Swedish Meatballs + Cookbook WINNER!

Today I'm sharing another recipe from the amazing cookbook, Dinner A Love Story. Thanks to all of you who entered to win a copy. The lucky winner of this cookbook is....AMANDA! Congrats girl. Send me an email with your address and I will have Jenny ship out your cookbook to you!!

Ever since an IKEA moved in near my house, people have been talking about their Swedish meatballs. So when I saw a recipe for Swedish meatballs in Jenny's cookbook I decided it was about time I try them and I'm glad I did! Here is what you will need...

• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
• 2 1/3 cups low-salt beef stock, divided
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1 cup minced onion
• 2 thick slices bacon, minced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 3/4 pound ground pork
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sour cream, whisked
• Lingonberry preserves (found at IKEA) 

-Start by mixing the breadcrumbs and 1/3 cup beef stock in a small bowl. Set aside. 

-Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer onion to a large bowl

-Wipe out pan and return to medium heat. Add bacon and cook until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to bowl with onion. (Reserve bacon fat.) 

-Add next 8 ingredients to bowl with onion mixture, mixing with your hands to blend. 

-Fold in breadcrumb mixture. 

-Using a 1 Tbsp. measure, roll meat mixture into balls; transfer to a rimmed baking sheet.  
 -Melt 1 Tbsp. butter with reserved bacon fat in a large heavy pot over medium-low heat. 

-Working in 3 batches and adding 1 Tbsp. butter between batches, brown meatballs on all sides, about 6-8 minutes per batch. 

-Transfer meatballs to a plate. Drain all but 2 Tbsp. drippings from pot. Whisk in flour until smooth paste forms. Stir in 2 cups stock; bring to a simmer, whisking often. Return meatballs to pot. Cover; simmer until meatballs are cooked, 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat, whisk in sour cream, and stir to coat meatballs

-Serve with Lingonberry preserves

Click here for the original recipe source.

Have you ever made or eaten Swedish Meatballs???

Pan Fried Pizza + A Cookbook Giveaway!

Recipe from Dinner: A Love Story {see my cookbook review here}

I've made many different kinds of pizzas in my kitchen, but never with a cast iron skillet...until this week! If you are looking for a new spin on pizza you need to try pan fried pizza.

What you need:
::Medium size cast iron skillet
::Olive oil
::4 oz. ham or prosciutto (I bought already chopped up ham)
::1 16 oz. ball pizza dough (I did store bought to save time)
::1 cup Pizza Sauce
::1 8 oz. ball fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
::1 and 1/2 cups pineapple cubes
::4 or 5 fresh basil leaves (shredded)

What you do:
Start by chopping, shredding and slicing ingredients so you are prepped to go then go ahead and preheat the broiler.

Add a little olive oil to your cast iron skillet and fry up the chopped ham over medium-low heat until it is crispy. Set cooked ham aside.

Prepare your pizza dough then divide dough in half so you can cook up 2 pizzas. Roll each pizza dough half into circles the size of your cast iron skillet. The dough will be thick.

Heat the skillet to medium and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add half of the rolled out dough. Cook for 2-3 minutes until you see the dough start to bubble then flip it over. Add half your sauce, half the mozzarella, half of the ham and half of the pineapple. Cook for another 2 minutes until the bottom is cooked then stick the skillet in the broiler for another 2-3 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Remove skillet from oven and sprinkle fresh basil on top. Take pizza out of skillet and repeat with remaining ingredients. I loved the taste of this pizza and the thickness of the crust. Yum!

And now the exciting part...the author of Dinner: A Love Story, Jenny Rosenstrach, has generously offered to give away a copy of her amazing cookbook to one of YOU. Enter below to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Quinoa with Fried Egg & Spinach {A recipe}

When I first saw this recipe in the cookbook Dinner: A Love Story I had just discovered Quinoa and couldn't wait to try it with egg. It did not let me down. It turns out quinoa is good with almost anything! This recipe is for 2 bowls.

Here's what you need to make it:
-1 cup Quinoa
-2 eggs
-2 Tablespoons chopped onion
-Olive oil
-dash of Sesame oil (don't leave this out it has amazing flavor)
-1 tsp. Soy sauce
-2 handfuls of fresh spinach (roughly chopped)

Here's how you make it:
Cook the Quinoa according to package instructions then divide evenly between two bowls.

Heat olive oil and a dash of Sesame oil in a small frying pan over low heat. Toss in onions and saute for 3 minutes. Add the spinach and soy sauce and saute until spinach is wilted. Remove spinach and onions from frying pan and place on top of quinoa.

Fry up 2 eggs in the same small frying pan and place on top of quinoa and spinach.

Drizzle with a little more soy sauce for flavor.

Such a quick and easy meal!

Do you have a favorite dish with Quinoa? I want to know about it!

Dinner: A Love Story [Cookbook Review+Recipes]

About a month ago I was looking for a new cookbook to try some recipes out of and I stumbled on Dinner: A Love story by Jenny Rosenstrach, which is both a blog and book. I picked up a copy of the cookbook at the library and it is one I will definitely be adding to my collection.

One thing that always draws me into a cookbook is the story behind it. The recipes are important too, but I love when I can combine my love of reading with my love of cooking. It just makes it so much more fun. Jenny is a mom who is determined to cook dinner for her family every night. She believes in the importance of family dinner at the table and her cookbook provides simple, yet delicious recipes that can make this possible for any family! Even though I don't have kids of my own yet, my husband and I both work full time and share Jenny's desire to eat dinner together at the dinner table as much as we can! I pulled out recipes from this cookbook to try and I loved every one that I made from Swedish meatballs to Pan Fried pizza. A few that I enjoyed from her cookbook can also be found on her blog if you want to try them out!

Baked Sausage with Apples and Onions
Swedish Meatballs 
Quinoa with Fried Egg

The recipes I share with you over the next week or two will all be from this cookbook. Stay tuned...

And I'm looking for another cookbook to review...any suggestions?!