Mini Meatballs in a Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce

I'm sorry that I haven't posted anything in a while, but I do have a good reason... Well, it's actually multiple reasons.

The main reason that I've been gone was mainly because I left my camera charger over at Sean's and when I went there to get it, I left the cord at my place. It's one thing that I don't like about living so far away from each other. It's not fun dragging things back and forth and forgetting things that I need. You would think after 4 years that I would be used to it.... wrong.

Another excuse reason is this heat. Honestly, this heat is making me not want to do anything. It has been over 100 degrees and we've had few thunderstorms with flash flood & tornado warnings. (Not something I'm in love with). Turning on the oven or standing in front of the stove was definitely not something that I wanted to do. But I did do it the other day when my dad asked me to make him the Mini Meatballs in a Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce (posted below) and Sean wanted Roasted Tomatillo & Green Olive Salsa (which he took home before I could snap any photos of, so I am not posting the recipe *sad face*) 

As for anything crafty, I was busy sewing away at Ace's seat cover for my car. I decided to make a seat cover that not only covered the seats, but also covered the doors (unlike the ones sold in stores) since Ace has a habit of scratching the fabric when he hangs his head out of the car window. And with it being a new car, I wasn't about to let him destroy the inside with his paws. That project took me a while to complete just because my sewing skills are still developing. (Pictures of the seat cover to come). On top of that, I have been working at finishing up a scrapbook that I do every year for Sean's and mine anniversary.

Towards the end of last week, my dog, Ace, had all these bumps on him and I spent the entire day worrying about them. Apparently he had an allergic reaction to something (I still can't figure out what) and it wasn't fun dealing with him because every time I'd try to pet him or look at his coat to see if they were going down or not he would get angry. I felt so bad, but it went away after about a day and is feeling 100%.

It was also my mom's birthday this past weekend so I attempted to make her an angel food cake (And pretty much failed at) so instead went out and we got an ice cream cake instead and I made a little banner for it.

I promise that I'll post something other than food soon, but for today's post it is going to be the Mini Meatballs in a Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce that I made for my dad. The meatballs that I made were full of flavor and I loved that it had both ground beef and Italian sausage in it. I also loved how both the meatballs and sauce were super simple to make. The sauce definitely tasted a lot better with fire-roasted tomatoes and the best part was it wasn't expensive to make. These meatballs didn't last long at my parents and was eaten with pasta and as a sandwich.

Summer Pasta Salad

Seriously not having a job and not going to class or being on campus all the time has made the week go by so fast and has left me feeling very unproductive. Although I'm finishing up one last class online which I'm done with next week, I don't like this feeling. It's summer and I've been cooped up inside for a majority of the time. Not fun. So far my weeks consisted of looking for a job, cooking and working on a scrapbook that I update yearly for Sean and mine's anniversary.

Here's one thing that I made this week and really enjoyed. This summer pasta is light and perfect for this summer heat. One reason why I love this summer pasta is the fact that you can use whatever vegetables are in season or are available to you. I used green beans, broccoli, corn and grape tomatoes. I also had fresh basil from my plant which I am honestly surprised is still alive. Ha.

Chicken Corn Chili with Corn Bread

It was a long week for me and I was going crazy with the heat. Me and 100+ degree weather no longer get along, especially since I lived in Santa Barbara the past 2 years. So going to LA to see Sean made me feel a little better about the weather. Don't ask why, but maybe the heat is getting to me.... Instead of opting to cook something light and refreshing, I ended up cooking chicken corn chili and corn bread. 

This chicken corn chili isn't as heavy as a beef chili and doesn't have as much heat as I prefer my chili, but you can of course adjust the heat to however you like it. I love that you can use left over chicken or rotisserie or cook your own chicken for this. I also decided to bake corn bread to go with this chicken corn chili. The corn bread was moist and has corn kernels in it. This is not a sweet corn bread recipe, so if you like your corn bread sweet I would adjust the amount of sugar or use agave or honey instead.

Baked Sriracha Wings

I hope your 4th of July was amazing and filled with family, friends and of course fireworks. This week went by really fast and last weekend I went camping for the first time up in Big Bear. I really loved it and I never would have thought that I would have been ok with being outdoors and around bugs. I loved it so much that Sean and I are going again this weekend. I'm excited to go fishing and hopefully catch a bigger fish than Sean :) 

I'm always down to try new things, like camping, and these Sriracha wings are something new that I was VERY willing to give a try. Sriracha entered my life less than a year ago and I don't know why it took me so long to figure out about it. When I came across this recipe for Sriracha wings, it was definitely the next item on my to do list. These Sriracha wings had some heat to it, but not as much as I thought they would have and I kicked it up by adding some ground habanero powder to it. If you don't have any or are afraid of the heat, I think it would taste just as good without it. If you're like me and have fallen in love with Sriracha, than this is something that you have to make now! 

DIY Glittered Vases

I love the fact that with Mod Podge you can glitter just about anything! And who doesn't love glitter?! I made these 3 little glittered vases for under $5 bucks and you can use them for whatever you please. Since I have issues with constantly losing bobby pins, hair ties and chapstick/lipstick, I thought it would be perfect to keep them in. I found the vases over at the dollar tree and thought they would look prettier if they had some personality to them. It was super easy and didn't take a long time at all.

Fathers Day Blueberry Pie

Tomorrow is a special day, not only is it Fathers Day, but I am also graduating. My parents are coming up to help me move and I thought that I would make my Dad something he'd like. My Dad loves blueberries. He always lets me know when he is going to go blueberry picking at a small farm by their house. So I thought for Fathers Day, I would make him a blueberry pie, plus I was lucky that blueberries were on sale! I used a pre-made pie crust because it was convenient for me since I was packing as I made the pie. The sweet smell of the blueberry pie filled my little apartment and I was tempted to eat some of it right when I took it out of the oven. BUT of course it would have been awkward when my Dad opened the box and there was a partially eaten pie... oops!...

Garlic and Chile Roasted Rock Crab

Sean and I went to the Farmers Market yesterday. I only wanted to go to buy some almonds, but of course only buying just one thing is impossible when everything just looks so good. What did we end up buying? 3 baskets of strawberries, 2 bags of Chile Limon almonds, 1 bag of Wasabi almonds, Mexican guavas and some crabs.

Sean loves these almonds. They aren't too spicy, but they do have a slight kick to them. They're the kind of spice where it's addicting and you can't just eat one. Seriously! The first time we bought them, Sean ate almost an entire bag in one sitting. I'm not a big almond person, but I could eat these almonds and not share. I actually bought 2 bags of them so Sean could have one and I would save the other bag so he has another one for later, but honestly I highly doubt he's going to see that second bag.

I was excited when I saw guavas. I haven't had them since I was a kid and eating them definitely takes me back to my childhood. I remember my neighbor had a guava tree in their backyard and I would go over there and pick them. These guavas are soft and full of flavor.

But what I was really interested in was this guy right here. I love crab, but I've never been the one to kill it, let alone touch one alive. I would just look at them from a distance and let someone else deal with it. This was my first time and I was baby about it, but making crab was something that I've been wanting to do. I found this simple recipe on FoodNetwork and thought it would be a good starting point. The amount of chile  really depends on your personal taste. I wish I would have put more or I should have used the dried habanero chile flakes.