Deconstructed Meatball Sub

It is to hot outside to bake meatballs and then make the sauce to simmer them in, and then construct the sub sandwiches. The next best thing is a deconstructed meatball sub, which is a meatball sub in a sloppy Joe format.

RECIPE: Deconstructed Meatball Sub
Makes 3 Servings

SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Knife
Cutting Board
Spatula
Cast iron pan
Oven set to broil
Baking sheet

INGREDIENTS: 
Ground Beef
Spring Onions
Basil
Garlic Cloves
Tomato Paste
Oregano
Mozzarella Cheese
Buns

DIRECTIONS:
1) Begin browning the beef in the cast iron pan.
2) While the beef cooks, chop up the garlic, onion, mozzarella, and basil.
3) Stir in onion and garlic.

4) Add tomato paste and make sure it’s thoroughly stirred.
5) Season with basil and oregano.
6) Lay the buns out on a baking sheet.
8) Scoop the meat mixture onto the bun, and then topped with mozzarella cheese.
9) Slide the tray under the broiler until the cheese melts and the top bun toasts.

This sandwich met my craving for meatball subs without making me sweat it out in the kitchen!

Strawberry Pavlova

The best part of pavlova is that it bakes at a relatively low temperature. That means on a summer day, when its storming outside, it is bearable to turn the oven to 300 degrees. The nice thing about pavlova is that is is light and fruity, and hits the spot perfectly when craving something sweet.

RECIPE: Strawberry Pavlova
Makes 8 Servings

SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Mixer
Bowl
Spatula
Measuring Cup
Baking Sheet
Cooling Rack
Silicon Liner
Cutting Board
Knife
Strawberry Corer
Oven heated to 300

INGREDIENTS: 
4 Egg Whites
1 1/4 Cup Sugar
Salt
1 teaspoon Almond Extract
2 teaspoon Cornstarch
Pint of Heavy Cream
Vanilla
Powdered Sugar
Quart of Strawberries

DIRECTIONS:
1) Split the four eggs, with the egg yolks in one bowl and the egg whites in another.
2) Begin beating the egg whites until soft caps.
3) Add a pinch of salt and while continuing to beat the egg whites slowly add the sugar just a teaspoon at a time.

4) Use a spatula to gently fold in the cornstarch.
5) On a silicon lined baking sheet, spread the meringue into a circle or disk.
6) Bake the pavlova for about 45 minutes to one hour. 
7) When the pavlova is dry on the outside and the edges beginning to crack, remove from the oven and let cool.
8) While it cools, add the pint of vanilla, two spoon fulls of powdered sugar, and a dash of vanilla to the mixer. Beat on high until whip cream is formed.
9) Core and slice each strawberry into fourths.
10) Place the pavlova on a plate, spread on the whip cream leaving a bit of the edge cleared, sort of like sauce on a pizza.
11) Layer the strawberries across the entire pavlova.
12) Chill until its time to serve!

Peaches and Cream Pie

Peaches and Cream Pie was an off the cuff experiment. In fact, I had no idea if it would turn out at all. I was surprised with how tasty this concoction ended up being! The only bad thing is that I can’t give exact measurements since I ‘winged’ it so much. There are plenty of pictures to help you make the recipe as well!

RECIPE: Peaches and Cream Pie
Makes 1 Pie

SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Oven set to 375
Pie Pan
Bowl
Hand Mixer
Bowl
Fork

INGREDIENTS: 
1 stick butter
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 cup or more Oatmeal
Nutmeg
1/4 cup Flour
Powdered Sugar
Shortening
Vanilla
Peach Halves

DIRECTIONS:
1) In a bowl, combine the stick of butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal, and a heavy grating of nutmeg.
2) Use yours to combine and mix everything until a dough is formed that is soft but not sticky. If the mixture is overly buttery, add more oatmeal until it looks right.
3) Press the mixture into a pie pan with your fingers.

4) Bake in the heated oven for 15 minutes or until the edges brown slightly.
5) In a bowl, combine shortening and powdered sugar on a 1:4 ratio with a flash of vanilla.
6) Use the hand mixer to cream and fluff the shortening and sugar combination till the mixture somewhat reminds you of oreo cream filling.

7) When the crust is cool, use a spoon to smooth the cream filling over the crust.
8) Use a fork to lay the half peach pieces on top of the cream.
9) Chill before serving.

Hush Puppies

Normally, hush puppies are a corn meal based dough that is fried. However, I am trying my hardest to cut down on how much frying we do around here. So I decided I would bake our hush puppies, and throw in some good old fashion vegetables to make them even healthier!

