Crock Pot/Baked Meatballs

This long weekend has been exactly what I was needing! The weather has been incredible and I have had a lot of time to simply relax. Frank enjoyed a lot of relaxing:

Saturday was spent as follows:

• Taught Body Step (Lindsay has been coming to some of my classes which has been so much fun)
• Brunch with Josh (I got a blueberry parfait-sorry Dawn ;))
• Lounged in the sun
• Housework
• Laid down grass seed
• Walked with Josh (2.4 miles, he isn’t allowed to do a lot of physical activity (given the elbow surgery), so it was nice to get out and moving with him)
• Dinner, movie & ice cream at home

I had picked up some local grass fed beef at the farmers market a couple weeks ago and finally defrosted it for use. I used the beef to make some Crock Pot/Baked Meatballs:

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup panko (or regular bread crumbs)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons tomato sauce (or marinara)
desired amount chopped onion

1 bottle marinara sauce (or you can make your own)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375
Mix all ingredients. Form into small balls (~25) and bake for ~15-18 minutes or until cooked through.

I baked mine on a cooling wrack on top of a baking sheet sprayed with pan. This allows some of the fat to drain out of the meatballs.

Next, place bottle of marinara in the bottom of a crock pot. Add cooked meatballs. Turn crock pot on low and cook meatballs for 4-6 hours.

In total dinner included meatballs (for Josh), giant salads, and great harvest bread:

We also had some ice cream with blackberries for dessert (YUM). Josh’s beautiful meatball bowl:

Salads (spinach, fresh mozzarella, artichokes, raw asparagus, carrots, olive oil and vinegar):

So far today I have enjoyed some coffee and cooking/baking. I made up a loaf of banana bread for a friend’s mom who did a few wonderful favors for me.

I also made Josh a slammin parfait for breakfast. The parfait contained yogurt, Galaxy granola (new flavor-maple pecan quinoa) and blackberries.

Josh really liked the new granola. He said it was a totally unique flavor and loved the addition of quinoa. I think if I were to win the lottery, I would open a little breakfast shop of my own! What would you do if you won the lotto?

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!