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Apple-Rosemary Pork Single-Pan Dinner

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Apple-Rosemary Pork One-Pan Dinner

If you’re looking for a beautiful dinner full of color and flavor, that’s also super easy to make, you’ll love this!  Perfect for a quiet evening at home, and easy to double or triple if company’s coming.

Apple-Rosemary Pork One-Pan Dinner

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 boneless pork chops

8 gold small potatoes; halved

1/2 bundle of asparagus; ends chopped off

2 apples, sliced

2 sprigs of rosemary

4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2.  On a greased, rimmed cookie sheet, arrange pork chops. Brush with Worcestershire sauce.

3.  Around the pork, place apple slices, potatoes, and asparagus.  Drizzle with olive oil, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with fresh rosemary off the sprig.

4.  Bake at 375 for about an hour, or until potatoes are tender and pork is cooked. Enjoy!

This recipe is included in our October Family Favorites Menu Plan!  Click here to learn more.

 

Apple-Rosemary Pork One-Pan Dinner

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Slow Cooker Italian Meatballs

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Slow Cooker Italian Meatballs

If you want to come home to your house smelling heavenly, with enough food for dinner AND a freezer meal, you’ll love this!  With a little bit of prep time, which can even be done the night before, this is an easy recipe that can be used in a variety of ways.  Cook up a pot of spaghetti to enjoy with your meatballs.

Turn ’em into meatball subs.  Enjoy them alone.  Whichever way, you’ll love it.  And you can take advantage of whatever ground meat is on sale at the store, because any combination of ground beef, turkey, pork, chicken, sausage, venison, etc. will do.

Slow Cooker Italian Meatballs
Makes about 36 medium size meatballs

 

Ingredients:

2 lbs. of meat (ground beef, Italian sausage, turkey—any combination will work)
1 1/4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried crushed basil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1 Jar of Spaghetti sauce or you can use your favorite homemade spaghetti sauce recipe

Directions:
1.  In a slow cooker, mix the spaghetti sauce, along with about 1 teaspoon crushed basil.

in-process-2

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2.  In a bowl, mix the ground meat, bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, onion, and egg. Shape the mixture into 1-2 inch size meatballs.

in-process-4
3.  Once you have shaped your meatballs you can put these directly into your sauce in the slow cooker, or you can bake them for 15 minutes at 350 degrees to cook them some and that cuts down on the grease in the sauce.
4.  Cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.  Enjoy! ☺

slow-cooker-italian-meatballs-fb-graphic
This makes a pretty big batch, so you can easily take about half the batch and pop ’em in the freezer.  Later on when you’ve got a night where you need a quick and easy dinner, you can just pour some more sauce into the slow cooker and toss in the frozen meatballs and have another easy dinner. (cook for 4-5 hours on low)  Win!  

If you like this recipe – you’ll LOVE our Family Favorites Menu Plans!  Click here to learn more.

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Easy Baked Tortellini

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Easy Baked TortelliniFor nights when you want a family-pleasing meal that is also easy enough for the kids to make in about 5 minutes, this is the one!

With just a handful of ingredients, this is easy on the budget AND your schedule.  It’s also great because you can revamp this recipe with different types of tortellini, or even use refrigerated ravioli, and can also use a variety of sauce options, including marinara, alfredo, or pesto sauces.  It’ll work just about any which way, as long as the pasta has plenty of sauce covering it!

We love this simple recipe so much that we included it in our October Vegetarian Family Favorites Menu Plan.

Ready to try it out?  Let’s go!

 

Easy Baked Tortellini

Serves 4

You will need:

9 ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini

1 jar of pasta sauce of your choice

2 cups mozzarella cheese

salt and pepper to taste

To Make it:

  1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Spray a medium sized baking dish with no-stick spray.  Spread a layer of sauce over the bottom of the pan.  Then add the tortellini to the dish.
  3. Cover tortellini with pasta sauce.
  4. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella evenly over the top.
  5. Bake for 25-30 minutes until heated through and the cheese on top has melted.
  6. Some crusty bread or a side salad are just right with this!  Enjoy.

Easy Baked Tortellini

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October’s Vegetarian Family Favorites Menu is Here!

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October Vegetarian Family Favorites Menu Plan

I am SO excited about the delicious line-up we have for you this month in our excellent menu plans! Even if you aren’t a vegetarian, you will have no trouble loving this food!  This collection features fresh, seasonal produce and all the fall flavors and comfort food you love.  And all of the recipes are pretty easy to make. In fact, most will be ready in 30 minutes or less!  We’ve kept your health goals in mind, so you’ll find very few (if any) processed foods, very low sugar, NO artificial sweeteners, and NO MSG.  

