Oven Baked Parmesan Meatballs with ALL the Fixen’s! (plus a little brag thrown in for good measure)

Today marks the end of my lil teenaged Munchkin’s self imposed “fast”!  I can’t TELL you how excited she’s been to eat real people food!  lol  For those of you who don’t know, she made a commitment to sacrifice or “fast” for 2 weeks.  It was something she felt she needed to do to show Jesus how much she appreciates his dying on the cross so that we can go to heaven.  She’s also been praying for His grace and guidance.  Fasting for Julia means that she eats only healthy food and mostly just raw vegetables, boiled eggs and lot’s of fish.  The best thing she’s had in the past few weeks was on Sunday, when I made chicken and rice soup!  Poor baby.

So today, she wants meat!  Lots and lots of meat!  hahaha  I let her choose what she wanted me to make. She chose meatballs and french fries.  NOT the most gourmet of meals but something I can do quickly, before she and her friend Hannah go to church tonight.  I need to stop here and tell you how EXTREMELY proud that she still looks at church as a fun, social activity.  ESPECIALLY when I’m just learning that another one of her bff’s (also 14) might be PREGNANT!  Once again, reminding me that it can ALWAYS be worse!  Wow.

Oven Baked Parmesan and Herb Meatballs

(revised by me from Pinterest)

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk or half and half

1/2 cup grated Parmesan (fresh is ALWAYS better)

1 cup Panko breadcrumbs (or regular but Panko is better)

1 small onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients together using your hands.  Form into golf ball sized meatballs .  Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil.  Bake in preheated oven, 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.

*  I’m eating these right now and they’re SO freaking tasty!  I wish you could smell my house 🙂  Smells like home!  lol

Okay, next I made my easy oven baked asparagus.  This is pretty much the ONLY way we ever cook asparagus anymore.

Oven Baked Parmesan Asparagus

Ingredients:

1 bunch of medium to small stemmed asparagus (with woody ends cut on the diagonal)

About 1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

About 1/4 to 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (eyeball it)

2 tsp salt

About 1 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

Toss asparagus with all other ingredients.  Make sure each piece of asparagus is covered with oil and seasoning.  Place asparagus onto a foil lined cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until bright green and cheese is melted.

Easy as THAT and I have 2 very happy munchkins and a husband that can’t wait to get home and eat it all up!  I’d tell you about the Ore Ida frozen french fries…. but I’m pretty sure you won’t be impressed with how I threw those babies in the oven for 30 minutes with season salt!  lmbo

Happy Eating to you 🙂

Restaurant Style File Mignon

You guys HAVE to know the secret to the absolute BEST way to do filet mignons!  It has NOTHING to do with the grill, either.  *shock*  Actually, any of my “foodie” friends may already know this but it’s something new to me and I feel compelled to share 🙂  I teased you with a pic on my hubby’s birthday post.

This is a revised recipe I got off of Pinterest.  If you haven’t tried cooking steaks this way, PLEASE do yourself a favor and give it a whirl.  I PROMISE you that all your family and friends will think you’re the bomb!  You know how you go to your favorite steak house and the steak is better than anything you could grill, ever?  Yeah, this is how you do it!

Restaurant Style Pan Seared Filet Mignon

Ingredients:

4 8 oz filet mignons

4 tsp sea salt

8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

2 sticks butter

2 TBSP olive oil

4 cloves chopped fresh garlic

2 TBSP dried parsley

2 TBSP dried thyme

Zest of 1/2 lemon

Directions:

Take 1 stick of butter, softened.  Mix well with garlic, thyme, parsley and lemon zest.  Form into a log and chill.  Generously season each side of the filets with salt and pepper (approximately 1 tsp of BOTH salt and pepper per side – TRUST me, it sounds like a lot of salt but the salt acts to form the crust on the steak and you really DO need it).  Heat the other stick of butter and the olive oil in a CAST IRON skillet to a SCREAMING HOT temperature.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Sear the filets in the extremely hot skillet for about 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until a nice brown crust forms.  While the steaks are searing, continuously spoon the butter from the pan on top of the steaks.  When the steaks are done searing, place in the preheated oven (center rack) in the same cast iron skillet.  Cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until the temperature reads 135 degrees (medium rare).  During the last minute of cooking, take that delicious herb butter that should be chilling and glob a generous dab of butter on each steak.  The butter won’t be melted ALL the way when you’re ready to take out of the oven.  Let steak sit for 5 minutes before you serve.  The juices will stay inside the steak this way.

*135 degrees is medium rare.  Obviously not everyone likes the cows to be still mooing so cook a little longer if you don’t like that much red.  I think if you’re going to spend the money on filet mignon, you shouldn’t over cook it.  You’ll want that tender flavor.  135 degrees is PERFECT for us 🙂

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits

I guess this is going to be a FOOD kind of day.  It seems to be the only thing I want to blog about.  In my defense…  it’s snowy and cold.  The only thing we really want to do is curl up under the blankets and EAT!  lol  along with this (Irish Guinness Beef Stew) I felt like I needed a bread to go with.  I’ve been meaning to try a recipe I found on Pinterest for a while now and today gave me the PERFECT excuse.  Let me tell you, it wasn’t a mistake!  OMG! These are TO DIE FOR and taste EXACTLY the way we know they SHOULD taste!  Now I bring you:

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups Bisquick biscuit mix
2/3 cup milk (I used evaporated because that’s all I had)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley

Method:

Preheat oven to 450 degree. Mix biscuit mix, milk, and cheddar cheese until soft dough forms; beat vigorously for 30 seconds. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix melted butter, garlic powder, and dried parsley; brush generously over warm biscuits before removing from cookie sheet. Serve warm. Make 10-12 biscuits.

Have a comfy, cozy night!

Penne and Smoked Sausage

Every now and then I come across something on Pinterest that works.  This is one of those times.  For dinner last night, I had some polish sausage that I needed to use.  I found this recipe on Pinterest that was taken from http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Penne-and-Smoked-Sausage.  I’ll have to admit it didn’t look as amazing as it tasted.  I doubled the recipe and between the 3 of us, more than half of it was eaten.  VERY tasty!  Of course, I added more cheese (cheddar) but other than that, I didn’t have to make any modifications.  This one’s a winner:-)  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Penne and Smoked Sausage

Penne and Smoked Sausage

• Prep: 15 min. Bake: 30 min.
• Yield: 6 Servings

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Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked penne pasta
• 1 pound smoked sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1-1/2 cups 2% milk
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of celery soup, undiluted
• 1-1/2 cups cheddar french-fried onions, divided (*I used French’s French Fried Onions – regualr flavor cause that’s what I had)
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided (*I added about a cup of cheddar cheese to the mozzarella cause that’s what I like!)
• 1 cup frozen peas

Directions

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown sausage over medium heat for 5 minutes; drain. In a large bowl, combine milk and soup. Stir in 1/2 cup onions, 1/2 cup cheese, peas and sausage. Drain pasta; stir into sausage mixture.
• Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Cover and bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with remaining onions and cheese. Bake, uncovered, 3-5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Yield: 6 servings.