How I Spent my Sunday

Sunday was really dreary and rainy and chilly - it seems to be the norm, at least more often than not this fall. I decided to spend my afternoon in the kitchen. I started off with my new favorite cookies. These puppies are so good, I will never make a single batch again. I have been heating one up each night with just a few bites of vanilla ice cream, and think life may never be the same again. If MP tries to eat more than his allotted half, then he better watch out! Bless his heart, heaven knows how he manages to live with my and my "only child" weird food/eating ways.

Next up...I needed to use up some cauliflower that was about to bite the dust, so I tried this recipe on another blog I have recently discovered (thanks, facebook!). It was pretty tasty, but next time, I think I won't have the caraway seeds - I know they typically go well with curry, but I think it's one of those flavors that I will go ahead and admit is not one of my favorites. That said, this turned out as a great side dish. In fact, I think I could just add some cubed lamb to it and have a fantastic and easy dinner on my hands.

Next up - wheat muffins. Again, a recipe that I think will become an old standby. I am really going to try to make my own yeast rolls in the next week or so, but these guys are so quick and easy - not to mention the MP loves them. I know they're not a cibatta roll full of white flour and preservatives, but at $3.50 per 6 of those - not to mention the poor health of the grocery store option - I am going to try to provide most of our own bread in-house so to speak.

Finally dinner! From the farmer's market, Pasta Italia, the best ever fresh pasta. By the time the market closes for winter, this pasta will be available year round at HyVee and Schucks. I am so glad, I had been starting to hoarde it in the freezer, worried I wouldn't be able to get it. The spaghetti was coupled with a simple tomato/meatball sauce. I just sauteed some garlic in oil, added 3 cans of fire roasted tomatoes, a little oregano, basil and thyme. I let that cook down for about 20 minutes while I made the meatballs with an egg, about a third of a cup of milk, a cup of whole wheat crusty breadcrumbs, fresh parsley and 1lb of ground beef. I formed about 20 meatballs, and then dropped them into the tomato sauce, covering them, and cooked that for about 10 minutes. The leftovers for lunch today weren't bad either...