Meatball Subs & Italian Fries

During the week, I made a mini-meatball lasagna for a friend and while I had all the ingredients on hand, I made an extra platter of meatballs for Mike and I. Having the already prepared meatballs made it easy to whip up meatball subs and Italian fries for lunch on Saturday.

I used my basic turkey meatball recipe and added frozen chopped spinach to the mixture before baking. Then its all simple... french bread + marinara sauce + meatballs + mozzarella.

For the "Italian" fries... bake your favorite frozen fries. After they are fully cooked, and still hot, toss with salt, pepper, fresh flat leaf Italian parsley, minced garlic and finely grated parmesan.

Here's what you'll get:

10th Dish of Christmas 2010 - Mashed Potatoes

Another one of Mike's favorites is mashed potatoes. I got this recipe from my Cooking Light cookbook...

3 lbs of potatoes
salt & pepper
3 tbs chives
6 oz. white cheddar (recipe actually calls for goat cheese)
2 tbs butter
1 cup 2% milk

Boil potatoes until tender in well salted water. Drain and smash along with butter and milk. Stir in cheese and chives. Salt & pepper to taste before serving.

Mashed Potato Skins

I made this easy side dish for Labor Day BBQ at the Stanley's. Get the recipe from Rachael Ray here. This was such an easy dish... no need to even peel the potatoes! Another good thing about the recipe is that its pretty versatile. Want to use turkey bacon? Go ahead. Don't like green onions? Don't add them. Want to add roasted garlic? Throw some in. Make it exactly the way you like your potato skins or baked potato. (Just try to work with the basic ratios given in the recipe.) I happen to love white cheddar and green onions on my potato and Mike loves the bacon so I stuck to the recipe as written. Perfect to adapt to the menu for your next pot-luck, picnic or bbq!





And, I got to use the great casserole carrier that my mom MADE for me. It keeps the dish warm and helps prevent me from burning myself on it while getting it into the car. Love it and my crafty mom!

Potato Pancakes

I didn't want to do sweet pancakes today so I immediately thought of potato pancakes. Here's the recipe:

Shredded potato, 2 big handfuls
Shredded onion, 1/3 large onion
Grated sharp white cheddar, small handful
1 green onion, thinly sliced
3 tbs. flour
1 large egg
Salt & pepper

Preheat oven 425 and spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Make potato pancakes using 2 to 3 tbsp measures, forming pancakes about the size of yuor palm about 1/4 inch thick. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, then turn the pancakes over, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes (should be golden brown on both sides when done).