Meatball Madness

Things got a little meaty tonight after our evening walk with Sadie.

I tackled my first attempt at homemade meatballs!

To make the meatballs, I combined the following:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 tsp. rosemary
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 c. fresh whole wheat breadcrumbs

To make the fresh whole wheat bread crumbs, I pulsated 1.5 whole wheat Arnold sandwich thins in the food processor, which yielded one cup of bread crumbs.

I added the crumbs to the bowl with the meat and spices and combined everything using my hands. I then rolled the meaty mixture into little balls.

I dropped the meatballs on a cooking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and placed them in my 400-degree oven for 15 minutes until they were firm and cooked through.

I topped roasted asparagus with several meatballs and a helping of marinara sauce before digging in.

 

Pretty darn delicious!

Thank goodness I had a tasty dinner to enjoy this evening because my night also included something not-so-fun.

Let me just say that washing a big-ass comforter and then hanging it up to dry (wet comforters are heavy!) is a huge pain in the tookus. The front of my t-shirt was soaked by the time I got that big thing over that little bar to dry out.

I think I earned my dessert tonight.

I’m off to eat some chocolate!

Pasta Party

This morning while watching Sadie hunt lizards in our new backyard (!!!), I had a chance to upload pictures from Saturday night’s pasta party.

After moving all day on Saturday, Ryan and I were so ready to chow down!

Hungry Couple

Our friends Merri and Pete were having a pasta dinner party to “carbo-load” for Sunday morning’s 5k race. Any excuse for yummy pasta and garlic bread, right?

Pete & Merri

Pete and Merri spent hours preparing a real Italian meal for us to enjoy. Pete is Italian and made his own pasta sauce and meatballs. He said his mom would make this elaborate dinner every Sunday night when he was growing up! Lucky boy, huh?

Garlic Bread

Laurel's Salad

Pasta + Sauce + Meatballs + Italian Sausage

Everything was so delicious. I think everyone went back for seconds of everything.

Fuelin' Up for the 5k!

We had to adequately fuel for the 5k, right?

I seriously couldn’t get enough of Pete’s sauce and Merri even put a bunch of it in some Tupperware for me and Ryan to take home with us. (We already ate all of it last night when we made ravioli!)

After dinner, we hung out for a bit before it was time for dessert. Even though we were all full at this point, we still managed to call our second stomachs into action for zepploes.

I had never had or heard of zeppoles before Pete and I haven’t looked back since. They’re beyond delicious!

Pete makes the zeppoles by wrapping mozzarella cheese in pizza dough, before frying the balls and tossing them in powdered sugar. Are you drooling yet???

Fry Awaaay

Gimme Some Suga!

Ready for Eatin'

I had three and enjoyed every last bite!

Zeppole

It was a great night with great friends and great food. Great all around! 😀

I’m off to shower… See ya after breakfast!

Great Friends, Fun Games, Good Food

Last night’s game night was full of laughs and yummy eats.

Game Night Spread

Everyone brought a yummy dish and we had quite the selection of tasty treats!

Rice Krispie Treats

Meatballs

Cinnamon Bread

Meat & Cheese

I kept coming back for those delicious Rice Krispie treats. I love ’em!

CatchPhrase seemed to be the game of choice for the evening and the girls dominated… until the boys took over. 😉 We also played charades and I picked some pretty difficult television shows and movies to act out. How on earth do you act out Fraggle Rock!?

Fraggle Rock

Today

The chill has officially hit Orlando! Woohoo!!!

When Ryan and I stepped outside to take Sadie on her morning walk, we immediately turned around to change into something warmer. What a great sign of real autumn weather.

We were in the mood for a warm and toasty breakfast and French toast seemed like the ideal morning meal.

French Toast

I made the French toast using a whole wheat Arnold’s sandwich thin with egg whites, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice and almond extract.

Yummers

Of course I topped my French toast with sticky syrup.

Saturday Mornin' Breakfast

I also enjoyed some cottage cheese and grapes to fill me up a bit more.

Now we’re digesting our breakfasts and watching Remember the Titans before hittin’ the gym and running some errands.

We also bought a ton of food at the grocery store this morning and have all the fresh veggies and ingredients to make chicken soup later today. A perfect warm fall meal. 🙂

Happy Saturday!