Good Day

Today was a good day. I felt relaxed and got a lot accomplished. I owe a little bit of thanks to my little brother for that. As of a few days ago, he's staying with us indefinitely; until he can get things figured out on his end. Everett doesn't take well to unfamiliar faces. He becomes very shy and timid. My nephew was the complete opposite. As long as I can remember, that kid was friendly to anybody and everybody and made himself known to just about anyone. Everett got my calm, shy disposition. Anyway, surprisingly, after 2 days, he willingly played with my brother. This freed me up and allowed me to put away the load of clean dishes in the dishwasher, get last night's dirty dishes done, bake a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies, complete all laundry (folded and put away) and go for a 3.2 mile run. On most days, I do bits and pieces of this between his nap and after he's down for the night. Have I mentioned before that I have an extra-clingy child? It is so hard for me to get anything done during the day. I can hardly leave his side to go to the bathroom without him getting upset. But of course with a face like this, how could I possibly be annoyed of the fact that a son loves his mother so much that he doesn't ever want her to be out of his sight?!


I also tried out a new recipe and had one of my older brothers (I have 4 brothers!) over for dinner. No-Stuff Cabbage. I don't know many people who consciously choose to eat cabbage but we ate it often growing up so everyone in my family enjoys it. I think we had lots of it because it was an easy vegetable to grow in the garden.


Meatballs
1 pound lean ground beef (preferably from grass-fed cows)
2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice (I used Spikes Seasoning. Can be found in Natural Foods Dept.)
1/4 salt (preferably sea salt)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Sauce
1 pound cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt (preferably sea salt)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes, diced)
1/3 cup raisins
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon onion flakes
3 cups cooked brown rice

Directions
Heat oven to 350. Coat a rimmed baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Meatballs. In a bowl, combine ground beef, onion flakes, parsley, allspice, salt and pepper. Form into 28 meatballs, using about 1 tablespoon of mixture each. Place on prepared baking pan and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Sauce. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray. (I used grapeseed oil.) Add cabbage, salt and pepper; simmer over medium-high heat 8 minutes, stirring often. Stir in tomatoes, raisins, sugar and onion flakes. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Add meatballs and simmer 5 minutes.

Serve meatballs and sauce over rice.

PER SERVING 497 CAL; 7g FAT (3g SAT); 33g PRO; 72g CARB; 8g FIBER; 793mg SODIUM; 70mg CHOL


It was delicious but tasted a bit tomatoey to me so I'd probably but in 3/4 of what the recipe recommended next time.

It's been an adjustment having my brother live with us and having to be concerned about my privacy but I've enjoyed the fact that he can lend a hand with Everett so I can get some of my to-do list completed during the day; and this allows me more free time in the evening. I can relax and have some "me" time instead of doing dishes and cleaning up. It was a good day. And little brothers aren't such a pain in the butt after all.