3397 Cooking the blog

No one cares what you had for lunch is a book for bloggers, the premise being that bloggers run out of things to write about when all they can think of is what they ate for lunch. This has never happened to me--having nothing to write about--although I have on occasion written about my lunch. Here's our dinner menu today.



Sweet sour meatballs (fully leaded)
Tender crisp fresh asparagus
Baked butternut squash with drizzled maple syrup (sugar free)
Chocolate peanut butter pie (low fat, low sugar)
To make the meatballs you first have to leave the computer--probably when Blogger.com is acting up. Go to the kitchen and mix in a sauce pan one 15 oz can of sauerkraut, one 12 oz. jar of chili sauce, and one 16 oz can of whole cranberry sauce (sizes make no difference). Remove half of it from the pan and put it in the freezer for another day. Makes a wonderful topping for a boneless pork roast. While the mix is warming up, check the computer to see if Blogger is working, and if so, download that picture before it quits.

Go back to the kitchen and tear and crumble in a bowl at least two pieces of stale bread and let it dry a little while you go back and finish your blog entry. Oh, turn off stove and remove the sauce because you might forget and it will scorch.

If you forgot to remove the Cool Whip from the freezer earlier (for the pie), do it now! Put cream cheese on the counter to soften. Later, add 2 eggs to the bread crumbs and 1/2 package of dry onion soup. It will have all the seasoning these meatballs will need. You now have a really disgusting looking yellow mess in the bowl and something yummy smelling on the stove. Return to computer for awhile.

Next, add one and a half pounds of ground chuck to the bread crumbs and thoroughly mix. Shape into 10 nice sized meatballs, and lightly brown for a few minutes. Spray a casserole dish with a non-stick (I use olive oil), and arrange the meatballs. Pour the sauce over the meatballs, completely covering them. Put in the oven at 375 for at least 45 minutes. Check your e-mail.

Return to the kitchen to make the pie. Cream together one cup of creamy, natural peanut butter with one cup of Splenda and one teaspoon vanilla. Add half an 8 oz carton of sugar free Cool Whip. Mixture is a bit stiff especially if blogging has impaired your muscle tone. Pour mixture into a purchased chocolate graham cracker 9" crust. You can make your own if you don't blog. Put it in the frig to firm, 'cause you're running late now.

Go back to computer and check for errors. Now it is time to get the veggies ready. Put some water to boil in tea kettle. Peel and cut the butternut squash into small pieces, put in small casserole sprayed with non-stick, dab a bit of butter and drizzle some sugar-free maple syrup over it and put in oven with meatballs. (About 15 minutes, with the last 5 or so at 400 after you take out the meatballs.) Wash and cut the asparagus and put in small pan. About 5 minutes before serving, add the hot water to the asparagus and return to a brisk boil; turn off heat and cover. Remove pie from frig, warm a tablespoon of sugar-free hot fudge in microwave and drizzle it over the peanut butter filling; return to frig. Take meatballs out of the oven and reset at 400 to finish the squash for 5 minutes. Set table, feed cat, call husband to table.

Makes about 10 meatballs. Freezes well, or makes great sandwiches the next day.