MEATBALLS ALL DAY

This was actually the tastiest pasta/meatballs I have ever made. I don't know why Pioneer Woman isn't a religion. I would praise like there was no tomorrow. I would follow her ways and pray that her humble spirit guides my fingers and senses while experimenting with every type of indulging deliciousness she provides. Everything that I have made from her website, I mean EVERYTHING, has been delicious. Do it. Try it. Grow some chest hair and just make these meatballs. They require zero effort. You can make them ahead and freeze them later. I usually end up making a huge batch and freezing half because they are that ridiculous. After one bite, you will be in your chair, laughing a big burly laugh, with chest hair and all, thinking you're a better cook than your coworkers. Go ahead, scoff at them.

Crispy boyfriend really enjoyed this meal sandwiched between two King's Hawaiian rolls. He had never had King's Hawaiian anything before. He, evidently, hasn't lived. I added red pepper to the meatballs, I like the spicies. We also drizzled a bit of olive oil on the rolls and heated them under the broiler for a bit. It provided a tasty crispiness.

P Dub's Mini Meatballs
Adapted from Pioneer Woman

1 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 clove of garlic
1/2 tsp salt
shake of pepper
1 egg
1/2 a small onion
olive oil for frying
slider rolls

Mix all ingredients together, leaving out the olive oil and onions. Roll into mini meatballs. You can freeze them at this point or go straight to cooking. Dice the onion and sauté. Brown the meatballs in the pan with onions. Add your favorite tomato sauce, I chose tomato and basil and added red pepper flakes. Place the meatballs on the rolls with a little sauce. Serve warm.

Carne Asada Reminiscence

I've had a pretty good week, so far. Work is, actually, working out for me, again. I'm enjoying my time there. It's an on-off, love-hate relationship with work. He gets a little boring. You know how writers can suffer from writers' block? Yeah, well I'm encountering a cooking block. Cookers' block. Whatever. I've lost the need to cook. I feel useless. The other night, I was so damn lazy, I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. I had food. I had the meats and the unmeats (wtf unmeats), the produce, the seasonings, the flavorfuls, the I-couldn't-live-my-life-without-this utensils. I just couldn't put it together. So in the time, I was preparing almost nothing for dinner, I was remembering how I used to eat carne asada fries all the time. In high school. Of course I was skinnier then, and my metabolism faster, but really, ALL the time. My little threesome and I walked down to the taco shop after school, bought a whole order, walked back up to the lunch area, and ate. There was no way we could possibly down an order for each of us. It was pretty shameful to eat a whole plate of carne asada fries. I mean, carbs, fat, cheese, sour cream, and more cheese. I think the guacamole was cancelled out. With that being said, this was probably the most unhealthy yet popular dish in high school. This and a California burrito, which is basically carne asada fries wrapped in a burrito. Hooray for carbs. 

Carne Asada Fries

Adapted from Simply Recipes

1 lb thin cut meat

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 jalapeño, diced

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 handful of cilantro

1 lime, juiced

1 tbsp white vinegar

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

half a bag of frozen french fries

guacamole

sour cream

shredded mexican cheese

lots of hot sauce!

Mix all the marinade ingredients together and let the meat sit overnight. Before cooking the meat, prepare the fries. While the fries are cooking, grill or pan fry the meat. When the meat is done, dice then sprinkle on top a plate of fries. Spread guacamole over the meat, then the sour cream, and finally the cheese. Place under the broiler for two minutes, until the cheese is melted. Add hot sauce and enjoy!

Stress relieving Teriyaki Salmon

My week has gotten of to a REALLY bad start. Parents, friends, school, work and health. Alla dat. Right before Crispy Boyfriend left to Atlanta, we made this recipe. NOT GOOD. We had actually used Kikkoman's Teriyaki marinade. Do not touch. Tastes nothing like teriyaki and more like regular soy sauce. I had mixed it with a little sambal and I'd like to think that was the only ingredient that gave the fish any type of flavor. It was agreed that the fish wasn't bad, but very salty. I think it's safe to say it received a 5 from me. Browsing around All Recipes, I found an interesting teriyaki marinade that consisted of cinnamon. The sweet and the spicy made me quite happy. I jumped around for joy after the first bite.

Teriyaki Salmon
From All Recipes

1 tbsp + 1 tsp water
1 tbsp + 1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp + 1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp garlic
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp sambal (optional)

1/2 lb of salmon filets

Mix all the ingredients. Let the salmon filets marinade for about a half hour to an hour. I let them sit for an hour. When ready to cook, pour the remaining marinade over the fish and smother the sambal on top if using.

For the oven, bake at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes. For the grill, cook on medium until the fish is firm when you poke it. Pour heated marinade over warm rice.

Good times with Cake Balls

As I promised, the cake balls. I used red velvet cake mix but you can really do whatever you want here. Chocolate cake/chocolate frosting, spice cake/cream cheese frosting, strawberry cake/white chocolate coating. Get creative. My best friend was ridiculously excited about making these, it was ridiculous. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and these did not come out to that perfection. However, Nikki believed the only thing that mattered was how they tasted in her mouth, not how they looked. That, being related to my coworkers, was true. Throughout the day I kind of sat back and watched what happened. They went nuts. Their eyes were big and body movement was jittery. They weren't cake balls anymore, they were crack balls. While this isn't entirely true, it's how I remembered it. One of my coworkers came up to me and a friend while hanging out around the registers being lazy, and crazed about them. Her eyes were huge. It was a little creepy. She said she was confused at first, thinking they were chocolate covered cherries, then the cake fisted her face. Everyone started wondering who the hell made them, so I finally spoke up. And of course, they all asked for a written copy of the recipe thinking there was some crazy cooking science involved. CAKE and FROSTING, DONE.

Even today, after a week, people asked for the recipe. Another in particular who asked if I made them. Yes. They were SO GOOD. While she was saying this, her eyes grew huge and her head tilted back. The only thing I was thinking was, "Oh god, don't hurt me."

Nice and frosty.

Cake Balls
From Bakerella

1 box of cake mix
1 can cream cheese frosting
1 package of almond bark

Bake the cake according to directions on the box. Let it completely cool, then crumble. Don't crumble too much or you won't have nice cakey chunks. Add as much frosting to your liking. Also, add enough to make sure the consistency is strong enough to hold a ball form. Freeze for two to three hours. Melt chocolate and start coating! Freeze for about a half hour. Enjoy!