Tell All - Turkey Meatballs with Spicy Tomato Sauce and Whole Wheat Spaghetti

Who else is excited for this meal?

I have made these meatballs many times, and I actually posted about it before I joined CEiMB. I like to broil these instead of cook them in a sauce because they get all crispy and brown on the outside. You can check out my post if you are interested.

Let's hear what you thought of these meatballs and sauce.

Best of CEiMB - April 23, 2009

Balsamic Chicken with Baby Spinach and Whole Wheat Couscous

BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

I am happy to announce this week's best photo goes to Pamela of Cookies with Boys:




And second runner up goes to Joanne of Apple Crumbles:



Both of these ladies give us quality posts week after week, so a big congrats to them!


BEST POST OF THE WEEK

This week best post goes to a great blogger, Leslie of Lethally Delicious. This week Leslie regaled us with her tale of aliens who forced her to alter the recipe against her will.

Last week, I got carried away with modifying the recipe, including leaving out the star ingredient. It worked out well, but I felt a little guilty. This week was going to be different. I was going to make this dish (chosen by Marthe of Culinary Delights) without substitutions or omissions. I was excited about the recipe and couldn't imagine wanting to do anything different with it. Then, I was taken hostage by aliens. They liked their chicken breasts thick and juicy. They liked doubling some things, but not others. They were saucy, garlic loving aliens. They said they wouldn't hurt me if I followed their orders. This is what they made me cook.

Check out Leslie's post to see what those saucy aliens made her do!

New Member

Welcome to our newest member Lauren of I'll Eat You

Hi Everyone!

I'm Lauren and I write I'll Eat You with my husband, Paul. I'm a children's therapist living in Philadelphia, and I love to cook and bake in my spare time. Most of my blogging adventures have leaned to the not-so-healthy side, so I'm looking for ways to keep my blog healthy and delicious at the same time. I'm looking forward to blogging with all of you!

New Member

Hi All,

I am pleased to announce our new member Anne from Rainforest Recipes.

I'm a Canadian, living in the jungles of northern Guatemala. I love cooking, eating delicious healthy food and blogging. I have a dream of "self-sufficiency" and have begun practicing with gardening and solar cooking. I look forward to cooking with ellie!

I can't wait to see how Anne cooks up our Ellie recipes all the way from the jungle!

Welcome Anne :)

Tell All - Balsamic Chicken with Baby Spinach and Couscous

This sounds simple and delicious. How did this one go for you?

Best of CEiMB - April 16, 2009

Lamb Stew with Orange


BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK:

This week best photo goes to Liz of the Not So Skinny Kitchen. This marks Liz's first post ever for Craving Ellie in my Belly, so a big congrats to her!




Best photo also goes to Jessica of A Singleton in the Kitchen for her creatively styled photo.




BEST POST OF THE WEEK

Hands down, this week's best post goes to Jessica of A Singleton in the Kitchen for her description of an encounter she had with a little boy at Whole Foods while procuring her lamb for this dish. The story is ridiculous to begin with, but the Billy Madison dodge ball reference gave me a good chuckle.

I went and procured the lamb and I was standing in line, waiting to check out, pondering my brother's assertion that Whole Foods "is a bunch of hippies saving the world one organic carrot at a time" (mind you, he shops there all of the time so there's no animosity in that statement), and generally minding my own business. I was literally knocked out of my reverie by the very loud slam of my cart into my abdomen. You see, this punk-a** little kid in front of me decided to mess with me. He took his empty cart, turned it around, and gave it a mighty shove into my cart. I like kids a lot, and they generally like me a lot too, but it took all of my "grown up" sensibilities not to rudely shove my cart back into his! And the look I got from him was just daring me to do it, too. We could have had a Billy Madison dodge ball moment: "Now you're all in big, BIG trouble." But his poor mother was embarrassed enough as she was whispering to him not to do such things and I thought it was probably best to go back to musing about the organic carrots.

Everything looked great this week and I loved all the different variations of this recipe :)

Tell All - Lamb Stew with Orange

How is everyone liking this? Not unlike the salmon from last week, not everyone has a taste for lamb. Personally, I love lamb. How about you?

