Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! I am excited to have the day off from work to write, cook, catch up on chores and perhaps run a few errands. Before my trip to the gym this morning I took a few minutes to read a few articles and reflect on the day. I love reading all of Dr. King’s quotes that circulate the internet this time of year. What an eloquent, articulate and truly inspirational human being. This morning I found an article that listed some of Dr. King’s lesser known quotes, and I found this one particularly meaningful,

“ True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring”.

This quote resonates with me on many levels right now, both personally, professionally and even with memories of our recent trip to San Francisco where despite the beautiful landscapes, bright tourist attractions and thriving city life, we encountered SO many homeless individuals. Several times, I caught myself thinking, Wow, what can they do to help these people? Why don’t they seem to be doing more? And then, as we explored the city I would see the lines of men, women and children winding around blocks to get into the shelters and think, How do you fix a problem this big?

I think Dr. King was trying to express that putting a band aid on a problem is not enough, and to be truly compassionate, you must consider what you can do to eliminate the problem from the ground up. I think about this often at work as I encounter children with ever widening gaps in their knowledge. Do I use the quick fix and teach them the meaning of an unknown word? Or try something a bit more difficult and instead teach them how to use a dictionary? Or better still, do I try to teach them the importance of reading something new each day to continually expand both their vocabulary and their minds? This type of thinking is not the easy route and is definitely the road less traveled, but it is necessary to fix the broken parts of our education system, and our society as a whole.

So there is my 2 cents In exchange for reading I will also provide you with a yummy, easy and very versatile meatball recipe. And a close up picture of my dog looking rather forlorn. You’re welcome.

 

Robert and I had a lovely weekend, we enjoyed a dinner and movie date night, a family reunion oyster roast with his father’s relatives and yesterday I celebrated the upcoming wedding of a beautiful friend at her bridal shower. Renly also got not one, but TWO baths in three days because he’s Renly and he loves to be filthy.

 

I have a long list of to-do’s today and a third bath is NOT on my radar so let’s all keep our fingers crossed that he stays relatively clean.

 

On my to-do list is to whip up another batch of meatballs for dinner this week and the freezer for many more dinners to come. These meatballs are quick, easy and freeze great which makes them convenient to have on hand for a number of recipes. We eat them with zucchini noodles, in spaghetti squash bakes and most recently on top of a yummy portobello mushroom parmesan dish. They are also great on sandwiches or with gravy over egg noodles. Like I said, versatile.

 

You could use all ground beef, but I like to use a combination of Italian sausage for flavor and lean ground beef to keep them on the lighter side. I always make a large batch and freeze them individually so that I can pull out the exact number I need for a quick week night meal. I have always frozen mine raw but you could cook yours first. I rarely repeat meals, but I use some of these meatballs at least once a week in some variation.

So in this third week of the new year, here’s to Martin Luther King Jr., to being compassionate and more mindful of restructuring problems from the ground up, and to meatballs

 

Sausage & Beef Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 lb Italian Sausage (Hot or Mild depending on preference)

1 lb Lean Ground Beef

3 Eggs

1/2 C. of Milk

3/4 C. Grated Parmesan Cheese

1 C. of Panko Breadcrumbs

1 small Onion, minced

4 Cloves of Garlic, minced

1 tsp. Oregano

1 tsp. Basil

1 tsp. Salt

Fresh Pepper

 

Directions:

1. Whisk Eggs and Milk in a small bowl, set aside.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl, Add Egg/Milk mixture and mix thoroughly by hand.

3. Form into golf ball sized meatballs and place on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Once all meatballs are formed, transfer baking sheet to the freezer. Pre-freeze for 30 minutes to an hour, until meatballs are solid to the touch but not frozen through (Otherwise they will freeze together into a big clump in your freezer bag).

4. Once hard, remove baking sheet from freezer and transfer meatballs into freezer safe zip-lock bags.

5. When you are ready to use your meatballs, remove desired amount from freezer bag and thaw in fridge, bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until cooked through. Enjoy!