Skipi-dee-doo-dah

So I skipped my group run last night...mostly because of work, partly because of a headache, and partly because of tiredness. Ech.

I forced myself to stay productive on Monday after our hike and made a pasta dish I've been meaning to make for about a week now.

Campanelle with Spinach Turkey Meatballs and Mushrooms

1/2 lb campanelle, cooked according to package directions

1/4 large onion, diced

1 package mushrooms, sliced

1 clove garlic, sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

1/3 c reduced fat feta, crumbled

1 tbsp lemon zest

1 package ground turkey

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 c panko

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

1 egg

1/4 large onion, diced

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cups baby spinach, chopped

2 anchovy fillets, minced

To make the meatballs, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium high heat. Saute 1/4 diced onion and 2 cloves minced garlic for 1-2 minutes. Add anchovy and cook for another minute before stirring in spinach. Allow spinach to wilt and remove from heat. Set aside to cool.

Combine turkey, panko, black pepper, salt and egg in a large bowl. Mix in spinach mixture and form small balls. Place meatballs on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

As meatballs bake, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan and saute remaining diced onion until translucent. Add sliced garlic and saute until fragrant. Stir in mushrooms and cook until mushrooms begin to soften. Stir in lemon zest, pasta and feta. Remove from heat and stir in meatballs.

SO, this recipe has been modified since my meal was a total fail. Here's what I learned:

1. In an effort to be healthier, I grabbed a package of ground turkey breast instead of just ground turkey. Now I know why I always get the ground turkey...there's just enough fat (in the already lean meat) to avoid the whole dryness issue. I really hated the fact that my meatballs turned out dry.
2. I originally envisioned a pasta bake with a white sauce that I could freeze and eat later. Um, yeah. I didn't have the ingredients to make a white sauce and obviously feta isn't a melty cheese. Baking was pointless.
3. I only put in a little lemon zest because I was nervous it would make the dish weird...no, it needed more zest.

Hopefully this modified version works out better for you!

After that major kitchen effort, I barely had the energy (or appetite) to eat my experiment. I made myself try a little sample before crashing. AAHHH bed.

Instead of eating the meal I made the night before, I opted for a salad made with the mixed greens I got from the farmers market with a side of another sweet potato chip attempt. Can you tell I really wasn't thrilled about Monday's creation? HA.

So check out my second sweet potato attempt:

1. I dropped the temperature down to 325 and checked in on the chips every few minutes
2. It took about 25 minutes for the chips to get somewhat crispy
3. There were still some dark-ish chips, but they weren't black.
4. SUCCESS!

Obviously not the same as a fried chip, but still pretty good. I wish I had taken a picture of the first attempt, but I was just so freaking disgusted by them (slash I was in a rush)! I still have 2 whole sweet potatoes to play with...I'm thinking I'll just use the mandoline attachment that turns them into fries. You can never have too many sweet potato fries ;) I wonder if they freeze well...

What would you do with extra sweet potatoes??