Easy Somewhat Homemade Meatballs (with spaghetti!)

I'm sorry about the terrible photo. I left my camera at home and I took this on my phone.

If you can't eat dairy, you probably don't eat meatballs (or you do, and feel the pain later). This recipe is easy and dairy-free, and totally delicious. I got the idea for using sausages from some cooking show. It works great because the sausage is already pre-spiced and full of fat, so you don't get the golf-ball like dense meatballs that sometimes happens when you use really lean meat. I tend not to measure anything, so this is all approximate. If you like your meatballs softer and less dense, add more breadcrumbs.

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked sausage (I used mild Italian pork sausage. DO NOT get sausage that is smoked, or otherwise pre-cooked)
• 2 cups ground beef (I got extra lean. Don't worry, the sausage will provide the fat you need to keep it juicy)
• 1 cup part bread crumbs
• 1 egg

Let's do it!

1. First of all, know that this is going to get messy. Take off any rings you're wearing and maybe put on an apron. And wash your hands, for goodness sake!
2. Squeeze the sausage meat out of its casing into a large mixing bowl. You should have a whole bunch of raw meat with fat and spices. Yay!
3. Add ground beef, bread crumbs and raw egg.
4. Mush it all together with your hands until it's all mixed up.
5. Form balls and put onto baking tray. You can put them close together, but don't let them touch. They will get slightly smaller. Use a baking tray that has a somewhat high lip on it, because these will put out a LOT of grease.
6. Put in the oven and turn on to 350ºF. I rarely preheat my oven, as I feel like it's a waste of energy. Particularly for something like this, where you're not worried about a crisp skin.
7. If the meatballs were small (golf ball or less), 30 minutes should do it, but make sure you test by cutting them with a fork. If the inside is cooked, they're done!

Tip: Let the grease cool down and put it in a small bag and throw it in the garbage or municipal compost (if your city does that). DO NOT put it down the drain, as it will destroy your plumbing. Yes, even if you put it down the toilet. Seriously. You want to hear some horror stories, talk to a plumber. Don't flush dental floss either. Just... don't.

Lunch it up!

I packed the meatballs in a container with some pasta sauce and packed the pasta separately. You can also make meatball sandwiches or cover them in BBQ sauce and serve them as hors d'oeuvres at a party. Or whatever it is people do with meatballs.

Pasta with bacon and brussel sprouts

If you don't like brussel sprouts, this dish is not likely to change your mind. But if you LOVE brussel sprouts, then hurray! I really enjoyed this dish, but it's not the best thing I've ever made. Oddly enough, the Hubster is NOT a fan of brussel sprouts, but still really enjoyed this pasta. Probably because the sauce is basically bacon grease.

Ingredients

• 4 servings of dry pasta
• 4 slices thick cut bacon
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 cups brussel sprouts, washed and cut in half lengthwise (or in 1/4s. I wish I did this)
• Salt
• Olive oil

Let's do it!

1. Boil the pasta according to directions, but for 1 minute less than specified. When it's done, take the pasta out with a strainer/pasta ladle and put aside. Keep the pasta water. While that's going on, do the rest of the steps.
2. Cut bacon widthwise into thin strips. Fry in a pan until almost crispy. Pour out all but 1 tbsp of the bacon grease and put the bacon in a dish for later. If you're me, you'll be pouring the bacon grease into a mason jar to put in the fridge for later. It's great for making greens taste (and be) less healthy.
3. Throw the brussel sprouts in the pan and stir to coat. Then leave them alone so that they can brown for a few minutes. Stir every few minutes so that every surface is browned, but nothing burns. 
4. Add 2 tbsp or so of olive oil, bacon and pasta. Add one or two ladles of the pasta water, which is full of starch and will help the pasta absorb the flavour. 
5. Stir this around until the pasta is cooked and the water is absorbed.
6. Season with salt (I added a LOT of salt), or parmesan cheese, which will probably mean you can use less salt.

Lunch it up!

I know I have strict rules about not microwaving pasta, but this is all mixed together, and it's really not as good cold. I just put this on a dish and nuked it, and it tasted just as good as the night before. Maybe even better!

Vegan(ish) mac and cheese

Coming out of the oven. 

Daiya cheese has really brought me back to the world of over-processed cheese. It basically tastes like Kraft cheese slices, but hey. Every once in a while I want something junky.

This recipe puts a LITTLE healthiness into it.

Ingredients:

• 1 box (4 servings) macaroni. Or any other short, pasta, like rotini (in the pic)
• 1/2 bunch kale
• 1 leek
• 3 sundried tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tbsp butter, or vegan substitute
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 package Daiya mozzarella shreds
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• Breadcrumbs
• 1/2 tsp salt

Let's do it!

1. Prepare the pasta according to the package, less 1 minute. Drain and rinse.
2. Remove the spines from the kale and discard, chop leaves finely.
3. Chop white parts of the leeks. Discard green parts.
4. Melt butter in the pan in medium heat, fry veggies until soft.
5. Add coconut milk, Daiya, ground mustard, sundried tomatoes and salt. Mix together until the Daiya has melted.
6. Taste and add more salt, or pepper, to your taste.
7. Mix together the veggies with sauce and pasta.
8. Put mixture in a large casserole and cover with breadcrumbs.
9. Place under a broiler and keep a close watch. Take it out of the oven when the top is slightly brown.

