Greek Meat Sauce, by Diane

We have family friends who are Greek and own a thriving Greek restaurant in Maryland, and one of the things they make best is this Greek meat sauce. It's the same idea as spaghetti sauce except the awesome anti-inflammatory spices cinnamon and cloves or allspice, as well as bay leaf, onions, and garlic. It is delicious over pasta, polenta, or rice! It's very easy to make as well. You can also make this more authentic by using a beef roast that is slow cooked and shredded in the sauce rather than ground beef as I used. I used WAY more of the spices than listed below, but these are good places to start.


Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
28 oz tomato sauce
1/2-1 cup beef broth
2 bay leaves
2-3 tsp cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp allspice or cloves
1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Brown the beef in a sauce pot with the onion and garlic. Drain.

2. Add beef mixture back to the pot, and stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for about 20-30 minutes. The longer it simmers the better it gets!

*to use a beef roast, sear it on all sides in a pan then add it to a crockpot with the remaining ingredients except use only 15 oz tomato sauce and 2 cups beef broth.

Lamb Barley Soup, by Cheryl

I had an impulse buy at the grocery store the other day- ground lamb. I've cooked with lamb before, but not the ground kind, and was intrigued at the possibilities of this different type of ground meat. I wasn't in the mood for burgers so I took to the internet to find a healthy and hearty meal for these cold winter nights. This soup that I found is delicious! I also have never cooked with barley before and found it to add a nice chew to the soup. This is soooo easy and quick to make that it will now become a staple in our house. Yum!

Ingredients:

1 lb ground lamb
1 onion, chopped
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 cups water
3 cans beef consommé (I used beef broth)
1 can condensed tomato soup
4 medium carrots
3 stalks celery
1 cup barley
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1) Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and stir in the ground lamb and onion. Cook and stir until the lamb is browned and the onion is translucent. Drain and discard any excess grease.

2) Stir in the tomatoes with their liquid, water, consommé, and soup. Add the carrots, celery, and barley, and season with chili powder and black pepper. Simmer over medium heat for 45 minutes.

Spaghetti Squash with Aruluga Walnut Pesto, by Cheryl

I added shredded chicken to the dishes.

I've really been missing Italy lately. More specifically, the food and the travel! Every weekend I keep saying to Jon, "Last year at this time we were in Budapest, or Finland, or wherever we were at the time" We've made a commitment to go back to Europe at least once a year (and we already have our 2 week Scandanavia trip planned for August, yay!). Anyways, I digress. Now the food is something specific to Italy that I really miss… especially the pizza which is very hard to replicate here. I've been missing my neighbor's Italian pesto sauce and I haven't made it since being back. The basil is sooooo expensive here! I used to be able to get a whole bunch of it for 1 euro and now I'm lucky to get a few leaves for $5 (and the sauce uses a ton of basil). I just can't bring myself to pay that much when I used to be able to get it for next to nothing. Time to break out the basil plant! So this recipe is not something you would ever find in Italy, but it does put a different spin on pesto sauce and my oh my is it good! I would like to try it with pasta next time instead of spaghetti squash just to see how it goes with it, but this is an extremely healthy version and a great alternative to traditional pesto. Taken from this website. Yum!

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash
1/4 cup walnuts (I used pine nuts)
1 garlic clove
1 1/2 cups packed fresh arugula
3 tablespoons evoo
3 tablespoons finely grated Pecorino (I used Parmesan)
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon salt (we need to add some at the end as well)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest (I didn't use this)

Directions:

1) Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Brush tops with olive oil, then roast face up for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Cool squash.

2) While the squash is cooking, toast nuts stirring frequently, until a shade darker, maybe 5 minutes.

3) Pulse nuts and garlic in food processor until finely ground. Add arugula, oil, cheese, water, salt, pepper, and zest and pulse until arugula is coarsely chopped.

4) Scrape out squash flesh with a fork. Loosen and separate the strands, then toss it with the pesto in a bowl.

Slow Cooker Shrimp & Chicken Sausage Gumbo, by Cheryl

Forgot to take a picture! Taken from here

This is my first post since the new addition to our family came into our lives! It's been 7 weeks since Julia was born and while I'm trudging through the day on limited sleep, I am surprised that I have found some time and energy to try some new recipes. I've been on the lookout for easy recipes that don't require too many ingredients or time. Slow cooker recipes are my friend! And since it's been so cold lately, they are also perfect to warm us up. I got this recipe from my sister-in-law's friend's website. Mine seemed to be very peppery when it was done so I had to add another cup of chicken broth, another can of diced tomatoes, and then some tomato paste to thicken it up a bit. It was ranked number 2 on her site for the top recipes of 2013, but I didn't fall in love with it. Maybe you will?

Ingredients:

8 ounces shrimp, tails removed
12 ounces (4 links) chicken sausage, sliced into 1/4 inch coins
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with chills
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 cups frozen okra
1 1/12 cups chopped celery
1 green pepper, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning (or 1/8 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, oregano, thyme, cayenne pepper, and red pepper flakes)

Directions:

1) Combine all ingredients except shrimp in a slow cooker.

2) Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Add shrimp about 30 minutes before serving, stirring to combine.