I wanted to make these meatballs for the Super Bowl but never quite got around to it.  I love wings but I hate them at the same time.  For instance the skin on the chicken wing is gross.  Unless the skin is nice and crispy I peel it right off along with all of the flavor.  AND how many wings do you have to eat to be full?  Like 100 right?  Because by the time you peel every tiny piece of meat from the bone you have worked back up the appetite you just quenched.  Some establishments have tried to remedy this with the boneless buffalo wing….  Um, I’m sorry?  But I prefer my chicken wings not to be fried.  And if you bread and fry a lump of meat I’m pretty sure it is a chicken nugget not a boneless buffalo wing…. 

So this is my answer to the wing dobacle.  Chicken meatballs.  Same thing, no work.  Also, since I missed the super bowl I’m stuffing these awesome “wings” in a sandwich to make them more appropriate for my weekends full of no football!   Finally!

Blue Cheese Meatballs:

1 lb ground chicken (or ground turkey)

1/2 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp crushed garlic

1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles (broken up really small)

1/2 red onion diced

1 large egg

Celery and carrots for the pita

Preheat the oven to 400.   Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process together.  Roll meat combination into small 2″ sized balls and set aside.  Heat a pan with a small amount of olive oil.  Sear each meatball on two sides and place them on a pan lined with aluminum foil.  Bake the meatballs for about 10 minutes or until fully cooked. 

I like to lightly toast my pita’s before I make my sandwiches.  I feel like they are a bit sturdier after they have been toasted and I tend to stuff my pitas pretty full of yummy stuff.  Stuff the pita with the wing balls, sliced carrots, bluecheese crumbles, and celery, dress with some extra hot sauce.

For the four-hundredth and ninety-second time I’m on a diet.  It’s not a New Year’s resolution and it’s not because summer is fast-approaching.  I’m just doing it for me.  And you know what?  It’s been really easy this time!  Okay, maybe not REALLY easy, but a lot easier than most diets I’ve tried in the past. 

I finally decided to give Weight Watchers a try.  People have been losing weight on that program for years and everyone I know swears by it.  I just thought it would be annoying to count points and log in every day, but it’s not a big deal at all.  And the best part…I’m losing weight!  Ten pounds so far. 

Obviously I love to cook and the program seems to work great for me because I still get to cook and eat what I like.  It’s a nice balance and I’m learning a lot about how much food I need to get through the day.  My sugar cravings have subsided and generally I feel good.  I know there will be tough weeks and moments when I just want a damn cookie already, but that’s okay.  The key is balance. 

Okay, enough about my new positive outlook on life…let’s get to why we’re really here…the FOOD.  Craig loves eggplant.  I can’t say I ate it much before we met, but that beautiful purple veg has found a permanent place in our kitchen.  Eggplant really reminds me of mushrooms.  Not in taste, but in substance.  Like a big portabella, eggplant can truly act as a main course.  And if you like Mediterranean flavors, you should definitely give this dish a try.   

Balsamic Grilled Eggplant
Adapted from Weight Watchers!

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 large eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles

Combine the vinegar, garlic, oil, oregano, and salt in a gallon sized zip-lock bag.  Place the eggplant in the bag, squeeze out air, and seal the bag.  Lightly turn the bag to coat the eggplant in the marinade.  Place in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Prepare grill or grill pan with non-stick spray.  Place eggplant rounds on grill and cook for 3-4 minutes per side.  Remove from grill and cover with foil until ready to serve.  Sprinkle with crumbled feta and enjoy!

A few years ago Natalie and I lived together for about a year.  I think it was during this time that our love for cooking really started to blossom.  We both always enjoyed it but cooking in the same house was very inspiring.  It was fun to talk about what was for dinner and push each other to try out new things.  Each new success we had gave us the confidence to try to cook stranger things.

