An Easy Meal

It's been a busy couple of days for me. I haven't quite gotten over the crud that's taken over my body and so my busy schedule has made me very tired! It couldn't be that I'm out of shape and getting older could it? I need to get some exercise and so I've put the ticker on the side of the blog - you may notice my great success with my program - NOT :-) It's the weather, right?

I'll start out by telling a funny story on myself. But don't tell the Compadre OK? He was off visiting his mother and I was cooking for myself. I'll be honest and admit that if I'm the only one eating that usually what I do is scrounge whatever is easiest - and that might just be microwave popcorn and canned soup. But I was feeling like making an effort so I cut a few pieces of the bread machine bread that I had on hand and made myself some french toast. All was going well until I decided to heat up the syrup. We keep it in the refrigerator - some people think that it's OK not to but, you know, better safe than sorry and all that. Anyway, probably because it's cold in the fridge the syrup crystallized. I know people that throw away their honey and syrup when it crystallizes but it's not necessary. All you have to do is heat it up and the sugar in the crystals will dissolve and the crystals will be gone. So I did that, I took the top off so that it wouldn't explode in the microwave and heated it. Then I took it out and put the top on and since the crystals weren't all gone I shook it, and I shook it some more, and I shook it really well! And then I looked at the counter, and the cabinets and the floor and the carton of eggs... I'm sure you know what happened. I forgot to look and see if the little top was closed. And I was totally oblivious to the fact that I was spraying syrup all over. If one of my kids had done that I would have freaked out! No one to blame but me. I cleaned up the mess and the Compadre came home and never knew what happened. I wonder what he'll think the next time he gets an egg out of a carton with syrup all over it though.

This is a recipe I tried from the box of recipes that I brought home from Aunt Ann's house. She wasn't sure if she had tried this one and if it was good or not. Her note on the recipe says "Sounds easy and quick. Try it" So I did and she was right. It's easy and quick and it is good. It made enough for us to have for two meals so I cooked all the meatballs and then froze them on a cookie sheet. I'll just have to take them out and add them to sauce and simmer them until thawed for another quick meal. I used a bottled spaghetti sauce - cheating I know - but after all
this is supposed to be a quick and easy meal!

Meatballs with sauce

1 slice bread
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 egg
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic (I used prechopped bottled garlic)
1/4 c. chopped onion
salt and pepper to taste
1 30 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
Spaghetti pasta, cooked
grated Parmesan cheese

Soak the bread in water for a few minutes. I used bread that we had previously cubed and dried and it worked just as well. Squeeze the bread with your hands until dry and discard the water. Reconstituted bread!

Combine the bread, ground beef, egg, 1/4 c. of Parmesan cheese, garlic, onion, salt and pepper and mix well with your (clean) hands. Divide into about 12 meatballs and roll in your hands to form smooth balls. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes or until your instant read thermometer reads 165 degrees.

Simmer spaghetti sauce and meatballs in a saucepan for about 10 minutes and serve with cooked pasta. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.