Recipe Time : Skillet Meatballs in Marinara

My daughter (Ms. Six) has been asking for Meatballs all week. I have no idea why, because, honestly, she really has ONLY had meatballs in her Spaghetti O's. But, have no fear, I love the fact that she is trying new things and trusting in her palette. It's great!  So, I mustered up this great recipe, using an old card I think I got from my Mom or Grandma with a Meatball recipe, adding the Kel touch, of course!  The Marinara sauce is an adaption of a few recipes I have gathered over time. It is super yum-dil-e-icious and sure to be a hit in your house too!  #welikeameatballs

Skillet Meatballs and Marinara

Prep Time:   10 Minutes

Cook Time:   35 Minutes

Total Time:   45 Minutes

Servings:      6 (4 Meatballs Each)

Ingredients: 

(For Meatballs)

1 lb. Italian Sausage (mild, sweet, or hot depending on preference)

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 large egg

1/2 yellow onion, finely diced

(For Marinara)

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced

2 garlic cloves

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp salt

Freshly cracked pepper

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tbsp tomato paste

(Pasta)

12 oz pasta (any shape)

Directions:

To make the meatballs:

1. Squeeze Italian sausage out of casing and into a large bowl.
2. Add the breadcrumbs, egg, and diced onion. Using hands, mix ingredients together until combined. 
3. Form the mixture into about 24 golf ball sized meatballs.
4. Heat large skillet over medium heat. 
5. Add olive oil to skillet to coat.  
6. Add meatballs and cook until browned on the outside. (a few mintues each side). Work in two batches if needed to give meatballs room to move. 
7. Once meatballs are browned, remove from heat to clean plate.

For Marinara:

1. Add second half of diced onions to skillet, with two garlic cloves (minced). Saute in the leftover oil from meatballs until soft and transparent. 
2. Once soft, add crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, brown sugar, and tomato paste. 
3. Stir until tomato paste mixes into the crushed tomatoes.

Then: 

1. Add meatballs back to the skillet and gently stir to coat in sauce. 
2. Place lid on skillet and let simmer for 15 minutes. 

And for the Pasta: 

1. Cook pasta while meatballs simmer.
2. Drain pasta and serve with pasta and four meatballs for each person!

@KelleyAmstutz

/kel.amstutz

KAMSTUTZ09

A day to Remember...and Reflect and most importantly...NEVER FORGET

• Do you remember where you were?  

• Do you remember how you day started? 

I woke up, a Jr. in College and started my day by getting ready.  I remember my Dad watching the news on T.V.  I remember the house being kind of silent and still that morning. We really did not know what was going on. My Mom went to work.  My brother went off to school.  I hung around, waiting till nine o'clock came to leave for class.

Until, it happened. 

I watched with my Dad as a plane headed for one of the towers. I watched in horror, thinking, what is going on? 

From this point, it was kind of a blur.  My Mom came home from work (she worked for the Government at the time) and the news blazed in the background. It was kind of as if the world STOPPED.  I mean, it was surreal.  Like we just stopped moving. Like the earth stopped turning. 

The images were mild compared to what was really happening in New York, Washington in those moments. 

Schools cancelled. Emotions ran high. Shock was prevalent. 

I remember chatting with my boss at the boutique I worked at and hearing her despair and I remember thinking that this was BAD, really, really, bad.  I was scared for our country. I was scared for my family. This was something that was a direct attack on America and blatant. It was not even isolated to just one area, as the terrorist took to the sky. 

It was within these hours, from 8:45 a.m. until 10:28 a.m. that the world, as I knew it, changed forever. 

I remember talking to my now Hubby, who happened to be at the License Bureau getting plates for the Impala. That car still has a flag on the center console because of this event, something a lot of people don't know. 

America went still.  I think that it is important to tell to the story, to keep this as real as it truly was, to remember those who lost their lives, those who risked their lives to save others. In a blink of an eye America changed. 

This is something that I think is important for my children to understand and know. It is hard to believe that they were not even thought of when this event happened.  The ground shook, literally.  

To say that things are better today is so far from the truth. We, America, is broken. It is so sad to think, from my perspective, that this tragedy happened to America and we stood alone. No one came to our rescue, unlike what America consistently does for others in this world. Innocent people were taken by an act of malicious violence. I am still confused as to what the goal was, other than to kill Americans. 

I am taking some time to remember. I will be more silent than usual today on here because I feel that it is so important to reflect on what has happened, where we are, and how we NEVER FORGET the people, men, women and children, who were innocently taken to soon from this Earth. They deserve that respect. They deserve to be here still and the least that I can do is take time to be silent and remember this day. Please take a moment and remember where you were, how you felt and pass this on to our children, educate them, let them feel remorse and understand that we are not living under a rock. Bad people happen. Bad things happen. What can we do, what can they do to make this World better? 

Never Forget.

@KelleyAmstutz

/kel.amstutz

KAMSTUTZ09

Recipe of the Day: Crescent Chicken

Crescent Chicken

Growing up we used to have a similar version of this that my Dad would make.  He coined it Chicken S*** and I can still remember how good it tasted!  Of course, this is not the original "Dad" recipe, but it is similar. 

Crescent Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 (8 or 6 jumbo count) package refrigerator crescent rolls
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken (Rotisserie chicken is great, and super easy)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can of milk (using soup can)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• *Red Pepper Flakes (if desired)
• *Parsley (if desired)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Prepare soup using milk and set aside. Separate crescent rolls. Spoon chicken and cheese onto each crescent; roll and seal to enclose filling. Place in a 9×13 baking dish. Pour soup over rolls. Bake at 350 uncovered for 30 mins.

@KelleyAmstutz

/kel.amstutz

KAMSTUTZ09

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