TJ's 2-ingredient Party Meatballs

I love party meatballs. Does anyone not love party meatballs? And as if they weren't already ridiculously easy to make, Trader Joe's just made it easier.

This is your secret weapon:

Place frozen party meatballs in slow cooker.
Pour entire contents of stir fry sauce on top.
Cook on high for an hour (maybe little longer).
Stir occasionally.
Keep cooker on warm and let people dig in.

I had to taste test a few (dozen), hence, why the amount of meatballs looks a bit "thin":

Sometimes you win...

...Sometimes you booze.

$3.99 at Trader Joe's and not bad.

I think I got a little cocky on the heels of my Nutella masterpiece, and I decided to experiment again. Well, it's a hard fall from grace, and I'm humbled. Okay, my cocoa-inspired recipe wasn't terrible. But I wouldn't make it again. It fell somewhere between bland and good. Just needed an extra kick of spice -- which I considered adding but I was afraid it would totally cancel out any hint of the ingredient of the month.

Proof I tried.

I made pork chops using a rub I adapted from a recipe I found online calling for way more cocoa than I used, 1/3 cup coffee grounds (really?), cinnamon, chili powder, olive oil, salt and pepper. I opted to not use the coffee grounds thinking I could sub in some brilliant ingredient, and now I'm wondering if I should've just opted out of the whole recipe. Therefore, I decided not to post it. It's not worth the effort.

A-1 makes everything better.

To make up for it, I'm going to post my mom's simple and fabulous "Red Pork Chops" recipe. She has been making them for as long as I can remember; a quick, economical choice for feeding a family of seven. My mom, who is a fabulous cook, wonders why we continue to request them for family dinners and birthdays. There is obviously a comfort-food, feel-good memory association going on with these, but also, they really are THE BOMB!

Recipe goes something like this:

Red Pork Chops

Thin boneless chops, I cooked 5
Half a large onion, sliced
1 Can tomato soup
1 Small can tomato sauce
Salt and pepper
Italian seasoning, to taste
Garlic, to taste

Brown the meat (in spicy garlic oil helps), add the onions and turn heat to low. Add the tomato soup, half can of the tomato sauce, half tomato sauce can of water, salt, pepper and seasonings to taste. Cook on low for 45 min-hour. I mean it, the meat needs to simmer and bathe in the sauce for a long while; you won't regret it. Serve with mashed potatoes because the whole point of red pork chops is to drown the sides in the gravy-style sauce you've made. Enjoy!

Lamb Cassoulet

I’m taking our lamb recipes from Greece, northwest to the country of France.

And I will admit as much as I loved this dish, I’ve had a ridiculous craving for Greek food ever since I read Amber and Missy’s posts. I’m going to have to satisfy that craving sometime very soon! But I chose some serious comfort food which was fitting since it’s currently snowing in my part of the world. I love all cuts of lamb, but it’s hard to beat shanks: tender pieces of meat falling off a big bone and drenched in a fabulous sauce.

Cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat, pork skin (not mine) and white beans (thank you, Wikipedia). And I believe it traditionally has bread crumbs over the top. 

I found this shortcut version and kind of took the crock pot approach (in a Dutch-oven) and just started throwing in whatever sounded good, so sorry for my lack of measurements. The few “real” cassoulet recipes I looked at use dried beans (hence the extra long, slow cooking) but I just used two cans of white beans. I think my broth would have been much thicker had I gone the traditional route, but this was super easy and delicious!

I served the juicy lamb over mascarpone cheese polenta and we had a kale and spinach salad on the side. And of course we had some good red wine to wash it down.

The cassoulet smelled amazing as it was cooking! I started to get really hungry while waiting the 3 hours for it to cook. As we were checking the shanks to see if they were falling off the bone, Curtis suggested using the leftover veggies, beans, lentils and broth to make minestrone soup. So on night #2, we had a completely different meal – it was brilliant!

We also really love rack of lamb (I’ll try to get around to making our favorite recipe and posting about it as well) but my other go-to lamb dish is buying lamb shanks from Costco, pre-marinated and pre-cooked. When we have company over, I throw them in my Dutch-oven on low on the stove top add in some fresh herbs and then act like I made them from scratch. Works like a charm every time!

My dirty little secret. Thank you, Costco.

Here is a picture of my raw lamb shanks just to prove I really did make this recipe from scratch (this time)!

PCC lamb shanks, $7.99 / lb.

(Short Cut Version of) Lamb Cassoulet over Mascarpone Cheese Polenta

1. Preheat the oven to 300
2. Heat ghee or high heat oil in a Dutch oven or oven-safe dish and sear the shanks on each side, about two minutes per side. I only made 2 lamb shanks, but you could probably fit up to 6 in a pan. Set the shanks aside.
3. Turn off the heat and add to the pan (this is where you can use whatever mix of veggies, herbs and liquid that sound good to you) :

-          1 can tomato paste

-          Carrots, chopped

-          Celery, chopped

-     Lamb shanks

-          Lentils (I used pre-cooked from Trader Joe's - they’re a super food!)

