Yummy Meatballs!

I am always amazed how fast the day goes by. Where does the time go?? I have such grand ideas every day, and every day I run out of time before run out of "to do's". Today, I had grand ideas of crafting, sewing and cooking a wonderful meal. But, as usual, life got in the way. The meal I planned was a slow cooked meal, and as the afternoon dwindled away, I knew that was not going to happ


en. So, plan B was what worked, and it was delicious, I must say. Faith was my lovely assistant, and if you do not have one of those, (a lovely assistant) you really should get yourself one. They are wonderful to have, and I think everyone should have at least two. I myself have 5. That way, if one is busy, there is always someone to help me out.
But I digress. I want to share our Lebanese Meatballs. I got the recipe from the Whole Paycheck's (otherwise known as Whole Foods). I love that store! But I usally spend way more there than anywhere else. But I do use their coupons, so I save money, too. Last time I shopped there, to buy the meat for this meal, I saved $37 by printing coupons off their website. I felt like one of those 'extreme couponers'! I won't mention that I spent $400.00! But I digress again.
Back to the Meatballs. They were supposed to be Kababs, but I could only find one of our skewers, and it was starting to rain, so the grill was out of the question, so I pan fried them in my wonderful cast iron skillets. Which is something else everyone should have. I don't know what I did before I got them last summer from my sister. But I digress yet again. I do that alot.
Anyhoo, here's what we did:
Lebanese Meatballs
(I did not think they were very lebanese tasting, but they were good!)

You will need: Ground Beef (I used grass fed, but any kind will do), an onion, parsley, allspice, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper and olive oil.

First, we grated the onion into the ground beef. I used 2 lbs of meat and 1 med. onion.



Then, we added 4 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley,  1 tsp. allspice and cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 3/4 tsp. salt, and about 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper.



The you do the fun part: mixing it all together. We started with the spatula on the left, but quickly realized that the hands would be far more fun. And we had to make meatballs by hand anyway, so we dove in. As we were mushing it all together, Faith said, "we should put some cheese in the middle". I had some feta, so I cut it into cubes and wrapped the meat around it. They were especially delicious! Great idea!

Then I sauteed them in olive oil. I know, you are not supposed to overheat olive oil, but I just can't help myself. I love the flavor, and really can't substitute anything for that wonderful flavor.  (note the beautiful 6 burner gas stove. I got it when we remodeled the kitchen last year. The top is gas, the oven is electric. I love it!)

Here's the final product. The ones on the left are the ones with the feta. The others are plain. Everyone agreed the feta ones were the best. Next time I will make them all with the cheese. We served them with a salad and sugar snap peas.  Delicious!! 

Even though my craft and sewing projects still sit undone, I got to spend some fun time in the kitchen with my little Faith, and make a delicious meal for my family. And I feel blessed!
 To get the full recipe, here's the link:http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/3010
Happy Wednesday everyone!