Mozzarella stuffed Meatballs

Oh, my gosh! Three posts in one day! Am I crazy? Bored? Both!?

I made these the other day after seeing the video on Facebook. I tweaked the recipe a little, but only because it's American and they have everything in a can/jar. Australians have to put in a few seconds more work, lol.

So anyway, this recipe makes a massive amount of meatballs! I invited my two giant brothers and mother over to help us eat them, and still had leftovers!

INGREDIENTS:
500g beef mince
500g pork mince
2 eggs
1 cup breadcrumbs (or almond meal for GF)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup milk
1 tbspn mixed herbs
1/4 tspn ground chilli
Salt & pepper, to taste
1 blob thing of mozzarella, cut into 1cm cubes
500g jar spaghetti sauce (I used five brothers)

METHOD:
Place all ingredients except mozzarella and sauce in a large bowl, and combine thoroughly with your hands. Grab enough meat to cover the cheese and roll into a ball. Repeat until all meat is used.
Tip half of the sauce into the slow cooker.
Heat frying pan over medium heat and cook the balls in batches, just so they're browned on two sides (a couple of minutes each side) and then put in slow cooker. Once all meatballs have been browned, cover the top with the rest of the sauce. I added a drop of water to the jar and shook to get all the sauce out - it didn't quite dress each meatball and I can be particular like that.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 2.5 hours.
Serve with whatever you like! (Pasta is good though!)

Enjoy!

- L. x

Moving Sucks.

Soo, I'm moving! ...5 minutes down the road, lol.

As some of you know, Spawn is a turd. Especially where our stairs are involved! So I made the decision to relocate to a single storey residence. Also thought I'd find a place that ticked a few boxes I've been missing, but alas. Beggars can't be choosers. (Really cannot wait to have a pantry again, though! Should have made sure that box was ticked before applying...)
I've already started doing the menial cleaning jobs, in the hopes it will make the final clean much easier. And I've packed most of the things we won't need for the next two weeks. It's been fun, and I'm grateful for Victoria's crappy cool weather! Making this so easy! (Will probably be a heatwave the weekend we actually move, lol!) I like cleaning and organising. It makes me feel good. And whilst I don't hoard, gosh I'm loving the excuse to cull unnecessary items! So freeing!
The downside to moving two weeks before Christmas? Being the kind of person who puts their tree up mid November, I've had to refrain from assembling it until we move. So instead of enjoying it for over a month, we'll be lucky to get two weeks out of it! Not even, seeing as we're off to Queensland a couple of days before Christmas. This makes me so sad! But at least putting the tree up in the new place will make it more homey quicker. Hopefully Spawn will settle in easily enough knowing that's where Christmas is! Hopefully.....

But yes. Packing. Packing sucks. Sure, it has its perks. But knowing I'm doing all this packing, only to have to unpack in a couple of weeks.... Not feeling it. Not at all.
At least I get a holiday a week later though. Need to remind myself of that lol.

Eh. Enough rambling! I attached a photo that shows an example of an afternoon's work. 😂 Talk soon, crazies.

Peace out.

- L. x

Potato Salad

I love my potato salad. I used to love it as a kid, but as I got older, I got fussy and stopped liking things from jars. Don't know what it was, it just tasted different. Preservativey maybe? (Yes, that's a word now!)
Anyway, I tried for ages to find a sauce I liked! Then one day I googled recipes. Low and behold, it's actually easy to make from scratch! So I found a couple of recipes that appealed to me, and eventually combined a couple to make the perfect potato salad - for me.

So here is the recipe! I'm not the only one who likes it; I always get asked to take it to barbecues lol.

INGREDIENTS:
1kg potatoes, peeled and chopped into approx. 1cm cubes.
150g bacon, diced (optional)
45g sour cream
70g whole egg mayonnaise (with these two, I basically do 1 part cream to 2 parts mayo, but when I first nailed it, these were the measurements I went with)
1 tablespoon capers, drained
3 spring onions, finely sliced
1/4 fresh dill, or 2 tbspn (approx) of jarred dill
2 tspn salt
1 tspn pepper

METHOD:
Place potatoes in large saucepan and fill with water. Cook over med-high (more high) heat for 20 mins, then drain and put aside to cool.
Cook bacon in frying pan until crispy, then place on paper towel to soak up oil.
In a large bowl, combine onion, dill, capers, bacon, sour cream, mayo, salt & pepper, and mix well. Add cooled potatoes and gently stir to combine.
Serve immediately, or cover and store in fridge until needed.
Not sure how long it lasts, but two days later it's still good for leftovers! :)

Enjoy!

- L. x

House Hunting.

Why must it be so tedious?!
Actually, I take that back. I kind of enjoy house hunting. What I dislike is finding a house that meets our needs, that fits within our budget! There's always that one flaw. The one that turns you away....
Case in point: I inspected a property yesterday and it was in a good location, reasonably priced, a good size, plenty of parking (not so relevant for my loner self, but hey, gotta love an optimist!) and it even had a bath.
Downfall? There was a dog in the courtyard that had virtually destroyed the area. The oven was dated. As was the shower - almost to an, 'is this gross?' point. Hmph. NEXT....maybe.

You see, I cannot really be that picky, as affordable houses in my area are scarce as hen's teeth. Plus, I want to move before Christmas, because I'm kind of crazy. So I need to find a place right now!
I have a couple more to inspect tomorrow morning. I love how most rental inspections are grouped together on Saturday mornings - because nobody has anything better to do with their Saturday, right?! LOL. Ughhhh.
Anyway, I'm silently hoping one of them is decent. I want to know I'm moving already! I need to prepare for the move. Start packing. Organise things by room/necessity/trash. Ahhh, the life of an overly-organised freak, LOL.

Don't even get me started on the paperwork. Excuse me, real estate? Are you sure you wouldn't like my soul with that..?

So that's me, right now. Busy busy! Planning for our holiday, planning for our move, taking Spawn to a million appointments... I'm not kidding when I say my calender is CHOCKERS. It really is!!! Exhausting, this mum business.

Peace out.

- L. x