Giada's turkey meatballs

I hit up the grocery store after work for some essentials and all the fixings to make Giada's turkey meatballs. Yummy! I used to make this recipe all the time, but it's been a while. I usually make normal sized meatballs and I've also made turkey burgers with this recipe. Both are equally good. My fiancee wanted to attempt making baked mozzarella sticks. They didn't look great, but they sure tasted great! He cut a ball of mozzarella into 1/4 inch slices, coated in an egg wash and rolled in panko bread crumbs mixed with a little parm cheese and oregano. Then he baked them for about 7-8 minutes until golden and bubbly. We determined that we should have put the pieces in the fridge for a few minutes, then into the oven...maybe they would hold their shape a little better?? Who knows, but they tasted great! He was disappointed, but he is his worst critic!

Topped with a little of my quick red sauce, delish!!!

The sauce could cook all day long I think! I added some red wine and red pepper flakes in the end.

For the meatballs, I used 99% lean ground turkey breast.

The mixture made about 20 normal sized meatballs.

Sauteed with a little olive oil. How do you get meatballs to stay round?? Mine always end up being kind of flat and oddly shaped????

Then I tossed the meatballs in the sauce for about 30 minutes while the pasta cooked.

Topped with some parm cheese and dinner was served! So good! I was going to make an arugula salad, but we were stuffed!

This recipe makes a lot, so you will be seeing the leftovers for a while. I'm sorry in advance.... I'm currently finishing up some laundry, enjoying some sleepytime tea and about to hit the hay. That alarm will go off very early....

Manic Monday...Whacky Weekend

What a weekend! It was fairly uneventful, but it was like a hurricane came through! We were both up early on Saturday for work. I ran out of the house (late, as usual...) and threw together a bagel thin with almond butter and some strawberry jam, sorry no pic. I didn't end up eating it until around noon, but I did have coffee in the early AM. When I came home I made a delish tuna salad... Here is my mix -

1 can tuna in water, drained
1 Tbsp light mayo
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 rib celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
s&p
2 huge handfuls of arugula

Best.tuna.salad.ever......

We ended up going out on Saturday night to a local bar where I ordered a grilled chicken salad with honey mustard dressing - so so so good! Of course I didn't take a picture because I'm still a little hesitant about taking photos in a restaurant....sometimes I feel totally comfortable & sometimes I feel silly. I will overcome this!! One day....

Sunday was mother's day, so we headed to the in-laws house. My fiancee wanted to make his version of a surf and turf - lamb and dungeness crabs. Total heaven. I did snap a photo of mom in laws hard bread and tomatoes and her homemade arancini. Hard bread is literally homemade whole wheat bread that goes into a low oven for 48 hours and gets hard. Sounds gross, but it is insanely delicious with these chopped tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil and some dried oregano straight from the hills of Italy. You can drool, it's ok. Arancini is a fried rice ball filled with meat, peas and red sauce. Again, you may drool....

Monday morning came and went without a feeling for breakfast, so I stashed my yogurt in the work fridge for tomorrow. I ended up ordering lunch this afternoon because we had nothing in the cabinets. I ordered this Cajun shrimp Caesar salad. It was about as good as the picture looks.... too much dressing and not enough veggie love. The bread, however, was banging!

My alarm went off this morning at 5:15am. WHAT?? I didn't get up, I reset the alarm for 6:30am...

Here's the story - Saturday night I was talking to a friend of a friend that said she gets to the LA Fitness that I belong to, at 5:15am every morning to workout before work. She meets another friend there and they do cardio & weights every single morning! WHAT??? So, I told said friend of friend that she may see me on Monday morning. Well, I didn't get up (my excuse was that I didn't sleep too well...) so I have told myself to go Tuesday morning. I will let you know how it goes tomorrow....I'm not holding my breath....

Local Philly peeps - - Shoprite has Chobani yogurt 10 for $10! I stocked up!

When the alarm is silent...

You don't wake up on time. Uh oh.

Well, not really. I woke up at 6am and my alarm was set for 5:45am so I could get in a little jog. I tried to tell myself to just go back to sleep for another 30 minutes because what's the point of a 15-20 jog???

A lot, that's what.

So, I actually got out of bed and ran for 15 minutes. Some-thang is better that no-thang, right??? Yes, I felt good and I was proud!!

And I fixed my phone, not sure what the problem was, but after a power cycle, the speakers work. Go figure. My Blackberry is ancient, I'm holding out for a Verizon/iPhone relationship.

Breakfast was some peach Chobani. Cause I'm a peach, of the Georgia kind ;)

Lunch was so fresh and delish! A bagel thin, ham and arugula. And an arugula salad with a little olive oil vinaigrette. I have a huge package of arugula, so you will be seeing a lot of it! And besides that, it's tasty!

