Homemade Meatballs

This is actually what we had for dinner on Sunday night.  The recipe is from my great grandma.  I have many fond memories from my childhood of helping my mom make these.  She would also make it with homemade spaghetti sauce, but most of the time I just use jarred sauce.

My husband and I recently bought quarter of a cow (about 150 lbs), so we have a deep freezer full of different cuts - ground beef, roasts, steaks, ribs, etc..  It's nice knowing exactly where your meat has come from.  These meatballs were made with 3 pounds of the ground beef that we bought.

HOMEMADE MEATBALLS

simmered in the slow cooker

prep time: 15 minutes

baking time: 30 minutes

slow cooker time: 5 to 6 hours

Ingredients:

2 jars (32 oz. each) spaghetti sauce - I use Prego traditional

3 pounds ground beef

2 eggs

3 tablespoons dried onion flakes

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Combine meat, eggs, and all seasonings.  Form into 3 dozen meatballs.  Bake for 30 minutes. 

Pour 1 jar of sauce into slow cooker (make sure to use a 6 quart slow cooker for this).  Place all the meatballs in sauce.  Using second jar of sauce, cover and fill the crock pot.

Let simmer on low for 5 to 6 hours. 

Serve over spaghetti or any type of pasta.

These meatballs freeze really well. I typically freeze them in packages of 6 meatballs with sauce.  If there is any left over sauce from the second jar of sauce, I add extra sauce to the packages I am freezing.

Turkey Chili

When I plan my menu for the week, I'll sometimes choose multiple meals out of the same cooking magazine.  Tonights meal also came from the October 2011 issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray Magazine.  It can also be found online at: Turkey Chili

To be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of it.  I like a nice hearty chili that is full of beans and has a kick to it.  It did have good flavor, but with only one can of chickpeas, I felt like it was missing something.  I also topped ours with just a little bit of shredded cheddar cheese.  It was very simple to make, I just think it needs more kick and maybe some white beans.

TURKEY CHILI

Servings: 4

Prep and Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 2 tbsp. oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 15-oz. can chickpeas
• 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup sliced scallions
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Brown turkey in oil; add onion, garlic and spices and cook. Add chickpeas, tomatoes and 3/4 cup water; bring to boil. Simmer until thick. Top with scallions and cheese.

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Tarragon Chicken

I tried a new recipe tonight, which was in the October 2011 issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray Magazine. This is one of my favorite magazines! This recipe is for the slow cooker. I love slow cooker recipes that I can quickly whip together over my lunch break and then dinner is ready when I get home. I did slightly edit the recipe from what is found on Rachael Ray's website.

The recipe can be found online at: http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/dinner-recipes/melt-in-your-mouth-tarragon-chicken

MELT-IN-YOUR-MOUTH TARRAGON CHICKEN

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 5 hours

Ingredients:
CROCK POT INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. chicken broth
4 tbsp. dijon mustard
Salt and pepper
4 lbs. bone-in chicken parts (breasts, drumsticks and thighs), skin discarded
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp. dried tarragon
OUT-OF-THE-POT INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 lemon, finely zested and juiced
1/4 tbsp. dried parsley
1/4 tbsp. dried tarragon

Directions:
1. Pour the broth into a 6- to 7-qt. slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the mustard, 1 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. pepper; rub the chicken with the mustard. Place the chicken in the slow cooker and top with the garlic and 2 tbsp. tarragon. Cover and cook on low heat until the chicken is tender and an instant-read thermometer inserted into a thigh away from the bone registers 165°, about 5 hours.
2. Transfer the chicken to a serving plate and cover to keep warm. Strain the pan juices into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over high heat. In a small bowl, combine the cream and cornstarch. Whisk the mixture into the saucepan and cook until the sauce is thickened; stir in the lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the chicken.
3. In a small bowl, combine the lemon zest, parsley, and 1 tbsp. tarragon. Top the chicken with the zest-herb mixture.

Perfectly pairs with steamed vegetables and rice. Plenty of extra of the tarragon sauce to drip over both.

My review, this was delicious! The chicken was so tender and the sauce had great flavor. Would definitely make this recipe again, although it's more of an "adult" dinner, so maybe I'd make it just as a special dinner for C and me next time.

New to the blogger world

My name is Pam and I am new to the blogger world.... or at least new in terms of creating my own blog. I love cooking --- everything about it and everything you can do with it. I follow a lot of other "mom food blogs" as well as get a few different cooking magazines. I don't have a specific type of cooking which I like to do. I just love trying new recipes (for any meal or snack of the day) and also tweeking recipes to something new.

My husband, C, and I make the perfect pair - I love to cook and he loves to eat. I think our son, W, who is almost 2 takes after C with the amount he eat.

So, I have created this blog. Here is will share new recipes I am trying, as well as old recipes that our family loves. I have found that planning out our "weekly menu" has helped cut down on wasted food, as well as helps our family eat healthier. Plus, typically I only have to make one trip to the grocery store (which is nice since C and I both work full time).

If you're reading this, welcome to my blog - hope you stay awhile and that I can share some recipes that you will love as well :)