Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs...

I love Indiana in the fall.  The leaves start to show the beautiful colors; all burnished in coppers and oranges.  Even the air changes to this crisp and refreshing entity all it's own.  I truly feel like fall revives me, a new lease on life.  Unfortunately, fall also gives me the munchies for comfort food.  In fact, my cravings for traditional comfort food are so strong, that I wondered for a minute if I might be pregnant, so I took a test.  Alas, there is no gluten free bun in my oven, but there is that hankering for all things delicious and warm, so I decided to pull out all the stops the other night and make homeade meatballs stuffed with mozzarella goat cheese. 
Let me start by saying, I truly love cooking, so making a homeade meal isn't too much trouble, but like most everyone with these allergies it wouldn't matter anyway, because I have to make my food homeade.  So, I started getting all the ingredients out of my pantry and refridgerator to make a delicious, warm and cozy meal.  With my daughter continuously asking for a snack in the background I got the food wheels a turning and concocted this wonderful recipe for all to enjoy. 

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs and Spaghetti

Meatballs

1 lb ground beef (I used extra lean, but you could use whatever you like, even ground turkey)
1/4 block of Goat Cheese, mozzarella style
1/3 C almond flour
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. Italian herbs
Celtic sea salt, to taste

Sauce
2 cans Italan stewed tomatoes
3 Tbsp. Tofutti "better than sour cream"
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp Italian herbs
1-1 1/2 C Tomato Juice
Celtic sea salt, to taste
1/4 Green Bell pepper, chopped
1Small onion, chopped

• To make meatballs, mix all ingredients, except for the goat cheese, together in a bowl with your hands until completely blended and mixed well.  Take the goat cheese and cut into small little cubes.
• Taking approximately 2 Tbsp of meatball mix, put a cheese cube into middle, then roll ball in between palms to create a nice round ball that completely incases the cheese.
• Repeat this process until all meatballs have been completely made.
• A note about meaurements and my process:  I have found that when you 'eye' measurements and follow directions loosely, you tend to get a better result.  I say that for all recipes.  Very rarely have I found it beneficial to be specific when following a recipe, so loosen up and enjoy this process.
• In a Large skillet place a couple Tbsp of Grapeseed oil/Olive oil, and turn to medium heat.
• After oil has heated, add meatballs and allow to brown on each side, turning only when necessary.
• Drain excess oil from pan, and add green pepper, onion, and garlic.
• Sautee for just a minute or two then add all remaining ingredients.
• Cover pan and let simmer on medium low for about 30 minutes.

When you are finished cooking pasta, I mixed mine in with the sauce so it was easier to serve.  This was a hit with my family and I served it with a chopped salad.

Another favorite I recently created is a Creamy Tomato Shrimp Sauce over Fettucine.  I concocted this on another occasion when I was suffering from lack of pasta.  I'm not sure if this happens to anyone else, but I regulary suffer from the intense desire for all things bad that I shouldn't be eating.  To that I say, God bless DeBoles Rice pasta, without you I might never survive.

Creamy Tomato Shrimp over Fettucine

10-12 prawns, raw, deveined and shelled
2-3 Tbsp Tofutti 'better than sour cream' (or sour cream for the lucky)
3/4 -1 C tomato juice
Few shakes of Garlic Salt
Gluten Free Jerk seasoning
3x or so around pan with Extra Virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 Tbsp. Parkay Squeezeable
1 pkg. DeBoles Rice Fettucine

-Boil large pot of water.  When boiling add noodles.
-Go three times around saucepan with EVOO and preheat to medium-high heat.
-In small bowl, mix 'sour cream', tomato juice, parkay, and garlic salt, and set aside.
-To hot oil add prawns and sprinkle with Jerk seasoning, flipping after about 3 or so minutes.
-When shrimp are just shy of done, add sauce mixture, stir gently, and reduce heat to medium to reduce for approximately 5 minutes. (Use your eyes and just go for what feels right)
-Drain pasta and rinse with cool water.  Mix with sauce immediately and plate.
Enjoy!!

Tonight we had homeade corn tortillas and pork carnitas with mexican rice.  Here is how yummy it looks, but I'm not including the recipes for these.  If you want them, feel free to email me and I will gladly post them for all.

 Happy cooking.

Amber