I'm back!

I know, I know, it's been a while since I have posted.

I can come up with all the reasons, but they are not necessary, here I am now. I have added all of the things I have been cooking. So, if you want to catch up, read below :)

Last weekend I did my normal grocery shopping at Trader Joes and was left without fennel when I finished my shopping.

I remembered that I could stop by the fruit/veggie stand on the way home. I am so lucky that I have a farm I can partake in just a few miles from home.

I get very excited when I go to the farm. I never know what exciting fresh finds they will have. Unfortunately when I arrived they were out of fennel. I asked one of the very nice women that worked there, and she just asked me ""would you like to go out in the field to pick it??""

Now, I have wanted to spend a day in the fields picking whatever goodies I want, but I just haven't made the time to do it. This day I got to go out and pick my own fennel!

It was windy, and I almost fell a few times walking along it, but it was so much fun! In the end I picked 2 beautiful bulbs. Here is a little picture I took:



Also while I was there I picked up some fresh Rosemary. That night I made Rosemary chicken and potatoes. I threw in some mushrooms to bake as well. Very delicious!



I really want to go back soon and get more. I'm really excited about the fruit.

Norwegian Meat Balls

My brother, sister-in-law and nephew came for a visit yesterday, and we had the best time.

I wanted to make something for dinner, and my brother suggested Norwegian Meat Balls.

Our family is from Norway, and my brother is very much into our history. It was no surprise that he suggested this.

I did some research online, and found a recipe that sounded delicious. Now, this is not the most healthy recipe, but we were with family, so it was warranted.

The combination of ground pork and beef was essential, as were the spices. The gravy that it made with the cream was delicious over mashed potatoes! Norwegians know how to eat!
The starting line-up:

Here's my sister in law browning up the meat balls:


End result paired with asparagus. We LOVE asparagus around here:

I started eating before I remembered to take a picture :D

If you want to try something different, try this out!

http://www.food.com/recipe/norwegian-meat-balls-344359

Fun with leftovers

I had a roast, and I didn't know what to do with it. I decided to throw it in the Crockpot with the stems of a bunch of cilantro, a sliced up onion, some garlic and chili powder. I let it cook all day.

When I got home I had tender meat to make tacos. I added the meat to salsa I made out of the cilantro leaves, some tomatoes and lemon juice. I also topped it off with some spiced up sour cream. Pretty tasty for last minute thinking!


Now, I know this post's title is "fun with leftovers", and those are not. I had some meat left over so I wanted to make something the next night.

Instead of making the tacos all over again, I wanted to do something a bit different. I had some yummy butter lettuce so I used that as the base. I added the meat, a couple slices of fresh fennel, some asparagus I grilled up and cheese. It really was a good idea. I also paired it with some pink lemonade I made and put it in this awesome cup my husband got from his sister.


Try this out if you are looking for a great meal to make with an inexpensive cut of meat. The Crockpot really makes the meat tender, and the flavor came out very good.

Veigel's Kaiserhoff

While visiting my parents in MN for my birthday, we all went to this cute little German town called New Ulm.

While there, we ate at this very delicious restaurant called Veigel's Kaiserhoff. I will admit, I haven't had a lot of authentic German food in my life, so I really didn't know what to expect.

My mom was raving about their ribs and their "Ray's salad". Believing my Mom, I tried the dish. It was DELICIOUS! The sauce they use was just amazing.

Days after that I couldn't stop thinking about the delicious food we had. Unfortunately I didn't buy any of the bottled sauce they served :(

Being the most wonderful Mother, she found some a couple months later in a local store and sent me some.



I bought my first rack of pork ribs and the ingredients to make the salad, and made it one night. Of course it wasn't as wonderfully good as at the restaurant, but it was still delicious. The picture doesn't do it very much justice, honestly, but here you go!



There isn't much of a recipe. Make the ribs as the package asks, basting with this BBQ goodness and enjoy. For the salad, it's simple iceberg lettuce, croutons and the dressing. That's all you need!

I still have about a half a bottle left, and you can't have any!! ;)

http://www.kaiserhoff.org/ (They don't ship it, I asked) :(

Mama's Spaghetti

My mom was a working mom, so she didn't have all the time to cook elaborate homemade meals every night of the week. However, on the weekends we always knew she would make something special.

There are several meals that I remember fondly that she made, and one of them was spaghetti. Now, spaghetti doesn't seem too exciting, but she made some special changes to hers that made it stand out.

She always made her sauce from scratch, and a couple of added ingredients are BBQ sauce and ketchup. This may seem strange to some, or maybe it's more common that I think, but it makes a great sauce. I also add an extra can of stewed tomatoes in myself :)

I made this delicious dish a few weeks ago, and instead of spaghetti noodles, I used a ziti type noodle. I know, this will make it un-spaghetti, but it's still the same to me!


Look at the steaming pot of goodness. I added Italian sausage, black olives and mushrooms. Really, a treat!

When I eat spaghetti, I have to have fresh French bread. I was lucky enough to get to the store right as they had put it out. I made up a little garlic butter and it was delicious. My complete plate:



Looks good, huh? It was!!!

Try it out one day if you want a slight spin on your normal pasta sauce.

1 package spaghetti sauce mix
1¾ cups water
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
About 2 tablespoons of regular BBQ sauce. Eyeball it! Same with the ketchup.
Sausage, mushrooms, olives, stewed tomatoes. Your choice!

Brown meat if using.
Stir sauce mix, water and tomato paste in medium saucepan until well blended. Add anything else you want to.
Bring to boil; cover. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over pasta.