RECIPE: Hush Puppies
Makes 11 Hush Puppies

SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Knife
Cutting Board
Bowl
Spatula
Muffin Tray
Oven heated to 375

INGREDIENTS: 
1 Cup Corn Meal
1 Cup Flour
2 Eggs
2/3 Cup Milk
3 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
3 Tablespoons Avocado Oil
1 Cup Zucchini
Crisco

DIRECTIONS:
1) In a mixing bowl, stir together  the corn meal, flour, baking powder, salt, onion powder, chili powder, and onion powder.
2) Grease the muffin tin with crisco or the oil of your choice.
3) Chop up a cup of zucchini, and then use the leftover with mushrooms for sauced up vegetables.

4) Add the eggs, milk, and oil to the center of the dried ingredients in the mixing bowl.
5) Stir until everything is well combined, but not over stirred. The batter should be on the thick side. 6)  Add the chopped zucchini and stir until its evenly dispersed throughout the batter.
7) Scoop the batter into the greased muffin tins and put into the hot oven.

Raw

Baked

8) Bake until the tops are golden, slightly puffed, and all done!

Hush puppies are always good with BBQ. To keep this meal healthy and vegetarian friendly, we chopped up mushrooms and zucchini and cooked them in a southern style BBQ sauce. The result was pretty darn good, and an excellent paring with the zucchini hush puppies.

Chard and Smoked Pizza

This pizza was absolutely amazing, like hands down would eat it all the time. Smoked mozzarella on a pizza is the best idea that any one ever had. Mix that delicious cheese with a super light and fresh tomato sauce, and the result is out of this world! Don’t believe me? Make it yourself!

RECIPE: Chard and Smoked Pizza
Makes Dinner for 3 (or Dinner for 2 and lunch for me!)

SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Knife
Cutting Board
2 Cast Iron Pans
Mixer
Spatula
Oven heated to 425

INGREDIENTS: 
Garlic Cloves
Spring Onions
Large Tomato
Fresh Basil
Smoked Mozzarella
Sourdough Pizza Dough

DIRECTIONS:
1) Make sourdough Pizza Dough based on the recipe here.
2) Cut up the tomato into smallish chunks and add them to a warm cast iron pan.
3) Dice up several cloves of garlic and cut up two or so small spring onions.

4) Add the garlic and the onion to the tomatoes and stir, letting it cook together over a low simmer.
5) Roughly slice up the chard into long strips, and chop up the basil.
6) Press dough into a a cast iron pan and then stir the basil into the sauce.
7) Top the dough with the fresh tomato sauce.

8) Slice up the smoked mozzarella, and lay it evenly over the sauce.
9) Sprinkle the chard over the top of the pizza so that there is even coverage.
10) Bake in a hot oven until the crust is brown and the cheese melts.

Vegetable Sushi

Sushi is probably my husband’s favorite meal. On those rare occasions that we go out to dinner, he almost always wants sushi. Though there isn’t anyplace to buy sushi grade fish around here, there is no reason we couldn’t make vegetable sushi. This sushi really hit the spot, and made my husband very happy.

RECIPE: Vegetable Sushi
Makes Dinner for 2

SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Knife
Cutting Board
2 Pots
Pan
Sushi Kit
Fork

INGREDIENTS: 
Nori
Rice
Sesame Oil
Rice Wine Vinegar
Pickle Juice
Carrots
Scallions
Eggs
Cucumber
Pickled Ginger
Wasabi
Mustard Powder

DIRECTIONS:
1) Begin cooking the rice in a pot of water, using a fork to occasionally stir.
2)  Slice the vegetables into long thin pieces.
3) Place the carrots in a pot and pour the pickle juice over them. Bring it to a simmer. This will soften the carrots and give them a quick “pickling”.
4) Scramble the eggs in a bit of sesame oil, but then let them cook omelet style so you get thin large pieces of egg that hold together.
5) When the rice is almost done, stir in some rice wine vinegar and then let it finish cooking into some nice sticky rice. Set it aside to cool.

6) We weren’t planning on eating a ton, so I laid the fillings into the bowl with the rice.
7) Mix the dry mustard with a bit of water and rice wine vinegar. Serve the ginger and wasabi on the side as well.
8) Lay the nori on the rolling mat, and spread a layer of rice thinly over it.
9) On the far side, layout the fillings of your choice.
10) Begin rolling the sushi towards you making sure to keep the roll tight and not letting any of the filling spread or fall out. 
11) Place the roll down and use a very sharp knife to cut it into pieces.
12) Serve immediately and enjoy with your choice of dips or add-ons! 

