It's hard to screw up meatballs--Turkey Cacciatore Meatballs

Turkey Cacciatore Meatballs
Mr. Food Every Day’s A Holiday Diabetic Cookbook
Copyright 2002

1 pound ground turkey breast
½ cup Italian-flavored bread crumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ of a medium-sized green bell pepper, finely chopped
½ of a medium-sized onion, finely chopped
1 jar (28 ounces) light spaghetti sauce, divided
2 eggs
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup olive oil

1. In a large bowl, combine the turkey, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, bell pepper, onion, ¼ cup spaghetti sauce, the eggs, garlic powder, oregano, and black pepper. With clean hands, combine the mixture until thoroughly mixed. Form into 24 meatballs; set aside.
2. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Place the meatballs in the pot a few at a time and brown for 2 to 3 minutes, gently turning to brown on all sides.
3. Drain off excess liquid and add the remaining sauce to the pot; reduce the heat to low; cover, and simmer for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through.
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I don't really ever get tired of meatballs. One nice thing about turkey meatballs is you don't have to cook them for a really, really long time so I put these together the night before but I didn't have to cook them until the next evening when we ate them.

I don't usually put green peppers in my meatballs because they can be overpowering, but since I expected the green peppers to be prominent, they worked here. They really tasted like 'cacciatore'.

I used buccatini or whatever that spaghetti with the hole in the middle is called. It's hard to eat! It's much messier than spaghetti since it doesn't curl around a fork as easily. Thank God I was wearing my husband's shirt while I was eating.

This was a library book. I prefer it to the Mr. Food book I own. It has a lot of promising recipes in it.

Blast From The Past: Cinnamony Apple Streusel Bars from December 2006. I have a surplus of graham crackers and apples - maybe I'll make these again.

Question of the Day: How do you eat spaghetti or
other long pasta? Do you cut it? Do you swirl it
around a fork? Do you use the fork-spoon combo?

Holly comes through again--Dijon Glazed Carrots

Dijon Glazed Carrots
The New Holly Clegg Trim & Terrific Cookbook Copyright 2002, 2006

1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon margarine
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
¼ teaspoon white pepper
¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Steam the carrots in water until crisp-tender, about 10 minutes, or cook in the microwave. Drain the cooking liquid.

In a small saucepan, combine the margarine, mustard, honey, pepper and ginger over low heat, stirring until just combined and the margarine is melted. Pour the sauce over the carrots, toss gently to coat, and serve.
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I've been looking for something different to do with carrots. I wasn't sure if I was going to like mustard with carrots but I really did. This was a nice change of pace although either the white pepper or ground ginger had a hint of bitterness. I think next time I might try just 1/8 teaspoon of those two ingredients.

I've been in a rut with some ingredients lately. Vegetables in general have been giving me the most trouble. You would think there would be endless possibilities with vegetables, and they're probably are, but I just can't think of those endless possibilities. It can be frustrating looking for veggie recipes because not a lot is in season right now. Well, not as much as a month or two ago.

Blast From The Past: Orange-Honey Glazed Carrots from January 2007. Those are really good but I don't usually have an orange lying around.

Question of the Day: What fresh veggies are you enjoying the most right now?

Ruined--Muffins

Muffins
Don’t Eat Your Heart Out Cookbook Copyright 1982, 1987

1 cup enriched white flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup oatmeal
2 teaspoons baking soda
Dash salt
½ cup wheat germ
1 cup raisins
1 egg or ¼ cup egg substitute I used an egg
½ cup safflower oil I used canola oil
1 cup skim milk
¼ cup honey
I added a few teaspoons of cinnamon

In a large bowl combine flour, oatmeal, baking soda, salt, wheat germ, raisins and egg. In a separate bowl combine oil, milk and honey; add to flour mixture. Blend with a wooden spoon. Pour into paper-lined muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.
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This isn't the first time I ruined a recipe using stale wheat germ but I won't make that mistake again (well, I certainly won't admit it if I'm dumb enough to do it again). I just wanted a basic, healthy muffin and these would have fit the bill perfectly if not for the rancid wheat germ.

I added cinnamon in an attempt to mask the off-taste and also because I bought a huge thing of cinnamon a while back with plans to add it more foods (it's supposed to be good for regulating blood sugar). This seemed like a good time to put that plan into action.

