Summer to fall

It's been ages since my last post. I've been awful about loading recipes I'm trying but let's give this another shot. My goal every week is to cook/eat a myplate meal and of course I pick one of the hottest/muggiest days of this summer to cook. That's just my good timing. But how I can talk the talk but not walk the walk? Some nights, not gonna lie, I will pop popcorn for dinner (my new fav is zucchini chocolate chip muffins), and some nights, I figure out my life, so here's some happy eating.

I cut into these bad boys with a knife to check for doneness (I might have also snuck a few just to "test" the whole pan). So-so good. Crazy how I used to be vegetarian. I love pork. Like love love. My poor cholesterol numbers are not as good as they once were ;)

I was using my plastic tablespoon measuring spoon to make somewhat even meatballs and trying to wash it I snap the handle from the spoon and proceeded to cut my hand. I'm not safe around anything!

Along with the meatballs, plan is to have a side of asparagus (can't decide if I want to cook in butter or olive oil) with garlic (of course!) and some sweet potato wedges (hello apartment sauna!)

Baked Meatballs

Adapted from Tea & Biscuits

Makes 35- 2 tbsp size meatballs

For the meatballs:

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground turkey

1 pound lean ground pork

1/3 cup oatmeal flour (pulse in blender or food processor, dash less than 1/3 cup of whole oats will make 1/3 cup ground)

3 tbsp milk

2 eggs

3 cloves minced garlic

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp pepper

2 tsps salt

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

Tomato sauce

1 28 oz can crushed no salted added crushed tomatoes

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp black pepper

Dash of crushed red chili pepper (optional, I like my food spicy)

Parmesan rind (optional)

Directions

For the meatballs: Preheat oven to 400F. Line a sheet pan with foil and spray lightly with oil. In a small bowl soak the ground oatmeal with the milk. Mix the meatball ingredients together in a bowl, then form into 2 tbsp size meatballs. Place on sheet pan. Bake at 400F oven for 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through.

For the marinara sauce: add the olive oil to a pan and heat up on medium heat. Add the chopped onion and saute for 5 minutes until fragrant and caramelized. Add the chopped garlic, canned tomatoes, Italian seasoning and pepper. Add Parmesan rind. Cook on low-medium heat for 20-30 minutes. Serve over cooked meatballs. 

I baked up all the meatballs, let half of them cool and then froze to eat another night sometime soon. They can be frozen uncooked, but that takes one more extra step I don't think I'd be down for again.

Happy eating!