Recipe: Two Ingredient Cookies.

I ran across this website on a friend's facebook page, and I couldn't wait to give it a try!  And I already had the ingredients, so I couldn't use that as an excuse not to bake right?  So I got to baking straight away.

The recipe truly calls for TWO main ingredients - bananas and oats.  And then you can add in whatever mix ins you want.  Sounds easy right?  Well, it sure was!  All I needed was a bowl and the main ingredients and I was able to mash it up with my hands.  I didn't even use a spoon!

I got the main recipe from The Burlap Bag, and then I added my mix-ins - semi sweet chocolate chips, cinnamon, and almonds.  The second time I made them I added in dark chocolate chunks, almonds, walnuts, cinnamon, and vanilla.  I think I liked the second batch better!

First batch ingredients - minus the cinnamon

Ingredients

• 2 large bananas (can be a few days old for easier mashing)
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• mix-ins of your choice

Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes on a greased cookie sheet or you can use parchment paper.  Truly DON'T forget the grease/parchment paper.  I did on the second batch and I set off the smoke alarm...twice.

I diced the almonds and combined the ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Pre-mixing.

And then I mixed it all up with my hands - that was the fun part!  Post-mixing.

Either grease the pan or use parchment paper - I opted for the parchment paper.  Pre-cooking.

Post-cooking - this is the second batch.  Don't those chocolate chunks look delicious.

With my first batch, I made about 10 cookies, and those cookies didn't last long in our house.  

So I doubled the recipe the second time around.  We will see how long those last us!

Happy baking!

Xoxo,

Malia

Turkey Meatballs.

It rained ALL day on Wednesday, which meant Jack and I weren't able to go out for a long walk on the beach, not that we would have anyways, but you get the point.  And I'm still housebound with the little guy.  He has been outside and to various homes, but we have not ventured out into a public place with him just yet.  We are trying our best to follow the Drs. orders, but let me tell you IT IS REALLY HARD!   All I want to do is take Jack to Babies "R" Us, during the day, where I will prance around and show him off to anyone who looks my way and inform them that yes, I really do have a baby.

So what's a girl to do with herself when it rains??  Well, make and bake some items of course.  However, my options were limited considering I could only work with what I had in the fridge and in the cupboards.  And after rifling through possible ingredients, I decided I would make turkey meatballs.   And I had a vague idea as to what might go into making the meatballs, but I figured I should play it safe and look up a few recipes online because that is what I do.  I find a few recipes online and then I decide which one I like best, and maybe take bits and pieces from a few and then improvise the rest.

I landed on these two recipes - Giada's recipe from the Food Network and a random one from AllRecipes.

Giada's Ingredients
1 small onion, grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
3 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound ground dark turkey meat

Check out the website for more detailed instructions.

Random Recipe Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg, beaten
20 ounce package ground turkey
1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

Check out the website for more detailed instructions.

And after comparing both recipes, I realized I had all the ingredients for the Random Recipe, but Giada's called for some speciality things that I just didn't have.  So I improvised!

My VERY Specific Ingredients
a handful of spinach, finely chopped
1 egg
ground turkey
1 onion diced
2 slices of bread - made my own crumbs with my food processor
dash of salt
lots of pepper
additional seasoning
a few squirts of ketchup 
olive oil or oil alternative for baking sheet

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a baking sheet with olive oil (I used coconut oil), and place it in the oven while preheating.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together ALL of the ingredients (minus the olive oil - that's just for the baking sheet) using your hands.

3. Form the meat into golf sized meatballs.  Place about 1 inch apart in the hot baking dish.  Press down to flatten the bottom just slightly.

4. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn them over, and continue baking for about 5 more minutes, or until somewhat crispy on the outside.  Serve with pasta and sauce or however you'd like.  We actually just eat them on their own with a salad on the side.

And you can also cook the meatballs on the stove.  However, I prefer to put them in the oven, then I don't have to standby and supervise, but you do have to remember to check on them otherwise they will burn or set the smoke alarm off and no I'm not speaking from experience (insert smiley face here).

Enjoy!

Canning.

One of the benefits of owning a home, well owning our home, is the fruit trees in our backyard and our huge supply of tomatoes!  This year, we had to figure out what to do with it all.  I made a ton of pasta sauce and we made applesauce, but after eating those items for a week or so, we decided it was high time we got a bit more creative.

