Buon Appetito #TopTenThursday

Welcome to this week's #TopTenThursday. This is a fun writing challenge, that is hosted by Tamara of Confessions of a part-time working mom. Her, myself, and other bloggers, come together and post weekly Top Ten lists, which we create based on a chosen topic. I hope you enjoy reading my list, as much as I loved creating it.

Last week, we made a list of our Top Ten Life Hacks. This week, we are revealing our Top Ten Italian Foods. I don't know how you guys feel, but I LOVE Italian food. I do have a ton of Italian recipes pinned on my Pinterest page, and I enjoy making new recipes, or tried and true recipes. Sometimes, I like changing small aspects of tried and true recipes, just to see how small changes can make huge differences. This was not an easy list for me to make, because just like with my Top Ten 80's Songs, I have way more than ten to list.

Without further ado, in random order, I present my top ten Italian foods. I have included some links to some recipes, just in case you want to try any of these using a new recipe! With a few of the dishes, I use the term pasta, rather than a specific pasta type. This is because in our house, we use different pastas regularly. Ziti and spaghetti and rotini and bow tie, are among our most used pastas. Be sure to check out the other Blogger's favorite Italian deliciousness, using the links at the bottom.

1. Pasta with meat sauce (either meaty or meatballs). So, Gigi is not a picky eater, but she is also not a great eater. We often have to be very persuasive to get her to eat, and by that I mean we use bribery and begging. She LOVES spaghetti/pasta with meat sauce/meatballs, and so it is one of our most frequently eaten dinners. Plus, it is great as leftovers. For the longest, we never made actual spaghetti, because Chad isn't a fan, but since Gigi loves actual spaghetti, it is becoming our go to pasta. I am happy about this. Yes, I love basically all pastas, but when it comes to pairing it with meat sauce, I kinda prefer spaghetti. We actually had this tonight (Wednesday) for dinner. I thought it was appropriate, since I was working on this post for tomorrow (Thursday).

Hearty Meat Sauce (Stovetop or Crockpot) from Baking in a Tornado.
Meatballs a la Jules (basic meatballs) from The Bergham Chronicles (Yes, me!)

2. Lasagna. I love Lasagna. I can still remember the first time I ever had lasagna. My Aunt Jackie (who is really my cousin- I was born in the South, and respect of your elders/adults is a BIG deal. Well, my dad had me late in life, so most of my first cousins were already grown and had kids, by the time I came around. I always knew my Aunt Jackie was my cousin, but I never felt right just calling her Jackie, so she was Aunt Jackie. Side note, she is battling breast cancer currently. She was like a mom to me growing up, and one of my biggest role models. If you could please pray or send positive thoughts her way, I would appreciate it!) made me my first lasagna, and it was love at first bite. I would say her lasagna is my favorite. I am not sure if her lasagna is just that darn good, or if it is just that you never forget your first lasagna. All I know is, she made me fall in love with lasagna. When she first put it in front of me, I had no desire to eat it. I thought it was weird, but she was a wise chef, and boy am I grateful she introduced me to one of the best foods EVER. 

White Pizza Lasagna from How Sweet It Is
Turkey Sausage Lasagna from Chow Hound
The Best Lasagna Ever from The Pioneer Woman Ree

3. Pasta with pesto sauce. This is probably the newest addition to my list of favorites. It was years and years before I would actually try pesto. Once I did, I loved it. My first time trying it, I actually had it on an Italian Turkey Sandwich. I LOVED it. I was actually upset with myself for waiting so long to try it. It did not take me long to try it on pasta, and of course I was in love. 