Mushroom Sauce Pasta

Mushrooms are amazing. They are absolutely delicious in everything. I was craving pasta, but also really wanted the pasta covered in mushrooms. The result was this wonderful filling sauce that I can’t wait to make again.

RECIPE: Mushroom Sauce Pasta
Makes 3 Servings

SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Knife
Cutting Board
2 Pans
Pot
Spatula

INGREDIENTS: 
Mushrooms
Green Onion
Diced Tomato
Garlic
Parmesan Cheese
Penne Pasta
Beans
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Salt
Rosemary

DIRECTIONS:
1) Cook the pasta as directed on the box. 
2) Snip the ends of the beans and drop into a preheated pan. Season with a touch of black pepper, salt, and garlic powder. Keep stirring as needed.
3) Chop up the mushrooms and drop into another pan.
4) Chop up spring onions and add them into the mushrooms.
5) Finely chop a few cloves of garlic and add to the mushrooms and onion.

6) Pour diced tomatoes over the entire mixture and let simmer while you season with a bit of rosemary.
7) Serve the pasta with the mushroom sauce on top with a touch of Parmesan cheese. The beans should be served on the side. 

All the Vegetables Quesadilla

I don’t know about you, but there are days where I crave vegetables. Honestly, its probably more than a craving, its a need! Here is a recipe for those days when you just want vegetables, vegetables, and more vegetables!

RECIPE: All the Vegetables Quesadilla
Makes 2 Servings

SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Knife
Cutting Board
Pan
Pot
Cheese Grater

INGREDIENTS: 
Green Pepper
2 Small Tomatoes
Ear of Corn
4 Tortilla
2 Ounces Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese

DIRECTIONS:
1) Peel the ear of corn and place it in a pot of boiling water.
2) Dice the green pepper and divide it into two piles.
3) Chop up each tomato.
4) When the corn is done, remove it from the water and cut it off the cob. Divide it into two piles.
5) Heat up a cast iron pan.
6) Place a tortilla in the bottom of the pan, and top it with half a pepper, a tomato, and half the corn from the cob.
7) Grate an ounce of cheddar cheese over the pile of vegetables, and then top with another tortilla.
8) When the bottom is toasted, flip, and let the other side cook. The cheese will melt over the vegetables and hold them together.
9) Remove it from the pan and place on a plate. Repeat steps 6 through now.
10) Serve with hot sauce or salsa if desired.

Nutella Smore’s

I apologize for the shorter posts this week. My computer is acting up and part of that is that the track pad isn’t working anymore. In fact, I have a mouse wired to my laptop to make it work, and that means I can’t write in my favorite position of curled up on the couch with my puppy. Once I find a new comfy place to work with my mouse, or figure out how to fix my laptop, the posts will go back to being their usual fun selves.

RECIPE: Nutella Smore’s
Makes 6 Servings

SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Knife
Oven set to Broil
Cast iron pan

INGREDIENTS: 
6 Graham Crackers
Nutella
Mini Marshmallows

DIRECTIONS:
1) Break the graham crackers in half and lather one half with nutella.
2) Lay the nutella halves into a cast iron pan (nutella side up).
3) Place a handful of mini marshmallows over the nutella graham crackers.
4) Put the cast iron pan in the oven under the broiler, and watch it until the marshmallows become golden brown and melted.

5) Set the cast iron pan on the stove and place the other graham cracker on top, pressing down slightly.
6) Use fingers or spatula to remove the smores from the pan to enjoy!

Best way to eat smores when you don’t have access to a fire pit or campfire.

Sausage Breakfast Hash

What do you do with sausage that is just too salty? Well, you mix it with lots of shredded potatoes so that the salt disperses throughout the whole dish. The result was this sausage breakfast hash that I baked up with some cinnamon rolls from our freezer.

RECIPE: Sausage Breakfast Hash
Makes Many Servings

SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Grater
Spoon
Cast iron pan
Oven set to 375

INGREDIENTS: 
Sausage
3 Potatoes
2 Eggs

DIRECTIONS:
1) Grater up three potatoes and put them into a cast iron pan.
2) Scoop the sausage into little pieces all over the potatoes, and then give it a quick stir.

3) Crack two eggs, mix, and then pour it over the mixture and toss it into the oven.
4) Let it bake for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes crisp and look absolutely delicious and the egg is fully baked through.
5) Slice and serve with a cinnamon bun on the side!