-          2 cans white beans
-          Fresh rosemary and thyme

-          1 box beef broth

-          Red wine (just because we had some on tap, shhh! Don’t tell Curtis)

-          Garlic (lots)

-          Parmigiano-Reggiano rind (I always save my rinds to flavor soups and dishes like this)

-          Salt and Pepper, to taste

-     And I meant to throw in a chopped onion as well, but forgot. 

      Put the lid on the pot (or cover with foil) and bake in the oven at 300 degrees for approximately 2 1/2 hours or until lamb is tender. Remove the lid and cook for an additional 30 minutes or until sauce has reduced slightly. Sever over mascarpone cheese polenta.

Mascarpone Cheese Polenta

Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse

I cut this recipe in half since there were just two of us.

4 cups milk

¼ cup olive oil

1 cup polenta (coarsely ground yellow cornmeal)

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup Mascarpone cheese

Parmigiano-Reggiano for grating on top

Bring the milk to a boil. Add olive oil, salt, and pepper. Very gradually, add the polenta in a steady stream, whisking constantly. Add the salt and whisk to combine. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently with a heavy wooden until thick and creamy, 20 to 30 minutes. Add the mascarpone to the polenta and adjust the seasoning to taste. Top with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. This polenta recipe rocks, it is so creamy and delicious!

Night #2

Lamb Broth Minestrone Soup

Bring lamb broth with veggies, beans and lentils to a boil and then turn down the heat so the soup is simmering (it may need to be thinned with some water).  Add tortellini, kale and chicken sausage to the broth.

Cook until the pasta is done. Serve with some good crusty bread for dipping!

Oktoberfest Beer Roast Chicken: Emily’s Review

Click here for the original recipe. Costco sells a two pack of 5 lb. chickens for under $10, so instead of finding room in my freezer for the extra bird, I figured as long as I was at it, I'd roast them both so I’d have lots of leftovers to work with this week. Win win.

I roasted four heads of garlic and used two to make a butter rub with orange peel, lemon peel, mint, rosemary, thyme, sage, salt and pepper. I rubbed it all over the birds and stuffed the cavities with additional herbs and orange slices. Then I let them sit for a few hours (in the fridge) hoping the citrus herb rub would really permeate.

I bought Trader Joe’s version of Oktoberfest beer and poured two bottles in the bottom of the roasting pan. I love making roast chicken because within minutes of going in the oven your entire kitchen is filled with delicious smells. I followed the cooking instructions exactly and ended cranking the oven up to 500 and roasting the chickens for an extra 10 minutes at the end.

This is right before I flipped the birds, they're already looking so delicious!

We served the chicken with roasted garlic sweet potatoes, ricotta gnocchi (click here for the recipe) and salad with apples, dried cranberries, Parmigiano Reggiano walnuts and blue cheese.


The verdict? It was easy and super moist, but a little bit bland (but nothing a little salt and pepper at the table couldn’t fix). Next time I’ll put more seasoning in the rub and probably use raw garlic like the recipe suggested. But really, like Amber said, it’s no effort at all, yet you feel like a domestic goddess!


After dinner I added all the bones to a stockpot and covered them in water to make broth and let it sit overnight. Today I’ll simmer it for several hours and then strain it, cool and freeze in Mason jars to use for future soups, chicken pot pie, etc.

We had our buddy, Ryan, over for dinner but, as you can imagine, have tons of chicken leftover! I’m planning to make a Thai chicken pizza on Monday for dinner. And I’m sure I’ll have even more leftovers, so do you have any other suggestions of what I should make? What are some of your favorite dishes to make with chicken?

As usual I captured the dogs (intently watching Curtis cut up the birds) but forgot to take pictures of the people!

Salmon + Salmon: Emily’s review

First I made the ACME FARMS + KITCHEN recipe for smoked salmon pasta that Amber linked to. I followed the recipe, except since we were already on a roll with butter and cream, I also added Parmigiano-Reggiano to the sauce. It was rich and delicious and the best part was it was so quick and easy, I honestly think it took about 15 minutes start to finish. And I know since it was pasta covered in goodness, I should have just had a nice small serving with a big side of veggies, but I had a big serving and then went back for seconds! This is a recipe that will definitely make it into my rotation and would also be a good one for company.

I love Thai food and do make curry every now and then, but not often enough. Probably because I’m a Costco shopper my veggie drawers are always overflowing and because I often need to use them up we do weekly rotations of stir fry in the summer and soup in the winter months. But doing “kitchen sink” curry is also a perfect way to use veggies and this is such an awesome versatile recipe.

