Learning - not always for kids!

I love experimenting in the kitchen. I'm no world-famous chef by any stretch of the imagination (it takes quite a stretch for me to imaging me cooking in ANY industrial kitchen... unless I'm doing my Christmas baking, but that's another post for another month), but I like to play around with recipes and sometimes create my own. Sometimes they're good; sometimes they're not.

Tonight was a winner. If I'd known how good it was going to be, I'd have taken pictures of the creative process a la Pioneer Woman. But I didn't. So I didn't.

So you'll just have to make do with this

And this...

Meatball Magnifique.
Originally, this was going to be meatball soup. That was the recipe I started from. But then I decided I didn't want soup. But the ground turkey was already thawed, the spinach wasn't going to last forever, and I had leftover homemade spaghetti sauce that needed using, too. So I made the meatballs and figured I'd just throw in the ingredients from the soup. Doubled the pasta, left out the broth, put in a few extra mushrooms for good flavor... and then thought, "Ohhhh this needs cheeeeese."
And all I had was Cheddar... and Babybel.
Did you know Babybels are WONDERFULLY melty? Throw in half a dozen or so of those that are torn into little bits, throw on a lid, and let 'em melt.
The kids have officially labeled this as a "keeper."
:D