Lainey-Style Beefaroni

Sometimes I crave the garbage-food of my youth (okay... early 20s). The problem is, since I'm allergic to dairy, I can't just pick up a can of Chef Boyardee and go to town on it. No, I have to MAKE it. So what is normally a 3 minute convenience food for many becomes an hour-long process0 for me, just to satisfy that one little craving.

Enter, Lainey-Style Beefaroni. All the gooey goodness/badness, none of the dairy, and somewhat less preservatives.

Ingredients
Tomato sauce
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 package Daiya mozzarella shreds
4 cups or so of cooked Kraft Dinner macaroni noodles, substitute with good pasta if you want.
Bread crumbs

Let's do it!
Brown the ground beef in a skillet and drain. Add to the tomato sauce and simmer while making the pasta.

A note on the pasta: The reason why I have KD macaroni in the house is because my friend came over, planning on dropping off a bunch of food at the grocery store in the donation box. The grocery store didn't have a donation box for some reason, so he ended up leaving it at my house. I noticed that the KD was past its expiry date, meaning they probably wouldn't take it. So I threw out all the seasoning packs and put all the noodles into a plastic container to cook myself. I use these noodles every time I want some garbagey pasta.

Put the pasta in an oven-proof dish with most of the Daiya and the meat sauce. Mix well.

Top with a thin layer of breadcrumbs and the rest of the Daiya.

Place in the oven (or toaster oven) on broil for about 20 minutes. You don't NEED to do this, but I like having some crispy portions to the otherwise soft mess that is this dish.

This isn't nearly as garbagey as the canned stuff, but the processed taste of the Daiya cheese mixed with the beef and tomato sauce hits the right spot for me.

Vegan kale lasagna

Thanks to a Mother's Day family bbq (and let's face it, laziness), I've been eating leftovers for the past 2 days, therefore no new posts. Now that mom's delicious noodle salad (a post for later when I attempt it) is all gone, I'm back in full force.

This recipe is a variation of Chow's Winter Greens Lasagna. It was such a hit among the non-vegetarians at my friend, Steph's dad's 60th birthday, I had to try to make a non-dairy version. Seriously, her family, much like my own, doesn't consider it a meal unless 4 different kinds of animal are served. They LOVED this dish. And despite being allergic to dairy, I allowed myself one incredible, luscious bite. So worth the pain. One note on that recipe: if you can eat dairy, make the creme fraiche yourself. It's totally worth it.

Ingredients
4 layers worth of lasagna noodles, cooked to package directions
About 8 cups or so Basic tomato sauce. Actually, err on having more sauce. It'll keep for a few days.
6 cups kale (roughly one bunch)
1/2 tub Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
1 package Daiya mozzarella flavoured cheese-like substance
400ml can of coconut milk, shaken vigorously
1 tbsp butter, or vegan substitute for butter (I've tricked my body into accepting butter)
Olive oil
Salt to taste

Let's do it!
Rip the kale leaves from the stems and rinse. Chop finely, or chop in a food processor in batches (which is what I did)

Heat some olive oil in a saucepan and throw in the kale. Sautee until dark, roughly 10 minutes. Yes, I like to cook the ever living crap out of kale, when I do decide to cook it. Add butter, cream cheese and a short pour of coconut milk, roughly 1/4 cup. Stir until the cheese melts. Add enough coconut to make the mixture like a thick batter. If you're using the kind of lasagna noodles you don't precook, add enough milk to make it like a thin batter. Add salt until it's really really good. I added almost 1 tsp. Hey, this is vegan, I didn't say it was HEALTHY. Everything in this is fake except for the kale and tomato sauce.

At this point, you should probably preheat your oven to whatever the lasagna package says you need to put it to.

Ladle a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of a casserole dish. Layer with noodles. Ladle 1/2 the kale mixture and spread flat. Sprinkle on 1/3 of the Daiya and top with more tomato sauce. Repeat this once more, then top with tomato sauce, Daiya, and some coconut milk in a criss cross kind of pattern. Bake to lasagna package instructions.

When the lasagna is done, I like to keep enough for one meal for both of us, then freeze the rest in single serving portions, for those (increasingly common) days when I'm too lazy to cook. It reheats pretty well.

Diagnosis: Delicious!
Holy hell, this lasagna is tasty! If you can't have dairy, and enjoy the taste of Daiya cheese, you will lose it over this.

Easy pasta salad

My plan today was to buy sushi for lunch. This morning, my cheapness overcame my laziness and I made one of the laziest, but still satisfying, meals I had in my arsenal.

Working Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: roughly 10 minutes

Ingredients

Pasta, cooked as per directions on package (also a great recipe for leftover pasta)
Diced cucumber
Diced red onion
Black olives
Chopped sundried tomatoes
Beans
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp oil of your choice
salt
Optional: any veggies or leftover meat laying around the house. Originally, I was going to put in some baby spinach, but I forgot.

