The Winner with a Side of Egg-Free Meatballs

Let's get to it! Marisa...Ohhhhhhh SNAP! YOU ARE THE WINNER, of the Foodie House "Name My Camera" Contest! Yay! I loved the name "Snaps". It's spunky and fun, just like my girl...well, Snaps! Marisa, email me and let me know when you would like to post your guest post. Can't wait to hear what it is! Check Marisa out at her blog, Cook's Book.

Thank you everyone for your ideas. Honestly, it was really hard picking the name. I liked so many of them! I had a lot of fun. I hope you had a good time too. I'll be having another contest soon...and it will have a tangible prize next time.

So...

I love meatballs. I love them with all different types of meat or poultry. I loved them before they were trendy and before they had resturants dedicated to their meaty meatballness. They are a perfect platform, nay, a canvas for the culinary paintbrush! (I'm pretty sure Shakespeare loved meatballs.)

Well, I've mentioned before, my youngest son has an egg allergy, so that has forced me to take some of my favorite recipes and transform them into egg-free delights. So far it's been working out pretty well, thanks to a nifty little idea I found online: flax seed. I talked about this in the Blueberry Pancake post, where it worked out beautifully. It was my first run with it and I had very low expectations. I was happily surprised by the outcome! No one seemed to miss the eggs and my Tiny could eat all he wanted. So why not apply the same idea to meatballs?

Meatballs need egg, or some sort of binder. So I put the flax seed concoction into effect. I made my traditional meatballs and swapped the egg for the gooey flax seed. Let me tell you, they turned out fabulous!

There's cute lil' Bob again.

The Goo

Not only is the flax seed so healthy, it's a great binder. The sticky consistency of it made the meatballs hold together perfectly. If you are looking to find a lower fat/cholesterol meatball recipe, you could use this and substitute the beef and pork for turkey. And if your looking to pay for some singing lessons, these could also come in handy.

If you have a hankerin' for some meatballs and want to see me teach you how, you can watch my "Mama's Meatballs" video (click here) and use your imagination that I am putting in flax seed substitute instead of egg.

Egg-Free Mama's Meatballs

prep time:20 min
cook time:45 min
serves:9

1 lb. ground pork

1 lb. gr. beef (85/15)

1 c. breadcrumbs

1/2 large onion, finely chopped

1 tbls. fresh basil, minced

1 tbls. fresh parsley, minced

2 tsp. fresh rosemary, minced

2 tbls. ground flax seed combined with 1/2 cup hot water

1/4 c. milk

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 tbls. olive oil

3 24 oz. jars of your favorite marinara (I use Bertolli Organic Tomato Basil) and yes, I cheat.

Combine all ingredients using your hands. It's truly the best way to incorporate all the flavors.

Roll out the meatballs into golf ball-sized portions. It makes approx. 28. I freeze half if I am cooking just for my family. I count 3 meatballs as one serving. When I use only half of the meatballs, I use only 2 jars of sauce.

Pour your marinara sauce into a pot and start warming it over medium heat.

Get a heavy saute pan nice and hot over med-high heat. Add your olive oil and start searing your meatballs. Set them in, leave them alone! Don't touch! The goal is to get caramelization on the outside of the meatballs so they are flavorful and juicy. Also, do not over-crowd your pan. This will cause the meatballs to steam and become dry.

Sear on each side then take the meatballs directly from the saute pan to the marinara sauce. They meatballs do not need to be cooked through. We are only searing them then cooking the rest of the way in the marinara. This makes for a very moist meatball.

A totally optional step is to pour the grease from your meatball pan into the sauce. If you are concerned about the fat, by all means, skip this part. I do it for the flavor. It's fantastic!

Put a lid on it, slightly ajar and let them simmer for a good 30 minutes.

And just because it's so good to dip in the sauce, like any good Italian girl would...some garlic bread. Takes 10 minutes, is all fresh and so tasty.

