Sous Chef Mo's Fantastic Meal

I am SO excited to write and share this post with you, my fellow foodies!! Why, you ask? Well, because it gives me the opportunity to brag just a wee little bit about one of my kiddos. For those that know me personally, you know that I am not one to boast about myself (not much to boast about anyway, hee hee) and that Marty and I are passionate about teaching humbleness and graciousness to our children. God, in all His goodness, gives us all special gifts and talents, but to boast about those talents and gifts can be a huge stumbling block, not to mention how rude it comes across to others! Do you know what I'm talking about? Do you ever run into someone and think to yourself.."Oh, why did I stop to talk to her/him? All they ever do is talk about me, me me! They won the ballgame, their kids are the smartest, their family is traveling to Barbados for the holidays..blah blah blah!" I don't ever want to be thought of that way, and I CERTAINLY don't want my kids to be THAT person either!! :) Sorry about that tangent....anyway, I'm not sharing this post with you to pat myself on the back for being the "perfect" Mom who has taught her children many of life's skills and we're certainly not on our way to Barbados for Spring Break, I'm posting this because I am incredibly proud of my precious daughter for showing initiative, responsibility and helpfulness in preparing a wonderful meal for dinner while Sarah and I wrapped up our Spring cupcakes. After all, this blog IS about being a fellow foodie and I DID begin my blog to share recipes and fun experiences and we're all sort of an extended family and you deeply wish to share in the fun too-right? Right! So, bear with me as I step aside as the cook and narrate for you an incredible recipe prepared by Megan (a.k.a. Sous Chef Mo-her friends call her Mo and she's been our helper with the bakery so Sous Chef Mo has stuck as her nick name.) I promise to keep myself in "check" and not become too obnoxious bragging about Megan or become one of THOSE people that you won't want to come back and visit me here in my kitchen. K? K!

Here it goes;
Last week Sarah and I had already set aside Friday for baking with the kids and then late Thursday we found out that our husbands had both been offered (and accepted) tickets to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen Tournament held downtown, so it was a no brainer to turn our baking day into a full festival and share dinner together as well. We became so consumed with the cupcakes that we didn't realize that dinner time was upon us and we were nowhere near ready to quit working with our flowered cupcakes. Sarah had brought all the ingredients to prepare her Mom's yummy meatloaf, but after checking out Pioneer Woman's website earlier in the day we decided to change plans and fix the yummy meatballs we saw on her site. Megan overheard us discussing the lateness of the day and our dinner plans and before we knew it, she had pulled up Pioneer Woman's website, began setting out all the ingredients called for and started mixing things up. I casually grabbed the camera to start documenting her first attempt at preparing a meal on her own and tried really hard not to tear up while taking these shots. AWWW-I'm such a blubbering idiot when it comes to my kids!
Here's our chef with Pioneer Woman's recipe pulled up on Sarah's laptop ready to follow the detailed instructions. Pioneer Woman also had fantastic photos (of course) that really helped her understand what she was to do.
After mixing all the ingredients together Mo used a cookie dough scoop to assure similar sized meatballs and placed them on a cookie sheet ready to go into the freezer for a few minutes to firm up a little. Again, she kept a close eye on the pictures from Pioneer Woman's post. Side note...Don't you just LOVE Pioneer Woman?! I'm telling ya, I think she's Superwoman! She cooks, writes, blogs, is an amazing photographer and still has time to home school her four adorable kids. UGH-I'm a Pioneer Woman wanna be, but too much of a slacker to even be considered in the same category! :) The only thing we have in common is that we both have four adorable kids, but I'm not bragging or anything...
The meatballs have firmed up nicely and Sous Chef Mo is ready to brown those little babies up. I was a little nervous allowing her to work with hot oil, but she proved to be very careful and competent at being aware of the danger. Look, even the pan handle is turned in so that it doesn't accidentally get knocked and cause possible injury. (I hope Sarah's husband doesn't notice all the flour on and around their laptop-and we certainly weren't allowing her to fry food that near the computer either! Come to think of it he may never let her come and cook again if he does see this! Sorry Mike-we promise to be more careful next time.)
After lightly browning the meatballs, but not cooking all the way through, she placed them into a baking dish ready for the oven. She actually doubled the recipe and filled two 13X9 dishes. She was quite busy with meatballs for some time.

Pioneer Woman's meatball recipe called for homemade Bbq sauce to be poured over the browned meatballs, but since it was already well past our dinner time, I handed her a bottle of our favorite sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's) to use. She rather enjoyed free reign pouring the sauce over all those little meatballs, after all, what kid doesn't make silly comments about the noise a squeeze bottle makes when it's almost empty? C'mon, I know you know what I'm talking about! Don't be all prim and proper, you probably think it too!
After baking in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, we were ready to sit and savor Sous Chef Mo's incredible dinner. And incredible it was!! The meatballs were served alongside a simple salad (because there was absolutely no counter space to fix anything else), and with the lateness of the evening the salad was a perfect addition to the meal.

Well done my precious daughter!! You make me incredibly proud! There-I'll stop there with the accolades so that all our readers won't begin hurling because of my abounding pride and praises to you and will again return to my blog for future food and fun.
After dinner, Meg still had the energy to comfort and love on Sarah's daughter, Hannah. Too precious!! She's going to be one amazing wife and mother some day!! Not too soon though, daughter of mine, let me treasure these quickly passing years as your mom and allow me these fleeting moments to watch you as you grow into the beautiful, talented young woman God wants you to be. I'm loving every second of it!

From the heart of my (and Megan's) kitchen to yours may your experience be fun and the food always flavorful! Enjoy!

Barbeque Meatballs

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
3/4 cup oats
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons very finely minced onion
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
plenty of ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine all meatball ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for five minutes.

Remove from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour.

In a skillet over medium heat, brown the meatballs in canola oil until just brown. Place into a baking dish.

Combine all sauce ingredients and then pour evenly over the top of the meatballs. (OR-grab your favorite, store bought sauce and do the same) Now just pop 'em in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. You'll know they're done when your house smells so good you want to marry it! They should be sizzling around the edges. Mmmm! (Directly quoted from Pioneer Woman) :)

Sauce

1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
4 to 6 tablespoons onion
Dash of Tabasco

Source: The Amazing Pioneer Woman