When I constantly mention using a specific food or ingredient on the blog, but never discuss the reasons why, I feel like I'm doing my readers a disservice. I've made several dramatic changes to my diet in the past several months and if you're a regular here, you'll likely have noticed. I no longer use fat-free or low-fat dairy products and non-fat cooking spray. I only buy organic, whole milk grass-fed dairy products, grass-fed beef, humanely raised pork and am working toward only purchasing humanely raised chicken. At some point, I want to write several posts dedicated to those dietary changes. Keep and eye out for them. Today, though, I'm focusing on my switch to only buying 100% pastured eggs. For years I've skeptically questioned the labels on egg cartons and discovered that many of them were dubious. Having grown up next to my aunt, who raised chickens, I know the merits of farm fresh eggs and what chickens are supposed to live like.
You know those nights when you throw a bunch of random stuff together and hope it turns out well? That's how I formed this recipe. I had some frozen cajun sausage links in the freezer from the farmer's market and a random assortment of veggies in the fridge, so I decided to make a pasta. Since the sausage already had cajun spices, I searched through my cabinet and found leftover Emeril's Essence seasoning from when I made my crock-pot beef stew. Sausage, onion and pepper (and cheese, of course) pair well together, but I felt like some green so I threw in spinach leaves for extra vitamins. The dish turned out super tasty and slightly spicy. If you're sensitive to spice, I'd add less Essence seasoning and then season to taste.
I've hoarded this recipe for baked meatballs for awhile now, but I'm finally sharing. Seriously, guys. If you like meatballs, comfort food or heck, food in general, you have to try these. They're practically melt-in-your-mouth tender. And man-approved (if a guy in your life is a picky eater). I'm a slow eater, so while I was only halfway through with my meal, I saw my boyfriend sneak back into the kitchen several times to steal another meatball off the baking sheet.
Semi-tangent: My BF claims he's NOT a picky eater cause he'll still eat almost anything I make even if he doesn't dig it, but he never reads my blog posts, so has no idea that I refer to him here as such. Hehe. And these meatballs were even better the next day when I piled the leftovers on some toasty bread with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese to form an Italian grinder. [Update: It's been almost a year since I wrote this post and I wanted to add that my favorite way to use these meatballs in a meal (they're great for a snack) is to cover them with chunky marinara sauce and lots of shredded mozzarella cheese. It makes a wonderful low-carb meal that is plenty comforting.]
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