Crock Pot Turkey Meatballs

Ugh.  Our laptop exploded.  Therefore, until we get a new laptop, there will be no pictures on CaraCakes.

Anyway, I promised some seriously awesome recipes this week, so let's get to it.

Who doesn't love meatballs?  Okay, vegetarians.  Vegetarian friends, try this with veggie crumble or ground tofu.  And double your seasonings. 

Crock Pot Meatballs

You'll need:

• 1lb ground turkey (I get the butcher to give me a mix of 85/95- otherwise it'll be too dry if you use all white turkey.)
• 2 cups pasta sauce
• 1/2 cup chicken/beef/veg stock
• 2 bulbs garlic, crushed
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup romano
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• Dash of salt and pepper
• 1tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder

Instructions:

• In a large bowl, combine your meat, egg, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper, romano, parmesan, and breadcrumbs.  Squish all of the ingredients together with your hands.
• Form the meat mixture into balls (try to make them the same size).  If it feels to dry, add a bit of water to make it easier to mold.
• Turn the crock pot on low heat.
• Pour the pasta sauce and broth into the crock pot.
• Add the crushed garlic.  (you can add extra if you're a huge garlic lover.)
• Add the meatballs.
• This is a great meal to start in the morning, as it will be ready by dinner!
• Serve with pasta, on a roll, or on their own!

*This is another easy to freeze dinner.  You can freeze them with or without sauce.
*Tip- If you like crispy meatballs (we really do!) bake them for about ten minutes on a greased baking sheet at 400-degrees before you put them in the crock pot.

Enjoy!!

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

I don't know about you, but I absolutely love fall.  Maybe it's because Kyle finally stops looking at me strangely for eating a lot of soup (he deems soup to be a seasonal food, while I can eat it all the time, any time), or maybe it's because the air gets a little more crisp, and the clothing tends to be just a little more comfy.

One of my favorite things about fall is the food.  Pumpkins, hearty meats, sweet potatoes, gravy, baked apples.  I could go on for longer than this post would allow!  But the best thing, the single best foodie thing for anyone that wants to come home to a delicious, flavorful, healthy meal at the end of a hard day, is almost always made with a crockpot.

Now I know that there are two types of people when it comes to the crock pot.  The one type is the kind that values and loves their crockpot almost as much as their dog.  A good one is hard to find and trust me, you don't want to get rid of it.  (I had my old crockpot for ten years, and still used it when it had a small crack in it until Kyle finally made me get a new one.  I still stand by the fact that it was the best crock pot ever and none have ever cooked so evenly since. *sigh*)

The other type of person thinks that cooking with a crockpot isn't really cooking.  I am dedicating my week to crock pot recipes.  And these aren't your grandma's recipes man  (unless she's a super awesome, savvy cook like my grandma.  If so, rock on with her recipes!)  I challenge you to try each of these recipes, and tell me if they don't knock your socks off.

Let's get crockin'

I'll start you off easy with some crock pot barbecue chicken.

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

You'll need:

• 6 oz BBQ sauce
• 4 large chicken breasts or 8 boneless chicken thighs (you can do bone in- I just like to go for the quickest, easiest type to serve/eat/cook)
• 1 cup water

Add all of the ingredients to the crock pot.  Cook on low.  I usually start this in the morning, and serve it for dinner.  It's one of those meals that tastes better with time, so if you want to make extra so you have leftovers, do it!

*This is a GREAT meal to freeze.  I bought individual serving containers and froze the chicken so that Kyle could bring them to work for lunch.

*You have the option to cook this on low and then serve it as is.  Personally, I enjoy my BBQ chicken better pulled.  When the chicken is done, just get two forks and gently pull at the bbq chicken.  It will be so tender, it should just fall apart on the fork.  Delicious!!