Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs

I actually made this last week, but am getting around to posting it today. Spaghetti and meatballs is a classic meal and is always very comforting. It was also a great meal to have as the weather was getting cooler. Fall is my favorite time of year, there is apple picking (if you read the earlier posts, you know that I do love apples, football is back, baseball playoffs are on, there is new TV, and it is a good time to eat some warm and hearty meals. I am still trying to find a good recipe to use as a base in creating my own red sauce. This was a quick red sauce that worked well in this case.

12 ounces ground turkey
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning
cooking spray (my non-stick skillet is not so much non-stick anymore)
14 ounce can of diced tomatoes with onion
6 ounce can of tomato paste
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried oregano
12 ounce uncooked spaghetti (I used whole wheat and try to use whole wheat pastas when possible)

1. Combine the turkey breast, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning in a bowl; mix well to combine and shape to make meatballs, about 18. Heat up the skillet while you are making the meatballs over medium-high heat.
   
2. Spray cooking spray in a large skillet. You could also use olive oil, but in the interest of trying to cut back on fats and oils when I can, I used cooking spray.
3. When the skillet is hot, add the meatballs and saute until they are browned on all sides. Turn them often. This takes about 5 minutes.
   
4. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, and oregano. Mix well. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, until meatballs are cooked through and the sauce reduces slightly, about 10 minutes.
   
5. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to package directions.
   
6. When the sauce and the pasta are both done, add to a pasta bowl and combine.
   

Apple Crumb Pie

More apples for everyone! Usually, I make a two crust apple pie, but change can be good. I have never made a crumb topped pie before. I have made crumb topped desserts before (see the apple crisp post). That said, this is not entirely new to me. I will confess that I was a bit lazy with the pie today and used a frozen pie crust. I was cringing as I wrote that, usually I am a 100% from scratch type of girl, but I did make three desserts today, made dinner, went grocery shopping, went for a run, and did three loads of laundry. I think I deserve some slack for taking the easy way out with the crust.

Crust
You can make your own. I believe that I have a recipe on here for another pie that I made and that would be sufficient for this. Although, that may have been a double crust pie. If it was, cut the recipe in half.

Filling
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
7-8 cups of thinly sliced and peeled apples

Topping
6 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
   
2. Prepare whatever crust you decide to go with.
3. To prepare the filling, combine the sugar, flour, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Sprinkle the mix over the apples.
   
4. Pour the apple mixture into the crust.
5. To prepare the topping, combine the flour and brown sugar into a medium bowl. Cut in 3 tablespoons butter until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle the topping over the apple mixture.
6. Bake at 425F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F; bake an additional 40 minutes.
   

My Favorite Apple Crisp

One of my favorite things to eat in the fall is warm apple crisp. I can eat it with or without ice cream, with or with out whipped cream. It's just all around good. This was the second of three sweet apple dishes made in one day. I guess that I am making up for lost time. You can use what ever kind of apple you like. I used the apples that we picked yesterday, McIntosh, Empire, and Cortland. Because, I came home to the apples peeled for me, I have no idea of the ratio of the apples that were used.

8 medium apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 cup flour
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup of butter (you can use margarine if you like, but I prefer butter)

1. Preheat the oven 375F.
2. Place the apples into a 9X13 baking dish.
3. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugars, and cinnamon.
   
4. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter.
   
5. When the mix looks crumbly, add to the top of the apples.
6. Sometimes, I like to top with oats, but I didn't have any today.
7. Bake in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes.
   

I think that last week or the week before, I said that I was going to try to be a bit more healthy with my cooking. Obviously, the half cup of butter contradicts my statement.

8 medium apples

Applesauce

It was an easy way to use up some of our apples. It can be served warm or cold. You can eat it solo or use it as a side dish. Pork chops and applesauce is coming to mind and reminding me of a Brady Bunch episode. Ahh, good times....

1 tablespoon butter
5 apples
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water

1. Peel, core, and cut the apples into 3/4 inch chunks.
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add the apples, cinnamon, sugar, and water. Cook until the apples are tender. This takes about 10 minutes.
   
4. You can either serve the applesauce in a chunky form, or use a masher and mash some of it up. I chose to mash up some of the apples.
   

Apples, Apples, Apples

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day. It was sunny and the air was crisp, a perfect day for apple picking. We took a drive to Honey Pot Hill Farms in Stow, MA for our Saturday date. We went to this particular orchard once before for apple picking and liked that they charged by the basket instead of by the pound. If I wanted to pay by the pound, I could go to the grocery store. The drive out was very nice, we commented on how nice the houses in the 'burbs look and agreed that we are still not ready to pull that trigger. As we got closer to the farm, we were in a long line of traffic of other apple pickers. We decided to park on a side street and walk a quarter mile to the farm. As we got there, we must have worked up quite an appetite because we were hungry for hot apple cider and apple cider doughnuts. Neither were a disappointment. After the snack, we walked up the short hill to pay for our apple picking bags. We were quite ambitious and decided to get a large bag versus a small and medium bag for $3 less.

Apple picking was very fun. We both got on the ladders to go higher into the trees. Mike wore what we decided was the perfect apple picking shirt as it had a front pocket. I did not wear the perfect apple picking shirt and had to toss my apples down to Mike. We got a bunch of apples; McIntosh, Cortland, and Empire apples.

Today I went to the grocery store and came home to find a ton of apples already peeled and cored for my baking wishes. Mike is a great sous chef and prepped a ton of apples. As a result, I made an apple crumb pie, apple crisp, applesauce, and a savory dish of kielbasa with apple slices. Be prepared for an apple overload on eatingwithkeating.

Really Great Chicken Salad

I love chicken salad. There, it's said. I think that my favorite comes from the Firehouse Deli in Fairfield, Connecticut. It is such a great place in good old Fairfield. The sandwiches are so great, that once Mike, Michele, Lea, and I drove up from Hoboken to get sandwiches on a dull Sunday afternoon. Maybe the idea of a sandwich from Firehouse will be enough to get me to go to our ten year (GASP!) college reunion in June. This is not nearly as good as Firehouse, but it hit the spot one night after work. Bonus, it's easy to prepare.

two cooked chicken breasts (I cooked them on our George Foreman grill)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used low fat and low calorie)
4 tbsp sour cream (I used light sour cream. Fat free sometimes doesn't taste as good)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl until well blended.

I like to serve this on toasted bread. However, crackers work just as well. I think the lemon juice really works with the chicken salad. I could have put in celery or add nuts for some crunch, but why mess with something that you like. A piece of lettuce on the sandwich could be put on the bread to give the sandwich the crunch that you may desire.

Look out for a lot of posts

I have been so bad at updating the blog lately. It's been a busy past few weeks. There was a bachelorette party that took a lot of energy out of me. There was the night before the bachelorette party that took a lot out of me. There was a condo meeting that took a lot out of me. But, I am trying to get back into the swing of things. I have a feeling that there will be a lot that goes on the blog today. I will post a recipe for a really great chicken salad. I have to recap a cooking class. I have a classic dinner to post. Finally, I am going to put a lot of apple recipes up. Mike and I went apple picking and have a ridiculous amount of apples. I will probably make a pie, apple crisp, and some entrees with apples. Since I am planning on a lot of sweet baked dishes, I don't know how smart it was to quit the gym. I really to need to find a new one.