The Easiest (and Tastiest!) Meatballs

 I have made other meatball recipes but these are so easy and everyone loves them so we keep coming back to this staple! We eat them with pasta, on a roll with sauce and cheese as a sandwich, or as a side with veggies. It's just meat and spices - no egg or breadcrumbs - but they come out great!

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds of lean Ground Beef

1.5 pounds of lean Ground Turkey 

3 Tbsp dried parsley

2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a large cookie sheet by covering with parchment.  With clean hands mix the beef and all the spices together until combined, without over mixing.  Roll into similar size meatballs (ours are usually about 2 inch diameter) and provide a little separation on the baking sheet. Cook for 15-20 minutes depending on size.  Ensure that the meatballs are cooked through. Enjoy!

Amazing Broccoli Cheese Soup

 This soup is delicious, family approved and is actually low calorie! It has a bunch of added veggies upping the nutrition and the flavor. We add fun toppings (bacon, sour cream or plain greek yogurt and a bit more cheese) and it makes a tasty, satisfying meal on a cold or rainy day!  

Before it's blended - look at all those veggies!

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter - 28g

1/2 large Onion, chopped - (150g)

2 1/3 cups Carrots, chopped - (300g)

2 garlic cloves

1 cup Celery, chopped - (100g)

2 1/2 cups chicken stock (we used Fat free)

2 Tbsp white whole wheat flour 

1 cup 1% Milk

6 cups (or more) Broccoli, chopped - (I use mostly florets) - (550g)

2 Tbsp parmesan cheese

2 cups (1 package) Shredded Mexican 4 cheese blend - 2% milk (235g)

Directions:

In a large pot, heat the butter until melted.  Saute the onion, carrots, celery and garlic until softened, stirring so it does not burn.  Sprinkle flour, salt and pepper over veggies and stir to combine.  Add milk, chicken broth and potatoes.  Turn up heat, bring the soup to a boil, then simmer (turn heat to low and cover) and cook until potatoes are softened, about 10 minutes.  Add broccoli, parmesan and cook until broccoli is cooked, with lid off.  Use an immersion blender to process to the desired thickness. Add salt and pepper to taste.  This stores well in the fridge and everyone loves the leftovers! We serve with bacon, sour cream or greek yogurt and chives. 

Based off Skinnytaste's soup with some Erin modifications

https://www.google.com/search?q=skinnytaste+broccoli+cheddar&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS855US855&oq=skinnytaste&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j46j35i39j0l3j46j69i65.6890j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Chocolate Bread

This Chocolate Bread took a few tries to get right.  I wanted it to taste good but wanted to minimize the amount of added sugar.  It's important to use both kinds of cocoa. The dark cocoa gives it a deep chocolatey flavor but if you only use the dark it will give the bread a bitter flavor (unless you offset with more sugar).  The split works well.  I like this bread because it has more protein, satisfies my sweet tooth but my kids also love it. We all like to eat it with a bit of Peanut butter and cool whip. I often double the recipe and we eat it all week.  We keep it in the refrigerator.

We like to eat it with peanut butter and some cool whip!

Other than the two cocoa powders, this recipe is flexible. If you don't have collagens just add a little bit more flour.  You can add an extra egg instead of using the egg whites. I've used buttermilk instead of milk and didn't notice a difference. 

Wet Ingredients:

2 medium ripe Bananas (244g)

5.3 oz Greek Nonfat Yogurt, Plain (150g)

3 tbsp Liquid Egg Whites

1 egg

2 tap Vanilla Extract

1/3 cup Maple Syrup (I use Anderson's) 

1/4 cup 1% Milk

1/3 cup Unsweetened Applesauce (99g)

Dry Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups White Whole Wheat Flour (we use King Arthur) - 220g

2 scoops Collagen Peptides (I use Vital Proteins) - 20g

1/3 cup (about 6 Tbsp) Special Dark Cocoa - Dark (30 g)

1/3 cup (about 6 Tbsp) Regular Cocoa - Regular (30g)

1 tsp Baking Powder (we always use Aluminum free)

1/2 tsp Salt

Baking Soda

7 Tbsp Chocolate Chips - (We use Nestle!) - 100g

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare your loaf pans or cupcake tins (whatever you prefer to use).  I just sprayed mine with cooking spray. Set aside. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, whisk together, and set aside.  In another bowl, add the bananas and mash with a fork.  Add the remaining wet ingredients to the bananas and stir to combine.  Slowly add the dry ingredients and stir to combine.  Mix in the chocolate chips. Pour or scoop the batter into the prepared pans, careful not to overfill.  Cook until a tester comes out clean - times will vary between ovens and whether you are making loaves, muffins and whether they are mini or full size. Our loaves took about 24 minutes. Put on a cooling rack to cool for several minutes, then remove from pan and allow to completely cool on the cooling rack. We store ours in the fridge and it's good for about a week.