90. Learn to cook 10 new recipes (2/10)

My daily post-work commute is long.. sometimes longer than I care to admit. So, if you know me, you already know that I'm kind of a grouchy pants if I wait too long between meals and even when I snack, I'm absolutely annoying until I eat dinner. And if you don't know me, then hi thanks for stopping by my blog and yes, I have low blood sugar which makes me a borderline lunatic at times.

ANYWAY.. these variables along with probably a dozen others (like how I'm incredibly Type A) requires me to plan ahead my meals for the week. I'm always on the hunt for new recipes - especially those that require minimal effort and no cooking skills whatsoever. I'm not looking to be Julia Child here.. I just want to eat.

One of my favorite websites to browse recipes is the Pioneer Woman. Her website includes photography, family, hobbies and my favorite, cooking. She even has her own cookbook so you know she's legit. One section she's starting to tag is 16 minute meals - I'll take those extra fourteen minutes over Rachael Ray any day! So, on July 17, she posted about her Mini Meatball Sandwiches. First, I love most things in miniature form so my heart strings were tugged at the sight of the title. Second, I've never made meatballs before and totally wanted to try it without consuming hours of my time. So, here we go! (btw, the actual directions may be found here)

First, let's gather ingredients shall we? (Like last time, we're going to overlook my outdated kitchen)

Yes, I used jarred sauce. WHATEVER. It was light Ragu Tomato Basil and surprisingly delish. Additionally, I made use of my roasted garlic (that I made a couple days before), panko, yellow onion, one lb of 90/10 ground meat (on sale! score me!), provolone cheese, milk, olive oil, salt & pepper and the cutest little dinner rolls. Most of the items I already had in my house so that was another bonus.

Ok, time to combine my meat with panko and a touch of milk.

Chopped up some yellow onion. Did you know that if you throw an onion in the freezer for a couple of minutes before you chop it that it's easier to cut it AND it doesn't trigger tears as easy!? These are just some treats for reading my blog - you're welcome!

Moving on, I used my tablespoon measuring thingee to scoop the perfect size meat for the meatballs and then I rolled them cleanly with my hands. Again, if you want the correct lingo, I'm sure the Food Network is an excellent resource.

I know, that's a lot of meatballs! So you're probably wondering why I rolled all the meatballs before throwing the onions to brown in the skillet (if not, let's pay attention here!). I knew that I would totally burn the onions in the oil if I didn't pay attention so yes it took longer but I needed to not screw it up before I got there.

Here's the oil and onions! Now, I had to be super stealthy because S doesn't like onions but likes the taste of them.. so as long as he doesn't see them, he'll eat them. Make sense? It's fine, I think there's a unwritten rule that guys are supposed to make absolutely no sense various times throughout the day.

So now we brown the meatballs - let's use our imaginations here since I was trying to be stealthy and avoid burning our house down so picture taking was not the top priority - and then add the sauce!

Doesn't it smell good?! Yes, I know my blog is not a scratch and sniff but as I type this, I'm salivating at the picture. Now we cover the pot! Like my new cookware? Compliments to Paula Deen and S for selecting these beauties as a gift!

While that bad boy simmers away, time to prepare the bread and cheese. Yes, in absolute fat kid style, are there two words that go more perfectly together as bread and cheese?! I think not. So you just slice the bread in half and put a quarter of provolone on each piece of bread.

Once everything is cooked, you just put a meatball on the bottom of the bread, top with some extra sauce and squish down the top piece of bread and watch those bad boys just melt together.

Yeah, sometimes we use paper plates. It happens more frequently when I anticipate that I'll be in a fat kid coma with my mini meatball sandwich belly. These sandwiches were absolutely delicious and I will definitely make them again. Perfect sized mini meatball to the cutest little bread. Divine!