Spinach Pesto Penne with Shrimp and Peas from Delish
Pesto Penne from Salu Salo
Healthy Pesto, Tomato, and Broccoli Pasta from ifoodreal

4. Cannoli. Okay, okay. I have to be honest... This one should probably be number one, but I did it in random order. Now, I am not sure if it would be my number one, if I got to eat it regularly, or if it is my number one because I have not gotten to eat then in years. I am not even big on desserts. If I am honest, I could genuinely go the rest of my life, never eating another sweet or dessert, and I would be okay. Now, certain days of the month might be harder than others, but I could definitely survive. Cannolis though... My my my. My mouth is practically watering just thinking about it! For the longest time, I had very traditional cannolis, and I LOVED them!! Then I discovered that there are varieties. I was able to try just enough to fall madly in love, and then I moved to California, and there has not been a cannoli in sight since. I am too scared to try to make them on my own, because the pastry shell scares me. I have found alternatives, that seem easy to make, but I am worried they may not fully satisfy my craving, but only work at making the craving worse. Luckily, my bestie Jade is a culinary genius, and has agreed to help me make REAL cannolis. SO, YESSSSSSSS! I will be eating real cannolis soon! I may even have to make a post about my adventure in cannoli making!! 

Pumpkin Pistachio Cannoli (homemade) from The Great Cake Company
Cannoli with Peppermint Mascarpone Filling from Life's Ambrosia
Black Forest Cannoli from Diethood
Birthday Cake Cannolis from The Domestic Rebel
Easy Cannoli Cups from Will Cook For Smiles
Cannoli Cones from Martha Stewart
Amaretto Lace Cannoli from The Brooklyn Ragazza  
Cannoli from Brown Eyed Baker

5. Veggie lasagna. To be fair, there are many variations of most Italian dishes. Some are traditional variations, and some are non-traditional (probably not even really Italian) variations. Several of these dishes with many variations made my list, but I only made one post. Well, veggie lasagna had to have it's own entry. I love just as much, maybe more than traditional meat lasagna. It is a LOVE/FAVORITE of its own. I love it with all sorts of veggies or just a few. I even like it if you just make it with various tomatoes, herbs, and various cheeses.

Garden Vegetable Lasagna from Tastes Lovely
Vegetarian Lasagna from My California Roots
Butternut Squash, Zucchini, and Spinach Lasagna from Coffee and Crayons
Veggie Alfredo Lasagna from Pinch of Yum
Hearty Vegetarian Lasagna from Eating on a Dime

6. Eggplant Parmesan. I love love love eggplant. Eggplant Parmesan is probably my most favorite way to eat it. I love it baked. I love it fried. I love it friend and then baked. I just simply love it! I do not eat it nearly enough. I really need to make it for Gigi, and get her to LOVE it, so we can eat it much more often.

Eggplant Parmesan from Table for Two
Baked Eggplant Parmesan from Gimme Some Oven
Eggplant Parmesan (fried) from Make It Do

7. Chicken Cacciatore. This is another dish, that I remember the first time I had it. My adoptive mums Pam and Rosemary, had taken me out to dinner, to our favorite place (which just happened to be an Italian restaurant), and I decided to try something new. Prior to that I had always ordered spaghetti or eggplant Parmesan. I LOVED it. I mean I really, really loved it. That actually started me on a road to trying as many dishes on their menu, as I could. I found a lot of new favorites that way, some that probably should have made it onto this list, but I could only pick ten, so I stuck with the ones that eat most often. Actually, you might could say that Chicken Cacciatore started my love affair with Italian food, or it at least opened my mind to trying new things. One of the things that I particularly love about it, is the different variations. You can eat it traditionally, where it is like a stew, or you can eat it with pasta, or even pair it with rice or polenta. 

Favorite Cacciatore from Baking in a Tornado
Chicken Cacciatore from The Domestic Man
One Pot Chicken Cacciatore Pasta from Jessica Gavin
Classic Chicken Cacciatore with Polenta from The Daring Gourmet

8. Chicken Parmesan. Listen, all you really need to know is that I LOVE this dish. It is one of those dishes I will never turn down. I could be craving sushi, and you could offer me Chicken Parm, and I will happily accept. I just love it. I will say, I prefer when the chicken is really pounded thin. I am not sure why, but I just like it better, but won't turn down thick chicken either. This is another one, where I can remember the first time I tried it. It wasn't long after I tried Cacciatore for the first time. It was definitely a love at first bite situation. 