One of the things we’ve added in this month is make-ahead baked goods for sides. If you have a little extra time on the weekend you can whip up something yummy that can make an easy side dish for meals later on in the week.  We’ve also got one or two slow cooker meals per week, since it’s getting cooler now in many parts of the country.  Members can expect to have access to this new plan in your member area on October 1.  Click here to login.

Here’s what’s on the menu for October:

Week one
Make-ahead Bran Muffins:  Ready in 30 minutes
Cheese & Veggie Wraps with Quinoa Vegetable soup:  Ready in under 30 minutes!
Ravioli with Salsa:  Ready in under 15 minutes!
Colorful Veggie Stroganoff:  Ready in under 20 minutes
Slow Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup:  Quick and easy!
Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup:  Quick and easy
Roasted Vegetable Stew:  Under 15 minutes prep time, cooks for 70 minutes
Brunch: Scrambled Egg Tacos:  Ready in 15 minutes
Dessert: Frosted Pumpkin Spice Bars:  Ready in 35 minutes

Week two
Make-Ahead Popovers:  5 minute prep time, bakes for about 35 minutes
Eggplant Ricotta Bake:  Ready in under an hour, with leftovers for later in the week!
Chili with Tofu:  Ready in about 30 minutes
Black Bean Chili:  Ready in an hour, or make it in the slow cooker
Slow Cooker Winter Vegetable Stew:  Easy to put together
Easy Baked Tortellini:  So easy, even the kids can make it.  30 minutes.
Garden Veggie Pasta:  Ready in 15 minutes.
Brunch: French Toast:  Ready in 15 minutes
Dessert: Pumpkin Dump Cake:  prep time under 10 minutes, bakes for 50 minutes

Week three
Make-Ahead Cheesy Garlic Biscuits:  Under 20 minutes
Polenta and Vegetables:  Under 20 minutes
Portabella Gemelli:  Under 20 minutes
Steamed Vegetables with Brown Rice and Peanut Sauce:  If you make the rice ahead of time, the rest takes less than 20 minutes
Harvest Vegetable Soup:  Under 45 minutes
Slow Cooker Chickpea Chili:  Easy to put together
Quinoa Tacos:  Takes about 30 minutes
Brunch: Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Quinoa:  Ready in about 30 minutes
Dessert: Applesauce Bread: Prep time about 10 minutes, bake time under an hour

Week 4
Make-Ahead Whole Wheat Muffins:  Ready in 30 minutes
Fettucine Alfredo with Broccoli:  Ready in under 20 minutes
Veggie Kabobs with Hearty Couscous:  Ready in under 20 minutes
Spinach Gnocchi:  Ready in about 45 minutes
Creamy Quinoa Primavera:  Ready in about 20 minutes
Slow Cooker Bean Medley:  Super easy to put together
Black Bean Soup:  Ready in about 35 minutes
Brunch: Veggie Brunch Bake:  Ready in under an hour
Dessert: Pumpkin Layer Dessert:  Make it in under 25 minutes, chill overnight.

Ready to jump in and let us help you have gorgeous, delicious, healthy dinners ready each evening?  Click here!

Chili Colorado in the Slow Cooker

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Slow Cooker Chili Colorado

If you’re looking for a hearty, stick-to-your ribs chili that’s sure to please the carnivores in your life, this is the one! With just a little bit of prep work beforehand, you can have this hot and ready in your slow cooker when dinnertime rolls around.  You can even do the prep work the night before, save in the fridge, and pop it into the slow cooker in the morning if you want to.

This recipe is included in our October Family Favorites Menu Plan!  You can learn more about that here.

Chili Colorado ingredients

Slow Cooker Chili Colorado

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 2 cans green chilis
  • 3 pounds boneless beef chuck roast
  • ¼ cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons coarse black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 cups organic beef broth
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, stems removed and finely chopped
  • Optional (to add more heat): 2 – 3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped

Let’s Go!

Chili Colorado

1.  Add green chilies to blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside.

beef_chunks

2.  Trim off excess fat from chuck roast and cut into equal size chunks. The meat will become very tender and easy to pull apart while in the slow cooker – so larger chunks are fine.

flourandseasonings

flourcoating

3.  In a small bowl, combine flour, chili powder, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper.  Sprinkle seasoned flour over beef chunks and toss to coat lightly.

browningbeef

4.  Heat olive oil in large 12” skillet over medium-high heat. With tongs, lift individual floured beef chunks and shake off excess flour. Place beef in hot skillet and brown on all sides. Work in batches to prevent overlapping or overcrowding pieces.

brownedbeef_in_slowcooker

5.  Remove browned beef from pan and add to slow cooker. Repeat browning process with remaining floured beef slices.

6.  Add pureed green chilies, beef stock, chopped onion and jalapeno peppers (if desired) to slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8. When done cooking, transfer to serving bowl and stir in fresh cilantro, reserving some for garnish.

tortilla

7.  Serve with soft flour tortillas, refried beans, and Mexican rice, if desired.

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