E3 Creations

I don't know about yall, but Thanksgiving wore me out this year. We had it at our house and I cooked everything for the main course - which is usually no big deal, but afterwards I was really fighting sleep and continued to do so until this morning. Maybe Joe and I were just taking advantage of not having to do anything.

Joe has been working 60+ hour weeks at work because of year end for the past month and a half, so it was very nice to spend time with him. I knew I had missed him, but not how much until I had him back.

Enough of me being sentimental. Thanksgiving Day this year also marked the day Evie dropped my phone in the potty during an extended attempt to go pee pee in the potty. I thought maybe watching some YouTube videos would relax her and allow her to....you know. Instead she dropped it in the potty and I stupidly tried to turn it on and fried the entire thing. So I have my first iPhone shipping to me right now. I'm a little nervous about not having the security of my QWERTY keyboard from my Blackberry, but I'm sure I will persevere.

Evelyn also went poo poo in the potty for the first time - it was epic. Enough said. I don't want to embarass her too much.

We also bought a couch for our Bonus Room upstairs after much overanalyzing done by both Joe and myself (you can take the girl out of accounting, but can't take the accounting out of a girl). Right now we watch TV from the comfort of our floor, so it's kinda a big deal.

Profound Thanksgiving Reflection: (drumroll, please) The best thing about Thanksgiving is the leftovers. The worst thing about Thanksgiving is the leftovers.

Leftovers are bad because we have sooooo many leftovers that we will eventually throw out and I feel wasteful. Why won't people take leftovers with them? We actually had an entire pumpkin pie still in tact after having a 14 family member dinner. I blame Joe entirely, because he requested a peanut butter pie from my mom and everyone was intrigued and wanted to try it this year.

Leftovers are good because they are sooooo good. We've had 2 leftover meals since Thanksgiving dinner and I'm still looking forward to another leftover lunch today. Why don't I make this meal more often?

My favorite leftover and this year's big hit was the Sweet Potato Souffle I made. My parents gave me The Los Barrios Family Cookbook two Octobers ago after meeting the author, Dianna Barrios Trevino. In short, they own a renowned Mexican restaurant in San Antonio. Low and behold the most amazing sweet potato casserole recipe was inside this cookbook. It was the first thing I made when I got it and Joe and Evelyn have both gobbled it up every meal since. I've made a few changes to the original recipe - for one, I reduced the amount of sugar by half. That's how sweet this thing is!! Joe was not a sweet potato fan before I started making this, so it's really worth a try.

Ingredients for souffle:
2 cups mashed, cooked sweet potatoes
2 eggs, beaten
3/4th cup sugar
6 Tablespoons of butter
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9 by 13 inch pan. Combine the above ingredients (I use a mixer) and put in the pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until it sets.

While the souffle is baking, prepare the topping.

Topping ingredients:
6 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup crushed cornflakes (optional)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Mix the ingredients and when the souffle is done with it's initial cooking period, spread this on top and cook an additional 10 minutes.

I had never tried the cornflakes before Thursday, but I went ahead and tried it and did not like it as much as just the butter, sugar, and pecans. Joe hates pecans so I leave those out often and it's still delicious.

Now it's time for Christmas decor to go up. That should keep me busy for a few days as well as the many crafts and projects I have planned. Come back and visit soon! I'll have some gift ideas, DIY projects, and obsessions going out this week! Besos.

This one is a bit of work, but not too much and definitely worth it. Months ago I was googling for the perfect Italian meatball recipe and who would have thought that about 170 different middle aged Italian women claim that theirs is the best. So I spent the last hour at work one afternoon (sorry Kenya!) combining a few different recipes and coming up with something pretty great on my own.

I do make a double batch and freeze half so that next time I get a hankering I can just pull a container out of the freezer and Boom! dinner is done. That and it's easier to buy 16 ounces of meat than 8. *wink

Ingredients:
16 ounces ground beef
16 ounces italian sausage (last time I used Hot sausage and I will say I don't think they were as good)
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
6 Tablespoons red wine (I use Zinfindel)
4 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper (ground)
1 cup seasoned italian breadcrumbs
2 garlic cloves
2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese (I use Kraft shredded parmesan)
1 Tablespoon dried onion flakes
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon dried basil

Start with beating the eggs in a small bowl, then add in the red wine and tomato paste. Set this bowl aside.

Place the beef and sausage in a large bowl and blend with your hands. Then add the breadcrumbs and the rest of the dry ingredients. After that is thoroughly mixed, add in the egg mixture from earlier.

If the mixture seems a little wet, add some more breadcrumbs a few Tablespoons at a time. If the mixture seems dry, add more tomato paste.

I then just use my hands to roll the mixture into balls and place them on a non-stick cookie sheet. Pop them in the over at 400 degrees. Let them cook for 10 minutes. Then turn them and cook for another 10 minutes.

I then put the meatballs into a large pot with my red sauce and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. This really adds to the flavor for both the meatballs and the sauce. I use Rao's Marinara Sauce. Unbeknownest to me the first time I purchased it, it runs like $7 a bottle! But it is seriously the best sauce I've ever had. They carry it at both Wal-Mart and Target.