The kitchen was hopping again yesterday, but only one recipe was a new one.
Early in the afternoon I put a pot of marinara on the stove to simmer all day long. Later in the day, I made a double batch of Cooking Light's Beef Meatballs. We had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and I still have a sauce and 2 more meal's worth of meatballs left to stock the freezer.
The new recipe for the day was a batch of whole grain cranberry muffins from King Arthur. These have great taste - orange and cranberry are a classic combination - but they turned out a bit dry. My timer didn't get started right away, so it's possible that I overcooked them a bit. Funny though, lots of cranberry recipes, especially cranberry bread, I've tried have turned out dry. If careful timing doesn't work, I would consider upping the oil a bit.
Once again, I didn't get around to the apple butter and decided that I'd have to start it in the morning and let it cook all day instead of overnight. By the time I finish cooking dinner and cleaning up, I'm not usually all that fond of messing it up all over again. Plus, Desperate Housewives was on last night and we all have priorities, right? I considered skipping the apple butter altogether, but I still had quite a few apples left and they were looking a little bruised, so I trudged on. It's a really easy recipe and the boys have been clamoring for it.
I had planned to make apple muffins today, but as I was sending the apples through my nifty apple peeler, I realized that I only had one apple left after making the apple butter. So, I decided to make some cookies for our guests this weekend, but found I was out of peanut butter. Sigh. I'll make the cookies later tonight after I hit the store and I'll post them tomorrow, along with the apple muffins.
Before I sign off for the day, I'm resurrecting this recipe as a submission to Sweetnicks' 5th "I'll Show You Mine, If You Show Me Yours" round-up. This time around, she's asking about our "go-to" dish for entertaining. I had a hard time answering this one. I tend to make something different every time I entertain, rarely repeating dishes for guests more than a couple of times. And then you have to figure in the seasons. My go-to dishes for summer are quite different than my go-to dishes for winter, for example. But, I had to pick one, so here it is. Beef and Chicken Fajitas with Peppers and Onions.
These are a big crowd pleaser. Not only are they delicious, but fajitas are an easy, tasty way to feed a large (or small) group and appeal to lots of different tastes. You provide the ingredients and the guests get to make their dinner to order. You can also do most of the prep work the day before, another big plus when you're entertaining. Don't forget to check in at Sweetnicks later this week for the round-up.
That's it for today.....see you tomorrow.............
Tags: meatballs, low fat, Cooking Light, marinara, apple butter, fajitas, recipes
Never heard of that sauce on the CL BB. Only joking -- your famous. I am going to try those meatballs. How convenient to have them for upcoming dinners. Do you freeze them already baked, and do you defrost them overnight before heating them in a sauce. I wonder if you can freeze in some sauce? Love reading your blog!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think there might have been a uprising if one more person asked a question about that sauce! ;)
ReplyDeleteI do bake the meatballs first, then freeze. It's nice to get all the mess out of the way. I tend to bake them for a little less time than the recipe calls for because I usually warm them up in some of the sauce and I don't want them to get overcooked.
I don't usually defrost them first - I just throw them in a pot with some sauce and gently heat. I'll bet you could freeze them right in the sauce - great idea. I like to keep them in a ziplco bag so that I can use them for other things if I want to - like a meatball hero or something.
Thanks for stopping by. :)