Meatball and Garlic Bread

I really love these savory meatballs. Toothpicks were only inserted to help with the mess. The garlic bread was very useful for placing the meatball and complemented very well with the marinara sauce. You might ask why I didn't opt with spaghetti... well, it's definitely something I'd like to do but I still need to figure out how to hold it together.

Serves 3: Ground beef, ground pork, garlic clove, salt & pepper, breadcrumbs, and egg

The garlic bread was store bought but goes great with the rest of the ingredients. Normally there are two long loaves of garlic bread in a packaged box that is already pre-cut for you. I only used one loaf and each slice was big enough to cut in half. I made a total of 20 meatballs and paired 16 garlic breads to each one. I could've made at least 32 which would have been nice to take to a party!

To lessen the mess, I poured warm marinara in a sauce bowl for dipping. This method is the preferred option since you can dip however much marinara you'd like without the mess. One problem I had with the garlic bread was that I left it in the toaster-oven a little too long and it turned out a little hard, but I still enjoyed the crunchiness!

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Every time I stare at these chocolate chip pancakes, I just want to run into my kitchen and make these breakfast staple regardless of what time it is. I know I can scarf down these stacked pancakes in a second knowing that one of my favorite ingredients is thrown in the mix: chocolate!

Serves 3: 1 1/2 cup of pancake mix, 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

I use butter primarily to keep the pancake mixture from sticking onto the frying pan. Once it is warm enough to melt the butter, I would spread the butter around the pan with my spatula. It is also helpful to rub butter inside the edges of the cookie cutters. Next, I carefully scooped one in half tablespoon of pancake batter into the cookie cutters - thinly enough to coat the base. When the edges of the pancake mix looks dry and the top stops bubbling, take out the cookie cutter with precaution and using your spatula, flip the pancake over to cook the other side. Stack all the mini pancakes on top of each other, sprinkle a bit of powdered sugar, and drizzle maple syrup for a sweet and savory finish.