Baked Chicken Parmesan from SkinnyTaste
Chicken Parmesan Meatball Skillet from Delish (serve with ziti = YUM)

9. Fettuccine Alfredo. Now, I honestly should have listed this one sooner, but like I said, I listed them in random order. It should be higher, not because I love it the most, but because for a long time, it was my favorite Italian food. Now, don't stone me to death... My roots are very Italian, and yet for a big part of my life... Well, I hated Italian food. Not necessarily hated it, just did not appreciate it, and really never ate it. The problem was tomato sauce/marinara. I hated the stuff. My family has secret family recipes for the stuff, and I could not have cared less. I may have even insulted a few family members, by refusing to learn how to make the sauce. The truth was, if it was a sauce LOADED with meats, or a lasagna LOADED with cheese, I really did not want to eat it. Now, Alfredo was a different story. I LOVED it. For a long time, I would eat spaghetti with it. I would have to have some Alfredo made just for me on spaghetti night. While living at boarding school, and having no option but to eat the dinner prepared or go hungry, I did learn to tolerate spaghetti sauce. Slowly, the tolerance built, and my taste buds changed, and now I probably prefer meat sauce to Alfredo, but for a long while, Alfredo was definitely my go to.

3-Ingredient Fettuccine Alfredo from Martha Stewart
Broccoli Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo from Tastes Lovely
Cajun Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo From Closet Cooking
Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Fettuccine Alfredo from Yellow Bliss Road

10. Manicotti. Yet another one, where I remember the first time I tried it. My oldest sister Luci made it for me. Love at first bite. It is hard to go wrong with a dish where cheese is the star. I was actually upset I had not learned of it much sooner. I loved it. I do not eat it often, but I enjoy it when I do have it. It is one of my go to Italian dishes for special occasions. It is a comfort food for me. It reminds me of good times with my sister, plus it is just plain delicious. 

Meatless Manicotti from Baking in a Tornado
Easy Three-Cheese Manicotti from Pip and Ebby
Chicken and Spinach Manicotti from Go Go Go Gourmet

Well, there you go, my favorite Italian foods. What are yours? Do we have some in common? Are you not a fan of Italian? I would love to see any recipes you may think I would enjoy! Thank you for taking the time to check out my top ten list!!

Here are the links to all the other bloggers sharing their Top Ten Italian Foods:

Candice at Measurements of Merriment

Tamara at Confessions of a part-time working mom

Pamela at The Wrights' Days of Fun

Mandy and Justin at With Love

Karen at Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

Happy Birthday, IKEA!! **Some Assembly Required

So, listen, let's get some things out of the way. I am not a chef. I am not a photographer. I am not a food blogger. Okay, now that we have that out of the way...

A few weeks ago, I was browsing Facebook, and saw a post wishing IKEA a happy birthday, and it was so hilarious to me. Once I was done laughing, I shared it with my great friend Tamara over at Confessions of a part-time working mom. Not long after that, she decided we should sort of recreate the funniness ourselves. As terrifying as the idea was, of course I was on board. After all, I was the one that brought the graphic to her attention. 

Here is the graphic. I have no idea who deserves the credit for it! Whoever you are, you are HILARIOUS!

So, of course, my magnificent friends all worked amazing magic. I will share links to their greatness below. Now, me. Well, I got there eventually. I probably have ulcers now. I am not sure why I was so terrified to do this post. I guess mostly because I am not a food blogger. I do not create masterpieces in the kitchen. I don't cook traditionally. I am not really a cup of this and a teaspoon of that type of cook. I am more of a handful of this and quite a bit of that and a pinch of this, type of cook. 

I guess it probably should not surprise you that I quickly abandoned the idea of doing a cake. I don't know about you, but when I think IKEA, I think meatballs. So, that is what I decided IKEA needed for their birthday, meatballs. As if I weren't stressed enough, I also decided to experiment a bit. I have been wanting to try a certain ingredient for a while, and I decided why not now.