I also can't wait to see what our creative vegetarians do with this one :)

New Member

Hi All,

We have another new member, Liz from the Not So Skinny Kitchen.

I am a full-time student and most-of-the-time Weight Watcher. I share my kitchen with Ryan, my boyfriend of five years, and our three pets: a giant Chihuahua named Irving and two cats, Oskar and Sinatra. We all enjoy food quite a lot, and our television is on Food Network 75% of the time. Ryan and I often talk about going on a "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" road-trip across the country. You see, this is why I need WW. So I struggle to make the food I should eat taste like the food I want to eat and try to focus on cooking lighter and healthier. I like that Ellie's recipes combine my love for Food Network and healthy eating, and I'm looking forward to being a member of the group.

Welcome Liz!

The Best of CEiMB - April 9, 2009

This is our first installment of the Best of CEiMB. It was hard to chose from all the great pictures this week. The salmon proved to be very photogenic.

Salmon with Sweet & Spicy Rub

BEST PHOTOS OF THE WEEK:

Best photo of the week goes to Aggie of Aggie's Kitchen:




And second runner up goes to Mary Ann of Meet me in the Kitchen:




Both of these wonderful women feature delicious and healthy recipes on their blogs every week, you should read them regularly if you are not already!

BEST POST OF THE WEEK

Best post of the week goes to Cathy of The Tortefeasor who consistently makes me laugh out loud every week. This week she combined her posts for Barefoot Bloggers and CEiMB. Even though the below excerpt was not about the CEiMB recipe, it gave me a good laugh:

Of course, it's the dressing that makes this a "Chinese chicken salad." Ina's recipes often specify to use not just olive oil, vinegar, etc., but "good" olive oil or "good" vinegar. I am never 100% sure what she means by "good," but I have a feeling that she means "not the stuff they sell you in Publix." In this recipe, the dressing calls for "good apple cider vinegar." I did have apple cider vinegar in my pantry, but I'm afraid Ina would probably think of my vinegar as: Heinz: The Apple Cider Vinegar of the Unwashed Masses. I am pretty sure that Ina would not consider this to be "good" apple cider vinegar. If you read the label closely, however, it says that it is "ideal for food." I figured I could build on that.

Congrats to this week's champs!

Tell All - Salmon with Sweet & Spicy Rub

How goes it with the salmon?

Here is some good information on Salmon from Seafood Watch.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=17

Check out their chart of alternatives as well.

A New Ellie Krieger Book Planned for November 2009

Hi All,

I was perusing Ellie's website today and saw that she is publishing a new book in November 2009:

Coming soon…
So Easy
Luscious Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Week
(Wiley, November 2009)

I make eating well easier than ever with delicious recipes that are real solutions for every meal of the week- from breakfast in minutes and easy-pack lunches to rush hour dinners and sweet treats that are ready in a flash. Plus there are breezy recipes for when you have a little more time and you want something special but you don’t want to fuss. This book is all about maximum reward for minimum effort.

I am excited for a whole bunch of new recipes that we can all cook together!

Did you also know that...

* Ellie has a blog, too. If you are interested, you can find it here.

* The Food you Crave was nominated for a 2009 James Beard Foundation Award for the Healthy Focus category. Congrats to Ellie!

New Member

Let's all welcome Jen of Notes from the Table to Craving Ellie in my Belly.

I am a stay at home mom who is obsessed with food and cooking. I love to find economical ways to prepare tasty meals to share with my family and friends. I love to experiment with new ingredients, and I try to keep all of our meals fresh and somewhat healthy. I love ethnic cusines and I try to stay away from processed foods as much as possible. I like to fit some vegetarian meal choices into our rotation at least two to three times a week, too. I love writing and I enjoy the creative outlet that blogging allows me. I live with my husband, son, and a pack of crazy pets. My blog is http://notesfromthetable.blogspot.com/ and I am really looking forward to being a part of CEIMB!!!

We are all happy to have you join the group. Welcome!