Enjoy the Delicious

I know I keep threatening, but now I really mean it. It is, officially, back to business. There's one day left and then school starts. During the summer I love to chill out, relax, enjoy the flow. I love to hang out with friends, take the dog for a late walk, stop to get an ice cream, let the boy sneak in a late night here and there to lie with me and watch Camp Rock together for the 900th time.

When school starts, things are very different. Once September hits there is the whole issue of schedules and school and homework. The evening schedule is tight. As a single mother I have to keep to military precision. Sometimes, though, we get off track. Evenings can be hectic. There could be a friend stopping by for dinner, last minute errands and then there are the usual things that are always there, homework, animals, required reading, walking the dog, watching cartoons, basically, I'm living my life within the confines of 5 hours a night! Through it all I do try to cook every night but, there are only so many hours in the day. That's when I do it. I cheat. Sometimes, during the weekends I make a couple of dishes and then stick them in the freezer. On any given morning I can pull something out, pop it in the fridge and by the time we get home it's ready to go into the oven. One of the best freezable dishes I have came straight from Rachel Ray. I'm not a huge fan of her personally, but I am always intrigued by her ability to put together a solid meal in that half hour slot. I love her mozzarella stuffed meatballs. You can make up a ton of these and stick them in the freezer (cook before freezing). They can be served with pasta, as a stand alone dish with sides, in a sub smothered with marinara sauce, the variations are endless. Let's go with the stand alone dish.

From Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals:

The Italian take on meat and potatoes: Meatballs with a tangy San Marzano tomato sauce, smashed potatoes and roasted broccolini.

Take 2lbs of your favorite type of sausage meat. I use a mix of chicken and pork. With your fingers, squish in salt, pepper and some chopped parsley. Take a portion of meat and wrap it around a little piece of mozzarella bocconcini and manipulate it into a regular meatball. Roll together as many as you can, place them on an oiled baking sheet and pop into the oven for about 20 minutes at 400F. Boil up some quartered potatoes and when they are done, add up to 1 cup of milk or half and half, 2-3 generous handfuls of Pecorino Romano and as much fresh ground black pepper as you can handle and then smash. These aren't mashed potatoes - do more of a rough mash to yield a rustic presentation. Roast a package of broccolini in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil and a shake of salt and pepper. Same oven as the meatballs, 7-10 minutes. Now the sauce. Pour one large can of San Marzano whole tomatoes into a pan add 3 cloves of smashed garlic, salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar (which cuts down the acidity) and then take a potato masher to it and yield these whole tomatoes into submission. If you are so inclined, you can stir in ½ cup of red wine for extra richness.

Assemble on your plate, drizzle the meatballs with the tangy tomato sauce, add a few more grinds of black pepper and enjoy that delicious.