Comfort foods?

Now that it’s starting to be Summer I’ve started working on my “recipes I’d like to try” binder. It’s quite large and overflowing. Last night I made Congo Bars from a Bakerella recipe and Turkey Meatballs from a Real Simple Magazine recipe. I've never made meatballs before and I'm fairly certain I've never had meatballs before. Insanity, I know. But I stopped eating red meat in the 7th grade and my mom's spaghetti sauce always had the meat mixed in, not in meatball form. Anywho, both recipes turned out delicious. I changed a few things to my liking as always, so you can click on the links to see the original recipes or check out my versions below.




Congo Bars

Ingredients:
2 3/4c all purpose flour
2 1/2t baking powder
1/2t salt
2/3c butter, softened
1 lb. dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1t vanilla
12 ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven at 350F
Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
Combine butter and sugar using a mixer until blended.
Add eggs, one at a time to sugar mixture, mixing on low in between each addition.
Add vanilla and mix.
Add flour and mix until combined.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.



Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients:
4T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 (28oz) can tomato puree
1 (6oz) can tomato paste
1 T sugar
1t cayenne pepper
1T Italian seasoning
1/2c grated Parmesan
2T chopped fresh oregano, divided
S & P
1 large egg
1lb ground turkey
16 saltine crackers, finely crushed (about 3⁄4 cup)
12 ounces spaghetti (3⁄4 box)

Directions
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and half the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the tomato puree and paste, sugar, cayenne pepper, Italian seasoning, half the Parmesan, 1 tablespoon of the oregano, ½ teaspoon salt, and 1½ cups water. Simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, lightly beat the egg. Add the turkey, crackers, the remaining Parmesan, garlic, and oregano, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Shape the mixture into 12 meatballs (about 1½ inches each).
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook the meatballs, turning occasionally, until browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Add to the sauce and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, 25 to 30 minutes.
Cook the spaghetti (I used Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Spinach Spaghetti, gave it kind of a Christmas in May look haha) according to the package directions. Serve with the meatballs and sauce.

Give me a shout if you ever try any of the recipes I share here with you! enjoy!