So we decided, or maybe I should say Peter decided, to make homemade apple jam, and that he did!  What you see below is our second batch of jam.  We planted ourselves on our couch one Sunday afternoon and peeled and diced apples.  We then threw those diced bits into a pot with sugar, cinnamon, a little bit of lemon juice, and a bit of pectin and boiled it on the stove, and before we knew it we had apple jam!  Fun huh?  And super easy, just slightly time consuming, but I suppose that's expected right?

















And what's a girl that loves Mexican food to do with so many tomatoes?  Well make salsa of course!  We boiled the tomatoes in hot water for a bit and then submerged them in ice cold water to get the skins off - it worked like a charm!  And we learned a new trick.  While sitting in those same planted positions on the couch, we diced up peppers, jalapenos, onions, tomatoes, and then cooked all those ingredients with the tomatoes in a pan on the stove for a bit, then placed it in the fridge to let it chill.  And we canned it the next day!

And there you have it...and now we have apple jam, apple butter, and salsa in our cupboard.

Shepherd's Pie.

Yum...doesn't that look delicious??  Well it was...and my stomach is growling as I look at that photo.   I don't know about you all, but I am a sucker for Shepherd's Pie - maybe that's because I'm married to an Irishman?  Who knows!  But what I do know is that I love it.

We add all sorts of things to ours and we don't really follow a recipe.  I am a normally a major recipe follower, but Peter is adamantly against them when it comes to Shepherd's pie.

So most recipes call for ground beef, however, we have been substituting ground beef for turkey meat these days.  And yes, it does taste a little different, but I think it's better for you, or so I'm told!  And as you can see - we cut up carrots, onions, green beans and corn and added them to the mix.   You can really put anything in there - and just cook it all up and add whatever spices you want.

And then when all is said and done you place the ingredients in a baking dish and cover them with mashed potatoes and cheese!  All that sounds delicious right?  Well, Peter and I decided that we wanted to change things up a bit and cut back a bit on our potato intake.  So what is that white stuff on top you ask??  I mean it sure looks a lot like potatoes right??

I am sure you are all just dying to know!  Have you guessed yet?  It's pureed cauliflower!  I told Peter weeks ago that some people use cauliflower as a mashed potato substitute and he couldn't believe it.  So I set out to prove it to him, and found this Shepherd's Pie recipe, from Mark's Daily Apple.  And it was good people!  I couldn't even believe it!

So for all those shepherd's pie lovers out there...I would definitely recommend that you give cauliflower a try.  You might miss your potatoes just a little bit, but hey at least you tried it right??

xoxo,

Malia

It's the Little Things.

So I thought I would start my week off right by sharing about the little things that brightened up my life last week or maybe I should say this past weekend!

And as I was thinking about what to post - I realized I hadn't taken that many pictures this week!

My weekends consist of making and baking all sorts of edible goodies to get us through the week.  Don't get me wrong, I love making things but it can be so time consuming during the week after a LONG day of work.  So I have started a new tradition of making all sorts of things on the weekend to eat throughout the week, whether it's for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  And I must say - it's been one of the best things that's happened to our family and it's been really great for my sanity!

And here are a few of the items from this past week/weekend...Pancakes on Fat Tuesday!  The rest are items made over the weekend (chili, quiche, and seasoned pork in the crockpot - love that thing!)

Peter and I had the privilege of babysitting last week - and we just love this little munchkin!  Isn't she the cutest?  Look at those teeth!  We love babysitting, or maybe it's just me and I am really good at convincing Peter to come along?  Who knows!  But I do know that it is a beautiful way to get a glimpse of parenthood and it doesn't hurt to get a few lessons in diaper changing right?  And the beautiful bonfire on our new patio - came home to this on Thursday night - what a great way to spend time with the husband!  Gosh I love that man!

First time buying GIANT bottle of wine - had to document it with a picture of course!  I needed wine for a recipe and figured I should just buy the giant one since it was such a good deal ($8.99 at Fred Meyer, and the smaller one was $4.99 - you decide!) And the husband's homemade Oscar ballots - looks like I have alot of movies to watch!  Good thing I get them for free at the library!

Until next week...

xoxo,

Malia

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