SUNDAY SUMMATIONS

Affirmation:
I am fearfully and wonderfully made

I have kept my journal every day so far. But I find that I really don’t like keeping track of the journal…both what I eat and keeping track of where the journal is. (grins) I always seems to be where I am not when I need to record something in it.

But it is showing me something. I do eat less when I keep track. I am more aware of my hunger levels. I am more able to tap into that self dialogue where I ask myself if I am really hungry or if I just want something else. Right now I am realizing that my pain level affects my desire to eat. I think that it will distract me from the pain, or maybe it is that I feel the need to soothe myself or that I deserve a little something something because I am hurting.

I have also realized that how important it is for me to make meal plans. It helps me so much with the “I don’t feel like cooking tonight, let’s order pizza” syndrome. I also am finding that using the crock pot to cook dinner in is also a lifesaver. Getting the dinner on first think in the morning, I feel like cooking more then. The trick is to find ways to make those recipes healthy. I have found a few that I have adapted.

Tonight’s crock pot recipe is Pasta Sauce with Meatballs. This is a really easy one. I get the Italian meatballs at Sam’s. But you could make your own. Cooking them long and slow in the pasta sauce makes them taste wonderful. I usually cook enough for 2 meals (for mom and me) and have enough meatballs and sauce left over for Meatball poorboy sandwichs at lunch one day.

Quickie Crock Pot Meatballs in Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:
1 large bottle of your favorite pasta sauce (I use the large bottles from sam’s of Clasico sweet basil)
10-15 meatballs, depending on size, thawed
½ cup water to wash out pasta sauce jar

Toss everything in crock pot on high until hot and turn to low and cook until supper. Because all the ingredients are already cooked you can cook this for as long as you want, but at least 2-3 hours to develop flavors.

NOTES: I have made this with cut up Italian Sausage and added sliced green pepper and onions to the sauce. Yummm.

Italian Poorboy Sandwiches

Ingredients:

Crusty hoagie buns
3-5 meatballs (or as many as you need to fill the size of your bun)
spoonful of sauce
sprinkling of mozzarella cheese
Warm meatballs and sauce in micro or on the stove top (if cold). Add the meatballs to the bun in a nice little row. Spoon some of the sauce over it and sprinkle with the cheese. Run under the broiler until cheese is melted. Serve…careful not to burn your mouth on the hot cheese!

FRIDAY FOOD FINDS

On Fridays I plan to talk about food finds. This is a broad category that can cover whatever catches my whimsy. I may talk about favorite foods, include a new recipe, a new cookbook, a new food I tried, someone else’s blog post about a food or cooking technique, whatever catches my eye. I hope you like it and find it useful.

Today I want to talk about one of my favorite herbs. Basil. I can’t say enough about fresh basil. And this summer my pot of basil outdid itself, I have enough to make tons of pesto to freeze for the winter. Which is good because the Japanese Beetles helped themselves to my basil this year gorging themselves. The little buggers!

Pesto, my most favorite thing to make out of basil is quick and easy to make and freezes well. I make big batches every summer and freeze them in the little snack sized ziplock baggies in about 1/3 cup portions. This is enough for a sauce for 2 servings of pasta or veggies.

Pesto is great as a sauce over pasta, veggies, boiled potatoes, and as a dollop in most soups. I even add it to my favorite jarred pasta sauce to freshen it up a bit. It is also great on crostini: oven toast slices of a good italian bread, rub with a clove of raw garlic while still hot, add a drizzle of olive oil, add a slice of tomato and top with a dollop of pesto.

Here is my favorite recipe, inspired by Ilva over at Lucullian Delights.

My recipe is very loose and depends on my mood. I do it by handfuls, don’t be afraid of this method, you just can’t screw up making pesto.

BASIL PESTO

In a food processor add:

A few generous handfuls of basil leaves
A couple cloves of garlic (depending on how strong the garlic is and how much you love garlic, you can use more or less)
A smallish handful of toasted pine nuts. (you can also use walnuts)
A generous handful of grated (or not, smallish chunks work too) parmesan cheese (you can also use pecorino or asagio)

Start the food processor and through the feeding tube add:

Olive Oil In a slow stream until it loosens up to your liking.

Add some Salt and pulse a few times to mix.

Done!!

Sometimes I like to add a fresh ripe tomato before I add the oil. You will use less oil and I love the flavor. Besides basil and tomatoes are a match made in heaven!

I have also been known to throw in a few pieces of roasted red pepper too.

Make sure you toast the pine nuts (in the oven or in a dry fry pan), it increases the flavor. Play with the ingredient ratios until you find the taste you love. Use good, no great olive oil for this recipe.
Yummm Pesto. Now I am off to harvest my crop and make some pesto. Maybe I can get one more growth in before winter. A girl can’t have enough pesto on hand.