recipe attempt #1

Do not be fooled.  If you are viewing this with the hope of receiving precise measurements and cooking times for the following "recipe", I regret to inform you that you will be greatly disappointed!  Nevertheless, I decided it was about time to include some of our favorite yummies.  If you know me, you already know that I HATE recipes.  I refuse to write anything down (which is slightly ironic since I genuinely enjoy writing, being organized, and generally being OCD.) My recipe-writing refusal is probably why I've had to call my Grandma Jojo about 15 times for the same recipe. But I digress.

Jason and I love yummies, and occasionally, I dream about yummies to make. Here is one idea from my best dream recipes...

Thanksgiving Stuffed Turkey Meatballs

ground turkey

Italian breadcrumbs

parmesan cheese

egg

milk

thyme

cumin

sage

parsley

crushed red pepper

salt/pepper

worchestershire sauce

stove top stuffing mix

onions

carrots

celery

garlic

olive oil

butter

white rice

brown gravy

(First, can I let you in on a little secret?  I have never written a recipe of my own.  Ever. But you know this.  As I type the ingredients for these best-damn-meatballs-you'll-ever-eat, I find myself undergoing a bit of anxiety.)  Okay, here it goes...

• Preheat oven to 350 
• Prepare two servings of whatever stovetop stuffing mix you like and set aside.
• Saute diced onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in olive oil and butter, then stir into stuffing mix to doctor it up. (I am the queen of doctoring things up.  Ask Jason.  He quit reminding me that jarred pasta sauce already has seasoning in it.  But he also demands my spaghetti once a week. You do the math!)
• Place ground turkey in large mixing bowl.
• In a separate mixing bowl, add beaten egg, milk, breadcrumbs, worchestershire sauce, parmesan cheese, parsley, sage, thyme, red pepper, cumin, pepper, and salt.  Stir until well blended and then pour into the bowl with the turkey and mix. If you care to know the reasoning behind my methods, I make sure my spices and "meatball" ingredients are combined first, that way when I mix them into the turkey, the meat doesn't get too tough because of overmixing!)
• Form a tiny patty.  Cook, taste, and adjust seasonings as needed! (This way, you don't ruin your whole dinner with bland food... Boo to bland food!!!)
• Once you are satisfied with the level of seasoning in your meat, form thin sand dollar sized patties in one hand.  With the other hand, grab some of the stuffing mix and pack it together in your fist.  Place this stuffing-ball (yummo) in the middle of the turkey patty and close the patty around the stuffing.  You may need to add a bit more meat if your initial measurements were off.  No worries!  Also, make sure you seal up the edges of the meatball so all the yummies stay inside. Repeat until you have used all the ingredients.  I usually get around 12-14 stuffed meatballs.
• Sear your meatballs on all sides in a super hot saute pan, then transfer the whole saute pan (if it's oven safe!) into your preheated oven for about 30 minutes. Please remember to remove the saute pan with a potholder.  Metal handles on saute pans get VERY hot in the oven.  Believe me.  I know!
• While the Thanksgiving Turkey gloriousness bakes in the oven, prepare white rice according to the directions on the box.  I use boil-in-bag rice because my house is a conventional rice-cooking abyss.  I fail every time.  
• Prepare brown gravy.  Sometimes I make my own, sometimes I use a jar or pouch.  I would guide you in making it from scratch, but the thought of it is seriously increasing the anxiety.  Just use a pouch; it'll be great!
• When the meatballs are finished baking, grab your potholder (I warned you again!  If you burn yourself now, there's nothing I can do!)  and remove the saute pan from the oven.  
• Spoon rice into large pasta bowl, place three or four meatballs onto rice, and top with brown gravy*... Enjoy!  Seriously, you're going to LOVE this!!

I know photos are a requisite of blog posts, but you'll have to just use your imagination on this one, because every time I make this, it gets eaten before I realize I need to take pictures of it for the blog.  Hey, that should be a tiny clue as to how good it really is.  Enjoy!

*You'd think that turkey gravy would be better with this dish, but it's not.  Trust me!

i am a military wife

By about 3:30 in the afternoon on any given workday, I am a bundle of anxiety and excitement because my husband, the love of my life, will be home in - count them - thirty minutes. Seriously? After just one day at work!  Let's not talk about the 436 days we'll have to wait.  Yes.  I counted. Four hundred thirty six!

That's right.  My other half will be gone for over a year.  And Little Man and I will be here. Patiently waiting.  We'll experience holidays, milestones, laughs, cries, good days, and bad days. But we'll have each other.  At the same time, my other half will be alone halfway around the world, experiencing nothing but bad days while he serves his country, completes his mission, and marks the countless days off his calendar so he can come home to his wife and son. A wife whose life began that March evening in the Cheesecake Factory lobby. A son who will still be a baby when he leaves but will be a little boy when he returns.

This will be the hardest year of our lives. I honestly can't even comprehend the amount of time we will be apart. But we are strong. We are brave.  And we are IN LOVE.  (I lie slightly about the "strong" part. Tears are welling up in my eyes as I type this.)  Part of me knows that I should keep these thoughts deep within the confines of my mind and heart, but the other part relishes the power of words as therapy.

Speaking of "words as therapy", I decided to compile a few phrases and ideas that give me encouragement for the year to come.  We will get through this, we will prevail, we will look back on this experience with pride, we will.

Wow! We really need an updated picture of us all decked out!!!

Now, here are some of my favorite thoughts regarding our upcoming adventure and my role in it as a Military Wife...


1. 
Distance is not for the fearful, it is for the bold. It's for those who are willing to spend a lot of time alone in exchange for a little time with the one they love. It's for those knowing a good thing when they see it, even if they don't see it nearly enough.

2.
Recipe for a Military Spouse

1 1/2 cups Patience
1 cup Courage
3/4 cup Tolerance
Dash of Adventure
1 pound of Ability
To the above ingredients: Add 2 tablespoons elbow grease and let stand alone for one year. Marinate frequently with salty tears. Pour off excess fat and sprinkle ever so lightly with money then Knead dough until payday. Season with international spices. Bake 20 years or until done. Makes unlimited servings.
SERVE WITH PRIDE.

3.
Live every day like he deploys tomorrow.

4.
My husband serves so yours won't get drafted.

5.
She packs. She moves. She follows. Why? You may think she has lost her mind. But actually, she's lost her heart. It was stolen from her by a man. A man who puts duty first, who follows orders to deploy, who salutes the flag, and whose boots in the doorway remind her that, as long as he is her Military Husband, she will remain his Military Wife!

6.
Half of my heart is deployed.

7.
Why play with Ken when you can have G.I. Joe?

A note on #7... I figured I'd end this cry-fest with a bit of humor.  Jason, my G.I. Joe, I love you with all of my heart.  You are, in fact, my heart! You are my G.I. Jason... Muah!!