest. 

Use your 20% off coupon at BBB and get one. 

They are great. 

 Dry ingredients in one  bowl, wet in another.

 Combine the two but don't over mix.

Stir in the cranberries.

 I'm using heart shaped silicone cupcake molds.

Use your 40% coupon for these at the crafts store.

 Spray with Pam before filling. 

 Not too full (see the line) or they will lose their 

heart shape after baking. I sprinkled some of the

tops with cinnamon sugar. The pink ones.

After baking, let cool 5 minutes. 

They pop right out of the silicone hearts.

 Wash the cups in soapy water or the dishwasher

 and use over and over.

I piled mine into a milk glass bowl as

part of my Valentine kitchen decor.

Then I will stack them and store 

in a glass container.

 The heart shapes were small so I had batter left 

to make two jumbo muffins in glass custard cups.

Store some in the freezer.

But be sure to have one still warm from the oven!

Cranberry Orange Muffins

2-1/2 C flour

1 C sugar

2 t baking soda

Combine in a medium bowl

___________

1/2 C butter (1 stick), melted

2 eggs

3/4 C orange juice

1 T grated orange zest

Whisk together.

Stir into dry ingredients and mix just until

combined. Do not over mix.

Stir in:

1 C cranberries, cut in half

Spoon batter into paper-lined muffin tins

Sprinkle the tops of some with:

cinnamon sugar

Bake @350 for 20-25 minutes.

Makes 12-15 muffins

Enjoy!

Go-To Steak Marinade

When I haven't had time to find the new recipe for

marinade that I wanted to try I  rely on this one.

It's a quick and easy marinade that doesn't require

 a lot of complicated measuring.
(I'm using a Tupperware bacon keeper here)

Go-To Steak Marinade

It's just equal parts:

 olive oil, 

balsamic vinegar, 

soy sauce, 

 Worcestershire sauce.

About 1 T each is enough. 

Sometimes I add a squirt of 

Dijon mustard 

and a little garlic powder.

Mix the ingredients and pour over the steak
in a food bag or covered container .

 Seal the container and marinade in the fridge

 for 2 to 24 hours.

This works well on less expensive cuts, like this sirloin.

Before grilling I season it with a little 

pepper, garlic salt or steak seasoning.
Use your favorite here.

Easy-Peasy!

Enjoy!