Tender Meatballs, by Cheryl

These are the most tender meatballs I've ever made! Everyone in my house ran through the first batch so quickly that I made two more batches the next day for snacks and meals. I've used milk in meatballs before, but not in the way this recipe had me do it. It truly made a difference! Eat on their own or with spaghetti! Yum!

Ingredients (recipe from here):

1 lb ground beef

2/3 cup bread crumbs

7/8 cup milk

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/3 grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp fresh Italian herbs

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400. Add the milk and the bread crumbs in a bowl and stir until absorbed. Then add the remaining ingredients and mix well until combined. 

2) Roll the mixture in meatballs and lay them on a lined baking tray. Wet your hands with water to prevent sticking. 

3) Bake in oven for 18-20 minutes. Serve with whatever you want!

Crockpot Chipotle Shredded Beef, by Diane

 

This recipe came from @kaleforniakravings, and I had some doubts about the flavors but decided to give it a try. The beef came out super tender and easy to shred, but I was right about the flavors so I probably wouldn't make this version again. I tried to save the sauce with some brown sugar and tomato paste which did help a lot, and then immersion blended the onions, garlic, and cilantro in. I also put it on tostadas with my fave black beans from Guatemala and topped with onion and cilantro- all of which made this better! Next time I'll find a different recipe but keep the same cooking method.

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs boneless beef chuck roast 

1 tbsp each chipotle powder and paprika

1/2 tbsp each dried oregano and chili powder

1 tsp each garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, salt, pepper

1 medium white onion, sliced

5 cloves garlic, peeled and whole

1 cup beef broth

1/4 cup each orange juice (fresh squeezed) and water

2 tbsp lime juice

1 chipotle pepper in adobo, deseeded and chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, choppped

Directions:

1. Cut the beef into 4 large sections and rub chipotle powder through pepper into the meat. 

2. Put onion through chipotle pepper in the bottom of a crockpot, then layer on beef, then cilantro.

3. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, remove beef and shred with some of the liquid.

Grinder Bean Salad, by Diane

 

This is one of the best things I have ever eaten!!! I cannot get over how good this is, it's like the world's best italian hoagie on steroids with a spoon. I follow @viotletwitchel on instagram and she makes a new dense bean salad each week for lunches. This is a blend of two of her latest recipes, and holy moly I'm obsessed. She said she ate this for lunch three weeks in a row, and I can see why. This would also be great for potlucks and picnics too! This is highly customizable and I am thinking of experimenting with cucumber, olive, artichoke hearts...already dreaming of future lunches!

My two notes: she includes parsley in this, which I did, but it was WAY too overpowering so next time I'll likely add dried parsley to the dressing. And, she adds the mozzarella balls and says it keeps all week, but by day 3 the cheese started getting watery and gross. So, next time I'd add fresh cheese each day and store it separate.

Ingredients:

1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

1 can white cannellini beans

1/2 lb each deli turkey and salami, diced (I chose black pepper turkey and genoa salami for flavor)

1 small jar roasted sweet peppers, drained and chopped

1/4 cup banana peppers, chopped

1 package small mozzarella balls

1/2 red onion, diced

1/4 cup capers

1 cup colored cherry tomatoes, halved 

1 red bell pepper, diced (I skipped this)

Dressing: 1/4 cup red wine vinegar (I only had ACV which worked great!), 1/2 cup EVOO, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp dijon, salt and pepper

Directions:

Toss dressing together and toss over remaining ingredients, mix well and chill!

Paccheri with Shrimp in a Tomato White Wine Sauce, by Cheryl

Oh paccheri, how I love you! This is my favorite pasta and I fell in love with it during my time in Naples. I also fell in love with their classic white wine tomato sauce. I can't ever seem to replicate it as well as they do, but this dish definitely brought me back. I loveee it. Yum!

Ingredients: 

1 package paccheri

1 8oz container of grape tomatoes

1 cup white wine

1 onion, chopped

A couple tbsp minced garlic

A couple handfuls of spinach

1 lb shrimp, seasoned

Salt

Olive oil

Directions:

1) Cook pasta according to directions.

2) Meanwhile, heat some olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened. Add the white wine, tomatoes, and garlic and simmer, mixing occasionally until sauce thickens. 

3) Cook shrimp in separate pan and then add to the sauce. 

4) Pour everything over the pasta. 

Zucchini Pizza Bites, by Diane

 

We wanted a healthier appetizer option to balance out the rest of our superbowl party and found these online. Overall they were good, but next time I would follow my instincts and draw the water out of the zucchini or use an air fryer on these as they were a bit wet. Otherwise you can't go wrong with this flavor combo!

Ingredients:

2 large zucchini, sliced into 1/4 thick rounds

pepperoni

mozzarella cheese

pizza sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 and assemble the zucchini with sauce, pepperoni and cheese.

2. Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven and set the broiler to high.

3. Broil on high for 5 more minutes or until the cheese browns. Serve warm (but they are also great cold as leftovers!).

Scrap Stock, by Diane

I keep seeing tricks on instragram to make your own stock, which tends to be far more healthy and less expensive than store bought. One trick I saw was to keep a gallon ziplock bag of veggie scraps in the freezer, adding to it each time you cook, until the bag is full. Then you use those with water and seasonings to create homemade stock. I decided to try it on a night where I was also cooking with lamb and had a lot of bones I was about to throw away, so I combined it all together to get this super savory and extra golden broth! This couldn't have been easier and as you can see it made a ton of stock! I also liked the taste of it way better than store bought, so I'll definitely keep this going. My bag had extra rutabaga I never used, celery ends and leaves, onion and garlic ends and peels, broccoli stems, leek ends, and ginger peels. Yum.

One note- usually when making homemade bone broth you'll want to skim the scum off the top of the water that appears about 20 minutes in. There were so many veggies floating at the top I couldn't do this, but it actually wound up settling at the bottom of the pot at the end so I just strained it out and it was ok! Next time you could start the bones early and then skim it and add the veggies too.

Ingredients:

1 gallon bag of veggie scraps

Optional bones for bone broth

Water (enough to cover the veggies)

Salt (you'll want to salt heavily here, but taste to be sure along the way)

Seasonings: I used 2 bay leaves, celery seed, poultry seasoning, dill, dried oyster mushrooms, and black pepper

Directions:

Toss everything in the pot and bring to a boil then simmer on low for 2-3 hours (the longer you do it the more flavorful!). I kept the lid off so the liquid concentrated down a bit like stock, but you could also keep the lid on to trap condensation and get more liquid! Strain the liquid and toss the veggie scraps and bones if using, then store in the fridge or freezer or sip for immunity and good health!