metanomaly

Some recent favorites of mine from youtube.

Ramona Falls - I Say Fever

This is, hands-down, the best music video I've seen in a long time. It starts out slowly, so bear with it. It makes me wish I still had time to draw. :/



Touching commercial

I have a collection of really powerful ads in my youtube favorites, but some of them are extremely intense and affecting. I'll leave those out of this post and just do this one:



...And this one, which I'm sure a bunch of you have already seen.



Where the Hell is Matt?

One of the web's most inspiring unity videos (I view this in a similar category as Playing For Change).



Jason McElwain

The inspirational story of an autistic high school basketball team manager.

This was the winner of Ukraine's Got Talent.

Everybody needs to watch this; it is the most powerful piece of art I've seen in a long, long time.

Amazing and beautiful and moving.



...Really makes America's Got Talent and Britain's Got Talent (with all their silly dance groups and wannabe singers) look incredibly lame in comparison.

I served chicken parmesan on a bed of this, it was a delicious if somewhat unconventional combination of culinary cultures (haha).

I am writing this from memory, so I hope I didn't leave anything out-- amounts are approximated since I didn't measure anything. (I really need to start making note/measurements of the recipes I come up with in the future.)

This is as much for my own reference as it is for anyone else.

1 box plain couscous, prepared (usually req. water or stock, 1 Tbsp butter or olive oil, and some salt)

2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
½ c. mushrooms, finely chopped
½ c. grated Parmesan cheese
4 Tbsp. tomato sauce
2 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. Italian seasoning (I used Garlic & Herb seasoning)
½ tsp. paprika
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. dill
¼ tsp. ground black pepper

1. Prepare couscous according to package instructions. (Bring water or stock with 1 Tbsp butter or olive oil and ¼ tsp. salt to a boil, stir in couscous, remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.)


2. Over medium heat, saute garlic, mushrooms, and red pepper in olive oil. Add this to your prepared couscous. Add Parmesan cheese, tomato sauce, parsley, onion powder, seasoning, paprika, salt, dill, and black pepper. Fluff and serve as a side.

Decreed "better than any restaurant stuffed mushrooms" by my family and now being demanded regularly by my husband.

20 large fresh mushrooms, sans stems
2 6.5 oz. cans of minced clams, 1 can drained, 1 can with juice
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
½ c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 small onion, finely chopped
¾ c. bread crumbs
½ c. green pepper, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. dried parsley
2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
Ground black pepper to taste
¾ c. butter, melted (1 ½ sticks)
½ c. shredded mozzarella cheese
Olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a 9x13" baking dish.


2. Place mushroom caps hollow-side down in the baking dish. Bake for ~8-12 minutes to remove excess moisture (this prevents the stuffing from becoming watery). Remove from oven and place hollow-side up.


3. In a medium bowl, mix clams (1 can drained, 1 can with juice), garlic, Parmesan cheese, onion, bread crumbs, green pepper, parsley, seasoning, and black pepper. Slowly stir in the melted butter until the mixture is moist.*


4. Fill the mushroom caps with stuffing to heaping. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over tops and drizzle with olive oil.


5. Bake for 30 minutes or until tops are lightly browned.

* To shave off a few calories, you may substitute the butter with a combination of olive oil and/or beaten egg. If you try this, please let me know how it turns out! Just keep in mind that the butter recipe is worth every calorie. :)

Sauce:
1 c. chopped onion
5 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ c. olive oil
2 (28 oz.) cans whole peeled tomatoes
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 bay leaf
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
2 tsp dried basil
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 ½ tsp dried oregano

Meatballs:
½ lb. lean ground turkey
½ lb. mild Italian sausage
¾ c. fresh bread crumbs
1 Tbsp dried parsley
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ c. milk
1 egg, beaten
flour, for rolling
2 Tbsp olive oil, for browning

Hoagies:
Sliced provolone cheese
Sub or hoagie buns

This tasty sauce with meatballs can be used for spaghetti or sandwiches!

1. Sauce, part i: Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. When onion is translucent, stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar, and the bay leaf. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 90 minutes.



2. Meatballs: Mix ground turkey, sausage (can substitute 1 lb. ground beef but either eliminate the milk or use 1 c. bread crumbs if doing so), bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, garlic powder, milk, and beaten egg. Mix and roll into balls. Cover and store in the refrigerator until needed.



3. When the sauce has simmered for 80 minutes or so, roll the meatballs in flour. Add olive oil to a frying pan over medium heat and brown the meatballs to lock in flavor. They will fully cook in the sauce later, so no need to overdo it.



4. Sauce, part ii: Stir in tomato paste, basil, oregano, pepper, and meatballs. Simmer for 30 more minutes.



5. Meatball subs: Heat the broiler to 450°F. Open the hoagies and lay sliced provolone on them. Broil for 3-5 minutes or until bread is lightly browned. Spoon meatballs and sauce onto buns and serve hot.