Finally, I’m willing to admit that my garden is done for the season. I’ve harvested all it had to offer and preserved much of it for future meals. One of the vegetables that my garden provided in abundance this year was tomatillos. These plants seem …
I admit I’ve been less than motivated these past few weeks. In part, I blame our out of character April weather patterns bringing a ridiculous dumping of snow upon my Minnesota backyard. The rest of my time has been spent preparing my seedlings in their …
I rarely post noodle style meals. I’m just not a huge noodle eater and tend to lean towards rice in most cases. These skinny ramen noodles that I recently discovered, however, have me indulging in EVERYTHING noodle. These are a millet and rice based ramen that is absolutely perfect for this lemongrass pork noodle bowl.
Before you lecture me about how terrible traditional ramen is for you (it is)… these are not your college cuisine style instant ramen made with wheat and preservatives. These ramen noodles are made from organic rice and millet… and that’s it! Two ingredients. Too delicious to pass up. Millet and rice are naturally gluten-free grains that taste amazing together. This natural grain pairing has a slight nutty flavor and these noodles don’t turn out mushy after cooking (unless you let them sit too long, of course, like any other noodle). They also have a fast cooking time so if you were to make the lemongrass pork meatballs in advance, this whole meal can come together in 15 minutes!
The main punch of flavor in this lemongrass pork noodle bowl is bursting with citrus notes from the infusion of lemongrass paste in the meatballs as well as a hit of lime in the sauce. Rounding out the Asian goodness is a bit of heat from chilies, ginger and garlic paired with the tangy saltiness of a traditional fish sauce. The lemongrass pork meatballs can easily be made in advance and either refrigerated or frozen. Just reheat them and toss them in the noodle bowl with the quick cooking rice ramen and you have a nearly instant dinner for those busy weeknights!
This week my littlest little went off to kindergarten embarking on a new adventure for himself and spreading his wings. Of course, that makes me a little teary-eyed because the house feels a little too quiet but I welcome the change. I’ve been home with …
Oh man, you guys are in for a treat! These may not be one-hundred percent authentic Mexican but dang are they good. You will NOT be disappointed. This recipe originally comes from my sister so I have to give her credit for the basic rub …
I can’t believe I’m constructing a rooster tail out of chicken wire and feather boas right now. The hubby has a work trip next week which includes attending a costume party so in true form, he wants to go as a giant, ahem, “rooster” except that’s not the word he used 😉 He’s got himself a rooster hat, a rooster themed tee shirt and I’m in charge of using my skills from my former years in the apparel industry by fashioning him a rooster tail that attaches to his belt. It’s a pretty comical sight. A sight that I nonetheless need a break from for a little slice of heaven. Right now, nothing says “heaven” to me besides this perfectly spiced pork tenderloin with tomatillo sauce.
Pork tenderloin is the best cut of meat you can get from a hog if you ask me. Not only is it very tender, but the tenderloin is also lower in fat content while still providing tons of flavor. It’s easy to roast with any combination of spices. In this case, I used a Cajun spice blend with a touch of smoked salt. I then sliced it and covered it with tomatillo salsa, corn kernels and pickled jalapeños, both compliments of my abundant garden. Paired with cilantro lime rice it’s a winning dinner combination!
I swear I must have been a prepper in a past life. My husband too for that matter. Lately he’s all about doing/fixing/building/repurposing things for ourselves when he can and has decided to take up blacksmithing as a hobby. I am highly supportive of creative physical hobbies that also happen …
Two weeks to go until we are supposed to close on our new house and the appraisal isn’t scheduled until next week which means we may not close on time and we need to close by the end of May. If we can’t, we then …
It’s a comfort food kind of day. We’re in the process of selling our house so it’s been a challenge to keep the house clean and still manage to cook and so forth between showings. I swear, all I’m doing these days is cleaning, and re-cleaning, and cleaning again. I will be so glad when that’s over!!! Comfort food comes in all kinds of varieties. Most of the time, it just needs to be warm and delightfully savory. Something simple I could imagine my grandmother cooking for me even if it’s not exactly the same as her recipe would have been. Like this spaghetti squash and meatballs. The meatballs are an old recipe that I’ve altered slightly and of course, pouring them over spaghetti squash is super healthy. Put these little delicious meatballs over rice noodles and they are equally as fabulous. Or eat them without noodles… like appetizer style with a toothpick.
If you’ve never tried a spaghetti squash it’s really about time that you do. First let me preface this by saying I hate squash. I never liked it growing up and haven’t liked it as an adult. I was prompted to try it mostly cuz it looked fun. Anytime you can shred something and play with food it qualifies as a good new adventure to me! So I found a nice freshly picked spaghetti squash at a local farm’s pumpkin patch. Next came the chore of figuring out how to cut it in half for easy baking. It takes a little force but here’s the easiest way I’ve found to do it. Slice the stem end off to make a flat surface. Then stand it on that end and rock a large chef’s knife through the center while pressing down to break it into two halves. Scoop out the seeds, and place it cut side down on a baking sheet to bake.
It will essentially steam itself this way with the moisture from within. Once the outer skin of the squash gives to the touch, then you take it out of the oven and scrape it with a fork. It’ll shred into spaghetti looking strands like magic!
Of course, while the squash is baking, you’d be smart to mix up the meatballs and form them into small little orbs of goodness. These get a slow simmer in a simple tomato sauce and then served over the squash. The flavor of the squash is so mild that it takes on the flavor of whatever you put onto it so you’d never know you’re eating something so healthy. It won me over! If you want to be fancy, try placing a piece of mozzarella inside each meatball. It’s amazingly good!! You can also crockpot these little meatballs as an appetizer. Just form them, put them in a crock pot with the tomato sauce and let them cook 6-8 hours until cooked through.
