Oven Baked Meatballs

I've never been a huge fan of meatballs, mostly because I've never been a huge fan of beef. However, I'm slowly changing my mind and my husband loves beef, so I am trying to cook more with it. This meatball recipe was so good and flavorful! I served them over pasta and with some spaghetti sauce for the hubs, but I just ate them plain, and they were still SO yummy!


Original recipe makes 12 meatballs


1 pound extra lean ground beef


1/2 teaspoon sea salt


1 small onion, diced


2 teaspoons minced garlic


 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning


3/4 teaspoon dried oregano


3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes


1 dash hot pepper sauce (such as Frank's RedHot®), or to taste


1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce


1/3 cup skim milk


1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese


1 egg (slightly beat)



Place the beef into a mixing bowl, and add all the other ingredients. Mix until evenly blended, then form into large balls and place them individually into a muffin tin. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes and dig in!

Lemon Caper Tilapia

We eat a lot of tilapia-mostly because we love fish and it's cheap (let's be honest). I find myself running out of ways to make it interesting though, so I've had a hard time getting excited about it lately. But, I tried this recipe tonight from the Taste of Home website, and it is definitely a keeper. Make a few veggies and throw together a salad and you are done! Easy and delicious!

 

Ingredients

 

• 4 tilapia fillets (6 ounces each)
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika

Directions

• Place tilapia in an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. In a small bowl, combine the butter, lemon juice, garlic powder and salt; pour over the fillets. Sprinkle with capers, oregano and paprika.
• Bake, uncovered, at 425° for 20 minutes, or until the fish flakes.
• Top with a squeeze of lemon juice

 

Oven Baked Tacos

I've seen the idea floating around Pinterest for oven baked tacos, and I thought it was just an added step to something that was perfectly fine to start with. But I kept reading about people doing this trick and how it was "life changing" so I thought it was worth a shot. It's basically your regular taco recipe, but before you add any toppings, you bake them. You stuff the shells with your meat and cheese and line them up in an 8x8 pan and bake at 425 for about 10 minutes. When you take them out, the shells are toasted, extra crunchy, and delicious! Then you can add whatever toppipngs you like, and enjoy! It's super simple but makes a huge difference. I don't think I'll ever make tacos the old way again!

 

Stuffed Pepper Soup

I love the idea of stuffed peppers, but they always seem to fall short in the flavor department. I found this recipe at skinnytaste.com that sounded delicious though so I decided to give stuffed peppers another try, and I'm so glad I did!


Stuffed Pepper Soup

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 cup finely diced onion
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cans (14.5 oz each) cans petite diced tomatoes
• 1 3/4 cups tomato sauce
• 2 cups reduced sodium, fat-free chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
• salt and fresh pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot or dutch oven, brown ground meat on high heat and season with salt.Drain fat if any, reduce heat to medium-low, then add peppers, onions and garlic. Cook about 5 minutes on low heat.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, marjoram and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Serve about 1 1/3 cups of soup in each bowl and top with 1/2 cup cooked brown rice and a handful of shredded cheddar cheese.

Notes:
*I added 1 can of Rotel (it just makes everything better)
* I also added a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce and some crushed red pepper

(This picture is from skinnytaste.com. We ate this too fast for me to snap one!)