At work, I realized I have a Laughing Cow wedge and a slice of reduced fat swiss cheese on this sandwich! Cheese overload! Which, incidentally, is not a bad thing.

Dinner was another of the fiancee's creations. We finished the leftover stir fry and he grilled up a skirt steak and a rack of lamb.

Yes, that's a lot of meat.

His excuse?? He wants to make his mom and dad a rack of lamb on Sunday in honor of Mother's Day and his father's birthday. So, I am the guinea pig. Which, like the double cheese at lunch, is not such a bad thing.

He made a fresh sauce of parsley, garlic, lime juice, olive oil and salt and pepper. It was so fresh and tasty! Perfect amount of citrus with the meat. I had a few bites of steak and 2 lamb chops. I was full after I ate about half of everything!

Now we're going to watch the Flyers and the Phillies and hit the hay early. We both have to work on Saturday. I will be at Jersey Shore Pharmacy in EHT if anyone is close by. I'll be there from 10am until noon! Come by!!

M-I-A

Sorry to have been M-I-A for the last few days...this gal needed a few days away from blogs, twitter, fb, etc etc... I know you understand, right?? Thanks :0)

I will rewind to Thursday's eats...

An old standby, yum.

Lunch was some leftover stir fry that the fiancee made earlier in the week, it was gingery, spicy and delish! Paired with a little brown rice and you have a perfectly balanced meal.

Thursday evening, I met my Maid of Honor in South Philly to get my makeup trial for my wedding!! So exciting! I loved my makeup, very natural, yet elegant and it made me feel beautiful! And that is most important!! I took a couple of pictures, but the lighting was a little poor, so the pics aren't great.... after the trial, we headed to Chickie's and Pete's. This is a local Philadelphia hotspot known for their seafood and ......

CRAB FRIES!! You don't go to Chickie's without getting crab fries. I had about 15-ish...

A light(er) meal is their mussels and red sauce, their sauce is awesome! With a little dunkin' bread, oh my, heaven! Just heaven!

After a glass of wine, some good convo with my bestie and some good food, I was pooped! I headed home to (finally) watch Lost. Only to cry my eyes out...

Do you watch Lost? I've been addicted since season 1 and that episode was sad. S-A-D, sad.

Boats, seafood and fog

Sunday started out as a foggy cool morning, but it turned into a hot and (somewhat) sunny afternoon. I actually got a little bit of a tan on my shoulders! Because we had the tasting for our wedding this past weekend , we decided to make a weekend out of it! We went "down the shore" as a true Philadelphian calls it... ;)

Turns out there was a boat and seafood show going on this weekend! We made the most of the good weather and good eats!

Conch!! I love conch fritters!!

Things grilled on sticks are awesome

We ended up splitting a shrimp kabob, a scallop kabob, a grouper sandwich and conch fritters! Love love love.

Oh my oh my.

And a little vino, of course...

It ended up being a perfect day with lots of sunshine and warm temps. Perfect ending to a great weekend!

Lots of good food

Saturday afternoon, the fiancee and I met his parents at the venue where we're getting married for the tasting. We got to sample everything we have picked for our cocktail hour and reception. Here are a few pictures ;)

Tabled hors d'oeuvres - tomato and mozzarella bruschetta and melon wrapped in prosciutto

Butlered hors d'oeuvres - lamb chops, crab cakes, chicken satay, scallops wrapped in bacon, veggie quesadillas and beef wellingtons. We decided not to order the wellingtons, they were ok, but the lamb was the star!

Salad - field greens with goat cheese, candied pecans, dried cranberries and balsamic vinaigrette.

Lemon sorbet as the intermezzo.

The entree is a choice of filet or chicken marsala with roasted potatoes and asparagus and carrots.

Not done yet......

In addition to the wedding cake, we're having mini pastries! Mini key lime pies, mini eclairs, mini cannolis and chocolate covered strawberries....

Oh my. It will be a good wedding!

Breakfast returns

Kind of like Batman Returns....or maybe not....

Finally I was hungry for breakfast!! For the past couple of days I haven't had much of an appetite in the AM. This morning was nothing short of spectacular.... behold blackberry oats.

1/4 cup oatmeal
1 tsp. almond butter
1 tsp. strawberry jam
blackberries
pinch of salt
1/2 cup water

Before -

The purple people eater????

Twas delish. Lunch came and went without too much excitement. I had a Morningstar chix patty on a bagel thin, laughing cow cheese and some romaine.

On a fancy napkin! That's what my stepdad used to call these really nice napkins, not the cheapy ones that I use now! These were freebies from the break room!

Do you think my skin will turn a sunshine-y shade of orange if I eat enough oranges and carrots?

Possibly. But they are so delicious, too hard to say no. Tata!