And remember how I mentioned we really try hard to eat fish a couple of times a week? Well it turns out curry is another perfect vessel for salmon. Instead of cooking the salmon in the curry I marinated it the day before in Trader Joe’s light coconut milk (only $0.99 a can!) and red curry paste. While my veggies (a combo from our local Farmer’s Market and what I had on hand) were simmering in the other can of coconut milk and more red curry paste, I baked the salmon in the oven at 300 degrees for 20 minutes (the secret to perfectly cooked salmon!). Then I broke it into chunks, served it over the vegetable curry with a side of Thai rice.

It was an awesome meal and the best part is it made a ton so I was set with leftovers for lunch for the next couple of days!

June Baking – Emily’s Review

Renee’s Applesauce Cookies

As soon as I read you can’t change this recipe up, I took it as a challenge. I do agree with Jolie – with baking it’s important to get the measurements and ratios right and some things need to be spot on. But with cookies you can always change things up a bit… and my goal was to do that while still sticking with the healthy theme (kind of).

I used half rice flour (because that’s the only gluten free flour I had on hand) and half regular flour. And like Jolie suggested half oat bran and half flax seed meal. I made the dough and made a few pans of cookies so I could taste the original recipe before I started messing with it. They were good, but honestly they have a very blah appearance.

With the rest of the dough, I added in some dried fruit and dark chocolate chunks. Because dark chocolate (70% or higher cocoa content), in moderation, has several health benefits – I learned all about it on the Theo chocolate tour. Since then I’ve taken that piece of info and run with it. If a new study comes out some day saying otherwise, please don’t tell me about it!

I buy these bars from Trader Joe’s and they were perfect for chunking up for cookies (and banana bread).

I had a $10 off coupon for PCC (a Puget Sound Natural Food Co-Op) so I had fun going up and down the aisles and picking out new things to try; Yogi Tea, a cheese cloth (to make homemade ricotta, we’ll see if that actually happens!) and this Coconut Manna. So I threw a few spoonfuls of the coconut manna in the dough along with some flaked coconut. And then I rolled the cookie dough balls in more flaked coconut before I baked them – just to make them pretty.

A purist would say I defeated the purpose. But lucky for me, there aren’t any purists in my household!

These cookies are good. Mind you, they’re not a replacement for my favorites like chocolate chip cookies topped with fleur de sel or a peanut butter cookie bursting with Reese’s Pieces, but for a healthy cookie, they’re darn good. I've been enjoying eating them for breakfast with coffee and in the afternoon before hitting the pool. I really liked the walnuts and the dark chocolate and coconut didn’t hurt!

Kona Inn Banana Bread

My mom has been making this recipe for as long as I can remember and it really is the best banana bread. I’ve never veered from this recipe because I truly believe it doesn’t get any better than this. The important part is to age your bananas well and like Jolie said, throw in a handful or two of chocolate chips at the end.

My bananas went from looking like this:

To this:

To a few weeks or so later, looking like this (perfect for banana bread!):

And because this is a place to try new things, with one loaf I took Michelle’s advice and added coconut in the batter. And with loaf number two I did zucchini bread meets banana bread by using one less banana and adding in two grated zucchinis. Sounds weird, I know. But let me tell you, it was moist!

Curtis and I did a taste test and the verdict is that the original recipe doesn’t need to be changed, but out of these two he liked the coconut version best and I liked the zucchini. Honestly, both were yummy!

Melissa’s Mojito

And since this post is already incredibly long winded, I’m going to keep going. I just wanted to give a shout out to Missy (and Melissa!) and her Thirsty Thursday post for Melissa’s Mojito. I made two mojitos on Thursday to go with our take-out dinner Curtis picked up L Taco and it literally took five minutes! Super easy and so refreshing – that’s my kind of weeknight cocktail!

Eat This AND That!

I LOVED this recipe. I loved it so much I made it twice. The first time was at my sister, Nancy's house. My brother, Chip, came to visit and we love to BBQ. This was the perfect side to Tri- Tip on the grill for his birthday meal. I did it the same way both times: Gruyere & Irish Cheddar, lots of garlic, and fresh chives. I used half & half and no milk. I did add butter the first time but it was decided it was not needed. The second set I made at my Aunt Donna's for dinner. It was a crowd favorite again and this is now on my Rolodex and I just happen to have this blog bookmarked :)

This:

The before

The after with Tri-tip & Green Beans

AND That:

Aunt Donna's with yukon gold potatoes from the garden

I have to say while this was a crowd favorite, it was slightly out shined by my Aunt Donna's homemade strawberry pie. In case you haven't gotten the hint, my Aunt Donna is an amazing baker. She had gotten strawberries straight off the farm and "whipped" this up in no time at all:

Homemade Strawberry Pie for Dessert

I would like to take a moment to highlight possibly my favorite product in the whole world:

Frozen Garlic

These are frozen herb squares you can use in your cooking. You pop out the individual squares for what you need it for, put the top back on, and put it back in the freezer. Each square in the picture is one clove of garlic. You can get them at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods in the frozen vegetable section. They also have parsley, basil, cilantro, and ginger. Voila, fresh cooking made easy and the best part: no more cleaning that garlic press or fresh herbs going bad!