Around the world in 80 meatballs?

Hello All,


Thank you to my friends and family that have "liked" the facebook page.  Please encourage more friends to "like" and post your comments.  I know a large part of this blog is for my own entertainment but I do love cooking, cooking ideas, recipes, etc.  Please lets try to make this blog a bit more interactive.. I hope we all get more out of it that way.


On that note, check out this t-shirt: http://planetmomtshirts.com/benitomemita.html  I had to laugh!  But at $28 a t-shirt, a bit out of the budget!


Around the world in 80 meatballs!  Well, I ran out of time to roll and make all the meatballs, I am a foodie mom of 3.. So, I concocted something truly delicious last night and will use as a base protein for the rest of the week.  This is the key to my "foodie mom philosophy".. make one protein and use it in as many recipes throughout the week as possible.


I went shopping at my local "Whole Foods Market".  I was a little nervous because I am on a budget and they can be expensive.  I went there almost exclusively to check out their meat department.  I was not disappointed.  Beautiful meat, nice looking chickens, kosher chickens which I'm dying to try to see if there is a difference.. But alas I bought 2 pounds of ground beef 22% fat.  Why not just buy the chicken??  Well, my kids don't eat beef in any form.. I'll save the chicken for next week anticipating better results at the dinner table.  


What to do with 2 lbs of beef...  First, I sauteed a medium white onion in a few tablespoons of olive oil.  While that was cooking, I grated 2 large garlic cloves and threw that in when the onion was cooked clear.  When I could smell the garlic, next I crumbled in the 2 lbs of beef (which I had let come to room temp) and browned.  Then I drained most of the fat/oil out and returned to my pan. I put in 1.5 cups of hot beef broth, kosher salt, pepper and cumin to taste and simmered till the broth evaporated.  Just before the broth was gone (I mean you could see the bottom of the pan pretty clearly).. I put in 1/2 cup of spinach. I'm trying to sneak in veggies where I can and finished evaporating the broth.


I let it cool just a bit and put the majority of beef into a separate storage container for the rest of the week.   The remainder, I seasoned with chili powder, cayenne and a bit more cumin as filling for our Mexican (No. America) burrito filling!!


Find of the week!!!  While trolling the deli section of Whole Foods, I found something that I've never seen and will definitely be buying again!  Raw Tortillas! The tortillas are from "Tortilla Land".. "Fresh, Uncooked Tortillas: All Natural: Made with Canola Oil: No Cholesterol (huge concern for my family) and No Saturated Fat"!    You just heat them up in a dry skillet over medium heat for 30 sec per side! My house smelled AMAZING!  Definitely pick them up or ask your grocery store to carry them!


Tonight, going to Italy for some calzones!  Going to simmer my beef mixture in some home made tomato sauce and cook in refrigerated pre-made pie crusts!   


Talk to you soon.
T