Meatball Monday: Green Chicken Enchilada Meatballs

I have been waiting all weekend for today! I know, that sounds crazy to actually want Monday to be here, but it’s true. The reason being: Meatball Monday has been on my brain ALL weekend long!

I started up Meatball Monday awhile ago, featuring some goodies such as;

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Vietnamese Pork Meatballs

Fontina-Stuffed Veal Meatballs

Jalapeno-Cheeseburger Meatballs

My favorite is probably the Buffalo Chicken Meatballs – followed closely by the Fontina-Stuffed Veal Meatballs. However, they are all delicious and worth a try!

Meatball Monday has been on a long, long hiatus, but it’s making a comeback - and with a totally bitchin’ recipe. Oh yes my friends, it’s so good that it requires the use of the B word. haha

The recipe I am talking about is Green Chicken Enchilada Meatballs. It’s all the goodness of Green Chicken Enchiladas rolled into a delicious little ball. Love it! There is chicken, green chiles, onions, avocados, cheese and tortilla chips (instead of a tortilla) all combined to make these little bad boys.

Serve them with sour cream and the taste is complete!

I am in love with these meatballs and surely ate enough to prove it…

Green Chicken Enchilada Meatballs
(PRINTABLE RECIPE)
Ingredients
¼ cup yellow onion, chopped
1lb ground chicken
½ cup colby jack cheese, shredded
1 4oz can diced green chiles
1 small avocado, cubed
½ cup crushed tortilla chips
¼ cup green chile enchilada sauce
sour cream (for dipping)
Directions
1. Sauté onions until tender. Set aside and let cool.
2. Combine all ingredients
3. Roll into 1.5” balls
4. If using meatball bbq rack – cook for 15-20 minutes on medium-high heat, flipping every 5 minutes. If cooking in oven – bake for 20-25 minutes or until starting to turn golden brown.
5. Top with enchilada sauce and serve with sour cream for dipping.
6. Enjoy!!

Hungry Harps Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce

This is a very exciting post for me! It may not be as exciting for you – but try to play along. ;)

Now on to the show…

After many test runs and experimentation – I have my very own marinara sauce to share with you! I have always wanted to have my very own recipe for marinara sauce. But not just any recipe – a tried and true, easy to remember, delicious recipe.

We had a LOT of pasta nights to get this recipe perfected - I have faith that it will please.

By using the quantities I have listed in the recipe below, you will have just about 4 quarts of marinara sauce. What the heck do you do with 4 quarts of sauce? Freeze it! I am going to can this marinara sauce – I just haven’t got the jars yet. So, for the time being, I divide the sauce up in freezer bags and then defrost them before use. The sauce still tastes wonderful after being frozen. Score!

So… pull out your crock pot and gather up the ingredients – we've got some Hungry Harps Marinara Sauce to cook up!!

First, we need to chop up that onion.
Don't cry like I did. If you do, pretend they are tears of joy. ;)

Next, saute the onion and minced garlic together until garlic starts to turn golden brown. I add the onions to the pan first and let them cook for a couple minutes before adding the garlic. Also, lowering the heat to medium helps avoid the garlic from browning too quickly.

Open up those cans! I remember opening cans for my Grandma and I can't wait until my son can do it for me - especially when I cook this sauce. ;)

Add all ingredients to crock pot. Enlist the help of a cute, young man if you are able to...

Mix well. May as well get a second cute, young man to help you while you're at it...

Cover and let cook for 4 hours on high. I stir it at 2 hours in to make sure the tomato paste is not clumpy.

The sauce is done! Either use it then or save it for later. If you are going to freeze it, I would suggest letting it cool before transferring it to freezer bags.

I recently used the marinara sauce to make Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti that turned out uhmazing - the recipe will be coming in a few days...

Hungry Harps Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce
(PRINTABLE RECIPE)
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 tablespoons garlic, minced
84oz crushed tomatoes
24oz tomato sauce
18oz tomato paste
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons Italian seasoning
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 bay leaf
Directions
1. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until soft. Lower heat to medium and add garlic. Cook until garlic starts to turn golden brown. Remove from heat.
2. In crock pot, add onion/garlic mixture and rest of ingredients. Mix well.
3. Cook for 4 hours on HIGH heat.
4. Enjoy!

Do you have a tried and true recipe that you can always trust? I would love to hear what it is!!

Meat Chili Sauce

Oh man did I have a craving for a chili dog this past weekend. The craving was bad, it hit hard. I was going to buy canned chili before convincing myself to not be lazy and make my own. I am so glad I decided to not go the easy route on this one; the homemade meat chili sauce came out uhmazing.

This was my first time making meat chili sauce, so I had to poke around the internet to see how others make it. I was a little surprised to see that some people boil the ground beef in this recipe to produce a smoother texture. Pretty interesting stuff and I was excited to try it – I had always wondered if anyone ever boiled ground beef and now was my chance to give it a shot. 

This recipe calls for 3lbs of ground beef since that is how much I used – the idea was to make enough for a couple meals and it looks like we will get a total of 3 out of this recipe. Score! Instead of hot dogs, next time we will have chili cheese fries alongside a salad. Not sure about the 3rd time, maybe chili-cheeseburgers… it all sounds good to me. ;)

My craving was satisfied beyond what I ever imagined. This recipe is a keeper and a crowd pleaser!

Meat Chili Sauce 
(printable recipe)
Ingredients
1 QT beef broth
water
3 lbs ground beef
1 large yellow onion, diced
30oz tomato sauce
6oz can tomato paste
3 tbsp garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp salt
3 tsp cumin
1.5 tsp cayenne pepper
3 tbsp cider vinegar
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
Directions
1. Bring beef broth and water to boil. Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Drain and return to pot.
2. Over medium-high heat, add remaining ingredients. Stir well. Bring to boil and reduce heat to low.
3. Cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. If consistency is too thick, add water (or beer) while cooking.
4. Enjoy!

Cracking Eggs Open

I got some great pictures this weekend and just had to share them!

My dad enlisted the help of my oldest son, Bubba, in the kitchen on Sunday morning to get ready for brunch. I would normally of written "help" when talking about Bubba, because it is usually more work having him in the kitchen than anything else, but he surprised me this weekend. Thus my reason for writing this post.

The first job my dad gave Bubba was to crack open the eggs. What?!?!? I immediately had to grab my camera and get ready to witness and capture the mess of a lifetime. After all, Bubba just turned 4 in December and is not exactly a fragile flower. However, something else happened - he did great!! I couldn't believe it. He also helped make pancakes - actually flipping over a couple, all by himself!

But there was something else I couldn't believe...

As I watched my dad with his grandson, I saw something missing in my own life. I saw patience. I simply have not tried letting my son crack open eggs because of a mess that I would have to clean up or because of a few wasted eggs. It makes me feel really horrible as a mom and it makes me wonder what other things I am keeping him from trying for pure selfish reasons. It was an eye-opening moment that has changed my life.

Watching my dad with his grandson also took me back to when I was young, back when my dad was enlisting my help in the kitchen. He must of had great patience then as well, but I was unable to see it. I wouldn't have learned anything he taught me about cooking if he had not been patient - and now it's my turn. I have changed a lot since becoming a parent, but I think patience is the one thing I could still work on.

Do the lessons of parenthood ever stop coming?

I can't wait to make some cookies with Bubba this week. He will be in charge of cracking open the eggs and I am looking forward to seeing how he does. :)