Let's do it!
Cook the pasta as per specifications and prepare the beans. For this recipe I used a rainbow farfalle. Generally I stick to the non-long type pastas, as it's easier to get spoonfuls of pasta and veggies together. I used frozen soy beans so I tossed them into the pasta during the last minute. You can use canned beans, or nuts even.

Chop up everything and throw into a container with a lid. Add the pasta and shake shake shake. Sprinkle with salt.

Pour the oil (I used veggie oil because I get sick of olive oil sometimes) and vinegar into a jar and screw the lid on very tight.

Lunch it up!
This one's easy. Shake up the dressing vigorously, then pour some (or all, if you like a ton of dressing) into your container. Shake shake shake some more, and you have a good, balanced lunch!

Simple pasta in tomato sauce

This is one of my standards since it's reasonably easy to make, I usually have all the ingredients laying around in my kitchen and it's quite versatile.

Working time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: At least 20 minutes


Ingredients:
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion
3 cloves garlic (or more if you're into that)
1 can of whole San Marzano tomatoes (yes, they cost 50 cents more, but they're worth it. If you want to save the 50 cents, make sure you still buy whole tomatoes, diced/crushed tomatoes have a tart flavour to them)
1 tbsp tomato paste

chopped up fresh basil

salt to taste

Boxed pasta (as opposed to bagged pasta)
Optional: olives, sundried tomatoes, chili peppers, chili flakes, cut up meat, chopped up veggies, leftover sandwich meat, really whatever. In the photo above, I put in chopped up olives from a jar, sundried tomatoes and chili flakes.



Let's do it!

Heat up the oil in a saucepan with a lid to medium low heat.

Chop up the onions and toss them into the saucepan when the oil swirls around the pan quickly. Give them a stir. Peel and mince the garlic and set aside.

Open the can of tomatoes and pour them onto a sieve, over a bowl. Pinch the individual tomatoes open to extract the juices/water inside. Tap the sieve to get all the water/juice into the bowl. Fill a separate bowl of water and rinse the seeds out of the tomatoes. At this point, you can either mix the tomatoes in with the juice and puree it in a food processor, or you can smoosh them with your hands before mixing them back into the juice, making for a chunkier sauce.

Quick tip: I always make sure I have canned tomatoes in my kitchen, they're quick, they're good and you can put them in a billion dishes like stews, curries, sauces and soups. Plus, they last forever which will be great after the rapture happens and you've already gone through all the food in your saintly neighbour's fridge.

Every once in a while, give your onions a quick stir and check to make sure they're not browning too quickly. If the stove is set low enough, you'll be able to work on the tomatoes while the onions are slowly cooking. When the onions are translucent, throw in the garlic and stir. Watch this carefully. Garlic burns quickly and will ruin your sauce. Sure, you could always start over with new onions and garlic, but let's not be silly. When the garlic starts to turn colour, throw in your tomatoes. Stir stir stir.

Now add tomato paste and let it simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. The longer you simmer, the thicker and mellower (less tangy) the sauce will be. The less time you simmer, the fresher the sauce will be.

Quick tip: If you find yourself with 4/5 of a tin of tomato paste leftover, spoon it all into a zipper freezer bag, push all the air out and flatten it. Stick this in your freezer and it will keep for months. When you need sauce, just break a piece off.

5 minutes before you're ready to finish cooking the sauce, throw in the basil. I don't measure a lot of stuff, so I'm guessing you can put in a handful. 

Salt to taste.

While the sauce is simmering, make the pasta, make sure you follow all the directions on the package! I recommend the Barilla brand of pasta. You pay a little more, but if you follow the directions exactly (I set my microwave clock timer to ensure I get it right), you get perfect pasta, instead of that starchy, soggy mess you get with the cheap stuff. The Barilla Rigatoni is my favourite type. When it goes on sale (88 cents at No Frills, last time), I stock up like crazy.

When you're packing your lunch, you can put all sorts of things in the sauce (see optional items above) for variety. I do this as a last step so I can change it up from one day to the next. This recipe will make enough sauce for 2-4 servings (depending on how much you eat). If you store it in a airtight container in your fridge, you can keep it for up to 5 days, but don't take my word for it. Do the sniff test every time. If you're not certain after sniffing, do a taste test. If you're still not sure, throw it out. No sense in making yourself sick to save a buck.

Lunch time tips


If you are like me, you get incredibly angry when your pasta is overcooked. Like.. really angry. Like getting called to HR angry.

To avoid being suspended for inappropriate behaviour, make sure you pack your pasta and sauce separately. To heat up the pasta, boil some water in a kettle or microwave and pour that over the pasta. Shake and strain. Heat up the sauce as you normally would. If you don't have access to a microwave, heat the sauce up that morning, then put it in a thermos. Also beware of heating things up in plastic, as the chemicals will apparently give men boobs, and make women's boobs fall off or something.