Oh well, that was all the cooking I did this weekend too. I wouldn't have posted this if I didn't have to!

I fell off the cookbook wagon big time this weekend. Friday, I stepped out for a sandwich at lunchtime and walking past the book store I saw that everything was 50% off. They lost their lease. Now, even at 50% off hardcover cookbooks aren't cheap so I only bought what I had my eye on already (a kid's cookbook and a Williams-Sonoma book that was already marked down).

That evening I hit auction and I got a pile of books. He had good stuff this week and he told me he's getting someone's entire cookbook collection and I should come back in two weeks when he has the rest (what I was buying was just part of it). I wish I could take that day off because he has at least one other cookbook customer who comes earlier in the day. Oh well, there seems to always be plenty left for me.

A cookbook I ordered online came Friday too.

I am just too tired to find a Blast From The Past or think up a Question of the Day. I attended one of those My Gym parties with my son and it was exhausting. You would think I was the one running around. (I've been posting each days post the night before, if you haven't noticed).

Not like mom made but still good--Marinated Cube Steaks

Marinated Cube Steaks
The New York Times Menu Cook Book Copyright 1966

6 cube steaks
½ cup salad oil
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 scallions, finely chopped I omitted this
1 cup (one 8-ounce can) tomato sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
½ teaspoon salt

1. Place the steaks in a shallow baking dish. Combine the remaining ingredients and pour over the steaks. Marinate for at least three hours (I marinated these all days about 9 hours), turning once.
2. Cook on a grill over charcoal or under the broiler for five to ten minutes until cooked to desired degree of doneness.
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I think this is first time I've had cube steaks any other way besides pan-fried, on buttered toast. That's the way we ate them when I was growing up. I would definitely make this recipe again, when I can find cube steaks on sale. It was fast and flavorful.

Grocery shopping wasn't as depressing this week. There were some good sales. That seems to happen close to the holidays. It seemed weird seeing all of the Thanksgiving items out but it is only three weeks away. Damn! I haven't given any thoughts to pies yet. I'd better work on that this weekend.

Blast From The Past: Quick Tamale Casserole from October 2006. Another good recipe that I almost forgot about.

Question of the Day: Where are you spending Thanksgiving this year?

Better than I expected--Purist Chili

Purist Chili
301 Venison Recipes The Ultimate Deer Hunter’s Cookbook Copyright 1992

2 pounds ground venison
4 strips bacon, chopped I used turkey bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
Finely slivered peel of 1 orange I omitted this - I just forgot to get an orange
1-2 tablespoons chili powder I used 2T
2 tablespoons ground cumin I only used 1 tablespoon
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup beef broth
2 teaspoons hot paprika I used regular paprika
3 canned jalapeño peppers, finely chopped I used frozen (1)

Sauté the bacon in a 2 quart enamel saucepan until crisp. Add the onion, garlic and orange peel. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add the meat and cook until light brown in color, about 4 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling; reduce the heat. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until chili has thickened, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Serves 4.
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I thought I was going to have to actually skip a post. This week has been busy with more Halloween activities and I have very little weekday evening time as it is. But I think I can squeeze in this post if I make this short.

I was thinking this might be a disappointment when I made this chili the night before we ate it. However, mixed with some Dreamfield pasta and a shredded cheese blend (provolone, mozzarella and cheddar, I think), this was surprisingly good. I usually like my chili with a tomato base and that probably would have made this even better but it was still quite good without it. If I hadn't made it myself I'm not sure I would have known this was venison.

I had a lot leftover and I think I'll use some of it for tacos on the weekend sometime. It reminds me a lot of taco meat, probably from all of that cumin (and I only used half of what the recipe called for).

I've been finding some good recipes in this cookbook but there is no index. That bugs the heck out of me.

Oh yes, since I completely forgot about the September Cookbook Giveaway, I'll give anyone who hasn't already signed up one more day to do so and then I'll pick a winner. After that I'll probably give it a break until I find another good cookbook to giveaway. It may just turn into a once and a while thing.

Today I'll skip the Blast From The Past.

Question of the Day: How do you like to eat chili? Straight? With pasta? With rice? With crackers? Any other way?