Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Fresh mozzarella

No, seriously, have you ever tried this stuff?  It's freakin' AMAZING.  I bought some to make a recipe a couple of weeks ago, and have to admit, I will have a hard time eating just "regular" mozzarella anymore.  There are tons of different things you can make/do with fresh mozzarella.  Salads, sandwiches, pizza, lasagna, etc.  SO SO good. 

This is how good the cheese is - Ande doesn't even LIKE cheese, and he not only liked the recipe, he asked me to make it again the next week.  The best thing about the recipe is that it is the easiest thing EVER to make.

2 cups pasta sauce.  You can use canned stuff or make your own.  I used Prego "Traditional" and it tasted really good.
1 package fresh mozzarella balls, drained.  I found these in the deli section of my grocery store.  They come in a little tub like the one shown above.
1 clove garlic, minced.  I used a product I'd never tried before, Chef Garden ready to use minced garlic.  My sister in law used it while we were in Oklahoma, and I thought it was pretty good.  I was right.  It comes in a pretty big jar, which I found in my grocery store near the potatoes.  (Weird, huh?)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (about 1-2 tbsp)
1 package Honeysuckle Turkey Italian Meatballs.  (You could also just make your own meatballs, I just happen to like these ones)
Fresh basil, if desired.  Ande isn't a big fan of basil, so I left this out.

Pour sauce into shallow pan, add garlic and stir.  Add drained mozzarella balls and meatballs (I just lined them up in the sauce, didn't stir or anything)

Bake in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and meatballs are heated through.  (This may take a little longer if you use frozen meatballs)

Drizzle olive oil over sauce and garnish with basil.

Serve with your favorite pasta.   (You could also make some killer meatball subs with this sauce)

It's pretty tasty and you can make it as easy or as complicated as you want!!

Monday, June 28, 2010

And it's getting bigger all the time

So...we've decided on a floorplan for the "new" motorhome...the good news is that we can re-use several appliances we salvaged from the original motorhome.  The bad news is that what we've decided to do will take a lot more time and money than we originally anticipated.  However, considering that right now we only have about $1000 invested in the RV (which is what we paid for it 2 years ago) and a new one with the floorplan we like is at least $64,000, we're off to a good start.  LOL

I'm very thankful that Ande can do all of the construction stuff pretty much by himself (meaning we shouldn't have to hire any of the work out) and I can sew the cushions and make the window coverings.  Our biggest expense will be constructing the "box", but there are plenty of things we can do while we're saving up for that.

Oh, and the toilet AND the shower are staying.  :)