Now, when discussing my post with Tamara, I had originally decided I was going to include some extra ingredients in the pictures, because if you have ever put together one of their complex storage systems, you know, there are always extra parts. You just have to pray they are truly extra, and you didn't just forget them. Speaking of their complex furniture, is it complex to you? Are you one of the lucky ones that puts it together easy peasy? Me? I get it together, eventually. 

I decided not to include extra ingredients in the picture, because at the end of the day, I was so nervous, I just wanted to get it done correctly. I did have fun thinking of ideas of things to include as extra ingredients. The top of the list was a bag of Swedish Fish! Honorable mentions were a potato, an orange, an apple, applesauce, or some cereal. 

Now, this will just be the recipe for my meatballs. You can pair them with pasta or potatoes. You can mix them with gravy or with pasta sauce. They make excellent meatball sandwiches. They are great on their own. I had originally planned on eating ours with gravy and mashed potatoes, but once they were done, and my pictures were taken, Chad requested a menu change. We ate them plain with french fries. It just what he really wanted. Then today I put some in some marinara and baked them on bread with cheese, for some delicious sandwiches. I froze all the leftovers. These freeze well. 

What you need:

* 3 lbs of lean ground beef
* 1 lb of sausage
* 1 large onion, grated
* 2 large bell peppers, I grate one and very finely dice one
* 1 can (14,5 oz) of diced tomatoes, juice drained
* 2 boxes (12 oz) of stuffing mix (Yes, stuffing. I used Betty Crocker Chicken, Weird. I just one day thought to try it in meatloaf or meatballs, and then finally decided to actually try it. We all loved it.)
* 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese (You could use fresh, but I went the lazy route)
* 3 tablespoons garlic powder (Yes, you could definitely use fresh, but I went the lazy route)
* 2 tablespoons oregano
* 2 tablespoons parsley
* 2 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper
* 4 large eggs (I only put two eggs in the pictures, because four looked crowded)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Put your meat in a large bowl, and break it up. I like to break two eggs into a bowl, to make sure I don't get any shell into it. Then I pour the egg into the meat.

I then add the stuffing. Using my hands I mix the meat, eggs, and stuffing well. I add the remaining two eggs and the Parmesan cheese. I mix a bit more.

I then add in the peppers, onions, and tomatoes. I mix well, still using my hands,

Then I add the garlic powder, oregano, parsley, and ground pepper. I mix them well. 

I form them into balls and place them on a baking sheet. My first batch, I baked with aluminum foil down, to help with the clean up, but I did not like how they browned up. So the additional batches, I put Pam on my baking sheet and baked. They browned better and had a slightly crispier outside. If you like meatballs that are less brown and crispy, definitely bake your meatballs with a aluminum foil lined baking sheet. If you want them a bit more brown and slightly crispy, then coat your baking sheet with Pam and bake. 

You bake them for 22 to 25 minutes at 400 degrees F.

If you like really large meatballs, you may need to add additional bake time. I don't make uniform meatballs, but all of ours are similar in size, and I usually bake them for about 24 minutes. 

I think they are tasty and moist. I hope you enjoy them! 

Interesting little side note.... I actually let Gigi help a little bit. It was hard for me. I am not a huge fan of kids in the kitchen. I am terrified of her getting hurt. Since I took pictures prior and actually prepped everything, things were organized and in dishes. So, I thought it would be harmless for her to just dump the ingredients into the bowl and the appropriate time. Chad is not a great photographer either, but we did get some photos to share! Overall, it was a great experience! 

Please, if you try them, let me know if you liked them. Also, do not hold your breath for anymore recipes from me! 

NOW!! Check out the other awesome posts wishing IKEA a happy birthday!!

Confessions of a part-time working mom

Spatulas on Parade

Measurements of Merriment

An American In Basel

Sarah Nick