Pioneer Woman's Meatball Sliders

The thing I should tell you about these meatballs is that I've made them a handful of times.

 

But every. single. time I make them I forget to get them up here!

 

And I feel so guilty.

 

Because they're so terrific and tender and tasty, that I really feel like you're missing out.

 

Big time.

 

These meatballs come from the incredibly famous (in foodie circles anyway) Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.  I adore her.  And her food.

 

She cooks for cowboys and kids and her recipes are simple and delicious.

 

I have spent MANY, MANY hours learning from this woman.

 



 

You know how I feel about simple - and these are just that.

 

Start with ground beef (or in this case Elk) and add some bread crumbs.

 

 

Then add in minced garlic.

 

Then salt and pepper.

 

Then some milk.  I know.  It's weird, but seriously.  Just put it in there and don't worry about it.

 

Then mix it all up and use a tablespoon to portion out the meat and roll it into balls.

 

In a skillet over medium heat.

 

And add some chopped onions.

 

Cook for just a minute, then add the meatballs - you kind of want to nestle them in the onions.

 

 

Cook for just a minute until the meatballs start to brown a little.

 

 

Add in a jar of marinara sauce.  Cook's choice.  Shake the pan a little, cover the pan with a lid and cover for about 20 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through.  (Give the pan a shake every so often so stuff doesn't burn)

 

You have a few options for how you want to serve these.  This particular day, I opted for shredded cheese and small sub buns. 

 

You could also quickly stick the sandwiches under the broiler to melt the cheese a little - whatever floats your boat.

 

Or you can do slider-style sandwiches.



 

 

All that you need to know is that they're delicious and messy and perfect.  They're even easy to feed to a smallish sized child.  Just be prepared to mostly likely needing to hose her (or him) down outside afterwards.  (And trust me - it's totally worth every slop of sauce!)

 

Race over to Ree's blog and show her some love.  There's a little something for everyone.

 

xoxo - the Cane girl

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

I've been seeing Cauliflower Pizza Crust rolling around claiming to be "DELICIOUS!" and "LOW CARB!" and "YOU'LL NEVER MISS REGULAR CRUST!"

But, being an irrefutable carb addict, I cannot accept these claims.

So when the brilliant Jessica over at How Sweet Eats posted a recipe for Cauliflower Crust Pizza - I was curious.

Very. Curious.

Because Jessica would never lead me astray.

And she would never joke about pizza.

I figured I'd give it a whirl.

And don't worry - there's nothing strange in here.  Very basic stuff.  I don't know a lot about gluten free diets, but this might be good enough for those folks too.

First, pulse up and microwave your cauliflower.  Then wring the ever-living crap out of it so you can get as much of the water out as possible.  And be prepared.  The cauliflower water left on the towel stinks to high heaven.  I would recommend making this on wash day.  Or putting the dried out towel in a zip-lock bag.

Then combine the following in a bowl....  The Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.

Then the spices:  salt, basil, oregano, and garlic.

Then add in the really well ringed out cauliflower.

And mix together.

Add in one lightly beaten egg and combine.

Then spread out on oiled parchment paper.  This was rolled out to just under 1/8 inch thick.

Then bake for about 8 - 11 minutes, until it starts turning golden.

Add the toppings (sauce and cheese).

Then bake for another 5 - 7 minutes until the cheese is melted.

I was fairly surprised.  I could pick the pieces up just like regular pizza and it actually had quite a bit of flavor! 

To be honest, I am still a regular crust girl.  Always will be.  But when I'm in serious need of - let's call it "deflating" - I would totally do this to get my pizza fix in!

And, yeah, I would agree with the aforementioned claims.....  Totally.

This is the Cane girl - signing off.

Product Review: A&W BBQ Sauce

At Christmas this year we went to St. Augustine, Florida for a day trip.  It's an incredibly interesting little town with an incredibly HUGE amount of touristy things to do.  I loved it.  I especially loved the trolley rides that you can hop on and off - the driver tells you all about the history and the buildings and on and on.  If you're a history buff, I definitely recommend it.

 

The point is, there's this little store in St. Augustine that specializes in barbecue sauce, hot sauce, salsas, spreads, jellies - the whole nine yards.

 

While snooping around, I found this A&W BBQ Sauce and thought it would pair perfectly with my Root Beer Pulled Pork. 



 

I LOVED it.  It was BBQ sauce with a hint of root beer and a little bit of spice.

The bad news?  It's not available here in Canada.

The good news?  The little shop in St. Augustine will ship to us.

I'm frothing at the mouth to put in an order!

 

Now I just need to remember the name of the store.....

 

On the off-chance you randomly find some of this awesome BBQ Sauce - it's a BUY for sure.  Don't even hesitate.

 

Yum.



Curry Sweet Potato Fries

I don't often put a lot of thought into sides.

Mostly because I could care less about vegetables. 

Scurvy.  It's a thing I'm bringing back.

But when I was living at my brother's house, and they have - well - a human being to raise and teach good habits to, I'm sort of forced to think about sides and vegetables.

Also, I have to think about healthy, non-white coloured sides and vegetables.

I figured that Joy the Baker's Curry Sweet Potato Fries would totally fit the bill.

And they are so simple.

Cut the sweet potatoes into evenly sized pieces.

If I had to make fries from scratch all the time I would get one of those press things.  Talk about a time-saver.

Please note at this point that I thought I would do 3 sweet potatoes.  I should have done 2.  Smallish ones.  Because 3 was too many.

Then, in a small bowl, whisk the egg until whitish and frothy.

Then add the curry powder,

cumin,

turmeric,

and crushed red pepper flakes,

and salt.  Stir to combine.

Toss the egg mixture with the sweet potato and spread out on the baking sheet.

And bake.

Now.  If you're like me and over-estimated how many sweet potatoes you need, then crammed them all together onto a cookie sheet, then baked them - those fries are likely to be soft and floopy and have almost no structure.

Don't be like me.

Over-crowding is bad.

And, if you're also like me, then you forgot to line your baking sheet and those fries stuck completely and totally on the sheets and it took you 45 minutes to scrub them down.

Don't be like me.

Not following instructions is silly.

Follow Joy's instructions.  She's smart and awesome.

The end result....  These were an awesome twist on the old standard of just plain old salted sweet potato fries.  And super healthy too.  Also, you'd expect them to be very spicy - but they're just a bit spicy which offsets the sweetness.

Pop on over to Joy's corner of the Internets and check them out.  You won't be sorry.


Source:  Joy the Baker