Red Sauce and Turkey Meatballs

Today I made some wonderful red sauce vegan style. It had all the good stuff in it. Fresh herbs, dried herbs, spices and lots of garlic and some pureed veggies. It was quite tasty. I have been making that sauce for a few years now. The interesting thing was the turkey meatballs. I have never used turkey for meatballs before. I love the beef /pork/lamb meatballs. This time I used ground turkey and did roughly the same thing as I usually would. They were great. The kids ate them, Janine liked them and all in all it was good.

Zesty Vegan Red Sauce

1 gallon of tomato sauce ( I get the Contadina brand from Sam's Club for like 3 bucks a gallon)
1 large onion
10 garlic cloves
1 red pepper
2 cups of fresh parsley
1 cup of fresh basil
2 tablespoons of oregano
1/3 cup of sugar (you may want more the sauce can be a little bit acidic)
3 tablespoons really good Balsamic Vinegar
2 cups of water
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 tbl of smoked paprika

Puree the veggies and fresh herbs with the garlic.
Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan and ad the puree.
I let this cook and bubble for about 10 minutes stirring frequently to keep it from burning ( the liquid evaporates quickly)
Add the tomato sauce and let it simmer for about 1 hour or so. You want to make sure that it cooks for a while otherwise the onion and the garlic will be really y sharp.
Add the spices and balsamic when you add the sauce. Sugar to taste. Oh and don't forget the salt. Salt to taste.

Turkey Meatballs

3lbs of ground turkey
1 cup of bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
6 cloves of garlic chopped fine
1 egg
1 tbsp basil paste

Mix in large bowl all of the ingredients. Add the egg last. Be sure to salt and pepper. roll out small meatballs about 2 inches in size. place on a cookie sheet that has aluminum foil that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. ( I like Pam) put in a 375 pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes take the cookie sheets out and turn each meatball over. Put back in for another 20 minutes.

This will feed a ton of people too. We had guests over so there were 6 kids and 3 adults. We were all satisfied. Prob could have used more pasta but oh well.

You can freeze the sauce and meatballs FYI. Take 'em out in the morning and warm up a quick meal one night next week or so.

The sauce in the picture was made with pork spare ribs.  I didn't have a pic from today to post.

Turning Over Stones

When I was a kid I used to love to play in the creek that ran behind the orphanage where i lived. It was one of those places that the rest of the world did not exist. Just the good old out doors and nature. Jimmy, this other kid that lived at the orphanage at the same time and i would go out in the creek and play all day. we would build dams, pummel each other with cat tails, and turn over stones.

When we turned over stones we were always filled with anticipation and wonder about what might be under the stone, maybe it would be a crawdad, a salamander, or a snake even. Crawdads were fun we learned how to pick them up behind their pincers so they could not pinch us. Salamanders were the best because those suckers were fast. i remember this bright red salamander once. it was the coolest thing. It seemed to just look at me from my palm experiencing me as I was experiencing him. it was the first "god moment" i can recall.

But snakes were the always a possibility. They would scare the crap out of us. I must say Jimmy and I turned over hundreds of rocks many times going back to the same ones because something new might show up. Fear of the unknown did not scare us away from turning over stones. Come what may snakes were not that common and we were alert and ready.

Spiritually speaking life seems to be a bit like playing in that old creek. I keep turning over rocks never knowing what is likely to show up. The crawdads that I am encountering are people who are protecting themselves with hard shells and snappers. Quite a few of them seem to be transforming into wonderful people and are joining the rest of us orphans as we turn over stones. Some stones need more than one traveler to get them to move. Some are just to heavy and we will never know what sleeps rests under them.

The salamanders are slippery folks who seem to be able to move fast and are curious about seeing the world and experiencing what comes their way. The red or special salamander type folks are not afraid . They know who to trust and go with the flow. Salamanders seem to be able to boogy through life with a permanent smile on their face no matter if it's heavy weather or a sunny day.

Now to the snakes. I don't run into too many of them but they are there. they have their own axe to grind. They are full of double talk about caring and concern but in the end they do not want you to be free for the sake of being free. they want to tell you which rocks to turn over and which rocks not to turn over. They definitely do not want you hanging out with salamanders and those former crab like folks.

In our creek Jimmy and I new where we could find almost anything. We would drink right from the stream too. i never got sick from it once. the water was sweet. and refreshing. I remember it well. Drinking now
from the spiritual stream or path the water is proving to be sweet and refreshing just like when i was a kid.

When I quiet my mind and turn the thinking off i seem to operate at a deeper level than when i am fighting against the current muddying the waters. I don't really feel like an orphan anymore. I am connected to the creek to the others like Jimmy. We share the similar experiences but never the same because the stream is always flowing. Covered in mud and sharing smiles we enjoy the place where the rest of the world just doesn't seem to exist.

I am excited to see what waits under the next stone, perhaps a new wonderful treasure or nothing at all. Either way i will keep turning over stones.