Cheese Stuffed Meatballs (Low Carb, Gluten-Free, etc... no breadcrumbs!)

What's more awesome than a great meatball? A great meatball stuffed with stretchy cheese!!

These can be eaten straight out of the pan, on top of pasta, in a crusty roll,... the possibilities are endless!

Cheese Stuffed Meatballs
Makes about 12 golf ball-sized meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1-2 grated or finely chopped cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (I prefer fresh, but the powdery canned version would work too)
• 1 tablespoon dry oregano
• Fresh ground pepper to taste
• mozzarella, provolone, or other stretchy pizza cheese cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• vegetable oil
• 2 cups tomato sauce or crushed canned tomatoes

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Thoroughly mix the beef, egg, garlic, Parmesan, oregano, and ground pepper.
3. With clean hands, pick up a small handful of the meat mixture and shape it into a ball. Push one cheese cube into the center of the meatball and then close it up so that no cheese is showing. Repeat until you've used up all your meat mixture.
4. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in an oven-proof frying pan on the stove top. Gently place the meatballs in the pan and allow to brown 1-2 minutes per side. Be careful when turning them that you're not breaking them or the cheese will escape.
5. Once the meatballs are browned all around, spoon out and discard most of the oil from the pan and pour the tomato sauce on top of the meatballs. 
6. Place the pan in the preheated oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the meatballs are fully cooked.

Easy Saucy Meatloaf

This is the simplest kid-friendly meatloaf I've ever made. I like to cook it divided in two loaf pans to maximize sauce coverage and to cut down on cooking time. Since it uses tomatoes rather than ketchup you can control the level of sweetness. The recipe here comes out quite sweet which is undoubtedly why it is so popular with my littles!

Another reason they like it is because it's a homogeneous brick of loaf. No bits of onion or herb or other non-meaty bits to pick out as my kids tend to do. I like to chop the onion, add it to the canned tomatoes, and then blend it together with a handheld stick blender before adding it into the meat mixture.



Easy Saucy Meatloaf
Inspired by this recipe

Meatloaf

• 1 1/2 to 2 lbs pounds ground beef
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 small onion, chopped *(to hide the onions use a hand blender to puree them into the tomato sauce)
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce (or pureed canned tomatoes)
• 1 cup Italian (seasoned) bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste 

 Sauce 

• 1 cup tomato sauce (or pureed canned tomatoes)
• 2 tablespoons vinegar 
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 

 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl combine the ground meat, egg, onion, 1/2 cup tomato sauce and seasoned bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste and mix well.
3. Press mixture into two loaf pans. Make a depression in the center and poke a few holes down the middle to ensure a good sauce coverage.
4. In a small bowl combine the remaining 1 cup tomato sauce, vinegar, mustard, and brown sugar. Mix together until sugar has dissolved and pour liquid evenly over meatloafs.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 30-45 minutes until cooked through.

 

Beef and Barley Stew

This Christmas one of my favourite Christmas gifts from my husband was an Instant Pot. It's a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, sauté pan, steamer and stockpot warmer all in one and it's AWESOME! This isn't meant to be an ad for the pot so I'll just say that I totally love it and leave it at that.

I can cook meals quickly and efficiently using the pressure cooker feature, which comes in handy when I only have at most about an hour to get dinner on the table during the week. In the month and a half since Christmas I've already made a number of curries, stews, stocks, and risottos in a fraction of the usual stove-top time!

Most recently I made a very hearty beef and barley stew. It could be easily turned into a soup by adding extra chicken or beef stock at the end of cooking. The grownups of the family enjoyed it and I packed the leftovers for my lunches. Hubby added some sriracha sauce to his portion to spice it up a bit.

The kids on the other hand --who are usually suspicious of dishes where the ingredients are chopped small and all mixed together (since you never know what I might have tried hiding in there!)-- each took the required "no thank you" spoonful to taste, and opted for cheese omelets instead.

Beef and Barley Stew
Inspired by this one and Alton Brown's

• 1 1/4 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes (or crushed if you don't like tomato chunks)
• 2 1/2 cups beef stock 
• 1/2 cup barley
• 3 large carrot, sliced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 large potato, cubed
• 1 medium onion, diced 
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Brown the beef in the pressure cooker. Drain off the fat.
2. Add the tomatoes, stock and barley. 
3. Close pressure cooker and bring up to full pressure. Pressure cook for 10 minutes 
4. While the soup is cooking, slice the carrots, peel and dice the potato and onion and mince the garlic.
5. After the soup has cooked for 10 minutes, use the quick-release and add the vegetables, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. (I didn't add any extra salt since my stock was already salty.)
6. Seal the cooker and bring up to full pressure again. Pressure cook for another 10 minutes.
7. Open using quick release method. 
8. Add extra heated broth if you'd prefer a soup rather than a stew.