When You’re Sick of Your Own Cooking [NewlyNested]

Cooking is one chore that this nester loves.  But every couple of months I get sick of my cooking.  The internet is obviously a great resource to find new and easy recipes, but sometimes I just need a good-old-fashioned, glossy pictured, hard-covered cookbook to get my imagination flowing again.  When I found out that Jamie Geller (a kosher cook who wrote a great first cookbook that I received as a gift for my wedding) came out with a new cookbook, Quick & Kosher: Meals In Minutes, I bought it immediately.

When my cookbook arrived I skimmed through it quickly and was certain there was a number of recipes I would want to try.  Then that evening when my husband came home the domestic wife inside of me fully surfaced when I told him we needed to go over the new cookbook in bed.  That night I came to bed with a notepad, pen, and my cookbook asking my husband what recipes he’d like to try, going over each one.  I really enjoy doing this when I get a new cookbook, but the husband definitely was being tortured and only made it a quarter of the way through.

One recipe that really excited me is something that is simple to most: Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs.  Even though I think I’m a pretty good cook, meatballs were always something that I just could never successfully make.  They’d either come out too dry or they would fall apart in the sauce.  I am happy to say that the Quick & Kosher recipe turned out great.  I altered it a little for my taste and to make it lighter.

Here is what I did, slightly altered and lightened up.

What you’ll need:

3-15oz Cans Organic Tomato Sauce (doesn’t have to be organic, but I like the taste better)

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

Dried (or fresh) Oregano

1lb Ground Turkey

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1 tsp Ground Pepper (and a little extra for the sauce too)

1 Large Egg, beaten

1 Cup Quick Oats

Olive Oil

2 Box Quinoa Pasta (I recommend Ancient Harvest, but you can always use regular pasta.  If you go with regular pasta you’ll only need one box)

First, get the meatballs going. Combine the ground turkey, kosher salt, egg, oats, and a few dashes of onion powder and garlic powder.  Form your meatballs into medium size balls.  Heat a skillet on medium with olive oil and brown your meatballs on each side.  I had to do this in three batches.

While your meatballs are browning get the easy sauce going.  Combine the tomato sauce, a few dashes of onion, garlic, pepper, and dried oregano.  Let simmer and as the meatballs finish add them to the sauce.

Once all your meatballs are done and in your sauce, let the sauce simmer for 30 minutes.  During the last 10 minutes of cooking time make your pasta.  Don’t forget to always salt the pasta water!

Plate the pasta and serve the meatballs with sauce on top.

Enjoy!  Do you have any favorite go-to cookbooks for refreshing your cooking routine?

Click on the book cover to buy the latest Jamie Geller cookbook at Amazon!