Hello everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I'm going to make a dish that keeps my husband happy. Well, he eats it and feels happy. It doesn't last forever, but when he's had a hard day and is grumping at everyone, we'll take a short burst of happy. :)
(That's me on the left, him on the right, mid-grump.)
And if I let him go hungry long enough, he turns into this. And the kids follow suit. Nobody wants this in their living room. The smell is atrocious.
So, even though he doesn't really eat Italian food, if you give the dish enough carbs and meat, he'll consume it. Man food= carbs + meat.
MMMMM. Tasty. But I don't have any buns and I think he'd probably have a heart attack if I let him eat like this, so let's see what's on hand.
Locally grown beef. Wow. That's a lot of meat. (Hide your eyes, Kav.) Edna's refusing to help with this one. Even she has limits.
All natural pesto with pine nuts. I was saving this. But it's an emergency. Cave man approaches!
Pesto goes in with the meat, a chopped onion, and 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs. I used Panko last time and it was great. This time I used some store bought can of something and they fell apart. Soooo, I'm assuming Panko is better. That's all I got for you, write it down.
Some dried cheese stuff. Came in a can. Smelled sort of... cheesy.
Hmmm. Looking lumpy. Lots of small cave people are watching.
Now, Edna was feeling unhappy because I was cooking without her. She's not a fan of grumpy cavemen. So, out of desperation, I got out my special dishes. My great uncle brought these back from Japan during WWII. They're Marine issue officer's dinner ware. Edna was suddenly much quieter.
I piled on the spaghetti, added the chunky homemade sauce, topped it with some giant meatballs and set it near Edna. I'm pretty sure she swooned. A manly plate full of manly food. *sigh*
An once grumpy hubby had some MAN FOOD, he went back to his usual charming self. *whew* Crisis averted. And it's very quiet in the kitchen. Can wait to hear what Edna says about our Marine. She's sort of picky. Maybe she's found the one? Only time will tell...
Keep those cavemen away, until next time!
Everyone in my clan seems to think spaghetti and plain tomato sauce is just lovely, so I only get meat sauce once in a long while. But those meatballs? They might win converts! I'll have to try them because I do love me my meat sauce.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, meat IN the sauce doesn't work here for all the kids. They don't even like the chunky tomatoes!
ReplyDeleteBut the pesto smelled so wonderful while baking, it almost made it worth the sacrifice!
We don't eat as much meat as we used to devour. I tell Man O we are having meat and he is thrilled.
ReplyDeleteWe used to make porcupine meatballs when we were first married. Have you had those? Rice instead of bread crumbs and they do come out porcupiney-looking!
Peace, Julie
That was a recipe on here!!!! Yummy!!!
DeleteWe eat a lot of man-food around here. There's something about growing and developing manly muscles that requires a lot of protein and carbs.
ReplyDeleteI usually just brown some ground beef and add it to the spaghetti sauce, but I know my crowd would love meatballs - especially giant ones.
And pesto? I've never tried adding it to meatballs. It would really give them a zing, wouldn't it?
BTW - how is Edna getting along with those Marines? Are they behaving themselves?
ohhhhhh, JAN! ONE Marine! Just one. Edna isn't quite that naughty.
DeleteThe pesto made the house smell AMAZING.
That hide my eyes warning came a picture too late. Ewwwwwwww! I just don't get man food. :-(
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side -- I truly love a good romance and Edna's near swoon has my heart palpitating for more. Perhaps she would feel inclined to do a post sometime about all the loves that were lost...or the one that has been found (at last!)
Have you heard of the rage in kid's lit -- kitchen appliance picture books. You should check some out of the library and give ol' Edna a story time. That would twizzle her beaters for sure. Try:
Spoon
Chopsticks -- both by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Spork - by Kyo Maclear
I'll be waiting for an addition to this craze by Edna. How about "It's batter than nothing" or Edna's Mix Up? :-) Sorry -- many small children and indoor recess addle my brain.
And don't forget The Brave Little Toaster! Or was that one only a movie?
DeleteKav, what????
ReplyDeleteChildren's kitchen appliance picture books?? I'm gobsmacked.
but Edna is nodding her head knowingly. What else would people write about??
And those titles are hilarious!!
I think there definitely needs to be a mixer picture book. I don't care for electrical appliances, but whenever I get her out, my boys come running. Maybe it's that v8 engine.
P.S. Have you read 'Smitten'? We love that one...
ReplyDeleteI just checked it out on amazon -- hadn't heard of it before but it's a story time book after me own heart. I love the wild and whacky! :-) Thanks for the recommend. Feel free to throw more titles at me any time.
DeleteAnything by Adam Rex (that's not a title), 'I Ain't Gonna Paint No More', are under my feet at the moment.... Watch out, you'll hear those lines for MONTHS.
DeleteVirginia, what a great idea on adding the pesto!!! But how long do you bake them??? :)
ReplyDeleteI love meatballs. Must make this one!
Julie, yes, I've made the porcupines! Someone shared the recipe on here, and we loved it.
Missy, bake them about 20 minutes. The beef we have here is local and a bit leaner, so it didn't take long, but we like to see how much grease we can drain off... :D
ReplyDeleteThanks!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I love the photo of you and hubby at the top. hehehe ;)
Isn't that one of the funniest movies?? Kind of rude, but I laugehd so hard. And we watched it together when we were dating so when my husband saw it, he snorted!
ReplyDelete