Meatballs with some Spaghetti

There are few meals my daughter will eat without any complaints these days, but spaghetti with meatballs is definitely one of them.  She's always been a fan of the spaghetti, we have wonderful pictures of her from maybe around 18 months old with spaghetti sauce all over her face and down her belly.  That love has never wavered.

I recently began adding the meatballs.  In fact, until recently we had vegetarian spaghetti more often than not.  The occasional ground hot link italian sausage, maybe, but I'd never tried meatballs.  They had never been in my family book of food.  They were just something to be seen in movies, like Lady and the Tramp.

With that understanding, I went on a mission to make some meatballs.  I purchased some ground turkey a month or so ago and had portioned it out to about 1/2 lb a bag.  That's a good amount of meat for dishes like spaghetti, casserole, stir fry, etc.  Let meat and more veggies are always the key.  It also allows you to purchase better quality meat because you are using less in your meals.

These meatballs are moist and super delicious with or without spaghetti sauce.  I could definitely see them holding up as an appetizer too.

Turkey Meatballs

1/2 lb ground turkey

1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs

1 egg

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

2 Tbsp non-dairy plain milk 

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp pepper

Heat your oven to 400 degrees.
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.  Shape mixture into about twenty 1 inch meatballs.  Place in an ungreased pan (13 x 9 x 2 inches).  Bake uncovered about 20 minutes or until no longer pink in center and juice is clear.

To add to spaghetti; make your favorite sauce, add meatballs, cover and let simmer for half an hour.  Serve over pasta.

Spinach Empanadas

I ended January well with my budget.  I ended up going over by some, because my favorite raw honey was on sale at Whole Foods, so I stocked up.  On the bright side though, I shouldn't have to buy any more honey for a couple months. 

Empanadas are a favorite around this house, both to eat and make.  You can basically fill them with anything you want and they are going to turn out great.  You have a couple dough choices too, a regular pie crust and baking (kinda calzone like), or using a masa dough and frying (as pictured above).   

Economically speaking, you really can't beat spinach empanadas.  Some chopped spinach, a little tomato sauce or tofu cream cheese, some seasonings... BAM! a taste explosion.  I tend to make the fried version more often than the baked simply because there is something about fried foods that excite my little one.  My daughter happily eats her spinach empanadas, whereas spinach in anything else creates plenty of complaints.  

As always, this is using organic products.  Frozen spinach, canned organic tomatoes, and Bob's Red Mill Masa Harina Corn Flour.  16 empanadas for around $3.75.  I usually eat 4, my daughter eats 2, and my husband eats 6 (our son isn't ready for these yet).  It goes well with some rice, or stir fried potatoes.  A zesty salad is always nice too.

Spinach Empanadas

Dough:

1 cup Masa Harina flour

1/4 cup All purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2/3 to 3/4 cup warm water 

Enough oil to fry in

Fillings:

1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1/4 cup tomato sauce

2 tsp garlic salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

In a mixing bowl, mix the two flours and salt.  Slowly add enough of the water to make a soft dough, just shy of being sticky.  Gently knead the dough a few times on a lightly floured surface, roll into a ball and set aside.  In another bowl, mix the filling ingredients.  Set aside.  Begin heating your frying oil.  Fill a small bowl with water and set that aside too.  

Bring your ball of dough to the floured surface again and roll out to a log shape.  Slice dough into 16 even pieces.  Create a balls with the dough pieces.  Roll out the balls into about 3 inch diameter circles.  In the center or each circle, place about 2 tsps amount of the filling in the center.  Brush edges of circle with water. Fold the round in half over the filling, and press down hard along the edges to seal.  You can crimp the sides with a fork or your fingers.  Continue until all 16 empanadas are made.

At this point, your oil should be ready to fry.  Drop in 2-3 empanadas at a time, cooking until golden.  Remove from oil and place on a paper towel to help soak up extra oil.  Repeat with remaining empanadas.