Garlic Bread

6 slices Italian or French bread

2 tbls. olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced and smashed into a paste with a pinch of salt

2 tsp. fresh rosemary, minced

salt and pepper

Get your broiler on. Mix up all the ingredients, except for the bread, of course. Brush it onto the bread, toast under the broiler and mangia!

Love ya, Food-sters!

Contest: She Needs A Name! Who? My DSLR (Yup!)

I want to shout it through the rooftops! I have found her, the one I love! My very own Canon Xsi and a 1.8/50mm lens.

I was not expecting to get her yesterday. I call her, "her" because she is a girl. I think it runs along the same lines a calling a car a girl too. It was a surprise, early birthday present! (And most likely, Christmas present too.) Anyways, so I got her from Houston Camera Exchange. If you live in or around the surrounding Houston area, it's totally worth driving in to check this place out. I had a wonderful guy help me, Will, and the prices were great.

Originally I was going to get it from Amazon. But my sister in law Heather at Home:Made Simple, told me about how you can get used and refurbished cameras over at HCE. So, I called up there yesterday and low and behold, they had a used Canon Xsi, just the one I wanted for a great price. The lens I got was new. I jumped back and forth between the 1.4/50mm and the 1.8/50mm, the difference being $250 between the two. After much chatting with others, I decided to go with the 1.8/50mm ($100 instead of $250). I'm extremely happy with it.

Speaking of extremely happy...I was a total dork yesterday, and most likely will continue to be for the next week. The hubs has now dubbed me "Picture Page" for my relentless photography of everyone and anything. The minute I stepped in the door, I ripped the camera out slapped on the lens and have been driving everyone in the house nuts, even more than usual. What can I say? I've turned into a mommy (and slightly cuter) version of a camera-crazed Gollum.

What makes this even more appropriate, is that last night the electricity went out, from around 6:45 to 8:00 p.m. from a nasty thunderstorm. It was a bit light outside so I could still see my camera and take pictures of my feet, a book on a coffee table or really anything in my line of sight. Then the electricity came back on. There was shouts of glee all over the land! It was on for about a half hour and then it went off again. UGH!

Frustration grunts arose from the pitch black. No internet, no t.v., no lights. Nothing. It was a risky situation, drinking hot, scalding tea in the dark, but I found the quiet to be quite refreshing regardless. The hubs, however, was bored. As I was caressing my used, but new-to-me camera, the hubs went to find his Mag-lite flashlight. Possibly so he wouldn't feel left out on this electronics love fest? Or maybe so could see. It''s possible. At one point, he was laying on the floor shining the light up onto the ceiling and fireplace and singing "Reunited". Was there anything lame about this picture? Yes.

All I needed was the bulbous, glowing green eyes of Gollum to make me just as obsessed as he was with his precious. I couldn't even see and I was still trying to look at my camera. I tucked her in next to me, in the recliner, like I would one of my kids. Shoot, I might as well have read a bed time story to her, but I couldn't see.

My very first pictures with my camera:

My sweet baby boy.

My baby girl. She's breath-taking.

My handsome little man. (who refused to be nothing BUT a giant, hence the tough-guy look.)

I adore this picture. As most you parents know, you cannot take the slightest "nap" without at least one child trying to wake you up! They all just piled on top of Daddy. So sweet.

My very first food picture with my new camera.

I wanted to say a big thank you to all of you who helped me through the camera shopping experience! I big thank you to Lisa at Korean American Mommy and Ben at You Fed A Baby Chili. You both were really helpful. I appreciate it. Many more of you gave out your suggestions and I truly thank you!

Contest!
Just for poops and giggles (doesn't have the same finesse when you switch out the cuss word for a kid-friendly word), I want your suggestions on what to name "her". What's the best name you can think of for my new friend? Here are some adjectives to get you rolling: She's fast, medium weight, super cute, has lots of buttons, user-friendly menu and mine.

Let's see what you've got. Be creative, fun and outside the box, please. The winner will receive a guest post here at Foodie House! The contest ends Aug. 31st, so you've got one week friends, get your thinking caps on! I will be choosing the winner based solely on the name you submit. She's a darling camera. She has a good home, now she needs a good name.