Italian Mamma...

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....

I may look like an American, or a European from my ancestry but at heart I am an Italian Mamma which to my mind means this: I want to feed people. I want people to know that I love them by feeding them.

If ever I make something, I usually cannot just eat it... I have to share it. Ryan sometimes really dislikes this habit when I make us treats :) but today, I really feel like an Italian Mamma because I MADE MEATBALLS!!! :) We're having spaghetti, meatballs and salad for dinner and I'm very pleased with it all.

The Meatballs recipe is on their site. Just click under 'Our Favorite Recipes' and you'll find it under Kate's favorites. I altered the sauce recipe, because I like to sneak in a little more veggies. I added 1/2 c. pureed squash, 1/2 c. carrot pulp but other than that followed the sauce recipe. I made them Saturday and we had meatball sandwiches for lunch which were fabulous too!


I've never been the best at organizing meals and fell out of the habit altogether it seems after having Amy and Esther -- but I organized an entire weeks worth of dinners and have stuck to it! Much to Ryan's and my surprise. Can I just share a few of our favorite recipes from this week:

Many are to be found on the OUR BEST BITES blog, which you can link to on the right:

COWBOY QUESADILLAS -- the idea I got from Our Best Bites, and then altered it a bit.
Bought a bunch of chicken tenders, dumped them in the crockpot with light Zesty Italian dressing and a jar of home-made salsa. Turned on low and cooked for several hours. Result -- yummy, moist chicken. So, without further ado, the recipe:
whole wheat tortillas
chopped, lovely marinated and cooked chicken
shredded cheese
chopped red bell pepper
chopped green onion
can of rinsed black beans
can of rinsed corn

Mixed all those in amounts I liked... fairly evenly on the beans, corn, chicken, and cheese, with a small squirt of ranch. Cooked them on a medium high heat so the tortillas were nice and crispy. Cut with a pizza cutter into triangle wedges and dipped in a dip made of BBQ sauce and ranch about 50.50... going a little heavier on the ranch.
Result: EVERYONE loved them!

HEALTHY PUMPKIN OR YAM COOKIES
1 c. pumpkin puree or yam puree
1/2 c. applesauce
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 c. flour (whole wheat if you want to be even healthier)
2 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. chopped pecans (unless your daughter's allergic... we've been leaving these out since we found out she can't have pecans anymore)
3/4-1 c. chocolate chips (the original recipe calls for 1/2 c, but I like a little more chocolate than that :)

Bake at 350 for 11 minutes... till golden around the edges. Their drop cookies and look the same way coming out as you put them in. I usually make them fairly large. DELECTABLE!!

This one is for cleaning up after you've eaten:
ALL PURPOSE LAVENDER CLEANER
2 c. hot water
1 T. borax
1 T. washing soda
1/2 tsp castille soap
1/4-1/2 c. vinegar
30 drops lavender essential oil
Mix the water, borax and washing soda until well dissolved and cooled a bit. Add the rest, keeping in mind that you need a big enough container for the vinegar to react to the washing soda. Smells lovely!