We did not grow up eating Asian food of any kind.  Our mother even to this day doesn’t like Asian food.  I have always loved it but because I really only started eating it as an adult this type of food has always been the scariest for me to cook.  I can fight my way through a Mexican market and order strange things with out missing a beat but the Asian markets still scares me just a little.  I don’t know what I’m looking for or why a certain dish tastes so good!  If anyone would like to take me to one of these scary but awesome markets and teach me what all that cool stuff is just let me know!!

One day after buying an interesting looking Asian cook book Natalie and I decided we should start picking countries or food types and have that style be the inspiration for dinner.  I instantly fell in love with making pot stickers.  They were easy and fun.  You can put just about anything in these little packets of gooey awesomeness and steam, saute or fry them into a frenzy.  The possibilities were endless and a new favorite of mine was born.  I heart pot stickers because they can be heart healthy or heart stoppers.  You can follow a recipe or make them your own.  I usually throw whatever I have in the kitchen in them and they always turn out great.  Even when they don’t – a little Hoison sauce makes just about everything taste like heaven.

Green Tea Pot Stickers:

1 lb of ground turkey

1 tbs crushed garlic

3 tbs low sodium soy sauce

2 tbs ground flax seed

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 white onion, diced

1 egg

2 tbs parsley

2 green tea packets

50 wonton wrappers

soy sauce or hoison sauce for dipping

Special equipment:  steaming basket, wok, parchment paper

Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.  Place the won ton wrappers out in a row.  I do about 6 at a time so that the water doesn’t dry before I get to folding them up.  Place a little bit of water in a small bowl next to the wrappers.  Place about 1 tbs of the meat mixture in the center of each wrapper.  With your hands or a marinade brush lightly wet all four sides of the wrapper.  Fold the wrappers up to fully enclose the meat.  You can fold these suckers a million different ways so feel free to get creative.  I think it is easiest to just bring all four corners up together and pinch.

When you are finished, fill your wok with water until it almost touches the bottom of your steaming basket.  You do not want the basket to be in the water.  Place the tea packets in the water and bring the water to boil.  If you don’t have a wok feel free to use any pot.

While the water is heating cut your parchment paper to fit your steaming basket.  I cut little slits throughout my parchment paper to allow the steam to come up more evenly.

Evenly space your pot stickers in the basket and cover with the basket lid.  Place the basket on the wok and steam the pot stickers for about 15 minutes.  Allow them to cool slightly before peeling them from the parchment.  Replace the parchment for each batch you steam.  I have found that when I use the same parchment again I lose the whole bottom part of the wrapper.  Be careful to add more water as needed.  I don’t want you to burn your pan!!!

Disclaimer: The green tea flavor in this is very subtle and is more aromatic.  So if you are expecting a serious green tea flavor you will be dissappointed!

I would say about 60% of conversations in Texas revolve around the weather.  See…we don’t just talk about guns here!  We’ve had a really bizarre winter and it has been the topic of conversation for a while now.  One weekend it will be sunny and 70 degrees and then the next week, it’s in the teens and we’re covered in ice and snow.  Makes it very hard to plan a wardrobe!

The weather this week has been fabulous.  Partly cloudy, breezy, and warm.  But last week…well, that was a different story.  We got snow last Wednesday that shut the city down again for the second week in a row.  I was stuck at home for the day with no school or work.  And this time I was prepared.  I went to the grocery store Tuesday during lunch to stock up just in case we were stuck at home again.  See, the week before I was stuck at home for four days.  I didn’t plan for that and let’s just say our meals became pretty “creative” after a day or so.

I spent my day at home swapping between studying and cooking.  I made a huge batch of lentil soup, a peanut noodle salad for dinner, and of course, this cake for dessert!  There is nothing I love better on a cold day than to bake up something yummy!

This cake is sticky and sweet.  You don’t need a huge piece, but you may want a little scoop of ice cream on the side.  I’m just sayin’.

Texas Praline Cake
Junior League of Plano Cookbook

Cake
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 salt

Pecan Topping
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans

To prepare the cake, pour the boiling water over the oats in a bowl and let stand for several minutes.  In a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar, brown sugar, oil, and eggs.  Beat until smooth.  Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and mix well.  Stir in the oats mixture.

Spoon the batter into a greased 9×13 inch pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

To prepare the topping, combine the butter, milk, and brown sugar in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring to mix well.  Boil for one minute and remove from heat.  Stir in the pecans and then spread over the hot cake.

This Dinner Party was honestly one of the best parties I have ever been to.  I’m not really a game person or someone who plans out conversations ahead of time.  If you invite me to your shower and expect me to play games I will do my best to hide or be the score keeper.  I’m a talker.  I like to hang out, be relaxed, and just chit chat.  BUT for this party I decided to ask each couple to tell the story of how they met or how they got engaged. 

Once we had sat down to dinner we went around the table telling these amazing stories.  We laughed so hard and teased each other at all the funny situations and coincidences that brought each couple to where they are now.  It was so much fun to hear these stories and since most of the couples didn’t know everyone it was a great way to learn about each other.

I also asked all of the couples to tell me what their wedding song was and to send me pictures of them together.  I put all the pictures on my Apple TV and had them rotating the entire evening.  I put all the wedding songs on my “love song” play list and as each wedding song played we talked about whose song it was.  Most of the couples had taken dancing lessons before their weddings and jumped up to try and see if they could remember the steps.   It was pretty funny to watch because Chris dipped Lecia and I was afraid for a second we were going to lose her!!

I bought Love fortune cookies and had little boxes of chocolates for everyone to take home.  For dessert I made mini red velvet cakes with pink buttercream icing that each couple had to share.  Overall the couples dinner party was a hit!  I can’t wait to do it again next year!

I also busted out my grandmother’s china for this party and it was beautiful!  I rarely get to use it so I thought this would be a great reason to warrant hand washing every dish!

For the main dish I made Penne Pasta with Vodka Sauce.  I made the base tomato sauce the weekend before and froze it because I wanted to make it from scratch and I knew it would take forever!

You can obviously just buy your favorite jar of sauce and add in the cream, vodka and additional spices if you want to save about 4 hours of your life!  I wanted to make it from scratch but I will think twice before doing it again.

This is the only non blurry picture I have of the desserts.  Sorry it is dark and scary looking!  I had the mood lighting going and it is just to hard to change all my camera settings after a few glasses of wine!

This makes enough sauce for 6 people

Vodka Sauce:

50 Roma tomatoes

2 large heads of garlic

4 shallots

1 tbs red pepper flakes

3 tbs of chopped basil

1/2 cup dry red wine

4 tbs tomato paste

2 tbs worcestershire sauce

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

4 tbs vodka

1.5 cups of heavy cream

Asiago cheese for sprinkling

Slice the tomatoes in half, long ways, and scrape out the centers.  Place the tomatoes face up on a pan lined with aluminum foil.  Place the pan in the oven at 325 degrees for an hour and a half.  Turn up the heat to 375 for an additional 45 minutes. 

For the roasted garlic – slice the tips of the garlic cloves off and wrap the garlic in a foil packet.  Pour olive oil in the packet and place it in the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking time on the tomatoes.

While the tomatoes are cooking slice and saute your shallots with a little bit of olive oil. 

Peel the skin off of all of the tomatoes and add the guts to a blender or food processor.  Add in the garlic cloves and puree everything together.  Pour mixture into a large pot and turn your heat to medium.  Add all of the ingredients except the cream and vodka.  Stir to combine and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.  At this point you can either freeze the sauce until you are ready to use it or you can finish the sauce. 

Heat a large skillet to medium heat and add in the vodka.  When the vodka is hot add in the tomato sauce and stir.  Slowly add in the cream and stir to combine.  Let simmer for about 5 minutes and server hot over pasta.  Sprinkle cheese as desired.  I like to put fresh basil on top as well.